Another sugar exec resigns
ANOTHER official who signed the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) board resolution allowing the importation of 300,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar has resigned. Beltran signed Sugar Order (SO) 4 as the representative of sugar millers on the board. InventoryAn agricultural group on Monday said the government should conduct an inventory of sugar stocks in warehouses to determine if there is a shortfall. "The stocks of sugar are being kept in the warehouses that's why we are surprised on the high retail price of sugar," So said. So said he believes that traders are trying to control the release of sugar stocks.
Source:Manila Times
August 16, 2022 07:43 UTC
Debt servicing down in first half
DEBT payments by the national government plunged in the first half of the year following an even steeper drop in amortizations, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data showed. Debt servicing for the period totaled P458.35 billion, down 40.76 percent from the year-earlier P773.702 billion. Interest payments, on the other hand, increased by 23 percent to P257.215 billion from P208.533 billion. In June alone, debt payments dropped from P150.195 billion a year earlier to P44.286 billion, a decrease of 70.51 percent. Despite the rise, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno gave assurances that the Marcos administration would be able to reduce the country's debt burden.
Source:Manila Times
August 16, 2022 05:20 UTC
DOH Covid-19 tracker: 3,484 new infections
MANILA, Philippines — An additional 3,484 new infections of COVID-19 were logged by the Department of Health (DOH) on Monday, with the active tally slightly decreasing to 38,982 from the previous day’s 40,016. The new cases then increased the country’s total caseload to 3,835,422 nationwide, with recoveries now at 3,735,362 and deaths at 61,708, based on the DOH’s COVID-19 tracker on its website. ADVERTISEMENTThe new cases are lower than the average daily cases recorded from August 8 to August 14 at 4,001. Meanwhile, the tracker showed that only 16,131 individuals were tested for COVID-19 on Sunday, much lower than the average number of tests conducted these past few weeks, which was usually more than 20,000. For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH Hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
August 15, 2022 23:16 UTC
First ship carrying Ukraine wheat under UN deal docks in Turkey
ISTANBUL — The first ship carrying Ukrainian wheat to be exported under a U.N.-brokered deal arrived in Istanbul on Sunday, the Joint Coordination Center based in the Turkish city, said. The Belize-flagged vessel is the first to carry wheat from Ukraine through the Black Sea since Russia’s invasion. The Sormovsky was loaded with 3,050 mt of wheat and had left Ukraine’s port of Chornomorsk on Friday. The agreement, brokered by the United Nations along with Turkey, was reached last month amid fears that the loss of Ukrainian grain supplies would lead to severe food shortages and even outbreaks of famine in parts of the world. RELATED STORIESUN-chartered ship in Ukraine readying for journey to AfricaRussian separatists say Ukraine shelled brewery, caused ammonia leak—InterfaxChina calls US ‘main instigator’ of Ukraine crisisTwo more grain ships sail from Ukraine as third port opensSubscribe to our daily newsletterSign me upRead NextMOST READ
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
August 15, 2022 14:49 UTC
Southern hemisphere to get first mRNA vaccine facility
SYDNEY — Covid-19 vaccine maker Moderna announced Monday that it will open an mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in the Australian city of Melbourne, a first for the southern hemisphere. ADVERTISEMENTModerna’s Spikevax was one of a new class of inoculations developed during the coronavirus pandemic that uses a cutting-edge technology called messenger RNA (mRNA). FEATURED STORIESConstruction on the mRNA manufacturing facility is set to begin this year and be complete in 2024 — with vaccines production starting soon after. Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday that it was a “show of faith” in Australia by vaccine giant Moderna. For Australia, the facility is not only about health or science, he said, but “also about national security” after the country experienced serious vaccine shortages during the pandemic.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
August 15, 2022 09:43 UTC
Independence vs unity in Congress
"We will study with a fine-tooth comb all proposals that will be submitted to us," said Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri in a recent interview. House Speaker Martin Romualdez, a first cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has been less vocal about asserting the bigger chamber's independence from the executive branch. As in previous congresses, the House leadership of the 19th Congress appears to be more cooperative in pushing the President's legislative agenda. While Zubiri has been consistently vowing to assert the independence of the Senate, Romualdez has been emphasizing pursuing the administration's unity agenda. Clearly, Marcos has Congress at his disposal, with close allies and relatives occupying important positions in both chambers.
Source:Manila Times
August 15, 2022 04:58 UTC
'Investing in a better Future: Climate, Energy, Health'
Energy access should not be the privilege of the rich only- a poor family also has the same rights on energy. G-7 countries can invest in research, innovation, and manufacturing in this field. This year on World Environment Day, we launched the Global Initiative for LiFE campaign. G7 countries can help India to take these innovations to other developing countries. Excerpts of Prime Minister of India, H. E. Narenda Modi's remarks at the session on 'Investing in a better Future: Climate, Energy, Health' at G7 Summit in Germany on June 27, 2022
Source:Manila Times
August 15, 2022 04:01 UTC
Biden calls India an ‘indispensable partner’ on 75th anniversary
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday congratulated India on 75 years of independence and said the United States and India were “indispensable partners” that would continue to work together to address global challenges in the years ahead. India will mark its 75th year of independence on Monday, celebrating the end of British colonial rule in 1947. “India and the United States are indispensable partners, and the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership is grounded in our shared commitment to the rule of law and the promotion of human freedom and dignity,” Biden said. Biden also said his country’s Indian-American community had made the United States a more innovative, inclusive, and stronger nation. RELATED STORIESSplit families still suffer after 75 years of India-Pakistan partition‘My dream came true’: Indian woman to revisit Pakistan home after 75 yearsWhy India is right not to take sides on UkraineIn a first, India allows imports of US porkSubscribe to our daily newsletterSign me upRead Next
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
August 15, 2022 03:55 UTC
Walrus that attracted crowds in Oslo fjord euthanized — officials
OSLO, Norway — A walrus nicknamed Freya that attracted crowds while basking in the sun of the Oslo fjord was euthanized, Norway officials said on Sunday. Officials had previously said they were considering euthanasia for the mammal because repeated appeals to the public to keep their distance from the young female weighing 600 kilograms (1,300 pounds) had been in vain. Despite repeated appeals, curious onlookers continued to approach her, sometimes with children in tow, to take photographs. Freya first gained notoriety in Norway by climbing onto pleasure boats in Kragero, an idyllic southern coastal village. The walrus is a protected species that feeds mainly on invertebrates such as mollusks, shrimps, crabs and small fish.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
August 15, 2022 00:21 UTC
US employers struggle to find enough workers
"We have a lot of jobs, but not enough workers to fill them," the US Chamber of Commerce, which represents American companies, said in a statement. To lure workers back, many employers have boosted pay and benefits. And if Americans' buying frenzy slows, analysts say, companies will need fewer workers. The US labor market showed new signs of vitality in July. The 22 million jobs lost due to Covid-19 have returned, and the unemployment rate is a historically low 3.5 percent.
Source:Manila Times
August 14, 2022 23:11 UTC
Luck decides life and death in Ukraine’s war zone
BAKHMUT, Ukraine — When rockets scream across the skies of eastern Ukraine the people below are hostage to fortune. All have survived, for now at least, on the eastern front of the war between Russia and Ukraine where life and death seem a simple matter of chance. “I was thrown over there,” she said, gesturing to a wall and puzzling the ill luck that has made her homeless. ‘Miraculous survival’On a road outside the frontline city of Soledar, serviceman Oleg Yashchuk recounts his own near-miss in an almost giddy tone. “Suddenly a tank started shooting at us.”“It shot into the gazebo, into the water, where there were many soldiers,” he says.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
August 14, 2022 08:26 UTC
Why Tagle is a leading papal contender
In July, before making an apostolic visit to Canada, Pope Francis denied he was resigning soon. New cardinalsWould Pope Francis’ opening of the “Holy Door” be a similar indication of what may lie ahead? Incidentally, Pope Francis’ Aug. 28 visit to L’Aquila comes a day after the consistory names 21 new cardinals from 16 countries. Because Pope Francis is Argentinian, the next pope is widely expected to come from the “new world” and not from Old Europe. After the G-20 meeting in 2020, Cardinal Tagle called for debt forgiveness for poor nations.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
August 14, 2022 03:29 UTC
From Bolinao to Maldives: Buri bags, mats go global
BOLINAO, Pangasinan, Philippines — Every day, Betty Carolino, 54, would weave buri strips into different shapes of bags, planters, and mats. For years, the women of the island have been weaving bags and mats to augment their income from farming or fishing, their main sources of livelihood. Sleeping mats (banig) have also been marketed in Maldives as “beach mats,” becoming best-sellers there, Cayaon said. Cayaon said there were no flights at that time, so she could not import the buri products from the Philippines. Maldives also stopped its tourism-related operations, although some resorts continued to sell the buri products, she said.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
August 13, 2022 22:41 UTC
Ukraine, Russia trade blame for nuclear plant shelling as fighting rages
KYIV – Ukraine and Russia accused each other on Friday of risking catastrophe by shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces in a region expected to become one of the next big front lines of the war. ADVERTISEMENTThe plant dominates the south bank of a vast reservoir on the Dnipro river that cuts across southern Ukraine. Ukrainian forces controlling the towns and cities on the opposite bank have come under intense bombardment from the Russian-held side. Russia says Ukraine is recklessly firing at the plant. “The Ukrainian Armed Forces do not damage the infrastructure (of the plant), do not strike where there may be a danger on a global scale.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
August 13, 2022 17:38 UTC
Health workers from GOCC-hospitals complain about delayed COVID-19 allowance
MANILA, Philippines — Several health workers from healthcare institutions that are classified as government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) are yet to receive their benefits from the One COVID-19 Allowance (OCA). This was according to members of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) chapters at the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) and National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), who staged protests on Friday to call on the Department of Health (DOH) to immediately provide and distribute the OCA of health workers. “The COVID benefit is a badly needed compensation for us health workers who face the daily threat of COVID-19 virus,” Pacheco said. “While health workers of some DOH-retained hospitals are already receiving their One COVID-19 Allowances, GOCC hospitals’ health workers are suffering from delayed payment of their allowances. Worse, health workers from Local Government Units (LGU) and private hospitals are not receiving their benefits,” it further claimed.
Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer
August 13, 2022 02:39 UTC