Credit card issues make up a fourth of complaints filed
Credit card transactions accounted for a fourth of total consumer complaints, which reached 23,000 last year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas......»»
New Toyota Tamaraw to launch in Q4
The iconic Toyota Tamaraw is all set to make its return this year, with Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) planning to launch the next generation model in the fourth quarter......»»
Rama asks Malacañang to suspend Gwen over CBRT dispute
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Preventive Suspension. Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is seeking the suspension of Governor Gwen Garcia over issues related to the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT). Rama filed an administrative complaint before the Office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. against Garcia after the governor issued a cease and desist order to the.....»»
‘Monkey’ ID photo exposes loophole in Phl SIM card law
Philippine lawmakers have been left red-faced after an ID card bearing a photo of a "monkey" was used to breach new SIM card registration rules aimed at combatting rampant text messaging scams. Under the law signed by President Ferdinand Marcos in October 2022, mobile phone users are required to provide a photo and other personal details when buying a new SIM card. The rules also applied to tens of millions of existing users, who risked being disconnected if they did not register by the July 25 deadline. But, rather than stop spam and scam text messages, the telecom regulator told a Senate hearing this week that there had been a "sharp increase". To demonstrate how easy it was to get past telecom providers' automated vetting systems, a video showing a police officer using an ID card with a picture of a grinning "monkey" to successfully activate various SIM cards was played to exasperated senators. "You have a terrible system if you can see a monkey and yet you approve" the application, Senator Joel Villanueva told the hearing on Tuesday. Senator Grace Poe, one of the SIM card law's principal authors, lamented how text scams continued to defraud unsuspecting mobile phone users by offering fake jobs, lottery winnings, loans, and "even fake love at times". National Telecommunications Commission chief Ella Lopez said there were more than 118 million registered post-paid and pre-paid SIM cards in the Philippines. After the July deadline there was a brief drop in complaints filed to the regulator by scammed mobile users, Lopez said. Since then, however, there had been a "sharp increase", with more than 45,000 reports lodged, she said. To buy a SIM card in the Philippines, people are allowed to use one of several government-issued ID cards that do not have their biometrics. Jeremy Lotoc, cybercrime division chief of the National Bureau of Investigation, told senators that fraudsters, including online gaming operators, were hoovering up cheap SIM cards bought from unofficial sellers at 40 pesos (71 cents) each. But he said it was difficult for law enforcement to catch them. "The issue is, once you use the SIM (for a crime) and get your objective, it is discarded. So it is very difficult to find it," Lotoc said. The post ‘Monkey’ ID photo exposes loophole in Phl SIM card law appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Fact check: Sara Duterte ‘quote’ telling teachers with laptop issues to shut up is fake
A quote card in which Vice President and Department of Education Secretary Sara Duterte said teachers with complaints over their DepEd-issued laptops should "shut up" is fake......»»
13 more women accuse France’s Depardieu of sexual violence
Another 13 women have accused French actor Gerard Depardieu of sexual violence over two decades, investigative website Mediapart has reported, in the latest such allegations against him. The 74-year-old actor, long a star in France before the 1990 film "Green Card" made him a Hollywood celebrity, has through his lawyers categorically denied any wrongdoing. Contacted by AFP, the prosecutor's office on Wednesday said it had not received any new complaints, but that their investigation into 2018 accusations he had raped young French actress Charlotte Arnould was ongoing. Mediapart said Tuesday that 13 other women had also come forward to accuse Depardieu of molesting them on the set of 11 films or series that came out between 2004 and 2022 or in other locations offset. The accusations ranged from "a hand in underwear, on the crotch, on the buttocks or on the breasts" to "obscene sexual remarks" and "insistent grunts", Mediapart said. Even when this alleged abuse happened on set in front of witnesses, when the women complained, crews often laughed it off, saying it was just the actor's way, the investigative website reported. Rape allegation Actress Arnould filed her complaint in the summer of 2018 when she was 22, saying she had been raped twice by Depardieu in his Paris mansion a few days earlier. The actor -- a friend of Arnould's family -- was charged in December 2020 but not jailed. None of the 13 women have filed official complaints, Mediapart said, but three have given testimony to the judiciary. One of them said she did so "to help Charlotte Arnould" and break the silence on such incidents in the filmmaking sector. She told Mediapart she was an extra on the 2015 film "Big House" when Depardieu suddenly slipped his hand into her dress and she "felt his fingers trying to... reach my knickers". After she pushed it back, "he became aggressive. He tried to get past my underwear and finger me. I understood he was no longer acting. If I hadn't stopped him, he would have succeeded," she said. In 1991, Time magazine asked Depardieu about a 1978 interview in Film Comment magazine in which he described his rough childhood and was quoted as saying "I had plenty of rapes, too many to count". Asked if he had participated in the rapes, he told Time that he had. "But it was absolutely normal in those circumstances," the actor said. Depardieu later denied making the remarks and threatened to sue the magazine, but Time refused to retract the passage, saying the interview had been recorded on tape. The post 13 more women accuse France’s Depardieu of sexual violence appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Credit card issues make up a fourth of complaints filed
Credit card transactions accounted for a fourth of total consumer complaints, which reached 23,000 last year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas......»»
Beep card and Internet woes
On the Beep card fiasco I spoke out recently on the chaos caused by the mandatory use of the “Beep card” for consumers riding the public buses under the “no-card no-ride”policy. It was as if the riding consumers were being required to purchase a Beep card at “gunpoint” or forget about riding the bus. This chaotic scenario could have been avoided had the regulators done its work mindfully by first consulting with the stakeholders (“who”), drafting the new policy (“what”) and once agreed upon, by ensuring wide dissemination of the changes – the Implementing Guidelines. Where did “complete staff work” go? Or are the consumers just being given an example of doublespeak? What happened this week was consumers were confronted with the “no- card no-ride”signs on the buses and were required to pay for a ride plus the cost of the card, something they did not need to do before. For those who did pay the extra cost, they then had to find out that the policy was “suspended,” although no refunds were being offered.There was also the spectacle of the agency head announcing that the cards were free, contradicting the policy his agency had just announced and implemented. The card providers then said they were not about to waive their right to be paid. In another statement, a regulator functionary reasoned that it had nothing to do with the fine print on the contract for the cards since they were only responsible for “policy.” This violates the consumer’s right to be informed. The agency should have studied the sector most affected by the shift to cashless transaction – the consumer who must rely on public transportation because he has no alternative and the same consumer who must make every peso count and who cannot afford any extra expense. This consumer deserves earnest and timely information from government on why he has to pay an additional amount and how it will benefit him, and for the consumers who did pay the additional cost of the card, they should enjoy a swift refund. The lesson that we consumers learned in the Beep card fiasco is always to be aware and conscious of our consumer rights and to speak up when these rights are threatened or belittled. We should always be vigilant consumers about our rights lest we find these rights trodden again. On Internet speed Like every other consumers, I have problems with Internet speed. I pay my bills and fees on time , however, I believe I should only pay for the speed that I receive and I did not think I was getting what I paid for under my plan. Therefore, I conducted my own speed test and sought redress from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). I was able to get a refund and am paying now for the plan that is nearest to the speed I am getting. Consumers should exercise their right to seek redress for bad Internet speed. Consumers should be reimbursed for speed that is not delivered. In this time of the pandemic, profiteering should not be tolerated in any form. I call upon the NTC to take the lead by issuing implementing guidelines on refund for both prepaid and postpaid plans. Consumers should also ask for faster response on consumer complaints. The complaints of Messrs. Foronda and Platon posted in the Laban Konsyumer emails should be resolved faster. Hopefully, the reported 1,171 new cell tower permits should alleviate consumer woes in the near future. In the meantime however, if you are not getting value for the service you paid for, your option is to downgrade your plan to correspond to the speed you are getting and claim a refund of excess fees paid. You can submit your complaint online at www.ntc.gov.ph. Atty. Vic Dimagiba is President of Laban Konsyumer Inc. Email: labankonsyumer@gmail.com.....»»
PNVF forms coaching staff for world meet
Seasoned coach Dante Alinsunurin will make a comeback as one of the deputies for the national men’s team as host Philippines pulls out all the stops to parade a competitive squad against the best of the best in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championships 2025......»»
It s Showtime hosts to play in Family Feud
The hosts of the Kapamilya noontime show "It's Showtime" will make a guest appearance on the Kapuso game show "Family Feud," hosted by Dingdong Dantes......»»
Ombudsman junks case vs suspended Tabuk City, Kalinga mayor
Tabuk City, Kalinga province Mayor Darwin Estranero will be back to work on April 1 after the case filed against him in connection to the alleged overpricing of medical equipment for his town was dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman......»»
PNVF forms coaching sataff for world meet
Seasoned coach Dante Alinsunurin will make a comeback as one of the deputies for the national men’s team as host Philippines pulls out all the stops to parade a competitive squad against the best of the best in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championships 2025......»»
Property prices slow in Q4
The growth in property prices has been sustained for 10 straight quarters, albeit at a slower pace in the fourth quarter last year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas......»»
Unilab launches hub for health policy issues
Unilab Foundation recently launched the Unilab Center for Health Policy to serve as a venue for stakeholders to examine health policy issues.....»»
LTO: Paper-printed driver’s license ilisan na og plastic card
LTO: Paper-printed driver’s license ilisan na og plastic card.....»»
SPC grad No. 4 in MTLE
The San Pedro College (SPC) took to Facebook on March 27, 2024, congratulating Ai-Jay Vidal Cortez for placing fourth in the March 2024 Medical Technology Licensure Examination (MTLE)......»»
Xdinary Heroes make ‘extraordinary’ concert in Manila
Members of the South Korean rock band Xdinary Heroes showed that they were no ordinary musicians during their first world tour, “Break The Brake” last March 23 at the New Frontier Theater......»»
EDITORIAL - Finally, plastic license cards
It says a lot about the quality of governance and ease of doing business in this country that it takes forever just to obtain a plastic driver’s license card......»»
Alinsunurin appointed Philippine men’s volleyball assistant coach
Seasoned mentor Dante Alinsunurin will make a comeback as one of the deputies for the national men’s team as the host Philippines pulls out all the stops to parade a competitive squad against the best of the best in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championships 2025......»»
Will Smith, Vanessa Hudgens back in Bad Boys 4, trailer drops
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back for another round as Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett following the dropped trailer for a fourth "Bad Boys" movie, officially titled "Bad Boys: Ride or Die.".....»»
Moira Dela Torre highlights value of giving credit following viral copyright issue
Moira Dela Torre weighed in on the viral copyright issue and said that it is important to give credit where credit is due. .....»»