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(Free Malaysia Today) MANILA: Shrugging off his low rating in opinion polls, Philippine politician and former boxing star Manny Pacquiao says his impoverished roots make him the best person to be president, as he warned voters to avoid corruption-tainted candidates.

Pacquiao questioned why people supported Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the current frontrunner for the May 9 vote, pointing to the plundering of the country’s wealth during the harsh authoritarian rule of his late father and namesake.

“The root cause of our country’s problem is corruption and then we would vote for a candidate who has been tainted by corruption? What happened to us as a nation? Where is our intelligence?” Pacquiao said in an interview with Reuters yesterday.

Pacquiao is trailing in fourth place on 6% in the latest opinion poll, well behind Marcos, who is leading with 56%… Read More

(Business Mirror) THE competitive bidding for the 850-megawatt (MW) renewable energy (RE) mid-merit requirement of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) was declared a failure last Thursday by the Third-Party Bids and Awards Committee (TPBAC).

There was no bid offer received on the April 5 deadline to challenge the unsolicited proposal of Terra Solar Philippines Inc.

Terra Solar is the special purpose vehicle of Razon-led Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. and Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc. led by Leandro Leviste.

According to the TPBAC, there were no comparative bids received on Tuesday even if two interested bidders initially expressed interest to participate in the bidding. These are SMC Global Light and Power (SGLP) and SunAsia Energy Inc.

SGLP wrote and notified the TPBAC that it would no longer participate in the 850MW CSP. SunAsia, meanwhile, did not submit a bid but instead submitted and read a “Notice of Non-Submission of Bid.”

SunAsia manifested its interest to participate in the next round of Competitive Selection Process (CSP), should there be any. The TPBAC will welcome its participation, it said… Read More

(The Sun) THESE chilling photos show the overcrowded and disease-ridden prison in the Philippines a Brit mob boss is being locked up in.

Darren Wall, 44, was arrested with his wife Khanary Jane Abejo, 23, in a nightclub in Manila in March for allegedly brandishing a gun.

He was reportedly found with six grams of cocaine along with a 9mm Beretta pistol – but Wall denies any wrongdoing and claims the gun wasn’t his.

Cops claim the East Londoner was the leader of a brutal gang operating in the capital’s notorious red light district and want him behind bars for 18 years without parole over alleged drug dealings and extortion rackets.

Wall faces dying in Quezon City Jail, which is almost five times over capacity, leaving inmates stewing in their own filth.

The prison in the Philippine’s capital was built for just 800 but now has 3,800 inmates… Read More

(Interaksyon) A free newspaper in Hong Kong published an article about the widespread misinformation in the Philippines amid the campaign season and ahead of the 2022 polls.

The Standard, an English-language publication in Hong Kong, released an article on March 30 with a headline that reads: “Filipinos fall for fake history.”

Some online users managed to secure a copy of it and shared a photo of the paper online.

An entertainment page called CinemaBravo was among those who shared this photo on Facebook.

Journalist Christian Esguerra shared a link to the online version of it on Twitter.

The report by Faith Brown was originally published by news wire Agence France-Presse on March 23.

Its real headline also reads: “Marcos heir wins Philippine election misinformation race.”.. Read More

(Journal Online) Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Commissioner Ronald L. Adamat is the first Filipino recipient of the “Mahatma MK Gandhi Prize for Non-Violent Peace” awarded on March 27, 2022 during the World Peace Seminar and Award Ceremony hosted by the Mahatma MK Gandhi Foundation for Non-Violent Peace and organized by the international peace NGO, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL).

Peace advocates, heads of educational institutions, religious leaders, and international law professors from four continents have attended to affirm the solidarity in taking global actions for peace.

Since its inception in 1989, the Foundation has awarded the Mahatma MK Gandhi Prize for Non-Violent Peace every year to peace activists who have greatly contributed to global peace and humanity. Former laureates include former President of the U.S.A., Jimmy Carter and former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela… Read More

(The Borneo Post) The High Court today declared that 24-year-old Nalvin Dhillon — who was born to a Malaysian father and Filipino mother — a Malaysian citizen under the country’s Federal Constitution as he was not born a citizen of any other country, finally putting an end to years of being stateless.

Nalvin, who is due to turn 25 in June, had been trying together with his biological father since December 2009 or slightly more than 13 years ago to have himself recognised as Malaysian.

The decision was delivered by High Court judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh to recognise the boy from Klang as Malaysian.

“The plaintiff has fulfilled the condition precedents of Section 1(e) of Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution. Once this is established, the law is that citizenship by operation of law is almost automatic. It is a matter of birthright… Read More

(Sun Star) INTERNATIONAL tourism is expected to rebound in the coming years to pre-pandemic levels as the country ramps up environmental sustainability efforts on key tourist destinations.

Roberto Alabado III, Undersecretary for Tourism Regulation, Coordination and Resource Generation of the Department of Tourism (DOT) said they target the number of tourists going back to pre-pandemic levels by 2024 and 2025.

The Philippines recorded over eight million foreign tourists during the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

“Tourism will eventually learn to adapt to the current pandemic. Tourist behavior generally will change due to the current pandemic –more outdoor, smaller groups, health-conscious,” he said in a webinar.

To cater to tourists, Alabado said it is important to focus on the issues of environmental sustainability, including the need for more environmental action on key tourist spots, wastewater systems and solid waste systems.

“Investments (are) needed to protect the natural resources for tourism purposes,” he said.

Alabado also underscored the need to improve the world’s information about the country.

“There is still a lack of knowledge about the Philippines in general,” he said. “Digitalization of the Philippine tourism industry will rapidly change how tourism is done.”

Alabado said connectivity to destinations likewise is a must, thus the importance of having airports, roads, cruise ports and seaports.

“So for the past few years, with the ‘Build, Build, Build’ (infrastructure) program, this administration, we have to develop more or improve our airports so that people can now visit small islands at the same time cruise ports are being developed,” he said… Read More

(The Sun) He was reportedly found with six grams of cocaine along with a 9mm Beretta pistol.

Wall claimed the gun was not his and claims he was not the aggressor in the row.

Cops now claim he was the leader of a brutal gang in the capital which operated in the notorious red light district on Manila.

It is alleged he was involved in drug dealing and running a protection racket.

Police Colonel Michael Villanueva said Wall is facing a life sentence of 18 years without parole if he is found guilty of drug dealing and possessing a handgun.

Colonel Villanueva said: “He ran his criminal protection racket through fear.

“But now his reign of terror is over.”

The cop also alleged that Wall had at least five corrupt police officers on the payroll of his suspected organisation.

Abejo was arrested for refusing to comply with the officers when the couple were detained at the nightclub… Read More