Day: April 20, 2024

MANILA: The Group of Seven (G7) has called out China over its militarization and ‘intimidation activities’ in the South China Sea (SCS), as it took note of Beijing’s “dangerous maneuvers’ and water cannon use against Filipino vessels carrying out routine resupply missions to the Ayungin Shoal.

In a communiqué issued on Friday, the foreign ministers of the G7 states opposed China’s ‘dangerous use’ of coast guard and maritime militia in asserting its claim over the vital waterway.

‘We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas and reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion,’ it read.

‘We continue to oppose China’s dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia in the South China Sea and its repeated obstruction of countries’ high seas freedom of navigation and we express serious concern about the increasing use of dangerous maneuvers and water cannons against Philippines vessels in this regard.”

The group emph
asized that there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea and reaffirmed its support for the 2016 Arbitral Award.

‘We reiterate that the award rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal on July 12, 2016, is a significant milestone, which is legally binding upon the parties to those proceedings and a useful basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties,’ it said.

The Arbitral Tribunal, through the landmark award, ruled that Beijing’s nine-dash line exceeds the geographic and substantive limits of its maritime entitlements provided for by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The invisible demarcation outlines China’s extensive claims over the South China Sea, including large parts of the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

G7 represents the world’s leading industrialized democracies. It consists of Canada, France, the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Public Estates Authority Tollways Corp. (PEATC) on Friday demanded the turnover of the operations and maintenance (O and M) of the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX) from the CAVITEX Infrastructure Co. (CIC).

In a press conference in Quezon City, PEATC President and Officer in Charge (OIC) Steve Esteban said the operations and maintenance agreement (OMA) that gave CIC the O and M responsibility of CAVITEX ended on Aug. 25, 2021, based on Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) Board Resolution 5383.

Esteban said the O and M of CAVITEX should have been turned over to PEATC – a government-owned and -controlled corporation created by the PRA for tollways management – beginning Jan. 1, 2022.

‘Patuloy ang pag-uusap ng PRA at CIC, pero ang kagustuhan ng CIC ay sila ang masusunod (The PRA continues to discuss this with the CIC, but the latter insists that they should be the one in charge),’ he said.

From the current 90 percent to 10 percent revenue-sharing in favor of CIC, he said CAVITEX revenue-shar
ing would change to 60 percent to 40 percent in favor of the government once the O and M returns to PEATC.

He noted that a toll decrease on CAVITEX is possible once the O and M of CAVITEX is returned to the government.

‘A writ of mandamus is the first step towards that direction. We need that to calculate how much we should be charging for,’ Esteban said.

Case filed at Court of Appeals

In February, a writ of mandamus was filed before the Court of Appeals (CA) due to the CIC’s refusal to turn over CAVITEX.

Esteban emphasized that the case is not a dispute, but is a request for help from the CA for the proper turnover of the project, and thereby not part of any arbitration agreement.

‘Bakit sinasabing walang dispute? Kasi ang mandamus, it means ministerial duty. Meron duty itong taong ito na hindi niya ginagawa (Why are we saying there is no dispute? Because mandamus is about ministerial duty. This person has a duty that they’re neglecting). They should comply,’ he said.

He added that the Commission on A
udit (COA) has sent the PEATC multiple audit observation memos due to their failure to take control of CAVITEX, noting that the CIC is immune from the same government oversight as a private company.

‘Walang kontrol ang gobyerno sa budget nila. So hindi sila pwede i-audit ng COA (The government has no control over CIC’s budget. That’s why COA can’t audit them),’ Esteban pointed out.

‘Rampant corruption’

In addition to CIC’s refusal to turn over CAVITEX, Esteban alleged that he witnessed ‘rampant corruption’ in CIC’s operations through the existence of tollbooths with no point-of-sale (POS) machines.

These toll booths, he said, still receive payment from expressway users despite not recording these transactions in their system, and thus are untaxed revenue.

During the press conference, representatives of the CAVITEX security workers union and the PEA Tollways Union (PEATEU) – workers who provide security and manpower on CAVITEX tollbooths – also alleged that the CIC has disallowed wage increases for the pa
st decade and refused to provide adequate equipment.

These union representatives said that computer systems used in toll collection have been left with broken air conditioners (AC), resulting in system failures and hassle to toll users, in addition to letting employees use old and dilapidated vehicles and other equipment.

Government property

Lawyer Sylvester Golez, legal manager of the PEATC, said that CAVITEX, both the land reclaimed by the PRA and the original road built on this land, is owned by the Philippine government.

‘Why did the CIC come into the picture? Their source of rights is the OMA. And this was already expired in 2021. There have been transition committees but what happened here?’ Golez said.

Once the O and M of CAVITEX is back in the hands of PEATC, he said proper government oversight would be possible.

‘Since this is government property, karapat-dapat lang na malaman ng buong bayan ang nangyayari sa CAVITEX (the entire nation should know what is going on in CAVITEX),’ he said.

No tec
hnical ability to handle tollways

PEATC spokesperson Ariel Inton also responded to allegations made by Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the parent corporation of CIC, that the government has no ‘technical ability’ to run CAVITEX.

However, he said that the workers inside CAVITEX tollbooths are already government personnel.

He rebuked the offer of MPTC to purchase the 10 percent revenue share of the government in CAVITEX for about PHP2 billion.

‘In one year, kumikita sila ng PHP2 billion (from CAVITEX). Sino ang papayag sa ganung offer (In one year, they earn about PHP2 billion from CAVITEX. Who would accept such an offer)? It is too unconscionable,’ he said.

Inton said that turning over the O and M of CAVITEX to PEATC would result in higher earnings for the government.

The PEATC, formerly the Public Estates Authority, was incorporated on Oct. 7, 1997, to take over and perform the duties and obligations of the PRA under the toll operations agreement signed by the PRA, Toll Regulatory Board, and the UE
M-MARA Philippines Corp. (UMPC) on July 26, 1996.

Under the terms of agreement, UMPC, now CIC, has the primary and exclusive privilege, responsibility, and obligation to design, construct, and finance the project while the PRA has also the primary and exclusive privilege, responsibility, and obligation to operate and maintain and to collect toll fees.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is working to repatriate the remains of the three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who died during the severe flooding in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) early this week.

‘Migrant Workers Office – Dubai and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Office, in particular, met with the next of kin of the three OFWs. They explained the procedures needed to facilitate the repatriation of their remains back to the Philippines,’ read the advisory issued by the DMW on Friday evening.

DMW Officer in Charge, Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac, announced in his X post on Friday that two Filipinas died from suffocation inside their vehicle at the height of the flooding on Wednesday.

A third victim, a male OFW, died after sustaining major injuries when his vehicle fell into a sinkhole. His two male OFW companions at the time of the incident suffered injuries and are recuperating.

The MWO-Dubai officers were able to visit and talk with them in their hospital rooms af
ter the incident.

Meanwhile, the DMW and OWWA personnel are working with the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai to assist stranded OFWs and other Filipinos who were affected when their flights were delayed or rescheduled by the Dubai International Airport due to inclement weather conditions.

They were provided with food packs, essential personal items, and airline flight assistance to help them on their way.

Food and relief packs were distributed by the MWO-Abu Dhabi to about 800 OFWs living and working in the Al Touba District in Al Ain, which was badly affected by the severe weather disturbance.

Despite the improved weather conditions, the MWO-Dubai reported that large areas around the Gulf State remain flooded.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Philippines’ Jessica Agra made it to the Top 10 based on the latest Asia Pacific Padel Tour (APPT) women’s rankings.

For reaching the semifinal round in both women’s and mixed Pro doubles at the APPT Hong Kong Grand Slam on April 11-14, Agra secured the No. 6 spot with 1380.00 points, behind Spain’s Patricia Garcia Calderaro (2600.00) and Maria Mayoral Estrada (2000.00), Portugal’s Constanza Kokorelis (1600.00), and Indonesia’s Sandy Gumulya and Japan’s Chifumi Sato, who both have 1500.00 points.

France’s Kim Ven Attar (1260.00) is at No. 7, followed by Japan’s Yoshino Kushima and Indonesia’s Beatrice Gumulya (1200.00) who are tied for eighth, while Australia’s Alexia Dalley and Japan’s Rio Yamada, Saki Tsukamoto, Erika Ogawa, and Kae Tokumoto share 10th place with 1000.00 points.

“I am really happy about my ranking right now in the APPT. Although I could have ended up in the Top 3 if we pulled off our semifinals match against the Japanese – Sato and Kushima. We were up 6-4, 6-6 (5-1), two poin
ts away from winning the match and playing the finals, but we came up short and lost 6-4, 6-7, 2-6. It was a tough match, but we lost to a strong team. Props to them for fighting for every point. There are no regrets, but it is also good to know that we are that close to playing the finals and attaining a higher ranking,” Agra said in an interview on Saturday.

Teaming up with Jessica Lucas, the Filipino pair advanced to the semis after pulling off a 6-2, 6-4 victory over China’s Michelle Wu and Zhaiyu Chaiu, who had to win two matches in the qualifying rounds to enter the main draw.

In the mixed Pro category, top seeds Agra and Joseph Serra prevailed over Indonesia’s Sandy Gumulya, 6-3 6-4, in the second round before losing their semifinal match to Spain’s Mayoral and Sergio Esteban Barroso, 4-6, 2-6.

Mayoral and Barroso eventually claimed the title after beating French Kim Ven Attar and Filipino Derrick Santos, 6-3, 6-4, in the final.

Agra is a former top junior tennis player. She has three ITF junior do
ubles titles.

“I first tried padel in 2022 when I saw some of the tennis players I knew playing through Instagram. I was curious because I noticed that padel only involved playing doubles and required volleying. I played for a few weeks in 2022 and started to play more consistently at the beginning of 2023 (at least once a week). This year, I am taking the sport more seriously and I have been playing at least four times a week. I am currently training in Manila Padel Club and being coached by their international padel coaches,” shared the 32-year-old Agra, whose title victories include the APPT Vietnam Open (mixed Pro), MartinX Academy’s Tournament Open, 4th Philippine National Padel (Mixed Open), 2nd Philippine National Padel (Women’s Open), and 1st Play Padel Open (Women’s Open).

“Right now, the plan is to join all the APPT tournaments scheduled for the year. I think there are at least five more before the year ends. I will probably also join one more FIP tournament this year,” she said.

The FIP (Federac
ión Internacional de Pádel) is the world governing body of the sport of padel, whose goal is to promote all forms of padel worldwide.

Agra received a tennis scholarship from Santa Clara University in California where she graduated with a political science degree in 2013. She studied law in Ateneo, passed the bar in 2019 and received a Graduate certificate in Entertainment Law and Technology, and Entrepreneurship Law, along with her Master of Laws degree from the University of Southern California in 2020.

Meanwhile, the other Filipinos in the women’s Top 50 are Lucas (No. 17), Alenna Dawn Magpantay (No. 18), Joanna Tao Yee Tan (No. 20), Noelle Nikki Camille Zoleta (No. 23), Rovy Conle Castillo (No. 29), Maia Balce (No. 32), Czarina Mae Arevalo (No. 32), Bebs Abrillo (No. 39), Marian Capadocia (No. 42), and Mayumi Jane Toribio (No. 45).

Serra is at No. 10 with 1100.00 points in the men’s division, behind Spain’s Dani Bressel and Miguel Briega who share the No.1 spot with identical 3200.00 points, followed by
Japan’s Shungo Kusakabe (2080.00), Spain’s Pol Asina and David Quiros Peiro (2000.00), Australia’s Tim Brown (1810.00), Argentina’s Martin Noschese (1800.00), Spain’s Jose Soto (1350.00), and Japan’s Kazuki Tomita (1140.00).

Also in the Top 50 are Filipinos Derrick Santos (No. 17), Jason Tamayo Lapidus (No. 23), Duane Santos (No. 33), Lazaro Cornaglia (No. 39), and Argil Lance Canizares and Mac Gulfo (No. 50).

Source: Philippines News Agency