Day: June 24, 2023

The expansion development for the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental will be given priority in the next two years on its way to achieving its target to become an international gateway. In a statement on Saturday, Misamis Oriental 2nd District Rep. Yevgeny Vincente Emano said the airport development would be included in the 2024-2025 budget of the Mindanao Development Authority under the Office of the President, as stated in a letter dated June 15 from the Area Management Office for Northern Mindanao. “Overseas Filipino workers and local and foreign tourists can now travel directly to the province without passing through Manila. This means more savings for the travelers and less time spent on the travel,” Emano said. ‘This is also favorable to the constituents of Misamis Oriental as we will be dealing (with) Cebuano-speaking Immigration and Customs officials in the airport, eliminating language barriers.’ The development includes the expansion of the existing Passenger Terminal Building, including detailed engineering design and consultancy for construction supervision under the 2024 budget, and the extension of the runway and expansion of the cargo terminal building in 2025. Emano principally authored House Bill 3754, the proposal to upgrade the Laguindingan Airport into an international airport, part of his legislative agenda to boost the tourism industry of the province and Cagayan de Oro City. ‘Once realized, it will benefit not only Misamis Oriental but also the entire Northern Mindanao,’ he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

A New People’s Army (NPA) combatant was killed in a clash with government troops amid continued offensive against the rebel group in Zamboanga del Sur, a top military official said Saturday. Lt. Col. Nolasco Coderos Jr., 97th Infantry Battalion (97IB) commander, said the clash broke out in Sitio Tulah, Barangay Sunop, Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur at about 3:33 p.m. Friday. Coderos said the slain rebel was not immediately identified except that the latter belongs to the defunct NPA’s front committee Big Beautiful Country. He said the clash ensued when the troops chanced upon the NPA rebels while on security patrol in Sitio Tulah, Barangay Sunop. ‘The troops launch(ed) security patrol after they receive(d) information about the presence of NPA rebels in the area,’ Coderos said in a phone interview. ‘They (NPA rebels) go around from one community to the other, forcing the residents to give them food and money.’ He said the troops also recovered assorted war materiel and personal belongings abandoned by the NPA rebels, who fled after the 22-minute firefight. The remains of the slain NPA rebel were turned over to the village officials for proper identification and disposition. Coderos said the NPA rebels were the same group that figured in a firefight against the combined team of 97IB and 53rd Infantry Battalion troops in Barangay Paraiso, Mahayag, Zamboanga del Sur on Wednesday. Paraiso is adjacent to the village of Sunop located at the borders of Mahayag and Dumingag towns. A militiaman was injured during the clash in Paraiso on Wednesday.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Employees who will report for work on the observance of Eid’l Adha on June 28 will get 200 percent of their wage, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Saturday. Labor Advisory 14, series of 2023, signed by Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, stipulates the proper computation of workers’ wages for the declared regular holiday in observance of Eid’l Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice. The agency said those who will work during a regular holiday, such as Eid’l Adha, are entitled to 200 percent of their wage for the first eight hours. The computation is basic wage times 200 percent. Those who will render overtime work shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate. The computation is an hourly rate of the basic wage times 200 percent times 130 percent times the number of hours worked. It also stated that employees who will work on a regular holiday that also falls on their rest day shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the basic wage of 200 percent; while those who will render overtime work shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate on the said day. On the other hand, in case the employees will not report for work, they shall be paid 100 percent of their wage for that day, provided they worked or were on leave of absence with pay on the day immediately preceding the regular holiday. When the day immediately preceding the regular holiday is a non-working day in the establishment or the scheduled rest day of the employees, they shall be entitled to holiday pay if they worked or were on leave of absence with pay on the day immediately preceding the non-working day or rest day. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. declared June 28, Wednesday, a regular national holiday under Proclamation No. 258, which he signed on June 13.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The US announced Friday it will investigate the loss of the Titan, while Canada said it will probe the actions of the Polar Prince, the Canadian vessel that towed the submersible to the site of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. The US National Transportation Safety Board declared the destruction of the Titan a ‘major marine casualty’ and said Friday that the US Coast Guard would lead an investigation into the loss of the submersible. Meanwhile, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said it would launch an investigation into the actions of the Polar Prince support vessel that towed the Titan from Newfoundland to the site of the wreckage of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. The TSB said its action is “in accordance with the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act and international agreements.” “In the coming days, we will coordinate our activities with other agencies involved,” it said in a statement. “This is all the information available at this time. Updates will be provided as the investigation progresses.” The Polar Prince is a Newfoundland vessel owned by the Miawpukek First Nation. The ship joined other vessels in the search for the Titan. It also carried some family members of the five men that died in the implosion of the submersible. Miawpukek Chief Mi’sel Joe told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. on Friday that the investigation would be harrowing for the Polar Prince crew. “It’s going to be rough on the crew,” he said. “They’re looking after the ship, they’re looking after themselves, and they’re looking after the family that’s on board. My heart goes out to them. To all of them. It’s a loss of life, and it’s never easy on the family.” The Polar Prince lost contact with the Titan early Sunday, about 90 minutes after it began towing the submersible toward the Titanic – 700 km. (435 miles) off the coast of Newfoundland. A remotely operated vehicle found the Titan submersible’s tail cone on the seafloor roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the Titanic. Additional debris that was discovered near the site was “consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” said a US Coast Guard official.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Authorities have confiscated PHP2 million worth of suspected illegal drugs during a buy-bust here late Friday night. The operation, which took place at Dacudao Avenue, Barangay Governor Paciano Bangoy, also led to the arrest of 18-year-old Kurt Aaron Espinosa, reportedly a high-value individual on the police drug list. Espinosa was arrested after he handed the suspected shabu weighing 103 grams to a poseur-buyer and accepted the PHP1,000 marked money. Confiscated from Espinosa were one small and two big self-sealing transparent plastic sachets of suspected shabu. The suspect is now detained at the Bajada Police Station and facing drug charges.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Europe has reported an increasing risk of mosquito-borne diseases, more frequent heat waves and flooding, and severe weather conditions like summers getting longer and warmer. Climate Change Commission (CCC) commissioner Albert dela Cruz Sr. has warned that the situation in Europe could also happen to the Philippines, considering that it is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change and global warming. In a statement on Saturday, dela Cruz cautioned against the dire impact of climate change on public health and emphasized the need for immediate climate action to address the serious health risks among the general population, particularly the critically vulnerable and marginalized sectors. ‘We realize that there is no disease group that is immune to the effects of climate change. And this is why we need to act now so we can respond to the threats to maintain a healthy population and with that attain economic stability through resiliency and sustainability,’ he said, reacting to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) report published on June 22. The ECDC said more cases and possibly deaths from diseases, such as dengue, chikungunya, and West Nile fever, are expected in the continent. ‘Efforts need to focus on ways to control mosquito populations, enhancing surveillance and enforcing personal protective measures,’ the report said. That Europe is experiencing a warming trend creates more favorable conditions for invasive mosquito species, such as Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti, according to the ECDC. As of June 8 this year, a total of 2,162,214 cases and 974 dengue deaths have been reported globally, based on the data from the ECDC. ‘The health of populations will be in greater danger with climate change affecting health both directly, for instance, among the elderly who experience heat stroke due to exposure to extreme heat, or indirectly, when climate change alters the environmental conditions for mosquito-borne diseases, like dengue and malaria,’ dela Cruz said. The World Health Organization (WHO) has projected that between 2030 and 2050, climate change will cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year because of heat stress, malaria, diarrhea, and malnutrition alone. Direct damage costs to health are estimated to be between USD2 billion and USD4 billion per year by 2030, according to the WHO report, adding that areas with weak health infrastructure, mostly in developing countries, will be the least able to cope without assistance. The Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 period devotes an entire chapter to climate change and disaster resiliency. The pioneering chapter identifies key objectives for climate action, including increasing climate and disaster risk resilience of communities and institutions, enhancing ecosystem resilience, and enabling the transition to a low-carbon economy. The Philippines reiterated the need to expand and enhance international cooperation in adaptation, mitigation, loss and damage, climate finance, and other means of implementation, such as technology transfer and capacity development toward transformative climate action. ‘Under the Marcos administration, accelerating climate action and enhancing climate resilience have been more firmly embedded in our development agenda, which we project will lead to more flow of resources, including Means of Implementation,’ CCC vice chairperson and executive director Robert EA Borje said at the 58th Sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change held in Bonn, Germany on June 5-15.

Source: Philippines News Agency