MALACAÑANG PROPOSES P9-BILLION BUDGET FOR MARCOS’ OFFICE IN 2023

Malacañang has asked Congress for a P9-billion budget for 2023, including a proposed P4.5 billion for confidential and intelligence funds.

As stated in the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP) submitted to the House of Representatives for deliberation on Monday, the Office of the President (OP) proposed a P9,031,722,000 budget to sustain its operation for next year.

In fiscal year 2022, the office of then President Rodrigo Duterte was appropriated P8.23 billion budget for its expenses.

Duterte received P4.5 billion in confidential and intelligence funds.

The proposed amount for Marcos' office includes P62.7 million in retirement and life insurance premiums of employees.

The bulk of the budget will go to Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (P6.87 billion), while Personal Services will have P1.56 billion and Capital Outlay will get P590 million.

For confidential expenses, Malacañang is proposing P2.25 billion and another P2.25 billion for intelligence fund.

The NEP states that intelligence expenses are those related to intelligence information gathering activities of uniformed and military personnel as well as intelligence practitioners that have direct impact to national security.

Confidential expenses refer to those related to surveillance activities in civilian government agencies that are intended to support the mandate or operations of the agency.

On Monday, the Department of Budget and Management submitted to the House the proposed P5.268 trillion national budget for 2023.

The education sector, composed of the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, and state universities and colleges, remains the highest budgetary priority as mandated by the Constitution. The DBM said the sector would receive an 8.2% increase at P852.8 billion.

Infrastructure programs have been allotted a total of P1.196 trillion, seen to spur economic recovery following the pandemic-induced slump.

FLORITA NOW A SEVERE TROPICAL STORM, SIGNAL NO. 3 RAISED IN CAGAYAN, ISABELA AREAS

MANILA — PAGASA on Tuesday morning placed parts of Cagayan and Isabela provinces under Tropical Wind Cyclone Signal No. 3 as Severe Tropical Storm Florita (Ma-on) moves closer to land.

Florita, which intensified to a severe tropical storm early Tuesday, was last seen over the coastal waters of Palanan, Isabela. The cyclone has peak winds of 95 kph near the center and gusts of up to 115 kph.

Heading north northwest at 20 kph, Florita is forecast to make a landfall in the vicinity of northern Isabela (coast of Palanan, Maconacon or Divilacan)  this morning or in the vicinity of Cagayan (coast of Gattaran, Baggao, or Peñablanca) before noon or by early afternoon.

What to expect

According to PAGASA, heavy to intense with at times torrential rains will be experienced in Cagayan, Isabela, Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos region, and Zambales this Tuesday.

Residents of the northern portion of Aurora, Bataan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, and the rest of Cagayan Valley will experience moderate to heavy with at times intense rains.

Meanwhile, light to moderate with at times heavy rains will affect Camarines Norte and the rest of Central Luzon.

In the next 24 hours, gusts reaching strong breeze to near gale strength may be experienced in Metro Manila, Zambales, Bataan, Mindoro provinces, Marinduque, Romblon, Northern Samar, Antique, Aklan, and the remaining areas of Calabarzon and Bicol region, especially in the coastal and mountainous areas.

PAGASA also said that a gale warning remains in effect over the seaboards of Northern and Central Luzon, most of the seaboards of Southern Luzon, and western seaboards of Visayas due to Florita and the southwest monsoon or habagat.

The severe tropical storm and the southwest monsoon will also bring moderate to rough seas over the remaining seaboards of Southern Luzon and Visayas. PAGASA warned these conditions may be risky for those using small seacrafts.

It reported that there were three incidents of rain-induced landslide in Ilocos region and Bicol region and two flooding incidents in Ilocos region.

The agency also said that one bridge in Cagayan Valley and three roads in Bicol region are not passable.

After its expected landfall, Florita will traverse Northern Luzon and emerge over the West Philippine Sea tonight. It is forecast to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility Wednesday morning.

PRESIDENT MARCOS SWEARS IN NEW SRA, PAGCOR OFFICIALS

MANILA — President Marcos yesterday swore in newly appointed officials of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) as the government stepped up efforts to address supply issues threatening to hike food and beverage prices.

Officials of SRA and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) were scheduled to take their oath before Marcos in Malacañang yesterday afternoon.

Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles confirmed that the oath-taking ceremony pushed through but the list of appointees was not immediately available.

The President has appointed David John Thaddeus Alba as acting SRA administrator, replacing Hermenegildo Serafica, who resigned from his post.

Other new appointees in the agency are Pablo Luis Azcona, who replaced Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. as representative of sugar planters, and Mitzi Mangwag, who succeeded Roland Beltran as representative of sugar millers.

Marcos reconstituted the Sugar Regulatory Board in the wake of a controversy involving the issuance of an order to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar without his permission.

Marcos cited the need to consume local supply and to ensure that the importation of agricultural products won’t be excessive.

The President, however, has said the Philippines may import 150,000 metric tons of sugar as the supply of the commodity is expected to dwindle in October.

SUGAR COST SEEN TO DROP TO P60/KL AFTER STOCKS FOUND IN WAREHOUSES

From a high of more than P100 per kilo, the retail price of refined sugar is expected to go down to P60 per kilo with the “discovery of thousands of stocks” in warehouses in Bulacan and Pampanga, senior Agriculture undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said.

Panganiban, a former Agriculture chief, said that more raids will be conducted on warehouses in the Visayas and Mindanao.

“We expect to bring down the retail price of refined sugar between P60 and P65 per kilo. We have enough sugar supply following the discovery of thousands of stocks in Bulacan and Pampanga,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs on Monday implemented a Letter of Authority (LOA) and Mission Order (MO) issued and signed by Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz against a warehouse in Caloocan City that held an estimated P231 million worth of rice and sugar.

Customs officers said 66,000 sacks of rice and 13,000 sacks of sugar—all at 50 kilos each—that originated from Thailand and Vietnam were in the two big warehouses in a compound at 448 Kabutuhan Street, Deparo Road, Brgy. 168, Caloocan City.

The LOA and MO were issued against the owner, representative, or whoever is in possession of the “imported goods” in the storage, BOC said in a statement.

OPENING OF IN-PERSON CLASSES 'PEACEFUL, ORDERLY': DEPED, NCRPO

MANILA — The opening of school year 2022-2023 nationwide Monday was peaceful and orderly, the Department of Education said.

Millions of mask-wearing students returned to schools across the country after 2 years of distance learning due to COVID-19. Some 28 million learners are enrolled this year.

With over 9,700 police officers deployed in schools in Metro Manila to secure students, no untoward incidents were recorded during the resumption of face-to-face classes yesterday.

“We have not recorded any school-related security incidents. The opening of classes was generally peaceful and orderly,” National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) spokesman Lt. Col. Dexter Versola said.

"Based on the reports given to us by the regional directors yesterday, we've been monitoring the situation since around 4 or 5 a.m., maayos naman po ang naging pagbabalik-eskuwela natin," DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa told ANC Tuesday.

"It was very orderly. It was very peaceful."

The NCRPO set up over 500 police assistance desks near schools to respond to security and order concerns of parents and students.

While the NCRPO did not record any untoward incident during the school opening, Versola said traffic congestion was a concern for students and parents.

“We hope that traffic enforcers from local government units can address this,” he said.

SOME CLASSES CANCELED DUE TO ‘FLORITA’, NCR TRAFFIC MANAGEABLE

Several parts of the country suspended classes due to bad weather on Monday, as the cyclone “Florita” strengthened into a tropical storm just as schools opened for the new academic year.

In Metro Manila, however, the expected traffic from the first day of the school year 2022-23 and the rains that had prevailed over the last week did not develop.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has described as “manageable” the morning traffic situation in the metropolis during the first day of face-to-face classes at all school levels.

Citing initial reports from the office of Traffic Engineering Office director Noemie Recio, MMDA chief information officer Sharon Gentalian said: “The traffic was manageable because the expected volume of vehicles did not happen, except for the traffic build-up at the De La Salle (Greenhills) and Ateneo (universities), which was also immediately fixed in less than an hour.”

In Cagayan, the provincial government canceled classes from the pre-school to primary level, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.

In Albay, the local governments suspended classes at all levels in the towns of Daraga and Polangui.

Mayor Paul Chino Garcia of Guinobatan town also canceled classes at all levels due to the threat of flooding.

In Oas town, Mayor Domingo Escoto Jr. suspended classes at elementary and high school levels.

Several parts of Luzon were placed under Signal No. 2 due to rains dumped by Florita.

The storm was last spotted 215 kilometers east of Casiguran, Aurora, and was expected to make landfall in the east coast of Cagayan or northern Isabela by Tuesday afternoon, according to PAGASA.

VP: NOTHING TO STOP CLASSES

A classroom shortage is no excuse to keep children out of schools, Vice President and concurrent Education Secretary Sara Duterte said Monday as millions of students returned to schools that had been locked down for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We cannot make the lack of educational infrastructure or the inadequate number of classrooms in certain provinces another excuse to keep our children from schools,” Duterte said at the National School Opening Day Program at the Dinalupihan Elementary School in Bataan.

At the same time, Duterte said the pandemic can no longer be a reason to keep children from attending face-to-face classes.

“We cannot afford to delay the education of the Filipino youth any longer,” she said. “We need to get them back to in-person learning because with it, they will get a meaningful, adequate or proper, and quality education.”

Duterte also said the resumption of in-person classes on Monday was a “victory” for basic education, including the teaching and non-teaching staff, parents, local government units, and other education stakeholders.

DOH: NON-TRAVELER 4TH CONFIRMED MONKEYPOX CASE

The country confirmed its fourth case of monkeypox on Monday in a Filipino with no documented travel history to or from any country with cases of the disease.

The Department of Health said the 25-year-old patient was confirmed positive on Aug. 19 through a PCR test. Fourteen close contacts have been identified.

“[The case] is being cared for and is admitted in an isolation facility,” the DOH said.

“All four confirmed monkeypox cases in the Philippines are unrelated to each other,” it added.

The first case has already recovered and been discharged from isolation as of August 6. The second and third cases are still in home isolation and in stable condition. No new contacts of the first three cases have been identified,” it added.

As for the fourth case, one close contact is currently taking care of the patient in the isolation facility, while six are undergoing quarantine.

Another is a healthcare worker who had complete personal protection equipment at the time of consultation and is now self-monitoring. Details of the other six are being verified.

EDUCATION REMAINS PRIORITY FOR FILIPINO FAMILIES: PHINMA EDUCATION

Education remains a priority even for cash-strapped Filipinos as seen in the growth of PHINMA Education which is focused on serving the underserved youth, its president and CEO Chito Salazar said.

In the past 2 years or during the COVID-19 pandemic, PHINMA said it has grown about 30 percent to 94,000 students from 74,000, Salazar told ANC.

“I think this is a story of how important education is to our families, even in difficult and challenging times, they want to go to school and they do see education as a way to improve their life and way out of poverty,” Salazar said.

Tertiary education operators face the challenge of freshmen coming in with lower reading and math skills, he said.

Producing graduates with the necessary skills for the job market is what makes an educational institution successful, he said.

Although PHINMA managed to help and improve students under its care, which was about 125,000 this year, there are millions of students in the Philippines who need to get out of the country’s learning crisis, Salazar said.

Schools in the Philippines returned to in-person classes on Aug. 22.

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PHILIPPINES LOGS 23,883 COVID-19 CASES IN PAST WEEK; 321 DEATHS REPORTED

MANILA — The Philippines logged 23,883 additional COVID-19 cases in the past week, the Department of Health said Monday.

From Aug. 15 to 21, the country recorded an average of 3,412 daily infections, which is 15 percent lower compared to the previous week, according to the health department's latest bulletin.

This is the fourth straight week that weekly cases reached 20,000, said the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group.

The country recorded 24,101 cases in the week of July 25 to 31, and 27,315 cases from Aug. 1 to 7, based on the DOH COVID-19 data drop. In the week of Aug. 8 to 14, the health department reported 28,008 infections, based on its case bulletin.

Last week's tally was the lowest in 4 weeks or since the week of July 18 to 24, when 19,428 cases were logged in the DOH data drop, ABS-CBN IRG added.

TIAMZONS KILLED IN BOAT EXPLOSION? MILITARY MUM ON DETAILS OF INCIDENT

Tacloban City—Top communist leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon were reportedly killed in a boat explosion in Catbalogan City, Samar on Monday morning, an initial report showed.

The Philippine Army in Eastern Visayas, however, has yet to confirm that the two leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army were the ones killed in the explosion.

Armed Forces of the Philippines – Joint Task Form Storm (AFP-JTF) commander Maj. Gen. Edgardo De Leon confirmed, “indeed there was a waterborne interdiction operation conducted against a hostile motorized boat.”

He said the AFP is currently verifying the personalities involved in the boat explosion even as he acknowledged that there was “a report of an apparent movement of a group of NPA members traveling by sea.”

Benito Tiamzon was reportedly a former secretary general of the CPP’s Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee.

Authorities said he later rose to become chairman of the Communist Party and head of the group’s executive committee, while Wilma is the CPP’s secretary general and also a member of the central executive committee.

“A tipster sent information that a group of armed individuals boarded a motorized boat with boxes from a shoreline north of Catbalogan City.

Soldiers immediately conducted a water-borne interdiction operation at the reported vicinity.”

“Upon approach to the suspected boat, a megaphone was used to advise the passengers to submit for plain view inspection,” said JTF spokesperson Captain Ryan Layug.

Layug said passengers from the motorized boat fired shots toward the government troops.

“An encounter ensued. During the gunfight, for reasons still being determined, the hostile boat suddenly exploded,” Layug said.

NEW OIL PRICES: LPG P2.80, DIESEL P2.60, GAS P0.70

The country’s oil firms implemented a pump price hike of as much as P2.80 per liter effective 6 a.m. Tuesday to reflect the movement of prices in the world market.

The firms raised the price of kerosene by P2.80 per liter, diesel by P2.60 per liter, and gasoline by P0.70 per liter, ending two consecutive weeks of rollbacks across all petroleum products and seven straight weekly price cuts for diesel.

“Petron will implement the following price increases effective 6 a.m. on August 23: P0.70 per liter for gasoline; P2.60 per liter for diesel, and P2.80 per liter for kerosene. These reflect movements in the international oil market,” Petron Corp. said in its advisory.

Seaoil Philippines, Chevron Philippines, Cleanfuel, Phoenix Petroleum, and PTT Philippines also raised pump prices.

Last week, the Department of Energy (DOE) predicted a possible oil price hike due to the movement of prices in the world market.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

VETERAN DIRECTOR ROMY V. SUZARA, PUMANAW NA

MAYNILA -- Namaalam na ang veteran director na si Romy V. Suzara, na kilala sa mga 'di malilimutan niyang pelikula tulad ng “Sarah Ang Munting Prinsesa,” “Medalyang Ginto,” ang biopic ni Lydia de Vega, “Cedie,” “ Kokey” at marami pang obra.

Ayon sa pinuno ng Movie Workers Welfare Foundation (Mowelfund) na si Rez Cortez, sumakabilang buhay si Suzara alas dos ng hapon sa Philippine Heart Center sanhi ng komplikasyon sa sakit ng puso.

Walumpu’t tatlong taong gulang si Suzara na ipinagdiwang kamakailan ang kanyang kaarawan nitong Hulyo.

Labas pasok na si Suzara sa ospital nitong nakaraang mga taon, ayon kay Cortez na kabilang sa mga huling taong nakipag-ugnayan kay Suzara.

Bago nagkasakit, nakibahagi pa si Suzara sa ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya sa restoration ng “Sa Init ng Apoy” na 1980 movie nina Lorna Tolentino at yumaong kabiyak na si Rudy Fernandez.

Tinuring na versatile na filmmaker simula dekada '70 si Suzara, na tumatak din sa mga pelikulang ginawa nila ni Fernandez tulad ng “Pepeng Shotgun” at “Bingbong Crisologo Story.”

Kasama si Mario O’ Hara, dinirek din niya ang “Mga Bilanggong Birhen” nina Armida Siguion Reyna at Alma Moreno, gayundin ang “Mga Uod at Rosas” nina Nora Aunor, Johnny Delgado at Tolentino, at “Vilma and the Beep Beep Minica” kasama si Vilma Santos.

Tumulong din siya sa stunts production ng 1973 movie na “Darna and the Giants” ni Vilma.

Bago magpandemya, si Suzara din ang nagdirek ng regular Sunday mass sa ABS-CBN na “The Healing Eucharist.”

Isasapinal pa ng Mowelfund at pamilya Suzara ang mga detalye ng kanyang libing.

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 56.21

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes His creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious ourselves. - Albert Einstein