Can Clark or Bulacan airport fix NAIA woes?

By: Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines — Senators have renewed their call for the development of easily accessible international gateways that can serve as alternatives to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), which was paralyzed for almost two days last week after a Chinese passenger jet blocked the main runway.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, vice chairman of the Senate committee on public services, said the NAIA is already handling 42 million passengers a year or way beyond its annual capacity of 30 million passengers.

“Another airport that can be considered a better alternative and more modern than NAIA is a long-term solution. If, God forbid, another accident happens, and we don’t have a twin airport, what then? The consequences could be worse than what we saw,” he said.

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San Miguel Corp., which has proposed to develop a new four-runway airport—dubbed the New Manila International Airport (NMIA)—in Bulacan said it could commence operations in as early as six years upon approval of the $15-billion project.

The business group Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) is also calling on the government to fast-track the approval of a private sector proposal to upgrade the NAIA to address congestion—this being the most cost-effective and fastest solution to the severe congestion at the Manila airport.

The NAIA Consortium—composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital, AC Infrastructure Holdings, Alliance Global Group, Asia’s Emerging Dragon, Filinvest Development, JG Summit Holdings and Metro Pacific Investments—has secured an original proponent status (OPS) for its offer to upgrade the main international gateway for about P106 billion for a concession period of 15 years.

An OPS would give the consortium the right to match offers from other parties when a Swiss challenge is conducted for the project.

Ejercito said it is vital that the new airport or the new terminal at the Clark International Airport (CIA) should be accompanied by an intermodal transport connection terminal, including a high-speed railway.

He said the construction of phase 1 of the new terminal at Clark—budgeted with P17.6 billion—is now 15 percent complete and expected to open in 2020.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III urged the government to “go full blast” with the development of other air transport hubs such as the CIA, stressing that: “We can’t dillydally anymore. I made the same call in 2016. Let’s not wait for another airplane incident which hassled thousands of passengers to realize there should be an urgent and comprehensive government plan to decongest the NAIA.”

He said the NAIA can serve southern Metro Manila and Southern Luzon to Bicol while Clark can address the needs of passengers from northern Metro Manila and northern Philippines, and that both hubs may share the handling of travel and logistics flow to the Visayas and Mindanao.

The underutilized airport in the former US military base at Clark in Pampanga has an area of 2,367 hectares, compared to NAIA’s 700 hectares.

Pimentel pointed out that with NAIA’s single runway, flight delays average 45 minutes per day aside from monstrous traffic jams to and from the airport.

He noted that Clark could eventually service “flight transfers of international passengers, such as our OFWs, who need to go home to their families in the Visayas and Mindanao.”

“If you’re going to the province anyway via a connecting flight and you don’t need to stay in Manila, Clark International could be a better transfer point. Proposals such as these can work and should be tried,” he said, adding that the development of Clark should be a core component of the government’s Build, Build, Build program.

As the upgrade of NAIA is being undertaken, the MAP said a concurrent expansion of Clark would ensure that future air traffic bottlenecks are prevented.

“The MAP urges the adoption of an airport complementation strategy whereby the existing NAIA and Clark international airports are developed and operated as an integrated system with the two airports complementing each other, ideally with an express rail link in place,” the group said, adding that it opposes the closure of NAIA as this would be a “very drastic and counterproductive move.” – With Louella Desiderio, Iris Gonzales

K-pop group Momoland to kick off UAAP Season 81

By: Rosette Adel (philstar.com) 

MANILA, Philippines — It’s official! Korean girl group Momoland is set to return to the country to kick off the opening ceremony of the UAAP Season 81.

In its social media account, SM Tickets and the National University said the group behind “Bboom bboom” and “Baam” will be performing at the opening of University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 81 on September 8. The event will be held at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Guess who’s coming to the #UAAPSeason81 opening? ????#MOMOLAND #ItAllBeginsHere #GoBulldogs pic.twitter.com/3uo5L5W5UZ

— National-U (@NationalUPhil) August 18, 2018

This year, National University of the Philippines will host the athletic conference.

Aside from Momoland, NU President RJ Ermita announced that James Reid and Sponge Cola would also grace the opening ceremony. It will be hosted by TV presenter and online personality Janeena Chan.

SM Tickets said details of the ticket selling would be announced soon.

Momoland, composed of members Nancy, Ahin, Hyebin, Yeonwoo, Jane, Taeha, Nayun, Daisy and Jooe arrived in the country last Thursday for an exclusive and private event at the Solaire Resort in Parañaque City. 

READ: K-pop group Momoland arrives in Manila

While the girl group held a private event, Momoland faced members of the media and some of their fans in a press conference and live chat hosted by video service provider Viu Philippines.

Members of Momoland also got to meet boxer turned senator Manny Pacquiao, wife Jinkee and former Ilocos Sur Gov.Chavit Singson during their stay in the Philippines.

If we strengthen business, we allow room for peace!

ComValeños initiate Business and Investment Security Summit

“If we strengthen business, we allow room for peace!” thus spoke Governor Jayvee Tyron L. Uy to 303 participants who witnessed the Compostela Valley Business and Investment Security Summit (CVBISS) held on August 10, 2018 at Big 8 Corporate Hotel, Tagum City.

The summit, initiated by Governor Uy being the Regional Peace and Order Council XI (RPOC) Chairman, was directly related to government’s aim to obtain an insurgency free and peaceful province while strengthening business growth. Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Compostela Valley Provincial Director Atty. Lucky Siegfred M. Balleque presented the objective of the activity which is primarily to foster business enabling environment in CompostelaValley (ComVal) thru a simplified, standardand harmonized Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development effort including the provision of security for business sector. 

Security consultant Augustus Caesar B. Esmeralda who was tapped to help formulate the Provincial Business Security Plan,  said that the undertaking was in fact the first business and investment security summit ever held in Mindanao if not in the Philippines.  Esmeraldaenlightened the multitude regarding the asset protection,hazard identification, risk assessment, risk management, and risk response strategy. He also reiterated  salient points occurred during the Consultative Forum on Business and Investment Security held last July 30, 2018 and highlighted the importance of conducting drills and document control. He then briefly shared his experience in Thailand to which he quoted, “Terrorism kills Tourism”. To that, he identified the most common assets in the business industry around ComVal with high risk and were susceptible to extortion; real estate as the most common, followed by Human Resource, Commodities, Machineries and Equipments, Transportation and Supply Chain.

Among the highlights of the event was the ceremonial turnover of the ComVal Business and Investment Security Plan which was received by Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy, PD Atty. Lucky Siegfred M. Balleque of DTI, the previous Governor, Arturo Uy, Mayor Roberto M. Yugo of Pantukan and Business Chamber of Representative.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) represented by Col. Richie Bucol, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) represented by Col. Gilbert Sarte and the Bureau of Fire and Protection represented by Chief Inspector RandolfArbutantealso showed their support and commitment for the attainment of peace and security in the province.

Later in the afternoon,Director Olly Dagala of Mindanao Development Authority showed the Investment Security Strategies in the Mindanao Corridor together with the Philippine Development Plan for Mindanao 2020 which mainly focus on ensuring the security of not just one region but all regions in Mindanao. Furthermore, Engr. Reynaldo Quijada of Apex Mining Co., Inc. and Marcelo M. Go of Lubi Plantation under Torre Lorenzo Development Corp. also shared their experiences related to security issues in their respective offices and how they handled and coped up to these events. Quijada built trust and confidence with the community by giving scholarship grant while Go extended his call for help by asking the PNP and AFP visibility around his premise.

The event ended with a brief reminder to everyone in which “Safety is everybody’s responsibility.”(Donna Bengson, DTI Comval)

We have one common goal

Monkayo Mayor Gentugaya on saving Naboc: "We have one common goal" 

"We have one common goal - to clean the Naboc River. Win-win solution ang gusto nato."

Monkayo Mayor Ramil Gentugaya emphasized his conviction to clean the Naboc River during the Diwalwal Mining Reservation Area (DMRA) Information Summit on August 9, 2018 at Monkayo Dome, Poblacion, Monkayo, Compostela Valley Province.

“Duha na ka SONA niya (President Duterte) gihisgutan ang Monkayo, di nata musugot nga mahisgotan pa ta’g katulo,”  Mayor Gentugaya added.

The summit with the theme, "Save the Naboc River" is attended by 1,000 participants from five barangays in Monkayo, namely; Brgy. Mt. Diwata, Brgy. Upper Ulip, Brgy. Tubo-tubo, Brgy. Salvacion and Brgy. Naboc. Residents from Brgy. Manggayon in Compostela were also present.

Years of irresponsible waste disposal, particularly of cyanide and mercury, resulted to the contamination of the Naboc River which affects the health of the residents and the agricultural production in the said barangays.

With the regionalized Task Force Naboc River, the task force aims to rehabilitate the  Naboc River, just like the island of Boracay.

Comval Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy assures his support to the program saying, “Ang atong tumong niini nga ma refresh ta sa plano sa gobyerno last 2012 ni na approve sa NEDA o sa National Economic Division Authority.  Kay aron mahatagan og saktong panginabuhi ang atoang mga constituents dinhi at the same time ma protektahan ang atoang environment.”

Presently, the provincial government of Comval in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and University of the Philippines (UP), is having an ongoing parallel testing using the Community Led Integrated Non-Cyanide Non-Mercury Gold Extraction Method (CLINN – GEM) at the Integrated Gold Copper Mineral Processing Plant in Brgy. Katipunan, Nabunturan. (Sheldane Mahinay // ID Comval)

The Program Monitoring and Coordination Center conducted Diwalwal Mining Reservation Area (DMRA) Information Summit on August 9, 2018 at Monkayo Dome, Poblacion, Monkayo, Compostela Valley Province. Discussions include the DMRA Development Plan, Status of Naboc River, Ill Effects of the Chemicals Used by Mining Operators, and Naboc River Action Plan.  (Maryel Lasaca // ID Comval)

Three storms outside Philippines ...

... enhancing monsoon rains

ABS-CBN News

Posted at Aug 13 2018 08:00 PM

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MANILA - Several weather systems outside the Philippine area of responsibility will continue to enhance the southwest monsoon (habagat) and bring occasional rains in Luzon, state weather bureau PAGASA said.

In its 4 p.m. weather advisory, PAGASA said a low pressure area (LPA) has developed inside PAR. It was last located 920 kilometers east northeast of Basco, Batanes.

PAGASA weather specialist Ariel Rojas said the LPA is expected to dissipate within the next 12 hours.

Outside PAR, severe tropical storm Leepi, tropical depression Yagi (formerly Karding) and tropical storm Bebinca are all enhancing the southwest monsoon affecting the country.

Mahar Lagmay@nababaha

Weather satellite feed as of Aug 13, 2018 06:02 PM.

6:02 PM - Aug 13, 2018

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As of 6 p.m., yellow rainfall warning was raised over Metro Manila, Bataan, Zambales and Bulacan. Heavy rains may cause flooding in flood-prone areas.

Light to moderate with occasional heavy rains are also expected in Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pampanga and Quezon, which may persist within two to three hours, while light to moderate with occasional heavy rains are expected over Cavite, Rizal, Laguna and Batangas within the next three hours.

Monsoon rains will persist over Ilocos region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Batanes, Babuyan Group of Islands, Zambales, Bataan, and Occidental Mindoro due to the effects of habagat.

Meanwhile, Metro Manila and the rest of Central Luzon and CALABARZOn will experience occasional rains, while partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rains or thunderstorms are expected over the rest of Luzon.

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers are also expected over Visayas and Mindanao.

PAGASA, likewise, warned residents in flood and landslide-prone areas to remain vigilant.

Rough to very rough coastal waters are also expected in the western and northern sections of Luzon, while oderate to rough coastal waters due to moderate to strong winds are also expected in the rest of the country.

Different parts of the country experience heavy rains and flooding over the weekend, leaving behind two people dead with another person missing.

• This has also prompted several local government officials to suspend classes.

• Rojas said rains will persist until Wednesday, with the weather expected to improve by Thursday.

Thanks with a bunch of flowers

My column in MINDANAO DAILY

THANKS WITH A BUNCH OF FLOWERS

Well, this won't happened every day and needs a special reason indeed.

Just this morning, one of my good friends voiced out, "I didn't get a lot of thanks for doing it". ... Honestly, nowadays it's really difficult to get even a simple Thank you ... .

"Somebody comes to my place and drinks a lot. I just keep on roaring and flowing and remain happy during my whole life, because I can give and give and share ... even without gratitude!" (Historical fountain saying in Regensburg/Bavaria/South Germany).

"Be in the making means be thankful forever!" What a meaningful quotation in German poet's Goethe's drama "Faustus" from 1831 - but, how very far away from today's reality.

When did you, my dear reader, say THANK YOU recently? I don't mean it as in a disgracing phrase, no, but such as an honest attitude, to which we are all susceptible. A few days ago another very good friend told me, that we all should be very thankful to all leaders in society, clergy and politics - for their mistakes and mismanagement including arrogance and incompetence. Strong tobacco - but true!

"The Pharisee stood apart by himself and prayed: ... God, I thank you that I am not like that (corrupt?) tax collector over there!" (Luke 18, 11). "What's more transient then gratitude?" asked already the German poet Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) in his drama "Don Carlos".

Gratitude or thankfulness in our daily surroundings: many times it's just forgotten, because we treat sacrifices, services and even the smallest relief without saying as only natural and take it as a matter of course.

Many of our leaders on earth forgot that they only got their position because of our trust and voting. Thankfulness? For goodness sake, just let's be patient and wait for it. I even couldn't care less if the grumpy taxi driver isn't able to say a simple "thanks" after I paid my fare including a small tip. 

Benjamino Gigli (1890-1957), a member of a church choir, who studied singing/chanting in Rome and who performed on most all known stages and in concert halls in Italy and later in North America and the whole world and became a legitimated successor of the great Italian tenor Enrico Caruso expressed this:

"After 41 years, when I said Good Bye to my stage performances, I found this: Me, the son of a poor Italian shoemaker, could enjoy all sweet fruits of success and popularity. Kings and presidents became my friends. Millions of people gave me their appreciation and applause. But, I know very well that everything is a gift of God: MY VOICE. I have never forgotten to thank Him for this". 

Having a claim on something, jealousy and envy are a real siblings trio, which plans to settle down in the place of the forgotten gratitude to say THANK YOU. Only those who know how to thank are able to praise the Lord.

Dual Citizenship Granted to most naturalized Germans

By Chase Winter

Exceptions for EU citizens and refugees have led to more naturalized Germans holding two passports in recent years. Some nations prohibit or make it difficult for nationals to give up citizenship when becoming German.

    

An increasing number of naturalized Germans are not required to renounce their original citizenship before receiving a German passport. The rise has been driven by internal EU migration and an uptick in refugee numbers, according to the Federal Statistics Office.

Of 112,211 naturalized German citizens last year, 68,918, or about 61 percent, kept their previous citizenship, Die Welt newspaper reported on Friday citing the statistics office.

At the turn of the millennium, the share of naturalized Germans with dual citizenship was just under 45 percent. It then grew slightly with fluctuations before a continual increase since 2013.

German law generally discourages dual citizenship, but it does not always require that applicants renounce their citizenship before becoming German. Citizens of other EU member states have the right to dual citizenship inside the bloc. Of those 112,211 naturalized German citizens in 2017, almost 39,000 came from EU member states and 99 percent kept their original nationality.

Another exception is made for refugees, who represent a growing share of dual nationals. 

According to Die Welt, in 2017 not a single naturalized German from Iran (2,689), Syria (2,479), Afghanistan (2,400), Morocco (2,390), Tunisia (1,125), Algeria (462), Lebanon (1,294) and Nigeria (954) gave up their original nationality.

For Iraq, another main source of refugees, of the 3,480 nationalized as German in 2017 around 88 percent kept their Iraqi passport.

One reason for the rising rate of dual nationals is that a number of countries where refugees come from do not allow or make it extremely difficult to give up citizenship.

That is the case with countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

Researchers at the European Migration Network, an advisory board to European Commission, estimated that the number of dual nationals will rise significantly in the future following the arrival in Germany of 1.5 million migrants fleeing conflict and poverty in recent years. The increase, however, will not be immediate as there is a six-to-eight-year residency requirement to apply for citizenship.

In addition, the share of dual nationals is also likely to rise in the future through the birth in Germany of children from non-naturalized people seeking protection. A number of countries, including Syria and Iran, consider children born to a male national to also be a citizen, even if they were born outside the country. 

Since 2000, the children of two foreign parents can get German nationality as well as that of their parents if at least one parent has legally lived in Germany for eight years.

For many years, the children of such residents in Germany had to decide on their nationality when they turned 23. The government struck down this requirement in 2014.

In all, out of the 73 million Germans living in Germany around 4.3 million people hold at least one other citizenship.

Nationalized Germans with Polish citizenship stand at around 690,000, while there are approximately 570,000 dual German-Russian citizens.

Davao City Government informs

Please be guided on the #KADAYAWAN sa Davao road closures from August 16 to 19. Please plan alternate routes or expect traffic delays.

Bajada Durian

Usually, I don't or seldom, I do post very personal stuff. Today is an exemption.

17 years ago, I planted the first Durian tree in my tropical garden in Bajada, in the middle of Davao City. Today the first harvest ever happenend.

Together with Mangos, Lanzones, Guava, and Rambutan.

Thank you Lord for the blessings.

Philippine National ID to cut red tape

Duterte: National ID to cut red tape, fight crime

373SHARES1021

Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star) - August 7, 2018 - 12:00am

No privacy breach, government assures public

MANILA, Philippines — Every Filipino must now secure a unique, permanent national identification number.

President Duterte rolled out yesterday the Philippine Identification System Act, allaying concerns that it would violate privacy and suppress civil liberties.

Duterte said the national ID would cut red tape and reduce corruption, improve the delivery of basic services, and serve as a tool for keeping the public safe.

He noted that several administrations have tried but failed to implement the law because of the apprehensions by some groups about privacy and data security.

“Let me be very clear about this: the information that will be included in the Phil-ID (Philippine identification system) will not be any different from the information already in the possession of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) or the former NSO (National Statistics Office), GSIS (Government Service Insurance System), PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG Fund, Comelec (Commission on Elections) and other agencies that gather personal data,” Duterte said as he signed the Philippine Identification System Act at Malacañang.

“There is therefore no basis at all for the apprehensions about the Phil-ID, unless of course that fear is based on anything that borders on illegal,” he added.

Duterte said the PSA would work closely with the National Privacy Commission, Department of Information and Communications Technology and the multi-agency PhilSystem Policy and Coordination Council to address all privacy and security concerns.

“If at all, the Phil-ID will even aid in our drive against the social menaces of poverty, corruption and criminal issues, as well as terrorism and violent extremism,” the President said.

The law would also promote good governance, enhance governmental transactions and create a more conducive environment for trade and commerce, he added.

The Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Act will establish a single and streamlined identification system in the country. Once implemented, users will have just one ID for all government transactions.

“As we all know, the President is averse to bureaucratic red tape. Through PhilSys, we hope to improve efficiency and transparency of public services and promote ease of doing business,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement.

“For the ordinary Juan de la Cruz, the signing of this Act means that he will no longer have to present multiple identification cards simply to prove his identity. This streamlining of information makes it likewise harder to commit identity theft or fraud,” he added.

Better service

Laguna Rep. Sol Aragones said the law would promote seamless delivery of services, improve the efficiency, transparency and target delivery of public and social services, enhance administrative governance, reduce corruption and curtail bureaucratic red tape.

“This is a historical milestone, a landmark legislation and a life-changing measure all rolled into one. We will never ever be asked again to present multiple government-issued IDs for any transaction,” Aragones said.

“We will no longer need to present multiple IDs to transact with government and private establishments that require individuals to present two or more government-issued IDs,” she added.

“Promote greater convenience to the public, avert fraudulent transactions and misrepresentations, strengthen financial inclusions, promote ease of doing business,” Aragones, chair of the House committee on population and family relations, said.

The Phil-ID could be used for transactions with GSIS, SSS, PhilHealth, HDMF and other government agencies, passports and driver’s license, tax-related transactions, registration and voting identification purposes.

“Admission to any government hospital, health center or similar institution, application for admission in schools, colleges, learning institutions and universities, whether public or private, application and transaction for employment purposes,” Aragones enumerated.

Proponents of the national ID in the Senate assured the people that the law will protect citizens’ right to privacy while making transactions with the government and private entities easier.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Republic Act 11055, which harmonizes and integrates the redundant government ID cards into a single system, would also help deter criminality.

“At long last, we now have a law that breaks the formidable barriers between government and the downtrodden and the poor due to the lack of identification,” he said.

Lacson is the principal sponsor of the measure, aside from being a perennial author since his first term as senator in 2001.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, also an author of the law, thanked Duterte for signing it.

Drilon reiterated the law would not affect data privacy as the pertinent provisions of the Data Privacy Act will still apply.

Sen. Sonny Angara, another author of the law, said the ID system will not only cut down bureaucratic red tape but also empower many Filipinos formerly without appropriate identification cards to access the formal financial system and open bank accounts.

Under the bill, a foundational ID system dubbed PhilSys will be in place. It will have three components: the PhilSys Number (PSN), Phil-ID and PhilSys Registry.

Phil-ID is a non-transferable card with the PSN and basic information.

The PSA is mandated to act as the PhilSys Registry. It protects the individual’s right to privacy, and may release information only under the following conditions:

• when the registered person has given his or her consent, specific to the purpose prior to the processing;

• when the compelling interest of public health or safety so requires, provided the risk of significant harm to the public is established and the owner of the information is notified within 72 hours of the fact of such disclosure;

• upon order of any competent court, and

• when a registered person requests from the PSA access to his or her registered information and record history, subject to the guidelines and regulations to be issued by the PSA.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde welcomed the enactment of the national ID system that assures access by citizens to a wide-range of government services and privileges.

“This much-awaited measure has become a necessity for any developing country to keep pace with global trends of technology in governance. An efficient national ID system offers benefits to practical applications in census, taxation, election registration, banking, travel documentation, social security, social welfare and other transactions with government agencies,” Albayalde said in a statement. – With Delon Porcalla, Paolo Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe