Sara brands secret fund critics ‘enemies of peace’MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte has broken her silence on the confidential fund spending controversy by taking a swipe at critics of her confidential fund, saying they are “enemies of peace.”“Listen to everything that is being said around you and remember, whoever opposes confidential funds opposes peace. Whoever opposes peace is an enemy of the people,” Duterte said in a speech delivered on Wednesday. “Anyone who attacks or undermines funds allocated for peace and order is naturally assumed to have insidious motivations. “VP Sara will pass so we must stop. Let’s stop because VP Sara will pass, safe regards,” the netizen shouted in Filipino, which elicited laughter from the motorists.

MANILA, Philippines — The ramming of a suspected foreign crude oil tanker on a fishing boat that killed three Filipino fishermen was an accident, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) declared yesterday. “As far as the initial information we have right now, we can say it was not deliberate,” said PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela. He added the PCG has yet to confirm the identity of the commercial vessel that hit the Filipino fishing boat. He also revealed some operators and owners of fishing vessels lack coordination with government agencies on where they would fish. FFB Dearyn captain Dexter Laudencia and crewmen Romeo Mejico and Benedicto Olandria died after drowning, while 11 other crewmembers survived.

The Philippine men's basketball team will go for all the marbles on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, when it battles favorite Jordan in the gold medal game at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. That proved to be the game-winning shot that lifted Gilas Pilipinas to a 77-76 win over host China. Guys just kept battling and battling," Gilas interim coach Tim Cone told One Sports after the game on Wednesday night. With just one win to go to put an end to the Philippines' 61-year Asian Games title drought in basketball, only one team is standing in the way — Jordan. Jordan marched into the gold medal round still unscathed after sweeping Group C, which also included lopsided wins over Thailand, 97-63, and Bahrain, 84-60.

An alleged family argument between a mother and her two 20-year-old sons resulted in all being hospitalized with cut wounds to their abdomen on Thursday. Sources said the brothers and their mother each suffered a 2cm cut wound on their midsections and were conscious when officers arrived on the scene. It is understood that the argument came after the two brothers, who attended special care classes, refused to go to school. Police initial investigation also suggested that the mother was the one who used a sharp object to cut herself and her two sons. They were all brought to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment, while a police investigation is ongoing with no arrests made so far.

“Yes, we are, as of today, lifting the price cap on rice, both for the regular-milled rice and for the well-milled rice,” the President said in a media interview in Lower Bicutan, Taguig City, where he led the distribution of free rice to poor families. Based on the DA’s monitoring, local regular-milled rice was being sold from P40 to P44 a kilo as of Wednesday, while local well-milled rice was priced at P44 to P48. Imported well-milled rice was selling from P45 to P48. “As fresh harvests enter the market, we also expect retail prices of rice to go down without the need for price caps,” Montemayor said. But because of these smugglers, hoarders, and price manipulators, the supply is constricted and so the prices increase,” he said.

Police were alerted to Happy Valley Thursday afternoon after a taxi driver accidentally struck pedestrians. Around 12 pm today, a taxi driver driving along the junction of Shing Woo Road and Village Road accidentally struck four pedestrians when turning right and entering Village Road. The paramedics arrived at the scene after being alerted, and the three children and three adults, including the taxi driver and passenger, were lightly injured and conscious, with most of them suffering scrapes on their heads. One 40-year-old woman suffered injuries to her head and leg, and one three-year-old boy who scraped his head was taken to the Ruttonjee Hospital for medical attention. The remaining two three-year-olds suffered from shock, while the other people were treated on site.

(UPDATE) THE Philippines has been considered one of the "Top Climbers of the Decade" in the 2023 Global Innovation Index (GII) Analysis, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. "The Philippines ranked 4th among the 37 lower-middle-income group economies, performing above the lower middle-income group average in all GII pillars," it added. The Philippines' main innovation strengths are in high-tech imports, high-tech exports and firms offering formal training, the Foreign Affairs department added. The President "mentioned the country's investment in innovation as a driving force for economic development and the creation of economic opportunities for people and their livelihoods," it added. The Philippine Mission also lauded the WIPO and Director General Daren Tang for helping the country in the fields of innovation and intellectual property.

Before their arrest, Pagente had defended the performance as "art" and argued "drag is not a crime." Westerberg wrote on Instagram on Thursday, accompanied by the hashtag #FreePuraLukaVega and with bank accounts to fund Pagente's bail, which is set at P72,000. "This isn't right in the eyes of God Human Rights Watch Senior Researcher Carlos Conde said Pagente's arrest was "an outrage." Father Jerome Secillano, of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, has described Pagente's performance as "blasphemous" and "really disrespectful." Apart from his arrest, Pagente was also declared persona non grata in 17 localities and cities, including the city of Manila, where he lives.

Toyosu Market is the world's largest wholesale fish market. It sells as many as 500 species from all over the globe, handled by specialist brokers called nakagainin. These nakagainin must have the ability to pick out exactly which fish will best suit each customer's unique needs, such as sushi chefs who demand the highest freshness, taste and quality. The ability to judge quality instantly by eye is traditionally known in Japanese as mekiki, and we'll see it in action on the floor of Toyosu Market. VIDEO BY MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF JAPAN

Department of Justice (DoJ) Undersecretary Raul Vasquez, who is in charge of child protection, expressed his disappointment over an incident at the Peñafrancia Elementary School where a teacher slapped a Grade 5 student that resulted eventually in his death. He said educators must also respect the rights of their students. Video and Interview by Ezrah Raya

READ: Nobel chemistry winner flunked first college chemistry examWhat discovery won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry? Quantum dots are tiny inorganic particles that glow a range of colors from red to blue when exposed to light. But it wasn’t until several decades later that scientists could manufacture quantum dots in a lab. Bawendi said he was not thinking about the possible applications of his work when he started researching quantum dots. Nobel-winning physics explainedOn Monday, Hungarian-American Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

SAYING "public service is no easy task," President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday urged the officers of the Malacañang Press Corps (MPC) and other newly-appointed officials of various government agencies to continue to demonstrate excellence and integrity in performing their duties. Valente was elected MPC secretary. As such, I trust that you will remain models of excellence and integrity, especially to your staff, stakeholders, and communities," Marcos said. "These individuals are leaders and trailblazers in their own professions — exemplars of patriotism, of excellence, and wholehearted service throughout their careers and endeavors," he added. "Life in government will always be hard and challenging, but every service delivered brings purpose, it brings fulfillment," he added.

The Japan football team thrashed Hong Kong 4-nil in the semifinals of the Hangzhou Asian Games on Wednesday, crushing the hope of the city's team to continue their historic run in Asiad. Although Japan controlled the possession in the first half, Hong Kong did have some chances but players failed to find the net. Japan put Hong Kong under pressure throughout the second half, with Shota Hino scoring a header in the 54th minute as the Japanese team continued to assault Hong Kong's penalty box with threatening passes. Separately, South Korea defeated Uzbekistan 2-1 in the semifinals, moving to the brink of their third straight gold medal. Japan will meet South Korea in the gold medal match scheduled on Saturday (Oct 7), while Hong Kong will face Uzbekistan on the same day to fight for a bronze medal.

(UPDATE) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday vowed to hold accountable those behind the death of three Filipino fishermen off Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) in the disputed West Philippine Sea. TRAGEDY The body of one of the three Filipino fishermen is transported to Barangay Cato, Infanta, Pangasinan on Tuesday Oct. 3, 2023. "We are deeply saddened by the deaths of the three fishermen, including the captain of the fishing vessel. "We are extremely outraged and aggrieved by the fatal ramming of an unidentified vessel on a Filipino fishing vessel in the West Philippine Sea, resulting in the loss of three innocent lives," Zubiri said in a statement. "It is deplorable that the vessel left the Filipino fishing boat and our citizens in the water.

These phrases make their English sound so highhanded — even somewhat threatening — but we learn to tolerate them because they are actually part of their professional jargon. The problem, though, is that owing to our repeated exposure to them, these stock phrases creep into our own writing and speech. carillo carilloBut should we really allow abstruse tradition and peer-group pressure to tyrannize us into using these officious stock phrases despite our better judgment? To start with, the most commonly used officious English words or phrases today are these six: "about," "regarding," "concerning," "touching on," "in terms of," and "on account of." Next, Oct. 12, 2023: Avoiding very officious stock phrases in our English -2isit Jose Carillo's English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com.