PH INFLATION EASES TO 2.4 PERCENT IN AUGUST, SLOWEST PACE IN 3 MONTHS

MANILA - Philippine inflation eased in August on slower food and beverage

price movements, according to government data released on Friday.

The consumer price index rose at a slower annual pace of 2.4 percent for the

month versus 2.7 percent in July, slightly lower than the Bangko Sentral ng

Pilipinas' forecast range of 2.5 to 3.3 percent range.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and fuel items, came in at

3.1 percent.

“Ang headline inflation sa bansa ay bumagal ng 2.4 percent sa August

2020Â…Ang pangunahing dahilan ng pababa ng antas ng inflation ay ang mas

mabagal na paggalaw ng presyo ng food and alcoholic beverages,” National

Statistician Dennis Mapa said in a virtual press briefing.

The slower increase in prices of fish, meat and vegetables as well as the

slower price movements in alcoholic beverages and tobacco are among the

major contributors to the downward trend, data showed.

Restaurants and miscellaneous services also contributed to the decline in

inflation for the month.

"The August inflation of 2.4 percent is lower than the BSPÂ’s assessment but

is consistent with the expectation that inflation will remain benign over

the policy horizon. The balance of risks tilts toward the downside owing

largely to potential disruptions to domestic and global economic activity of

the ongoing pandemic," BSP Gov. Benjamin Diokno said in a statement.

Metro Manila and some key provinces remain under the looser general

community quarantine.

DUTERTE CALLS FOR ‘NEW ORDER’ AMID PANDEMIC

MANILA — President Duterte has urged fellow leaders to seize the opportunity

presented by the coronavirus disease pandemic to build a “new order” that is

more secure and sustainable by strengthening economic and defense

cooperation.

Speaking during the Jordan-led 2020 Aqaba Process virtual meeting last

Wednesday, Duterte said the insecurities brought about by the pandemic have

heightened the “fear of the other” and brought out “man’s darkest tendencies

to look inward and go it alone.”

The President noted that no country has been spared from COVID-19 and that

the urgent common response was to close down borders and to limit mobility

and trade.

“For the first time, all of humanity fear the exact same invisible menace.

Not even the Second World War had this most sweeping effect... The

repercussions, as we are seeing now, are grim and far-reaching. We have

economies in recession, institutions in crisis and societies in state of

uncertainty,” he said.

“But the path to recovery requires more openness, deeper solidarity and

stronger cooperation among nations,” he added.

Instead of choosing “self-defeating isolation,” leaders, according to

Duterte, should work together to address problems like COVID-19, which he

described as “the greatest challenge of our time.”

“Let us seize this historic opportunity to build a new order: one that is

more secure, just and humane – where there is no room for the barbarity of

terrorists and extremist forces. And one that is fair, equal and sustainable

– where progress and prosperity are enjoyed by all,” he said.

“Let us, therefore, honor those who have fallen to the invisible enemy that

is the pandemic and the scourge of terrorism. Let us commit ourselves to

enduring partnership and cooperation. For indeed, together, we shall

prevail,” he added.

FAMILIES CRY FOR INFO ON MISSING FILIPINO SEAMEN

MANILA — The wives of 2 of the 38 Filipino seafarers who went missing after

their ship capsized off Japan cried Friday for information on their loved

ones.

Liezyl Pitogo and Justine Marie Payas said they learned through social media

that the cargo ship sank on Wednesday. The pair gets updates from their

husbandsÂ’ manning agency and have not been contacted by the authorities.

“Ang totoo n’yan, hanggang ngayon, ilang days na ang nakalipas, walang

kumo-contact sa amin para sa ganiyang bagay,” said Pitogo, who has 2

children with her husband Lindon.

Pitogo, who is in Quezon province, said she cannot go to Manila to talk to

embassy officials because of the lockdowns meant to stop the spread of the

novel coronavirus.

The ship, longer than a soccer field, lost an engine as it traversed choppy

seas off the coast of Japan. Then a wave flooded its deck in the dark of

night, forcing the vessel to list at a precarious angle, according to

Filipino survivor Sareno Edvardo.

“When it was capsizing, an onboard announcement instructed us to wear a life

jacket,” Edvardo later told the Japanese coast guard. “So I wore a life

jacket and jumped into the sea.”

After the ship sent a distress signal in the early hours of Wednesday,

Japan scrambled three patrol planes and four coast guard boats. But it would

be nearly 24 hours before rescuers found Edvardo, 45, bobbing in the East

China Sea.

He was the only one, and he said he had watched the ship sink.

The ship was on its way from New Zealand to China.

Rescue efforts continued Thursday as Typhoon Maysak lashed parts of South

Korea, north of where Edvardo was found, with heavy rain and gusts of up to

90 miles per hour, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said he tried but failed to get updates from

officials in Japan until before dawn on Friday.

“Anytime na ‘pag may matanggap kaming balita o report, ipaparating namin,”

he told TeleRadyo.

AMLC, DOF RENEW TIES, STEP UP CAMPAIGN VS TERRORISM

MANILA — The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has renewed its

partnership with the Department of Finance (DOF) to step up the governmentÂ’s

campaign against money laundering and terrorism financing.

AMLC Secretariat executive director Mel Georgie Racela yesterday said the

agency has signed an updated memorandum of agreement (MOA) that aims to

strengthen the cooperation and exchange of information between the two

agencies in detecting, investigating and prosecuting persons suspected of

money laundering, terrorism financing and other violations of the Anti-Money

Laundering Act of 2001 (AMLA), as amended.

Racela signed the MOA together with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III,

witnessed by DOF Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS) undersecretary

Bayani Agabin and AMLC Secretariat commitments and policy group deputy

director Alvin Bermido.

The revised MOA further institutionalizes mechanisms for the efficient

exchange of information.

“This updated MOA underlines the unrelenting drive by the Duterte

administration to flush out money launderers and terrorist financiers and

stop the Philippine financial system from becoming a harbor for their

nefarious activities along with other AMLA violations,” Dominguez said.

PHILIPPINES JOBLESS RATE EASES, BUT METRO MANILA LEFT BEHIND

MANILA — The number of jobless Filipinos went down nationwide in July after

lockdown measures were eased, but a disproportionate rise in unemployment in

the key economic center of Metro Manila disrupted what could have been a

broad recovery.

A tenth of people in the labor force did not have a job in July, down from a

record-high of 17.7% in April when movement restrictions were enforced,

preliminary data from Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed. The

current rate translated to 4.6 million people out of jobs for the month.

Similarly, the proportion of workers looking for more work— the

underemployment rate— decreased to 17.3% in July from 18.9% in April as on

average, employees, most of whom were stuck from home, worked for about

three hours longer.

In total, 45.9 million Filipinos were part of the labor force or those

people aged 15 years and up actively looking for work, up from just 41

million in April.

“What we are seeing is that, of course, the easing of quarantines helped but

there are also other reasons (for the decline),” National Statistician

Claire Dennis Mapa said in Filipino during a virtual briefing on Thursday.

LAGUNA VCO CLINICAL TRIALS SHOW PROMISING RESULTS

MANILA — The clinical trials being conducted by the Department of Science

and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) on virgin

coconut oil or VCO as a food supplement to help in the treatment of

coronavirus cases in Santa Rosa, Laguna are showing promising results.

Science Secretary Fortunato dela Peña yesterday said of the 40

volunteer-patients who joined the trials, only about 10 are still left at

the Santa Rosa Community Hospital getting treatment and medical care.

“About three-fourths have gone home already. This sounds good, but we need

to wait till completion to be able to complete the analysis,” he said.

Dela Peña said that the DOST-FNRI wanted to enroll more volunteers in the

trials.

“We can stop with 56 volunteers,” he said.

The DOST had provided funding of P5 million for the clinical trials.

The FNRI clinical trials on VCO as food supplement are being done in

collaboration with the DOST-Calabarzon, the Philippine Coconut Authority

(PCA), and the local government unit (LGU) of Santa Rosa, Laguna headed by

Mayor Arlene Arcillas-Nazareno.

The DOST chief said they were also arranging the addition of another

hospital site for the clinical trials on VCO to speed up research and

development that will serve as proof of the therapeutic claims of VCO to

treat COVID-19.

MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE RESOLVED — UNESCO

BAGUIO CITY — The Maguindanao massacre has been “resolved,” according to the

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Moez Chakchouk, UNESCOÂ’s assistant director-general for communication and

information, wrote Ambassador Theresa Lazaro acknowledging the efforts of

the government to bring the suspects in the massacre to justice,

Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, executive director of the Presidential Task

Force on Media Security (PTFoMS), said.

A report of the Department of Foreign Affairs-United Nations and

International Organizations to the PTFoMS noted that UNESCO is ready to

provide support to the Philippines in the form of capacity-building for the

judiciary on international standards regarding freedom of expression.

“With UNESCO acknowledging the finality of the Ampatuan massacre, we can

proudly proclaim to the world that any violence against our media workers

will never go unpunished. The so-called culture of impunity against

journalists in the country has finally come to an end,” Egco said.

He expressed confidence that the countryÂ’s rank in the Global Impunity Index

by the Committee to Protect Journalists will improve.

PTFoMS chairman and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and co-chairman and

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar

lauded UNESCOÂ’s pronouncement.

“This is a testament to the administration’s steadfast resolve to protect

our media workers against violence and to defend freedom of the press. We

are grateful for this latest recognition given to the Philippine government

by UNESCO,” Andanar said.

MTRCB WANTS TO REGULATE NETFLIX

MANILA — The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB)

wants to regulate the content of Netflix and other online streaming services

to ensure their compliance with Philippine laws.

Jonathan Presquito, MTRCB legal affairs division chief, said even in South

Korea, Netflix content is reviewed to ensure it is age-appropriate and

contains no prohibited material.

“Netflix are media-on-demand platform and we have to regulate those

platforms, we have to be sure that materials being shown on those platforms

are in compliance with the MTRCB law,” said Presquito at a virtual public

hearing yesterday by the Senate committee on trade, commerce and

entrepreneurship.

“There is a necessity for us to proceed with the regulation, especially

during the lockdown. Most of us, our sanity was maintained with streaming

services like Netflix. The regulation will ensure three things,

age-appropriate, no prohibited content and the movies or series were

released with authority,” he noted.

THE REST

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PHILIPPINES RECORDS 1,987 ADD'L COVID-19 CASES; TOTAL AT 228,403

MANILA — The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday reported 1,987

additional COVID-19 cases, the lowest since July 29, bringing the total

number of confirmed cases to 228,403.

It is the 2nd straight day that the number of additional cases were lower

than the usual, although ThursdayÂ’s data is only from 91 out of 113

operating laboratories.

For the first time in quite a while, less than half of the additional cases

are from the National Capital Region (818).

According to ABS-CBN Data Analytics, it is also the first time since July 29

that cases from NCR were less than 1,000.

Top provinces with new COVID-19 cases are Cavite (153), Laguna (125), Negros

Occidental (122), and Rizal (78). The DOH earlier said the increase in

COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental were attributed to stranded individuals

who returned to their home province.

NCR and nearby provinces remain among the top sources of COVID-19 cases in

the country.

EX-OZAMIZ COUNCILOR ARDOT PAROJINOG FOUND DEAD IN PRISON CELL

MANILA - The Philippine National Police confirmed Friday the death of former

Ozamiz City councilor Ricardo "Ardot" Parojinog in his prison cell.

Parojinog was facing drug and firearms charges when he died in his cell at 6

a.m. today.

PNP chief Camilo Cascolan has ordered a probe into his death.

Parojinog was the younger brother of the late Ozamiz Mayor Reynaldo "Aldong"

Parojinog, whom President Rodrigo Duterte linked to the illegal drugs trade.

The mayor was killed in a drug raid.

Ardot hid for 10 months before he was nabbed in Taiwan in 2018 for entering

the country using illegal documents. He was sentenced to 3 months in prison

and a fine of NT$ 1,000 (around P1,750) a day.

10,000 GOVERNMENT JOBS WILL BE OFFERED BY THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION IN

UPCOMING JOB FAIR

With many businesses closing down, one of the major effects of the COVID-19

pandemic has been the rising unemployment rate.

According to JobStreetÂ’s latest job report as of August 2020, over half

(60%) of all job candidates in the Philippines were hit bad by COVID-19, 17

percent of which were permanently retrenched and 43 percent found themselves

temporarily jobless. Employees who were retrenched are usually contractual

workers who had toiled in organizations with less than 500 employees.

The report also shows the hardest hit industries: tourism and travel; food

and beverage; hospitality and catering; architecture, building, and

construction; and the education sectors.

About 98 percent of employers have implemented HR changes in response to

COVID-19, in which 74 percent required their employees to work from home,

and 55 percent had a negative impact on the workforce by freezing the number

of new hires and temporarily or permanently laying off staff.

To help address this problem, Jobstreet and the Civil Service Commission

(CSC) are mounting a virtual job fair on September 14 to 18.

In the said Online Career Fair, more than 10,000 government job positions

from 700 participating agencies in all the regions will be offered. Among

the available posts, 28 percent are from Calabarzon and Mimaropa, 18 percent

are from Central Visayas, and 15 percent are from Region Western Visayas.

The available job roles in the Online Career Fair are Deputy Register of

Deeds, Admin Officer, Attorney, Accountant, Procurement Officer, among

others.

Interested applicants may register at the virtual job fair by creating and

downloading the Personal Data Sheet through the Online Career Fair

microsite, upload it to their JobStreet profile as resume, and bookmark the

website for easy reference.

TYPHOON 'KRISTINE' ENTERS PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY

MANILA -- A typhoon has entered the Philippine area and could intensify this

weekend, said the state weather bureau.

Typhoon Kristine (international name: Haishen) was off the northern tip of

Luzon, packing maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour and 160

kph gusts, said PAGASA.

While the country's 11th storm this year might reach its peak intensity by

Saturday or Sunday, it will "remain far from the landmass," said the weather

agency.

Kristine will head towards southern Japan and the Korean Peninsula after

leaving the Philippine area early Sunday, PAGASA said.

PAGASA said it would issue weather bulletins at 11 a.m.

La Niña, a weather pattern characterized by more frequent rains than

typical, has a 60-percent chance of emerging in the Philippines in September

or October and could last until 2021, the weather bureau earlier said.

Around 7 to 10 storms may form in the Philippine area until February next

year, said PAGASA.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

BACK TOGETHER? KC CONCEPCION BARES REAL SCORE WITH PIOLO PASCUAL

MANILA — Actress KC Concepcion admitted that she had regrets that she and

ex-boyfriend Piolo Pascual broke up.

In a live video with G3 San Diego for G3's YouTube video blog, "Live with

G3," last Monday, KC said that just like in any relationship, she did not

want her romance with Piolo to end.

“I regret that we had to end. I think that in any relationship, you really

have faith in it and you go into it not thinking that you want to end it.

You go into it thinking that you want it,” KC said.

She, however, said that she and Piolo is in good terms now and even had a

quality time in London when they did a special for Sunday variety show

"ASAP."

“As with any breakup, you cannot be best friends with an ex. We are civil,

we are okay. We had our little quality time in London when we did 'ASAP' in

London and it was a really funny, nice catch-up after everything. He asked

if we could talk and without saying too much, we were able to talk a little

bit,” she shared.

KC added that Piolo knows that she really cares for him.

“He knows that I know him. He knows that I care for him for who he truly is.

He knows that I will always be watching him from afar,” she said.

In the same interview with G3, KC said she first treated Piolo as a big

brother but she realized later that she had fallen for him.

"And then sabi niya, 'Bakit?' Sabi ko, ‘Para siyang may halo. Parang may

light.Â’ I remember that. So parang at that time, na-realize ko tinamaan pala

ako. 'Yun pala 'yon,” she said.

“There’s a reason why we ended up together, for me. People have so many

things to say about him. I always say na may pinagsamahan kami. HeÂ’s like 10

years older than me. He started out like a kuya to me so I know exactly what

people love about him."

KC's interview came after rumors spread last week that she and Piolo are

back together and even did a movie together while in lockdown in separate

properties in Batangas.

SPORTS

NBA SCORES SEP 3

FINAL

    1    2    3    4    T

team logo 2 Raptors 1-2    28    19    29    28    104

team logo 3 Celtics 2-1    33    24    23    23    103

GAME 3: BOS LEADS 2-1

SCORING LEADERS

K. Lowry TOR

31 PTS, 6 REB, 8 AST

K. Walker BOS

29 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST

FINAL

    1    2    3    4    T

team logo 3 Nuggets 0-1    31    20    16    30    97

team logo 2 Clippers 1-0    31    38    22    29    120

GAME 1: LAC LEADS 1-0

SCORING LEADERS

    N. Jokic DEN

15 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST

    K. Leonard LAC

29 PTS, 2 REB, 3 AST

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 48.58

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

A belief is not merely an idea the mind possesses. It is an idea that

possesses the mind. - Robert Oxton Bolton