Experts: Policy key to manufacturing boom
EXPERTS from the government and private sector believe an industrial policy will boost the growth of the manufacturing sector and the Philippine economy as a whole. The DTI is developing a program called Securing Manufacturing Revitalization and Transformation to provide fiscal and non-fiscal support to industries that will adopt Industry 4.0 technologies. Under its initial proposal, a total of P30 billion fiscal support will be allotted for manufacturers of electric public utility vehicles, buses, trucks, 2- and 3-wheelers, passenger cars, batteries, auto electronics and charging stations. The DTI also proposed a P53-billion fiscal support for buyers of e-jeepneys, motorcycles and tricycles. Aldaba reported that the manufacturing sector grew by 8.8 percent in 2021.
Source:Manila Times
June 24, 2022 12:25 UTC
12 dead as police clash with gang suspects in western Mexico
Agents of the Jalisco Attorney stand guard at the site where four police officers and eight members of the organized crime were killed, and six others were wounded, in a confrontation in El Salto, Jalisco state, Mexico, on June 23, 2022. AFP PHOTOGuadalajara, Mexico: A gun battle left four police officers and eight suspected gang members dead in Mexico's western state of Jalisco, authorities said Thursday (Friday in Manila). The clash happened on Wednesday night at a house in El Salto on the outskirts of the city of Guadalajara and, according to witnesses, lasted for more than an hour. Eight suspects were killed and three others seriously injured, Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro said. More than 340,000 people have been killed in a spiral of bloodshed in Mexico since the government deployed the army to fight drug cartels in 2006.
Source:Manila Times
June 24, 2022 09:15 UTC
Spotify launches 'K-Pop ON! Track'
Spotify has launched a site dedicated to all things K-Pop, bringing fans closer to the music they love and the artists who create it. Track" will provide anyone from the K-Pop curious to bonafide K-pop stans a home base for all of Spotify's K-Pop news, as well as exclusive artist interviews, happenings within the industry, up-and-coming trends and more. Spotify’s dedicated site for K-Pop celebrates the talent behind the tracks and the fans at the forefront. Track comes as Spotify continues to see momentum of K-Pop streams around the globe. The newly named K-Pop flagship playlist K-Pop ON!
Source:Manila Times
June 24, 2022 05:01 UTC
Thailand lifts ban on officials traveling overseas due to COVID-19
BANGKOK — A Thai government order from 2020 prohibiting officials from traveling abroad, except on important missions, due to the Covid-19 situation was revoked by a Cabinet resolution on Tuesday, a news source informed on Thursday. The order, implemented since March 17, 2020, stipulated that government officials, civil servants, and employees of state enterprises must not travel overseas except for important missions in a bid to contain the spread of Covid-19. ADVERTISEMENTThe source said the meeting of the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) last month had informed the Cabinet that the Covid-19 situation in Thailand and globally is improving with decreasing number of domestic infections and deaths, as well as significant drop in cases from overseas. The CCSA then proposed to the Cabinet to consider easing the restriction on overseas travel for government officials. On Thursday Thailand recorded 2,299 Covid-19 cases (five imported) and 18 deaths, while 1,783 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
June 24, 2022 00:33 UTC
Taliban, groups struggle to help quake survivors
The takeover led to a cutoff of vital international financing, and most of the world has shunned the Taliban government. Rescuers rushed in by helicopter, but the relief effort could be hindered by the exodus of many international aid agencies from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover last August. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on Twitter that eight trucks of food and other necessities from Pakistan arrived in Paktika province. The quake was centered in Paktika, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the city of Khost, according to neighboring Pakistan's Meteorological Department. The death toll reported by the Bakhtar news agency was equal to that of a quake in 2002 in northern Afghanistan.
Source:Manila Times
June 23, 2022 22:19 UTC
One out of 5 Filipinos gets 3rd jab vs Covid
Only one out of five Filipinos eligible for a first booster or around 14.85 million have received the third jab against Covid-19, the Department of Health (DoH) said Thursday. A second booster or fourth dose using the currently available vaccines is meant for those who have weaker immune systems that are not providing enough protection from the first booster," the agency said. Health care workers are given the second booster in consideration of their high-risk exposures to patients. HTAC considers the best available evidence, including the need for a World Health Organization recommendation, as required by Republic Act 11525 or the "Covid-19 Vaccination Program Act." Around 14.8 million have received their first booster shot and more than 682,000 health care workers, senior citizens, immunocompromised and individuals with comorbidities have received their second booster.
Source:Manila Times
June 23, 2022 22:19 UTC
Monkeypox ‘emergency’ decision due from WHO sparks African criticism
LONDON — The World Health Organization (WHO) will decide on Thursday whether to declare monkeypox a global health emergency, stirring criticism from leading African scientists who say it has been a crisis in their region for years. However, Nakounde said if the WHO declares a “public health emergency of international concern”, – its highest level of alarm – it would still be an important step. They will make a recommendation to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who makes the ultimate decision over whether to call the emergency. But the WHO is in a precarious position after COVID, said Clare Wenham, a global health assistant professor at the London School of Economics. If the WHO declares an emergency and countries do not act, it could undermine the agency’s role in controlling global disease, she said.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
June 23, 2022 19:13 UTC
Philippines says offshore joint energy exploration talks with China terminated
Talks over possible joint energy exploration between the Philippines and China in the South ChinaSea have been terminated, the Philippine foreign minister said on Thursday. Teodoro Locsin in a speech said the Philippines' objective of exploiting its offshore energy reserves could not be achieved if it were at expense of sovereignty. He did not elaborate on the decision on the talks, which were centered on assets located in the Philippines exclusive economic zone. China's embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Source:The Standard
June 23, 2022 11:48 UTC
Hong Kong records hottest day of the year so far, with warm spell ahead
Hong Kong recorded the hottest day of the year so far on Thursday, with the Hong Kong Observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 33.8 degrees Celsius. The observatory also forecasted the very hot weather to continue into the weekend. The forecaster said an anticyclone aloft is bringing generally fine and very hot weather to the coast of southern China. It noted that the weather will be very hot tomorrow, with the maximum temperature at around 33 degrees in the urban areas, and a couple of degrees higher in the New Territories. The temperature remains very hot on Saturday and Sunday, with a maximum of 33 degrees Celsius.
Source:The Standard
June 23, 2022 11:06 UTC
The importance of getting boosted now and the prospects for a second booster
However, it is concerning that some Filipinos remain hesitant in getting their booster doses. How do booster doses work? However, immunity, or the number of antibodies produced by the body after getting vaccines decline over at least 6 months. Why is there a shadow of doubtDespite the benefits of booster doses, only about 12 million out of 44 million qualified Filipinos received their booster doses. Booster doses can help the Philippines quickly respond to emerging variants and ensure our healthcare capacity will not overheat.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
June 22, 2022 20:46 UTC
ADB, JICA helping build transport for the future
One of the bright spots in outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte's much talked about Build, Build, Build infrastructure program has been its focus and subsequent significant progress in rail development. Without the investment support of institutions such as ADB and JICA, none of this would have been possible. The government's appetite for rail development has been subjected to some criticism, however. If we are to offer one caution, it would only be that any development, rail or otherwise, be undertaken with capacity demand growth in mind. As long as demand growth is addressed, however, the new rail developments are truly transport for the future, and we thank the ADB and JICA for the steadfast support of these efforts.
Source:Manila Times
June 22, 2022 16:09 UTC
BIR to comply with court ruling on Marcos estate tax, says incoming chief
Guillermo however said she has yet to see the documents on the Marcos tax liabilities first so that she would have the “correct data” and information. Guillermo admitted that the money from the Marcos estate “will really help the collections of BIR.”“We have to convert those properties to cash para madagdag sa tax collections ng BIR. ADVERTISEMENT(We have to convert those properties to cash so that it can be added to the tax collections of BIR. I don’t know if it’s really P200 billion and maybe if that’s really the amount, imagine it will help really collections of BIR.) In 1997, the Supreme Court ordered the Marcos heirs to pay ₱23 billion in estate tax.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
June 22, 2022 14:30 UTC
In defense of the passive voice
Grammar teachers furiously drill into every learner's head that the sentence "Emilio hit Andres violently with a bat" is superior to "Andres was hit violently by Emilio with a bat." One major use of the passive voice is, in fact, to leaven such verbal performances — to provide low-energy counterpoints to the high-energy semantic field created by active-voice sentences. Well, it's that we should write them or say them in the most natural way possible — using the active voice if called for, but never hesitating to use the passive voice when logic and good sense demands it. Unless you are a student forced by your English teacher to stick to the active voice on pain of failing in the subject, or perhaps a journalist bound by an inflexible standing order by your editors never to use the passive voice, the active voice should only be a secondary consideration in writing your sentences. Our prose and our speech will thus be squandering that latitude and opportunity by blindly and inflexibly deferring to the cult of the active voice.
Source:Manila Times
June 22, 2022 14:12 UTC
The 5th Industrial Revolution and Society 5
"The final bridge between humans and machines is Society 5.0, also known as the super-smart society, that employs AI in health care manufacturing and logistics." Referring to a supersmart society, Society 5 aims to solve social issues and pursue prosperity by making full use of digital technology. Society 5 is a "human centered society that balances economic advancement with the resolution of social problems by a system that highly integrates cyberspace and physical space." Thus, "the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, Cabinet Office, and the Government of Japan is strongly promoting a major policy for the economy, society and the general public popularly called 'Super Smart Society' (Society 5.0)." (Super Smart Society: Society 5.0 | Robotics Tomorrow) (https://www.roboticstomor row.com › article › 2016/09)AI in health care.
Source:Manila Times
June 22, 2022 14:12 UTC
(Consumption vouchers) Application to switch to another payment platform commences Thursday
Hongkongers can register to change their payment method for receiving the second batch of HK$5,000 worth of consumption vouchers starting Thursday. With two more new electronic payment methods added to the consumption voucher scheme – HSBC’s PayMe and Bank of China’s BoC Pay – Hongkongers can register to change their method between June 23 and July 23. Authorities have reminded citizens to consider which payment method to swap to, or whether to make a change at all, as once a new payment method has been registered, they will not be able to make another alteration. To help citizens with registration, the government will set up eight temporary service centers across the city. Click here for the locations of the service centers.
Source:The Standard
June 22, 2022 10:31 UTC