Day: March 6, 2024

MANILA: The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed petitions challenging the authority of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to implement regulatory measures on Philippine offshore gaming operators (RR-POGO) approved in 2016.

In its 15-page en banc decision uploaded online on March 4, the SC, on technical grounds, junked consolidated petitions by groups and individuals questioning the legality of these measures that provide for the process for licensing, accreditation and registration of offshore gaming operators, agents, and related service providers.

The Court said the petitioners led by the Union for National Development and Good Governance Philippines (Unilad), Anti-Trapo Movement of the Philippines Inc., and lawyer Jovencio Evangelista – ignored the hierarchy of courts, as well as failed to substantiate the significance of the issues raised to merit the court’s review.

The tribunal also said the petitioners failed to show any direct and personal interest in the enforcement of the RR-PO
GO.

“The alleged transcendental importance of the questions raised was not adequately substantiated,” the SC ruled.

The petitioners argued the unconstitutionality of the RR-POGO, contending that PAGCOR lacks authority to oversee online or offshore gaming operations.

They urged the SC to annul the RR-POGO and permanently halt PAGCOR from implementing its provisions.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Supreme Court (SC) has announced that the period for the filing of applications for the 2024 Bar Examinations will end on April 5.

Individuals are required to either create a new account or update their existing Bar Applicant Registration System and Tech Assistance (BARISTA) account and must then complete the online entries, upload required documents, and make the payments through the BARISTA platform, the high court said in an advisory Wednesday.

Applicants then need to print and sign the BARISTA-generated application form and submit it along with the required documents to the Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC) within 10 days from the notice of approval.

Applications will only be processed if all documents are uploaded, and the fee is paid in full.

Candidates, including new applicants, previous takers, and refreshers without existing accounts on the SC’s online platform Bar Applicant Registration System and Tech Assistance (BARISTA), must create individual accounts at https://barista.judiciar
y.gov.ph/.

Applicants are required to complete or update their profiles, fill out application forms, upload or re-upload digital copies of documentary requirements, and remit the application fee of PHP12,800 through BARISTA’s provided modes.

Within 10 calendar days of receiving the application approval notice, candidates must submit printed and signed copies of their application forms, along with physical copies of mandatory documentary requirements, to the Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC).

Similarly, applicants must upload digital copies and submit physical copies of deferred documentary requirements to BARISTA and OBC, respectively, before Oct. 15, 2024.

New applicants who failed to complete their law degree and refreshers who didn’t finish their refresher or pre-bar review course may request an application fee refund until Sept. 6, 2024, through the OBC Help Desk at https://bit.ly/2024BarExamsHelpdesk.

The SC will establish Local Testing Centers (LTCs) in key cities across the National Capital Region
, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Applicants must select three cities in order of preference.

Venue assignments will consider applicants’ preferences after the application period ends, with assignments accessible through BARISTA.

Source: Philippines News Agency

CEBU: The Department of Health (DOH) Region 7 recorded over 6,000 El Niño-related incidents in Central Visayas as more people began to feel the impact of the dry season.

Dr. Shelbay Blanco, head of the Regional Health Emergency Management Services (RHEMS) of DOH-7, said the agency monitored 6,011 diseases in February that are traceable to the dry spell, urging preparedness to cushion the effect on public health, hygiene and sanitation.

‘These include food and water-borne diseases,’ he said in a forum here, identifying animal bites, chicken pox, cholera, dehydration, measles and typhoid fever as among the incidents recorded by the regional health office.

Blanco, however, clarified health facilities in the region recorded zero incidents of heat stroke or severe exhaustion because of the El Niño.

He assured the public that DOH-7 put in place massive information dissemination to educate the public on different levels of heat indexes and their corresponding effect in case of prolonged exposure to heat.

‘We ha
ve coordinated with the rest of the government agencies through the Regional Task Office El Niño. We are attending regular meetings to lay down strategies along with other agencies through the whole-(of)-government approach in lessening the impact of El Niño,’ Blanco said in a mix of Cebuano and English.

He said the environmental section of the task force is currently monitoring the water supply condition in Cebu and the rest of the region through the rural health units and sanitary inspectors, stressing the need for unhindered water supply to ensure people’s hygiene and sanitation.

Meanwhile, Mactan Cebu Water District production department manager, Tommy Gonzalez, said stable water supply has become a challenge since the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) announced last year the start of the El Niño phenomenon.

Gonzales assured the Cebuanos measures are in place to boost Metro Cebu water supply originating from the sea, surface and groundwater.

Source:
Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The US State Department criticized China for its ‘provocative actions’ in the West Philippine Sea, including the use of water cannons against a resupply boat that injured four Filipino service members while they were en route to Ayungin Shoal.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US stands with the Philippines against these acts and is in ‘discussion’ with the government about the latest incident.

‘The latest actions, which are just the most recent in a series of provocative actions by the PRC (People’s Republic of China), demonstrate once again a reckless disregard by the PRC for the safety of Filipinos and also for international law,’ he said in a briefing on Wednesday (Manila time).

‘By impeding the safe operation of Philippine vessels carrying provisions to Filipino service members stationed at Second Thomas Shoal, the PRC interfered in lawful Philippine maritime operations and in Philippine vessels’ exercise of high-seas freedom of navigation,’ he added.

The State Department
said under the 2016 Arbitral Ruling, China has ‘no lawful maritime claims to the waters’ around Ayungin Shoal as the feature is a low-tide elevation located within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. ?

‘As provided under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, the 2016 arbitral decision is final and legally binding on the PRC and the Philippines, and the United States calls upon the PRC to abide by the ruling and desist from its dangerous and destabilizing conduct,’ Miller said.

READ: PCG vessel escorting RORE mission to Ayungin collides with CCG

Miller reiterated that the US is committed to the Mutual Defense Treaty, adding that this extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – including those of its Coast Guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.

Asked whether the use of water cannon and actions that led to the collision constitute an armed attack, Miller said he would not ‘speculate or get out ahead of any discussions in this regard’.

The State Department stateme
nt came a day after the Department of Foreign Affairs summoned Chinese Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong to protest the Chinese Coast Guard’s March 5 maneuvers, blocking, and use of water cannons that damaged Filipino vessels and injured four people.

The US Embassy did not provide specific details on the dates of talks between Manila and Washington DC but said there are regular conversations with their Filipino counterparts ‘at all levels’ and that ‘these interactions were part of those discussions’.

Unacceptable

Think-tank Stratbase ADR Institute on Wednesday also condemned China’s persistent and increasing aggression in the West Philippine Sea, which was highlighted by its latest attempts to impede Manila’s rotation and reprovisioning (RORE) mission for the BRP Sierra Madre (LS-57) contingent.

In a statement, Stratbase ADR Institute president Dindo Manhit said these actions show China’s blatant disregard for the Philippines’ national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Manhit said these a
cts also gravely endangered the lives of Filipinos at sea in the Philippines’ maritime territory.

He added that China’s acts of aggression, being unprovoked, are unacceptable and irresponsible.

“The Stratbase ADR Institute reiterates the legality of the Philippines’ arbitral victory at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016. This ruling is legally binding to all parties. China’s continuous rejection of the arbitral award has no bearing on the legitimacy and supremacy of well-established international laws,” Manhit stressed.

He also called on the government to remain firm in its assertion of the Philippines’ rights in the West Philippine Sea.

“It should remain unyielding in its duty to protect Filipinos. With international law on our side, the Marcos Jr administration must take the lead in affirming what is ours and must continue to work with like-minded partners to realize the goal of a secure and stable region,” Manhit noted.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday rejected China’s claims that a promise was made on Ayungin Shoal or other parts of the West Philippine Sea, saying Beijing and Manila have never entered into any agreement that would abandon the latter’s rights over the waters.

On Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy defended the Chinese Coast Guard’s (CCG) dangerous maneuvers and use of water cannons against a Filipino resupply mission that resulted in four injured Filipino service members.

It insisted that Beijing has sovereignty over the Spratlys and accused Manila of breaking ‘commitments to China’ in an apparent reference to a January bilateral meeting to de-escalate tension in the area.

DFA Spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza countered this, noting Manila’s efforts to discuss the issue diplomatically to implement both President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and President Xi Jinping’s instructions to reduce the tensions.

‘China, however, has made references to supposed agreements or arrangements out of these
discussions. The Philippines has not entered into any agreement abandoning its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its EEZ (exclusive economic zone) and continental shelf, including in the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal,’ she said in a press briefing.

‘There’s also no temporary special arrangement existing between the Philippines and China with regard to Ayungin Shoal.’

READ: PH orders Chinese vessels to leave Ayungin ‘immediately’

Daza reiterated that the Filipino resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal are all in line with both domestic and international laws as opposed to China’s entry into another country’s EEZ.

‘(T)hey say that, of course, they own the entire area, that the fishing activities by Chinese fishing boats, what they’re doing in terms of regulation and enforcement are legitimate and lawful and beyond reproach,’ she said.

‘But we’re saying that (it) would be legitimate if they were in their EEZ but they’re not in their EEZ – there’s a big distance away from their EEZ. They’re actually in our EEZ
and because of that, it’s us who will determine what we’ll do in our EEZ, is it not?’

An EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles (NM) from a coastal state’s shore, the very same state that has jurisdiction over resources in that stretch of water.

Ayungin Shoal, which is situated in the West Philippines Sea, is only 106.3 NM from Palawan and at least 617.39 NM from the Chinese mainland – clearly beyond the 200 NM maximum maritime entitlement for an EEZ under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Daza said the Philippine government would continue to protect and uphold the country’s legal maritime entitlements in the West Philippine Sea.

‘We continue to call on China to cease and desist from undertaking actions that violate Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea, and undermine the mutual trust and confidence that should underpin bilateral relations,’ she said.

On top of summoning Chinese Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong to prote
st Beijing’s latest actions off Ayungin Shoal, Daza confirmed that the Philippine Embassy in Beijing has ‘demarched their counterparts’ in the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.

This year alone, the Philippines’ diplomatic protests lodged against Chinese activities in the West Philippine Sea have reached 10.

Source: Philippines News Agency