Category: General

A 26.97-square kilometre (km2) area in Melaka and a 299.0-km2 area in Gugusan Pulau Lima Johor have been gazetted as marine parks under Section 41, Part IX, of the Fisheries Act 1985 this year.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Chan Foong Hin said the 52 marine parks in national waters have, so far, reached an area of 25,358.39 km2, equivalent to 5.35 per cent of the country’s total Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 473,952 km2.

“This shows the wealth of natural resources (fisheries) in the country’s waters.

“These efforts will continue with the addition of the Dugong Sanctuary covering 1,508.1 km2 and the waters of Pulau Layang-Layang covering 40.27 km2 to be designated as a marine protected area by 2025,” he said during the World Ocean Day 2023 celebration today.

He said the ministry was committed to expanding marine protected areas to conserve endangered species and appreciate the treasures of marine biodiversity.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

A housing project for former rebels will be established in the town of San Jose de Buan, Samar as part of the government’s whole-of-nation approach to end insurgency. The project, which will be called Peace Village, located near the town center will provide free housing within a 100-square-meter lot to be awarded to each identified former rebel who opted not to return to their respective communities. The target is to start the project within the year. ‘Some who have surrendered don’t want to return to their communities out of fear. We are providing a safe place for them to rebuild their lives,’ Gen. Lenart Lelina, commander of the Philippine Army’s 801st Infantry Brigade, said in an interview late Tuesday. It was not disclosed though how much funds will be allocated for the project. However, at least 21 government officials, agencies, and non-government organizations have committed to donate while waiting for the budget from the National Housing Authority, the military official said. The military and the local government have initially identified 17 rebels who will receive free houses made of mixed concrete and wood within the 1.5-hectare property. There is an ongoing water system project by the local government that will cover the housing site. This is on top of the PHP1 million fund committed by Mayor Joaquin Elizalde for site development. The price tag for each house is PHP180,000 to PHP400,000, depending on the design. “Through this housing project, we are hoping to encourage the remaining active members of the New People’s Army in the area to surrender,” Lelina said. The proposed village will have permanent houses for former rebels, a training center, and a farm lot for agriculture-related livelihood activities. It will also accommodate former rebels from nearby Samar towns. Since 2020, several active NPA members and staunch allies yielded to authorities and turned over several firearms in San Jose de Buan town alone. The 4th class town with a population of nearly 8,000 is one of the NPA’s strongholds in Samar Island, considering its strategic location within the tri-boundaries of Northern, Eastern, and Samar provinces.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Ukraine plans to sue Russia in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague over the incident at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP), Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has said. “We will make requests to the staff of the International Criminal Court,” Zelensky said, describing the situation as “ecocide.” Ukrainian forces shelled the Kakhovka HPP in the early morning hours on Tuesday, presumably using missiles fired from an Olkha multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS). The gate valves of the plant’s dam collapsed as a result of the shelling, causing water to pour out uncontrollably. As of now, the water level in Novaya Kakhovka has risen to above 12 meters. Fourteen settlements have been flooded and up to 80 are at risk of being inundated. People are being evacuated from neighboring settlements. However, according to local authorities, large-scale evacuations are not necessary. Farmlands along the Dnieper have been washed away. There is a risk of the drying out of the North Crimean Canal, which feeds water to Crimea. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the attack on the Kakhovka HPP as a deliberate act of sabotage by Ukraine. He added that the Kiev regime should bear all the responsibility for the consequences.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The privatization of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) may be implemented by the first quarter of 2024, an official of the Department of Transportation said Wednesday. “It is doable that there will be a conclusion that could possibly be proclaimed by the government,’ Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation and Airports Roberto Lim said in an interview over ANC. ‘That takes time. If there are more than one participants, we will have to talk to all of them. It will take time,” he added. NAIA’s privatization, Lim said, would have ‘upsides’ in terms of efficiency in passenger and flight movement, and generate income for the government. ‘There is a lot of upside when you upgrade NAIA. You introduce efficiencies. That means you can process more passengers, you can take in more flights, and more revenues — means larger share for the government,’ he added. Lim clarified issues surrounding the airport’s privatization, including the role of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) once the privatization takes place and the airport employees. ‘The relationship between MIAA and the concessionaire will be regulator-operator. The MIAA will continue to operate as a body that will regulate, oversee,’ he said. ‘Generally no loss of employment. Airport employees will be offered opportunity to work when the airport facilities are privatized,’ he added. All airport assets at the NAIA still belong to the government with the private concessionaire limited to an operations and management role, Lim said. Last Friday, the Department of Transportation and MIAA submitted their joint proposal for the NAIA-solicited Public Private Partnership project for approval by the National Economic Development Authority Board, giving the private concessionaire 15 years to operate the airport and recover its investment.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The government is doing its best to improve the business climate in the Philippines, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. assured a group of Filipino-Chinese business leaders on Wednesday. During the oath-taking of the new set of officers of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII), Marcos said his administration has already taken the necessary steps to address the issues on ease of doing business in the country. “Cognizant of the concerns of the sector, we will continue to listen and exert efforts to improve business climate and foster ease and efficiency of doing business,” Marcos said in a speech delivered during the oath-taking ceremony at Malacañan Palace in Manila. “We have taken note of the issues that you have raised during our meeting last year and we have initiated many steps and adjustments to address those challenges,” he added. Marcos said the government is implementing strategic initiatives that would benefit the business sector, including the digitalization efforts and the improvement of tax administration and fiscal incentives system. In October 2022, Marcos met with the FFCCCII to discuss goals and plans to usher the Philippine economy into the new normal. Marcos said his administration would continue to preserve and strengthen its “reliable” and “mutually beneficial” partnership with the FFCCCII. “We look forward to further deepening and strengthening that relationship through continuing dialogue and amicable approaches,” he said. Marcos said the FFCCCII is one of the “most important and trusted” partners of the government, acknowledging the federation’s “high-impact” social civic projects in the country. He expressed optimism that strengthened partnership for the economic revitalization would yield “greater benefits for businesses, our citizens and our country.” “Rest assured that this administration will continue to support this healthy relationship. It is not only a healthy relationship, it is one that we consider to be a necessary partnership, and I think it has been made clear that the policy of this administration is to have the critical partners in the transformation of our economy,” Marcos said. “May this partnership between the Philippine government and the Federation live on for decades to come. Let it remain to be the government’s dependable ally in the pursuit of our aspirations for a prosperous, inclusive and resilient society, and a more comfortable, secure life for us all,” he added. Marcos also urged the newly elected FFCCCII officers to sustain the federation’s legacy. “With your unquestionable and proven dedication, wisdom and professionalism, I am certain that we will have positive influencers and prime movers in our communities to ably guide or economy to greater heights,” he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced a new plan on Tuesday to end deforestation in the Amazon by 2030. “Brazil is largely responsible for the planet’s climate balance because of the Amazon rainforest,’ said Lula during an event for World Environment Day at the Planalto Presidential Palace.’Preventing deforestation of the Amazon will help reduce global warming.” Together with his Environmental Minister, Marina Silva, and other members of his Cabinet, he presented a plan that he had already implemented during his first term that began in 2004. Since it came into effect and until 2012, deforestation fell by 83%. Afterwards, it increased by 75% under President Jair Bolsonaro, who suspended the plan and replaced it with military operations to combat fires and illegal logging. Lula’s plan proposes the creation of three million hectares of new nature reserves. The government also wants to seize 50% of illegally deforested land and strengthen monitoring with the hiring of thousands of analysts. The plan calls for greater use of satellite imagery and data to track criminal activity, the regularization of land titles, the creation of incentives for sustainable agriculture and the use of a rural registry to monitor the proper management of forests. ‘Brazil will once again become a global reference in sustainability, tackling climate change and achieving targets for carbon emission reduction and zero deforestation,’ Lula said. Brazil is the world’s fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, and parts of the forest now release more carbon than they capture as a result of deforestation and fires. President Lula, who took office on Jan. 1, has made deforestation a centerpiece of his environmental policy, which he underscored during his campaign for the presidency. However, it seems the president will encounter several setbacks. Only last week, Brazil’s Congress voted to remove responsibilities from the ministries in charge of environmental and indigenous issues. Minister Silva described the congressional decision as a “setback” but said the government will continue working to save the rainforest.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Roberto “Butch” Galicia, former chief of the Philippine News Agency (PNA) regional bureau based in Cotabato City, died in Scarborough, Toronto, Canada on June 5 at age 69, his family announced. Galicia was born in Sampaloc, Manila on March 12, 1954. After completing high school at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in 1970, his parents moved to Cotabato City where he finished AB English at Notre Dame University in 1975. He taught at the Cotabato City Institute and other local schools and also worked as staff editor of local community newspapers, including the Mindanao Cross. Galicia joined the PNA as a reporter and eventually became senior news editor and PNA Cotabato Bureau chief until 1990. He was married to Evelyn D. Galicia and had three children: Francis Zodkiel, Lynette Joy, and Andrew Niccolo. Galicia also served as Information Officer V of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) from August 1990 to September 1993. Before migrating to Canada with his family about two decades ago, he also worked as managing editor of the NPC Digest of the National Press Club (NPC) of the Philippines.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The year 2021 witnessed a tragic reality in the United States, as one person died every 11 minutes as a direct consequence of gun violence, according to a report released Tuesday. Titled “U.S. Gun Violence in 2021: An Accounting of a Public Health Crisis” by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, it revealed that in 2021, gun deaths reached the highest number ever recorded for the second straight year in a row. “Nearly 49,000 people died from gun violence in the U.S. in 2021. Each day, an average of 134 people died from gun violence-one death every 11 minutes,” said the report. It indicated that 48,830 lives were lost to firearms in 2021, an increase of over 3,600 deaths from 2020 – the previous record high. Of those, the report revealed that 26,328 suicides involving a firearm took place in 2021 and 20,958 homicides were recorded. According to the report, the gun suicide rate represented an 8.3 percent increase from 2020, the largest one-year increase in more than four decades, whereas the gun homicide rate was up 7.6 percent. “Guns, once again, were the leading cause of death among children and teens in 2021, accounting for more deaths than COVID-19, car crashes, or cancers,” said the report. The study also showed that Black people are disproportionally impacted by gun homicides. According to the report, Black people were nearly 14 times as likely to die from gun violence than their white counterparts. “Young Black males (15-34) are disproportionately impacted-although they represented 2 percent of the total population in the U.S., they accounted for 36 percent of all gun homicides in 2021. Their firearm homicide rate was 24 times higher than white males of the same age group,” said the report. The report outlined the data using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Underlying Cause of Death database. It urged policymakers to address the easy access and availability of firearms, which they said drive the US’s high rates of suicide and homicide.

Source: Philippines News Agency