ON FATHER’S 105TH BIRTHDAY: PBBM CITES NATION’S ‘REBIRTH’ WITH POLL VICTORY

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led the celebration of his late father’s 105th birth anniversary yesterday—saying with his victory in the May elections, there is now a “rebirth” of his father’s dreams.

“I think it’s a very meaningful celebration of my father’s birthday because it is very clear that there has been very much a rebirth in the country,” the President said in a speech delivered in Batac City—Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s birthplace—in Ilocos Norte.

“And why do I say that? I say that because those of us who have kept his memory alive, who have kept the sense of duty and commitment to the Philippines alive in all the times that were very, very difficult and have continued to be constant in the belief that what my father started, that what my father wanted to do was something that was honorable, something that was noble, and that was service to his country and to his people.”

“With the mandate that our people have given us – and I say ‘us’ because no victory, no great enterprise has ever been won by just one person—this victory belongs to all of us, not just Ilocanos, not just family members, not just the supporters, not just the loyalists but all Filipinos, this victory belongs to.”

“That is why I consider it in a way a rebirth of the Philippines.

Because we return to the values that we had learned from President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos. We return to the values of honor and of duty and of compassion. These are the elements that sometimes we have found lacking in the past few years. And this is our opportunity to return it, not only to the government, but to every part of our society,” he added.

President Marcos himself is celebrating his 65th birthday tomorrow, Tuesday, which will be marked by a nationwide feeding program spearheaded by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

In a statement, the PCSO said it will, together with selected Accredited Agent Corporations (AAC) or Small Town Lottery (STL) operators across the country, simultaneously provide sandwiches and drinks to the public under the program “Handog ng PCSO: Isang araw na salu-salo sa kaarawan ng Pangulo.”

UN RIGHTS COUNCIL URGED TO PASS RESO TO ADDRESS ONGOING ABUSES IN PHILIPPINES

MANILA — The United Nations Human Rights Council should recognize that the human rights crisis in the Philippines persists and adopt a strong resolution addressing the situation, a human rights organization said Monday.

In a policy paper submitted to UN member states, Human Rights Watch said that extrajudicial killings in the government’s "war on drugs" still continue. The UN Human Rights Council will hold its 51st session from September 12 to October 7 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Lucy McKernan, Geneva director at HRW, stressed that continued UN scrutiny is “vitally important.”

“UN member states should not be fooled by the baseless claims from the new Philippine government that the rights situation has suddenly improved,” McKernan said.

HRW called on the 47-member council to pass a resolution creating expanded human rights monitoring mechanisms and continuing the UN Joint Program.

The joint program was the UNHRC’s response in 2020 to the clamor to stop human rights violations linked to the government’s campaign against illegal drugs. It stopped short of an independent probe into the human rights situation that groups were calling for at the time.

The resolution should also explicitly request continued reporting by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation in the country, the HRW said.

HOUSE BILL SEEKS PCGG ABOLITION; FUNCTIONS TRANSFERRED TO DOJ

MANILA — A lawmaker has filed a measure seeking to abolish the Presidential Commission on Good Government, the government agency created in 1986 to reclaim ill-gotten wealth from the Marcos family and its cronies during the Martial Law regime.

In filing House Bill No. 4331, Rep. Benny Abante (Manila, 6th District) argued that the PCGG has “not produced significant accomplishment [and] has outgrown its usefulness.”

But in its 2020 Annual Report, the PCGG reported the recovery of a total of P174.2 billion since its establishment in 1986 until December 31, 2020. In the same accomplishment report, PCGG said it has an estimated P99.678-billion value of assets under litigation as of end of 2020.

“The abolition of the PCGG does not mean that the recovery of plundered wealth and its proper disposition will no longer be pursued,” Abante — a pastor — reasons in his explanatory note.

Should the measure pass, the functions of the PCGG will be passed to the Department of Justice headed by Marcos Jr. appointee,  Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.

Under the proposed measure, all sequestered real and personal assets and properties previously under the PCGG and all records and documents on its operations are transferred to the Privatization Office of the Department of Finance.

The bill also calls for a “physical inventory and complete accounting of the sequestered properties and assets” in coordination with the Commission on Audit headed by Marcos loyalist Jose Callida.

DSWD: NO MORE ONLINE APPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE

MANILA - The Department of Social Welfare and Development has stopped accepting online applications for educational assistance, DSWD Spokesperson ASec. Romel Lopez said on Monday.

The DSWD's 500 million pesos initial budget was estimated to help up to 200,000 students., but the DSWD's budget for educational assistance ballooned to P1.5 billion allowing for the program to benefit up to 400,000 students.

However, Lopez revealed that the DSWD now has 2 million applications for the educational assistance program.

"Sa sobrang dami nga po, hindi na kaya ng sistema. Minarapat na ni Secretary Erwin [Tulfo] na itigil na po ang online application," Lopez said in an interview with Teleradyo.

Of the 2 million, the DSWD must sort through duplicate submissions and applications in offices which do not match the locality of the applicant, burdening its already limited manpower handling the program's beneficiaries.

"'Yan ang kasama sa nahihirapan kaming i-proseso ngayon. Dati 'yung aming pag-reply sa kanila tumatagal lang ng 2-3 days, may natatanggap kaming reklamo, inaamin namin na 'yung iba August pa nag-apply, isang buwan na hindi pa kami nakaka-reply," Lopez said.

Processing of applications for beneficiaries has overwhelmed the DSWD's crisis intervention unit which handles the educational assistance program, so staff handling other programs of the department pitch in to help.

"Nakalulungkot man, talagang hindi na po kaya ng aming sistema," Lopez added.

Lopez assured that as long as there is remaining budget, the DSWD will continue to process applications for educational assistance. He hopes additional budget will be allocated by the national government to its initial 194 billion pesos.

"Historically hindi naman nababawasan ang pondo ng DSWD, bagkus ito ay nadadagdagan (Historically, the DSWD gets more than it pitches for)," he explained.

The DSWD is also seeking to source funding from lawmakers to augment the agency's budget for the educational assistance program.

LOAN SHARKS BEHIND 'UTANG TAGGING' VS TEACHERS: PARTY-LIST

MANILA - Loan sharks with connections in the Professional Regulation Commission may be behind the 'utang tagging' scheme where teachers with unpaid debts cannot renew their teaching licenses until they pay up, a party-list lawmaker said Monday.

ACT Teachers Partylist Representative France Castro clarified that the teachers affected by the "utang tagging" scheme have balances from non-government loans or loans taken up from "5-6" lending schemes which carry exorbitant interest rates.

In some instances, loan sharks would even offer jewelry to the teachers so they would fall deeper into debt.

"Hindi ito accredited sa DepEd, mga loan shark [ito] (Their loans are not accredited by the Department of Education, these are from loan sharks)," Castro revealed.

She warned that teachers face a "double-whammy": aside from failing to renew their licenses, they are also sued by the loan sharks to pressure them to pay.

Unpaid debt outside of government loans should hold no bearing to a teacher's standing to qualify for a PRC license renewal, Castro said.

"Hindi ko lang alam kung may kakuntsaba ang loan shark na ito sa PRC, kaya bakit nakakarating ang ganung mga ulat sa PRC," Castro said.

Castro raised the "utang tagging" policy, during the congressional deliberation of the DOLE's 2023 proposed budget last week.

"Isang taon ko nang kinakausap ang PRC, pero patuloy pa rin silang nagta-tag. Kaya napilitan na ako na isiwalat ito, dahil hindi sila gumagawa ng ano, hindi sila nagbabago," she said.

The PRC of the past administration had committed to look into the issue, Castro said.

Meanwhile, ACT Teachers Party-List also filed a bill seeking to raise Filipino nurses' basic pay to 50,000 pesos a month, in an effort to compensate healthcare workers for the demands of their work and prevent them from seeking better opportunities abroad.

SC TO KEEP VIRTUAL HEARING OF COURT CASES PERMANENT

With or without a pandemic, litigants can expect faster and cheaper litigation going forward as the Supreme Court is now crafting its rules on how to implement videoconferencing for hearings of cases in courts.

In his speech during the 130th Foundation Day and Law Day celebration of the Philippine Bar Association — the oldest voluntary national organization of lawyers in the country — Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo said the SC Committee on Virtual Hearings and Electronic Testimony is now working on the rules.

The Supreme Court allowed the use of videoconferencing for court proceedings at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We promulgated the Guidelines on the Conduct of Videoconferencing, which institutionalized the conduct of virtual hearings and electronic testimony for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gesmundo told PBA lawyer-members.

“In line with our efforts toward a technology-driven judiciary, we have decided to allow the conduct of all court proceedings through videoconferencing even after the end of the pandemic.”

The chief magistrate said the adoption of videoconferencing for court proceedings is part of the SC’s Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI).

BROILERS WARNING: HUGE POULTRY IMPORTS COULD KILL INDUSTRY

MANILA – A group of poultry producers in the Philippines is urging government to reduce importation of chicken and other poultry products, saying the huge imports could kill the local industry.

United Broilers Raisers Association & Philippine Egg Board chairman Gregorio San Diego Jr. said they have been selling their products at lower farmgate prices amid the influx of imported chicken into the country.

“Itong nakaraang 2 araw, Sabado at Linggo, bumaba nang tig-P5 sa bawat araw…bale P10 na yung binaba, pero eto, hindi pangkaraniwan eto kasi nga, weekend eh, usually kapag weekend, tumataas hindi bumababa, pero eto, this time, bumaba siya,” he said.

“Ang rate na ng presyo namin sa farm, yung binebenta naming mga buhay na manok, ngayon nasa P92-101. Ang puhunan namin dyan, sa pag-aalaga ng manok na buhay na yan, sa ngayon ang average na puhunan namin, P112. Kaya nalulugi na kami nang mahigit P10 bawat kilo,” he lamented.

He said some producers have decreased their production volume to help cut their losses.

San Diego encouraged the public to buy chicken locally so they can provide fresh, healthy meals for their families.

HIGHER SIN TAX ON JUNK FOOD TO CURB OBESITY, SAYS DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) has called on for a higher excise tax on junk food to curb obesity in the country and to fund the Universal Health Care program.

DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said obesity remains a public health concern in the country.

“This sin tax is part of our strategies for us to be able to regulate and control these different lifestyle risk factors,” she said Sunday in a press briefing.

Around 27 million Filipinos are overweight and obese, a March 2022 report from the United Nations Children’s Fund showed.

“For the past 2 decades, overweight and obesity among adults has almost doubled from 20.2 percent in 1998 to 36.6 percent in 2019,” the DOH said, also citing a survey from the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute.

“Similarly, the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity among adolescents have more than doubled from 4.9 percent in 2003 to 11.6 percent in 2018,” it added.

The Philippines earlier slapped higher excise taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, sugary drinks, and vapes.

Due to higher tax, smoking prevalence in the county decreased to 20 percent in 2019 from 31 percent in 2008, the health official said, citing data from DOST.

For this year, around 59 percent or P155 billion of the DOH’s budget came from sin taxes, Vergeire said.

“This is what we want to see in the coming years. That these sin taxes can fund the different interventions that we do to provide universal health care for everybody,” she added.

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PHILIPPINES CONFIRMS 2,230 NEW COVID-19 CASES, 16 NEW DEATHS

MANILA — The Philippines recorded 2,230 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, according to the Department of Health (DOH), raising the country's total to 3,906,269.

Sixteen new deaths were also recorded, raising the total number of people in the country who succumbed to the respiratory disease to 62,304.

Active cases stood at 25,684, while those who recovered from the illness have now reached 3,818,281.

Of the newly reported infections, 1,056 are from Metro Manila.

The positivity rate for the week of Sept. 4-10 is at 12.3 percent, slightly lower than the 12.4 percent recorded the previous week, ABS-CBN Data Analytics Team head Edson Guido said.

From Aug. 29 to Sept. 4, the country's average daily infections were at 2,449, which is 10 percent lower compared to the previous week.

Coronavirus infections in Mindanao were showing signs of plateauing, the DOH said recently. The Visayas was on a plateau, while the rest of the areas in the country are on a slow downward trend, it added.

At least 72.7 million people in the country have been fully vaccinated against the respiratory disease, of whom 18.5 million have received their booster shots.

NEGROS OCC. EASES MASK USE OUTDOORS

Third province to make it optional after Cebu, Iloilo

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has made the wearing of face masks optional in outdoor spaces, following in the footsteps of Cebu province, which defied a national mask mandate to guard against the spread of COVID-19, Cebu City, and neighboring Iloilo province.

“The wearing of face masks in outdoor and open spaces shall be optional for all persons within the territory of Negros Occidental,” Executive Order 22-45, signed by Lacson, said.

The EO said the wearing of face masks in indoor spaces as well as in hospitals and other medical facilities remains mandatory.

As of Sept. 10, Negros Occidental still had 168 active COVID-19 cases.

On Sunday, the Department of Health said it will conduct a national COVID-19 booster week from Sept. 26 to 29 to ramp up the booster uptake among the general population.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) also recommended this, in line with its proposal to make the wearing of face masks outdoors optional by year-end, Lorra Angelia Sayson, DOH head assistant to the officer-in-charge, said.

After Cebu went off on its own, the IATF recommended making the use of face masks voluntary outdoors—but President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not yet approved the measure.

DOTR URGES USE OF FACE MASKS INSIDE PUBLIC TRANSPO AMID PLANNED EASING OF MASK POLICY

MANILA - The Department of Transportation on Sunday urged the public to continue wearing face masks inside public transportation vehicles amid the government's plan to ease the use of the protective gear in outdoor settings.

In a statement, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said he favors the use of face masks while inside PUVs.

He also encouraged the public to continue observing the following health and safety protocols:

Do not talk or make phone calls

Do not eat

Keep public utility vehicles well ventilated

Conduct frequent disinfection

No passengers with COVID-19 symptoms are to be allowed inside the public transportation

Observe appropriate physical distancing

"Our collective fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is showing signs that we are making improvements in bringing down the number of cases. But the virus is still around, it is not over yet," Bautista said.

"We need to remain vigilant especially in public areas, until such time that we have totally won against the COVID-19," he added.

FERNANDO ZOBEL DE AYALA RESIGNS AS AYALA CORP. PRESIDENT, CEO

MANILA — Nearly a month after announcing he would take a medical leave, Fernando Zobel de Ayala has handed in his resignation as Ayala Corp.’s president and chief executive officer to focus on his recovery and health.

One of the country’s oldest conglomerates made the announcement in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday. Zobel’s resignation was likewise cascaded across Ayala’s listed subsidiaries, such as Globe Telecom Inc. and Bank of the Philippine Islands.

His resignation entailed he would also step down as vice-chairman and director of the company. Cezar Consing will serve as the conglomerate’s acting president and CEO.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

NADINE LUSTRE TO NETIZENS: STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO

MANILA – Nadine Lustre clapped back at some netizens who have been telling her and her friends about what she should do.

Through a post on Twitter on Friday, Lustre expressed her dismay over such comments, stressing that she is already an adult.

“ppl be commenting instructions and tagging my friends or boyfie on my IG. Stop telling them to tell me what to do. Im not 10,” she wrote.

Lustre’s tweet comes amid her series of posts on Instagram where she flaunted her fit figure during a beach getaway in France.

Lustre’s latest batch of swimsuit photos fetched a couple of million likes, with a flood of comments praising her physique as well as the “aesthetic” or themed presentation of her beach photos.

The actress was on vacation with her boyfriend, French businessman Christophe Bariou, going by her photos she earlier shared.

Over the past year, Lustre has become increasingly open about her romance with Bariou, posting pictures of them together and discussing their relationship in interviews. The two met in Siargao, where Lustre has a residence and where Bariou own a resort.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Beauty is all very well at first sight; but whoever looks at it when it has been in the house three days? - George Bernard Shaw