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(Daily Tribune) Come 30 June, the Philippines will formally usher in a new administration under the leadership of the 17th President, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. After Congress officially proclaimed him and UniTeam running mate Sara Duterte as the new Vice President, all eyes are now focused on the final line-up of the new Cabinet members who will serve as President BBM’s most important management team.

Come 30 June, the Philippines will formally usher in a new administration under the leadership of the 17th President, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. After Congress officially proclaimed him and UniTeam running mate Sara Duterte as the new Vice President, all eyes are now focused on the final line-up of the new Cabinet members who will serve as President BBM’s most important management team.

An initial list on who will head the Executive department had been announced, with more appointments to follow in the coming days. First on the list is incoming VP Sara Duterte who accepted the role as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary. Long-time overseas Filipino workers (OFW) advocate Susan Ople is set to be secretary of the newly-formed Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). Former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairperson Benhur Abalos will serve as secretary for the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). Former Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma will return to head the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE). Ex-San Miguel Corp. Tollways President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel Bonoan will lead the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Cavite Rep. Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla has accepted the offer to be secretary of the Department of Justice (DoJ).

President BBM’s new economic team is also coming into form, with many applauding the selection of some of the country’s most recognized economic leaders. Incumbent Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno is set to be secretary of the Department of Finance (DoF), as Monetary Board Member Felipe Medalla takes his position in BSP. Former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan will lead the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). International development banker Alfred Pascual, meanwhile, will take on the role as secretary of Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)… Read More

(Asia One) Davao city in the Philippines is in a race against time for a solution to its landfill issues. Rapid urbanisation and poor separation of waste are taking a toll on the city’s only landfill, which will be full by 2023.

Enter the black soldier fly, whose larvae break down biodegradable waste with their strong mouthparts and powerful digestive enzymes, and effectively decompose matter like the debris of rotten animals and plants.

LimaDOL, a start-up in Davao, is using the flies to handle food waste and develop a chemical-free insect protein that can be fed to poultry.

This could be a more affordable and sustainable solution to the city’s waste problem, instead of the construction of a 2.5 billion peso (S$65 million) waste-to-energy (WTE) facility that the local government is considering.

Global environmentalists oppose this as WTE incinerators “produce very little energy while emitting large quantities of climate pollution”, according to international environmental network Gaia.

Carmela Marie Santos, Director of Ecoteneo, Ateneo de Davao University’s environmental organisation, called the WTE project a “false solution” as the problem could be rectified by proper waste segregation instead of constructing a WTE plant… Read More

(Manila Times) CHINA will hold naval exercises in the South China Sea on Saturday, its maritime authority said, after a week of recrimination from Western powers over its military ambitions across the Pacific region.

The exercises, set to take place in the sea less than 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) off the coast of south China’s Hainan province, come as the United States leads warnings over China’s growing military and economic presence in an area spanning from the South China Sea to the Pacific Islands.

“Military exercises will be held and entry is prohibited,” the Maritime Safety administration said in a statement Thursday, warning that an area of roughly 100 square kilometers would be closed off to maritime traffic for five hours.

China routinely conducts similar drills in waters near its shores, with an exercise in another area of the sea near Hainan scheduled for next week, as well as multiple others along the country’s eastern coastline.

But the latest exercises come as Beijing faces a growing chorus of warnings from the United States and Western allies over its naval ambitions, which critics say are a beachhead for a wider attempt to change the regional balance of power… Read More

(Journal Online) The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has set May 31, 2022 as the deadline of applications for research scholarships of doctorate students whose dissertation topics are relevant to its priority thrusts.

The scholarship is open to Filipinos and other Southeast Asians from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.

Headquartered at the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), SEARCA provides research funds not to exceed US$4,500 and optional internship at SEARCA for up to two months.

SEARCA Director Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio said those who will avail of the internship may be given additional scholarship funds to cover travel expenses to and from SEARCA, travel and accident insurance, and stipend during the internship period.

“During their internship, the scholars may use the resources and facilities available at SEARCA for their research. They will be able to work with SEARCA staff on common areas of interests in agriculture and rural development (ARD),” Dr. Gregorio said.

He stressed that the research topics of applicants must fall within the following SEARCA priority areas: Agri-Business Models for Increased Productivity and Income, Sustainable Farming Systems and Natural Resource Management, Food and Nutrition Security, Transformational Leadership for ARD, Gender and Youth Engagement in ARD, Enhanced ARD towards Climate Resilience, and Eco-Health/One-Health Applications to ARD… Read More

(Voice Of America) MANILA — Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was proclaimed the next president of the Philippines by a joint session of Congress on Wednesday following a landslide election triumph 36 years after his dictator father was ousted in a pro-democracy uprising.

The Senate and House of Representatives also declared that his separately elected vice presidential running mate, Sara Duterte, had won by a wide margin. She is the daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, whose turbulent six-year term ends on June 30.

They will lead a nation battered by COVID-19 lockdowns, crushing poverty, gaping inequality, Muslim and communist insurgencies, crime and political divisions further inflamed by the May 9 election.

Marcos Jr., a 64-year-old former governor, congressman and senator, has refused to acknowledge or apologize for massive human rights violations and plunder under his father’s strongman rule and has defended his legacy.

When they take office, Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte will likely face demands to prosecute her father over thousands of killings of mostly poor suspects under his yearslong crackdown on illegal drugs. The deaths are currently under investigation by the International Criminal Court.

Marcos Jr. received more than 31 million votes and Sara Duterte more than 32 million out of more than 55 million votes cast in the election. It was the first majority presidential victory in the Asian democracy in decades… Read More

(Time) he late Catholic Metropolitan Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin (1928-2005), liked playing up to the inevitable jokes about his name. “Welcome to the house of Sin,” used to be his mirthful greeting to guests at his official residence. But there was nothing humorous about his voice when he appeared on Radio Veritas, the Church’s broadcasting arm, on the night of Feb. 22, 1986.

He was not on the air to deliver a homily or prayer. Instead, Sin told listeners that two high-ranking military defectors were holed up in Camp Aguinaldo, a military base just northeast of the Philippine capital. He asked the faithful to surround the camp and protect the men from troops loyal to the country’s brutal dictator, Ferdinand Marcos.

“If any of you could be around Camp Aguinaldo to show your support in this very crucial period, when our two good friends have shown their idealism, I would be very happy if you could support them now,” Sin said… Read More

(The Conversation) The prospects for the Philippines under newly elected president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos have as much to do with a murky past as they do with modern challenges. Electing the son of a former dictator may make no sense to many on the outside, or to the many liberals inside the country who are now doing some deep reflection. But further cold hard truths lie ahead for the Philippines.

The crimes of members of the Marcos clan’s own very recent past still haven’t been fully accounted for. Ferdinand Marcos Snr fled the country following years of a dictatorship that plundered an estimated US$10 billion (£8 billion) of public funds.

There is also a question mark over the Marcos family’s unsettled estate tax liabilities. A 1997 decision of the supreme court had ordered the Marcoses to pay 23 billion pesos (£350 million) in estate tax. Asked about the issue in the run-up to the election, Marcos Jnr dismissed this issue as “fake news”. “Let’s leave it to the lawyers to discuss it.”

But this is only the latest unresolved case against the Marcos clan. The family matriarch Imelda, Marcos Jnr’s mother, still has more than a dozen cases pending against her after being found guilty of seven counts of graft in 2018. But nobody should seriously hope that these will come to any resolution or that Imelda will be held accountable for stealing obscene amounts of the country’s wealth under her husband’s reign, something the family vehemently denies… Read More

(Interaksyon) An old report about stories on Filipino inventions that turned out to be myths recently resurfaced online.

Esquire Philippines recently shared again its report titled “Filipino Invention Myths We Totally Fell For” which was published in June 2019.

The article listed and explained three widely popular stories about supposed Filipino inventions that were even taught in schools.

Further research about them, however, debunked them as fake claims.

Below are these inventions and an overview of the truth behind their myths:

Fluorescent lamp
Myth: It was invented by a Filipino electrician named Agapito Flores in 1935, hence, the name.

Fact: The fluorescent lamp known today was invented by and co-patented by Edmund Germer, Friedrich Meyer and Hans Spanner in 1927.

The name of the lamp also came from the scientific word “fluorescence,” a form of lighting observed as far back as the 16th century.

Moon Buggy
Myth: The Lunar Roving Vehicle that NASA used for its Apollo missions from 1971 to 1972 was invented by a Filipino engineer named Eduardo San Juan.

Fact: San Juan submitted a lunar transport vehicle design to NASA. However, it was rejected.

Armalite
Myth: A Filipino inventor named Armando Malite invented the M16 or the armalite during World War II, hence the name.

Fact: ArmaLite is the name of a small arms or weapons manufacturer that produced rifles in 1954. It was closed in 1980 and then revived in 1996.

It produced the AR-15 rifle that was licensed to another manufacturer called “Colt.”

In 1964, it was designated as Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M-16.

Yoyo
Myth: The toy is a pre-colonial weapon used by our ancestors.

Fact: According to the Museum of Yoyo History, yoyos only appeared in the Philippines during the American occupation… Read More