Day: April 26, 2024

In another conciliatory gesture, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo pleaded with medical professors Friday to remain at their workplaces and with their patients, as they are considering taking weekly breaks in support of the ongoing walkout by junior doctors.

The country’s 13,000 trainee doctors have been on strike through mass resignations since Feb. 20, protesting the government’s decision to significantly increase the medical school enrollment quota. In solidarity with medical interns and residents, medical professors at major general hospitals nationwide have joined the movement.

In an attempt to break the stalemate with the doctors, the government last week accepted a request from the chiefs of six national universities for flexibility in expanding the medical school enrollment quota.

“I earnestly implore the professors. Please continue to stand by the patients as you have done so far, and please persuade your students to return now,” Han said during a meeting with government officials.

Despite the governm
ent’s gesture, more professors have joined the move to offer resignations, even considering the potential suspension of all surgeries and treatments for outpatients once a week.

Han said the government and the people would listen more attentively to the voices of doctors and will accept them more seriously if they return to hospitals.

According to the decision, 32 universities will be permitted to increase their admission quotas freely, with the annual increase ranging between 50 percent and 100 percent, starting in 2025, a turnaround from the previous decision to add 2,000 more medical school admissions in total.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

MANILA: Nine Filipinos, including two para athletes, will serve as volunteers in the 2024 Olympics and Paralympic Games.

Selected among 112 applicants in the program under the French Embassy in coordination with the France Volontaires-Philippines and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission were youth leaders Jeneca Rombaon and John Vincent Balawen, para-athletes Daisy Jane Omega and Brylle Samgel Arombo, athlete-coach Monica Chavez, basketball player Romina Manahan, taekwondo athlete Ezra Balingit, entrepreneur Isaac Jefferson Coloma and multimedia specialist Mari Gabrielle Faro.

A training course for the volunteers was held on April 25 and 26 at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall, constituting lectures aimed to awaken their sense of pride.

They also participated in sports and volunteering activities such as FIBA Draw Festival, Sports first-aid training, French language class, and French Volunteering Day as part of their preparation.

France Volontaires-Philippines national representative Nanette Repa
lpa said the nine volunteers will stay in France from four to eight months.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Hyosung Corp. on Friday reported its first-quarter net profit of 3.4 billion won (US$2.5 million), turning from a loss of 10.4 million won a year earlier.

Operating income for the January-March period was 25.5 billion won, up 115.1 percent from a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales rose 4.6 percent to 836.8 billion won.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

BORONGAN CITY: The visit of Miss Philippines Earth 2024 participants in this city is a big boost not only to the local tourism industry but to increasing awareness of environmental protection, the local government here said.

Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda thanked Carousel Production for bringing the national pageant to the capital city of Eastern Samar to showcase their destination and drumbeat environmental protection.

‘I hope holding the Miss Earth Beachwear competition in our city will increase awareness of how to protect our environment and natural resources,” he said Friday.

Agda also emphasized the need for youths to participate in all city programs, especially on climate adaptation.

The 29 pageant candidates arrived here on April 22 before the beachwear competition, one of the major parts of the Miss Philippines Earth, held at Baybay Beach Thursday evening.

Makati City’s Sam Samara, wearing the creation of Cathy-Mora Capistrano, bagged the gold medal, besting 28 other candidates.

Samara is one of the
crowd favorites and among the hot picks of pageant enthusiasts as the frontrunner for the 2024 edition of Miss Philippines Earth.

Miss Philippines Earth Iligan Kristel Codas bagged the silver medal, and Miss Philippine Earth Matanao, Davao Del Sur Irha Mel Inutan Alfeche won the bronze medal.

Agda thanked the Eastern Samar provincial government for assisting the city in hosting the competition.

Before the beach wear competition, the candidates engaged in various recreation and community work activities.

They visited Ando and Divinubo Island, where they interacted with the residents and engaged in diving and other water activities.

They also toured the Hebacong Sea of Clouds. The local government named the destination “sea of clouds” due to the perfect view of cloud formation from the mountaintop. Mountains seemed to float like islands, resembling a sea of clouds.

Candidates visited San Mateo village and rode a “kangga,’ a sled built out of bamboo drawn by a carabao (water buffalo).

They met students of
San Mateo Elementary School, where they had a reading and storytelling session. They learned bamboo potting from personnel from the city environment and natural resources office while in the village.

They also met with coco coir makers in San Gabriel village and learned the craft while engaging with the residents.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Woori Financial Group Inc. on Friday said its first-quarter net profit dropped by nearly 10 percent on a fall in interest income and a loss from equity ties with its key affiliates, such as Woori Bank.

Its net profit reached 824 billion won (US$599 million) in the first quarter, down 9.8 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating profit for the January-March period fell 8.21 percent on-year to 1.15 trillion won. Revenue increased 2.36 percent to 12.85 trillion won.

Its interest income fell 0.9 percent on-year to 2.19 trillion won in the first quarter, with its non-interest income rising 5.7 percent to 351 billion won.

The group’s net interest margin, the difference between interest received and paid, came to 1.7 percent in the first quarter, up 0.02 percentage point from a year earlier.

Woori Bank suffered an 8.4 percent on-year drop in its net profit to 789 billion won.

Woori Financial said it set aside some 75 billion won in reserves for the compensation of incomp
lete sales involving equity-linked securities products tracking Hong Kong’s H Index, far smaller than its rivals.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

LEGAZPI CITY: The Department of Health-Center for Health Development Bicol (DOH-CHD-5) reported 35 clinical and laboratory cases of the highly contagious respiratory infection pertussis on Friday.

Eleven cases were confirmed through laboratory tests by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, while the others are clinical cases or patients exhibiting symptoms.

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, spreads quickly in the early stage before the coughing begins.

The disease spreads through droplets from cough or sneeze of an infected person. Symptoms include colds, fever and cough that lasts for one to two weeks.

Based on the data of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, the recorded cases are from Albay, 14; Camarines Sur, 12; Sorsogon, 7; and Masbate, 2.

The provinces of Camarines Norte and Catanduanes have no cases.

‘This whooping cough can be followed by vomiting, blacking out or the patient turning blue due to difficulty breathing. When you feel any of the symptoms of pertussis, imm
ediately consult the nearest health center to prevent and provide appropriate medical attention,’ the DOH-CHD-5 news release said.

The health office urges the public to seek medical intervention at once if they experience symptoms.

Source: Philippines News Agency