Briones wants apology from World Bank over unflattering schools report
"The country was insulted and shamed. We expect and look forward to a public apology," Education Secretary Leonor Briones said on a World Bank report on Filipino students......»»
Is Leni Robredo the Only One Who Realizes the Philippines Has a Crisis in Education?
Vice President Leni Robredo wants the government to declare a "crisis in education." We believe that is the right thing to do. The World Bank (WB) may have issued an apology for its objective assessment of the country's education system—given Education Secretary Leonor Briones and the Duterte administration's hysteria when the report first appeared—but the facts in that report remain true. Compared to other countries, the Philippines ranks at or near the bottom in education......»»
World bank apologizes to Philippine government for education report
The World Bank issued on Thursday what amounted to a public apology as demanded by Education Secretary Leonor Briones over the early and uncoordinated release of its education sector report which rated poorly the quality of learning in the country......»»
DepEd wants World Bank apology over erroneous report
Education Secretary Leonor Briones wants the World Bank to issue a public apology for a report declaring the poor quality of education in the country......»»
Briones wants apology from World Bank over unflattering schools report
"The country was insulted and shamed. We expect and look forward to a public apology," Education Secretary Leonor Briones said on a World Bank report on Filipino students......»»
Scorching schools: How heat worsens conditions of poor students in PH
[This is the second and last part of a special report on how extreme heat in 2023 impacted the education sector in the Philippines. Click here for the first part.] CEBU CITY, Philippines – The same analysis by Cebu Daily News Digital (CDN Digital) showed that even private schools, which usually have better facilities and.....»»
Philippine bond market hits $217 billion in Q4
The Philippine bond market went up slightly in the fourth quarter of 2023 due to the increase in government bond issuances, according to a report from the Asian Development Bank......»»
Xinhua world economic news summary at 0900 GMT, March 18
BEIJING -- Global new energy passenger car sales are predicted to exceed 39 million units by 2030, said a report obtained during the China EV100 Forum 2024 concluded Sunday in Beijing. That will mark a penetration rate of almost 50 percent, rising from the nearly 20 percent in 2023 with the sales of over 13 million units, according to the report issued by China EV100, a new energy vehicle (NEV) industry think ta.....»»
UnionBank cardholders get pre-sale Miss Saigon tickets access
The new staging of one of the most iconic musicals of all time takes the stage in the Philippines, and Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) is giving its cardholders a chance to score tickets before everyone. GMG Productions, in association with GWB Entertainment, has announced that Sir Cameron Mackintosh’s globally acclaimed new production of Boublil & Schönberg’s Miss Saigon is coming to Manila in March 2024. Dedicated to bringing top-tier musical entertainment to Manila, GMG Productions is again partnering with UnionBank to fan the flames of theatrical passion and give its customers exclusive access as the official presenting sponsor and pre-sale partner of Miss Saigon Philippines. Get the best seats before they’re gone as UnionBank will be holding a ticket pre-sale event exclusively for UnionBank credit and debit cardholders. Exclusive booking period From 23 to 27 October 2023, UnionBank card holders can enjoy the exclusive booking period and a 10 percent discount on their ticket purchase by using the first six digits of their card as a promo code. There will also be another chance for UnionBank cardholders to get their hands on tickets, with the extended pre-sale from 28 October to 3 November 2023. Tickets open to the public on 6 November 2023. Miss Saigon is a retelling of Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, moving the story to 1970s Vietnam, where Kim, a young Vietnamese woman, falls in love with an American G.I. named Chris during the final days of the Vietnam War. The story follows Kim as she embarks on her three-year journey to reunite, all while carrying a secret. Filipino artists such as Lea Salonga, Monique Wilson, Joanna Ampil, Jon Jon Briones, Rachelle Ann Go, Isay Alvarez-Seña, Leo Valdez, Aicelle Santos and Red Concepcion have all been a part of the classic stage production over the years, along with countless other homegrown talents who have showcased the incredible depth of talent within the Filipino community. The post UnionBank cardholders get pre-sale Miss Saigon tickets access appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
DA’s 3-day expo promotes agri-fishery sector
The Department of Agriculture's three-day expo, the largest international trade fair for the livestock, poultry, and aquaculture industries, culminated Saturday with more than 300 exhibitors and 10,000 farmers, fisherfolk, traders, buyers, experts, policy and decision-makers, and industry stakeholders around the world convened at the Livestock and Aquaculture Philippines 2023 and shared their products, services, and best practices. Organized by international events manager Informa Markets, it was hosted by the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) through the National Livestock Program (DA-NLP) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) with the goal of promoting the development of the Philippine agri-fishery sector. Informa Markets country general manager for Malaysia and the Philippines Gerard Leeuwenburgh called for every industry player to “step up” by innovating and adapting new technologies, enhancing food production, reducing waste, preventing diseases, and showing genuine concern for the environment “to ensure a sustainable production system” and “to be able to keep up with the competition in the [Asia-Pacific] Region.” Now on its sixth installment, the Livestock and Aquaculture Philippines 2023 formally opened on 5 July at the World Trade Center in Pasay City with Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. personally leading the ceremony. In his speech, the President and also concurrent Secretary of Agriculture acknowledged the vital role of the private sector in “realizing our dreams of progressively expanding and modernizing the poultry and livestock industries in the Philippines.” He also emphasized the need to revitalize Philippine agriculture by addressing key issues such as food inflation, the need to boost food production and mobilization, the importance of enhancing profitability and other opportunities in agri-fishery-based livelihoods, the emergence of agricultural pests and diseases, and more. “We will work to find ways to increase our farmers’ incomes so that they can lead a dignified and comfortable life and return to the profession a sense of pride that has been lost over the years. It is our hope to bring back nobility to a profession that has sacrificed so much to feed and to nourish us for many, many generations. Let us make the most of the knowledge and tools made available at this trade fair so that we can establish a more food-secure, sustainable, and resilient Philippines in the years ahead,” the President concluded. The opening ceremony was also attended by Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform Chairperson Senator Cynthia Villar, House Committee Chairperson on Agriculture and Food Representative Mark Enverga, Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines (AGAP) Partylist Representative Nicanor Briones, Pasay City Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano, and dignitaries from other countries. Members of the DA family—namely the National Livestock Program (NLP), Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), National Dairy Authority (NDA), Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), International Training Center on Pig Husbandry (ITCPH), Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF), Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS), and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)—together with government financial institutions Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines, set up their booths at the DA Pavilion and the Aquaculture area of the exhibit to extend services to the general public. The post DA’s 3-day expo promotes agri-fishery sector appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
DepEd in denial
Education Secretary Leonor Briones cried foul over the publication of a World Bank report saying that more than 80 percent of Filipino students don’t meet the standards for their grade level......»»
Berating the messenger
At the behest of Education Secretary Leonor Briones, the World Bank apologized to the Philippines for publishing a report on education earlier than scheduled and before the Education Department had a chance to give its input......»»
After World Bank apology, DepEd reiterates commitment to resolving education system issues
The Department of Education on Saturday acknowledged the World Bank’s apology over a report on the Philippine education system......»»
DOF joins DepEd in demanding World Bank apology over outdated report
The Department of Finance has backed calls for the World Bank to issue a public apology over an unflattering report showing Filipino students are not meeting learning standards......»»
DepEd told to address problems in World Bank report, not seek apology
"DepEd and the Duterte administration should be ashamed for its abandonment and negligence in the worsening education crisis in the country," Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers' party-list) said......»»
DepEd chides World Bank for using outdated figures
The Department of Education on Tuesday demanded an apology from the World Bank for using an outdated data that shamed and insulted the Filipino students and the entire nation......»»
Judges question warrants in Kraft massage parlor sex case
By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida appellate judges on Tuesday questioned the legality of search warrants that let police secretly video record New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and others paying for massage parlor sex, pressing a prosecutor on his contention that the warrants were legally valid. Deputy Solicitor General Jeffrey DeSousa found himself repeatedly queried by the three-judge panel as he tried to persuade them that the warrants and searches met all constitutional protections and that they should overturn lower court rulings that barred the recordings' use at trial. Misdemeanor charges against Kraft, 79, and other customers would have to be dropped if those rulings stand, although felony charges against the spa owners might proceed as there is other evidence against them. Kraft and others were charged in February 2019 in a multi-county investigation of massage parlors that included the secret installation of video cameras in the spas' lobbies and rooms. Police say the recordings show Kraft and other men engaging in sex acts with women and paying them. Police say they twice recorded Kraft, a widower, paying for sex at the Orchids of Asia massage parlor. Kraft has pleaded not guilty but issued a public apology. Judge Robert Gross, who presided at the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal hearing, seemed taken aback by DeSousa's contention that he and his colleagues should primarily consider the plain language of the Fourth Amendment. It says judges can issue warrants if police demonstrate probable cause of a crime, that warrants must specify the place to be searched and what can be seized. Gross told DeSousa he seemed to be ignoring numerous rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court expanding Fourth Amendment protections since the 1960s, including some that restrict electronic surveillance by police. “You are getting us off on the wrong foot by focusing on the language of the Fourth Amendment when we should be focusing on the Supreme Court jurisprudence....that is heavily weighted against you,” Gross told DeSousa. The 90-minute hearing included arguments on whether cameras were necessary; on whether the police violated the privacy of customers who simply received massages; and on the proper sanction if the defendants' rights were violated. The attorneys for Kraft and the other defendants argued that police failed to minimize the privacy violations they committed by recording innocent customers, including women, who received legal massages. “These cameras, that were put into private massage rooms where patrons would be undressing as a matter of course, they recorded everything," Kraft attorney Derek Shaffer said. He said Kraft “had the same reasonable expectation of privacy that any massage patron going to a licensed facility would be entitled.” Attorneys also argued the cameras weren't necessary as police already had enough evidence to charge the spa owners, including bank records, website advertising, outside video surveillance and napkins containing bodily fluids retrieved from garbage bins. The only proper punishment for prosecutors and police, they argued, is to throw out all recordings. DeSousa argued that police and prosecutors need the recording to convict the owners of felonies. The owners must be shown receiving payments from the prostitutes and the only way to get that is to install cameras, he said. He said detectives had to fully record all massages, because the sex acts happened at their conclusion and 95% of male customers received one. While no female customers paid for sex, they were few in number and to not record them could be seen as discriminating against men, he said. DeSousa said even if the court finds police violated innocent customers' privacy rights, the Supreme Court has ruled that in most circumstances, only improperly seized evidence should be thrown out. Since Kraft, the other men and the masseuses were engaged in crimes, their recordings should be permitted, he said. “Given the unique and difficult circumstances confronting these officers, the conspiracy, the logistics of the operation, what they reasonably anticipated they would see and the difficulty of knowing at the start of any given massage will this end with a happy ending or will it not, we think what law enforcement did here was entirely reasonable,” DeSousa said. The court usually takes weeks to issue rulings. The losing side will likely appeal to the state Supreme Court, which could accept the case or let the decision stand. If convicted, Kraft would likely receive a fine, community service and other sanctions, but he could also be suspended or otherwise punished by the National Football League......»»
ED attaches asset worth Rs 70 lakh in bank fraud implicating Hyderabad-based Jasleen Enterprises
New Delhi [India], March 28 (ANI): The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has attached an immovable property valued at Rs 70 lakh in a bank fraud case involving Jasleen Enterprises headquartered in Hyderabad. The Hyderabad division of the ED attached the fixed asset in accordance with the stipulations outlined in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002. ED initiated investigation on the basis of First Informati.....»»
Chinese Diplomat Liu Jianchao Meets With Singapore s Leaders
singapore - Liu Jianchao, the senior diplomat widely expected to become China's next foreign minister, said "the world needs connectivity, not decoupling," during a four-day visit to Singapore.Liu, who heads the international department of the Communist Party, was in the city-state to meet with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the country's incoming leader, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.During a s.....»»
Saso, Pagdanganan seek redemption at Ford Championship
Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan are determined to bounce back from their recent LPGA Tour performances as they mix it up with the world’s best in the Ford Championship......»»
Philippines sees increase in hotel bookings from overseas in 2023 — report
Hotel bookings from overseas rose in the Philippines in 2023, a report on hotel booking trends by hotel channel manager SiteMinder found......»»