Over 50% of employees prefer work on site than at home - study
MORE than half of Filipino employees prefer on-site work or hybrid working where most days are spent in the office now that the country has moved into the new normal, according to a survey conducted by health maintenance organization Philcare. In its Survey of Filipino Workers, 35 percent said that they preferred to work entirely on site, while 25.2 percent want a hybrid set-up where they would be allowed to work more in their offices than their homes. Meanwhile, 16.3 percent said that they prefer to work from home, while only 8 percent said that they prefer a hybrid setup where they would work at home more often than in offices. This was different from those surveyed in September 2021, when nearly five out of 10, or 50 percent, of Filipinos said that they want to work on site, while 19.6 percent said that they will work more on site than at home, and 13.9 percent said that they will exclusively work from home. According to Philcare President and Chief Executive officer Joseph Agustin Tanco, the current work-from-home setup may not work in some industries, while some employees may also find the pre-pandemic work arrangement more suited to their situation.
Source:Manila Times
May 12, 2022 17:47 UTC
Technician who tried to flee to Taiwan gets 20 months in jail for making explosives
A technician was jailed for 20 months after being arrested in January 2020 for manufacturing explosives at a village house in Sheung Shui during the social unrest. The technician was among 12 Hong Kong fugitives arrested in mainland Chinese waters after a failed bid to flee to Taiwan in 2020 to escape prosecution for their roles in protests. It was understood that Wong had admitted to police that he spent a few weeks between December 2019 and January 2020 making explosives. He later disposed of the explosives by burying them in his own backyard in Sha Tau Kok. Yiu set the sentence starting point at two and a half years but gave Wong a 10-month discount because of his guilty plea.
Source:The Standard
May 12, 2022 13:22 UTC
PH agriculture contracts in Q1
Crops, which accounted for 58 percent of total production, recorded a 1.6-percent year-on-year drop that Agriculture Secretary William Dar blamed on "spiraling prices of fertilizer." It accounted for 14.1 percent of the quarter's total farm output. Similarly, the fishery subsector (12.9 percent of total output) contracted by 5.8 percent. Speaking at a forum on Wednesday, Dar said the government needed to distribute more fertilizer subsidy vouchers for farm output to recover. Dar expressed optimism that output would improve in the second quarter as the Department of Agriculture continues to implement its banner programs.
Source:Manila Times
May 12, 2022 08:44 UTC
Russian diplomats spurned in Europe’s capitals
Across Europe’s capitals, Russian diplomats are getting the cold shoulder, ranging from diplomatic expulsions by governments, to protests by individual citizens, and service denials by companies. European Union governments have expelled at least 400 Russian diplomats and support staff. “There are attacks, practically terrorist acts against our institutions and against the physical security of diplomats,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Rossiya 24 television. In Bucharest, a driver died ramming his car into the gate of the Russian embassy on April 6. Czech capital Prague changed the embassy’s street name to “Ukrainian Heroes’ Street” while the district where the Russian embassy is based has requested that a Russian school building, unused since the Czechs expelled dozens of Russian diplomats, be made available for Ukrainian refugee children.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
May 12, 2022 04:06 UTC
Marcos-Sara Duterte admin expected to be a new era of unity
MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): The government under the leadership of presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr and vice president Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio will be a 'new era of unity', the latter’s spokesperson said on Wednesday. This is because both leaders would be working together and not as opponents, Duterte-Carpio spokesperson and Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco said. The Marcos-Duterte tandem currently enjoys overwhelming vote leads over their opponents, with both of them getting 31 million votes. Placing behind them is the tandem of Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Francis Pangilinan, who got 14.8 million votes and 9.2 million votes, respectively. Gwen Garcia whose endorsement of the tandem claimed to have delivered majority of votes in the country’s most vote-rich province.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
May 11, 2022 12:37 UTC
WHO studies whether COVID-19 has role in child hepatitis mystery
GENEVA—The World Health Organization said Tuesday that 348 probable cases of hepatitis of unknown origin had been identified, as studies into the potential role of adenovirus and Covid-19 infection gather pace. She said Britain had been coordinating a comprehensive set of studies looking at the genetics of the children affected, their immune response, viruses and further epidemiological studies. The WHO was first informed on April 5 of 10 unexplained hepatitis cases in Scotland, detected in children under the age of 10. Many cases reported jaundice, and gastrointestinal symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting. After the discovery of the first 169 cases, the WHO said common viruses that cause acute viral hepatitis (hepatitis viruses A, B, C, D and E) were not detected in any of them.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
May 11, 2022 11:51 UTC
Booking platform for registering foreign vaccine records at post offices to come online next week
The Hongkong Post said on Tuesday that an online booking service will be launched next week to assist people in registering their non-local vaccination records. The platform will allow people to choose in advance the date, time slot, and designated post office for paying a visit to handle matters related to their non-local vaccination record, the Provisional Vaccine Pass, and non-local recovery records. Details of the online booking service will be provided at the Hongkong Post website later, while the same-day ticket arrangement will still be available at the 18 designated post offices. At present, Hongkong Post has increased the daily quota of the same-day tickets to 3,100. Click here for details.
Source:The Standard
May 11, 2022 04:39 UTC
Testing diners an 'out of touch' idea
"It's an 'out of touch' arrangement to require all diners to undergo rapid tests. Centre for Health Protection's head of communicable disease branch Chuang Shuk-kwan said eight more diners at Peony Golden Court in Yuen Long tested positive, pushing the tally of the cluster to 20, comprising 17 diners, a restaurant cook and two close contacts. Health officials cooperated with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and traced diners through their vaccination records scanned by the restaurant. Twelve of them tested positive yesterday while the others tested positive in the past few days and were only reported to schools yesterday. She is believed to have tested positive for residual virus, the same as three others who tested positive on day 12 of their arrival.
Source:The Standard
May 11, 2022 01:10 UTC
Ohtani hits 2 homers, 1st grand slam
ANAHEIM, California: Shohei Ohtani can do it all on a baseball field, yet the Japanese two-way sensation had never hit a grand slam as a professional. In my head, I thought I hit one in Japan, but I guess not," Ohtani said through his interpreter. The American League (AL) MVP hit two homers in a game for the second time this season and eighth in the majors. "I wasn't expecting to hit two home runs," Ohtani, who has gone deep six times this season, said. He has 147 in his professional career, including 48 with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in five seasons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league.
Source:Manila Times
May 10, 2022 22:14 UTC
SDLG, Topspot officially launch a new standard in reliability
This one of two new Shandong Lingong (SDLG) excavators that SDLG offers in partnership with Topspot Heavy Equipment. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOIN a formal launch, held on May 5, 2022, Topspot Heavy Equipment and Shandong Lingong (SDLG) jointly unveiled two new products for the Philippine market. With the market demand for excavators growing, Topspot and SDLG introduced two models of excavators, the E6210F Crawler excavator and the E7150F Wheeled Excavator, to supply the need. SDLG has continually developed and expanded its product and aftermarket portfolio to meet the needs of the developing market. For more information about the new SDLG E6210F and E7150F excavators, visit http://topspot.com.ph/ or https://civicmdsg.com.ph/.
Source:Manila Times
May 10, 2022 20:31 UTC
Woman who fled Russia’s invasion eager to share Ukrainian home cooking on food truck in Japan
OTSU, Japan — A Ukrainian woman who escaped Russia’s invasion of her country plans to start offering Ukrainian home cooking on a food truck in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture. She aims to operate her food truck on “pre-opening” basis in late May. Yavorska, grateful for such generous support, came up with the idea of launching a food truck business, hoping to use her cooking skill to do something in return for the community. “Please come to Hikone to have a taste.”As of the end of April, 820 people had fled from Ukraine to Japan. Yavorska plans to first operate her food truck in an area near Hikone Castle, a national treasure, and other locations in Shiga Prefecture.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
May 10, 2022 19:31 UTC
Lady booters stamp class on Cambodians
The national women’s football teamThe national women’s football team moved closer towards a semifinals berth after a 5-0 win over Cambodia Monday, May 9 in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Quang Ninh, Vietnam. With the three full three points, the lady booters need to secure at least a draw against host Vietnam in their final Group A match on Wednesday to qualify for the semis. Flanigan put the Philippines up in the 27th minute when she fired a strike that first hit the far post before going past the goal line. Madarang also scored for the Filipinas in the 68th, slipping the third goal after Cambodia keeper Chea Sompors couldn’t secure the ball. A corner by Tahnai Annis set up Quezada’s goal in the 75th before Castaneda sealed the final count four minutes later with a tap-in off an open net.
Source:Manila Times
May 10, 2022 17:02 UTC
Staff of Yuen Long eatery not source of infection cluster, says health expert
Ho Pak-leung, head of the University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Infection said on Tuesday that a Covid-hit restaurant in Yuen Long need not be suspended from business as their staff was not the source of infection. Read more: Yuen Long hotpot cluster infection rises to 12 as HK adds 233 new casesThe infectious disease expert noted that the environmental samples taken from Peony Golden Court were all negative, and the restaurant had already been cleaned and disinfected. Ho criticized the suggestion as “out of touch,” with the rapid test requirement similar to compulsory daily rapid testing, as nearly half of the city’s workforce usually dine out. “Of course, it’s only the view of one expert, and the government has yet to make a response. I personally don’t think the administration would consider it,” Wong said, adding that the practice would be impossible in reality.
Source:The Standard
May 10, 2022 15:31 UTC
War will keep blowing hot and cold
The non-appearance of the wings of destruction might be viewed as a sign that the hot war will remain confined to Ukraine and certain Russian cities near conflict frontlines. Even if both sides were able to limit the hot conflict in Ukraine and bordering Russian cities, the cold war would not stop at those physical borders. Having been underway for quite a while, cold confrontation in both politics and the economy will continue to escalate as the hot war drags on. As far as military conflicts are concerned, it is too far-fetched to call what is going on in Ukraine a world war. As the balance of the hot war shifts away from Russia, the cold war deepens.
Source:The Standard
May 10, 2022 04:10 UTC
Six arrested over plotting extreme violence, including 2 students
Police arrested six, including two students, for being involved in an anti-government radical group, which was suspected of plotting extreme violent acts. Members of the group have expressed hatred against the government, promoted violence, and planned actions involving extreme violence, including stabbing police officers and government anti-epidemic personnel. It was understood that the group had more than 2,000 messages, including words like "massacre" and "large explosion". The six were believed to be the mastermind of the organization, including the group owner, group admin and active members. Among the arrested, a 35-year-old man, reported as a warehouse worker, was believed to be the leader of the group and its owner.
Source:The Standard
May 10, 2022 03:03 UTC