Global Peace Festival set in Clark

By The Manila Times

THE Global Peace Foundation will host the Global Peace Festival 2022 on December 1 to 3 at Clark Global City in Pampanga with the theme "One Family Under God: A Vision for a World of Freedom and Peace."

The event, which was launched on Wednesday at the Marriott Hotel in Clark, Pampanga, will gather thousands of global peace advocates from all over the world. It will provide them with a platform to exchange best practices and build multisector collaborations to promote long-term peace and development.

The Philippine national motto will be highlighted at the event — Maka-Diyos, Maka-tao, Makakalikasan at Makabansa (For God, People, Nature and Country). The phrase expresses a collection of four essential Filipino principles, each of which is linked to the others.

"It is exactly in times of uncertainty that a clear vision is needed to provide solutions to the many vexing problems of our age," Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon, chairman of the Global Peace Foundation, said in his speech.

The three-day event will feature three major programs — the Service Learning Program, Global Peace Leadership Conference and the Global Peace Festival.

The Service-Learning Program focuses primarily on young people and addresses local issues in celebration of International Volunteers' Day through simultaneous service project missions by women and the youth.

The Global Peace Leadership Conference is a high-level strategic event that aims to build networks of key leaders and address critical issues on education, women, corporate social responsibility, religious freedom, peace and security, and the media.

The Global Peace Festival, meanwhile, will be the highlight of the event. It aims to inspire, motivate and activate a global network of people to work together to realize the dream of One Family Under God.

The famous KPop co-ed group K.A.R.D, PPop Girl Group BINI and the Filipino Autotelic will perform live and free of charge during the peace concert.

The main organizer, Global Peace Foundation, is an international nonsectarian, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established in 2009. It aims to promote an innovative, values-based approach for peace motivated by the idea of One Family Under God.

The Global Peace Festival was first launched in the Philippines in 2007.

DMW warns of fraudulent job offers on Facebook

by Jun Marcos Tadios, MB

Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan Ople warned the public, especially those seeking jobs abroad, against online illegal recruitment scheme offering jobs for Filipinos to work in Myanmar and Thailand.

This, after the government rescued 12 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were duped into working as online scammers allegedly being run by Chinese mafia in Myanmar.

Ople said she met with the rescued victims of a Chinese call center based in a remote area in Myanmar near the border of Thailand and was informed that most of the victims were offered a job as “customer service relations” and “technical support” staff in a Chinese-operated company.

“According to the victims, they were recruited online via Facebook and promised a monthly salary of P40,000 for six months of work as data encoders, customer service relations, and technical support staff,” said Ople.

“They were also made to believe that they would be working in Thailand but ended up in a ‘techno park’ in a remote area in Myanmar that took eight hours to reach by land travel and by foot,” she added.

The victims were part of a larger group of 12 people rescued from their Chinese handlers through the coordinated efforts of the Office of Senator Risa Hontiveros, the DMW, and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

“Our department wishes to thank Senator Risa Hontiveros. It was a communication between one of the victims and the staff of Senator Risa that triggered a lot of things. She met one of the victims yesterday and I met around 10 of the human trafficking survivors,” Ople echoed.

The victims confessed to Ople that they were assigned to a cubicle and given instructions through Google Translate.

“They (OFWs) were instructed by the Chinese to enter dating apps and other social media platforms to search and cultivate relations with potential bitcoin investors,” the official added.

Meanwhile, acting POEA Administrator and DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia signed Advisory No. 54 on August 2, 2022, suspending any further deployment to Myanmar.

The advisory warns aspiring OFWs from applying for jobs in Myanmar due to violence and armed conflict and the rising incident of illegal recruitment and human trafficking.

 

Peso appreciates to P56-level

by Lee C. Chipongian, MB

The peso strengthened vis-à-vis the softer US dollar on Wednesday, Nov. 23, at P56.94, appreciating by P0.43 from its close of P57.37 the day before.

This is the first time the peso was back at the P56-level since the first week of July this year.

Based on Bankers Association of the Philippines data, the peso closed at its strongest on Wednesday, after hitting a low of P57.33, but still better than the previous close.

PH peso/Manila Bulletin article photo

The spot market’s weighted average rate was P57.203 versus P57.394 last Tuesday. Total volume stood at $687.85 million from $684.40 million.

The US dollar has been weakening in the last month following the US Federal Reserve’s pronouncements of lesser rate increases in the next quarters. The tamer US inflation which was still decades high, is also contributing to the softening of the greenback.

When the US dollar was its strongest, the peso depreciated to P59 on Sept. 29, the lowest exchange rate on record. The previous record was P56.45 in 2004.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in its latest Monetary Policy Report said the exchange rate could remain above the P55-level until next year and possibly in 2024.

The inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Council (DBCC) has an exchange rate assumptions of P51 to 53 versus the greenback for 2022, and P51 to P55 for 2023 and 2024. The DBCC approved the exchange rate assumptions last July 8, when the peso was at P56.

The BSP said the projected exchange rate reflects “the continued depreciation of the peso as well as higher outlook for US interest rates” and that it was “consistent with cumulative policy rate hikes by the Federal Reserve of 425 bps (basis points) in 2022 and 50 bps in 2023.”

Since June this year, the strong US dollar has caused the peso to sharply depreciate. It fell to P53 on June 10, P54 on June 17, P55 on June 29, P56 on July 7, P57 on Sept. 6, P58 on Sept. 21 and P59 on Sept. 29.

The country’s exchange rate policy supports a freely floating exchange rate system where the BSP leaves it to market forces to dictate the exchange rate level. The BSP will only enter the spot market to ensure “order and temper destabilizing swings” in the peso-US dollar rate.

How should men dress style and look classy, especially in the Philippines?

 

Philippine Deep Dive

 · 

Following

Answered by 

Ronna Lou

 

The Philippines has humid weather, so you should wear something comfortable and breathable such as linen or cotton polo.

Also, wear light colors like white or nude to appear neat and decent. If you don’t have a polo, a plain shirt will suffice.

More importantly, avoid wearing shorts or jogging pants if you don’t want to look sloppy or unpresentable. Wear well-fitted denim jeans instead. In terms of shoes, I recommend wearing loafers or sneakers.

Remember, less is more. With a minimalist look, you will look elegant without much effort.

Related read: How to Dress in the Philippines