March 17, 2023

Ex-NPA members, supporters in Aurora get financial aid

Former members and supporters of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in Maria Aurora town, this province, have received government livelihood assistance aimed at making them productive members of society.

Lt. Col. Julito Recto Jr., commander of the Philippine Army’s 91st Infantry Battalion (91IB), said on Friday the local government unit of Maria Aurora and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist turned over last Tuesday to the former communist terrorist group members and supporters, who are now members of the people’s organizations, some PHP65,000 worth of livelihood aid that could help them rebuild their lives as they reintegrate to their communities.

He said the people’s organizations Dianawan Upland Farmers Association and Buloy Upland Farmers Association received PHP30,000 and PHP35,000 worth of livelihood assistance, respectively.

Recto said the assistance is part of the government’s programs which aim to support the people’s organizations by providing them income-generating opportunities that will sustain their daily needs and help them become self-sustaining organizations in their communities.

He expressed hope that more ex-rebels will benefit from the peace-building initiatives of the government in the fulfillment and attainment of a sustainable, just and lasting peace.

Mayor Ariel Bitong, for his part, said the government is exerting its best efforts to help the people by providing livelihood resources to the communities once affected by armed conflict or insurgency.

‘Kami sa LGU ay tumutugon, sana ay makatulong ito at maging kapaki-pakinabang (We, in the LGU, is responding. Hopefully, this could help and become beneficial),’ Bitong said in an interview.

Meanwhile, the association officials thanked the LGU and the other concerned government agencies for the assistance.

‘Sana po ay mas marami pa silang matulungan na iba pang mga tao na mahihirap na katulad namin(Hopefully, they will help more poor people like us),’ said Dianawan Upland Farmers Association president Rubelyn Valiete.

Source: Philippines News Agency

March 17, 2023

PH financial sector unscathed by US banking crisis: analysts

Private sector economists and markets analysts on Friday agreed that the Philippine financial sector has been relatively unscathed by the series of bank collapses in the United States, which has sent ripples across bourses worldwide.

The reactions came after three American banks with heavy exposures to the technology and cryptocurrency sectors failed one after another in a span of less than a week this month.

In an interview, Roberto Galang, dean at Ateneo’s John Gokongwei School of Management, said the Philippine economy appears stable at the moment and is therefore less susceptible to being swept away by the US banking contagion.

He also pointed out that the quick response of the US Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and Treasury Department on the bank failures contributed greatly to localizing the problem.

‘We still have to wait and see, but Filipino depositors do not seem to be so jittery, and it has been a while since any sort of bank run has taken place in the Philippines,’ Galang added.

For his part, former BPI Asset Management chief economist Carlos Ylagan said that while the local financial and capital markets ‘had a knee-jerk reaction’ over the US bank failures earlier this week, investor confidence in the Philippines seems to have bounced back quickly.

He called the consecutive collapse of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank an ‘isolated incident,’ adding that the three lending institutions were not major players in the broader financial sector.

‘As long as no additional banks collapse there (the US), the local financial community should not be concerned,’ Ylagan said.

Meanwhile, Jeng Calma, head of operations at AandA Securities, pointed out that the two-day decline of local shares was ‘just a sympathy reaction to the bearishness at Dow Jones.’

She explained that there is no real reason for concern because the Philippine financial sector has practically no exposure to the failed American banks.

However, it was noted that the contagion seems to have spread beyond US borders after Zurich-headquartered Credit Suisse also admitted that it was in crisis and sought rescue from the Swiss central bank.

Calma said the recovery of local stocks during Friday’s trading proves that the early-week decline in the market was simply due to ‘psychological effects’ arising from America’s current banking woes.

The composite index was up more than 1 percent at the close of the week’s trading.

Source: Philippines News Agency

March 17, 2023

Canada ends Covid tests for air travelers from China, HK, Macau

Canada will end Covid-19 tests Friday for air travelers who arrive from China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

‘As of 12:01 a.m. EDT on March 17, 2023, air travelers to Canada on flights originating from the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, or Macao will no longer be required to provide evidence of a Covid-19 test result before boarding. This means that there will no longer be any federal Covid-19 border measures in place after that time,’ the Public Health Agency of Canada said in a news release Thursday.

The government responded to an increase in Covid cases in China by enacting the tests on Jan. 5 to ‘protect the health and safety of Canadians.’

However, wastewater samples in Canada found no new variants of the disease, and none were detected in data provided by China or the international community, the release said.

Still, the government said if the situation changes, the testing could be reinstated.

“While we are encouraged that the epidemiological situation has improved in both China and Canada, and that temporary test requirements for air travelers put in place in early 2023 can now be lifted, we know we must remain vigilant in the fight against Covid-19 and its variants,” Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra said in the news release.

“We will continue to make decisions based on the best public health advice and will adjust our measures accordingly to keep travelers, transportation workers, and our transportation system safe and secure.”

Source: Philippines News Agency

March 17, 2023

Ilocos Norte prov’l scholar tops physician licensure examination

The province of Ilocos Norte is celebrating the achievement of another topnotcher as Aira Cassandra Castro, a summa cum laude graduate of the state-run Mariano Marcos State University in Batac City, topped the March 2023 Physician Licensure Examination.

Castro, 25, a resident of Laoag City, garnered the highest rating of 89 percent among the 2,887 examinees.

Describing herself as a woman with big dreams, Castro said she also wanted to become a lawyer, an archeologist, and an accountant but when she learned that the MMSU has a good track record in biology and medicine, she pursued these instead.

‘Nothing is impossible if you always believe in yourself,’ said Castro as she underscored a “probinsiyana” (someone from the province) like her does not need to go to the big schools in the metro to make her dreams happen.

As a medical scholar of the Ilocos Norte government, Castro said she plans to serve the Ilocano community where she feels most needed.

On top of her priority is to be of service to patients at the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital in Batac City and to the medical students of MMSU where she can serve as an inspiration to them to pursue their dreams.

“I did not expect to become the Top 1 but I tried. Still, I was surprised that I was Top 1 because the exam was difficult,’ she added.

At a press conference via Zoom on Friday, MMSU president Shirley Agrupis said a ‘big incentive’ awaits Castro, adding that she has already instructed the hiring committee of the MMSU to get her on board the faculty of the College of Medicine.

Asked about her parenting style, Aira’s mother, Judith, said parents like her should give their 100 percent support to their children in pursuing their dreams.

‘We should give our 100 percent support to our children no matter what. Poverty should not be a hindrance to education as there are programs and projects of the government ready to help you,’ she said.

For the seventh time since the Ilocos Norte’s first medical school was established on June 16, 2015, its medical graduates have delivered a 100-percent passing rate in the 2023 exam.

Four other MMSU medical passers namely Doctors Christian Alvin Arca, Neil Justine dela Cruz, Marianne Shem Caraang, and Mida Dorothy Manayon said they are grateful to the consultants, faculty and staff of MMSU-College of Medicine for helping them become doctors.

‘They are really focused on their students and showed their care for us,’ said Manayon, one of the physician passers of the MMSU, on Friday.

Manayon said she plans to pursue her passion in OB gynecology while the others, Agrupis said, plan to join pediatrics, public and family as well as internal medicine and pathology.

‘This is the best return on investment of the trust the government has given us. Please give us the privilege to hire you first and be an inspiration to your alma mater,’ said Agrupis

Source: Philippines News Agency

March 17, 2023

10 surviving WWII veterans in Panay to be honored

Ten surviving senior war veterans of World War II will be recognized to mark the 78th Victory Day celebration on the Liberation of Panay, Romblon and Guimaras islands on Saturday.

Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) Iloilo officer-in-charge Glen Castañares, in an interview on Friday, said they are among the 25 living senior war veterans in Panay and Guimaras who fought to liberate the three islands side by side with the American Liberation Forces in 1945.

Those who will be recognized are Paciente T. Tejada from Aklan; Mauro M. Loresto, Enrique P. Mendoza, Leon U. Requintina, and Pedro N. Relles, all from Antique; and Santiago C. Caguimbal, Leoncio R. Perfuma, Epifanio B. Denlota, and Dionisio A. Arabejo, all from Iloilo province; and Patricio G. Guevara from Iloilo City.

The others were recognized by the PVAO in previous commemoration activities and have already received their United States congressional medal award, he added.

PVAO data showed that there were 23,000 guerrilla forces during WWII who are members of the Free Panay Guerilla Forces.

Of the 25 that were left aged from 90 to 104 years old, some are still healthy while others are bedridden.

‘Sadly soon enough their number is slowly declining. So it is important to commemorate this to immortalize their heroic deeds and they will not be forgotten,’ Castañares said.

He added that the commemoration of Victory Day is significant not only for its sentimental value for senior war veterans but also for its historical value.

The official said that Gen. Douglas McArthur MacArthur would have had difficulty liberating the country if not for the successful Panay landing in 1945.

‘Part of their strategy to liberate the Philippines was to free Panay and the Visayan waters because from Leyte they had to pass through the Visayas going to Luzon,’ Castañares said.

The commemoration with the conduct of a free medical mission for 350 PVAO pensioners and members of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines from the first district of Iloilo in partnership with the Veterans Memorial Medical Center at the Tigbauan, Iloilo gymnasium.

He explained that it was in the shorelines of Tigbauan’s Barangay Parara that the American Liberation Forces landed 78 years ago today to free the three islands from the Japanese Imperial Forces.

Tigbauan also has the most active PVAO pensioners with 226.

Castañares added that the commemoration does not only honor senior world war veterans or those who fought during WWII but also the post-war veterans including retirees from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Constabulary before they were integrated into the Philippine National Police provided they rendered a minimum of six years in the military.

Saturday’s commemoration will start with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Balantang Cemetery National Shrine in Barangay Quintin Salas in Jaro district.

Proclamation number 430 signed by former President Corazon C. Aquino on July 21, 1989 declared March 18 of every year as a non-working special day in Panay and Romblon to give way to the commemoration

Source: Philippines News Agency

March 17, 2023

Calapan city gov’t on alert as oil spill reaches shores

The city government here is now on alert after residents of Sitios (sub-villages) Villa Antonio and Proper in Barangay Navotas reported traces of an oil slick Thursday afternoon.

In a phone interview on Friday, Dennis Escosora, head of the Calapan Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO), said while their mission is to install spill booms in all areas that are likely to be reached by the oil spill, the priority now are the two sub-villages.

He said personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Mindoro are also installing spill booms, which Escosora hopes, would boost their protection.

He reiterated the city government’s appeal to the residents to refrain from fishing, swimming and eating fish from the affected areas and for people to monitor official updates and advisories.

‘We will distribute food packs immediately to support those who will be affected,’ Escosora said.

The city government, in an official social media post on Thursday night, said: ‘Be careful and stay alert, especially those living along the coastal areas.’

‘Do not fish yet in the waters covering Calapan, nor sell seafood coming from Calapan, or swim in the sea. Senior citizens and those with respiratory conditions are advised to observe a distance of 100 meters from the shoreline. Do not take water from sources which are directly coming from 100 meters from the shoreline where oil slicks were found, like those coming from water pumps. Avoid touching soil contaminated by the oil spill,’ the advisory further said.

Prior to this, the city and its partners were continuously monitoring the sea for the possible spread of oil spill. Residents of Barangay Navotas had early on prepared improvised spill booms fashioned out of empty plastic bottles, ropes and nylon.

The University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute on Sunday reported that while most of the oil would still end up along Naujan town and Pola Bay in Oriental Mindoro, the weakening of the northeast monsoon winds could cause the oil to go southward to northern Palawan and Calapan and to flow northward to Verde Island Passage by March 16.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard national headquarters said on its social media page on Friday morning that it has collected 1,000 liters of oily water and seven sacks of oil-contaminated materials from Pola town as of March 15.

It added that from March 1-15, the PCG recorded 6,603 liters of oily water and 57 sacks of oil-contaminated materials collected during its offshore oil spill response operations.

The oil spill first hit Naujan town when the MT Princess Empress capsized on Feb. 28 in the waters of Balingawan Point. The tanker, owned by RDC Reield Marine Services, was reportedly carrying 800,000 liters of industrial-grade oil from a refinery in Limay, Bataan, and was on its way to the Visayas when it capsized and later sank due to engine trouble.

Source: Philippines News Agency