‘All about greed': Motives of Cha-cha proponents questionedThis photo shows a screengrab from a video aired on television about the 1987 Constitution. Sen. Risa Hontiveros has flagged the reported “People’s Initiative” being carried out across several provinces — which have been marred by allegations of vote-buying — and raised doubts over the origins of the signature drive. Meanwhile, House Deputy Minority Leader Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers) has questioned the need for Charter change at all and warned that the proposed economic tweaks could serve as a pretext for political amendments. “It’s not right to call the petition a ‘People’s Initiative’ because this did not come from the people themselves,” Hontiveros said in Filipino. “Let us be clear: the reported 'people's initiative' is not about any economic or political reforms in the Constitution.

The government encourages citizens to opt for the "one bag for two uses" approach – using designated bags instead of plastic shopping bags for their shopping – after the municipal solid waste charge is implemented. However, environmental groups worried the practice may diminish incentives for citizens to bring their shopping bags to reduce waste at the source. For instance, there will be 40 three-liter or five-liter designated bags in one package, while a package of 20 for the 75-liter large bags. "This could inadvertently encourage customers to buy smaller bags, sending the wrong message and undermining the effectiveness of the plastic bag levy," Siu said. She believes only when an extra HK$1 levy for each designated bag sold at the retail points could encourage citizens to bring along their own shopping bags.

2023 annual sales by Geely Holding Brands rise 20% to 2.79m unitsFor the sixth consecutive year, Geely Holding achieved more than 2 million units in aggregate sales. For the sixth consecutive year, Geely Holding achieved more than 2 million units in aggregate sales. About the groupZhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding) is a global automotive group that owns several well-known international automotive brands, with operations spanning the automotive value chain, from research, development and design to production, sales and servicing. Geely Holding employs over 120,000 people globally, and has been listed in the Fortune Global 500 for the past 11 years. For more information regarding Zhejiang Geely Holding Group please refer to the official website at www.zgh.com and Geely Global http://global.geely.com.

A commentary on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website said the meeting had exposed differences between participants and produced no increase in support for the proposals. Ukraine has sought, through the meetings and other diplomatic moves, to garner greater support from the “global south,” with many countries having stayed on the sidelines in the conflict. Zelenskiy’s Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak, said there were participants at the Davos meeting from 18 Asian countries, 12 African countries, and six South American countries. ADVERTISEMENTREAD: More countries join talks on Ukraine leader’s peace formulaThe Swiss government agreed after the latest gathering on Zelenskiy’s peace plan to host a global peace summit on Ukraine at Zelenskiy’s request. Subscribe to our daily newsletter SIGN ME UPKremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the Davos talks as “simply talking for the sake of talking,” saying there could be no moves towards a settlement without Russia’s participation.

BRUSSELS: European Union economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni on Monday warned that violence in the Red Sea sparked by Houthi attacks on shipping could push up energy prices and inflation in the bloc. Gentiloni said that "what is happening in the Red Sea... is not for the moment apparently creating consequences on energy prices and inflation." "But we think that it should be monitored very closely because these consequences could materialize in the coming weeks," he said. Tensions in the Red Sea have soared after the United States and Britain carried out strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen over their attacks on international shipping. But since mid-November, the attacks have prompted many shipping firms to take the longer route around the tip of Africa, disrupting supply chains and putting upward pressure on inflation.

The Pakatan Harapan government then appeared to be stable, having commanded a two-third parliamentary majority. But as Dr. Mahathir was pushing 95 as the world's oldest head of government, the question of succession inevitably cropped up. Anwar Ibrahim, the Pakatan Harapan founder and Dr. Mahathir's deputy during the latter's first turn as prime minister, was eager to assume the prime ministerial mantle soonest. The ruling Pakatan Harapan was supposed to hold a political meeting the next day to lay out the Mahathir-Anwar succession plan, including the timeline. That in essence deprived the Pakatan Harapan government of its parliamentary majority, and Dr. Mahathir decided to resign his premiership.

UN expert urged to probe continued assaults on free speech under MarcosLet’s Organize for Democracy and Integrity on the celebration of the World Press Freedom Day Thursday sent a six-page petition to David Kaye, UN special rapporteur on the promotion of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Khan will be visiting the country from January 23 to February 2 to take stock of the Philippines' state of free speech and press freedom. While Marcos does not openly encourage violence against media workers, unlike Duterte, concerns remain over whether the current administration has done enough to safeguard journalists from retribution and harassment. Nearly a quarter of the incidents documented by NUJP in 2023 were also related to the red-tagging of media workers. “Regarding the people's rights to freedom of expression, Indigenous Peoples in the country indomitably assert their rights to land and self-determination.

DAVOS, Switzerland: The world could have its first trillionaire within a decade, anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said Monday (Tuesday in Manila) in its annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Oxfam's interim executive director said the report showed that the world is entering a "decade of division." To calculate the top five richest billionaires, Oxfam used figures from Forbes as of November 2023. Their total wealth then was $869 billion, up from $340 billion in March 2020, a nominal increase of 155 percent. For the bottom 60 percent of the global population, Oxfam used figures from the UBS Global Wealth Report 2023 and from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2019.

6 UN experts sound alarm over Philippine government’s ‘unchecked’ anti-terror powersMANILA, Philippines — Six independent United Nations human rights experts have flagged the Philippine government’s “seemingly broad and unchecked” use of the anti-terrorism law to target red-tagged humanitarian workers and church leaders. This, according to the rights experts, goes against the Philippines’ international human rights obligations, which the government has repeatedly and publicly vowed to uphold. The UN rights experts also flagged the reported raids of the homes of human rights defenders and the offices of church workers and journalists, some of which were not preceded by the issuance of formal search warrants. The Supreme Court’s procedural rules for petitions seeking judicial relief from the Anti-Terrorism Council’s terrorist designation took effect on January 15. Prior to its passage in 2020, the Anti-Terrorism Act was widely opposed by human rights defenders, civil society and the government’s own human rights commission for its perceived impact on civil liberties and spaces of dissent.

China was "strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposes these remarks," its foreign ministry spokesperson said, referring to Marcos congratulating Lai on Monday for winning Taiwan's election and referring to him as its next president. "China has lodged a strong protest with the Philippines at the earliest opportunity," and summoned its ambassador "to give China a responsible explanation", Mao said. "We suggest that President Marcos read more books to properly understand the ins and outs of the Taiwan issue, so as to draw the right conclusions." Separately, Taiwan's foreign ministry expressed its thanks to Marcos, saying Taiwan and the Philippines "share values such as freedom, democracy and the rule of law" and Taiwan would further deepen cooperation and exchanges." The Philippines has unofficial ties with Taipei, with its Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan serving as a de facto embassy.

DAVOS, Switzerland: The world could have its first trillionaire within a decade, anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said Monday in its annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Oxfam's interim executive director said the report showed that the world is entering a "decade of division." Currently, Musk is the richest man on the planet, with a personal fortune of just under $250 billion, according to Oxfam, which used figures from Forbes. To calculate the top five richest billionaires, Oxfam used figures from Forbes as of November 2023. For the bottom 60 percent of the global population, Oxfam used figures from the UBS Global Wealth Report 2023 and from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2019.

SEC updates and compliance for 2024To update organizations on these important changes, the Center for Global Best Practices will host an SEC-accredited webinar entitled, New Year SEC updates and compliance to be held from 1:30 to 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 31 via Zoom. To update organizations on these important changes, the Center for Global Best Practices will host an SEC-accredited webinar entitled, New Year SEC updates and compliance to be held from 1:30 to 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 31 via Zoom. This executive briefing is done annually to update all board directors, management, corporate secretaries, compliance officers, lawyers, accountants, business consultants and other stakeholders of corporations. Learn from lawyer Justina Callangan who is the former director of the Corporate Governance and Finance Department of the SEC. CGBP is an accredited training provider of the SEC; Governance Commission for GOCCs; Supreme Court for MCLE; BSP’s Anti-Money Laundering Council, DILG-Local Government Academy; Civil Service Commission; and other regulatory agencies.

A 31-year-old man died after he alighted a minibus and wanted to catch another bus on the other side of the road, but was hit by a truck when crossing the road in Yuen Long on Tuesday. The incident occurred around 7.12 am on Tuesday when a minibus pulled over outside Atrium House on Shap Pat Heung Road. The passenger surnamed Chan suspectedly saw a bus arriving at the stop on the opposite side of the street and crossed the road in front of the minibus without checking for traffic. The truck driver, who saw the minibus pulled over, tried to overtake the minibus and hit Chan who suddenly emerged from the front. It is understood that Chan remained conscious even after he had been hit by the truck and fell to the ground.

REUTERS/Ann Wang/file photoThe Philippines' foreign ministry on Tuesday reaffirmed the country's "One China policy" after its president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., congratulated Taiwan's new leader Lai Ching-te. Marcos on Monday congratulated Lai for winning Taiwan's election, referring to him as its next president. The message was Marcos' way of recognising the Philippines and Taiwan's "mutual interests", including the 200,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the democratically governed island, the foreign ministry said in a statement. "The message of President Marcos congratulating the new president was his way of thanking them for hosting our OFWs and holding a successful democratic process. Marcos' comments, posted on social media platform X, are likely to irk Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory.

MANILA, Philippines — INQUIRER.net has kept its ranking as the top Philippine news website in 2023, according to a report by analytics firm Similarweb. The same report showed Rappler posting the biggest decline in visits among the Philippine news websites covered in the study. Comparing data from 2022 and 2023, its traffic declined by 38.24 percent, from 147,715,648 in 2022 to 91,231,912 in 2023. Apart from overall visits, Similarweb’s data showed that Inquirer.net also dominated across all channels: direct, email, referrals, social, and organic. From February to April, it logged 34.62 million social media traffic, surpassing Philstar.com’s 14.59 million, Rappler’s 17.84 million, ABS-CBN’s 20.37 million and GMA News Online’s 29.87 million.