MANILA: Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino said having three Filipinos at the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Games is another breakthrough for Philippine sports.

‘It’s really good to see that we’re improving,’ Tolentino said during a break in the POC extraordinary general assembly at the East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Parañaque City on Tuesday.

The Philippines is one of a few tropical countries which has athletes compete in the Winter Youth Olympics.

Seeing action in the Gangwon Games which will start on Friday are Fil-American speed skater Peter Groseclose, Switzerland-based freestyle skier Laetaz Amihan Rabe and Canada-based cross country skier Avery Balbanida.

The Philippines was represented by alpine skier Abel Tesfamariam and figure skater and two-time Winter Olympian Michael Martinez in the 2012 edition held in Innsbruck, Austria, while speed skater Julian Macaraeg and alpine skier Ana Noelle Wahleithner participated at the 2020 Games in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The
Philippines did not join the 2016 edition in Lillehammer, Norway.

Tolentino praised Southeast Asian nations Thailand and Singapore for also qualifying athletes for Gangwon where they will compete against Youth Olympians from 79 countries, including 17 from Asia. Thailand has 19 athletes and Singapore has two in Gangwon.

‘Southeast Asian athletes are improving in winter sports and we’re happy to be part of it,’ said Tolentino, the Tagaytay City mayor who also heads the cycling federation.

‘It’s really a great honor for South Korea for being the first Asian country to host such a big event,’ he added.

Tolentino and POC secretary-general lawyer Wharton Chan will be in Gangwon on Thursday, a day before the opening ceremony to be held simultaneously at Gangneung Oval and PyeongChang Dome.

Groseclose and his parents Tim and Victoria are already in Seoul. Rabe will arrive on Jan. 19 and Balbanida on Jan. 25.

Ada Lacia Milby is the chef de mission of Team Philippines, which also includes Philippine Skating Unio
n (PSU) president Nikki Cheng and Philippine Ski and Snowboard Federation secretary general Jezreel Apelar.

A total of 1,900 athletes aged 15 to 18 years will compete in the Gangwon Winter YOG, which will feature a digital torch, a first in Olympic history.

Source: Philippines News Agency

BUTUAN: All units under the Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Offices (DRRMOs) in the Caraga region have been activated due to the threat of floods brought by a shear line since Monday.

As of Tuesday morning, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration reported that the region will continue to experience rain showers and localized thunderstorms.

A shear line happens when the cold northeasterly winds and warm easterlies converge, according to the weather bureau.

The Coast Guard Stations in Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur also issued orders for the temporary suspension of sea travels for vessels and watercraft with 150 tonnages below due to rough sea conditions.

Necessary preparations

In Surigao del Sur, Gov. Alexander Pimentel ordered all mayors in the province to declare at their discretion the suspension of classes due to the continuing heavy rains.

‘All mayors are also urged to make the necessary preparations to respond to any eventualiti
es due to the prevailing weather conditions affecting the province,’ Pimentel said.

In San Miguel town, the local DRRMO alerted residents to prepare for evacuations as two gates of an irrigation dam in Barangay Sagbayan were opened since Monday due to critical water level conditions.

A no-sail policy was issued in Tandag City and other towns to ensure the safety of fisherfolk and fishing communities.

In Agusan del Sur, the municipal DRRMOs are closely monitoring the rising water levels of major river systems and irrigation dams.

Flooding

In Prosperidad town, the Gibong irrigation system also opened its sluice gate due to the increasing water levels.

In Sta. Josefa municipality, the local government advised village DRRMOs to prepare for preemptive evacuations as water level at the Sta. Isabel Bridge reached the critical level of 5.6 meters.

Reports of flooded areas were also reported in the towns of Trento, San Francisco, and Bunawan.

Local government units in the province issued temporary suspension o
f classes in all levels of public and private schools.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways-Caraga (DPWH-13) said maintenance was being conducted in a portion of the Bislig-Trento National Highway, particularly in Barangay Pagbatakan, Lingig, Surigao del Sur, after a landslide.

Only one lane of the highway is passable as of posting time.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: A commissioned survey by a cybersecurity firm has found that ransomware incidents in the Philippines became more rampant and aggressive in 2023.

Fortinet Marketing and Communications for Asia and Australia and New Zealand vice president Rashish Pandey said in a media briefing in Makati City Tuesday that 56 percent of the surveyed organizations in the Philippines reported that ransomware attacks surged by at least two times in 2023 compared to 2022.

The International Data Corporation’s Survey cited that phishing and ransomware were among the most common cyber threats in the country last year.

A phishing attack deceives an individual to reveal personal and sensitive information, while ransomware blocks victim to have access to one’s personal data unless a ransom is paid.

‘In the past, it used to be ‘Alright, I have locked your system.’ The bad actors will come and say ‘You pay me money… and I will give you access back to the data.’ Now, it has advanced even more. What we are seeing now is even if yo
u pay the money, they will not give you the data back or just delete it,’ Padney said.

Padney added that the more complex cyber infrastructure nowadays also becomes more vulnerable to cyber threats.

Contributing to the increase in cyberattacks globally are the big number of companies doing hybrid work setups, the use of applications, the number of gadgets being used by an individual, and the networks that these gadgets are being connected to, such as public WiFis and cafés.

He said the global average to detect that a cyberattack has happened is 21 days, and it will take another 12 hours to control the damage, six hours to investigate, and another 12 hours to remediate.

The executive also stressed the need for organizations to invest in cybersecurity and train their people in detecting cyberattacks.

Investing in security operations (SecOps) professionals will also help organizations to reverse these cyber threats, he added.

Padney said that based on the IDC Survey, there is only one SecOps professional f
or every 195 employees, managing an average of 44 daily alerts. Approximately, each alert takes 11 minutes to address within an eight-hour workday.

‘This workload places significant pressure on cybersecurity professionals… The time constraint underscores the necessity for efficient process, automation, and prioritization to effectively manage the workload,’ he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it is awaiting the decision of the House of Representatives on whether or not to hold a special election for the sixth legislative district of Batangas province.

“It depends on the House of Representatives if they will call for one. There is none so far, likely because Congress has not yet resumed session,” Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said in an interview on Tuesday.

Based on its rules, the lower chamber must first issue a certificate of permanent vacancy and a resolution before a special election can be held by the poll body.

Last week, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. appointed then Representative Ralph Recto as the new secretary of the Department of Finance.

Recto replaced Benjamin Diokno, who was named a member of the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Recto also vacated his post as one of the House’s deputy speakers.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Justice Secretary Jesus Remulla on Tuesday said his office will look into the accountability of past and present officials in the Bureau of Immigration (BI) who approved “thousands” of migrant workers visas from fly-by-night local businesses.

Remulla, in a press briefing said the visas were issued to applicants from fake corporations and sole proprietorships. Information about the anomalies were brought to the DOJ’s attention this January.

“As a matter of policy, I’m asking the BI not to grant anymore visas to sole proprietorships but only to corporations that have the stamp of approval of the SEC (Securities and Exchanges Commission),” he said.

Remulla said initial findings showed that a number of corporations that were petitioning for 9G visas are fake corporations or non-entities.

“Kaya ‘yan ang pinapaimbestigahan ko five years back para matigil na itong kalokohan na to (I have ordered an investigation to as far back as five years ago). It is an affront to our sovereignty that these people have
been issuing all of these [visas] to them. Many of them are used for POGO [Philippine offshore gaming operator]),” he added.

“We’re talking about more than 500 corporations and thousands and thousands of visas issued with the petition of these corporations, which has been presumed validated by the legal department and the visa issuing authority of the Bureau of Immigration. It’s just the tip of the iceberg. I would be asking for a fuller investigation and that’s what we discussed yesterday,” the DOJ chief said.

Remulla noted that the applications from the corporations did not undergo further scrutiny by the concerned officials. “The corporations were accepted hook, line and sinker without any validation. Meaning to say probably (they are ) in cahoots because you are talking about due diligence as a matter of government policy in every transaction.”

Remulla, meanwhile, reiterated his position to allow a private third party entity to take over the issuance of visas in the Philippines, similar to the practice
in other countries.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday met with officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to discuss the agency’s three-year plan to boost the agriculture and fisheries sector.

In a sectoral meeting at Malacañan Palace in Manila, the DA, led by Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., presented the three-year plan to increase agricultural productivity, lower food cost, ensure food security, and develop the agri-fishery industry.

The plan was presented, as Marcos emphasized the need to improve the agriculture sector, including aquaculture.

‘Basically, our three-year plan is to invest in post-harvest facilities and to have more recovery for our products and hopefully to partly lower the cost of rice and corn,’ Laurel said in a Palace press briefing after the meeting with Marcos.

‘Besides that, we have a big digitalization move, in order to get more accurate production data for our production. As you know, we need real production data in order to be able to manage the food supply of the coun
try effectively,’ he added.

Laurel said the DA is eyeing the construction of cold storage facilities with 5,000 pallet positions for high-value crops, including vegetables, to address the oversupply of agricultural products in the country.

He said extending the shelf life of vegetables by putting them into cold storage chains is seen as an ‘immediate action’ to solve overproduction which he stressed is a ‘result of poor planning and [coordination] with the market.”

Budget allocation

He noted that around PHP1 billion would be alloted for the establishment of four cold storage facilities in Luzon.

‘If we try to solve the problem as soon as possible, assuming 2025, I need an additional PHP5 billion to address the vegetable cold storage issue of the whole nation. How to get the money? I’m still new in government so I’m still trying to figure that out also,’ Laurel said.

In a separate statement, Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said the DA is planning to pursue four chiller storage projects in La Unio
n or Baguio, Taguig City, Quezon, and Occidental Mindoro.

Laurel also said the allotment of PHP93 billion is needed for the construction of post-harvest facilities in the next three years.

‘(For the) post-harvest facility alone, we need PHP93 billion in the next three years in order to save PHP10.7 billion a year on wasted rice and corn because we’re losing about 12.7 to 15 percent of our rice production due to a lack of post-harvest facility. So sa rice and corn pa lang na post harvest (for the post-harvest facilities for rice and corn, we need) PHP93 billion,’ he said.

‘No major post-harvest facility was funded by the government in the last 40 years. Puro maliliit, patingi-tingi which is actually irrelevant or useless. Sayang (It’s all small, tiny which is actually irrelevant or useless. What a waste). That’s why we really need to fund these projects but we cannot build them small. We have to build bigger,’ Laurel added.

The DA has established around 268 cold chain facilities nationwide, as of November
last year.

By June 2028, the DA targets to complete an additional 47 cold chain facilities.

Enough rice supply

Laurel said the construction of post-harvest facilities is crucial in increasing the rice and corn inventory by 23 days.

Garafil, citing data from the DA, said the current corn and rice post-harvest losses are about 494,000 metric tons (MT) or PHP10.76 billion a year.

She said the DA said milled rice production could be 3.89 million MT a year, with a recovery rate of 63 percent after milling, through the procurement of paddy dryers.

Despite the rice wastage, Laurel assured the public that the country has sufficient supply.

‘We have enough supply of rice. December, medyo healthy ang ating stocks. January is healthy, there’s additional rice coming. As far as the price is concerned, mahirap ma-predict (it’s so hard to predict). Ang problema, ‘yung (The problem is the) world price ay tumataas (is rising),’ he said.

Asked if the goal to lower the price of rice to PHP20 per kilo could be achieved,
Laurel said the agency is exhausting all efforts to make it attainable.

‘It’s an aspiration. It’s a target. We’ll try our best. Mas maganda may goal para (It’s better to have a goal so) everybody tries to achieve it as hard as possible,’ he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency