DUTERTE: VOTE BUYING CANNOT BE CONTROLLED

MANILA — President Duterte admitted that the buying of votes cannot be controlled, but vowed to prevent violence and to run after politicians with private armies to ensure that the May elections will be credible.

Duterte called on both his political allies and rivals to “behave,” reminding them that the conduct of peaceful elections is a must.

He reiterated that he would not tolerate terrorism but claimed that vote-buying, one of the prohibited acts under the election code, cannot be controlled.

“With regard to vote buying, you cannot control that because it involves the distribution of envelopes. But if you terrorize, you send goons, that’s a different story. We will clash. Whether you belong to my party or not, you know, behave,” the President said during a PDP-Laban campaign rally in Caloocan Tuesday night.

“Do not terrorize the people, the elections must be free and it must be credible,” he added.

Under the Omnibus Election Code, vote buying is committed if a person gives, offers or promises money or anything of value, gives or promises any office or employment, franchise or grant, or makes or offers to make an expenditure, or cause an expenditure to be made to any person, association, corporation, entity or community to induce anyone to vote for or against any candidate or withhold his vote in the election.

Any person found guilty of the election offense may face imprisonment that lasts for one year to six years without probation. A guilty party will also be disqualified from holding public office and will be deprived of the right to vote.

Duterte also reiterated he would impose limits on the number of armed bodyguards that a politician can employ.

He said he would adopt the Alunan doctrine, wherein a politician is viewed as having a private army if he or she has more than two armed bodyguards.

Duterte said he has ordered government forces to run after politicians and their private armies.

TOURISM SECTOR CONTRIBUTED TO PHILIPPINES’ 4TH FASTEST GROWING ECONOMY RANK IN 2021 –REPORT

MANILA — The rise of the tourism sector’s contribution to the Philippine economy in 2021 helped the country rank as the world’s fourth fastest-growing economy last year.

This was stressed by World Travel and Tourism Council President Julia Simpson at a press conference on the first day of the global summit being hosted by the Philippines from Wednesday to Friday.

Simpson shared the Philippine data on WTTC’s Economic Impact Report (EIR) where she highlighted the growth of the country’s travel and tourism sector in 2021.

The WTTC’s EIR showed that in 2021, the sector supported 7.8 million jobs, which is equivalent to 20.5% growth in 2020, compared with a global increase of 6.7%.

The WTTC president said that it should be noted that before the COVID-19 pandemic or in 2019, the country’s travel and tourism industry’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product of the total economy was 22.5% or US$92.6 billion. However, these contributions declined by 80.7% or US$ 17.8 billion or just a mere 4.85% share to the national economy due to the travel restrictions imposed and the closure of international borders.

However, the country gradually recovered in 2021 and its contribution rose to US$ 41 billion or 10.4% share to the country’s GDP.

These figures differ from the Department of Tourism and the Philippine Statistics Authority's numbers as the values used by the WTTC’s EIR are based on constant 2021 prices and exchange rates with Oxford Economics, national sources and United Nations World Tourism Organization as its sources.

PSA's 2019 records showed that the tourism industry contributed 12.7% to the country's GDP. It reported that there was steep decline in tourism contribution in 2020 with only 5.4% share from the sector.

'HE WAS REALLY HURT': BANAYO DENIES ISKO 'IMPLODING' AFTER #WITHDRAWLENI CALL

MANILA - The camp of Aksyon Demokratiko presidential candidate Isko Moreno Domagoso on Thursday denied observations that their principal seems to be "imploding" since he began calling for Vice President Leni Robredo to withdraw her presidential bid.

It is only the "intellectual elite, the political analysts" and those from the upper class who have that view, said Lito Banayo, Domagoso's chief strategist.

"For the C, D, E, that is a different story all together," he told ANC's Headstart.

"Candor, frankness, being what you really are is more treasured by the Filipino electorate, especially the poor and marginalized than choosing your words before your audience," he said.

"I'm not saying it's helping, but I dispute the fact or statement or opinion of some that it is backfiring against him."

In an Easter Sunday joint press conference, the Manila Mayor began calling for Robredo to drop out from the presidential race, a move which caught other presidential contenders who attended the event by surprise.

Days after the Manila Peninsula press conference, Senators Panfilo Lacson and Manny Pacquiao clarified that they do not share Domagoso's call.

Former Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales also apologized to Robredo for the sudden turn of events in what was supposed to be a joint announcement that no one is withdrawing from the presidential race.

Despite these statements, Domagoso continued to urge Robredo to withdraw her presidential bid, even calling her the "godmother of all bullies" and taking a swipe at the Vice President's use of teleprompters during campaign rallies.

Banayo said he has no intention of stopping Domagoso from spewing vitriol against Robredo or any other candidate.

"As a handler, it has never been my strong suit to temper my candidates.

I never change them because people have to know them as they are," he said.

"Hindi mo dapat i-filter yung kandidato mo unless masyadong mali like if he says he's going to war with China, ibang usapan 'yun," he said.

WILLIE ONG DISAGREES WITH #WITHDRAWLENI CALL, TELLS ISKO AND ROBREDO CAMPS TO TALK

MANILA - Aksyon Demokratiko vice presidential bet Willie Ong on Wednesday said he does not share his running mate Isko Moreno Domagoso's call for Vice President Leni Robredo to withdraw from the presidential race, and said the two contenders should "resolve" their issue in private.

"Hindi ko pinapa-withdraw si VP Leni. Bakit ko naman siya ipapa-withdraw?" Ong said in a Facebook live video.

"Tingin ko, maayos si VP Leni. Tingin ko, matalino siya... Pero ang suporta ko kay Mayor Isko, 100 percent. Tuloy-tuloy ito hanggang May."

"Ang suggestion ko, para mabawasan 'yung bangayan ng group ni Mayor Isko, ni VP Leni at iba, tingin ko mas maganda mag-usap kayo kahit close door," Ong said.

"Ang feeling ko, kapag tuloy-tuloy ito, tingin ko lang, parehong may damage ang dalawa," he added.

While it was Domagoso who scouted him to run for vice president, Ong underscored that he is not trapped in their party's echo chamber.

"Balanced akong tao... Hindi lang ako kakampi sa isang side. Ayoko ng echo chamber. Papakinggan mo lang yung isang side, eh di kaaway mo na yung kabila," he said.

"Kailangan open tayo kasi kung hindi, lagi na lang mag-aaway," he added.

"Tingin ko lang, magandang mag-usap kayo para mas maliwanagan at hindi yung mga supporters ang nagpapalitan ng salita."

SMART WILLING TO WORK WITH REGULATORS TO REVISIT VETOED SIM CARD REGISTRATION BILL

MANILA - Smart Communications said it was willing to extend its expertise to help regulators come up with global best practices to protect consumers after President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed the proposed SIM Card Registration Act.

Duterte vetoed the measure meant to mandate the registration of SIM cards and social media accounts during the Holy Week break. He noted that the social media provision was not part of the original version of the bill and that it needed "a more thorough study," said his acting spokesperson Martin Andanar.

"More than supporting the legislative process, we at Smart are also willing to share our own experiences, as well as our knowledge on the best global practices, to contribute to the success of the SIM card registration bill, if and when it is passed into law," PLDT Inc and Smart Communications president and CEO Alfredo Panlilio said.

"We also welcome any opportunity to support the government in developing the bill's implementing rules and regulations," he added.

Meanwhile, PLDT chairman Manny Pangilinan, during the sidelines of the company's tower deal announcement, reiterated the telco's push for SIM card registration.

"We still are hoping that we will find a way to get the SIM cards registered. That's important, not only for our business, but for Filipinos in general," Pangilinan said.

Section 2 of the bill states that, "The State shall require the registration of SIM Cards for electronic devices and social media accounts by all users."

Advocacy group Democracy.Net.PH earlier said the bill's social media provision "was too vague" to be safely implemented.

COMELEC SEES 'HIGHER' OVERSEAS VOTER TURNOUT FOR 2022 POLLS

MANILA — The Commission on Elections is expecting a "higher" turnout for overseas voting in this year's polls, one of its commissioners said Thursday.

"Our overseas voting right now is very much interesting because you know in the first day there's so many overseas voters who want to vote," Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo told ANC's "Rundown".

"So, we are expecting a much higher voting turnout as compared in 2016 and 2019 elections."

Data from Comelec showed there are about 1.7 million Filipinos living abroad who were registered in the 2022 polls.

According to Casquejo, the current number of voters who turned up to cast their ballots has already surpassed their target.

"Sa ngayon, for this early time period of voting, we have already reached our target, which is more than 30 percent," he said.

Overseas voting began on April 10 and will run until Election Day on May 9.

The 2016 elections had the highest voter turnout in recent polls, with 31.25 percent or over 430,000 overseas Filipinos went to cast their votes. There were 1.37 million registered overseas voters that year.

Meanwhile, from the 1.82 million registered overseas voters in the 2019 polls, the voter turnout was 27.3 percent or 334,000.

PH UNLIKELY TO FULLY VACCINATE 90 MILLION BEFORE DUTERTE LEAVES OFFICE: GALVEZ

MANILA — The government's target of fully vaccinating 90 million people by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term on June 30 is "very unlikely" to be achieved, as the country sees a remarkable drop in its monthly COVID-19 vaccination output, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Wednesday.

From administering over 27 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for the month of November, the monthly output declined to 22 million last December, Galvez said.

This further dropped to 18 million doses last January, then to 8.7 million jabs in February, and 6.7 million doses in March.

More than halfway through April, the government has administered only around 2.5 million doses so far.

Galvez said they target to complete the administration of the primary COVID vaccine series on at least 77 million or up to 80 million Filipinos by the end of June.

That’s equivalent to around 70 percent of the country’s estimated total population.

The Philippines has fully vaccinated 67.1 million people so far.

“We cannot anymore accomplish, or very unlikely na makuha na natin ‘yung 90 million. Considering na remarkable ang drop ng ating uptake during the previous month… Basically, makuha lang natin ‘yung 70 million to 77 million, at least we can be happy. What we are really pushing is really we have to push our limits na at least makuha pa rin natin at least 77 million or 80 million by the end of the term of the President,” Galvez said.

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NDRRMC REPORTS 3 MORE DEATHS FROM 'AGATON,' TOTAL AT 178

MANILA — Three more people reportedly died during the onslaught of Tropical Storm Agaton, raising the death toll to 178, the state disaster response agency said Wednesday.

Of the fatalities, 156 were from Eastern Visayas, 17 in Western Visayas, three in Davao Region and two from Central Visayas, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

Up to 111 people have yet to be found, with many of those missing belonging to villages hit by landslides in Baybay City, Leyte, the agency said in its latest situational report on Agaton (International name: Megi), which first hit land on April 10 Eastern Samar.

There are also 8 people who were hurt, the NDRRMC said. Four from Sarangani province were injured when their house was hit by a fallen tree.

Over 2 million people from 2,427 villages were affected by the storm after it unleashed torrential rains last week, triggering landslides and flooding in 9 regions of the country.

Damage to agriculture was estimated to cost P257 million, the agency said. The storm also damaged bridges, roads and schools, amounting to P6.9 million.

PNP READY TO THWART PLOTS TO DESTABILIZE ELECTIONS

MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has put security measures in place to thwart any attempt to sabotage the May 9 elections.

Gen. Dionardo Carlos, PNP chief, said yesterday that any effort to destabilize the elections will not succeed as they have mapped out contingency measures to address possible threats.

“When this thing happens, what do we do, what action do we take? So, all of these were already placed in the planning,” Carlos said partly in Filipino at the Laging Handa briefing.

The PNP is among the deputized agencies of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to ensure orderly, peaceful and honest elections on May 9.

During a press conference last Sunday, presidential aspirants Sen. Panfilo Lacson and former defense secretary Norberto Gonzales warned they had caught wind of possible destabilization if their rival, former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is elected president.

Carlos described the information as “raw,” which needs further validation.

“We will coordinate with the source of this information,” he said.

With less than three weeks before the elections, Carlos said all their security coverage is in place. “Generally 100 percent of our PNP is already prepared,” he said.

COMELEC TO CREATE ISOLATION POLLING AREA FOR VOTERS WITH COVID-19 SYMPTOMS

MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will put up isolation polling areas for voters found to have COVID-19 symptoms on May 9, election day, although it has yet to work out guidelines with the Department of Health.

Around 67.5 million voters are expected to cast their ballots in polling centers in the national and local elections next month.

On Thursday, Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said the poll body will designate a separate polling area for voters with COVID-19 symptoms after temperature checks.

"If a voter has COVID-19 symptoms like fever or diarrhea, they will be brought to an isolation polling precinct. That's where they can vote. They can accomplish their ballots there, and members of the electoral [boards] will drop the ballots in the vote counting machines," Garcia said in Filipino during an interview with Dobol B TV.

Comelec will coordinate with the Department of Health in ironing out the rules in rolling out these special polling centers, he added.

DILG TO AKLAN LGUS: ENFORCE BORACAY TOURIST LIMIT OR FACE SHOW CAUSE ORDER FOR NEGLIGENCE

MANILA — The Department of the Interior and Local Government warned the Provincial Government of Aklan and the Municipality of Malay Aklan to ensure compliance to the daily visitor threshold amid a recent spate in tourists "or be ready to receive Show Cause Orders due to negligence."

This comes after Interior Secretary Eduardo Año noted what he said were documented violations of Boracay Island’s carrying capacity for tourists last Holy Week.

"We will not hesitate to issue SCO to LGU officials who will disregard existing laws on the island of Boracay. We cannot go back to square one especially now that we are still in the middle of a pandemic,” Año said.

"Our efforts to rehabilitate and reverse the ecological degradation of the island will all be futile if we become negligent in complying with the guidelines set by National Government."

MEKENI OFFERS NEW PRODUCTS TO TAP HEALTH-CONSCIOUS MARKET

Mekeni Food Corp on Thursday said it was developing new products and readjusting its formulation to tap the growing health-conscious market.

The company, which weathered the African Swine Fever outbreak in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic, has released healthier products that are specifically designed to be cooked using new kitchen appliances like air fryers, said Mekeni Food Corp president Prudencio Garcia.

"We are preparing now for healthy foods. We have this yogurt sausage with 25 percent less salt and less saturated fat," Garcia told ANC.

"We’re trying to look at not just on the formulation but on how we prepare and cook these products, for example, for frying using an air fryer to become more healthy," he added.

Known for its tocino, hotdog and bacon, among others, Mekeni is also considering to make the company public through an IPO in about 3 to 5 years, Garcia said.

The meat processing company started as a backyard poultry farm in 1986.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

ISABELLE DAZA RETURNS TO ACTING AFTER 2 YEARS

MANILA — After two years, Isabelle Daza is resuming her acting career with a series that also stars Jake Cuenca and Iza Calzado.

Daza, whose last acting role was in ABS-CBN’s “Playhouse” in 2019, confirmed her comeback through Instagram early this week.

“My first time to do locked-in taping,” she wrote via Instagram Stories, sharing a group photo originally posted by Cuenca.

Seen in the image with Daza, Calzado, and Cuenca are actresses Sue Ramirez and Gabby Padilla.

A separate photo from Calzado indicated that the project’s title is “K Love.” Cuenca’s caption, “Oppa,” hinted that the series involves Korean elements.

The series will be released via the streaming platform Viu, according to Cuenca.

Prior to her return to acting, Daza had been focusing on motherhood. She gave birth to her second child with husband Adrien Semblat in April 2021.

SPORTS

NBA SCORES APR 19

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

8 Hawks0-2       25        29        22        29        105

1 Heat2-0         26        30        31        28        115

GAME 2: MIA LEADS 2-0, FTX ARENA, MIAMI, FL

SCORING LEADERS

B. Bogdanovic ATL

29 PTS 4 REB 3 AST

J. Butler MIA

45 PTS 5 REB 5 AST

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

7 Timberwolves1-1        32        17        28        19        96

2 Grizzlies1-1    33        27        36        28        124

GAME 2: SERIES TIED 1-1, FEDEXFORUM, MEMPHIS, TN

SCORING LEADERS

A. Edwards MIN

20 PTS 6 REB 1 AST

J. Morant MEM

23 PTS 9 REB 10 AST

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

8 Pelicans1-1    30        26        34        35        125

1 Suns1-1         28        33        22        31        114

GAME 2: SERIES TIED 1-1, FOOTPRINT CENTER, PHOENIX, AZ

SCORING LEADERS

B. Ingram NO

37 PTS 11 REB 9 AST

D. Booker PHO

31 PTS 2 REB 1 AST

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 52.49

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. – Dorothy Nevill