Bohol-Cebu bridge nearing reality

SHOOTING STRAIGHT By Bobit Avila (The Freeman)

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When I read about this report a few days ago, I wanted to be sure that it was correct. And apparently, we learned that the National Economic and Development Authority board has approved the bridge project that will soon connect the island provinces of Bohol and Cebu. It is dubbed the Bohol-Cebu Friendship Bridge (BCFB). But in truth, this idea came from my committee in the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) which I turned over to my good friend, Infrastructure Utilities Committee chairman Emmanuel "Manny"Rabacal, who also pushed for the approval of this bridge.

Because of the enormity of this project, I then got a call from the late Bohol governor Erico Aumentado, saying he wanted to adopt the proposal. And I agreed that we needed a big shot like him to push for this project. Hence, the name of Bohol comes ahead of Cebu. But that doesn't matter to me for as long as the NEDA has now approved its feasibility study.

Mind you, the China-HongKong-Zuhai Bridge is already nearing completion, and if China takes on this Bohol-Cebu bridge project, China most certainly can use the infrastructure and engineering equipment that it used in that bridge linking the Pearl River estuary. We learned fromBohol Representative Erico Aristotle Aumentado that this project had been endorsed to the Chinese government for funding when PresidentDuterte visited China last October. Work could start as early as next year once the proposal is approved. The study would determine whether the government would implement the project through build-operate-transfer, through public-private partnership, or through concession loans. Well, who would believe that our dreams would come true after all?

***

People just do not change for the better. When then Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte threw his hat on the presidential derby, he was the unsure presidential candidate of all. But he was already campaigning long before the campaign period had begun. In late January 2015, Cebuano businessmen met the Davao City mayor for the first time in order to assess his candidacy. At that time, while he was already gung-ho on his running, he told us, at the end of his speech, that he was a good friend of DILG secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas, and that if the latter runs for president, he would support him.

That was then. By now, we have already known that President Duterte made Philippine political history, winning by the biggest of margin over his well-oiled political rivals, who were heavyweights on their own. That stunning victory by President Duterte meant that in forming his government, he would have to rely on many of his volunteers. And that's exactly what has happened.

Freeman ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch:

There are two kinds of people who supported President Duterte. There are people like me who suffered the whole nineyears of sheer incompetency and hypocrisy of the Aquino regime. And there are those people who supported President Duterte because they can get a job inside the government and then they can say, "It's our time to make money."

Two of those people who supported President Duterte are now in hot water when the Department of Justice exposed their shenanigans using a camera footage at the Casino Mall in Parañaque City, whereby two assistant commissioners of the Bureau of Immigration were caught receiving on November 26 five paper bags containing P10 million each from a certain Wally Sombrero. Mr. Sombrero was a former police colonel who was linked to gambling lord Jack Lam. He was accompanied by his colleagues, Mr. Michal Robles and Al Argosino, whom Inquirer columnist Mon Tulfo identified as fraternity brothers of President Duterte.

These BI commissioners, including the BI intelligence chief Charles Calima Jr., have been given 24 hours to disprove allegations that they extorted P50 million from Macau-based gambling tycoon Jack Lam in exchange for the release of overstaying Chinese nationals. It turned out that these BI officials were hired under the new Duterte administration. Now with those video footages, they are going to spend a long time in jail. They have truly underestimated President Duterte who hates corruption!

I listened to President Duterte over PTV-4 the other night when he met a group espousing for a federal Philippines, and he came up with this report and you could see he was fuming mad this had happened to people he hired into the Bureau of Immigration. I have no doubt that President Duterte is dead serious in really solving the corruption within the government bureaucracy, which for many years have been taken for granted by previous administrations.

vsbobita@mozcom.com.

ILCA calls students to study arts

By: Patrick M. Ariate

Responding to the needs of Filipinos who want to seek jobs overseas, the Institute of Languages and Creative Arts (ILCA) calls university and non-university students to enroll in the short-term art classes it offers.

Approved as per BOR Resoluation No. 3576, S. 2005, ILCA maintains sets of highly-skilled tutors. Each is paid PHP 280.00 per 1-hour session per tutee. Interested students may avail a tutorial in half an hour and pay half of the fee.

After finishing a 3-month-course in German language, students must take and pass the language proficiency examinations at the Goethe-Institut Manila (German Cultural Center) to able to get their visas and seek jobs in Germany. ILCA is liaising with the said institute for possible accreditation by its linkage, the German Embassy Manila. On the other hand, French, Dutch and other languages tutees, who are mostly nurses, do the same process to have their visas.

ILCA constantly receives referrals from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Technical Education and Skill Development Authority (TESDA), downtown universities, and from friends of clients outside the country.

The institute also emphasizes that in the competitive world of work, employers demand for workers who are experienced and competent in foreign languages and cultural studies, and adept not just in sciences but also in the arts.

COURSES OFFERED:

* German      * Piano             * Play Directing
* French        * Guitar            * English Grammar Tutorial
* Mandarin    * Voice             * Short Story / Song Writing
* Nihongo     * Violin             * Script Writing
* Korean       * Drums
* Spanish      * Dance
* Dutch         * Drawing
* Latin          * Painting
* Italian        * Song-writing
* Bahasa

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Telephone Number: 082 - 224 - 1372, 225 - 4696, local 210

Facebook: usepil121405@yahoo.com.ph

Twitter: @ UsepIL09

Website: www.usep.edu.ph and then click MORE and look for Institute of Languages and Creative Arts.

The Ring of Fire

SCIENCE

Ring of Fire: Five facts about the most earthquake prone region in the world

By: Zulfikar Abbany

The Pacific Ring of Fire is aptly named. It's a string of volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean, and the region is prone to earthquakes. In fact, most earthquakes strike within the ring. Here's five facts.

How big is the Pacific Ring of Fire?

The Ring of Fire dominates the Pacific Ocean. It's a string of at least 450 active and dormant volcanoes that form a semi-circle, or horse shoe, around the Philippine Sea plate, the Pacific Plate, Juan de Fuca and Cocos plates, and the Nazca Plate. There is a lot of seismic activity in the area.

About 90 percent of all earthquakes strike within the Ring of Fire. This means people's lives are under almost constant threat in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and other island nations like the Solomon Islands, Fiji, and many more in Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, all the way east to the western seaboard of the North and South Americas. Although levels of threat differ depending on local factors like your proximity to the quake's epicenter, whether it's out to sea or on land - and standards of housing.

Why so many volcanoes in the Ring of Fire?

The tectonic plates move non-stop over a layer of partly solid and partly molten rock. This is called the Earth's mantle. When the plates collide or move apart, for instance, the Earth moves, literally. Mountains, like the Andes in South America and the Rockies in North America, as well as volcanoes have formed through the collision of tectonic plates.

Many volcanoes in the Ring of Fire were created through a process of subduction. And most of the planet's subduction zones happen to be located in the Ring of Fire. 

What is subduction?

Subduction happens when tectonic plates shift, and one plate is shoved under another. This movement of the ocean floor produces a "mineral transmutation," which leads to the melting and solidification of magma - that is, the formation of volcanoes. Basically, when a "downgoing" oceanic plate is shoved into a hotter mantle plate, it heats up, volatile elements mix, and this produces the magma. The magma then rises up through the overlying plate and spurts out at the surface.

If, however, the overlying plate is ocean, it can produce a chain of volcanic islands like the Marianas. This is also where we see the Earth's deepest trenches and deepest Earthquakes.

When and where were the worst earthquakes in the Ring of Fire?

The worst earthquake in the Ring of Fire - and, with it, the world - struck Chile on May 22, 1960. It was a 9.5-magnitude quake. That's according to the US Geological Survey's list of the "Largest Earthquakes in the World Since 1900."

It's closely followed by the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 (magnitude 9.2), the Northern Sumatra earthquake - also known as the Indian Ocean Tsunami - on December 26, 2004 (magnitude 9.1), and one off the East Coast of Honshu, Japan, on March 11, 2011 (magnitude 9.0), which led to a tsunami and ultimately the nuclear disaster at Fukushima.

Most of the earthquakes on the list are strictly within the Ring of Fire, and they range from magnitude 9.5 to 8.5.

Given all this activity, can't we predict earthquakes in the Ring of Fire?

No. Most experts will tell you it's (so far) been impossible to predict earthquakes. Even if two happen within the ring in close succession, it is hard to say the one had anything to do with the other. One earthquake will not necessarily cause another.

Some seismologists are cautiously open to the idea that whatever we do as humans - whether it's testing nuclear explosives or deep-sea drilling - all has a potential impact. But there's little or no hard, scientific proof.

As for the Ring of Fire specifically, the region is under constant tension. When a quake strikes, that tension is temporarily relieved, but it soon starts to build again. So all that is left for the people who live around the Ring of Fire is to be aware of the danger, perhaps to live further inland, build safer, earthquake resistant housing, and for nations everywhere to improve oceanic and land-based early-warning systems to help minimise the risk to life.

Philippines Is Looking Around for More Oil and Gas

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Summary

Tanker data is showing a twisted picture.

Philippine lawmakers have work to do.

Plans to build a new seaport in South China Sea.

The Philippines is a state which consists of islands that are situated on the way of a $5 trillion-a-year trade route, a location of strategic importance. Its economy is swiftly advancing at a significant growing pace of about 7% a year and is in the process of evolving into another Asian epicenter of affluence. The domestic oil and gas production is lagging behind the growing energy appetite, and the reliance on energy imports is high. Saudi Arabia and Russia used to supply a third of the crude oil needed, according to data on the website of the US Energy Information Administration. However, when it comes to our tanker tracking data, some contradictions appear.

(Source: Tanker tracking data, Bull And Bear Investor's calculations)

As we can see on the diagram, the major part of supplies is attributed to the imports from Taiwan. In the period from November 4 to December 4, we tracked five supertankers that carried around two million barrels of crude each from Taiwan to the Philippines. We cannot be certain about where this oil came from, but it was surely not of Taiwan origins. An explanation based on stories of pirates in the South Asian waters may sound too romantic, although our model is based on automatic identification system tracking data, which in theory can be easily manipulated by a captain of the vessel or an operator in charge due to security concerns.

The import curve apparently looks very uneven. That might be explained by a thesis that every time a supertanker is unloaded in the Philippines, it represents a considerable bulk.

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Rights Group Worried About Aids in The Philippines

Rights group, worried about HIV, urges Philippines action

By TERESA CEROJANO Associated Press

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MANILA, Philippines — A human rights watchdog says the Philippines is facing one of the fastest growing epidemics of HIV in the Asia Pacific, fueled by government policies that restrict intervention, including access to condoms by men who have sex with men.

Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday that HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men has increased tenfold in the last five years, but the government has failed to adequately target prevention measures on that population.

It said HIV prevention education in Philippine schools is woefully inadequate, commercial marketing of condoms is nonexistent, and barriers to condom access and HIV testing — particularly those below 18 who are required by law to have parental consent— have contributed to the worsening epidemic.

The report said the problems found in national and local government policies are compounded by longstanding resistance of the Roman Catholic church to contraceptives. More than 80 percent of Filipinos are Catholic.

Peter Mosende, a country officer of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS or UNAIDS, said the Philippines has the highest rate of new HIV infections in the Asia-Pacific region, with new cases increasing by more than 100 percent from 2001 to 2015.

The Department of Health said it recorded 38,114 cases of HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, from January 1984 to October 2016 — less than 1 percent of a population of more than 100 million. But the rate of increase has been alarming, with 32,099 of the cases recorded from 2011 to 2016. Officials estimate there could 55,000 cases by the end of 2016.

For the first 10 months of this year, 7,756 new HIV cases were recorded. From one new case a day in 2008, today 26 new infections are recorded daily.

Beginning in 2010, the transmission trend shifted from male-female sex to male-to-male sex, which this year accounts for 87 percent of new infections, the health department said. More than half of those infected men are 25 to 34 years old, and nearly 30 percent are aged 15 to 24.

"The government had a pretty good track record of fighting HIV-AIDS, but basically they are fighting the last war," Phelim Kine, HRW deputy director for asia, said in an interview. "They are still focusing on female sex workers and their clients when actually the epidemic has changed, but the government's approach is not changing and it needs to or else this will really get out of control."

He said while President Rodrigo Duterte has earned criticism for his bloody war on drugs, government action on the HIV problem is "something we can reasonably hope for" given Duterte's expressed support for public health and rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial last week said her department plans to distribute condoms in schools after coordination with the education department and school authorities. She said her office is considering making HIV self-testing kits available to the public.

Carlos Conde, HRW's Philippines researcher, welcomed Ubial's announcement, but said the government needs to overcome expected opposition from the church, Catholic schools, and parents.

The report is based on field research between February and October, and interviews with 82 people across eight cities, including two where officials have prohibited the sale or distribution of condoms and other contraceptives.

The research found that young gay men have been subjected to ridicule when they buy condoms from drug stores and have faced stigma when they go to social hygiene clinics that provide free condoms to sex workers.

The report recommended abolishing legal restrictions that bar youth under 18 years of age from buying condoms or getting HIV tests without parental consent, better sex education in schools, and imposing penalties on municipalities that refuse to comply with the laws that guarantee the public distribution of contraceptives, including condoms.

Paper power

TUE, DECEMBER 6, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring

Paper still matters, as I could learn from fellow Philippine Daily Inquirer staff writer Phyllis Korkki. Yes, paper still matters. The frequent whirring of printers in offices – despite the Internet, Microsoft Word, social media (I love Facebook and Twitter), scanners, smart phones applications and many much more – attest to that.

I am very much old fashioned in many things. I was still typing on an old manual typewriter, when my colleagues in different publishing houses used already electric units. I loved my antique typewriter. I love it till today. Yes, it’s still here in my office in Davao City. I can’t use it anymore, because no more ribbons are available in the Philippines. It’s okay. My electric typewriter is also here. Just beside the manual unite. Those were the days, my love… .

It has been sometimes at the end of the 1990's. I worked in an international publishing house in Berlin with branches in Amsterdam and New York. I still used one of those wonderful electric type writers – and tried to avoid vehemently a personal computer. Already during that time I needed to hold paper in my hands. Paper, says the productivity expert David Allen, is “in your face”. I strongly agree with David. He said, “Its physical presence can be a goal to completing tasks, whereas computer files can easily be hidden and thus forgotten. I am also returning to paper planners for this very reason. Please, don’t laugh at me, my dear readers!

David Allen, the author of “Getting Things Done”, does much of his writing on a computer. So I do meanwhile. But, there are still times when writing with a fountain pen on a notepad. It allows “us” to get “our” heads in the right place. When I tried to learn more from David Allen, I really got surprised, that we have many things in common. Old fashioned or not? I don’t care. Here are some facts:

Paper printouts serve an important function. For long texts, a print out can allow a reader to better understand relationships between sections and writings. Paper hand-outs are still a presence at meetings partly be-cause they are useful for taking notes. Reading a long document on paper rather than on a computer screen helps people “better understand the geography of the argument contained within, “said Richard H.R. Harper, a principal researcher for Microsoft in Cambridge/England and co-author with Abigail J. Sellen of “The Myth of the Paperless Office,” published already in 2001.

I also strongly agree with Sellen, saying, that using more than one computer screen can be helpful for all this cognitive juggling. But when workers are going back and forth between points in a longer document, it can be more efficient to read on paper.

How about “e-reading a book”? A novel, a drama, whatever? What do you prefer, my dear reader? You wanna know my opinion? I am sure, you can imagine. Yes guys, I still need a book in my hands for my leisure reading. I need to feel the book as well as I need to smell a fresh-printed newspaper. Environment savers might start jelling at me now, though I am one of them. So, where is the edge and borderline?

Paper can be indeed a luscious and beautiful thing – the way we savor fine food and wine, as Steve Leveen, co-founder and CEO of Levenger, said. People complain that writing by hand is slow (yes I am really!), BUT that can be good for thinking and creating! Here we are again!

Yes, it matters still: in defense of the power of paper! What do you think, my dear readers, while holding this newspaper right now in your hands?

A fourth term?

SAT, DECEMBER 3, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring

Since the Britains will  be leaving the European Union, Germany seems to become the richest and leading European country. Poll data published last Friday (November 25, 2016) shows that Germans welcome Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to run for a fourth term. SPD leader and Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, however, has less to smile about. Why? Later in this column.

I was not much surprised learning that around two-thirds of Germans say they welcome Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to stand for a fourth term as chancellor in next year’s election, according to a poll published. The “Politbarometer” poll, commissioned by the German broadcaster ZDF, found that 64 percent backed the chancellor’s decision, compared to 33 percent who opposed it. Among registered supporters of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, Merkel’s approval rate was as high as 89 percent.

Why nobody is not surprised any more? Who else could become German chancellor?

The poll also showed also that if the election were held this Sunday, Merkel’s conservative Union bloc – the CDU and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) –  would take around 36 percent of the vote, retaining their spot as the leading party. The Social Democratic Party (SPD), by contrast, would only win 21 percent. As “Politbarometer” points out, this would likely be enough for the Union parties to form a coalition with the Greens and centrist Free Democratic Party. It would not, however, be enough for Germany’s left-leaning parties to form a so-called red-red-green coalition, consisting of the SPD, the Left Party and Greens.

I mentioned before Sigmar Gabriel.The poll results also shed light on who voters would prefer to see leading the SDP, with current European Parliament President Martin Schulz significantly outranking the current party head Sigmar Gabriel. Some 51 percent of respondents said they would favor Schulz to be the SPD’s candidate for chancellor, compared to 29 percent who said they preferred Gabriel. Among registered SPD supporters, Schulz’s approval rating to lead the party into the elections rose to 64 percent, while Gabriel’s sank to 27 percent.

Schulz has not declared that he will run for the chancellorship. How-ever, he announced on Thursday that he will stand down from his EU post as president of the EU Parliament to return to German politics. The SPD is expected to announce their candidate for the chancellorship by the end of January. Martin Schulz read his announcement in Brussels in three languages: German, English and French. Little things like this demonstrate that, for Social Democrats, Europe was and remains very dear to their hearts.

Schulz’s decision to leave now also has to do with the fact that he cannot continue in office as president of the European Parliament. According to an agreement to which all parliamentary parties have subscribed, a representative of the conservative EVP must take over the position in 2017. So Schulz is now keen to exert his influence from Berlin – and not just as an ordinary member of parliament. For someone like him, there are two positions that suggest themselves: the office of foreign minister, or the SPD’s chancellor candidate in next year’s election.

So far, Martin Schulz has not commented on which of the two he’s aiming for, or whether he’s aiming for both at once. There’s little or nothing to be heard from the SPD on the subject, either. But that’s no bad thing – on the contrary. The SPD doesn’t want to decide on its chancellor candidate until January. Until then, it’s presenting itself as a party with at least two political heavyweights to offer: Martin Schulz on the one hand; and on the other, of course, the party’s current leader and Germany’s incumbent vice chancellor and economics minister, Sigmar Gabriel.

However, come to the decision that his friend Schulz would be the better candidate, the latter would be given the field. Schulz is up to both election campaigning and the job of foreign minister. From the SPD’s point of view, Schulz would also be a good choice for foreign minister. He’s experienced in the diplomatic arena, has excellent contacts, and is also accepted outside his own ranks. He’s made a name for himself as someone who speaks frankly. That would certainly make an agreeable change from Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is more careful and deliberate. It would also be a counterpoint to Chancellor Merkel’s line, which focuses more on quiet tones and working behind the scenes.

Anyway, global politics will become more and more thrilling and exciting. A totally global change of restructuring might be possible. After elections in the U.S.,  Europe will face several national elections – also in Germany.

New U.S. Ambassador to Philippines Aims to Strengthen Ties

New U.S. ambassador to PH aims to 'strengthen' ties

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The new U.S. ambassador to the Philippines says he looks forward to working with the Philippine government "to strengthen" the "very important partnership" between the two countries.

U.S. Ambassador-Designate to the Philippines Sung Kim arrived in Manila past 10 p.m. Thursday, and told reporters he was "thrilled" to be able to contribute to one of his country's "most important" and "most special" partnership.

"But for me, the most meaningful or most fundamental is the deep bond and the extraordinary warmth between the peoples of the two countries," he added.

According to his figures, there are about 4 million Filipino-Americans residing in the U.S., and 250,000 Americans living and working in the Philippines.

Despite the long flight from Washington D.C. to Manila, Kim pointed out he "didn't get any sleep" on the plane because of his excitement. "I have, for a long time, for many years, have wanted to serve in Manila."

Kim was one of seven individuals nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama to key administration posts in May. He was sworn in by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on November 3.

In his acceptance speech, Kim also called the Philippines the U.S.' "oldest ally in Asia" and reiterated continued friendship.

He listed the U.S. as one of the Philippines' "top trading partners" and reaffirmed a "common history of shared sacrifice, values, and interests" as well as "an ironclad mutual defense treaty."

Fresh start?

Kim will drop the "Designate" label after he presents his credentials to, and is received by President Rodrigo Duterte. The President has been vocal about his misgivings on relations with the U.S.

The President also insulted Kim's predecessor, Philip Goldberg, during a televised speech in Cebu City earlier this year.

"Kaya nga sabi ko noong si (U.S. Secretary of State John) Kerry, kasama kami ni(incoming Philippine National Defense) Secretary, si Delfin (Lorenzana), kausap namin si Kerry. Okay naman siya kasi, nag-away kami ng ambassador niya (Philip Goldberg). Iyong ambassador niyang bakla, p*****i**, buwisit ako diyan.  Nakikisali doon sa election, giving [a] statement. You're not supposed to do that."

[Translation:I was with (incoming Philippine National Defense Secretary) Delfin (Lorenzana). We talked to (U.S. Secretary of State) John Kerry, he was actually okay because I had a fight with his ambassador. I told him: your ambassador is a gay, son of a b**** I was pissed at him, for interfering in the elections, giving statements here and there. He wasn't supposed to do that.]

Duterte said Goldberg should not have "interfered" during the last presidential election, when the then ambassador reacted to Duterte's comments on the rape of an Australian missionary.

Foreign service career

Kim is a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor. He is also a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State.

His prior experience includes serving as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 2011 to 2014. He was also the special representative for North Korea policy and the deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.

A graduate of University of Pennsylvania, Kim earned a juris doctor degree from Loyola University Law School in Los Angeles. He also has a master of laws degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

CNN Philippines' JC Gotinga contributed to this report.