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(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — The Defense Department on Thursday said it is verifying the reported presence of a Chinese research ship near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea.

In a statement, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said authorities will take action “based on the facts gathered by the maritime patrols in the area.”

“Rest assured that the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), through the Northern Luzon Command, undertakes regular domain awareness operations and provides all the necessary support to the Philippine Coast Guard and other agencies to secure and implement our laws in our territorial waters and the EEZ (exclusive economic zone),” Lorenzana added.

The development comes after a social media post circulated claiming that a Chinese research vessel was sighted operating east of Scarborough Shoal.

The ship is supposedly being managed by a university in the East Asian giant, the post read.

Earlier this year, the Philippine government filed a flurry of diplomatic protests against Beijing over the lingering presence of its vessels in different parts of the country’s waters.

China has repeatedly rejected the landmark 2016 Hague ruling that invalidated its sweeping claims over the entire South China Sea… Read More

(PhilStar) MANILA, Philippines — Rebisco-led Asia United Bank (AUB) incurred a 36 percent drop in net income to P1.9 billion in the first half, from P2.4 billion in the same period last year, on the back of lower trading and securities gains amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

AUB president Manuel Gomez said the bank remains cautious about the impact of the more contagious Delta variant on the ability of the country to recover faster from the pandemic-induced recession.

“We expect 2021 to be a better year than 2020 due to the vaccine rollouts by the government and the private sector that will help improve consumer confidence and lead to increased economic activity. However, we remain cautious and vigilant about the COVID-19 variants and the economic impact of the ongoing pandemic. We are not letting our guard down,” Gomez said.

The lower earnings translated to a lower return on equity of 11 percent and return on assets of 1.2 percent.

Bucking the overall weakness in loan appetite due to sluggish consumer and commercial business activities, AUB was able to keep its net interest income steady at P5.4 billion.

The bank also managed to trim its operating expenses by three percent to P2.7 billion from January to June, resulting in a better cost-to-income ratio of 45.1 percent versus the industry’s 53.8 percent.

AUB said growing customer acceptance of its digital channels also helped trim its operating cost as well as increase efficiency and productivity. It has a network of 270 branches nationwide, including 48 branches of its four subsidiaries.

Furthermore, the Rebisco-led bank was able to slash its provision for potential loan losses by 41 percent to P896 million in the first semester from P1.5 billion in the same period last year.

The bank’s deposit base jumped by 22 percent to P282 billion from January to June this year, boosting its total assets by 16 percent to P336 billion in end-June… Read More

(GMA News Online) Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Wednesday warned residents against the supposed distribution of cash aid at the Quezon City Memorial Circle, saying it was fake information.

“This morning po nagkaroon na naman ng fake news na pinapapunta lahat ng taumbayan sa Quezon Memorial Circle para kumuha ng pera (This morning, there was fake news telling the people to go to Quezon Memorial Circle to get their cash assistance),” Belmonte said in a radio interview.

She also urged Quezon City residents to get their information from official sources.

“Gusto ko lang mag-apela sa lahat ng mga mamamayan ng Lungsod Quezon (I want to appeal to the residents of Quezon City), please get your information from official sources ,” she said.

“Marami po niyan ngayon na ang layunin ay i-sabotahe ang magandang gawain ng ating pamahalaan. So please lang po, please, ‘wag nating aksayahin ang panahon natin na hindi bina-validate ang information na natatanggap natin,” she later added.

(There are a lot of people now who wanted to sabotage the projects of the government. So please don’t waste your time not validating the information you are getting.)

The local government has previously advised qualified beneficiaries to refer to the list posted by the local government and their respective barangays on social media pages and other areas in their communities.

“Ang barangay din po ang magdedesisyon kung stubs ba ang gagamitin, color coding, per street, alphabetical name or per purok ang mode of distribution para masigurong maayos ang pagbibigay ng ayuda at mananatili ang minimum health standards,” Belmonte said in a statement.

(Your barangay officials will decide if the mode of distribution will be through stubs, color coding, per street, alphabetical arrangement, or per area to ensure that minimum health standards are followed.)

The list will also be posted in other areas within the barangay.

Belmonte said the local government has already coordinated with the Philippine National Police for security during the distribution to avoid any untoward incident that may stem from misinformation or sabotage.

“Nakipag-coordinate na kami sa PNP sa posibleng mangyari. Minsan may mga malisyosong gustong isabotahe ang maayos na proseso ng pamimigay ng ayuda (We already coordinated with the PNP for any eventuality because the possibility that someone will sabotage the orderly distribution of cash aid is always there),” she said.

“The challenge is orderly distribution amid the threat of the COVID virus, just like how this was accomplished last April,” she added… Read More

(GMA News) Tycoon Lucio Tan’s conglomerate LT Group Inc. (LTG) saw a lower bottom line in the first six months of 2021.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, LTG reported an attributable net income—or earnings excluding minority interests—of P3.73 billion, down 63% from P10.03 billion a year earlier.

“This is mainly due to the higher provisioning for credit losses booked by its banking subsidiary and the elimination of the gain from the transfer of real estate assets at the consolidated level,” LTG said.

This, after LTG’s banking unit Philippine National Bank (PNB) had a “negative net contribution of P6.46 billion after eliminating the gain of P33.60 billion at the consolidated LTG level.”

In particular, PNB reported a net income of P22.20 billion, inclusive of a P33.60 billion gain from the transfer of some properties into PNB Holdings Corporation.

“However, at the consolidated LTG level, these gains were not recognized, which together with higher provisioning for credit losses resulted in a P6.46 billion loss contribution from PNB to LTG,” LTG said.

On the other hand, LTG’s tobacco business accounted for P8.97 billion of total attributable income.

Tanduay Distillers, Inc. (TDI) added P602 million, while Asia Brewery, Inc. (ABI) contributed P343 million.

The company’s property arm Eton Properties Philippines Inc. (Eton) accounted for P287 million.

The 30.9% stake in Victorias Milling Company, Inc. (VMC) added P169 million to LTG’s bottom line.

LTG said it declared a P0.24 per share special cash dividend or a total of P2.60 billion and was paid in July.

This brought total cash dividends declared in 2021 to P0.48 per share or P5.19 billion. This is equivalent to 24.7% of LTG’s 2020 attributable net income… Read More

(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — The country on Wednesday received two more COVID-19 vaccine shipments totaling over 900,000 doses.

The latest delivery, a batch of 813,150 Pfizer shots procured by the national government, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) shortly before 9 p.m.

It came after 100,000 doses of the Hayat-Vax vaccine donated by the United Arab Emirates landed at the NAIA at around 1:55 p.m. The Hayat-Vax is essentially China’s Sinopharm vaccine, but is produced in the Gulf state.

The government said the doses donated by the UAE will be distributed to areas experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases.

The Pfizer vaccines will also be given to local governments experiencing a spike in infections, but vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. said highly urbanized areas, including Metro Manila, will be prioritized.

The country is expecting a total of 22.7 million more vaccine doses this month… Read More

(BusinessWorld) PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday night mocked a mayor who’s been doing well in election polls for the alleged disorder at his city’s vaccination sites, saying he was unfit to become President.
By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday night mocked a mayor who’s been doing well in election polls for the alleged disorder at his city’s vaccination sites, saying he was unfit to become President.

The tough-talking leader, alluding to Manila Mayor Francisco Moreno Domagoso — also known by his screen name Isko Moreno — ridiculed him for his past as a sexy actor. He should not become Philippine President, he added.

“That’s what you want — someone trained like call boy?” Mr. Duterte said in a televised speech in Filipino. “That’s the training for a President, stripping and having his picture taken.”

Before his stint in showbusiness, Mr. Domagoso was a scavenger and pedicab driver in one of the most populated districts in the Philippine capital.

The mayor had done well in polls on voters’ preferences for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, placing second to presidential daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio and Mr. Duterte, who earlier said he might run for vice-president next year.

The President said he would strip the city of its power to distribute government cash aid for the alleged chaos.

Sought for comment, Mr. Domagoso instead shared a certificate issued by the Interior and Local Government department two months ago praising his performance in distributing cash aid.

Potential candidates next year should brace for more political attacks, with less than two months left before they file their certificates of candidacy, political analysts said.

“The stronger challengers to the administration will likely be the object of smear campaigns,” said Dennis C. Coronacion, who heads the University of Santo Tomas Political Science Department.

“Pro-Duterte bloggers, vloggers and the entire disinformation machinery will go against whoever is doing good in the surveys,” he said in a Viber message.

Mr. Domagoso’s narrative could be easily discredited “because it’s personality- rather than platform-oriented,” said Cleve V. Arguelles, a political science lecturer at De La Salle University.

“It’s what happened to Jejomar Binay and Manny Villar’s presidential campaigns before,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “They only have to discredit their characters for their entire campaigns to lose credibility.”

The Interior and Local Government department last week ordered the Manila mayor, who was elected in 2019, to explain his city’s alleged failure to fully implement Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs.

The order may be an effort to harass Mr. Domagoso, who has a big chance of challenging a Duterte victory in the 2022 polls, said Maria Ela L. Atienza, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines.

Mr. Domagoso’s rise from poverty is a powerful narrative that could challenge the Dutertes and the country’s elite-dominated politics, she said in an e-mail.

The mayor, who beat ex-President Joseph Estrada in the 2019 elections, can develop a more powerful narrative “because he really has grassroots origins, unlike the President who comes from a political family,” Ms. Atienza said.

“Isko has actual ‘masa’ origins whereas the President, despite his tough talk, is part of the elite though he comes from Mindanao,” she added… Read More

(GMA News) Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Tuesday said all voters could be fully vaccinated by Eleksyon 2022 even as the national government has yet to reach its target of herd immunity this year.

“By that time, sa 2022 May elections, I think we have covered everybody, all voters, I mean. By that time, fully vaccinated na ‘yan,” Nograles said during the Pandesal Forum. He was asked about the government’s plan for next year’s national and local polls, which could be a superspreader event.

(By 2022 elections, I think we have covered all voters. By that time they are fully vaccinated.)

He said by 2022, the government could possibly focus on vaccinating children and teenagers.

He further noted the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) cannot release guidelines about elections, adding that rules for voting will be up to the Commission on Elections.

“Ultimately, it is the Comelec that conducts the elections at ‘di siya obliged to listen to anybody. Strictly speaking, not even the IATF or the President kasi independent siya e so that being said we have to await guidelines na ibibigay ng Comelec,” he added.

(Comelec conducts the elections and it is not obliged to listen to anybody. Not even the IATF or President because it is independent so that being said we have to await guidelines to be issued by Comelec.)

As of Aug. 8, the Philippines already fully vaccinated 11.3 million people but it is still far off its target of inoculating 70 million Filipinos.

Philippines is currently focusing on the vaccination of the target eligible population or those aged 18 years old and above… Read More

(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 10) — Over 79,000 people in the country are currently sick with COVID-19, according to the Department of Health.

The DOH case bulletin on Tuesday listed 79,016 active cases, the highest since April 24, when the number of ill patients was above 89,000.

The active case count is 4.7% of the infection tally, which rose to 1,676,156 after 8,560 more people caught the virus. At least 94.4% of active cases have mild symptoms, 1.7% have severe symptoms, 1.7% are asymptomatic, 1.18% are in moderate condition and 1% are in critical condition.

The death toll climbed to 29,220 or 1.74% of total cases after 92 more people lost their lives to the disease. Meanwhile, 7,964 got better, raising the recovery count to 1,567,920 which is 93.5% of the case total.

The DOH said it reclassified 36 survivors — seven into active cases and 29 into deaths — after validation, and deleted 118 duplicate cases, including 114 recoveries.

The total excluded data from 13 laboratories that failed to submit their reports on time, the DOH added. These laboratories contributed an average of 2.8% of samples tested and 2.8% of positive individuals in the last 14 days, the agency said.

The positivity rate, or percentage of people that yielded positive results out of the total tested, continued to rise, from 21.7% on August 7 to 21.9% based on 33,070 tests reported on August 8. The rate has been above 20% for the past three days, indicating an urgent need to test more people, according to the US nonprofit Covid Act Now that sets the benchmark for adequate testing at below 3%.

Covid Act Now’s metrics serve as basis for the OCTA research team’s projections. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization says a positivity rate below 5% shows the infection is under control.

OCTA also flagged an increase in cases in areas outside Metro Manila namely: Cebu City, Tuguegarao City, Bulacan and Cavite among others. Cebu City is suffering the worst surge with the local government even considering setting up a mass grave for deceased COVID-19 patients.

Acting Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama asked the national government for additional vaccines as the metropolis is being “challenged” by the rise in COVID-19 patients.

For OCTA, its recommendation to slow the spread of the coronavirus in these areas is to place them under the strictest enhanced community quarantine… Read More