THE MISSION of the Special Olympics to foster an inclusive environment for persons with intellectual disabilities (PIDs) got a big boost locally after poultry integrator company Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. (BAVI) entered into a partnership with the sports organization for a campaign geared towards providing opportunities to individuals with special needs.
Dubbed “Kaya ‘Yan, Manok ng Bayan,” the campaign will see the local office of Special Olympics Asia Pacific (SOAP) and BAVI’s Chooks-to-Go brand conduct sports fests and training sessions for PIDS all over the Philippines.
On top of this is the thrust for a nationwide recruitment of PIDs to BAVI’s offices.
The memorandum of agreement for the partnership was formally signed on Tuesday with Chooks-to-Go President Ronald Mascariñas and Special Olympics Philippines National Director Kaye Samson, representing SOAP Managing Director Dipak Natali, as signatories.
The signing of the pact was held at Discovery Suites Ortigas.
The parties welcomed the partnership, seeing it as going a long way in helping improve the current landscape for PIDS in the country, particularly overcoming various challenges — be they attitudinal, structural or logistical — that people with special needs face.
“Filipinos with intellectual disabilities have inherent dignity and abilities that must be recognized. We are grateful to Special Olympics Asia Pacific for helping us to appreciate more deeply the unique contribution of PIDS to the world of business. We are happy that, through our involvement in sports, we will be able to help PIDs to excel in them and gain life skills and self-confidence in the process,” said Mr. Mascariñas at the signing ceremony.
BAVI is seeing what PIDs are capable of doing in an office environment first-hand as currently under its employ is Henry Munarriz, 21, an international powerlifting athlete with an intellectual disability who is now part of the company’s human resources division.
Mr. Mascariñas said it is their goal to hire more people like Mr. Munarriz to further incorporate them to society and channel focus on what they can do rather than their limitations.
For Ms. Samson, they, at Special Olympics, hope that their partnership with BAVI would open more opportunities for PIDs to be taken by other groups under their wings.
“This partnership is very important, because why? We live in a society where people with intellectual disabilities are last. When we usually ask for support, they don’t mind people with intellectual disabilities because they don’t believe in them. But we in the Special Olympics believe that people with intellectual disabilities deserve the right to play on the same playing field, deserve to live in the same world we all live in,” said Ms. Samson.
“So we are thankful to BAVI for this wonderful partnership; for believing in our athletes and people with intellectual disabilities, because they really deserve to be shown to the world, what they can do,” she added.
BAVI said it plans to make the partnership a long-term one so as to help more PIDS across the country.
Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. entered into a partnership with the Special Olympics for a campaign geared towards providing opportunities to persons with intellectual disabilities.
SOUTHEAST Asian Games Filipino dancesports gold winners will undergo a one-month European training camp in February for their preparation for this year’s World Dancesports Federation (WDSF) World Championship Standard Adult competition in Nov. 21 in Vienna, Austria.
Sean Aranar, winner of last SEA Games dancesports gold medal in the Viennese waltz, tango and the five dance mixed events together with partner Ana Nualla, said they are considering to train in Lithuania, Germany or in Italy.
“We are still finalizing our training camp in Europe and we’re considering Lithuania, Germany or Italy as our training camp venue. We want to compete in different dancesports events also while we’re there,” said Aranar, who is also eyeing to improve their 103rd in the world ranking among 300 couples.
“That European training camp will serve as our preparation for the World Championship.”
Aranar added that they will go to Europe to train again just what they did last year prior to the start of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games competition when they trained in Lithuania under coach Donatas Vezelis and Lina Chatkeviciute.
Besides Aranar and Nualla, SEA Games gold winner in single dance pasadoble and Latin dance events Michael Angelo Marquez and Stephanie Sabalo will also join them in the training camp in Europe.
The Philippine Dancesports team, formed by the Dancesports Council of the Philippines Inc. (DSCPI) headed by President Becky Garcia, collected 10 gold medals in the last Southeast Asian Games in Angeles, Pampanga.
After ruling the SEA Games, Aranar and Nualla captured the Amateur Standard A open gold in the Giai Vo Dich KVTT T&T DanceSport Cup Invitational Open competition in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam last December 22. Marquez and Sabalo also bagged the gold in the Latin A event.
Other dancesports SEA Games gold medalists were Aunzo Wilbert and Pearl Marie Cañeda and Mark Gayon and Joy Renigen.
The Women’s World Chess Championship is currently ongoing between the defending champion Ju Wenjun of China versus Russian challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina, who won the 2019 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament. The first six games were held in Shanghai, China and they are currently moving over to Vladivostok, Russia, for the second half.
I expect women’s chess to be on the rise in the coming years. FIDE President Arkdy Dvorkovich has spoken several times that he considers it his responsibility to address and dismantle any barriers that females face at engaging in chess and he wants to inspire your girls to immerse in the game, foster their talents and provide every opportunity for them to compete at the very top level.
We are off to a good start. One of the world’s top chess websites ChessBase.com has come up with year-end awards of Best Player for 2019, Best Combination for the Year, Best Endgame for the Year. For the latter two categories no distinction is made between male and female and, believe it or not, for the first time ever both were won by women.
The ”Best Combination for 2019” was from the game Polina Shuvalova versus Anna Afonasieva from the World Under-18 Girls Championship held in Mumbai last October. Polina’s creation outpointed the 2nd placer Safarli vs Rodshtein by a factor of more than 2 is to 1.
First, a few words about the winner. WGM Polina Shuvalova (Russia) was born March 12, 2001. She is one of the newest young stars from Russia and has won the World Under-18 Championship twice (2018 and 2019) and just last October took home the World Junior (Under-20) Championship for girls.
Even more impressive than her excellent results is the quality of her games. She is a disciple of power chess — excellent preparation in openings backed by forceful play and the ruthless ability to finish off a game. This is aptly demonstrated in the following game with first a rook and then a queen sacrifice to force checkmate. Watch!
Shuvalova, Polina (2412) — Afonasieva, Anna (2312) [B92]
World Under — 18 Ch Girls 2019 Mumbai (7.1), 07.10.2019
I believe that the attacking sequence 11.f5 followed by 12.g4 was first played by Nigel Short against Boris Gelfand in the 1996 Amsterdam tournament. Nigel is a notorious “Sicilian Killer” and attacks the opening all the time with gusto. Kasparov has joked that Short has only one idea against the Sicilian: the move g2–g4. Well, it works doesn’t it?
11…Bd7
The stem game went 11…Bc4 12.g4 h6 13.g5 hxg5 14.Bxg5 Nbd7 15.Rg1 Rfc8 16.Bxc4 Qxc4 17.Qf3 Kf8 18.a3 b5 19.Nd2 Qc6 20.Qh3 White is clearly better. Short,N (2665) — Gelfand,B (2700) Amsterdam 1996 1–0 44.
No time for Black to get passive. He should aggressive try to get some action going on the queenside, for example with 25…Rac8.
26.Nc5 Qc8 27.Bf2 dxe4 28.Bxh4! Ng8
The bishop on f3 is taboo: 28…exf3 29.Bxf6 Ng6 30.Qh6! Rg8 (30…gxf6 31.Rh4 Nxh4 32.Qg7#) 31.fxg6 fxg6 32.Qxh7+ Kxh7 33.Rh4#
29.Bxe4 Qxc5 30.Bf2! Qe7 <D>
POSITION AFTER 30…QE7
31.Rxg7!! Bxg7 32.Qxh7+!
[32.f6?? Ngxf6]
32…Kxh7 33.f6+ Kh6
[33…Kh8 34.fxg7#]
34.Be3+!
[34.fxe7?? f5!]
34…Kh5 35.Bf3+ Kh4 36.Bf2+ Kh3 37.Bg4# 1–0
After Shuvalova won the gold in the World Youth Championships she was asked if the gold medal was more special than the combination. With a big smile on her face she replied, “I have to say it’s the combination!”
Now for the Best Endgame for 2019. Magnus Carlsen had two games which were nominated for this award, his win against Wesley So (from the Saint Louis Sinquefield Cup) and the well-fought draw versus Vishy Anand from the Zagred Grand Chess Tour. The two games finished in 2nd and 3rd place. Surprisingly, the 2-time Russian women’s champion Aleksandra Goryachkina took first place ahead of Magnus.
Valentina Gunina, a 3–time Women’s European and Russian Champion, is a tactician who loves to mix it up, sometimes to the point of exceeding the bounds of acceptable risk. She is a very resourceful player and can never be counted out.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 c5 6.d5
This pawn sacrifice in the center has a good reputation — even the computer program Alpha Zero plays it!
6…exd5 7.cxd5 Bb7 8.Bg2 Nxd5
Taking with the bishop is not so good as after 8…Bxd5 9.Nc3 Bc6 10.e4 White gets additional tempi for the attack. In five games played in the international tournament praxis white has won 5, and all within the first 29 moves! Here is a sample: 10…d6 11.Bf4 Nh5 12.0–0–0 Nxf4 13.gxf4 Be7 14.e5 0–0 15.h4 Qc7 16.Ng5 g6 17.Bd5 dxe5 18.Nxh7 Kxh7 19.h5 Kg7 20.hxg6 fxg6 21.Rdg1 Qd6 22.fxe5 1–0 Tregubov, P. (2596) — Greet, A. (2439) Fuegen 2006.
9.0–0 Be7 10.Rd1 Nc6 11.a3
Not 11.Rxd5? Nb4.
11…Nc7 12.Nc3 0–0 13.Bf4 d6 14.e3 h6?!
Trying to win the bishop backfires: 14…g5? 15.Nxg5 Bxg5 16.Bxc6 Bxc6 17.Rxd6 wins back the piece and now Black’s king safety is compromised.
15.h4 Ne6?
[15…Qd7 was the move]
16.Bxd6! Bxd6 17.Ne4 Ncd4!
Typical Gunina, she must have had this move prepared when she “provoked” 16.Bxd6, but White nevertheless emerges with the superior game.
Retreating the king to g6 will most likely draw. This is a very interesting position and is typical Gunina.
GM Elizabeth Paehtz: Taking such a pawn with seconds on the clock is an act of iron nerves or Hercules strength. I honestly think sometimes it is not bad to be a chicken. Valja is rather a serial killer with generally speaking the lowest percentage of draws compared to the rest of the field. Since knowing this ruthless and courage approach from her a lifetime, I can assure you that in her case it usually pays off. My Latin teacher, however, used to say: “Exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis!”
70.h7!
Only move to win.
70.Rxc5? loses to 70…Rxc5 71.h7 Rc2+! (71…Rc8 is only good for a draw 72.Nh6+ Kf4 73.Ng8 Rc2+ 74.Kh3 Rc1 75.Kg2 Rc2+ 76.Kh3 etc) 72.Kg1 Rc8 73.Nh6+ Kg3 74.Kf1 (the difference between this line and the previous is that 74.Ng8? is not an option because of 74…Rc1#) 74…Rh8 wins;
70.Nh4? is a draw: 70…Kxh4 71.h7 Rg3+ 72.Kf1 Rf3+ 73.Ke2 (73.Kg2 Rg3+ we repeat the position) 73…Re3+ 74.Kd2 Re8 75.Rxc5 Rh8 76.Rf5 there is nothing left to play for.
70…Rc2+
[70…Rh3? 71.Ra4+]
71.Kf1 Rh2 72.Nh4!!
The 10–Star move. If Black takes the knight with the king then the white pawn queens. If he takes with the rook then 72…Rxh4 73.Ra4+, then exchanges rooks, then queens.
Now hitting at black’s rook and bishop at the same time.
90…Ra3+ 91.Ke2 Kh2 92.Kf3 1–0
Goryachkina eliminates one of her principal rivals to take the Candidates’ title and goes on to challenge for the world crown against the Chinese GM Ju Wenjun.
What a nice segue to the ongoing Women’s world championship match! We will take it up in the next “Chess Piece.”
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
Who’s to say why Tyronn Lue suddenly felt the urge to publicly convey his sentiments regarding his unceremonious departure from the Cavaliers six games into the 2018–19 season? He managed to stay silent for 15 whole months, only to open up about his firing in a story published by The Athletic yesterday. And, given his pronouncements, it was one that hurt. “I don’t think it should’ve happened,” he told senior writer Joe Vardon. “It was tough. To win the first championship ever in Cleveland history, and then make the Finals [the next two years] and then get fired six games in, it’s hard to swallow and it’s tough to deal with.”
No doubt, Lue felt at ease unburdening himself of his thoughts because he was doing so to Vardon, who covered him regularly through four years of ups and downs, first as an assistant to David Blatt, and then as head coach. The article also fit the calendar; his work as Doc Rivers’ top lieutenant with the Clippers had him facing the Cavaliers for the first time since they parted ways. In this regards, he was, perhaps, simply waiting for the right time to speak up. And, apparently, he had a lot to say.
Lue was candid, and even went so far as to note that he wished he continued occupying the hot seat with the Cavaliers. Never mind that they were then determined to support a reboot focused on young talent, and that he had been handed a pink slip precisely because he refused to keep veterans on the bench after initially acquiescing with the front-office directive. Time does have a way of mellowing perspectives, if not allowing for revisionist assessments. “You don’t see that very often, where a coach goes to three straight Finals and wins a championship and gets fired.” It can, of course, be argued that Blatt was likewise subjected to the same, and that he benefited directly from the development.
On the flipside, Lue did say he was thankful of the opportunity given him, admitting that “it was an unbelievable experience, especially for me.” Indeed. Only he can lay claim to having righted the Cavaliers’ ship midseason en route to a historic title run. And only he can say he was able to stroke egos properly to coax two more stabs at the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The singular skill very nearly set up a reunion with James, scuttled only by what he determined to be, per The Athletic, “too many demands” by the Lakers. Had that job opening panned out, would he still be looking to the past with mixed emotions? The answer should be good for another revelation for another day.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
THE PESO declined as investors were cautious ahead of the US-China deal. — BW FILE PHOTO
THE PESO weakened on Wednesday amid risk-off sentiment in the market due to the US signaling it will only consider further reductions in Chinese tariffs after the elections in November.
The local unit finished trading at P50.715 versus the dollar, depreciating by 13.40 centavos from its Tuesday close of P50.581 against the greenback.
The peso opened the session at P50.68 to a dollar. Its weakest point for the day was at P50.755, while its intraday best was at P50.63 against the greenback.
Dollars traded thinned to $1.25 billion yesterday from $1.408 billion seen on Tuesday.
A trader and an analyst said the peso declined due to risk-off sentiment following new developments in the US-China trade war.
“The peso weakened after the US said that no further reduction in Chinese tariffs will be implemented until the November US elections. This statement has partly reduced market optimism amid this week’s signing of the phase one US-China trade deal,” the trader said in an e-mail.
“The peso exchange rate closed at its weakest in a week after the [US President Donald J.] Trump administration signaled that existing tariffs on US imports would remain could be reduced [only] after the US elections, depending on China’s compliance with the phase one deal,” said Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort.
Reuters reported US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin moved to stamp out suggestions that Washington and Beijing may study the possible removal of more tariffs after the elections in November. They issued a joint statement saying there were no written or oral agreements on future tariff cuts.
For today, the trader gave a forecast range of P50.65 to P50.85, while Mr. Ricafort sees the peso playing around the P50.50-50.80 levels. — L.W.T. Noble withReuters
PHILIPPINE SHARES joined their regional peers in an upsetting trading close on Wednesday as investors reacted to news that US tariffs on Chinese goods will remain despite the signing of the phase one trade deal.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gave up 128.85 points or 1.65% to close at 7,664.40 on Wednesday. The broader all shares index also lost 66.67 points or 1.44% to end at 4,539.30.
“The market was heavily sold by foreigners today amounting to P883.99 million worth of shares sold, erasing the P623 million worth of stocks bought by foreigners the past two trading days,” Timson Securities, Inc. Trader Darren T. Pangan said in a text message Wednesday.
“This market activity may have been due to reports last Tuesday that US President Trump intends to keep US tariffs on Chinese imports until after the US presidential elections. Investors may have opted for safe-haven assets right now given the uncertain events happening globally,” he added.
Even as US and China were set to sign its phase one trade deal in a ceremony in Washington later on Wednesday, global uncertainty continues to loom on the two countries’ trade relationship, with reports that US tariffs will hold until after the US elections in November.
Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg reported early Wednesday that tariffs on $360-billion worth of Chinese imports will “likely stay in place until after the American presidential election.” It added that changes on the tariffs will depend on China’s compliance with the phase one trade deal the two countries were signing yesterday.
As a result, most Asian markets ended in red territory at the close of Wednesday’s trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix indices shed 0.45% and 0.51%, respectively; China’s Shanghai SE Composite index fell 0.54%; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.39%; and South Korea’s Kospi index went down 0.35%.
AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun also said the decline in the main index was a result of selling on PSEi members.
“Blue chips were battered today as investors scrambled to sell and cash out. This may be attributed to the constant quakes in the south,” he said on Wednesday, referring to the eruption of Taal Volcano which remained at alert level four.
Most of the sub-sectors at the PSE were losers on Wednesday, led by financials, which lost 34 points or 1.85% to 1,802.72. Holding firms dropped 128.01 points or 1.68% to 7,493.46; industrials gave up 149.86 points or 1.57% to 9,383.22; services lost 22.04 points or 1.39% to 1,556.05; and property slipped 43.21 points or 1.06% to 4,024.26.
The sole gainer was mining and oil, which improved by 18.22 points or 0.22% to end at 7,969.46.
Some 667.02 million issues valued at P7.04 billion switched hands on Wednesday, lower than the P9.88 billion worth traded on Tuesday.
Declining names reached 118, advancing names stood at 76 while 35 were unchanged. — Denise A. Valdez withBloomberg
TAAL Volcano could still erupt explosively as magma rises from its bottom, even if its most recent eruptions seemed weaker, the country’s chief seismologist said on Wednesday.
Residents should stay out of the volcano’s 14-kilometer danger zone until the alert level, now at 4, is lowered, Renato U. Solidum, Jr., director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said at a briefing streamed live on Facebook.
“Generally, eruptions in the past days have been weaker,” Mr. Solidum said in Filipino, but clarified that this was not a trend.
“It’s still possible that more magma will come up and when that happens very fast, there could be an explosive eruption,” he added.
The Philippines lies in the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a belt of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes strike.
Taal Volcano’s activity “has been characterized by continuous but generally weaker eruption of the Main Crater due to magmatic and hydrovolcanic processes,” the agency said in its 8 a.m. report on Wednesday.
The agency has detected 466 volcanic earthquakes since Jan. 12, 156 of which were felt with intensities ranging from 1 to 5.
“Such intense seismic activity probably signifies continuous magmatic intrusion beneath the Taal edifice, which may lead to further eruptive activity” it said.
Alert Level 4 remained hoisted, which means that “hazardous explosive eruption is possible within hours to days.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Solidum belied allegations about the lack of information dissemination about the volcano, noting that they had been issuing notices about its activity since last year.
Cavite Rep. Elpidio F. Barzaga, Jr. has filed a resolution asking the House of Representatives to investigate if Phivolcs had given enough warning to residents.
Also on Wednesday, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani T. Zarate renewed his call to pass a bill that he filed seeking to build evacuation centers for victims of natural calamities.
He said permanent evacuation centers that are typhoon-, earthquake- and disaster-resistant are needed — not just basketball courts and schools — to ensure the safety of victims.
These centers will also have a stockpile of relief goods as proposed by his bill, Mr. Zarate said.
Under the bill, a permanent evacuation center will be located at the center of every two or three contiguous villages that can accommodate the population of the communities.
“We can save lives by ensuring that sturdy and disaster-resilient, climate change-adaptive evacuation centers are located at a distance safe from waters and landslide-prone areas in every two to three contiguous barangays,” Mr. Zarate said. — Genshen L. Espedido
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte’s “murderous war on drugs” remained the Philippines’ gravest human rights concern in 2019, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on Wednesday.
“President Duterte’s anti-drug campaign remains as brutal as when it started, with drug suspects being killed regularly across the country,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at HRW, said in an emailed statement. “Four years into the drug war, the need for international mechanisms to provide accountability is as great as ever.”
The global watchdog also implicated Philippine security forces for often deadly attacks on activists in its 652-page World Report 2020, which reviewed human rights practices in almost 100 countries.
Mr. Duterte’s appointment in November of Vice President and opposition leader Maria Leonor G. Robredo as his anti-drug czar raised hopes that drug campaign violence would be tempered, Human Rights Watch said. But Mr. Duterte fired her weeks later because he said he didn’t trust her.
In July, the Philippine National Police said its forces had killed more than 5,500 people during drug raids. Local rights groups as well as the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights contend that the number could be more than 27,000.
Except for three police officers involved in a highly publicized killing in August 2017, no one has been convicted in any “drug war” killings, Human Rights Watch said.
Mr. Duterte continued to defend the drug war and promised to protect law enforcement officers who killed drug suspects in these raids, it said.
In December, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said its forces had killed 5,552 people during drug raids from July 1, 2016 to Nov. 30, 2019.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has yet to conclude its preliminary probe of the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign, which began in February 2018.
A UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on the Philippines adopted in July 2019 ordered the UN human rights office to issue a report by June.
Human Rights Watch said there was an upsurge in 2019 in often deadly attacks against left-wing activists, including peasant leaders, environmentalists, tribal leaders, and religious figures who were deemed to be linked to the communist New People’s Army.
“Violence was particularly high on the island of Negros, where alleged state security forces killed peasants, their leaders, environmentalists, religious leaders and their community supporters,” the watchdog said.
Left-wing and politically active groups faced police raids that resulted in arbitrary arrests and detention, it said. Groups alleged that police planted weapons and other “evidence” to justify the raids and arrests.
“The government and military frequently labeled these groups and individuals as communist rebels or sympathizers, a practice commonly known as ‘red tagging.’ Some journalists also faced similar political attacks,” it said.
“As with the anti-drug campaign, the Duterte administration has done little to investigate and prosecute those responsible for politically motivated attacks against activists,” the global watchdog said.
Mr. Duterte has instead “seemingly encouraged such attacks, for instance, in August calling on the military to implement a more severe measure against the insurgency.”
“There are sadly no signs that President Duterte is going to end drug war killings or act to stop attacks on activists,” Mr. Robertson said.
“That makes it all the more important for international institutions like the International Criminal Court and the UN Human Rights Council to do what they can to hold Duterte and other senior officials to account for their abuses.”
Also on Wednesday, the presidential palace said the International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction over the President, after a lawyer withdrew his case from the court against M. Duterte’s war on drugs.
The ICC “needs to wake up from its stupor if not ignorance” for accepting communications from people who file complaints against the President even after the Philippines withdrew from the tribunal in March, presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement. — NPAandGMC
THE first batch of Filipino workers from Iraq were expected to arrive in Manila on Wednesday, after the Philippines forced an evacuation amid tensions between the US and Iran, the Foreign Affairs department said.
Thirteen Filipinos, including two minors, were supposed to have arrived on Tuesday, but were delayed after being held by Iraqi officials at the Baghdad International Airport over alleged visa fraud. The remaining four adults will be coming from Erbil.
“The repatriates arriving today comprise the first batch of Filipinos coming home after the government ordered mandatory repatriation,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Y. Arriola said in a statement.
The government of President Rodrigo R. Duterte ordered mandatory evacuation after top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US air strike in Baghdad’s international airport. Iran in retaliation fired a series of missiles on two US bases in Iraq less than a week later.
The Philippines later said it won’t force evacuations after the US and Iran seemed to have stood down to avoid war.
Meanwhile, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said it would provide temporary shelter, stress debriefing, counseling and medical and legal assistance to returning Filipino workers from the Middle East.
Workers who are active members of OWWA will receive P20,000 each in aid; Non-active members will receive half of that, it said.
“These post-repatriation interventions are provided to our repatriated kababayans for their fast recovery and reintegration,” OWWA Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac said in a separate statement. — Charmaine A. Tadalan
Officers of the Philippine National Police-Maritime Group implement forced evacuation to residents of Talisay, an island town located within Taal Lake. Police Brig. Gen. R’win S. Pagkalinawan, head of the PNP-Maritime Group, said on his Twitter post that the police officers had to lead “cows and horses into boats to force their owners to leave Talisay.”
THE SUPREME Court has given judiciary employees directly affected by the Taal Volcano eruption five days of special emergency leave starting Jan. 13. The leave can be applied for five days straight or staggered basis, based on Memorandum Circular No. 01-2020 signed by Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta. The special emergency leave, which will not be deducted from the regular leave credit, may be availed 30 days from Jan. 13 “to alleviate their plight, to urgently repair and clean-up their damaged household, seek medical treatment, and care of immediate family members affected by the volcanic eruption.” — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
THE TACLOBAN City government called on barangay officials to implement stricter waste segregation in their communities as the city’s sanitary landfill, which was opened just a year ago, is “about to reach its full capacity.” In a statement posted on the local government’s official social media page, City General Services Office (CGSO) Officer-in-Charge Leoncio Parado II said village leaders are at the forefront of garbage management. “They should conduct intensive monitoring… to ensure the participation of their constituents in the proper disposal of their wastes,” Mr. Parado said. “We already have this ordinance on Solid Waste Management (City Ordinance 2017-13-37), so I guess there’s no reason not to implement it in their respective barangays,” he added. The city government also stressed that under the ordinance, those caught “carelessly” disposing garbage face the following penalties: P300 or one day community service for the 1st offense; P1,000 or two-day community service on the second violation; and P3,000 and at least three days of community service for the third time. Meanwhile, the CGSO, City Engineers Office, and City Environment and Natural Resources Office have recently undertaken a joint garbage collection activity to collect piles of trash in different areas, which was aggravated by the onslaught of typhoon Ursula (international name: Phanfone) last December. “We should help one another in implementing waste segregation and maintaining the cleanliness of our surroundings. Otherwise, our sanitary landfill will suffer once it reaches its capacity,” Mr. Parado said. At least 120 tons of trash is generated daily in the city, the regional center of Eastern Visayas.
