𝐎𝐏𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐔 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐯 𝐔𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Strongholds are weakened and progress starts to sprout in the corners of Davao de Oro’s valleys formerly under the grasp of the communist groups. 

The deterioration of the red strongholds significantly turned the tables in favor of the residents in far-flung communities who suffered circumstances brought by the clash between the government and the rebels in the past years.

Since 2016, the eleven (11) identified guerilla fronts in Davao de Oro have turned down to one (1) in 2021, a shred of concrete evidence that the provincial government unleashed all its efforts to bring the program of the Duterte’s Administration in combating insurgency into action.

Recently, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) honored thirty-eight (38) Leaders as partners of peace at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). Seventeen (17) of which are Mindanawon Leaders including Governor Tyron Uy of Davao de Oro.

In a statement by OPAPRU Undersecretary David Diciano, OPAPRU honors its stakeholders for helping the agency towards pushing forward its programs and projects which enable former combatants to smoothly reintegrate into mainstream society and live as peaceful and productive Filipinos.

In Davao de Oro, one of the determiners of progress is achieving peace all throughout its scope through programs under its Peace Agenda. From 2016 to 2021, a total of 1,116 former rebels in the province received assistance and firearms remuneration from the Enhanced Comprehensive  Local Integration Program (ECLIP) of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). 

Moreover, the Oplan Pagbabago program, a flagship program under Gov. Uy’s peace agenda, is instrumental to the achievements in relation to peace and order in the province. The program was able to pull-off accomplishments through provisions of assistance to former combatants and community-based serbisyo caravan which offers services to Dabawenyos in hard to reach areas.

Further, its strategic communications team also continues conducting information drives to prevent the infiltration of the communist groups in vulnerable sectors in the society such as the youth sector, labor groups, indigenous peoples, and women groups among others.

OPAPRU thanked its partners and stakeholders who worked with them side by side, focused on the goal of achieving secured and peaceful communities, and transforming the lives of former combatants. 

Governor Uy expressed his gratitude to be a part of the OPAPRU, and prays that achievements of peace in the province will be sustained in order for every dabawenyo to live in peace and harmony. (JA PAO-IPRD, photo from Mindanews and J. Cadiz)

It must be ‘all hands on deck’ to help protect PH tourism

by Manila Bulletin

Among the most affected by the pandemic is the hospitality and tourism industry when lockdowns and quarantines forced hotels, resorts, bed-and-breakfast inns, amusement parks, etc. to shut their doors. Suddenly, the thriving and booming tourism sector faced its worst nightmare – airports were closed, tours got called off, room bookings were cancelled, events were put on hold indefinitely.

For a country that relied on tourism for decades to boost the local economy and employ thousands of workers, the global health pandemic in March 2020 was a tragedy that no one had predicted.  It should be noted that prior to the pandemic, the tourism sector contributed US$92.6 billion to the economy, which plummeted to only US$17.8 billion in 2020.

 

Fast forward two years and there is currently a semblance of normalcy due to the low number of new Covid cases. Even after the campaign season and the elections, health experts saw no spike in Covid numbers, allowing them to recommend to the IATF the extension of Alert Level 1 until the end of the month.

With this encouraging news, it seems it is “business as usual” as the country remains open to tourists from countries with low Covid cases. But it is not enough to just “open” the doors of businesses involved in tourism – the government and stakeholders must now work hand-in-hand to strengthen the industry to make it ready, responsive, and resilient so that it can withstand and survive any future “shocks.”

In a report entitled “Supporting Post Covid-19 Economic Recovery in Southeast Asia” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) last May 13, 2022, it said that the Covid-19 crisis has “exacerbated the tourism industry’s pre-pandemic structural challenges.”

“Prior to the pandemic, the tourism sector was beset with four structural challenges – first, there was over reliance on foreign tourists with focus on a few destinations; second, a lack of infrastructure outside major destinations; third, high informal employment; and last, the (tourism sector in Southeast Asia) only attracted low-cost travelers.”

The structural challenges, the ADB added, worsened when Covid-19 struck and created new challenges for the industry.

“Now that tourists are more aware of the importance of health precautions, it has become a crucial consideration in selecting travel destinations. Moreover, there are indications that Covid-19 could lead to a fundamental decline in long-haul international tourism, which was exacerbated by the adoption of digital tools for virtual meetings, conferences, and events tourism,” the ADB reported.

To address these concerns, the regional bank suggested four policy response areas for tourism.

“The first is focusing on ways to restore demand as well as strengthening domestic tourism by developing marketing campaigns to convince travelers it is safe to travel. Second is building new channels of demand to diversify tourist destinations and develop lesser-known points of interest, while tapping into high growth segments like ecotourism, health and premium wellness experiences, and halal tourism,” said the ADB.

Meanwhile, the third involves capacity building to support future digital demand, touching on the need for authorities to invest in training workers in both digital and non-digital skills to tackle the issues of low pay and informality.

The fourth calls for increasing industry resilience, where the tourism industry in each country must work closely with governments to improve communication channels.

“Creating a permanent crisis management task force may also ensure that a country’s tourism sector is better able to cope with future shocks,” the ADB said.

All of these suggestions form part of an “all hands on deck” approach to ensure that no matter what happens in the world’s affairs, our tourism industry will not be crippled and deemed “useless” because of the lack of foreign tourists or cancellation of plane flights.  Since it is more fun in the Philippines, we now have to make it safer for all.

Comelec names 12 senatorial bets to be proclaimed

(JEL SANTOS/MANILA BULLETIN)

by Jel Santos, Manila Bulletin

As the uncanvassed certificate of canvass (COC) can no longer affect the senatorial race, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), has named the 12 winning senatorial candidates who will be officially proclaimed by the poll body at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Forum Tent on Wednesday, May 18, at 4 p.m.

In its Canvass Report No. 7 which covered 172 out of 173 COCs, the senatorial bet with the most number of votes was Robin Padilla, garnering a total of 26,612,434 votes.

Padilla was followed by Loren Legarda with 24,264,969 votes and third in rank was Raffy Tulfo who got 23,396,954 votes.

The other senatorial candidates who won were Win Garchalian (20,602,655 votes); Chiz Escudero (20,271,458 votes); Mark Villar (19,475,592 votes); Allan Peter Cayetano (19,295,314 votes) ; Migz Zubiri (18,734,336 votes) ;Joel Villanueva (18,486,034 votes) ; JV Ejercito (15,841,858 votes) ; and Risa Hontiveros (15,420,807 votes).

The last spot was won by Jinggoy Estrada who garnered 15,108,625 votes.

As the number of the remaining untransmitted votes from Lanao del Sur and Shanghai, China will no longer affect the 12 winning senatorial candidates, the poll body’s supervisory group has recommended to the Comelec en banc to push through with the official proclamation of the winning bets on May 18.

“Even if we add the 685,643 registered voters of Lanao del Sur and the 1,991 registered Filipino overseas voters from Shanghai with the votes of the 13th ranked candidate 13,263,970 votes, the votes of the 12th ranked candidate 15,108,635 votes will no longer be overcome considering the margin of 1,844,655 votes,” it said, which was approved by the Comelec en banc.

Recently, Comelec Acting Spokesperson John C. Laudiangco said the poll body will proclaim the senators-elect without their rankings yet as they will still wait for the conduct of special elections in several barangays in Lanao del Sur this month.

The poll body said the winning senators will only be allowed to bring five companions.

The Comelec en banc, sitting as the NBOC, is canvassing the votes for senators and party-lists at the Philippine International Convention Center Forum Tent in Pasay City.

It can be recalled that elections in Shanghai, China did not push through due to Covid-19 lockdown. Meanwhile, the Comelec declared failure of elections in 14 barangays in Lanao del Sur, forcing the poll body to order special elections.

Das Auswärtige Amt in Berlin gibt bekannt: Philippinen Reisehinweise per 17.5.2022

www.auswaertiges-amt.de

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Philippinen: Reise- und Sicherheitshinweise (Teilreisewarnung)

17.05.2022

Letzte Änderung:

Aktuelles – Wegfall des Abschnitts Wahlen,



Lagen können sich schnell verändern und entwickeln. Insbesondere die COVID-19-Bestimmungen unterliegen laufenden Änderungen.Wir empfehlen Ihnen:
- Verfolgen Sie Nachrichten und Wetterberichte.- Achten Sie auf einen ausreichenden Reisekrankenversicherungsschutz. https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/ReiseUndSicherheit/reise-gesundheit/-/350944
- Abonnieren Sie unseren Newsletter https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/newsroom/newsletter/bestellen-node oder nutzen Sie unsere App „Sicher Reisen". https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/ReiseUndSicherheit/app-sicher-reisen/350382
- Folgen Sie uns auf Twitter: AA_SicherReisen https://twitter.com/AA_SicherReisen
- Registrieren Sie sich in unserer Krisenvorsorgeliste. https://krisenvorsorgeliste.diplo.de
- Erkundigen Sie sich vorab bei den Behörden/Botschaften Ihres Reiselandes https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/ReiseUndSicherheit/vertretungen-anderer-staaten zu den aktuell geltenden, verbindlichen Einreisebestimmungen sowie bei Flug- und Bahngesellschaften nach den geltenden Beförderungsbestimmungen.
- Beachten Sie unseren Haftungsausschluss https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/ReiseUndSicherheit/haftungsausschluss/2500954 und den Hinweis zu Inhalten anderweitiger Anbieter. https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/ReiseUndSicherheit/inhalte-anderweitiger-anbieter/2500956

Aktuelles

COVID-19

Angesichts der weltweiten COVID-19-Pandemie bestehen weiterhin Risiken bei internationalen Reisen, insbesondere für Personen ohne vollständigen Impfschutz. Hierzu mehr unter COVID-19. https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/ReiseUndSicherheit/reise-gesundheit/gesundheit-fachinformationen/reisemedizinische-hinweise/Coronavirus/-/2309820

Einreise

Bestimmungen zur Einreise ändern sich mit der Pandemielage häufig. Bitte informieren Sie sich zusätzlich auf der Webseite der Regierung der Philippinen https://www.doh.gov.ph/.

Die Einreise für vollständig geimpfte Ausländer ist für touristische Aufenthalte und Geschäftsreisen bis zu 30 Tagen möglich, wenn sie unter Executive Order No. 408 (s. 1960) https://dfa.gov.ph/list-of-countries-for-21-day-visa fallen und hierdurch von der Visumspflicht befreit. Reisende müssen einen negativen PCR-Test nicht älter als 48 Stunden oder negativen Antigentest mit englischsprachigem Zertifikat (kein Selbsttest) nicht älter als 24 Stunden vor Abflug vorlegen.

Reisende müssen außerdem bei Einreise im Besitz eines noch sechs Monate gültigen Reisepasses sein und einen Flugschein über einen Rück- oder Weiterflug und eine in den Philippinen anerkannte Reisekrankenversicherung mit Mindestdeckungsschutz in Höhe von 35.000 USD für den vorgesehenen Aufenthaltszeitraum vorlegen können. Hiervon ausgenommen sind ausländische Ehepartner und Kinder philippinischer Staatsangehöriger sowie ehemalige philippinische Staatsangehörige mit „Balikbayan Privileg“ und deren mitreisende ausländische Ehepartner und Kinder. Die Staatenliste kann auf der Webseite der philippinischen Botschaft in Berlin http://philippine-embassy.de/visas/ abgerufen werden. Deutschland gehört derzeit zu diesen Ländern. Ausländische Kinder unter 12 Jahren müssen nicht voll geimpft sein und auch keinen Nachweis über ihren Impfstatus vorlegen, wenn sie ihre vollständig geimpften Eltern begleiten.

Die Einreise für vollständig geimpfte Inhaber von Langzeitvisa ist unter den genannten Bedingungen ebenfalls möglich, ein „Entry Exemption Document (EED)“ ist nicht mehr erforderlich.
Nicht vollständig geimpften ausländischen Reisenden oder Reisenden mit fehlendem anerkannten Impfnachweis wird die Einreise verweigert.
Als vollständig geimpft gilt, wer einen Impfnachweis über eine in den Philippinen erfolgte vollständige Impfung oder einen von den Philippinen anerkannten ausländischen Impfnachweis vorlegt. Deutsche Impfnachweise in Form des gelben WHO-Impfbuches oder das Digitale COVID-Zertifikat der EU werden anerkannt. Kreuzimpfungen werden akzeptiert, eine einfache Impfung nach einem durchgemachten Infekt ist hingegen nicht ausreichend.
Nach Einreise ist keine Quarantäne aber Selbstbeobachtung auf Symptome für sieben Tage erforderlich. Bei Auftreten von Symptomen ist die Kontaktaufnahme mit den lokalen Gesundheitsbehörden verpflichtend.

Nähere Informationen können bei der philippinischen Botschaft http://philippine-embassy.de/ erfragt werden.

Reisende müssen sich vor Einreise über das Portal „One Health Pass" https://www.onehealthpass.com.ph/e-HDC/ registrieren. Der Nachweis in Form eines QR-Codes ist den Fluggesellschaften am Check-in vorzulegen.

Informationen zu eventuellen Erfordernissen für Flugreisen erteilen die einzelnen Fluggesellschaften.

Ausreise und Transit

Die Ausreise ist Ausländern, die sich im Land aufhalten, jederzeit erlaubt. Manche Fluggesellschaften verlangen für den Reiseantritt in den Philippinen einen negativen PCR- oder Antigentest oder einen Impfnachweis. 

Beschränkungen im Land
Die Quarantänemaßnahmen sind regional unterschiedlich. Derzeit gilt im Großraum Manila eine niedrige Quarantänestufe mit teilweise Einschränkungen in der Bewegungsfreiheit. Stadtbezirke können diese Einschränkungen eigenständig verschärfen.
Die zwischenzeitlich unterbrochenen regulären Verkehrsverbindungen zwischen den Inseln des Landes wurden wiederaufgenommen, können jedoch jederzeit kurzfristig wiedereingestellt werden. Reisen zwischen den Provinzen sind eingeschränkt möglich, allerdings variieren die Regularien stark. Es müssen teilweise Gesundheitszeugnisse, ein negativer PCR- oder Antigentest bzw. Impfnachweise vorgelegt werden. Die Nutzung öffentlicher Verkehrsmittel (auch Inlandsflüge und Fähren) ist zunehmend nur noch geimpften Personen erlaubt.
Die touristische Infrastruktur ist eingeschränkt, einige Hotels und Resorts sind geschlossen.
Im öffentlichen Raum (in Gebäuden wie auch im Freien) gilt Maskenpflicht, Abstand ist zu wahren. Menschenansammlungen sind nur eingeschränkt zulässig.

BIR poised to shut down Megaworld

 

By Mayvelin U. Caraballo, Manila Times

​​​​​​​The Bureau of Internal Revenue on Tuesday gave notice that it will serve a closure order against Megaworld Corporation but it did not disclose the reason.

The BIR requested media coverage on the "issuance of closure order against Megaworld Corporation" on May 18, Wednesday, in an advisory released on Tuesday.

It said that BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa, Regional Director Eduardo Pagulayan Jr. and several other offi

Guballa refused to provide additional information about the closure order.

Meanwhile, Megaworld said that it was verifying the issue with the BIR.

"We got hold of the media advisory regarding the closure order. We are currently verifying and clarifying this with the Bureau of Internal Revenue," Francisco Canuto, compliance and corporate information officer at Megaworld, said in a statement.

Megaworld has been involved in real estate development, leasing, and marketing since its inception in 1989, according to its business profile on the Philippine Stock Exchange. When it started developing the Eastwood City township in 1996, the company turned its focus to supplying office buildings to support business process outsourcing (BPO) businesses.

Its real estate portfolio comprises condominium apartments, subdivision lots and townhouses, as well as office and retail buildings. Megaworld's three main business sectors are residential real estate sales, leasing of office and retail space, particularly to BPO companies, and hotel operations management.

The company and its affiliates have built roughly 725 residential structures, 72 office towers, 24 lifestyle malls, and 12 hotel brands, including condotels, since its incorporation.