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(GMA News) Registration for the national ID system was suspended in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan on Wednesday as people swarmed the area, in violation social distancing measures.

According to Jun Veneracion’s Thursday report on “24 Oras,” the local government had only expected 1,600 registrants who were contacted via text message to go the shopping mall where the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) had organized the registration.

However, up to 4,000 registrants showed up at the venue, most of whom were not scheduled that day.

“Pina-suspend muna namin ‘yung kanilang operations yesterday afternoon atsaka today and most probably tomorrow, suspended pa rin [We suspended the operations yesterday afternoon, today, and most probably we’ll also suspend tomorrow],” Atty. Rizaldy Mendoza, Assistant City Administrator, said.

“Kasi nga, gusto ko sanang ang city makialam doon sa sistema nila para po maiayos natin ‘yung sistema ng PSA [Because I want the city to get involved in their system so we can fix it.],” he added.

Marian Santiago, one of the registrants, said she felt mad due to the people’s lack of discipline amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Obviously, dikit-dikit and magulo. It’s— may matanda, may bata, so walang sistema [Obviously, there was no space and it was chaos. There were seniors, young people, no system was in place],” she said.

GMA News has reached out to the PSA for comment.

For siblings Elaine and Mary Rose Saraga, however, what happened was not new.

“Hindi na rin po ako nagulat kasi nung 18 po kumuha kami ng National ID, which is napakadami ding tao. Siksikan, walang social distancing,” Elaine said.

(I’m not surprised because we went to get a National ID on the 18th, and it was also crowded. There place was packed and there was no social distancing… Read More

(Manila Bulletin) Four young Filipino cadets graduated from the prestigious United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) on Wednesday, May 19, where US President Joe Biden as the guest of honor and speaker. The USCGA Class of 2021 is composed of 240 new graduates, including seven international students from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Georgia.

First-class Filipino cadets Genison Basilio, Eric Joseph Noble, Daisy Anne Atayan, and Dianne Shaira Basuel are Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) sponsored cadets under the Coast Guard Cadetship program. The Filipino graduates are set to commence their Coast Guard training and service in the Philippine waters. During his speech, US President Joe Biden challenged the newly graduates “to be the future” in the changing world.

“The world is changing. We need you even more. It’s time for you to go out and be the future, to make the future,” Biden said in the USCGA’s 140th commencement exercises in New London, Connecticut. Biden also expressed his gratitude and acknowledged the support of the parents and families for raising “young people of incredible courage and determination.”

“We must continue to model responsible maritime behavior and uphold clear rules of international agreements that will protect and steward this pristine environment and secure it for future generations,” Biden said. During the ceremony, PCG District Palawan Commander Commodore Genito Basilio accompanied his son Genison, as Biden handed over his diploma… Read More

(ABS-CBN) G.I. Joe comics welcomes its first Filipino G.I. Joe.

G.I. Joe, which began from a line of action figures and was popularized in the Philippines as an animated series in the late ’80s to early ’90s, is introducing Filipino character Nestor Abuba. Abuba, who carries the codename “Multo” or ghost, is a former member of the Philippine Special Forces.

G/I. Joe comic collector and historian Diana Davis broke the news via Twitter.

“I’m pretty excited about the 2 new Joes joining the team in GI Joe #283! Say “heya” to: Black Hat, computer hacking specialist. File name: Olivia Baipaj. & Multo, ex Philippine Special Forces. File name: Nestor Abuba,” said Davis.

According toi Comic Odyssey, G.I. Joe #283 will be offered locally through their reservation system this weekend.

“G.I. JOE A Real American Hero #283 featuring the first Filipino G.I. Joe member, Nestor Abuba aka MULTO, will be offered on our F.O.C. reservations system this Saturday. G.I. Joe #283 will arrive around June 17. Don’t miss out. Log in your pre-orders on our website this weekend!” it said in its announcement… Read More

(GoodNewsPilipinas) WATCH the Philippines’ first Aerodrome Tower 3D Simulator as it goes live from the Civil Aviation Training Center in Pasay City, Manila, after the inauguration on Wednesday.

The Aerodrome Tower 3D Simulator serves as an aid to artificially recreate the control tower environment mainly for air traffic controller (ATC) training and design.

The visual simulator provides a 315-degree horizontal field of view (HOF) which encompasses three (3) air traffic controller (ATC) working positions, one (1) supervisor position, and four (4) pseudo pilot positions.

Six (6) airport scenario settings are installed in the simulator program, which can be used for air traffic controller proficiency in the airport environment of Manila, Clark, Mactan, Plaridel, Davao, as well as a generic single-runway airport.

The simulator also paves the way to eliminate primary training methods applied in the aerodrome laboratory training module of the Civil Aviation Training Center (CATC), thus, providing a modern aviation safety training for the aviation personnel.

With the state-of-the-art simulator, instructional methods will be enhanced, and trainees will be given an appropriate impression of the ATC environment, through the recreation of real-time visual scenarios from a control tower.

The simulator is intended to help ATCs in training, testing, and maintaining proficiency in handling aerodrome control operations without involving any risk to property or lives, and at a much lower cost than training in actual air traffic control conditions.

The 3D Simulator is a Php 84.9 million project which includes supply, installation, and testing completed last March before the virtual launch on May 19, 2021… Read More

(BusinessWorld) THE PHILIPPINES on Tuesday rejected China’s fishing ban in parts of the South China Sea and asked it to stop violating the Southeast Asian nation’s sovereignty.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said China’s three-month fishing moratorium that started on May 1 covers areas over which the Philippines controls.

“These waters include areas over which the Philippines exercises sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction,” the agency said.

“The Philippines strongly urges China to desist from any action and activity that infringes on Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction, in contravention of international law,” it added.

DFA said China’s annual fishing moratorium extends far beyond its legitimate maritime entitlements under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea “and is without basis under international law,” DFA said.

“China cannot legally impose nor legally enforce such a moratorium in the West Philippine Sea,” it added, referring to areas of the sea within the country’s exclusive economic zone.

A United Nations arbitration court in 2016 rejected China’s claim to more than 80% of the South China Sea. The Philippines under President Benigno S.C. Aquino III filed the lawsuit that critics said Mr. Duterte had failed to pursue.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. on May 13 ordered his agency to file another diplomatic protest against China for the continued presence of almost 300 ships in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday night barred his Cabinet from talking in public about the country’s sea dispute with China, which some of his ministers had rebuked for its actions in the disputed waterway.

He said only his spokesman could talk about the issue publicly.

Mr. Locsin this month minced no words in telling the Chinese to get out of Philippine waters in the South China Sea, cussing at its neighbor for failing to reciprocate its goodwill.

The presidential palace later distanced itself from Mr. Locsin. Presidential spokesman Herminio L. Roque, Jr. said Mr. Duterte is against the use of profanities in the field of diplomacy.

Mr. Locsin later apologized to his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, after his expletive-laden tweet.

Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana had also told Chinese ships in the disputed sea to leave.

Mr. Roque on Tuesday said only he and Mr. Locsin could talk about the sea dispute in public.

He said a Philippine task force on border patrols had also been barred from commenting on the issue.

The task force earlier said 287 Chinese ships were still in Philippine waters, many of them spotted near artificial islands built by China, while some were near islands occupied by Manila, based on patrols made on May 9.

Two Houbei class missile warships were also near Mischief Reef, while two Vietnamese logistics ships and a VN Coast Guard vessel were at Grierson Reef, it said.

Thirty-four Chinese ships also remained at Whitsun Reef, which the Philippines also claims.

The government would continue to defend its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the “West Philippine Sea,” the task force said, referring to areas of the waterway within the country’s exclusive economic zone.

Mr. Roque said the Philippines would continue to “patrol relevant areas to assert what is ours.” “Our principled position and stand on the West Philippine Sea remains. Our vessels will continue.”

Aside from the Philippines and China, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also claim parts of the waterway… Read More

(PhilStar) MANILA, Philippines — After a month-long layoff, Alex Eala is back in action with hopes of winning her second pro title in the W15 Platja D’Aro in Spain.

The Filipina tennis star is seeded to the main draw of the $15,000 tilt that started yesterday and runs until the weekend through the junior exempt program as the current No. 3 player in the ITF Juniors.

Her first-round opponent, including the exact match schedule today, will depend on the ongoing qualifying draw.

Eala’s last stint was a third-round exit in her first W60 event in Switzerland last April 9. She was scheduled to play in two W15 tournaments in Turkey earlier this month but was forced to withdraw due to the COVID-19 situation there.

In the nearby Platja D’Aro, the 15-year-old ace is expected to meet familiar faces led by Swiss sensation Simona Waltert, who eliminated her in the W60 Bellinzona last month.

Eala is out to weave the same magic in the Spain tourney after winning her career breakthrough title last January in Mallorca, where she studies and trains as a Rafael Nadal Academy scholar.

The left-handed prodigy is also treating this comeback as a chance to move back up in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings after slightly slipping to No. 662 from No. 660 in the updated list released yesterday… Read More

(BusinessWorld) The Philippines ordered 40 million coronavirus vaccine doses from Pfizer Inc., the Southeast Asian nation’s biggest supply agreement as it fights one of the region’s worst outbreaks.

The term sheet for the order has been signed, Carlito Galvez, who leads the nation’s vaccination program, said in a mobile-phone message on Monday evening.

The deal gives a boost to the Philippines, which is targeting to achieve herd immunity this year to help an economy that remained in recession last quarter.

But while the country expects more than 200 million vaccine doses to arrive this year, recruiting as many as 50,000 health workers to administer shots in key cities poses a challenge, Galvez said in a briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte. Most doctors and nurses are still treating Covid-19 patients in hospitals, Galvez said, following a surge in infections that started mid-March.

The government plans to hire midwives, pharmacists, paramedics and medicals students to administer the vaccines, Galvez said. Inoculating workers and the poor will start this month, he said.

The Philippines recorded 5,979 new virus cases on Monday, bringing the total to 1.15 million, the second highest in Southeast Asia next to Indonesia with 1.74 million. More than 2.5 million vaccine doses have been administered out of a population of more than 109 million, using vaccines mostly from Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and AstraZeneca Plc.

Duterte, on Monday night, warned he may impose another “strict lockdown” should the public disregard health protocols as the country has detected new Covid-19 variants… Read More

(GMA News) A nurse of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) recounted how she and her fellow medical frontliners saved patients from a four-hour fire that hit one of the hospital’s operating rooms last weekend.

According to Ian Cruz’s Tuesday report on “24 Oras,” “wonder nurse” Roginette Luis Veloso was among those who helped evacuate more than 20 patients from the fire that engulfed a second floor of the hospital.

Veloso’s KN95 mask was blackened by soot after she rescued patients from the fire.

“I felt a rush of adrenaline, I had to do what I could to save the patients,” Veloso said in Filipino.

Meanwhile, Dr. Gerardo Legaspi, chief of PGH, said they had secured more industrial fans to vent the smokey odor left by the fire.

Legaspi said he expected the hospital to be fully operational by Thursday.

To recall, PGH’s operating room sanitization area was ravaged by the blaze past midnight on Sunday.

No one was hurt in the blaze but the Bureau of Fire Protection estimated that the damage would reach P300,000… Read More