The power of the public in deterring gray zone tactics
The speed by which information spreads has progressed exponentially, and this has helped raise public awareness in the local, national and international fora......»»
PCG won’t resort to ‘gray zone tactics’ in West Philippine Sea
The Philippine Coast Guard will not resort to “gray zone tactics” in dealing with intruding Chinese coast guards and militia vessels in the West Philippine Sea......»»
BSP delivers small rate hike on peak inflation hopes
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas hiked interest rates on Thursday in a bid to contain brutal inflation that has sapped the public’s purchasing power......»»
Philippines, US defense chiefs condemn China’s ‘gray-zone activities’
The Philippines and the United States once again stand together to condemn China’s illegal activities in the South China Sea that go against a 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, flexing the two countries' defense pact......»»
You can now pay travel tax online. Here’s how
The infrastructure arm of the Department of Tourism, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), on Tuesday, launched the Online Travel Tax Services Systems, providing the public with a convenient channel to pay their travel taxes online......»»
What is your “buying power” metric for REITs all about?
Buying Power doesn’t take a REIT’s authorized capital stock level into account, only how much “value” it could monetize through the issuance of primary shares from where it is today down to that minimum public ownership limit......»»
Gray zone
Is it a benign tool for civilian use, or a military-grade weapon?.....»»
CREIT confirms parent s plan to go public
Citicore Renewable Energy Corp — the parent firm of real estate investment trust company CREIT Corp. — is planning to go public to raise cash for its ambition to ramp up its clean power platform......»»
Expect recurrence of power alerts – DOE
The public should expect power grids to be on yellow and red alerts from time to time due to tight supply, the Department of Energy said yesterday as it pushed its call for energy efficiency......»»
PREIT IPO fully subscribed
The initial public offering of the Villar Group’s Premiere Island Power REIT Corp. was fully subscribed as of Friday despite the prevailing market volatility, industry sources said......»»
Unemployment rate down in September, but job quality worsens as inflation stings
The jobless rate worsened in September as firms and businesses contended with piping hot inflation that suppressed the public’s purchasing power......»»
South Korea’s Halloween crowd surge: What we know
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea is investigating the exact cause of a deadly crowd surge that killed 154 people at a Halloween event, as public outrage grows over perceived policing and crowd control failures. A man offers a flower at a joint memorial altar for victims of the deadly Halloween crowd surge, in Naksopyeong, near the district of Itaewon in Seoul on October 31, 2022. ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP What went wrong and why did so many people die at the first post-pandemic Halloween party in Seoul’s popular Itaewon nightlife district? Here is what we know: What’s going on? The government promised a “thorough and transparent investigation” into the exact causes of the deadly crush in Itaewon, and police said Monday they had launched a task force and started the probe. They’ve deployed forensic experts, seized footage from 50 security cameras in the area, and interviewed scores of witnesses, victims, and workers at nearby stores, according to a senior police officer. How did it happen? Typically, a gathering of over 1,000 people has to submit “safety management plans” to the government in advance for review by police and fire departments. But in the case of the Itaewon Halloween festivities, there is no designated event organiser — individual bars, clubs and restaurants simply hold their own events and people flock to the area. Just weeks before, a “Global Village Festival” was safely staged in the exact same streets — but it was an organised event sponsored by local authorities. As a result, it had “effective crowd control with many police officers and district office staff in charge”, said Kim Min-kyu, who runs a currency exchange shop near the site of the accident and saw both events. Police have admitted to lapses in their real-time management of the event. “Police officers on the scene didn’t detect a sudden surge in the crowd,” Hong Ki-hyun, chief of the National Police Agency’s Public Order Management Bureau, told local reporters. Why was it so bad? Experts say the crowd crush could have been prevented with proper preparation, But they admit things have gotten more difficult after years of pandemic-related lockdowns. “Everywhere in the world event organisers are struggling with the post-Covid crowd,” said Eric Kant, a crowd safety specialist who runs the Phase01 Crowd Management. “A lot of visitors are new with partying, they are indeed very excited, and maybe do not understand risks very much,” he added. Key risk factors for crowd surges are “unrestricted entry” of people into a small space, and “no ticket sales” which means organisers have no exact estimate of demand, experts say — all of which happened at Itaewon. “This is a recipe for disaster in mass gatherings,” crowd safety expert Milad Haghani of the University of New South Wales told AFP. Even for the Halloween event — a public gathering with no tickets — authorities could have been actively managing the situation to prevent overcrowding. “On the day, this would mean monitoring the numbers, at the very least,” said John Drury, an expert on crowd psychology at the University of Sussex. “It would also mean a public information campaign beforehand to discourage such large numbers attending.” He warned that psychology studies show people actually seek out “objectively dangerous levels of density” at events, and organisers need to be aware of this risk. Who is to blame? So far, no one has been held accountable, even as public anger flares at the government and police for their apparent lack of oversight. Top-ranking officials have brushed off questions about taking responsibility, saying the priority is currently on helping the victims and dealing with the aftermath of the accident. Much local criticism has focused on the police — but experts say they are not necessarily at fault. “We should remember that the primary role of the police is generally not crowd management,” said Martyn Amos, a professor at Northumbria University who works on crowd simulation. “It’s possible to manage an event largely using stewards, with the police there to ensure public order and to deal with criminal activity,” he told AFP. What happens next? The government is under immense pressure to resolve this quickly — and properly. The opposition Democratic Party has already slammed the government’s handling of the event, and will likely push for resignations once the national mourning period ends on November 5. The Itaewon crush could deal another blow to President Yoon Suk-yeol’s popularity ratings — already at record lows. There is also a possibility that the disaster, if mishandled, could become a major political liability for the government. In 2014 then president Park Geun-hye was in power during the sinking of the Sewol ferry in which 304 people — mostly school children — died. She was widely criticised for her handling of the incident. The issue lingered over her presidency until she was impeached three years later over a corruption scandal......»»
Some job orders being used as ‘legal’ vote-buying – Lente
Poll watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) disclosed on Wednesday, Oct. 26 that some job orders as a form of “legal” vote-buying by functioning as coordinators for purposes of electoral campaigns. Indelible ink is applied to a voter’s finger (MB FIle Photo) This finding was part of Lente’s 12-week monitoring effort on the Abuse of State Resources (ASR) which according to the poll watchdog, is an overlooked form of political corruption in the Philippines. Lente said that candidates or political parties “unduly” utilize official powers and government resources to gain electoral advantage. ASR involves different types of abuse which include abuse of financial resources, institutional resources, regulatory/legal resources, and coercive/enforcement resources. Lente explained that over the course of their research, it learned the use of some job orders as a form of “legal” vote-buying. It added that under the Local Government Code, the local chief executives have the power to engage and hire job order personnel as early as a year prior to elections. Due to this, part of the proposed recommendations of Lente in relation with this issue is the amendment of Section 261 (j) of the Omnibus Election Code to establish a mechanism for command responsibility in so far as the local chief executive /mayor is concerned, in the event that the perpetrator of ASR is a local government employee, or under a job order contract. It also seeks the amendment of Comelec-CSC Joint Circular No. 1 S. 2016 or the Advisory on Electioneering and Partisan Political Activities to include job orders under the prohibition on engaging with Electioneering and Partisan Political Activities. It also proposes a further study be conducted regarding the practice of some local government units using the provisions in Local Economic Enterprise to justify mass hiring of job order casuals. “The abuse of institutional resources pertains to the misuse of a state’s physical resources such as infrastructures and vehicles,” Lente said in a statement. “Among the 127 voter respondents interviewed, only 25 percent observed ASR in their respective areas and their observation involved incumbent candidates who utilized government vehicles to transport supporters to campaign sorties and to distribute campaign materials within the locality. Likewise, the community leaders made a similar observation,” it added. On the other hand, Lente bared that abuse of financial resources usually takes the form of campaigns veiled as a distribution of social services. it mentioned that this is a more challenging proposition with respect to ASR, pertaining to the practice of muddling social services and campaigns. “A number of respondents revealed that the most common observations in relation to this type of abuse is the presence of politicians during distribution of ayuda by DSWD and other government programs such as DOLE-TUPAd,” the poll watchdog said. Unfortunately, Lente stated that the general public had a hard time differentiating between legitimate social services and ASR by incumbent officials......»»
Mayon Volcano s alert status raised to level 2
Phivolcs advised the public to be vigilant and refrain from entering the six kilometer-radius Permanent Danger Zone to minimize the risks from sudden explosions, rock fall, and landslides......»»
ASF cases continue to spread in Zambo City
ZAMBOANGA CITY - The Office of the City Veterinarian (OCVet) continued to call on the public to monitor and immediately report hog illnesses and deaths.Dr. Mario Arriola, OCVet chief, issued the appeal Saturday as the city remains in the red (infected) zone classification of the African swin.....»»
Go beyond comfort zone, fight for what s right: PBBM
MANILA - On the eve of the observance of Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice), President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. enjoined the public to step out of their comfort zones and fight for what is right.Marcos said the commemoration of one of the main celebrations of Muslims on Saturday is a re.....»»
Senators respect PBBM veto power; to refile Bulacan ecozone bill
MANILA - Despite the aborted jobs and livelihoods that would have benefited his province mates, Senator Joel Villanueva said Sunday that he respects the veto on House Bill (HB) 7575 that sought to establish the Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (BACSEZFA) in Bulakan.....»»
What’s in it for Leyte? Stakeholders question second SMC LNG plant in Visayas
Questions were raised as SMC subsidiary Prestige Power Resources Inc. (PPRI) held a public scoping for the 600 MW project in Brgy. Tugas in Tabango – the second SMC is holding in Visayas......»»
Solar power for public schools eyed in Ilocos Norte
LAOAG CITY - Ilocos Norte is looking forward to reducing its carbon footprint and improving its air quality by powering its public schools with solar energy.The solar panels will be initially installed at the rooftop building of the relatively new College of Medicine at the Batac campus of t.....»»
6 tindahan sa Iloilo nagliyab
Nasunog ang anim na tindahan sa Estancia Public Market sa bahagi ng Poblacion Zone 2, sa Estancia, Iloilo, Miyerkoles ng gabi. The post 6 tindahan sa Iloilo nagliyab first appeared on Abante......»»
Senator flags reported cyber espionage by Chinese-speaking actors ahead of polls
Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday called on the government to investigate reported cyber espionage attacks carried out by Chinese "actors" against the Philippines, warning that the regional power might deploy the same tactics to interfere with upcoming elections next year. .....»»