Day: March 9, 2024

MANILA: A suspected female trafficking victim who pretended to be an International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) agent was barred from leaving by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City on Friday.

In a belated report Saturday, the BI said the 34-year-old was supposed to go to Bangkok, Thailand via an AirAsia flight.

Immigration protection and border enforcement section official Bienvenido Castillo III said the victim presented an identification card and a letter from Protective Intelligence Anti-Crime Organization that she is allowed to travel for a holiday.

However, the assigned BI officer noted inconsistencies in her statements and made her go through secondary inspection.

‘It was then that she admitted that her documents are fake and that she was recruited via Facebook to work as a household service worker in Thailand,’ the BI official in a news release.

The recruiter offered a monthly salary equivalent to PHP40,000, the victim
alleged.

The victim was turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for filing of cases against her recruiters.

‘Our immigration officers are well-trained to spot inconsistencies and fraud, hence such attempts will not succeed,’ BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and security personnel are closely monitoring the ongoing plebiscite for the proposed creation of three additional barangays in Marawi City.

In a statement, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco noted that the eight clustered precincts in the three voting centers of Barangays Dulay, Kilala and Patani, opened at 7 a.m. Saturday.

‘With the complete distribution of the official ballots and other accountable and non-accountable forms, both from the City Treasurer’s Office and the Office of the Election Officer, respectively, early morning today, all eight clustered Precincts in the three voting centers of Barangays Dulay, Kilala and Patani, all in the Islamic City of Marawi, functioned and opened the voting for the 2,265 registered voters participating in these plebiscites,’ he said.

So far, no untoward incident has been reported.

The plebiscites will ratify the creation of three barangays – Sultan Corobong, Sultan Panoroganan, and Angoyao.

Under the proposal,
Barangay Sultan Corobong is to be taken from the mother Barangay of Dulay Proper; Barangay Sultan Panoroganan from Barangay Kilala; and Barangay Angoyao from Barangay Patani.

The counting of the votes will immediately start as soon as the voting closes at 3 p.m.

Laudiangco said the convening of the Barangay Plebiscite Board of Canvassers and commencement of the canvassing of plebiscite returns will begin at 6 p.m.

The proclamation will follow soon after.

The creation of three new barangays, according to Laudiangco, was deemed necessary as the population has increased since the Marawi siege in 2017.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and South Korean firm Miru Systems will sign the contract for the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count (FASTrAC) project on Monday morning.

The poll body announced Saturday that the signing of the 2025 automated election system (AES) service contract worth PHP18 billion will be held at the Chairman’s Hall of its Palacio del Gobernador headquarters in Intramuros, Manila.

Comelec expressed gratitude to the joint venture with Miru Systems Co Ltd, Integrated Computer Systems, St. Timothy Construction Corporation, and Centerpoint Solutions Technologies, Inc. (MIRU-ICS-STCC-CPSTI) for the seamless negotiations.

“Comelec expresses its gratitude to the joint venture for having accepted in toto the terms and conditions of the FASTrAC contract, interposing no objections to the line-by-line provisions of the contract, and making a steadfast commitment to deliver the best election technology demanded by Comelec for all Filipinos here and abroad,” the poll b
ody said in a news release.

The commission en banc, headed by chair George Garcia, and members Commissioners Socorro Inting, Marlon Casquejo, Aimee Ferolino, Rey Bulay, Ernesto Ferdinand Maceda, Jr. and Nestor Celis will attend the signing.

On Feb. 22, the Comelec en banc declared MIRU-ICS-STCC-CPSTI as the “Single Calculated and Responsive Bid” with a bid offer of PHP17,988,878,226.55.

The poll body said all legal, technical and financial documents submitted were deemed qualified.

Source: Philippines News Agency

BANGKOK: The Philippine government, through the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), shared its efforts in crafting regional Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Catch-Up Plans during the 11th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) held recently at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand.

NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon, who served as vice chair of the 11th APFSD, emphasized the government’s efforts to incorporate the SDGs in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028.

‘The 2030 Agenda has proven to be invaluable in cultivating a deep understanding of the interlinkages among economic, social, and environmental outcomes. We have gone to great lengths to incorporate the SDGs in our Philippine Development Plan, while reshaping our objective from recovery to steering the economy towards a high-growth, inclusive, and resilient trajectory,’ Edillon said in a news release Saturday.

Despite the country’s accomplishments in the first year of implementing the
PDP 2023-2028, overall progress towards the SDGs remains slow.

In line with this, Edillon shared that the government has begun capacitating regional stakeholders in formulating SDG Catch-Up Plans using local data and the Every Policy is Connected Tool developed by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

‘The sub-national catch-up plans intend to accelerate local initiatives on regressing SDGs indicators based on the Philippines’ SDG Pace of Progress,’ Edillon said.

In closing, Edillon encouraged country delegates to renew their commitment to the SDGs and intensify efforts towards achieving the Goals.

‘The 2030 Agenda is more than just a matter of meeting deadlines. Ultimately, it is about the pursuit of a better life for all of us, in which no one is left behind,’ Edillon said.

The APFSD, held Feb. 20 to 23, is an annual intergovernmental forum designed to support the follow-up and review of progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the regional level.

It serves as a regional preparatory meeting for the 2024 High-Level Political Forum in New York.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The Lotte Scholarship Foundation:he Lotte Scholarship Foundation, an international group from South Korea, and the provincial government of Pangasinan and other higher educational institutions have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to allot 80 slots to students in the province.

The students will be selected from Pangasinan Polytechnic College (PPC), Pangasinan State University, Binalatongan Community College of the local government of San Carlos City, and University of Eastern Pangasinan of Binalonan.

The scholarship grant will cover Academic Year 2024-2025.

For the PPC, the 20 scholars will be among its first batch of students when its academic program starts in August.

Vice Governor Lambino, in an interview on Saturday, said the partnership with Lotte was initiated through the linkages of the provincial government.

‘Lotte Foundation approached the provincial government of Pangasinan. They were presenting opportunities and partnerships here in the province. As stated in the agreement, it is
within the discretion of the educational institutions kung sino ang bibigyan. They (Lotte) screened the four schools, tinignan ‘yung background at nakita naman na being local universities, colleges and the state university, may mga students naman talaga sila na pinaka-underprivileged, marginalized at nangangailangan ng (and went over their background and found out that they really have underprivileged and marginalized students in need of) assistance,’ he said.

‘The MOU does not state the number of years of the scholarship (coverage). It would vary depending on the educational institutions and the course. Just like any scholarship grant, there are maintaining qualifications, academics, behavior, all found in the internal guidelines of each institution,’ he added.

Chang Haesun, chair of Lotte Scholarship Foundation, said they want to support Philippine students whom they hope to become great leaders someday.

She said the scholarship is very important for her as education is the base of everything.

‘I am ple
ased to sign the MOU with the educational leaders of Pangasinan. I am especially very thankful to the governor, vice governor, president of the universities and other associates. I appreciate the cooperation. Lotte Foundation was established 40 years ago and has been providing 3.8 billion (won) to foster global talents,’ Chang said during the signing at the capitol in Lingayen town Friday.

In an interview after the program, she said Lotte Foundation has partnered with 38 schools worldwide in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Cambodia, Thailand and now the Philippines.

The foundation’s scholarship budget is about 400 billion won (about PHP16 billion).

Goveror Ramon Guico III is likewise elated over the partnership.

‘I would like to assure our partners that the governor, vice governor and all the stakeholders and officials of our partner institutions and agencies will play an active role. We will be very much involved in a lot of the programs that you would like to give to the province and to the hig
her educational institutions,’ he said.:

Source: Philippines News Agency

BEIJING: China’s national oil giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) made an oilfield discovery with a volume of 100 million tons in the eastern South China Sea, the company announced on Friday.

The new reserve was found in the Kaiping South Oilfield, 300 kilometers off the coast of Guangdong province in the south of the country.

Through continued exploration, the proved in-place volume of Kaiping South Oilfield reached 102 million tons of oil equivalent.

The exploratory well has been tested to produce an average of approximately 7,680 barrels of crude oil and 0.52 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

‘Kaiping South Oilfield is China’s first deep-water and deep-play oilfield with proven in-place volume over a hundred million tons,’ Xu Changgui, deputy chief exploration officer of CNOOC, said.

‘The Company remains committed to oil and gas resources exploration and development in the South China Sea, thereby continuously enhancing its energy supply capacity,’ Zhou Xinhuai, CEO and pres
ident of the company, said.

CNOOC aims to produce 700 to 720 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2024, with 69 percent coming from China and the remainder from overseas operations.

Source: Philippines News Agency