He then posed these two questions: "Is the use of the subjective 'who' in the sentence above correct or acceptable? On the other hand, using "who" instead often gives us with the uncomfortable feeling that something's not right with the sentence. These days, however, many native English speakers are rediscovering the grammatical virtue of "that" as an all-purpose relative pronoun. I do think that even nonnative English speakers these days can follow suit with very little danger of being marked as uneducated yokels. Read this essay and listen to its voice recording in The Manila Times: "Dealing decisively with the "who" versus "whom" conundrum"Next, Dec. 14, 2023: The genesis of corporateseVisit Jose Carillo's English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com.

PCG spokesperson warns vs Chinese-led tactics to taint his credibilityThis photo taken on April 23, 2023 shows a member of the Philippine coast guard vessel BRP Malabrigo manning his post while being shadowed by a Chinese coast guard ship at Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea. MANILA, Philippines — The spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard on Wednesday warned Filipinos about a China-led campaign to “taint” his credibility as a source of information about the country’s defense of the West Philippine Sea. PCG spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said that China is currently engaged in a disinformation campaign aimed at undermining the government’s transparency initiatives about the WPS, which include attempts to damage Filipino officials’ credibility. Tarriela was commenting on a report by Philstar.com that documented a coordinated attempt by anonymous accounts to spread narratives alleging the PCG spokesperson was a covert “CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) agent” working for the United States government. “Only through these efforts can we expose the falsehoods and distortions perpetuated by the PRC to undermine our territorial integrity,” the PCG spokesperson added.

'Stagnating at the bottom': Officials say time and funding needed to improve PISA scoresSan Jose Elementary School students attend face-to-face classes outside their classrooms in Malilipot, Albay on June 15, 2023. For example, changes in initial teacher education can take decades before their effects are visible in most classrooms,” PISA said. ‘Bottomed out’The latest PISA results also indicate that the Philippines has “bottomed out,” said Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate education committee. Similar to DepEd officials, Gatchalian lamented the single-digit changes in the Philippines’ scores in mathematics, reading and science from 2018 to 2022. Budget restraintsBesides testing students in the fundamental subjects, the PISA report also included an assessment of countries’ investments in education.

Maintenance contractor Getinge Group Hong Kong, the supplier of the fallen surgical light in United Christian Hospital in February, has issued a public apology in the newpapers on Wednesday. In the public apology, the contractor expressed sincere apologies to the Hospital Authority for any inconvenience caused by the incident. They solemnly apologize for the incident and pledge that they will actively enhance cooperation with the Hospital Authority in the future to improve safety and service quality. In February, an anesthetic assistant at the United Christian Hospital was hit on the shoulder by a loose surgical light while making preparations for surgery. Read more: Hospital contractor barred from tendering over fallen surgical light

ISLAMABAD: The Taliban's "abusive" educational policies are not only harming girls in Afghanistan but also boys, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report published on Wednesday. The hardline Islamist group has been globally condemned for banning girls and women from high school and university, but the rights group says there has been less attention to the deep harm inflicted on boys' education. Because the Taliban have dismissed all female teachers from boys' schools, many boys are taught by unqualified people or sit in classrooms with no teachers at all. "The Taliban are causing irreversible damage to the Afghan education system for boys, as well as girls," said Sahar Fetrat, who wrote the report. "The Taliban's impact on the education system is harming children today and will haunt Afghanistan's future," Fetrat said.

Veteran newspaper journalist and author of the award-winning book 'English Plain and Simple: No nonsense ways to learn today's global language' Jose Carillo says that the problem with how Filipinos speak and write English is that they don't trust themselves enough to express themselves using simpler words. He said that the goal in communicating in any language is to be understood. Video and interview by Ezrah Raya

"The time between now and 1.5 degrees is shrinking massively, so to keep a chance to stay below 1.5 C, or very close to 1.5 C, we need to act now." 'Wrong direction'The landmark 2015 Paris Agreement saw countries commit to limiting temperature rise to well below 2 C above the pre-industrial era and preferably 1.5 C. The more ambitious 1.5 C goal has since taken on greater urgency as evidence emerges that warming beyond this could trigger dangerous and irreversible tipping points. "The other half is reducing fossil fuel emissions. Several major polluters have clocked falling CO2 emissions this year — including a 3-percent decrease in the United States and a 7.4-percent drop across the European Union. Going above 1.5 C for a single year would not breach the Paris deal, however, which is measured over decades.

De Lima appointed Liberal Party spokespersonFormer Philippine senator and human rights campaigner Leila de Lima waves as she arrives at the Muntinlupa Trial Court in Manila on September 18, 2023. MANILA, Philippines — The Liberal Party has designated former Sen. Leila de Lima as its new spokesperson, LP President and lawmaker Edcel Lagman announced on Tuesday. Lagman said in a statement that De Lima was selected as the party’s official spokesperson during its management committee meeting on Monday. “De Lima, who has been a long-standing member of the Liberal Party, committed to resume her active role in advocating and enhancing the Party’s advocacy on good governance, social justice and liberalism,” said the Albay lawmaker. “I hope to convey our Party's message of reforms and advocacy on good governance, social justice and civil liberties,” De Lima said.

THE national government's outstanding debt hit a new record high of P14.48 trillion as of end-October, the Bureau of the Treasury reported on Tuesday. Compared to the end of last year, outstanding debt was P1.062 trillion higher in October. From October 2022, when outstanding debt was higher than the December count, the total increased by a lower P839.8 billion. External debt — 31.62 percent of total outstanding debt as of end-October — totaled P4.58 trillion, 0.97 percent or P44.15 billion higher than the previous month. "Tax and fiscal reform measures would help narrow the country's budget deficit and also curb the increment in the outstanding national debt, going forward."

MANILA, Philippines: Creamline turned back Galeries, 18-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-13, at the PhilSports Arena on Tuesday, December 5 to sweep the 2023 PVL 2nd All-Filipino Conference. Jema Galanza poured 12 points to lead the defending champs Cool Smashers, who also secured the top spot with an 11-0 slate. Jema Galanza (right) PVL PHOTOThe Cool Smashers, who decided to sit out Alyssa Valdez in the game, thus face the fourth seed Chery Tiggo Crossovers in the semifinals which starts on Thursday. The second-ranked Choco Mucho Flying Titans take on the third seed Cignal HD Spikers in the other bracket of the semis. The Highrisers, meanwhile, ended their first tournament in the PVL with a 1-10 record.

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), on Tuesday, Dec. 5, announced the date and venue of the face-to-face mass oathtaking of new geologists. READ:https://mb.com.ph/2023/12/5/3-423-pass-november-2023-agriculturists-licensure-examThe oathtaking will take place on Dec. 11 at the Celebrity Sports Plaza, Capitol Hills Drive, Matandang Balara, Quezon City. Photo credit to PRCPRC noted that it is required that the inductees wear their Filipiniana or Barong for the ceremony. It is also stated that all successful examinees interested in attending the face-to-face mass oathtaking must register at http://online.prc.gov.ph before noon before the oathtaking date to confirm their attendance. Moreover, inductees must also print the oath form and the generated quick response (QR) code, which will be submitted during the oathtaking to record attendance.

A double-decker bus caught fire on King's Road in Quarry Bay on Tuesday and passengers were evacuated to safety. Smoke billowed from the rear of a double-decker Citybus Route 82 at around 1.40 pm when it was heading to Siu Sai Wan along King's Road near Pan Hoi Street. The bus caught fire, with an explosion heard. The bus captain evacuated 12 passengers and firefighters put out the blaze in about 20 minutes. The cause of the fire is believed to be the engine overheating, according to the preliminary investigation.

Previous NextHong Kong will soon have a comprehensive rule of law education system that will instill national awareness and identity, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said. The Department of Justice's Steering Committee on Rule of Law Education launched the first phase of courses under the Rule of Law Education Train-the-Trainers program late last month. The program allows participants from 20 groups responsible for young affairs and community services to learn about the coherence between China's constitution, the rule of law in Hong Kong, Basic Law and national security law. They will also learn the basic concepts of the mainland legal system and the "important parts" of the common law system in Hong Kong. Participants can become rule of law ambassadors of Hong Kong and help authorities tell good stories about the city.

For example, civil servants are being asked to troop to the polling stations together with family members. Government contractors have also received special reminders to give their employees enough time to go to the polling stations to vote. In view of the local civil service culture, it is more likely than not that they will vote to achieve a pretty high turnout rate among civil servants. Will the turnout rate be higher than 30 percent? Whatever the outcome, the administration can speak with confidence that it has done its best to push up the turnout rate.

AP PHOTOThe dead hikers were found near Marapi's crater after the 2,891-meter volcano rained ash on nearby villages, a local rescue official said. Zhafirah Zahrim Febrina, one of the rescued hikers, is shown in a video message from the volcano desperately appealing to her mother for help. 'Tremendous trauma'Local rescue agency spokesman Jodi Haryawan said the rescue efforts had been broken up by sporadic eruptions, but the search was still ongoing despite the risks. Rudy Rinaldi, head of the West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency, told AFP that some of the rescued hikers had suffered burns. The plume of smoke and ash blocked out the sun after the eruption and coated nearby cars, scooters and ambulances.