Day: May 5, 2024

MANILA: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered the creation of an inter-agency coordinating council to consolidate the master list of all government lands to ensure optimal use.

In his Administrative Order (AO) No. 21 signed by Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin on April 30, Marcos said one of the key strategies identified in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 to establish liveable communities ‘is the creation of a database containing a complete inventory of idle government lands.’

‘To ensure the efficient and effective allocation and utilization of land resources for the country’s national development goals, it is necessary to consolidate a comprehensive list of all government lands,’ Marcos said in the AO.

The coordinating council will be co-chaired by the heads of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) as co-chairpersons while the Department of Agriculture (DA) will serve as vice chair.

Members of
the Coordinating Council are the Office of the Executive Secretary; Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG); DA; Office of the Solicitor General (OSG); Department of Justice (DOJ); Land Registration Authority (LRA); Commission on Higher Education (CHED); and the Department of Information and Communications (DICT).

The DENR-Land Management Bureau (LMB) will serve as the Secretariat of the Coordinating Council.

All government offices are tasked to submit to the body their respective land inventories for consolidation.

Meanwhile, the coordinating council is tasked to submit to the President within 180 days from the effectivity of the implementing guidelines of AO 21 a digital master list of all government lands.

The AO 21 shall take effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.

Source: Philippines News agency

MANILA: Heat index in at least 16 areas may reach ‘danger level’ on Sunday, according to the weather bureau.

The heat index or what the temperature feels like to the human body, could peak at 48°C in Aparri, Cagayan; 47°C in Dagupan City, Pangasinan; and 45°C in Virac, Catanduanes; according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

Heat indices ranging from 42°C to 44°C are likely in the following areas:

Laoag City, Ilocos Norte – 44°C

Dagupan City, Pangasinan – 47°C

Batac, Ilocos Norte – 42°C

Bacnotan, La Union – 44°C

Aparri, Cagayan – 48°C

Tuguegarao City, Cagayan – 43°C

Echague, Isabela – 42°C

Casiguran, Aurora – 42°C

Puerto Princesa City, Palawan – 42°C

Cuyo, Palawan – 42°C

Virac, Catanduanes – 45°C

Masbate City, Masbate – 43°C

Roxas City, Capiz – 42°C

Dumangas, Iloilo – 42°C

Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur – 42°C

Cotabato City, Maguindanao – 42°C

The weather bureau pegged danger level heat index between 41°C to 51°C, wherein heat c
ramps and heat exhaustion are likely while continued exposure could cause heat stroke.

Fair weather

Meanwhile, PAGASA reported that the country will continue to experience generally fair weather on Sunday.

In its 24-hour weather forecast, the weather bureau said Metro Manila and the rest of the archipelago will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers due to the easterlies and localized thunderstorms.

Possible flash floods or landslides may occur during severe thunderstorms, it warned.

Light to moderate winds and slight to moderate seas will also prevail across the country, PAGASA said.

Source: Philippines News agency

More than 1,000 civil documents were wrongly issued from the government’s online civil service portal, Government 24, last month, leading to the leak of personal information, the interior ministry said Sunday.

The documents — 646 graduation and other certificates, and 587 corporate tax payment certificates — were issued under the name of the wrong individual or business representative, exposing sensitive personal information, including names, addresses and resident registration numbers, according to the ministry.

The services have been restored to normal, it said, blaming the error on the program developer’s mistake.

The ministry said the wrongly issued documents have been deleted and those whose personal information was leaked have been informed via phone or mail.

It also said the cases were reported to the Personal Information Protection Commission under relevant regulations.

“We currently do not know the details of the leak and are looking into how far the leaked information has spread,” a commissi
on official said. “It’s unclear yet when the results of the investigation will come out.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Sixty-three flights have been canceled on the southern resort island of Jeju due to adverse weather conditions, officials said Sunday.

According to officials from Jeju International Airport, 29 arrivals and 34 departures had been canceled as of 5 p.m.

Strong wind warnings have been issued for the island, with an advisory for wind shear also in effect at the airport.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) asked air passengers to check their flight schedules in advance as the bad weather is expected to affect Jeju Island until Monday morning.

Meanwhile, rain was falling across much of the country as of 2 p.m., with gusty wind, thunder and lightning in some places, according to the weather agency.

In the mountainous areas of Jeju Island and some regions of South Jeolla Province, heavy rain warnings were issued, while heavy rain advisories were posted for other regions of South Jeolla and the Gyeongsang provinces.

Due to the rain, most outdoor festive events for Children’s Day were canceled, with fi
ve professional baseball games postponed.

The KMA said an accumulated 30 to 80 millimeters of rain is forecast to fall in most of the country, including regions of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, until Tuesday, with 50 to 150 mm on Jeju Island.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Forty flights have been canceled on the southern resort island of Jeju due to adverse weather conditions, officials said Sunday.

According to officials from Jeju International Airport, 20 arrivals and 20 departures had been canceled as of noon.

Strong wind warnings have been issued for the island, with an advisory for wind shear also in effect at the airport.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) asked air passengers to check their flight schedules in advance as the bad weather is expected to affect Jeju Island until Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, rain was falling across much of the country as of 2 p.m., with gusty wind, thunder and lightning in some places, according to the weather agency.

In the mountainous areas of Jeju Island and some regions of South Jeolla Province, heavy rain warnings were issued, while heavy rain advisories were posted for other regions of South Jeolla and the Gyeongsang provinces.

Due to the rain, most outdoor festive events for Children’s Day were canceled, with five pro
fessional baseball games postponed.

The KMA said an accumulated 30 to 80 millimeters of rain is forecast to fall in most of the country, including regions of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, until Tuesday, with 50 to 150 mm on Jeju Island.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

NEW YORK: Marking the World Press Freedom Day on Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted an uptick in violence against journalists covering environmental issues, which made the profession increasingly dangerous.

The UN chief said journalists and media professionals ‘have a key role in informing and educating’ the public about the world’s current environmental and climate emergency that threatens future generations.

Through this work, people could better understand environmental factors affecting the world and advocate for change, he said.

However, based on recent UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) reports, journalists, especially environmental journalists, face violent attacks and even death for simply doing their job.

‘Dozens of journalists covering illegal mining, logging, poaching and other environmental issues have been killed in recent decades,’ Guterres said, adding that vast majority of cases, ‘no one has been held accountable.’

UNESCO’s report analyzed
the violence environmental journalists face.

The report found that journalists and news outlets reporting on environmental issues dealt with about 750 attacks in the past 15 years, the Secretary-General said.

44 killed over 5 decades

In an interview with UN News, Guilherme Canela, UNESCO’s chief of freedom of expression and safety of journalists, said the report found that 70 percent of journalists doing environmental reporting dealt with at least one form of violence, and a quarter of the surveyed reporters dealt with legal attacks.

Additionally, Canela said that over the past 50 years, 44 journalists covering environmental stories were killed.

He said it is important to remember that journalists are important observers of conflict zones.

They provide lifesaving information for civilian populations affected by these conflicts.

‘UNESCO is sounding the alarm that we need to take care of the protection of those journalists covering environmental issues,” he said, “because raising that awareness about wha
t’s going on in the environment and holding powerful actors accountable is essential to face the current environmental challenges that the planet is having.’

Thirty years after the historic Santiago Declaration, which advanced media independence and pluralism, UNESCO reaffirms its worldwide commitment to defending press freedom of expression.

World Press Freedom Day is dedicated to the importance of journalism and freedom of expression in the current global environmental crisis.

Source: Philippines News agency