Nat'l ID rollout target: Early 2023

 

President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. met with National Economic and Development Authority Director-General Arsenio Balisacan via teleconference. The President wanted a faster turn-around in the printing and delivery of National IDs to the Filipino people. (Photo credit to the Office of the President)

By Catherine S. Valente, Manila Times

PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. wants the national identification card rolled out by the first quarter of 2023.

Marcos said in a Facebook post on Thursday he ordered the National Economic and Development Authority to speed up the printing and distribution of Philippine Identification (PhilID) cards during his meeting with Socioeconomic Secretary Arsenio Balisacan in Malacañang on Wednesday.

The President said the plan is to print more than 50 million IDs so that can be used by early next year.

Balisacan earlier said the Marcos administration is targeting to issue most of the national IDs by the end of the year.

"Hopefully, we can get most of these IDs either in physical form or in electronic form already available before the end of the year, and that's the instruction of the President," he said.

Last December, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that over 50 million Filipinos have registered for the PhilID, reaching its benchmark goal for 2021.

But only 14.3 million of the IDs have been delivered nationwide as of early June, according to the PSA.

In a previous press briefing, Marcos said he finds the level of issuance as "way below" target.

"Because right now, we're, I think we're up to 12 million. Is that the correct number? Yeah, we're up to 12 million. Kulang na kulang pa 'yun (that is way below target)," he said.

At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, then president Rodrigo Duterte ordered the fast-tracking of the rollout of the PhilID system, which was passed into law in 2018.

The law seeks to combine several government IDs into a single national ID system.

The PSA has tapped its field offices to assist in delivering PhilIDs to registrants in remote areas.

Davao City First District Rep. Paolo Duterte is also calling on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the PSA to find ways to speed up the implementation of the national ID system to further reduce red tape and hasten the provision of essential services and financial aid to low-income families.

Poe hits delay in printing of national ID

The e-governance law, which was re-filed in the upcoming 19th Congress and intends to shift all government transactions online, would be strengthened by the national ID system, Congressman Duterte said.

The ID will help eliminate fake beneficiaries from social support programs, enabling the government to single out individuals who require financial aid during times of crisis.

He noted that his father, former president Duterte, had authorized significant fund releases to speed up the implementation of Philsys.

According to a 2021 report by the Commission of Audit on the BSP, the national bank and its contractor who were in charge of delivering the ID cards were unable to reach production targets, which resulted in delays in the project.

"Accelerating the implementation of the national ID system will make the delivery of financial assistance swift and efficient. Aside from that, a well-maintained national ID system will help the government clean up its database of beneficiaries of social protection programs, such as the 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program)," Congressman Duterte said.

"Even those who dupe the system by getting senior citizen ID cards even though they are not yet qualified to avail of the benefits for seniors will be weeded out," he added.

Representative Duterte issued a statement on Thursday in response to complaints about the delays in the production and distribution of the Philsys cards, with many waiting more than six months to have their IDs delivered.

WITH MOISES CRUZ

DepEd won't limit class size for in-person learning

MEDIA MAGNET Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio answers questions from the media as she arrives at the chapel of San Beda University in Manila where she attended Mass for the birthday celebration of businessman Manny Pangilinan on Thursday, July 14, 2022.  PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN

By Kaithreen Cruz, Manila Times

(UPDATE) VICE President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio emphasized that the Department of Education (DepEd) will not limit the class size for in-person learning.

"We did not put an exact class size because the situations in schools differ. We indicated in DepEd Order 34, and as approved by the President when presented during the Cabinet Meeting, that physical distancing will be implemented whenever possible," she said in an interview on Thursday.

The Education chief added that the creation of more classrooms is in the pipeline to address overcrowding in schools.

"We are now creating a department order that will streamline requests for classroom construction so that we can prevent adding unimplementable projects and ensure that what we include in the budget request are those that could be immediately constructed," the Vice President said.

She reiterated that Covid-19 vaccination for learners is still not mandatory, and co-mingling of vaccinated and unvaccinated learners will be allowed in the classrooms.

Duterte-Carpio also said that eating protocols in schools were considered since students will not be wearing masks as they eat, emphasizing that eating together will be prohibited. If the space is limited for physical distancing when eating, students should eat facing the same direction and not facing each other.

The Vice President added that the lessons learned during the two years of the pandemic will help implement health protocols of wearing masks, physical distancing and hand washing.

Duterte-Carpio also said studies show that children who have contracted Covid-19 have a high recovery rate and experience usually mild symptoms, with deaths being "extremely rare."

On the other hand, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said that the "lack of substantive health measures is a recipe for disaster" for face-to-face classes.

PH Red Cross starts giving 2nd Covid-19 booster shots

"They removed any requisite for inspection or even a mere checklist of requirements for safe school reopening. There is no standard for classroom ventilation aside from opening the doors and windows. There is no requisite for hand-washing facilities or a steady water supply. The need for a clinic or a nurse is not even mentioned," ACT President Vladimer Quetua said.

ACT suggested six key points for the DepEd to consider in the guidelines for face-to-face classes: double the schools' maintenance and operating budget to ensure implementation of health protocols; employ additional teachers to reduce class size to a maximum of 35 students; employ more nurses and utility personnel for every school; ensure health protection and benefits of teachers and school employees; provide financial aid for families struggling amid the economic crisis; and conduct a learning assessment to gauge adjustments for education recovery.

In a related development, Iloilo First District Representative and former Department of Health secretary Janette Garin urged more individuals to take booster shots since two doses were no longer sufficient. Boosters are also needed because a large percentage of the population must be vaccinated in order to achieve a "society without masks."

She outlined the four primary functions of vaccination, which are to prevent deaths, lower the impact of infectious symptoms, decrease transmission and limit mutation.

LGUs, Schools urged: Get ready for booster rollout

The National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) reported that as of July 13, 2022, there were 71 million fully vaccinated Filipinos, of whom 15.3 million had their first booster shot and just roughly 950,000 had received their second.

Garin said these facts, along with the rising number of Covid-19 instances, place the nation in a less-than-ideal situation to combat the virus and build economic resilience.

She recommended that the government and health sector redefine a fully immunized person as someone who has received two doses of vaccine plus one or two booster shots, set aside funds for second-generation Covid vaccines, and prepare health care facilities and have antivirals on hand.

Covid-19 fatal to 3 unvaxed Davaeños

Be that as it may, an infectious disease specialist urged Filipinos not to panic amid reports of newer and more infectious sub-variants of Covid-19, such as the Omicron BA.5 sub-variant.

In a briefing on Thursday, Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvaña, also a member of the Department of Health's Technical Advisory Group, said that while the number of cases have increased, the number of severe and critical infections continue to remain stable.

He added that the Delta variant remains as the "most deadly" strain of the virus as it crippled the health care system when a surge of cases happened last year and led to many deaths.

"The worst variant is really Delta. Right now, BA.5 cases are trickling in but we know what to do to prevent infection. From that perspective in terms of death and severe disease, Omicron is far from severity as compared to Delta," Salvaña said.

While BA.5 is more immune evasive than other variants, those who are infected with it only get asymptomatic or mild disease and it will not inflict as much "destruction" as the Delta variant.

Salvaña said that while the "worst is over" for the virus, its continued evolution will remain a threat, especially if the public becomes complacent in following health protocols and not getting their booster shots.

However, he stressed that the general public should wait for the rollout of the reformulated bivalent vaccines as possible second booster shots, possibly by September or October of this year.

Sen. Maria Lourdes "Nancy" Binay also raised the need to convene the Committee of the Whole once the 19th Congress opens to discuss pending concerns on Covid-19.

She noted that calls to require Filipinos to get booster shots have surfaced amid the reported rise in Covid-19 cases, with the country recording an average of 1,467 cases daily from July 4 to 10.

She said the Senate should tackle pending issues regarding Covid-19 like vaccination programs, access to boosters, status of our health care workers, health and pandemic statistics, level of preparedness, and exit plans."

Binay on Thursday voiced support for the government's booster drive, especially in the face of pandemic fatigue and vaccine complacency.

"Everyone's experiencing pandemic fatigue and vaccine complacency. People have become less vigilant," she said in a statement.

She also raised the need to continue revisiting and reviewing the country's public health policies to ensure these are up-to-date and in line with international standards.

A move toward theocracy?

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

WE need to understand that since Christ is the fulfillment of the law (cfr. Mt 5,17), Christianizing our laws does not mean that we are moving toward theocracy, or making the clergy the governing authority of the state. It is simply a call to our Christian lawmakers and law-enforcers to be consistent to their Christian identity.

We need to Christianize our laws since it is a necessity. Obviously, it has to be done with due process, without imposing things and respecting the different views and opinions of people who have different backgrounds, beliefs, etc. Resolving these differences should be done in the most democratic or fair way.

We have to realize that it is Christ who ultimately gives the real meaning and purpose of our laws. We have to disabuse ourselves from the thought that our laws can be based only on our common sense, or on our own estimation of what is good and evil according to the values of practicality, convenience, etc., or on our traditions and culture, etc.

While these things have their legitimate role to play in our legal and judicial systems, we have to understand that they cannot be the primary and ultimate bases. It should be God, his laws and ways that should animate the way we make laws as well as the way we apply and live them. After all, being the Creator of all things, he is the one who establishes what is truly good and evil.

And the will, laws and ways of God are revealed to us in full by Christ. That is why at one point Christ said to the Pharisees and scribes regarding the proper interpretation of the Sabbath law that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So, the Son of Man (Christ) is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mk 2,27-28)

So, it is Christ who can guide us as to the content and intent of our laws. He is the one who can interpret our laws properly. He is the one that would give our laws their proper spirit, which in the end is the spirit of charity that summarizes and perfects all virtues and values.

Without Christ, our laws would inevitably become rigid and harsh in certain instances. They would tend to absolutize certain things that actually should only have relative value. They would hardly recognize their limits, and so would find it hard to accept exceptions. 

Without Christ, our laws would only lead us to the path of self-righteousness that will always be accompanied by the ways of hypocrisy. They can tend to rationalize things that actually are against God’s laws and our own objective good.

We need to openly acknowledge the necessity of putting Christ into our laws—into their making, application and interpretation. At the moment, there seems to be a certain hesitation, awkwardness and even resistance on the part of many law-making bodies in the world, even among the so-called Christian countries.

Often underlying this hesitation, awkwardness and even resistance to the role of Christ in our legal system is the badly-understood principle of the separation of Church-and-state that puts a preventive bracket on God, on Christ, in the making, application and interpretation of our laws.

This attitude is what may be described as legal positivism that places the ultimate source of our laws on some government entity or political institution, or even on some philosophy and ideology alone.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Fight for divorce law in Philippines continues

Image from Pexels

By THIRD ANNE PERALTA-MALONZO, SunStar Manila

THE fight for the enactment of a law allowing divorce in the Philippines continues as three senators, including two newbies, filed their respective bills pertaining to the matter.

Allowing divorce in the Philippines is one of the pet bills of Senators Risa Hontiveros (Dissolution of Marriage Act), Raffy Tulfo (Divorce Act of 2022) and Robin Padilla (Divorce Act of the Philippines).

A survey conducted by the Social Weather System (SWS) in 2017 showed that an average of 53 percent of adult Filipinos were in favor of the legalization of divorce in the country.

The Philippines and Vatican, which is one of the smallest states in the world, were the only ones that have no divorce law.

Article 45 of the Family Code of the Philippines, however, sets grounds to which a union may be annulled. These grounds include:

* No parental consent if either party was between 18 and 21 years at the time of marriage

* Psychological incapacity

* Fraudulent consent, including non-disclosure of either party of a material fact before marriage, such as pregnancy by another man or a sexually transmitted disease

* Consent obtained by force, intimidation, or undue influence

* Physical inability to consummate the marriage

* That either party was afflicted with a sexually-transmissible disease found to be serious and appears to be incurable

In a gist, annulment makes a marital unity null and void, or as if it never happened, while divorce recognizes and ends a legally valid marriage.

According to the Office of Solicitor General, there is an uptrend in the number of annulment and nullity of marriage cases filed in the country since 2001, where there were only over 4,000 cases filed as against the more than 11,000 filed in 2014.

The agency said over 50 percent of the petitioners were women, and among the reasons for seeking the nullity of their marriage with their spouses are abuses.

In the findings of the 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, it showed that one in every four married woman experienced spousal violence, either physical, sexual or emotional.

Tulfo, host of a radio/television program that primarily helps those who are abused, said he has received, over the years, a lot of reports pertaining to marital problems.

He said majority of the spouses wants to avail themselves of annulment or legal separation, but they are financially incapable to afford the process.

“Saan, halimbawa, kukuha ng pambayad sa lawyer’s acceptance and appearance fees, court filing fees, professional fees ng mga eksperto gaya ng psychologist at iba pa, ang isang minimum wage earner o wala pa gaya ng security guard, factory worker, kasambahay, at simpleng empleyado? Sweldo pa lang nila kapos na para sa pang-araw-araw na pamumuhay,” said Tulfo.

“Marami ring kasong ganito: Nagpasyang maghiwalay ang mag-asawa. Nagpirmahan pa nga sa barangay. (Hindi na sila nag-file ng annulment sa korte dahil magastos nga yun). Makalipas ang ilang taon ng walang pakialamanan sa buhay at pag-abandona, nagka-boyfriend si babae (o nagka-girlfriend si lalaki), tapos ayun, biglang susulpot si esposo/esposa mula sa kawalaan at iiinvoke ang kasal at kakasuhan ang misis/mister nya. Sa tingin nyo makatarungan ba naman yun?” he added.

Cost

Lawyer Philip Jurado, who discussed Padilla’s proposed Divorce Act of the Philippines, along with the senator in a recent Facebook live, said a person may spend an average of P250,000 to P500,000 to fulfill an annulment case.

An annulment in the Philippines may take two to four years on average, if the other spouse does not contest the proceedings and there are no issues, such as property and custody and/or support of/for the children.

Tulfo said one of the usual grounds for annulment of couples is the psychological incapacity, where the petitioner needs to prove that his/her spouse is psychologically incapable in performing his/her marital obligations.

This may need a psychological examination by a licensed psychologist that may also include the witnesses, which may be presented by the petitioner.

Tulfo said this is one of the factors that make the annulment process expensive.

“Yan kasi ang lalong nagpapamahal at nagpapatagal sa proseso ng paghihiwalay nang matiwasay -- yung kailangan pang patunayan sa korte na ang isang partido ay may ‘psychological incapacity.’ Maraming kaso na kailangan pang magsiraan ang dating nagmahalan, gumawa ng kwentong-kutsero, at umupa ng psychologist para lamang mapanindigan ang kaso,” he said.

He said it also affects a person’s reputation, noting that he/she will have a “psychological incapacity” record in court.

“Requirement kasi ang mental health clearance sa trabaho, so malinis dapat ang mental health record ng isang indibidwal,” said Tulfo.

What adds to the stress caused by the annulment proceedings is the conduct of hearings where one party will have to destroy the other in order to win the case.

The other factors that affect the speed of reaching the finality of an annulment case include retirements or promotion of judges, difficulties in scheduling the hearing considering the availability of the witnesses, opposition by the other party and issues such as custody, support or property and court inventory.

Padilla’s bill

Among the grounds for the filing of a divorce petition based on Padilla’s proposed bill are the following:

* When either of the spouses has no capacity to perform the essential marital obligations of the marriage and the incapacity continues and appears to be incurable;

* When there is an existing irreconcilable marital difference;

* When a spouse obtained a divorce abroad;

* When a spouse is presumed dead under Articles 390 and 391 of the Civil Code of the Philippines;

* Upon conviction of an offense under Republic Act 9262, otherwise "Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004";

* Attempt by the respondent against the life of a common child or a child of the petitioner;

* Having a child with another person other than one’s spouse during the marriage, except when upon the mutual agreement of the spouses, a child is born to them in vitro or through a similar procedure or when the wife bears a child after being a victim of rape;

* When any of the grounds for annulment of marriage under Article 45 of the Family Code of the Philippines, filed by the persons and within the periods provided in Article 47 of said Code are present;

* Except when circumstance is present under Article 56 of the Family Code of the Philippines when any of the grounds for legal separation under Article 55 of the said Code are present;

* When the spouses are separated in fact for at least two consecutive years at the time of the filing of the petition for divorce;

* When the spouses have been legally separated by judicial decree under Article 55 of the Family Code of the Philippines

Padilla’s proposed bill also includes a six months cooling-off period after the filing of the petition and this will be observed before a competent court. During the period, the court shall exercise all efforts to reunite and reconcile the parties.

Hontiveros’ bill

Under Hontiveros’ proposed bill, the grounds are as follows:

* Five continuous years of separation, with or without a judicial decree of separation;

* The commission of the crime of rape by the respondent-spouse against the petitioner-spouse before or after the marriage;

* The grounds for legal separation under Article 55 of the Family Code of any other special law;

* A final decree of absolute divorce validly obtained in a foreign jurisdiction;

* Irreconcilable marital differences or irreparable breakdown of the marriage despite earnest effort at reconciliation.

Lawmakers said the process of divorce may take only “a few months,” or at most a year, but assured that the procedures will be more accessible and way ahead inexpensive.

Once annulment and/or divorce has reached finality, the husband and wife will be allowed to remarry.

The children of the estranged parties will still be considered legitimate while their custody, particularly of the minors, will be determined by the court.

The judgment in both processes should provide a liquidation, partition and distribution of the properties of the spouses, the custody and support of the children, the conjugal dwelling and the lot on which it is situated shall be adjudicated in accordance with the Family Code of the Philippines, and the effects on the spouses of the intestate successions, testamentary dispositions, donations, and insurance on beneficiaries shall be observed. (SunStar Philippines)

What is Fiesta in the Philippines?

Bisaya

Proud Bisaya Ko

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Fiesta is a special celebration in the Philippines that happens every year. It is a time when families and friends get together to enjoy good food[1] , music, and dance. Fiesta is also a time to remember the country's heritage and traditions. For many Filipinos, Fiesta is the most important event of the year.

Fiesta[2] is a very festive occasion, and everyone looks forward to it. The atmosphere is always happy and lively. People dress up in their best clothes, and there is a lot of singing and dancing. The food is also exceptional, with traditional dishes being served. Everyone has a great time at Fiesta, a beautiful way to connect with family and friends.

Footnotes

[1] 7 Reasons Why the Filipino Boodle Fight is the Best Meal of Your Life

[2] Pinoy Fiesta

WE ARE A GENERATION THAT WILL NEVER COME BACK

 

Loving and Amazing World

Loving and Amazing World

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Dasha Taran

 

Updated Jun 4

WE ARE A GENERATION THAT WILL NEVER COME BACK.

A generation that walked to school and then walked back.

A generation that did their homework alone to get out asap to play in the street.

A generation that spent all their free time in the streets with their Friends.

A generation that played hide and seek when dark.

A generation that made mud cakes.

A generation that collected sports cards.

A generation that found, collected and washed & Returned empty coke bottles to the local grocery store for 5 cents each , then bought a Mountain Dew and candy bar with the money.

A generation that made paper toys with their bare hands.

A generation who bought vinyl albums to play on record players.

A generation that collected photos and albums of clippings of their life experiences as a Kid.

A generation that played board games and cards on rainy days.

A generation whose TV went off at midnight after playing the National Anthem.

A generation that had parents who were there.

A generation that laughed under the covers in bed so parents didn't know we were still awake.

A generation that is passing and unfortunately it will never return no matter how hard we try.

I loved growing up when I did. It was the best of times.

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The Home Doctor: Practical Medicine for Every Household

This is the only physical book you need when medical help is not on the way:

>>The Home Doctor: Practical Medicine for Every Household<<

It’s a unique guide for the layman that you can use to manage common health ailments at home when seeing a doctor or going to a hospital is off the table.

The book is written by Dr. Maybell Nieves, a front-line doctor from Venezuela who has saved hundreds of people through one of the worst crises in modern history.

Have a healthy day!

Our true rest only with Christ

By Fr. Roy Cimagala*

THAT’S what Christ clearly said. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest,” he said. (Mt 11,28) For those who try to follow Christ faithfully and are burdened as can be expected, they should find consolation in these words of his. He also reassured them that they should be unafraid to take Christ’s yoke for as he said, “my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Mt 11,30)

We really need to know what our proper rest really is. Nowadays, people have different and even conflicting ideas about what it is. For some it is purely something physical. For others, it is more on the emotional and psychological side. 

There are those who think that resting is doing what they like to do at the moment, enjoying a peaceful moment, sipping a favorite drink. Still others believe it is having the sensation of letting go of something that weighs heavily on their mind and heart. There still are others who think that is about achieving a goal they had set out for themselves.

All of these, of course, have their valid points. But I believe there is still a higher metric that would best define what our proper rest is and that would somehow integrate all these other ideas about rest. And that is whether we manage to be with God at the end of the day—or of our life.

We have to realize that true rest can be found only in Christ. The rest that he gives us is not only physical. It is the rest that includes all the aspects of our life—emotional, psychological, mental, moral and spiritual. We need to broaden our understanding of rest to go beyond the physical dimension. 

Christ offers us the due rest for our souls that can be harassed by the problems of this world and the requirements of our lifelong pursuit for holiness and apostolate. (cfr. Mt 11,29) This is the real rest that is indeed meant for us. Short of this, our rest would be at best only apparent, and cannot cope with the over-all demands and pressures of our life.

For this he advises us to learn from him, particularly in his meekness and humility. I imagine that these virtues were highlighted because they are the ones that would open the gates of our soul to receive God’s grace, to be guided by faith rather than simply by our senses and emotions and even by our intellectual powers.

We have to see to it that our search for rest should not get stuck in the level of our physical, emotional and intellectual conditions. This is a crucial point because the entry point in our process of knowing is through our senses, instincts and emotions, before things get processed by our intellect. 

And things do not just end there in our intellect. We have to see to it that our intellect, which does not create the truth but can only recognize and express it, be enlightened and inspired by the ultimate source of truth, which is our faith.

Faith is a God-given view of all the truths that we need to know. It is God revealing and sharing his knowledge of things with us. It is God sharing his powers with us. We just should not be guided by our own lights and faculties, but rather by the light God gives us through the gift of faith. With this faith in God as revealed to us in full by Christ, we can find our true rest!

*Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Our children’s Mother Earth

By Panay News -Thursday, July 14, 2022

BY KLAUS DÖRING

MOTHER Nature (sometimes known as Mother Earth or the Earth Mother) is a personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it, in the form of the mother.

The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier the planet – and its people. Restoring our damaged ecosystems will help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent mass extinction

Yes, it’s again the topic we should really think about. Also here in the Philippines. Ok, here’s a new string of examples, my dear readers. But, don’t expect good news.

Greenland, the great island is being called the Land of Ice being on fire. Why? A recent report says the Arctic may be ice-free by 2040. The Antarctic is also melting, albeit far slower, and in a less regular pattern.

The Arctic is melting much faster than expected, and could even be ice-free in summer by the late 2030’s, a report from the Arctic Council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program suggests. Previous studies had forecast an ice-free North Pole in summer by mid-century. Wow.

While the outlook is bleak for the Arctic, there is a silver lining for the Antarctic: As I said before, the ice is melting at a slower rate than previously thought. Although glacier flow has increased since the 1990’s, scientists from University of Leeds have found the melting rate to be only around a third of what was previously projected.

Operation IceBridge studies the processes that link the polar regions with the Earth’s climate system. Rapidly changing polar ice means researchers need to use highly sophisticated airborne technology to measure annual changes in thickness and movement – onboard a retrofitted 1966 Lockheed P-3 aircraft.

 But the Antarctic is still melting. And a rapidly advancing crack in its fourth-largest ice shelf could soon see one of the largest icebergs ever recorded in human history break off into the sea.Scientists agree that global warming causes both the ice in the North and the South Pole to melt. Air temperatures are climbing, and so are water temperatures. This makes the ice melt faster. The period of winter where the water is actually cold enough to freeze is getting shorter, which means ice floes are getting smaller.

Honestly folks, it really scares me although experts say it is too early to draw firm conclusions linking the fire to climate change because no long-term data is available to put the blaze in context. However, unusually warm and dry conditions this year could have been a factor.

Let’s face this: “It’s unprecedented in the short 18-year observational record,” Jason Box, a climate scientist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, said in an interview with German TV yesterday. . “We also know that temperatures in Greenland are probably higher [than they have been over] the last 800 years.” Wow again!

Although the origin of the blaze is unclear – with lightning and a stray cigarette as possible suspects – what is clear is how it has been spreading across remote areas of grassland and low shrub. Greenland is indeed getting greener and greener. It conjures images of white, frozen expanses. But Box says global warming means it’s getting greener all the time. “There’s a shorter snow-cover season, and that allows the plant life to expand,” he explained.

The Arctic is heating up around twice as fast as the global average. At the same time, rainfall around the world is also increasing – and that trend as well is more present in the Arctic. “More rain is a widespread symptom of climate change,” Box said. “You get more precipitation – and where you get the biggest increase is in the Arctic.”

For Greenland, warmer, wetter conditions mean more vegetation – which, seemingly paradoxically, could be a factor for the fire. And my next question is: what will be the impact of these fires on the ice sheet and surrounding areas?

Fact is: Greenland’s ice sheets melt, which contributes to sea level rise. And if we add the North- and South Pole and their vanishing ice and snow and all other oceans worldwide?  Yes, also the Philippines are in danger. Not this year or next year. But … !

Paradise reborn’: Boracay is one of world’s greatest places in 2022

by Jaleen Ramos, Manila Bulletin

Boracay Island has been recognized as one of the world’s greatest places by the Time Magazine.

(Photo by Tara Yap/ MANILA BULLETIN/ FILE PHOTO)

Boracay was closed down for rehabilitation for six months in 2018 after it was labeled a “cesspool” by former president Duterte.

“Then the pandemic struck, and the Philippines closed its borders, halting even domestic tourism to Boracay. It took a severe toll on the local economy, but the silver lining was that this 4-sq.-mi. speck in the Visayas island chain had proper time to truly recover,” Time wrote.

Boracay finally reopened after nearly two years of pandemic restrictions. 

“As of February 2022, international visitors can finally revel in this revamped, recuperated, natural playground after what was effectively a three-year convalescence,” Time said.

“Locals report the return of flora and fauna, like sea turtles, and hospitality has come back just as spectacularly,” it added.

Also in the list are Seoul; Bali, Indonesia; Doha, Qatar; Bali, Indonesia; Ahmedabad, India: Trans Bhutan Trail in Bhutan; and Kyushu Island, Japan, among others.

The Time said it “solicited nominations of places from our international network of correspondents and contributors, with an eye toward those offering new and exciting experiences” to complete the list.

Lea Michele stars in Broadway's 'Funny Girl'

By Associated Press

Lea Michele has been tapped to step in and lead the Broadway revival of the beleaguered ‘Funny Girl.’ AP PHOTO

NEW YORK: Lea Michele has been tapped to step in and lead the Broadway revival of the beleaguered "Funny Girl" this fall, an announcement made just hours after current star Beanie Feldstein revealed she was leaving the musical sooner than anticipated due to the show taking a "different direction."

The high-profile casting change rocked the Broadway community and represents another step toward a return to the spotlight and respectability for Michele after former "Glee" castmates in 2020 accused the actor of behavior that was interpreted as racist and bullying.

Michele, who started her career on Broadway and starred in the original "Spring Awakening" recently returned to the work with the documentary "Spring Awakening: Those You've Known." In many ways, her ascension to playing Ziegfeld Follies comedian Fanny Brice — the role Barbra Streisand famously played on film — was foreshadowed by Michele singing several "Funny Girl" songs during the run of "Glee."

After the show's formal announcement, Michele hailed her next career step, saying "a dream come true is an understatement" on Instagram. She did not mention Feldstein.