Philippines still on weaker half of most powerful passport lists

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By: Kristine Joy Patag (philstar.com) 

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine passport has moved two spots higher but remains in the lower half of the latest world’s most powerful passports rankings.

The Philippines moved from the 72^nd spot to the 70^th in the latest Henley Passport Index released on May 22.

The list ranked 199 passports from one to 100 according to the freedom they allow their holders to travel visa-free to up to 227 different travel destinations—including countries, territories and micro-states.

image: https://media.philstar.com/images/the-philippine-star/infographics/20180524/powerful-passport.jpg

The Philippines shared the 70^th spot with Azerbaijan, the Dominican Republic and Tunisia. A Philippine passport holder now has visa-free access to 66 countries, three more compared to the index released in January.

Japan emerged as the most powerful passport allowing visa-free entry to 189 destinations.

Germany and Singapore shared the 2^nd spot as their passport holders could visit 188 destinations without a visa. Singapore is the only Southeast Asian country to land a spot on the five most powerful passports list.

Ranking 3^rd were passports from Finland, France, Italy, South Korea, Spain and Sweden which could freely enter 187 destinations. 

Meanwhile, Afghanistan and Iraq ranked as the least powerful passports at the 100^th spot as they allow visa-free access to only 30 destinations.

Southeast Asian rankings

The Philippine passport fell to the 7^th spot compared to its Southeast Asian neighbors.

LIST: Where you can travel visa-free with a Philippine passport

Indonesia, meanwhile, is the biggest gainer in the region as it jumped 12 spots to 67^th from 79^th in the 2017 global rankings.

Malaysia followed Singapore as the second most powerful passport in the region as it allows visa-free access to 180 countries.

Brunei, Timor Leste and Thailand landed the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th spot, respectively.

Meanwhile, Myanmar ranked the lowest, granting visa-free access to 48 countries only.

image: https://media.philstar.com/images/the-philippine-star/infographics/20180524/powerful-passport-southeastasia.jpg

The Henley Passport Index is a ranking of all the passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free.

The ranking is generated from exclusive data of the International Air Transport Association, which maintains the world’s largest and most comprehensive database of travel information.

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/05/24/1818250/philippines-still-weaker-half-most-powerful-passport-list#kOigKbbuZ1ARhpDv.99

Bicam approves national ID

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By: Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) 

MANILA, Philippines — The bill implementing a national ID system is expected to be ratified by both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Monday after the two chambers have reconciled conflicting provisions in their respective versions of the landmark measure.

The reconciliation of the differing bills last Tuesday was swift after the House agreed to adopt the Senate’s version of the Philippine Identification System Act with minor changes.

Once ratified, the bill will be sent to President Duterte for his signature.

The Senate panel was led by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, principal author of the measure, while the House contingent was headed by Laguna Rep. Sol Aragones, with former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Lacson said the bill lapses into law if not signed by the President.

“So give or take by June end or before end of June, that becomes a law,” Lacson said. “This is a landmark legislation. It’s been languishing in both Houses for 18 years.”

He said the implementation of the national ID system will have an initial funding of P25 billion and he hopes it will be implemented within the year.

Lacson said such a system will not only make transactions with government easier due to its integration of various existing IDs, it will also help deter criminality while making it easier to deliver assistance to the poor.

He said there are at least 33 different “functional” identification cards issued by various government agencies.

Under the national ID system, the new ID will also be “foundational,” in which each Filipino covered by the system will have a unique, non-transferable identification marker, he said.

The system will be managed by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Malacañang yesterday welcomed the bicameral conference committee’s approval of the bill establishing the national ID system.

“That’s good news. It is a priority administration bill,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said.

For their part, lawmakers yesterday also lauded the approval of the bill.

“This is a welcome development to boost the country’s security. We expect the President to sign this into law once Congress ratifies the measure,” Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. said.

Reps. Winston Castelo, Robert Ace Barbers, Karlo Nograles and House Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu also commended the bill that will establish a single, unified and streamlined national identification system in the country.

“The National ID System measure will provide a valid proof of identity and an efficient official identity verification of all citizens of the country,” Castelo, chairman of the House committee on Metro Manila development, said.

“The passage of the bill would help law enforcement agencies arrest lawbreakers and those behind illegal activities, including banned substances,” said Barbers, chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs.

Nograles, chairman of the powerful House appropriations committee, urged the PSA to immediately implement the national ID system once President Duterte signs the bill into law.

“Let us remind the PSA to implement the measure using the budget of P2 billion we allocated for 2018. The figure is broken down as follows: P1.9 billion for capital outlay and P100 million for maintenance and other operating expenses,” he said.

Abu made a similar appeal to all concerned government agencies.

“This is very important in our fight against terrorism and other lawless elements. We expect the PSA to immediately implement this after the measure becomes a law. This will help interconnect the countless and redundant government IDs,” he said.

OSH bill

The Senate ratified yesterday the occupational safety and health standards that seeks to amend the 41-year old Labor Code, which does not penalize violations of OSH standards.

For the longest time, violation of OSH standards had no fines or penalties. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) only issues a work stoppage order (WSO) if there is an imminent danger that could result to disabling injury.

During the bicameral conference committee meeting last Monday, the House of Representatives contingent agreed to adopt the Senate version of the measure that would impose an administrative fine of P100,000 per day for non-correction of OSH standards violation, counted from the date the employer or contractor is notified of the violation or the date the compliance order is duly served on the employer.

Sen. Joel Villanueva, author of the measure and chairman of the committee on labor, said there is an urgent need to protect workers from hazards in the workplace that could be prevented if only the government has clear and effective policies on OSH standards.

“We are elated that after three Congresses, this bill is now closer to becoming a law,” he said, even as he thanked his colleagues “for supporting this personal crusade which we have been strongly pushing to give due justice to our workers and to assure a level playing field to establishments that comply to the OSH standards.”  – With Alexis Romero, Delon Porcalla

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/05/24/1818135/bicam-approves-national-id#uGIXQ0TvAPELvLkZ.99

Five myths about Bataan Power Plant debunked

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By: Kristine Daguno-Bersamina (philstar.com)

SOCHI, Russia — Sitting atop a 389-hectare government property along the coast of Morong, Bataan, the hulking Bataan Nuclear Power Plant has stood quietly since its construction in the 1980s.

For almost 40 years, the fate of what critics called the "monster" of Morong has been hotly debated.

"We are the first in Southeast Asia to develop power plant but never used it," said Philippine Nuclear Research Institute Director Carlo Arcilla during a round table discussion at the 10th Atomexpo International Forum held in Sochi, Russia.

Atomexpo is a key exhibition event in Russian nuclear industry, organized by Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom.

Arcilla, a geoscientist and geotechnical engineering expert, said it is important to set the facts straight about the first nuclear power plant in the Philippines. 

"We (Filipinos) have suffered so many fake news in nuclear... It's overriding the public perception," he said.

Here are five prevailing myths about the dormant Bataan Nuclear Power Plant that experts debunked.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has certified that there is no fault underneath the mothballed nuclear power plant. 

Philvolcs added that the BNPP was built on a solid foundation of hard rock. 

"While there are publications suggesting faults proximate to the plant, these do not underlie the plant, which would have made the plant inoperable," the PNRI chief said.

The proximity of the suspected faults, according to Arcilla, will require proof of the following:  

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• That the faults are active
• The maximum earthquake that can come from such active fault cannot be withstood by the 0.4g seismic design of the BNPP. The 0.4g design means that the whole nuclear structure can withstand ground acceleration at 4 meters/second/second, or 40 percent the acceleration due to gravity. 

BNPP was built on the eruptive products on the flanks of Mount Natib but not on the crater of the volcano, Arcilla noted. 

Since Mount Natib is a dormant volcano, Philvolcs dismissed possible hazards pertinent to BNPP's location such as volcanic eruption.

"For perspective, practically the whole of Metro Manila is built partially on pyroclastic flows (adobe) from Laguna de Bay caldera, which is much younger than Natib," Arcilla said.

"Laguna de Bay is not an active volcano, and Metro Manila is not built on a volcano," he added.

Since the length of the Manila trench is shorter than Japan's, experts say that the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that occurred close to the Fukushima plant "will probably not happen" in the Philippines. 

An 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Mindanao in 1876 is the strongest that hit the country.

Arcilla emphasized that the earthquake did not destroy the Fukushima plant, Japan's oldest nuclear power plant.

Part of the disaster was the complete breakdown of the Fukushima plant after it was swamped by a tsunami produced by the earthquake.

The tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling systems of three Fukushima reactors, resulting to the release of radioactive materials to its surroundings. 

The PNRI chief said that the accident could have been prevented had the operator followed an earlier advice to move its diesel engines for cooling at higher grounds.

"In contrast, BNPP elevation is 18 meters above sea level, which is higher than the 14-meter tsunami that happened in Japan. In addition, all the 420 plus nuclear power plants in the world have made redundant systems so that the loss of cooling will not be repeated. These lessons will be implemented if the BNPP is rehabilitated," he added.   

Philippines' first nuclear power plant has at least three working sister plants which are very profitable and has been safely operating for 40 years. 

These include Angra in Brazil, Krsko in Slovenia and Kori2 in Korea. 

The said nuclear power plants "have more than recovered their investments and have upgraded to the latest operational standards," Arcilla noted.

Though the BNPP was never used, its nuclear core is still sound based on the recent evaluations made by the Korea Electric Power Corp. and Rosatom.

"The main challenge in rehabilitating BNPP is financial because of the replacements of ancillary parts like the steam generator and turbines, among others," the PNRI chief said.

Arcilla explained that the BNPP was built to withstand a seismic load of  0.4 g. Japan's Fukushima plant had a peak horizontal ground acceleration of 0.12g only.  

This is more than twice that of the Fukushima plant and with upgrades to prevent repeat of the nuclear accident, he noted.  

"Japan has similar geologic conditions in the Philippines and has at least 50 nuclear plants; Taiwan is also similarly tectonically active and has at least 4 NPPs, and Krsko is the only seismically designed NPP in western Europe," Arcilla said. 

He assured that BNPP's containment structure was designed to resist the crashlanding of a large wide body aircraft.