PHILIPPINES VACCINATES 6.5 MILLION MINORS VS COVID-19
The Philippines has vaccinated at least 6.5 million children aged 12 to 17 against COVID-19, government said on Thursday.
This represents about 32 percent of the age group, which started receiving coronavirus jabs in mid-October, said vaccine "czar" Carlito Galvez Jr.
"Tuwang-tuwa po kami dahil, kasi talagang maganda na po, magpi-face-to-face na po ating mga estudyante… Ang ating mga anak ay makakawala na rin sa ating bahay," he said at a vaccine awarding ceremony.
The Philippines in November started testing limited in-person classes in some 100 schools in lower-risk areas. On Monday, 28 more schools in Metro Manila joined the trial of face-to-face classes.
In total, the Philippines has vaccinated at least 39.5 million of its 77.1 million target population, and has started giving booster jabs to some groups.
DUTERTE TO DISCUSS TRANSFER OF POWER DURING DEMOCRACY SUMMIT
MANILA — President Duterte is expected to talk about efforts to ensure a peaceful transfer of power and to promote peace, development and public health during the US-led Summit for Democracy, a Palace official said.
Presidential adviser on foreign affairs and chief of presidential protocol Robert Borje yesterday noted that Duterte’s term is about to end and that a democracy cannot be strong if there is no peaceful and regular transfer of power.
“I think this will figure very strongly and very prominently in the speech of the President. It’s an admission on the part of the President, and maybe reaffirmation of his strong belief, that it is his responsibility first and foremost as the president to ensure that there is a peaceful transition, because without it, we cannot be called a democracy. That means, we are authoritarian,” Borje told state-run People’s Television.
“If elections are not peaceful, honest, free and credible, it calls into question the integrity of the electoral process and of democracy,” he added.
Borje said the President may also discuss measures designed to ensure peace, development and public safety and to protect public health from COVID-19.
Borje said Duterte’s national intervention statement would also tackle the Philippines’ experiences as a democracy, what he needs to do as a president of a democratic country, and the challenges that need to be addressed to keep democracy strong.
FUTURE 'SCARY AND DEPRESSING' WITH SC UPHOLDING ANTI-TERRORISM LAW — LAWYERS
MANILA — The future is "scary and depressing" with the Supreme Court upholding most of the feared Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, in a vote that in no way gave a win to the petitioners or to Filipinos, lawyers said.
A day after the SC made public its historic vote on the 37 petitions questioning the anti-terrorism law that struck down just two parts of the measure, lawyers asserted that the ATA will not be left unchallenged.
The SC struck down the “killer” qualifier in the proviso on acts defining terrorism that petitioners said upheld that activism and protesting is not a crime. The second method of designation, or the adoption of the United Nations Security Council criteria on designated terrorists, was also declared unconstitutional.
Lawyer Evalyn Ursua, counsel for journalists and artists petitioners, said the ruling was not a win. The two parts of the law that the SC struck down will not curb abuses, since the "extraordinary powers" of the Anti-Terrorism Council remains.
"If we will compare [these] two provisions, these are worthless because the absolute power of the ATC, which acts like a court and acts like it is higher than the courts, remains," she added in Filipino.
Lawyer Virginia Suarez echoed the sentiment. "Amid the volume of our arguments, in the huge number of petitioners, it’s like we’re all mistaken in giving all those arguments to be given only two [provisions struck down," she said in the same virtual press conference.
5 MORE RETURNING FILIPINOS FROM S. AFRICA LOCATED, 2 YET TO BE TRACKED: DOH
MANILA - Five more returning Filipinos from South Africa have been located, leaving only 2 more to be traced, the Department of Health said Friday.
The agency has yet to give further details about the located travelers who arrived in the country between Nov. 15 and 29, as the omicron variant was first detected in South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong.
The DOH on Wednesday said it has located 81 out of 253 travelers who arrived from South Africa. Of this figure, 78 were returning Filipinos and 3 were foreign nationals, according to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire. The verification of 165 more travelers is ongoing, she said.
Five travelers re-tested for COVID-19, comprised of 2 returning Filipinos and three foreign nationals, were negative.
PACQUIAO SEEKS SHIFT TO FEDERAL SYSTEM, BACKS CHARTER CHANGE
Presidential candidate Sen. Manny Pacquiao on Thursday said he will push for charter change if he gets elected in the May 2022 elections.
Pacquiao said during a campaign sortie in Payatas, Quezon City that it is time for country to shift to a federal form of government, adding it is the answer to hastening progress in the countryside.
“Sa kasalukuyang sistema kasi bagama’t mayroon na tayong Local Government Code ay nasa national government pa rin ang kapangyarihan ng pagbibigay ng pondo para sa mga kinakailangang proyekto ng mga LGUs,” he said.
The Philippines is currently under a unitary form of government with power and authority vested in the central government.
Under a federal government, power is divided between the central government and local state governments.
Pacquiao said under a federal system, local government units will be able to address social, economic and political problems using ways most applicable to them.
“Kailangan baguhin na ang sistema ng gobyerno at amyendahan natin ang Konstitusyon sa pamamagitan ng Constitutional Convention at hindi Constituent Assembly para taumbayan ang magdesisyon,” he said.
He added that because of the prevailing system, local government officials are beholden to the national government especially the Department of Budget and Management that has the power whether to download the funding to them or not.
“Dapat direkta ng ibigay sa mga LGUs ang pondo ng hindi na hahawakan pa ng national government para hindi naman sila mukhang namamalimos sa pera na talaga namang nakalaan para sa kanila,” he said.
PRP, HUGPONG RENEW ALLIANCE FOR 2022 ELECTIONS
MANILA — The People’s Reform Party (PRP) and Hugpong ng Pagbabago yesterday formalized their political alliance for the May 2022 national and local elections.
The PRP, a national political party founded by the late senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, is headed by her husband Narciso Santiago Jr.
Hugpong, a Region XI political party chaired by Davao City Mayor and vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte, is headed by Claude Bautista as president.
Santiago and Bautista signed the 2022 Alliance Agreement, a renewal of their political alliance in the 2019 elections.
The two political parties said they both seek a peaceful and democratic way of life for their constituents, as well as the upholding of freedom and the rule of law, among others.
EX-DPWH CHIEF JOINS MARCOS-DUTERTE SENATE SLATE
MANILA — Former public works chief Mark Villar has joined the 2022 Senate slate of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
The scion of the rich and politically powerful Villar clan got the endorsement of Marcos and Duterte, also descendants of political families, on Thursday at a rally in Cavite, the bailiwick of the family of Lakas – Christian Muslim Democrats co-chairperson Sen. Bong Revilla.
“We will elect Mark Villar to the Senate,” Marcos said in Filipino during the event, while Duterte also referred to Villar as “our senator.”
Villar, who spoke ahead of Marcos and Duterte, spoke glowingly of the late dictator’s son and namesake but did not categorically endorse his presidential candidacy. He also failed to acknowledge the presence of Duterte.
Villar’s mother and Nacionalista Party chairperson, Sen. Cynthia Villar, was also present at the event and even shared the stage with Marcos, Duterte, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other politicians aligned with the tandem.
560 DRUG SUSPECTS KILLED DURING PANDEMIC
MANILA — Up to 560 drug suspects have been killed in alleged shootouts with anti-narcotics agents since March last year when the government imposed lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Latest data from the government’s Real NumbersPH platform shared by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) showed that 80,605 drug suspects were arrested during the same period.
On minors tagged in illegal drugs, 948 were rescued during the community quarantine.
At least 6,215 suspects have been killed and 315,635 were arrested in 218,665 law enforcement operations since President Duterte launched a war on drugs in 2016.
Among the 13,821 high-value targets who were arrested, 393 were elected officials, 508 were government employees and 124 uniformed personnel.
Also apprehended were 349 foreigners and 1,422 drug den maintainers.
The PDEA and other law enforcement agencies seized 19,127.65 kilos of shabu, cocaine and marijuana and 136,232 tablets of party drug Ecstasy nationwide worth P73.83 billion.
The agency said 23,270 barangays have been cleared of illegal drugs.
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‘HUSTISYA KAILANGAN KO’: MALABANAN WIDOW DEMANDS JUSTICE FOR SLAIN JOURNALIST
MANILA - The widow of slain journalist Jesus “Jess” Malabanan on Friday called for justice as police in Samar formed a special task group to focus on the ongoing investigation.
“Sana matulungan n’yo ako na hindi mamatay ang kaso na ito. Alam n’yo dto sa Calbayog sir, alam po ng lahat 'yan kung anong kalakaran dito. Gusto kong manawagan kung matulungan niyo ako hanggang NBI, Crame kung may magaling na mag imbestiga,” said Malabanan’s wife, Mila.
Malabanan, a correspondent and stringer for the Manila Standard Today, Reuters, and Bandera, was killed by unidentified gunmen in his home in Purok 12, Barangay San Joaquin in Tinambacan District around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Police said the victim was watching TV inside his house when two armed men shot him from the outside. The gunmen fled right after the incident.
Mila said she was with her husband when he was shot.
“May tindahan kaming maliit dito sa aming barangay. Hindi naman magkadikit, medyo malayo ng konti kasi nag-aabang kami ng news. Ang tama niya sa may baba ng tainga tagos sa kabila,” she said.
She rushed her husband to the hospital but he was declared dead on arrival.
Mila however did not see the faces of the gunmen as it was raining and dark in their area at that time.
She said her husband had no death threats but she noticed new faces buying from their store prior to the incident. She thought that maybe they were only passing through the area as she knows most of the people who buy from their store.
Lt. Ailleen Velarde, the public information chief of the Samar Police Provincial Office, said a Special Investigation Task Group Malabanan was created to focus on the ongoing probe into the death of the journalst.
Velarde said authorities now have leads but they could not disclose it yet so as not to compromise the investigation.
PUV CAPACITY IN NCR REMAINS AT 70% – LTFRB
MANILA — Passenger capacity of public utility vehicles (PUVs) in the National Capital Region will remain at 70 percent during the Christmas season despite the NCR’s “very low” risk classification for COVID-19, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced yesterday.
The LTFRB released a memorandum circular on the updated guidelines on passenger capacity in PUVs, which will be implemented until Jan. 4, 2022.
The LTFRB said the 70 percent capacity would also be enforced in Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, which are under the Metro Manila urban transportation integration study update and capacity enhancement project.
For the rest of the regions, the passenger capacity will remain at 50 percent.
POPE APPOINTS PINOY BISHOP TO JAPAN DIOCESE
MANILA — Pope Francis appointed on Wednesday 57-year-old bishop Edgar Gacutan to lead the diocese of Sendai in Japan, making him the first Filipino Catholic bishop to lead a Japanese diocese, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) reported.
An article posted yesterday on CBCP’s official website stated that Gacutan was serving as parish priest of Matsubara Catholic Church in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo upon his appointment.
Gacutan was born in Cagayan in 1964. He studied Philosophy at St. Louis University in Baguio City from 1981 to 1985 and Theology at Maryhill School of Theology in Manila from 1986 to 1989 before he transferred to Japan in February 1990 as a seminary student.
The CBCP said that Gacutan returned to the Philippines to complete his theological studies at the same university after three years of internship in Japan.
He was ordained priest for the Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae (CICM), or the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1994. He was sent back to Japan after his ordination where he served as an assistant pastor in Kongo church, Osaka from 1994 to 1997.
Gactan joined the team ministry in Osaka for six years until 2003. In 2004, he was appointed superior of the Japanese CICM province and served until 2012. He also worked for victims of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE
NETFLIX REVIEW: MAJA SALVADOR PROVES HER METTLE IN 'ARISAKA'
A key witness was being brought to a venue where he was about to expose critical "narco-list" information to the press. Midway on his route, his car was ambushed by a group of crooked cops who shot the target and all his police escorts. Fortunately, policewoman Mariano (Maja Salvador) had survived the bloody encounter. Despite her injuries, she ran into the surrounding mountains to escape from her pursuers led by officer Sonny (Mon Confiado).
Mariano's survival ordeal in the wilderness was alleviated by the appearance of a young indigenous girl named Nawi (Shella Ann Romualdo), who nursed her back to health with the help of her family's traditional cures. Sonny and his minions remained hot at her heels, stopping at nothing until she was exterminated. Meanwhile, Mariano braced for an inevitable showdown, getting some assistance from an unexpected source.
For historical relevance, director Mikhail Red juxtaposed Mariano's struggle to survival to the Bataan Death March which transpired on the same area where the fateful ambush took place. The first scene had a cop relating the story about how his grandfather survived the Death March already foreshadowing the events to come. The Arisaka in the title referred to the Japanese military service rifle in use during World War 2.
Star Maja Salvador rallied us to root her on -- no matter how her repeated narrow escapes from death were practically superhuman. Hit by bullets, stabbed by a knife in the abdomen, punched on the face, asphyxiated by strangling -- absolutely nothing fazed her will to survive. Salvador obviously had to go through difficult shoots for this demanding role, which required her to fall onto concrete, rough brush, rocks, and going mano-a-mano with a man.
Just when you thought Mon Confiado could not get any more despicable as a villain, here he is again playing another devil incarnate.
The big revelation here was young Shella Ann Romualdo (first seen in short film "Black Rainbow" earlier this year) as the brave Nawi, whose youthful idealism would get seriously challenged. Martin Melecia, who played Nawi's father, imparted indigenous wisdom and frustrations to his daughter and to us, as well.
From the very first scene, you immediately know that this is not by any means a low budget film. The ethereal quality of Mycko David's cinematography was extraordinary, and that was just in the opening credits at that point.
Throughout the film, we will be treated to more shots and images taken from breathtaking angles with perfect blocking of characters, working well in dim light or with flames, for best cinematic effect.
SPORTS
NBA SCORES DEC 8
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Bulls17-9 24 19 23 26 92
Cavaliers14-12 29 23 30 33 115
ROCKET MORTGAGE FIELDHOUSE, CLEVELAND, OH
SCORING LEADERS
Z. LaVine CHI
23 PTS 4 REB 9 AST
D. Garland CLE
24 PTS 3 REB 6 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Knicks12-13 29 28 19 26 102
Pacers11-16 36 34 26 26 122
GAINBRIDGE FIELDHOUSE, INDIANAPOLIS, IN
SCORING LEADERS
R. Barrett NY
19 PTS 2 REB 3 AST
C. Duarte IND
23 PTS 3 REB 6 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
76ers14-11 26 25 31 28 110
Hornets14-13 26 27 28 25 106
SPECTRUM CENTER, CHARLOTTE, NC
SCORING LEADERS
J. Embiid PHI
32 PTS 8 REB 4 AST
G. Hayward CHA
31 PTS 5 REB 7 AST
FINAL/OT
1 2 3 4 OT T
Wizards15-11 27 25 37 17 13 119
Pistons4-20 29 31 26 20 10 116
LITTLE CAESARS ARENA, DETROIT, MI
SCORING LEADERS
K. Kuzma WAS
26 PTS 7 REB 4 AST
J. Grant DET
28 PTS 5 REB 3 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Bucks16-10 26 25 26 27 104
Heat15-11 24 20 39 30 113
FTX ARENA, MIAMI, FL
SCORING LEADERS
J. Holiday MIL
27 PTS 4 REB 4 AST
C. Martin MIA
28 PTS 8 REB 3 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Thunder8-16 26 28 33 23 110
Raptors11-14 36 28 12 33 109
SCOTIABANK ARENA, TORONTO, ON
SCORING LEADERS
S. Gilgeous-Alexander OKC
26 PTS 2 REB 9 AST
G. Trent Jr. TOR
24 PTS 4 REB 3 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Nets17-8 23 29 21 31 104
Rockets8-16 30 37 23 24 114
TOYOTA CENTER, HOUSTON, TX
SCORING LEADERS
J. Harden BKN
25 PTS 11 REB 8 AST
E. Gordon HOU
21 PTS 2 REB 2 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Mavericks12-12 26 22 28 28 104
Grizzlies14-11 25 27 23 21 96
FEDEXFORUM, MEMPHIS, TN
SCORING LEADERS
L. Doncic DAL
26 PTS 8 REB 7 AST
J. Jackson Jr. MEM
26 PTS 7 REB 1 AST
FINAL/OT
1 2 3 4 OT T
Nuggets12-12 35 29 16 25 15 120
Pelicans7-20 33 24 20 28 9 114
SMOOTHIE KING CENTER, NEW ORLEANS, LA
SCORING LEADERS
N. Jokic DEN
39 PTS 11 REB 11 AST
J. Valanciunas NO
27 PTS 11 REB 3 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Jazz17-7 34 26 35 41 136
Timberwolves11-14 33 26 22 23 104
TARGET CENTER, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
SCORING LEADERS
D. Mitchell UTA
36 PTS 5 REB 2 AST
K. Towns MIN
22 PTS 7 REB 5 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Magic5-21 36 31 25 38 130
Kings11-14 38 32 34 38 142
GOLDEN 1 CENTER, SACRAMENTO, CA
SCORING LEADERS
C. Anthony ORL
33 PTS 4 REB 8 AST
D. Fox SAC
33 PTS 3 REB 1 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Trail Blazers11-15 23 22 21 28 94
Warriors21-4 26 21 29 28 104
CHASE CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO, CA
SCORING LEADERS
N. Powell POR
26 PTS 5 AST
S. Curry GS
22 PTS 2 REB 2 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Celtics13-13 28 23 27 33 111
Clippers14-12 24 39 24 27 114
STAPLES CENTER, LOS ANGELES, CA
SCORING LEADERS
J. Tatum BOS
29 PTS 10 REB 2 AST
B. Boston Jr. LAC
27 PTS 2 REB
INDICATORS
FOREX $1 = P 50.26
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
No one can possibly achieve any real and lasting success or get rich in business by being a conformist. - Jean Paul Getty
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