QUEEN ELIZABETH II DIES, CHARLES III SUCCEEDS

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history and an icon instantly recognizable to billions of people around the world, died at her Scottish Highland retreat on Thursday. She was 96.

The eldest of her four children, Charles, Prince of Wales, who at 73 is the oldest heir apparent in British history, became king immediately.

Royal officials confirmed he is now known as King Charles III -- the first king of that name to sit on the throne since 1685.

His mother's death triggered an outpouring of condolences across the globe as world leaders paid homage to a woman whose reign spanned 70 years, straddling two centuries of seismic social, political and technological upheaval.

In his first words as monarch, Charles called her death "a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family".

"We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother," he added in a statement signed "His Majesty the King".

"I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth and by countless people around the world."

Buckingham Palace announced the queen's death in a short statement, triggering 10 days of national mourning and a global outpouring of tributes to her long life and record-breaking reign.

"The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon," said the statement issued at 6:30 pm (1730 GMT).

"The King (Charles) and The Queen Consort (Camilla) will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.expressed “profound sadness” over the passing of Queen Elizabeth on Thursday morning (PH time).

“She exemplified to the world a true monarch’s great dignity, commitment to duty, and devotion to all those in her realm,” he said.

PRIVACY COMMISSION VOWS TO PROTECT DATA AMID TEXT SCAMS

MANILA - The National Privacy Commission vowed to protect the data of Filipinos as personalized text scams continue to rise, Privacy Commissioner John Henry D. Naga said.

“We will relentlessly protect the Filipino against any unscrupulous attempt to take advantage of our personal data. We urge the full cooperation of all stakeholders involved, including the Telcos, our partners in the government, and the public, to bring this matter to a full conclusion," Naga said.

The NPC earlier said initial investigations showed it is unlikely that information used in personalized scam texts came from a data breach or contact tracing forms.

Another meeting has been set on Sept. 13 with telco operators and concerned government agencies including the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, the Philippine National Police, and the National Bureau of Investigation to discuss the matter.

"This is an ongoing investigation that involves close coordination between telecommunication companies and government authorities such as the National Telecommunications Commission," Naga said.

Meanwhile, DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said that the speedy roll out of the National ID System or PhilSys will be vital to the success of SIM registration.

The Philippine Statistics Authority launched earlier this year PhilSys Check, a PhilID verification system using Quick Response or QR code technology. Through the PhilSys Check website, and public-private key cryptography, private institutions will be able to verify the authenticity of PhilID cards.

The PSA together with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is working to hit a target of 50 million printed PhilID cards before the end of 2022.

INDONESIA, SINGAPORE INVESTMENT PLEDGES SEEN TO GENERATE 22,000 LOCAL JOBS: DTI

MANILA — The P804.78 billion in investments that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. secured during his state visits to Indonesia and Singapore are expected to generate over 22,000 jobs in the Philippines, the Department of Trade and Industry said on Friday.

Marcos sealed 10 letters of intent (LOI) and 12 memorandum of understanding with 22 Indonesian and Singaporean investors in the renewable energy, data centers, e-commerce, broadband technology, start-ups, government housing, and agriculture sectors during his state visits from Sept. 4 to 7, the DTI said.

"These investments, if we put it all together, value USD14.36 billion or PHP804.78 billion," said Trade Secretary Secretary Alfredo Pascual, who accompanied the President and other economic officials during the visit.

"This will support our country's economic recovery efforts and create more jobs for Filipinos here in our country," he added.

The state visits, which were the first for the Marcos administration, shared the Philippines' economic status, investment opportunities, and the administration's economic agenda.

PHILIPPINES, 4 OTHERS TO ADDRESS DEPLETING SOUTH CHINA SEA FISH STOCKS

MANILA — Five countries, including the Philippines, have launched the first Common Fisheries Resource Analysis (CFRA) to address depleting fish stocks, particularly of skipjack tuna or “gulyasan,” in the South China Sea.

The other countries are Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and China.

Government-affiliated scientists from these five countries joined forces for the first landmark analysis of the region’s shared fish resources providing food and livelihoods for millions of people.

Through the CFRA, international collaboration provides science as the basis of evidence in building more sustainable management of the South China Sea’s resources.

“Each country has a piece of the puzzle and that no one country can manage fish stocks alone. The region needs to act together and that to do this, actions must be based on a scientific consensus,” said Mudjekeewis Santos, a researcher from the Department of Agriculture-National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (DA-NFRDI).

The first CFRA focuses on skipjack tuna.

“It is economically important, it can be caught by all five countries, and it is classified as highly migratory species by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), imposing a duty of states to cooperate,” Santos said.

Prior to the launch, participants from five countries have been convening between 2018 and 2022, with more than 100 scientists and other experts contributing to the CFRA report.

A previous study showed that the fish stocks in the region have been decreasing from 70 percent to 95 percent since the 1950s.

PHILIPPINES ASKS ICC TO DENY PROSECUTOR'S REQUEST TO RESUME DRUG WAR PROBE

MANILA — The Philippine government has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber to deny the request of the ICC Prosecutor to resume its investigation into the drug war killings in the country.

In a press statement, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said the Philippine government submitted Thursday its "Observation on the Request of the Office of the Prosecutor to Resume Investigation into the Situation in the Republic of the Philippines" to the ICC PTC through the Philippine Embassy at The Hague, Netherlands.

The Hague-based international tribunal has set September 8 as the deadline for the Philippine government to comment on ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request.

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), which represents the Philippine government at the ICC, cited arguments on jurisdiction, admissibility and complementarity in its submission.

“The ICC has no jurisdiction over the situation in the Philippines. The alleged murder incidents that happened during the relevant period do not constitute ‘crimes against humanity,’ considering that said incidents do not qualify as an ‘attack’ against the civilian population,” it said.

“Furthermore, the said occurrences were not in furtherance of a state or organizational policy to commit such an attack,” it added.

FARMERS AT FAULT FOR VEGGIE OVERSUPPLY? DA SHOULD LEAD CROP PROGRAMMING - TRADERS

MANILA - Are Filipino farmers at fault for the oversupply of vegetables in the country?

Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban earlier blamed farmers for the oversupply of garlic and cabbage, without considering the market for their produce.

According to Agot Balanoy, spokesperson of the League of Associations LA Trinidad Vegetable Trading Area, farmers should not be blamed for lack of crop programming since it is government that should take the lead.

Speaking to ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo, Balanoy said individual farmers do not always know what is being planted in different municipalities.

"Yung nangyayari kasi na oversupply totoo na walang programming dito pero I don't think kasalanan yun ng farmer, yung sasabihin na dapat sila ang nag-iisip kung ano ang itatanim para hindi magkakaroon ng oversupply o undersupply," she said.

"Yung mga farmers kasi individual farmers yan. Yung itinanim niya sa munisipyo, hindi niya alam kung ano ang itinanim sa ibang munisipyo. They don't have any way of knowing kung yung itinatanim nila ay itinanim din ng kasama nila."

Balanoy said the Department of Agriculture should take the lead in crop programming in different municipalities and not place the burden on farmers. A series of meetings has been conducted with agriculture officials to discuss crop programming, she said.

"Kailangan talaga ng crop programming but we cannot ask the farmers to do it themselves. Maganda nga po ang Department of Agriculture ang mangunguna sa pagpaplano ng crop programming na ito para maiwasan yung oversupply," she said.

For his part, Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center chief operations officer Jesson Del-Amen confirmed that prices of cabbage went down to as low as 2 pesos per kilo due to oversupply at one point. He said there have also reports of cabbage importation.

Prices have since picked up.

4 DA EXECS LIABLE FOR SUGAR MESS

The Senate Blue Ribbon committee on Thursday recommended the filing of graft charges against four officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) but cleared Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez.

Committee chairman Senator Francis Tolentino said the charges should be filed before the Ombudsman against Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, who has been placed under preventive suspension; resigned Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) chief Hermenegildo Serafica; and resigned SRA board members Roland Beltran and Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr.

The committee also said the four officials should be included in the immigration lookout bulletin.

Charges should include violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016, and usurpation of official functions under the Revised Penal Code.

Tolentino, who had been quick to defend Rodriguez, said there was no evidence to counter his statements before the committee.

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PESO POSTS RECORD LOW AT P57.18 VIS-A-VIS $1 FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT DAY

The peso sank to a new record low for the fifth straight trading day on Thursday, losing 4.5 centavos to close at P57.18 to the US dollar following the release of dollar reserves data for the month of August.

The peso opened the day at 57.07 and traded between 57.22 and 57.06.

The average level for the day stood at 57.14. The trading volume went down to $1.15 billion from the previous day’s $1.23 billion.

MANILA IS THE WORLD'S 8TH CITY WITH LONGEST HOURS SPENT IN TRAFFIC — STUDY

MANILA — With schools and industries opening up to on-site operations, a new research has found that Metro Manila is the eighth worst in the world in hours spent in traffic among cities.

A research by insurance technology site GoShorty showed Manila has a 43 percent congestion level and 98 hours lost to traffic annually, or more than four days that Filipinos spend in the Metro's infamous traffic jams every year.

GoShorty identified the countries with the highest amount of low emissions zone schemes implemented to determine which of the world’s cities have the busiest roads.

Under the Urban Access Regulations in Europe, low emission zones are defined as "areas where the most polluting vehicles are regulated."

"Usually this means that vehicles with higher emissions cannot enter the area. In some low emission zones the more polluting vehicles have to pay more if they enter the low emission zone," a briefer on the Urban Access Regulations site reads.

GoShorty said it gathered data from the TomTom Traffic Congestion Index to get the congestion rates and time lost to traffic for both worldwide cities and UK cities.

It then ranked each city on its congestion rate and used Urban Access Regulations to get the countries with the highest amount of low emissions zone schemes implemented.

No country outside of North America and Europe finished in the top 15 countries in terms of low emission zone schemes.

WTA AWARDS BOOST LOCAL TOURISM

The Philippines was again named Asia’s leading dive and beach destination in the 2022 World Travel Awards (WTA) in Vietnam on Sept. 7, and Intramuros reclaimed its title as the continent’s leading tourist attraction.

Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco on Thursday welcomed the twin victories saying it proves the beauty of the Philippines.

“The Philippines is a beautiful country and you (WTA) having given these awards is such an affirmation to all of our tourism stakeholders and workers who have greatly sacrificed throughout the pandemic,” she said.

“We look to the future with hope that through our combined efforts under the Marcos administration that has identified tourism to become a major pillar for economic recovery that not only will we survive the (COVID-19) pandemic but we will thrive, we will endure and we will get back stronger than ever,” she added.

WTA awarded the Philippines for the sixth time as the leading beach destination in Asia, besting India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

At the same time, the Philippines achieved Asia’s Leading Dive Destination title for the fourth straight year since 2019, edging Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Frasco said the dive citation from WTA cemented the DOT’s premise in hosting the Philippine International Dive Expo (PHIDEX) 2022, considered the country’s largest platform to network and promote the local dive industry.

PALACE: SEPTEMBER 12 A SPECIAL HOLIDAY IN ILOCOS NORTE

Malacañang has declared September 12 as a special non-working holiday in Ilocos Norte in celebration of the 105th birth anniversary of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Proclamation No. 53 that marks his father’s birth anniversary.

On Aug. 22, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Ilocos Norte requested the declaration of the holiday on Sept. 12 in lieu of the birth anniversary of the older Marcos on Sept. 11 which falls on a Sunday.

The Palace said it recognized the need to enable Ilocanos to celebrate the occasion since Marcos Day is being celebrated annually in the province with or without a special holiday declaration.

TROPICAL STORM INDAY MAINTAINS STRENGTH BUT LANDFALL UNLIKELY, PAGASA SAYS

MANILA — Tropical storm Inday (international name: Muifa) has maintained its strength but is still unlikely to hit the Philippine landmass, state weather bureau PAGASA said Thursday.

But PAGASA said Inday could further intensify in the next 24 hours.

"The possibility of a rapid intensification within the forecast period is not ruled out," it also said.

Inday is packing maximum sustained winds of 75 kph near the center and up to 90 kph gusts, and moving westward at 20 kph, according to the weather agency's 5 p.m. bulletin.

Despite its strength and momentum, PAGASA said that Inday is unlikely to bring heavy rains over the archipelago throughout the forecast period.

It added that latest models indicated that raising tropical wind signals in the country remained unlikely.

Inday may leave the Philippine area of responsibility on Sunday or Monday, PAGASA said.

Meanwhile, the trough or extension of tropical storm Inday may bring scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over the Eastern Visayas, said PAGASA's 24-hour bulletin issued at 4 p.m.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country can expect isolated rain showers due to localized thunderstorms.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

AFTER 6 YEARS, VILMA SANTOS SAYS YES TO COMEBACK FILM

MANILA — Six years since her last big-screen project, Vilma Santos, local showbiz’s “Star for All Seasons,” has finally said “yes” to a comeback film with acclaimed director Erik Matti at the helm.

On Wednesday, the screen icon shared a photo of her with Matti as well as film producer Dondon Monteverde, saying she had a “lunch meeting” with them.

“Exciting!” she wrote.

Matti similarly expressed excitement about working with Santos anew. He provided more details of the meeting, revealing that Santos gave a “very happy, excited nod” to two film projects they pitched to her.

“I’ve worked with @rosavilmasantosrecto in a few commercials but I’ve always wished to do a movie with the Philippine film industry’s most iconic star for all seasons,” Matti wrote.

“We will be developing two projects with her and after hearing the stories, Ate Vi gave it a nod. A very happy, excited nod. So excited! Woot!” he added.

Santos, who is approaching her 60th year in showbiz, earlier said she intends to prioritize acting again as her political career takes a backseat. After more than two decades in public office, Santos decided not to run in the 2022 elections.

In the past 23 years, Santos has been Lipa mayor, Batangas governor, and Lipa representative. During her terms in office, Santos’ film and TV projects were few and far between.

Her last movie was in 2016, the family drama film “Everything About Her.”

“Napunta sa third priority ‘yung showbiz life ko,” she said in March. “Kaya ngayon na medyo I took a backseat, I’m excited na baka naman mabigyan ko ng priority ang pinagkakautangan ko ng loob, which is show business. I started here since 9 years old, nandito na ako sa pamilya ng showbiz.”

“Ang gusto ko, given a chance, makasama ko ang mga new breed of actors natin na magagaling talaga. A good script with our new breed of actors, I’m looking forward and I’m excited na makagawa ng isang teleserye or movie with them,” Santos said.

RESTORED PH CLASSICS TO SCREEN AT PISTA NG PELIKULA PILIPINO

MANILA -- Sagip Pelikula has partnered anew with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) to show its digitally restored classics for the sixth year of Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino at Trinoma Cinema 6.

This time three classic movies will return on the big screen.

The wartime drama "Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos" starring Nora Aunor will be screened on September 9 at 7 p.m. The movie was directed and written by Mario O' Hara.

It will be followed by "Cain at Abel," a modern-day version of Biblical story, will be screened on September 14 at 5 p.m. The movie was directed by Lino Brocka and written by Ricky Lee.

The 1983 drama "Karnal," directed by Marilou Diaz Abaya, will be screened on September 15 at 7 p.m..

INDICATORS

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers. – Voltaire