‘National News’ Articles
Written by magnolia on 12 March 2010
DAMAGE to the farm and fisheries sectors caused by the current dry spell has reached P8 billion, said Acting Agriculture Secretary Bernie G. Fondevilla on Wednesday.
Rice and corn accounted for more than half the damage, while fish and high-value commercial crops made up a “negligible” amount, Mr. Fondevilla said.
The P8 billion covered 14 provinces, which Mr. Fondevilla did not enumerate. But he said the Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions in northern Luzon accounted for bulk of the reported damage.
The Agriculture department has estimated that farm production losses could range from P8.09 billion under a “mild” El Niño case to as much as P20.46 billion under a severe “severe” one, with the tally likely more than P10 billion but still less than P20 billion.
Mr. Fondevilla said more than 200,000 metric tons (MT) of rice has already been destroyed, but clarified that any decision to import more of this grain on top of the 2.48 million MT already bought for this year will depend on whether the 7.2-million MT production target for the first half will be met and the final damage tally. (PIA-Bohol)
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Written by magnolia on 12 March 2010
THE Department of Health (DoH) warned Wednesday against the occurrence of heatstroke as warm weather continues due to El Niño phenomenon.
DoH chief epidemiologist Dr. Eric Tayag said that heatstroke cases are not usually recorded by the health department and statistics are confined only in hospitals.
But Dr. Tayag stressed that it is a heat-related illness that the public should be concerned about. He also warned senior citizens to be wary about the temperature because they are more prone to heatstroke.
The country’s chief epidemiologist said that as much as possible, public should avoid the sun between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., when it is hottest. He also emphasized the importance of drinking a lot of fluids and to constantly cool one’s self using fans to lower the heat.
Medical expert Dr. Gary Sy enumerated the symptoms of heatstroke that includes the following: Headache, dizziness, disorientation, agitation or confusion, seizure, a hot dry skin that is flushed out but not sweaty and fatigue among others.
Dr. Sy said heatstroke is ‘life-threatening’ that is why it is important to stay indoors when the weather is really hot. (PIA-Bohol)
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Written by magnolia on 12 March 2010
JOSHUA Clottey a far more dangerous arsenal than his gloved hands, and it seems Manny Pacquiao will have put up against an unpredictability dirty fighter.
The Filipino boxer and his team however have been forewarned, reports indicate.
Clottey has been in trouble in his fights with low blows, head-butting, holding and lacing and for Pacquiao who had difficulty handling rule-breakers in the past, Clottey may be a major concern papers reported recently.
Clottey has been noted to use his head to bang his way to a win
Liasted under Clottey’s dirty fights are Argentina’s Carlos Baldomer in 1999, Steve Martinez in 2005 and Shamone Alvarez in 2007.
Miguel Cotto earned a cut that took 200 stitches to close from Clottey in 2009, courtesy of a headbutt, says Ring Magazine.
It also added, “The most dangerous weapon in Clottey’s arsenal and what Pacquiao will have to be Mosat aware of, is undoubtedly Clottey’s haed,” wrote Don Stradley of Ring Magazine.
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Written by magnolia on 12 March 2010
PHILIPPINES has been elected to head a special committee of the United Nations.
The Philippines Mission to the UN in New York reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that the country was elected to chair the Special Committee on the Charter of tohe United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization.
The Special Committee for the 2010 Session is headed by Ambassador Carlos Sorreta, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.
Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN and former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. said the Philippine’ chairmanship to the 2010 Session of the Special committee is significant as it is one of the lasting legacies of the former UN Secretary General.
“The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations is a lasting legacy that the Philippines and General Romulo has given to the United Nation,” Davide said.
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Written by magnolia on 12 March 2010
A worsening drought is exacting a terrible toll on the world-famous mountain rice terraces of the northern Philippines, local officials said Tuesday.
A state of calamity was this week declared for the Banaue area that is home to many of the ancient stone-walled paddies and one of the Southeast Asian nation’s most popular tourist destinations, the officials said.
The rice terraces, a United Nations World Heritage site and known locally as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, were built between 2,000 and 6,000 years ago using huge rocks for each step and a complex trickle-down irrigation system.
Banaue tourist information bureau officer Juliet Mateo said the rice paddies most frequented by tourists at Batad and Bangaan had dried up completely as much of the country suffered from an El Nino-induced drought.
Mateo said the rice harvest, which takes six months in the mountains compared with three months on the flats, was in danger of being ruined completely by the drought.
Since a state of calamity has been declared for Banaue on Monday, officials hope that this would allow the local authorities to look into emergency funds to aid farmers.
Lack of rain added to the continuous drying of the land. This was the worst dry spell since 1998, wherein El Nino also hovered the land. (PIA-Bohol)
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Written by magnolia on 12 March 2010
THE Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday advised Filipinos against traveling to Thailand on Friday, March 12, in view of the protest rallies being planned in key areas of Bangkok that day.
Thus, “Filipinos are advised to postpone all non-essential travel to Thailand, specifically Bangkok,” the DFA said in its advisory.
“Filipinos who are already in Thailand are advised to avoid areas that have been identified as meeting areas and staging areas for the rallyists,” it added.
Thousands of travelers, including Filipinos, were stranded in late 2008 when Bangkok’s international airport Suvarnabhumi was shut down by protesters trying to topple the government. All flights were cancelled stranding thousands of passengers in the airport for a couple of weeks. (PIA-Bohol)
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Written by magnolia on 12 March 2010
STARTING March 8, all applications for electronic passports (ePassports) will only be accepted and processed via the appointment system at the new consular building on Macapagal Boulevard, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Applicants may set an appointment by going online through its dedicated website (http://www.passport.com.ph/) or by calling 737-1000. Travel agents can secure an appointment at the DFA website (http://dfa.gov.ph/main/) or email at scheduler@dfa-appointment.net. They may also call 834-4961, 834-4855, and 834-3707 for other details.
The new 7,000-square meter, four-story Office of the Consular Affairs (OCA) building is located at the corner of Macapagal Avenue and Bradco Street, Aseana Business Park.
OCA Assistant Secretary Renato Villapando said that the appointment system will be strictly implemented to enable DFA to pre-process information submitted in advance by an applicant, thus avoiding long queues, as experienced by walk-in applicants at the DFA-OCA main office in Roxas Boulevard. (PIA-Bohol)
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Written by magnolia on 12 March 2010
TEACHERS serving as Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) in the May 10 elections will receive P1,300 on top of the P3,000 honorarium, according to a resolution promulgated by the Commission on Elections on March 4.
As per Comelec Resolution No. 8786, each BEI member will receive an additional P1,300, which includes P500 for the inspection, verification and sealing of the book of voters; P500 for the testing and sealing of machines; and P300 for one-time transportation allowance.
Teachers who serve as BEI are entitled to receive P1,000 honorarium for three days of poll duty: the day before the elections, election day, and the day after.
The BEI is composed of a chairman, a vice-chairman, and a poll clerk, all public school teachers. The Comelec will deploy 240,000 teachers to man 74,000 clustered polling precints nationwide.
Each of the school heads, principals, and supervisors who are not part of the BEI but will help supervise the conduct of elections at the precincts will also get P3,000 honorarium, while janitors and messengers who will be assigned in schools serving as polling precincts will receive P1,500. The board of canvassers in the municipal, city, and provincial levels will get P5,000.
Education Secretary Jesli Lapuz and Comelec chair Jose Melo signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to ensure the fair compensation of public school teachers as they perform their electoral duties on May 10.
After sealing an agreement, DepEd undersecretary Franklin Sunga and Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal settled on a teacher compensation package, which included the P1,300 additional pay for BEI members. (PIA-Bohol)
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Written by magnolia on 06 March 2010
THE board of election inspectors (BEIs) who will serve on election day will be given copies of the list of the alleged double and multiple registrants for the 2010 polls.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez said that there will be a watchlist so that the BEIs will be alert and they can check if a voter has already voted in other places.
Once the watchlist is out, Comelec will be issuing guidelines on the use of the watchlist.
Under the law, the latest registration of the double and multiple registrants will be honored by the poll body.
Jimenez also assured that the commission is not negligent towards the issue and the cleansing of voters that was earlier cited by the Philippine Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).
Poll watchdog PPCRV earlier said there are about 40,000 duplicate voters in Davao City. Almost 1,000 are meanwhile alleged to be zombie voters.
The Comelec official admitted though that dead citizens who are still part of the voters list are quite difficult to track.
Comelec will soon be launching a page on its home website where people can report to the commission there dead relatives. The webpage will be helping to further cleanse the list of voters. (PIA-Bohol)
Tags: 2010 elections
Posted in Election 2010, Headlines, National News | No Comments »
Written by magnolia on 06 March 2010
FOR the first time in the country’s election history, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will put up special polling precincts in detention cells to uphold the rights of the inmates to vote on May 10.
Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said the special polling precincts in the detention facilities will be manned by Special Board of Election Inspectors.
The Comelec, in Resolution 09-005, upheld the right to vote of detainees and prisoners in national prisons, provincial, city and municipal jails and other government detention facilities on May 10.
The resolution granted the petition of the Commission on Human Rights to establish special polling places complete with Special Board of Election Inspectors in municipal, district, city and provincial jails with at least 100 registered inmates.
Sarmiento said that if a jail has less than a hundred inmates who have registered, they will have to apply for escorted voting to enable them to vote in polling centers found in public schools.
According to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, of 50,000 inmates awaiting trial across the country, only 23,657 have registered for the May 10 polls. (PIA-Bohol)
Tags: 2010 elections
Posted in Election 2010, Headlines, National News | No Comments »
Written by magnolia on 05 March 2010
THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said on Wednesday that it has exceeded its tax collection goal from operation last month by P3 billion.
BIR Commissioner Joel Tan-Torres said the country’s main tax collection agency generated P44.9 billion tax revenue from operation in February, higher by 8.3 percent compared to P41.43 billion goal for the month.
Tan-Torres told reporters on the sidelines of Philippine Economic Briefing that they are still expecting P2 billion to P3 billion in the coming days, so likely they will be exceeding their overall target by P3 billion in February.
Tan-Torres also said tax collection from the sale of Treasury bills, meanwhile, is still short by P1 billion against the target of P4 billion.
Overall, he said the BIR, which accounts for more than 75 percent of the national government’s revenue, is still short of target for February by P1.04 billion to P47.21 billion against the P48.252 billion target.
This has been the third straight month the BIR has exceeded its programmed collection since December last year. (PIA-Bohol)
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