NBI PRESSES RAPS vs 20 TAGGED IN ‘PASTILLAS’ SCAM

MANILA — The National Bureau of Investigation has asked the Office of the

Ombudsman to suspend and prosecute 19 immigration officers it found to have

been running a clandestine escort service known as the “pastillas” racket

that catered mostly to Chinese nationals planning to work in the country

illegally.

NBI Special Action Unit chief Emeterio Dongallo Jr. on Wednesday said the

preventive suspension would “preclude” the airport officers of the Bureau of

Immigration (BI) from influencing any subsequent investigation.

Chinese national Liya Wu, owner of Empire International Travel and Tours in

Binondo, Manila, was also held legally liable for the corruption of public

officials by conniving with some of the BI officers in sending the

“undesirable aliens” to the country, Dongallo said.

In a statement, the immigration bureau welcomed the charges against its

officers, saying they would be given the “opportunity to defend themselves

in the proper forum.”

“We are one with the campaign of the government to get rid of corruption and

make those erring personnel accountable before the court of law,” the bureau

said in a statement.

After a five-month probe, the NBI said in a letter to the Ombudsman on

Tuesday that it found that the 19 immigration officers had violated the

antigraft law, or Republic Act No. 3019.

39 FILIPINOS MISSING AS JAPAN COAST GUARD HUNTS FOR MISSING CARGO SHIP

TOKYO, Japan — A cargo vessel with at least 43 foreign crew members went

missing while transiting the East China Sea on Wednesday, the Japanese coast

guard said.

The crew reportedly includes 39 Filipinos, two New Zealanders, an Australian

and a Singaporean.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Ed Meñez said the DFA is checking with

its posts in Japan to confirm the report.

Japanese local media also said the ship was carrying 5,800 cows.

Japan's coast guard said Wednesday one person was found during a search for

a cargo ship with 43 people on board after receiving a distress call from

the East China Sea during a typhoon.

An alarm signal was received in the early hours from a vessel around 185

kilometres (115 miles) west of Japan's Amami Oshima island, the coast guard

said.

It said it believed the call for help had been sent by a ship called Gulf

Livestock 1, on its way to the Chinese port of Tangshan from Napier in New

Zealand.

Four coast guard vessels and several planes were involved in the

search-and-rescue operation.

HOUSE OKS BILL DECLARING SEPT. 11 ‘PRESIDENT FERDINAND EDRALIN MARCOS DAY’

IN ILOCOS NORTE

MANILA — The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on final reading

the bill declaring September 11 a special nonworking holiday in Ilocos Norte

to commemorate the birth anniversary of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

With 197 affirmative votes, 9 negative, and one abstention, the lower

chamber approved House Bill No. 7137 declaring September 11 as “President

Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Day” in Ilocos Norte.

The bill was authored by Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ria Fariñas, Ilocos

Norte 2nd District Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba, and Probinsyano Ako Rep. Rudys

Caesar Fariñas.

In 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte, through a proclamation, declared

September 11 as a Special Non-Working Day in Ilocos Norte to mark MarcosÂ’

birth anniversary.

Various progressive groups have expressed dismay over a proposal to make

Sep. 11 an Ilocos Norte holiday in commemoration of former President

Ferdinand Marcos, asking whether people should celebrate the life of a

“dictator and plunderer.”

Bayan Muna Rep. Eufemia Cullamat and rights group Karapatan said that this

move at the House of Representatives — which just approved the bill on

Wednesday — merely sought to rewrite the dark history of the Marcos martial

regime.

“What kind of thinking is this that calls for the celebration of a plunderer

of the countryÂ’s coffers and a killer? This is a big desecration of our

history,” Cullamat said in Filipino.

“The bill seeks to deodorize the image of a murderer, a plunderer and a

criminal. It is a grave disgrace to the memory of martial law victims and

survivors, who have been violated many times over by the Marcos

dictatorship,” Karapatan Secretary-General Cristina Palabay added in a

separate statement.

SENATE BILL SEEKS CREATION OF NATÂ’L PLAN ON HEALTH SECURITY, EMERGENCIES

MANILA — Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a bill seeking the creation of a

comprehensive national action plan to address public health security and

emergencies similar to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In filing Senate Bill No. 1801 or the proposed Philippine Public Health

Security and Emergency Act of 2020, Hontiveros also pushed for the

establishment of a multi-sectoral body that will better coordinate

government response to health crises.

“The pandemic has taught us painful lessons about the country’s preparedness

and readiness in responding to health emergencies. Maraming buhay at

kabuhayan ang nawala dahilan sa hindi malinaw na sistema at hindi epektibong

polisiya [Many lives and jobs have been lost due to the lack of clear

systems and policies],” she said.

“Moving forward, government must have better public health security plans

and mechanisms in place that are continuously updated to reflect past

lessons and best practices,” she added

According to Hontiveros, her bill will mandate the establishment of the

Philippine National Plan for Public Health Security and Emergency (PNAPHSE).

The PNAPHSE, she explained, is a framework that will review the governmentÂ’s

capacity to respond to health emergencies and compliance with international

health regulations.

It will also identify risks and create a multi-hazard emergency response

plan.

GOVERNMENT DEBT SURGES TO P9.16 TRILLION IN JULY

The national government's debt stock ballooned to P9.16 trillion as of

end-July, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

Borrowings to address the coronavirus pandemic have translated to more

liabilities. Broken down, peso-denominated obligations rose 1.1% from June

to P6.2 trillion, while their foreign counterparts went up 1.5% to P2.9

trillion.

Since end-2019, state debt have increased 18.5% and a further uptick

appeared inevitable. By yearend the Duterte administration projects debt to

hit P10.16 trillion.

GIERRAN’S ANTI-FRAUD, ACCOUNTING BACKGROUNDS TO HELP CLEAN UP PHILHEALTH —

DUQUE

MANILA — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Thursday expressed

confidence that newly-appointed Philippine Health Insurance Corporation

(PhilHealth) chief Dante GierranÂ’s anti-fraud background will be put to

good use in leading the embattled state-run insurance firm.

Duque noted that there is no doubt that Gierran, former director of the

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has the characteristics needed for a

PhilHealth president and chief executive officer and that he could

contribute to the development of the agency.

“Wala namang kaduda-duda doon dahil abogado siya tapos CPA (certified public

accountant) pa. Meron din siyang karanasan sa mga fraud, sa anti-fraud

activities. Hindi siya pwedeng paikutan dahil marunong siya sa lahat ng mga

anti-fraud activities, sa financial systems fraud. Lahat ‘yang mga ‘yan,

alam niya yan,” he said in an interview on ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.

P1.2 BILLION LOST IN RACKET USING FAKE PHILHEALTH RECEIPTS

MANILA — Some P1.2 billion in contributions from migrant Filipino workers

has been lost to fraud in Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth)

that involved the use of fake receipts, a former employee of the state-run

health insurer told a hearing at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

During the House inquiry into allegations of irregularities in PhilHealth,

Ken Sarmiento, the former employee, told a joint hearing held by the

committees on government and on public accounts how company officials failed

to press charges against the people behind the fake receipts fraud that the

Inquirer exposed through a series of investigative reports in June last

year.

Sarmiento detailed how he, as then senior auditing systems specialist on

PhilHealthÂ’s overseas Filipinos program, discovered the use of fake receipts

to cover for migrantsÂ’ contributions that their recruitment agencies

collected from them but never remitted to the company.

Official estimates have placed PhilHealth losses in the racket at P1.6

billion, according to Anakalusugan Rep. Michael Defensor, head of the public

accounts committee.

The modus operandi involved liaison officers of recruitment agencies

collecting migrantsÂ’ P2,400 premiums and issuing them fake receipts provided

by unscrupulous PhilHealth employees.

The fake receipts carried control numbers copied from genuine receipts

issued earlier to other PhilHealth members.

DUQUE ON RESIGNATION CALLS: ‘WHAT ELSE DO I HAVE TO PROVE?’

MANILA — “What else do I have to prove?”

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III posed this question on Thursday as he

reacted to critics who are calling for his resignation.

In an interview with ABS-CBNÂ’s Teleradyo, Duque, who sits as chairman of the

Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), urged groups calling

for his resignation to wait first for the result of the investigation now

being conducted by the Task Force PhilHealth on the alleged anomalies in the

state insurance firm.

“Trabaho lang kasi ito lahat. Unang-una, hindi naman tayo humingi nitong

trabaho na ito. Tayo ay inanyayahan ng Pangulo na tulungan sya sa kanyang

administrasyon, dahil alam naman ninyo na dati na akong naging kalihim

diba?” Duque said.

“Ito ay pangalawang beses. Kumbaga, what else do I have to prove diba? Wala

naman, kung hindi trabaho lang para sa bayan at para rin makatulong na

maging tagumpay ang administrasyon ni Pangulong Duterte. So tayo, trabaho

lang,”

Duque had previously served as health secretary during the term of former

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

JOBLESS RATE EASES AFTER PHILIPPINES RELAXED LOCKDOWN

After the economy reopened from strict lockdowns, there were less Filipinos

who went jobless and were looking for more work in July, the Philippine

Statistics Authority reported Thursday.

Preliminary data showed the unemployment rate eased to 10% July from a

revised record-high of 17.7% in April.

The underemployment rate, counting those people looking for more work,

likewise went down to 17.3% in July from 18.9% in April.

THE REST

========

PHILIPPINES RECORDS 2,218 NEW COVID-19 CASES; TOTAL NOW AT 226,440

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the Philippines rose to

226,440 after more than 2,000 additional cases were added to the national

tally Wednesday.

The Department of Health reported 2,218 new COVID-19 infections, 52% of

which were from Metro Manila—the epicenter of the country’s outbreak. The

rest were from Laguna (112), Cebu (107), Iloilo (82) and Negros Occidental

(81).

QR CODES FOR CONTACT TRACING TO BE PLACED IN ESTABLISHMENTS, PUVS

MANILA — Quick response (QR) codes will be made available in establishments

such as malls, banks and restaurants along with public transportation units

to further enhance contact tracing of persons possibly exposed to the

coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Testing czar and deputy implementer of the National Task Force on COVID-19

Vince Dizon said that this will help veer away from the manual recording of

the publicÂ’s information which may even cause possible transmission of the

virus.

“Pagkapasok mo sa isang mall, kailangan mo lang gamitin ang iyong camera sa

iyong cellphone, kunan ng QR code and then ididirect ka na niya sa

StaySafe,” Dizon said Thursday in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel.

“Magagawa mo na magregister at ibigay ang iyong detalye para macontact trace

ng mga establishments at ng integrated system,” he added.

Dizon said public utility buses and all Light Railway Transit stations will

also have QR codes so that commuters can be contacted, if necessary.

“Ideally, dapat sa lahat, every public facility lalo na sa public transport

ay dapat meron [QR codes],” Dizon said.

Dizon also assured that data entered into the application will only be

accessed by the government, manned by the Department of Health (DOH) and the

Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

UP, DLSU LISTED AMONG TOP UNIVERSITIES IN THE WORLD

MANILA — The University of the Philippines and the De La Salle University

were the only higher education institutions from the Philippines included in

the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2021.

For the second consecutive year, UP placed in the 401-500 bracket among the

1,500 universities across the globe in the annual rankings released

Wednesday.

“UP is largely seen as one of the best Filipino universities in national

rankings and among the top institutions in Asia. Recent improvements include

academic reputation and international faculty ratio,” UP’s Times Higher

Education profile read.

Meanwhile, DLSU stayed in the 1001+ bracket.

“Acknowledged as a premier university in the Philippines, it serves as a

significant resource for the country and rest of the global society by

developing leaders and achievers in business, public service, education,

science and technology, and the arts,” DLSU's profile read.

Times Higher Education assessed universities worldwide based on performance

indicators in areas of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and

international outlook.

The University of Oxford topped the 2021 rankings for the fifth consecutive

year.

The following are the top 10 universities in the world, according to the

Times Higher Education:

1.    University of Oxford in the United Kingdom

2.    Stanford University in the United States

3.    Harvard University in the United States

4.    California Institute of Technology in the United States

5.    Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States

6.    University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom

7.    University of California, Berkeley in the United States

8.    Yale University in the United States

9.    Princeton University in the United States

10.    University of Chicago in the United States

PH SALARY FOR NURSES, MED TECHS LOWEST IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

MANILA — The Philippines is at the bottom of the pit in Southeast Asia when

it comes to compensating nurses and medical technologists — some of the most

crucial front-line workers in the global war on the coronavirus pandemic.

This is based on new research by data aggregator iPrice Group, which

recorded the salaries of mid-level front-liners in seven Association of

Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries via Economic Research

Institute-powered Salary Expert.

Results of the study, which measured the wage gaps among the Asean countries

and analyzed earnings vis-a-vis the rise of online spending, were released

on Wednesday.

Experienced registered nurses earn about P40,381 a month in the Philippines,

57 percent less than their peers in Vietnam, the country with the next

lowest paid nurses among the seven countries in the study. Nurses in Vietnam

make around P62,200 per month.

Singaporean nurses, on the other hand, outperform their Philippine

counterparts by a whopping 486 percent as they earn an equivalent of around

P236,400 per month. Singapore offers the highest wages across the region for

the front-line jobs included in this research.

Nurses with comparable work experience in Indonesia and Thailand earn about

P79,000 and P83,000 per month, while Malaysian peers earn about P97,000.

Medical technologists

The research also showed that med tech workers earn around P29,444 in the

Philippines monthly, lower than the P57,000 in Vietnam. Those in Malaysia

earn 178 percent more than their Filipino counterparts at P82,000 monthly.

Singaporean peers earn P210,000 monthly.

Other Filipino front-liners during the pandemic, such as supermarket clerks,

delivery truck drivers, warehouse workers and security guards, are still at

the end of the spectrum in terms of take-home pay. These jobs draw better

wages in the Philippines than in Vietnam.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

KC RECALLS RELATIONSHIP WITH PIOLO: ‘IT WAS VERY REAL FOR ME’

MANILA — For KC Concepcion, the relationship she had with Piolo Pascual was

“very real” that it was her “first announced relationship.”

In an interview over Instagram Live with entertainment writer G3 San Diego

on Monday, the singer-actress looked back on her love affair with Pascual

and how she regrets that their relationship had to end.

“It was very real for me. That was my first announced relationship,”

Concepcion said.

“People know naman it was very real for me, and I was so young and naive. It

was announced publicly so that’s why it also had to be announced publicly,”

she added.

In 2009, the two worked together for ABS-CBN teleserye “Lovers in Paris.”

And in October 2010, Pascual confirmed that he and Concepcion were together.

According to Concepcion, Pascual courted her – on and off – for a couple of

years.

But Concepcion admitted that even before she got to work with “Papa P,” she

remembered saying something about the actor to director Joyce Bernal.

“There was a time he (Piolo) visited on set when I was doing my movie with

Chard,” Concepcion said, referring to her “For the First Time” co-star

Richard Gutierrez. That flick was directed by Bernal.

“Parang siyang (Piolo) may halo. I remember that. Parang siyang may halo,

parang siyang may light.”

However, some good things never last as some would say that during a

November 2011 interview with “The Buzz” Concepcion confirmed that she and

Pascual had parted ways.

Did she ever regret doing the interview? “I regret that we had to end,” she

replied.

“I think that in any relationship, you really had faith in it, right? And

you go into it not thinking that you want to end it, you go thinking that

you want it.”

“So I think more than the interview, I mean on a personal level, you just

regret that you have to end.”

Asked subsequently what she learned from her relationship with Pascual,

Concepcion said: “We all go through things in life, whatever you go through,

you will bring into the relationship that you have.”

“You have to make peace with the things that you went through before, before

you go into a relationship. Kasi kung hindi, bitbit mo ‘yun. (Because if

not, you’ll continue to carry it.),” she also said.

SPORTS

NBA SCORES SEP 2

FINAL

    1    2    3    4    T

5 Thunder 3-4    30    29    21    22    102

4 Rockets 4-3    29    32    24    19    104

GAME 7: HOU WINS 4-3

SCORING LEADERS

    L. Dort OKC

30 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST

    E. Gordon HOU

21 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST

FINAL

    1    2    3    4    T

5 Heat 2-0    38    28    24    26    116

1 Bucks 0-2    29    31    26    28    114

GAME 2: MIA LEADS 2-0

SCORING LEADERS

    G. Dragic MIA

23 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST

    G. Antetokounmpo MIL

29 PTS, 14 REB, 3 AST

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 48.53

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

But let's put it this way: You got to be willing to change. Once you harden,

the arteries do. - Allan Gurganus