No extension for PUV consolidation deadline after 2-day strike announcementColorful traditional jeepneys along with their modernized versions wait for passengers at the corner of EDSA and Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City on Aug. 30, 2022. MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. announced that there will be no more extension of the December 31 deadline for public utility vehicle (PUV) consolidation. "Today, we held a meeting with transport officials, and it was decided that the deadline for the consolidation of public utility vehicles (PUV) operators will not be extended," said Marcos on Tuesday. Today, we held a meeting with transport officials, and it was decided that the deadline for the consolidation of public utility vehicles (PUV) operators will not be extended. Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), on the other hand, claimed that Marcos' 70% consolidation data is misleading, saying that it's an aggregate of all types of PUVs nationwide, including buses.

DOJ urged to place Quiboloy under lookout bulletin to prevent his ‘escape’Apollo Quiboloy, head of "the Kingdom of Jesus Christ," a non-Catholic religious group and spiritual adviser of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte, speaks during a press conference in Davao City in southern island of Mindanao on May 23, 2016. MANILA, Philippines — A senator has called on the Department of Justice to issue an immigration lookout bulletin for controversial preacher Apollo Quiboloy amid a pending Senate probe into child abuse allegations against him and his religious group. The senator added that Quiboloy’s alleged crimes are “global in breadth” because of his wanted status in the United States. Without elaborating, Hontiveros added that there are already pending charges of rape, child abuse and trafficking lodged against Quiboloy with the DOJ that are currently for appeal. The US Department of Treasury in 2022 blocked Quiboloy's assets over what it described as "serious human rights abuses" committed by the preacher.

WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky kicked off a quick visit to Washington on Monday, warning in a speech at a defense university that Russia may be fighting in Ukraine, but its “real target is freedom” in America and around the world. He also issued a personal plea for Congress to break its deadlock and approve continued support for Ukraine. John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesman, told reporters Monday that Zelenskyy’s visit is critical. He said Biden will make clear to Zelensky when they meet that the White House is standing firm on the supplemental budget request. White House spokesman Andrew Bates said top Office of Management and Budget, National Security Council and White House legislative affairs officials have continued to press the case for the funding.

BANGKOK: Myanmar became the world's biggest producer of opium in 2023, overtaking Afghanistan after the Taliban government cracked down on the trade, said a United Nations report released on Tuesday. Myanmar produced an estimated 1,080 metric tons of opium — essential for producing heroin — this year, the UN Office for Drugs and Crime's (UNODC) latest report said. Estimated opium production for 2022–23 was at its highest level for more than 20 years, the UNODC said. Afghanistan, the world's biggest producer for some years, has seen cultivation collapse after the Taliban authorities vowed to end illegal drug production. Shan accounted for about 88 percent of the 41,300 ha (102,054 acres) of opium poppy areas nationwide, the UN report said.

MANILA, Philippines: The easterlies, the weather system that carries winds coming from the east, passing through the Pacific Ocean and bringing warm and humid weather, are affecting most parts of the country, the state-run weather agency said on Tuesday. On one hand, the northeast monsoon, locally known as "amihan," is affecting extreme Northern Luzon particularly Batanes and Babuyan Islands where partly cloudy to overcast skies with isolated light rains would be likely, weather specialist Patrick del Mundo said. "Most parts of the country would again have generally-fair weather conditions due to the easterlies," Del Mundo said. "Moreover, our monitoring station has not spotted any low pressure area (LPA) inside and outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) in the coming days," the Pagasa forecaster said. In particular, the easterlies along with the localized thunderstorms may bring partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers over Metro Manila and the rest of the country especially in the afternoon or at night.

JAKARTA: Chinese-owned short video app TikTok on Monday announced a $1.5 billion investment in GoTo group in a deal that would allow it to restart its online shop in Indonesia, the companies said in a statement. Under the deal, TikTok Shop will be merged into GoTo's Tokopedia, and TikTok will have a controlling stake in that entity. "TikTok, Tokopedia and GoTo will transform Indonesia's e-commerce sector, creating millions of new job opportunities over the next five years." That came days after Southeast Asia's largest economy banned sales on social media to protect millions of small businesses. Indonesia's e-commerce market is dominated by platforms such as Tokopedia, Shopee and Lazada but TikTok Shop gained a significant market share since launching in 2021.

MANILA, Philippines — Transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) will stage a two-day nationwide transport strike this week to protest the Dec. 31 deadline for franchise consolidation and phaseout of traditional jeepneys. The strike will be held from Dec. 14 to 15 and may be extended depending on the government’s response, Piston national president Mody Floranda told a press conference on Monday. ADVERTISEMENTThe militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno will also join the strike. Piston and its allies staged a three-day transport strike in late November to protest the public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program, forcing some schools in Metro Manila to shift to virtual classes. The Department of Transportation earlier expressed willingness to discuss the other demands of transport groups that are protesting the PUV modernization program except for the franchise consolidation requirement, which it called a “nonnegotiable.”The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board has yet to issue a statement on the planned protest.

Third petition filed vs Sara Duterte’s secret funds reaches SCFormer Bayan Muna Representatives Neri Colmenares, Carlos Zarate, together with Rep. France Castro (ACT-Teachers) and Rep. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela) at the Supreme Court filing a petition against the 2022 Confidential and Intelligence Funds of Vice President Sara Duterte. This will be the third petition against Duterte’s confidential and intelligence funds. The second petition against Duterte’s confidential and intelligence funds requested the nullification of the circular. Thesregulations enable the utilization, transfer and disbursement of confidential funds without subjecting them to audit. On October 10, the House of Representatives re-aligned the confidential funds of Duterte’s offices to the agencies responsible for safeguarding the West Philippine Sea.

Fuel prices take a dive ahead of Simbang GabiA worker fills up a container with fuel at a gas station in Quezon City, suburban Manila on June 7, 2022. MANILA, Philippines — Oil companies are set to reduce prices on Tuesday, December 12. Shell, CleanFuel, SeaOil and Caltex announced that they will decrease the prices of gasoline by P1.60 per liter and kerosene products by P1.40 per liter. The upcoming price reduction marks the second consecutive week of diesel rollback, a fuel for jeepneys and public utility vehicles, following the trend from the first week of December. Some oil firms will implement their price changes at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, while others will adjust their prices at 12:01 a.m.Other oil firms have yet to announce their price movements.

Sophie HuiPublic housing tenants who litter, cause noise nuisance, and obstruct corridors three times will be kicked out as the Housing Authority will implement a more stringent marking scheme for estate management enforcement starting next Monday. Under the stricter marking scheme, penalty points for nine misdeeds related to environmental hygiene, public safety and serious breaches of tenancy agreements will be increased. Under the marking scheme, tenants of public rental housing or interim housing who have been allotted 16 points within two years, will have their tenancy terminated. It means tenants who breached the rules for three times within two years will be kicked out from their flats. Penalty points will be increased from the current seven to 15 points.

Stricter English requirements will make it harder for foreign students to enter Australia. "However, the Migration Review found student English language requirements may not set up students to succeed.' "Our English language requirements for these visas are currently below those of comparable countries, such as Canada." "The English language requirement in the UK has always been 6.0 in IELTS," Chan said, "so Australia used to be an attractive 'second choice' among students." "But now agents believe students will have to spend more effort to study in Australia," he added.

LARGE PRESENCE Indian paramilitary troopers patrol past a cutout image of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the city of Srinagar, Kashmir region on Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. Removing Article 370 has been a key plank of his Bharatiya Janata Party's platform since its inception, and the Supreme Court decision comes ahead of elections next year. One of the advocates who argued for the revocation to be ruled unconstitutional — the Supreme Court held hearings on it for 16 days — was sanguine. More than half a million Indian soldiers are deployed in the territory to control the insurgency, which erupted in 1989. India blames Pakistan for backing the militants, a charge Islamabad denies, saying it only supports a Kashmiri struggle for the right to self-determination.

First wordTHE Wall Street Journal published an editorial on Dec. 8, 2023, "The truth about net zero, at last," which summarized the major setbacks that the climate lobby suffered this year while fanning an alleged climate emergency and its illusory energy transition. The US-based WSJ was unsparing in its commentary:"The great and good of politics and business have converged on Dubai this week for the global climate conference known as COP28, and by now they must wish they hadn't. Those two decades of spending has led to solar and wind combined supplying just under 4 percent of world energy. Next stop: Climate change societyWhat will happen to the church of climate change and global warming now that it has been exposed as an emperor with no clothes? The climate alarmists and climate doomsday believers could form themselves into a group called the "climate change society."

‘Import 500,000 MT rice to bring down prices’MANILA, Philippines — At least 300,000 to 500,000 metric tons (MT) of imported rice should arrive before March 2024 to bring down the retail price of the staple food whose cost has spiked in recent weeks, Philippine Rice Industry Stakeholders Movement (PRISM) said yesterday. The government needs to ensure the arrival of imported rice through the private sector to be able to increase our stocks in the market,” Manuntag explained. “Based on our estimate, it (rice imports) could only reach 3.1 million metric tons, or at most 3.2 million metric tons as we are already in December,” he said. Based on monitoring of the DA in Metro Manila markets, the retail price of local regular milled rice was as high as P52 per kilo; local well-milled rice, P57 per kilo; local premium rice, P60 per kilo; local special rice, P68 per kilo. Imported well-milled rice was sold at P52 per kilo; imported premium rice, P60 per kilo and imported special rice, P65 per kilo.

Maharlika to start as national development fundLawmakers applaud President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. after the signing of the law the establishing the Maharlika Investment Fund (R.A. 11954) in simple rites held at Malacanang Palace October 17, 2023. MANILA, Philippines — The head of state-run Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) envisions the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) to start as a national development fund that will invest in critical areas in the country and address different pain points, including creating much needed jobs for Filipinos. “It will start off as a national development fund in the first five to seven years. In effect, Maharlika is filling a digital investment gap through the construction of these towers, which it can lease to telco operators. Maharlika has an initial fund of P75 billion and eventually, it will go up to P125 billion.