Category: General

MANILA: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it is ready to comply with the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) on the case filed by its former service provider Smartmatic Philippines.

Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said Monday they have yet to receive an order from the High Court halting any of their preparations for next year’s midterm polls.

In December last year, Smartmatic contested the legality of its disqualification from the poll body’s bidding process for the 2025 automated election system before the SC.

Garcia, however, ruled out the possibility of holding manual elections.

‘Again we cannot resort to manual elections. Because otherwise, the Comelec will be violating the law. We can only resort to automated elections in 2025 because that is what the law provides. You have to automate the national and local elections. So kung ano po yung magiging (whatever is the) disposition, iyan naman po ay part ng proseso (that is part of the process) pero in the meantime, the Comelec will have t
o proceed,’ he said in a press briefing.

Garcia noted that the dealings of the Comelec are in order and are compliant with the country’s laws, particularly the Government Procurement Reform Act.

On Monday, the Comelec, together with the joint venture of Miru Systems Co. Ltd., Integrated Computer Systems, St. Timothy Construction Corporation, and Centerpoint Solutions Technologies Inc. (MIRU-ICS-STCC-CPSTI), signed the over PHP17 billion poll automation contract for the May 2025 polls.

Miru Systems tendered a bid of PHP17.98 billion for the project which includes the manufacturing of 110,000 automated counting machines and ballots, among others.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The government is eyeing to tap the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to fund the Philippine National Railway – South Long-Haul project, an official of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) said Tuesday.

NEDA Assistant Secretary Jonathan Uy told the Congressional Oversight Committee on the Official Development Assistance (COCODA) panel that they are waiting for the result of the detailed engineering to “leap frog” the project directly to bidding out both design and building.

“We are now informally discussing with the Asian Development Bank whether they will be able to glide in to the project in order to ensure continuing effort here,” Uy told the panel.

“We are a go. It’s a question of how early we can move forward. The detailed engineering is very critical in order to make sure that it’s implementable. That’s the main point and we will be efficient,” he assured.

The project consists of a 560-kilometer rail line that will connect Metro Manila to the Bicol Region.

Uy revealed that the present ali
gnment would have to be changed to come up with a faster train service.

“From the 40-60 kilometer per hour run of the current line, we are targeting about 80-120 kilometers per hour. That would mean essentially having straighter train alignments that is why the detailed engineering is very critical,” Uy said, adding that they are also looking to “have better connections along the way.”

With the closure of the Manila section to give way to the North-South Commuter Railway project, Uy said they are now focusing in the Calamba-Naga alignment.

Once the project is completed, travel time from Metro Manila going to the Bicol region is expected to be reduced from the current 12 hours to just four.

Source: Philippines News Agency

ILOILO: The local government here does not consider the drug situation alarming amid the confiscation of a huge volume of illegal drugs by authorities during sting operations.

‘What is important is that our police officers are alert and operations continue. We will continue to support our police,’ Mayor Jerry Treñas said in a follow-up interview on Tuesday.

He said the situation can only be alarming once there are big-time peddlers arrested in operations.

The mayor is mulling acquiring a dog to be trained in drug-sniffing for deployment in ports.

Treñas, meanwhile, said he has ordered city lawyers to study and determine additional penalties for a barangay kagawad (councilor) who was caught in a drug-bust operation in Jaro district last week.

Various operations by different units under the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO6) from March 2 to 4 resulted in the confiscation of 2,928.520 grams of shabu valued at over PHP19.9 million.

Based on the information, 2,035 grams with a standard drug price of more than P
HP13.83 million came from operations of the Iloilo City Police Office.

Other confiscations came from Negros Occidental with over PHP2 million for 305.520 grams and Iloilo province with 272.5 grams worth PHP1.85 million.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has produced another top-notch licensure examinee in the person of Angeline Ilagan from Imus, Cavite.

Angeline, a former monitored child of the DSWD-4Ps, secured the 2nd top spot in the February 2024 Criminologist Licensure Examination (CLE). She finished her Bachelor of Science in Criminology from the Cavite State University.

‘We are proud of Angeline and we congratulate her for this achievement. She is the latest addition to the list of former 4Ps monitored children who have topped various board examinations,’ DSWD Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez said in a news release on Tuesday.

As of the latest count by the 4Ps National Program Management Office under Director Gemma Gabuya, the government’s anti-poverty flagship program has already produced 41 topnotchers in different fields across the country.

Since 2016 up to the present, the 4Ps now have 32,000 college gradu
ates. Of this number, 82 graduated Magna Cum Laude, 1,135 Cum Laude, and 132 finished their collegiate course with Special Distinctions.

Angeline, together with her twin sister, Angelica, has been a 4Ps monitored child since Grade 5. She said that 4Ps has helped her and Angelica, meet their school needs until their senior year.

‘Lahat po ng pagsisikap at pagod ko sa pag-aaral ay para po sa aking pamilya(All my perseverance and sacrifices to study are for my family),’ Angeline said.

Aside from Angeline, 28 other 4Ps monitored children from various regions passed the CLE. One of them is Precious Anne Aguyen who graduated Cum Laude from the F.L. Vargas College, Inc. in Abulug Campus, Cagayan province.

The board passers are now part of the 4Ps roster of board examination passers numbering to 4,142, as of March.

‘We also extend our congratulations to these board passers,’ Lopez said.

He added that the achievement of these former monitored children of 4Ps is a testament that the program is on track with its o
bjective to break the inter-generational cycle of poverty through education.

‘Ang tagumpay na nakamit ng mga batang ito ay isang patunay na ang 4Ps, lalo na ang aspeto ng programa na investment sa edukasyon ay nakatutulong sa ating mahihirap na kababayan upang mapataas ang antas ng kanilang pamumuhay(The success achieved by these children is proof that the 4Ps, especially the aspect of the program that invests in education, contributes to improving the quality of life of our poor and marginalized countrymen),’ he said.

4Ps is the flagship program of the national government on poverty reduction and social development implemented by the DSWD.

It provides cash grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition, and education, particularly for children aged 0-18.

To date, the program has 4.4 million household beneficiaries nationwide.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The Philippines has denied ignoring China’s proposals to manage tensions in the South China Sea, saying some of them cannot be considered as they run contrary to the national interest and the Constitution itself.

The statement came after The Manila Times quoted a Chinese official as saying Beijing has submitted 11 concept papers, including on the Ayungin Shoal and the fishing issue on Scarborough Shoal, but ‘were met with inaction’ by Manila.

‘The DFA had received last year a number of concept papers from China on various maritime-related proposals. In no way did the Philippine Government ignore China’s proposals,’ the DFA statement on Tuesday read.

‘Upon receipt of the Chinese proposals, the Philippine Government had immediately undertaken serious study and consideration of all of them,’ it added.

The DFA said it had lengthy and in-depth consultations with various government agencies and held several rounds of discussions but found that some of the proposals if pushed would equate to violating the Phili
ppine Constitution.

‘While a few proposals were deemed somewhat workable, many of the remaining Chinese proposals were determined, after careful study, scrutiny and deliberation within the Philippine Government, to be contrary to our national interests,’ it said.

The DFA said it cannot enter into any ‘agreement or understanding’ that would undermine the Philippine Constitution or denigrate the legally-settled rights of the Philippines under international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 Arbitral Award.

Still, Manila continued engaging Beijing and submitted counter proposals in 2023.

Instead of considering these, the DFA said the Chinese side presented its own counter-proposals, ‘which again did not reflect our interests, especially on issues such as the South China Sea’.

The DFA also confirmed that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong discussed the proposals when he visited Manila in March 2023.

The Chinese diplomat, the DFA said, refe
rred to a so-called ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ where ‘China insisted on actions that would be deemed as acquiescence or recognition of China’s control and administration over the Ayungin Shoal as China’s territory.’

‘As Ayungin Shoal is a part of the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, the proposal of China could not be considered by the Philippines without violating the Philippine constitution or international law,’ the DFA said.

It added that these proposals were again discussed in person during the 8th Bilateral Consultation Meeting on the South China Sea on Jan. 17, 2024.

Based on DFA’s January release, the only agreement made at that time was to ‘deescalate’ the situation in the South China Sea when they both presented their respective positions on the Ayungin Shoal.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has arrived in Berlin to start his three-day working visit to improve the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Germany.

Marcos, along with First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos and members of the Philippine delegation, arrived at Brandenburg International Airport in Berlin on Monday at 9:49 p.m. local time (4:49 a.m. Tuesday in Manila), the Presidential Communications Office said.

They were welcomed by Philippine Ambassador to Germany Irene Susan Natividad and select personnel from the Philippine Embassy.

While in Berlin, the President will meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz where several agreements will be signed.

In his departure speech Monday afternoon, Marcos said among the agreements to be signed with Germany is the Joint Declaration of Intent on Strengthening Maritime Cooperation and the Cooperation Programme between the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training.

He added
that the Philippines intends to tap Germany’s expertise in renewable energy to assist the country in the energy transition efforts and various sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, aerospace, innovation and startups, IT-BPM, and mineral processing.

The President is also expected to meet with the Filipino community in Berlin.

After Germany, Marcos will head to the Czech Republic for a two-day state visit.

Source: Philippines News Agency