Day: June 20, 2023

La Salle will be a very busy team this midweek as the team plays in back-to-back college preseason finals games. The Green Archers swept the Perpetual Help Altas last week in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup semifinals to seal a place in the championship round against the San Beda Red Lions, which begins on Thursday. However, La Salle also clinched a spot in the FilOil EcoOil Preseason Cup final after dethroning National University in their Monday semifinal, and the showdown between the Green Archers and the UP Fighting Maroons for the championship is scheduled on Wednesday. Assistant coach Gian Nazario conceded that a dilemma has ensued for the Green Archers. “We can’t do anything. That’s the schedule given to us, so we just have to deal with it,” Nazario said during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Philippine Sports Commission Conference Hall inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex on Tuesday. While he officially functions as a deputy to new head coach Topex Robinson, Nazario is leading the way for the Green Archers’ D-League campaign. Currently, according to Nazario, they are focusing on the Fighting Maroons. “Today, sa ensayo namin (in our practice), it’s just really more on viewing lang just to keep the players fresh for Wednesday,” Nazario said. However, despite needing to shift their attention to another opponent in less than 24 hours, he said he sees this as an opportunity to get a reality check before they embark on their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) journey later this year. “The main focus is really for us to see where we are now as a team,” Nazario said. “We just take it one game at a time.” Meanwhile, Robinson is excited for La Salle’s showdown with UP to gauge if they have what it takes to steal some thunder from one of the hottest teams in the UAAP right now. “They’re one of the barometers of the UAAP and we’re glad to see where we’re at against the cream of the crop of the UAAP,” Robinson said on Monday night after the Archers’ win over the Bulldogs.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The city government is eyeing more development for achieving its insurgency-free status. The Iloilo City Peace and Order Council and Anti-Drug Abuse Council adopted and approved the Joint Peace and Security Coordination Center (JPSCC) resolution recommending the declaration of the city as an ‘insurgency-free city’ during their June 16, 2023 meeting. ‘We are very happy. I think we are among the very few cities in Western Visayas. That will allow us to get more developments,’ said Mayor Jerry P. Treñas in an interview on Tuesday. The JPSCC resolution passed during their meeting at the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) headquarters on June 9 said “there are no recorded violent incidents or non-violent urban activities perpetrated by the Communist Party of the Philippines New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) as well as existing formation within the city since 2018.” The resolution was signed by ICPO Director Col. Joeresty P. Coronica, Coast Guard Iloilo Station head Commander Paterno B. Belarmino Jr., and Philippine Army 301st Infantry Brigade commander Brig. Gen. Michael G. Samson. Treñas said the declaration is a manifestation of all their hard work in creating a safe and livable city. ‘We will continue with our initiatives to maintain our insurgency-free and generally peaceful status,’ he said. In terms of development, the mayor was informed that for the first time, a direct container shipment from Singapore is expected to arrive in the city on July 15.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Filipinos, especially the government, need to promote more and procure “sariling atin” or Filipino-made products and services to be more competitive in the world market. Senator Sonny Angara made the call on Tuesday during the Committee on Finance’s hearing on Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2218, also known as the “Tatak Pinoy” Bill which shall mandate the formulation, financing, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of comprehensive and multi-year “Tatak Pinoy” Strategy (TPS). “Sa totoo lang, huli tayo eh. Huli tayo sa ating mga karatig bansa (The truth is we are behind our neighboring countries). If you look at Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, they all really have a very defined industrial policy,” Angara said in a press briefing after the hearing emphasizing that free market will not solve the country’s problem. “Talagang pagkatingin natin by themselves mamamayagpag itong mga industriya, mali tayo dun (We thought the industries will succeed by themselves alone, we were wrong). I think a large percentage of industries that make it, do it at the very minimum hindi nakikialam ang gobyerno at ang kadalasan, tinutulungan sila ng gobyerno (either they are not being bothered by their government or they are being supported by their government),” he added. Angara suggested that the government support local industries by sending representatives to international expos or exhibitions to learn more and be known on the world stage. “Para makilala naman sila dahil sayang naman yung galing nila kung tayo lang yung nakaka-appreciate sa kanila (So they will be known because their skills will be wasted if only us [fellow Filipinos] appreciate their work), he said. The government, Angara said, should also support local industries by procuring their produce instead those of foreign companies. He also called for the establishment of new industries saying a lot of Filipino graduates choose to work in other countries after failing to find the industries relevant to their professions here in the Philippines. “Yung magagaling nating animators, saan nagtatrabaho? Sa Singapore kasi wala yung mga industriya dito eh (Where do our best animators work? In Singapore because the industry is not here). That’s why it’s about time we focus more on national industries especially pag-strategic siya (if it is strategic),” Angara explained. If passed into law, SBN 2218 shall require the government agencies to collaborate with the private sector to ensure that all the strategies and interventions introduced would be focused on the expansion and diversification of the productive capabilities of local enterprises. The TPS will be continuously improved upon by a “Tatak Pinoy” Council that will be headed by the socioeconomic planning secretary as chairperson and the secretaries of trade and industry and finance as vice-chairpersons.

Source: Philippines News Agency

About 22,000 barangay tanod members (village watchmen) in Iloilo province stand to benefit from the PHP22 million allocated by the provincial government for their 2022 cash incentives. The PHP1,000 annual incentive is mandated under Provincial Ordinance 2020-240, which grants benefits and incentives to barangay tanod members in the province’s 1,721 barangays in recognition of their voluntary services in maintaining peace and order. A ceremonial turnover of the incentives for barangay tanod of the municipality of Tubungan, led by Provincial Administrator Raul Banias, Board Members June Mondejar and Rolito Cajilig, and Provincial Treasurer Jean Maire Umadhay, was held after the flag-raising ceremony at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol on Monday. Board Member Mondejar, the author of the ordinance, said there are instances when village watchmen risk their lives and even those of their families while performing their duties. ‘This is the third year that they are supposed to receive their incentives since it started two years ago. We are releasing their incentive for December 2022 because it was in the ordinance that they are supposed to receive it December of every year, similar to other volunteer workers,’ he said in the vernacular in an interview on Tuesday. Before they could receive their assistance, the ordinance requires them to plant five tree saplings that should be verified and certified by their village chief. ‘That is a big help to the program of the province to plant trees to help address the climate change problem,’ Mondejar added. He said hopefully, the cash incentive would increase when provincial funds allow it because the ordinance provides at least a PHP1,000 incentive annually. The fund will be released to the representative of local government units who, in turn, will distribute it to the villages. Mondejar is also urging those in charge of processing their documents at the municipal level to prepare their requirements earlier to comply with the provision of the ordinance that it should be released every December.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Operatives of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM) have seized some PHP12.7 million worth of smuggled rice off Tawi-Tawi, a top NFWM official said Tuesday. Rear Adm. Donn Anthony Miraflor, NFWM commander, said the shipment of smuggled rice was intercepted Monday around 670 yards (0.61 km) north of Papahag Island, Tawi-Tawi. Miraflor said the troops were on patrol at Chongos Bay, Bongao, Tawi-Tawi when they chanced upon a wooden-hulled vessel marked MV Katrina V, found to be loaded with 6,000 sacks of rice when inspected. The undocumented 6,000 sacks of rice of 25 kilos each came from Malaysia and are worth PHP12.7 million, he said. Miraflor said MV Katrina V, its crew, and the cargo were escorted to the Chinese Pier in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, and turned over to the Bureau of Customs. Miraflor did not identify the owner of the smuggled rice, who is allegedly based in this city.

Source: Philippines News Agency