Day: March 17, 2023

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian is planning to revitalize the Social Welfare Development Center for Asia and the Pacific (SWADCAP) as an academy that will offer short-term courses and certificate programs to further equip and train the social service workforce.

According to a press statement released by the DSWD Friday, Gatchalian disclosed this plan during his meeting with Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Hae Kyong Yu and her delegation on March 15 at the DSWD central office in Quezon City.

Among the social service workforce to be developed by the center includes social workers, non-governmental organizations, local government personnel and other service providers involved in the implementation of social protection packages to the vulnerable and disadvantaged sector.

Ambassador Yu expressed the Australian government’s full support to provide technical assistance in crafting training packets or pathways for continuing professional development programs as well as conducting training of trainers for the academy.

During the meeting, Gatchalian also mentioned that one of his priorities is to strengthen the disaster response system of the DSWD.

To this, the Australian Embassy representatives shared the Strengthening Institutions and Empowering Localities Against Disasters and Climate Change (SHIELD) Program, a disaster preparedness program supported and funded by the Australian government, that is being implemented with 11 local government units in the country.

The embassy delegation committed to share with the DSWD their disaster response framework and best practices.

The DSWD continues to build and expand its partnerships with international organizations to better improve the quality of services for the benefit of Filipinos

Source: Philippines News Agency

A Chinese billionaire with ties to former US President Donald Trump’s administration was arrested Wednesday on charges of defrauding investors out of $1 billion to support a lavish lifestyle for himself.

Guo Wengui – who is also known as Ho Wan Kwok and Miles Guo — was taken into custody in New York over what the US Department of Justice called an alleged conspiracy that involved the misappropriation of funds obtained from his thousands of online followers.

According to multiple news outlets, Guo pocketed the money to buy a 50,000-square-foot mansion in New Jersey, a $37 million luxury yacht, a $4.4 million Bugatti sports car and a $3.5 million Ferrari for his son.

Prosecutors charged Guo with defrauding or misappropriating investor money using different schemes, including his media company GTV Media Group, a farm loan program through the Himalaya Farm Alliance, an exclusive membership club known as G|CLUBS and a cryptocurrency called the Himalaya Coin.

Guo and his business partner Kin Ming Je face 11 charges, including wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering, with the most serious of the charges carrying a punishment of up to 20 years in prison.

Authorities said Je is currently at large and also faces an additional count of obstruction of justice.

‘My office and our law enforcement partners will continue to do all that we can to protect the community from the devastating consequences of pernicious fraud schemes,’ said US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams in a statement.

Guo was a staunch critic of the Chinese government and was exiled to New York after seeking asylum in the US in 2017. He claimed he was being persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party for exposing corruption in Beijing.

Guo had a close relationship with Trump adviser Steve Bannon and co-founded two nonprofit organizations — the Rule of Law Foundation and the Rule of Law Society — with Bannon.

Prosecutors allege Guo used those nonprofits to attract a following who believed in many of his ideas, including the theory that COVID-19 was likely engineered in a Chinese lab.

Guo’s lawyer declined to comment.

Bannon has not been charged in the case.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has completed the construction of three flood mitigation projects in coastal communities of Aurora province that will protect residents during typhoon season.

Engineer Roderick Andal, head of the DPWH-Aurora District Engineering Office, said on Friday the completed projects are worth PHP205.88 million. These are the 1,968-lineal meter concrete flood wall on steel sheet pile foundation along the Maria Aurora Main Creek, of which 1,055 lineal meters are situated in Maria Aurora town; 720 lineal meters in Barangay Umiray, Dingalan town; and 193 lineal meters in Dipaculao town.

‘These structures will help reduce flooding in these coastal and river areas to a bare minimum. Above all, these projects will lessen the worries of residents who live near said bodies of water which tend to overflow or cause tidal flooding, especially during the typhoon season,’ Andal said in a statement.

The project, he said also includes a six-meter-wide embankment, ramp and concrete stairs that residents and farmers can use as an access road.

The DPWH official said they are eyeing the implementation of more flood control projects in the province as ‘Aurora is a coastal province and there are flood-prone areas especially those in low-lying villages along its major rivers.”

In August last year, the DPWH completed three flood control projects worth PHP34.3 million in the villages of Sapangkawayan, Ditale and Borlongan, all in Dipaculao town.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Eleven ranking police officials have been included in the latest reorganization in the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Based on PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr.’s order that took effect Friday, Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 (Central Visayas) director Brig. Gen. Jerry Bearis was reassigned to the Aviation Security Group and would be exchanging posts with Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin.

Also covered by the order were Maj. Gen. Oliver Enmodias who was relieved from the Area Police Command (APC) Northern Luzon (NL) and would now head the Directorate for Research and Development; Brig. Gen. Mafelino Bazar from PRO Cordillera to APC-NL; and Brig. Gen. Alden Bacarra Delvo from APC- Eastern Mindanao to PRO 11 (Davao).

Also assigned to new posts were Brig. Gen. Joel Doria who was designated as PRO-Mimaropa chief. He replaced Brig. Gen. Sidney Hernia who was assigned to the Anti-Cybercrime Group.

Brig. Gen. Limuel Obon was designated as PRO 5 (Bicol), replacing Brig. Gen. David Peredo Jr., who was reassigned to the PRO-Cordillera.

Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Benjamin Silo Jr. was designated as the new head of the Civil Security Group while Brig. Gen. Andrew Diwayan Cayad was assigned to the Directorate for Operations.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen shot and seriously injured a former town councilor of Polomolok, South Cotabato, while he was on his way to the municipal hall Friday morning.

Former councilor Rhyolite Agregado Balili, now personal secretary of Polomolok Mayor Bernie Palencia, was shot at close range inside his vehicle near the town hall premises.

Balili sustained gunshot wounds in various parts of his body.

Lt. Col. Joseph Forro III, Polomolok police chief, said the victim was taken to a private hospital in nearby General Santos City.

‘We are still digging deeper into the case and a manhunt had been launched,’ he said in a radio interview.

Palencia has condemned the attack and directed the police to work with the military in tracking down the perpetrators and bring them behind bars.

In January this year, three members of the town’s Civil Security Unit, including a former police major who served as chief civil security, were separately killed by unknown killers.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The city government of Borongan in Eastern Samar province and the Philippine Army urged families of rebels to help the government convince their relatives to abandon the communist ideology.

Twenty three individuals from Borongan and other towns in Eastern Samar met with local government and Army officials for a dialogue on Wednesday at the Philippine Army headquarters in Lalawigan village in Borongan City.

They met with Borongan City Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda, Army 801st Brigade commander Brig. Gen. Lenart Lelina, and 78th Infantry Battalion commander Lt. Col. Allan Tria.

The dialogue with a theme, ‘Oryentasyon Para hin nga Lokal nga Iristorya ngan Negosasyon”, aimed at asking family members to help the government in convincing their rebel relatives to yield to surrender to the folds of law and abandon the communist group.

Agda, in a statement, said that it is essential to hold a dialogue with the relatives of the rebels so the government would have a clear roadmap on helping rebels to have life in a normal community.

“If you used to think that the government had neglected you, now there is no reason for you not to turn back to the government. There are programs intended for you and your family that have gone astray. Let’s be thankful for our armies and to our government for focusing on serving and working hard to end the insurgency,” Agda said.

Among the local government’s plan is the provision of housing site, wherein former rebels will have a community of their own, engage in livelihood activities such as farming.

Lelina assured the 23 families that the government would never stop and in pleading and asking their help to convince their relatives to surrender.

‘

Our government is consistent in asking you to help your relatives return to our government and live peacefully. We prefer to talk to you, we don’t want to fight because we are all Filipinos,’ Lelina added.

Source: Philippines News Agency