Peso weakens against dollar on Donald Trump impeachment bid

September 25, 2019 | 9:00 pm

THE PESO weakened on Wednesday, weighed by political risks arising from the US House of Representatives’ move to open a formal impeachment inquiry against US President Donald J. Trump, causing the market to seek refuge in the safe haven dollar.

The local unit ended at P52.211 against the greenback on Wednesday, depreciating by 6 centavos from its P52.15-to-a-dollar close on Tuesday.

The peso opened at P52.25 versus the dollar. It traded in a tight range, with its weakest point recorded at P52.295, while its intraday best was at P52.21 against the greenback.

Dollars traded on Wednesday slipped to $1.041 billion against the $1.225 billion seen on Tuesday.

One trader attributed the peso’s weakness to some developments overnight.

“The dollar strengthened on the back of political risks arising from a possible impeachment case against [US President Donald J.] Trump,” he said, noting that such development caused the market to opt for safe haven currencies.

Aside from the impeachment inquiry, the second trader mentioned “fluid” developments to have weakened the peso against the dollar.

“Headlines which were about the US-China trade negotiations and the Brexit also gave a risk-off tone,” he commented.

On Tuesday, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the House is opening a formal impeachment inquiry of Mr. Trump. She said Mr. Trump had sought Ukraine’s help to smear Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election.

For today, the first trader sees the peso to trade between P52.10-P52.40, while the second trader sees it playing around the P52.10-P52.30 range. — L.W.T.Noble

WHO to send vaccines after polio resurgence

September 25, 2019 | 8:38 pm

THE WORLD Health Organization (WHO) will send vaccines against Type 2 polio to the Philippines next month after the government reported at least two polio cases last week.

The Department of Health (DoH) confirmed the polio cases this month after 19 years since the country was declared free of the disease.

The Health department had asked the WHO to release their stock of oral polio vaccines that will prevent Type 2 polio, WHO Country Representative Rabindra R. Abeyasinghe said at a forum hosted by Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

“The government of the Philippines has now requested the WHO to release vaccines from that stockpile to protect the children,” he said.

The first polio case this month was from Lanao del Sur province in southern Philippines, while the second case was from Laguna province near the capital.

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III earlier urged parents and caregivers of children below five years old to take part in the polio vaccination to be scheduled in various communities nationwide.

Type 2 Polio was eradicated in 2015, and vaccines produced since 2016 are only effective in preventing Type 1 and Type 3 polio.

Polio is caused by the poliovirus that infects the brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis or even death. There are no cures for polio but there are vaccines for its prevention.

The vaccines will be shipped to the Philippines within seven to 10 days, Mr. Abeyasinghe said. The Type 2 oral polio vaccine will first be given to Lanao del Sur and Davao, then to the rest of the Mindanao region and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for the second and third rounds.

More than having the vaccines, the Philippines must adopt a better strategy to improve the vaccination coverage, Mr. Abeyasinghe told reporters.

For a country to be free from polio, the national vaccination coverage should be 95%. The Philippines had a vaccination coverage of 66% last year.

“If we do the vaccination the way we normally do, you’re seeing another outbreak in another couple of years,” the WHO official said.

Improving hygiene and sanitation also helps because the polio virus thrives in dirty areas and is extremely infectious.

DoH and Rotary International earlier signed a memorandum of agreement to increase polio awareness and strengthen a vaccination campaign against the resurgence of the virus.

The agency said the Rotary’s 10 districts will support the polio vaccination campaign through fund raising, advocacy and volunteer recruitment.

The DoH-Metro Manila Center for Health Development will conduct three rounds of supplemental oral polio immunization for children under five years old.

The Health department said it would intensify monitoring of children below five years who have developed sudden muscle weakness or paralysis of the upper and lower extremities.

Health officials on Tuesday told senators they lack manpower to enforce a nationwide immunization program, after reports that a lower vaccine coverage had led to outbreaks of certain diseases including polio.

During a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Health medical specialist Anthony Calibo said the agency has lacked technical assistance in its immunization programs for the past few years.

He said DoH had proposed to create an immunization unit to address the resurgence of diseases but this was disapproved. — Gillian M. Cortez

Basilan turns trash into tulips to fight waste

September 25, 2019 | 8:37 pm

A SOUTHERN Philippine city has turned discarded plastic bottles into flowers to fill a garden of thousands of colorful tulips, capturing tourists’ attention and building awareness about recycling.

The tulip garden, which opened on Monday, was built from 26,877 bottles collected from 45 villages around Lamitan City in Basilan, an island province on the southwestern tip of the archipelago.

Basilan is among the country’s poorest provinces, notorious for being a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf Group, an Islamist group known for banditry and kidnapping.

Plastic bottles were cut into the shape of tulips and painted red, yellow, pink and blue, while others were blended into sand and cement and used to make pathways in the garden.

The Philippines is a major source of ocean plastics and only a small amount of its waste is recycled.

Plastic bottles make up a large chunk of waste in Lamitan, and turning them into a tourist attraction can help combat plastic pollution, said the city’s mayor, Rosé Furigay. “Let us be mindful of how to minimise the use of plastic,” she said. — Reuters

Surrenderees not under ‘good conduct’ law to be freed

September 25, 2019 | 8:37 pm

CONVICTS who surrendered but whose release was not for good conduct will be released immediately, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said yesterday.

The felons were released based on acquittal, commutation of sentence, pardon, and parole, Justice Undersecretary Markk L. Perete said in a mobile-phone message.

“The Oversight Committee on Corrections has constituted a panel to verify each and every release,” he said.

“We have met in the past days and will meet again this afternoon with the relevant BuCor officers whose task is to justify each and every recommendation for release,” he added.

“It’s a tedious process but called for under the circumstances,” Mr. Perete said. The Justice department will enforce the release in tranches.

Mr. Perete also said a joint task force continues to review the prison records at the Senate so they can come out with an accurate list of ineligible prisoners who got released for good conduct.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte earlier fired his prison chief Nicanor E. Faeldon for allowing the release of about 2,000 felons convicted of various heinous crimes. The law disqualifies them from early release for good conduct.

He gave the convicts until Sept. 19 to surrender or they will be hunted down “dead or alive.” Mr. Perete on Monday said 2,221 convicts have surrendered.

The DoJ and the Department of the Interior and Local Government has revised the rules implementing the law on early release for good conduct, disqualifying recidivists, escapees, habitual delinquents and convicts of heinous crimes. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Recruiters cited for deploying minors

September 25, 2019 | 8:36 pm

THE DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment (DoLE) on Wednesday said it had revoked the licenses of two recruitment agencies for deploying two minors overseas.

LGH International Services and Side International Manpower, Inc. will face cancellation of their licenses deploying a 17-year-old and 14-year-old, respectively for work abroad. The two minors were sent to the Middle East to work as domestic helpers.

“These two agencies clearly violated the POEA rules and guidelines for engaging in illegal recruitment and human trafficking that put the security and welfare of two minors at risk and under exploitative practices,” Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Administrator Bernard P. Olalia said.

The 17-year-old worked in Saudi Arabia and did not receive fair wages. The 14-year-old child, was sent to Jeddah and was allegedly turned into a sex slave by her employer. — Gillian M. Cortez

Watchdog bucks election deferment

September 25, 2019 | 8:35 pm

A PLAN to defer next year’s village and youth elections has no legal justification, the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) said in a statement yesterday.

The laws only allows a postponement if there is violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records or force majeure, the watchdog said.

Postponing the May 2020 elections unnecessarily extends the terms of elected officials without a fresh mandate from the people, it added.

Namfrel also said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should be the one to determine if any of these conditions exist.

The Senate approved on second reading this week the postponement of the elections to December 2022. — GMC

Creation of traffic crisis council OK’d

September 25, 2019 | 8:34 pm

THE HOUSE transportation committee approved a resolution recommending the creation of a traffic crisis inter-agency management council that will address congestion in Metro Manila.

House Resolution 353 was filed by Samar Rep. Edgar S. Sarmiento, who heads the committee.

“This is necessary and important because in Metro Manila alone, we are losing P3.5 billion pesos every day to heavy traffic,” the lawmaker said.

“We are losing time that should have been spent for family and rest,” he said in a separate mobile-phone message.

The council will also address traffic issues in other metropolitan areas other than Metro Manila. — VACF

Seven die after boat sinks off Boracay

September 25, 2019 | 8:33 pm

SEVEN members of a rowing team from Boracay island died after the boat they were practicing in sank off the island in Aklan province on Wednesday morning, according to a police report.

The dragon boat was carrying 21 people when it sank around 7:30 a.m.. The other 14 team members survived, according to the report.

One of the survivors said the sea was calm when they left Bulabog beach on Boracay island. But after passing by the reef, strong waves engulfed the boat and filled it with water.

“The boat sank and the paddlers were holding on to the boat,” according to the report. “However, strong waves and current made the boat roll over.”

The victims were not wearing any life vests and one did not know how to swim, it said. Two of 14 survivors, two were Chinese and Russian citizens.

The rowing team was practicing for a Taiwan competition, Allan Victor T. Dela Vega, commander of the Philippine Coast Guard in Western Visayas, said by telephone.

“What had happened was really unforeseen and very, very sad. We are still waiting for the investigation,” he said. — Emme Rose S. Santiagudo

Court orders Panay Electric to comment on suit

September 25, 2019 | 8:33 pm

THE Supreme Court (SC) has ordered Panay Electric Co. to comment on a plea by Razon-led MORE Electric and Power Corp. to stop a Mandaluyong trial court from barring its takeover of Panay Electric’s assets.

In a two-page notice dated Aug. 14 but released only yesterday, the court’s Second Division did not issue the temporary restraining order sought by the plaintiff.

MORE earlier asked the high court to overturn a July 1 decision of the trial court, which voided the company’s franchise in Iloilo because it infringes on Panay Electric’s right to due process and equal protection of the law.

Panay Electric has no obligation to sell and MORE has no right to expropriate its assets, the Mandaluyong court said.

“Any expropriation efforts by Razon’s MORE has been disallowed by the Supreme Court and if they’re truly serious to serve the people of Iloilo, they will do what it takes to invest and do what President Rodrigo R. Duterte has called on all businesses: Build, build, build, and not take, take, take,” the Panay Electric Administrative Manager Marcelo U. Cacho said at a press briefing. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Nationwide round-up

September 25, 2019 | 8:32 pm

Other media exempted from divulging sources

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has signed into law a measure that exempts broadcast and online media — apart from print journalists — from revealing their confidential sources.

Under the new law, a news publisher, owner, journalist, writer, reporter, contributor, opinion writer, editor, columnist, manager and media practitioner from any print, broadcast, wire service organization or electronic mass media, including cable TV cannot be compelled to reveal the source of any news item related to them in confidence.

Only the court, the Senate and the House of Rep-resentatives can compel them to reveal their sources if they “find that such revelation is demanded by the security of the state.” — ALB

Customs sues trader for smuggling

THE BUREAU of Customs (BoC) has filed charges against an official of a trading company for trying to smuggle P53 million worth of food products from China, it said in a statement yesterday.

The bureau sued the owner of Shinerise Trading Service and the broker in charge for unlawful imports under the Customs law and anti-smuggling law, it said.

Customs seized 16 containers loaded with misdeclared agricultural goods worth P53 million, consigned to Shinerise Trading Service. It was initially declared as fishballs with only P2.54 million in duties and taxes. — BML

Company officials sued for estafa

THE NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed a syndicated estafa complaint against 39 officers of Alabel Maasim Mining Corp, Alabel-Maasim Small Scale Mining Cooperative and/or Alabel Maasim Credit Cooperative over their involvement in an alleged illegal investment scheme.

In a 15-page complaint, the NBI, helping two complainant-investors, said the organization committed “deceit through false pretenses and fraudulent acts” when it collected investment money from the public in the guise of deposits.

The officials also promised 35% perpetual monthly interest.

“Such transactions clearly fall in the realm of investment contracts,” according to the complaint.

“This is an act of deception intended to defraud the public as well as the government. By failing to disburse the investors’ capital and interest, its victims suffered damages equivalent to their respective investments,” it said. — VMMV

Law addresses court backlog

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has signed a law creating new regional and municipal trial court positions to ease the overload of cases.

The law creates 100 positions for regional trial judges-at-large and 50 positions for municipal trial judges-at-large.

Both positions have no permanent court branches. Regional judges-at-large may be assigned by the Supreme Court as acting or assisting judges to any regional court in the country, while municipal judges-at-large may be assigned as acting or assisting judges at any first level court. — ALB

Congressman seeks Lacson apology

CAPIZ Rep. Fredenil H. Castro on Wednesday demanded an apology from Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, who accused him of “pork” insertions in the 2020 national budget approved by the House of Representatives last week.

Mr. Lacson on Tuesday said the House had abandoned an attempt to allot P1.5 billion “in pork” for each of the 22 deputy speakers and at least P700 million for every district representative.

“There is no truth to this pork barrel,” Mr. Castro, adding that the senator had damaged the House as an institution. “Everybody knows that there is no truth to this pork barrel as inserted in the General Appropriations bill.”

Mr. Lacson said It is Mr. Castro who should apologize. “He is the one who should apologize to the Filipino people for abusing their hard-earned tax money in all the years that he has been in Congress,” he said in a mobile-phone message.

“His whining and howling will not deter my vigilance in performing my mandate of scrutinizing the budget measure.” — VACF

Few Filipinos use condoms

ONLY one of 10 Filipinos use contraceptives, according to a study by health provider Philcare, Inc.

Majority of its 1,350 respondents were sexually active but few used protection during sex, Philcare said in its report.

“Of those who said they had sex, only 13.23% said they always used protection to prevent sexually transmitted diseases,” according to the report.

About 13% said 33% said they used protection very frequently to prevent pregnancy and 42% said they did so to avoid sexually transmitted diseases, according to the report. — GMC

Nation at a Glance — (09/26/19)

September 25, 2019 | 8:29 pm

News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.

Common Myths and Facts: Cancer Screening with Dr. Zee Ying Kiat of Parkway Cancer Centre

September 25, 2019 | 10:27 am

Dr. Zee Ying Kiat, senior consultant specializing in Medical Oncology at Parkway Cancer Centre in Singapore, discusses the common myths and facts about cancer screening. He also shares the importance of such test in the prevention and early detection of some types of cancer, including colorectal, cervical, and breast cancer.