THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) to coordinate efforts and share resources for the upcoming 2025 midterm polls.

The agreement will give Comelec access to MMDA’s Command Center, equipment and personnel to support election-related operations.

“MMDA assets including our command center, body cams, radios, deployable cameras, and Mobile Command Center, will be made available and placed at Comelec’s disposal during the election period to ensure a clean, honest, and transparent election,” MMDA Chairman Romando S. Artes said in a news briefing in mixed English and Filipino.

“Also, aside from the deployment of our trained personnel for traffic assistance, MMDA will assign necessary manpower to assist election officers of the National Capital Region and Comelec Main Office in carrying out the teardown and removal of unlawful election materials,” he added.

The MoA will also cover assistance to Comelec’s final testing and sealing, international observation, and mock elections among other election-related activities.

It has over 330 close-circuit televisions (CCTVs) in its command center.

The Comelec will assign a computer station at the Command Center to ensure proper use of facilities and to coordinate technical support, equipment, transportation, and storage devices at docking stations.

The MMDA will also supply Comelec with manpower and logistical support to help election officers remove illegal election materials.

Both agency officials called on candidates and the public to follow the regulations and be responsible for displaying election materials.

“We hope there is a responsible way for them to put up campaign materials that is consistent with, and pursuant to, our guidelines, first of all. Secondly, we want to ensure it does not disrupt traffic or inconvenience pedestrians,” Mr. Garcia said in Filipino.

The Philippines will hold midterm elections on May 12 next year, where Filipinos will elect their congressmen, mayors, vice mayors and members of city councils. Twelve of the 24-member Senate will also be replaced.

The period of filing for candidacy ended on Oct. 8, which saw 184 people seeking a seat at the Senate, and 190 party-list groups seeking congressional seats. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana

A LABOR group urged the Philippine government to take immediate and serious action against the impending threat of heat stress in workplaces, following the release of the latest State of the Climate report in Azerbaijan.

“Climate change is destroying jobs, lives and livelihoods. While recovering from the destruction from devastating typhoons, we should expect extreme heat to hit us as hard, if not harder,” Julius H. Cainglet, vice-president of the Federation of Free Workers said in a statement on Tuesday.

The World Meteorological Organization report presented at the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan said that global air temperatures in January and September 2024 averaged 1.54 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, highlighting the urgent need for measures to address the increasing risk of heat stress.

Mr. Cainglet suggested innovative measures like heat stress insurance and broader climate adaptation efforts for communities and businesses as labor advisories alone will not be enough to confront this issue.

At COP29, trade unions from the Global South, including the Filipino group Workers for Just Transition, are advocating for the Global North to commit trillions of dollars toward climate initiatives in poorer and developing nations.

COP29 commenced last Nov. 11 until Nov. 22. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana

THE Supreme Court (SC) ruled that the authority to revoke accreditation from healthcare providers lies exclusively with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) Board of Directors, not with its president.

In a decision released on Nov. 12 and penned by Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando, the top court’s First Division ruled that under the National Health Insurance Act, only PhilHealth’s board has the power to withdraw or terminate accreditation.

“This power can only be exercised by the PhilHealth Board, and it requires a majority vote from its members,” it said in a statement.

The high tribunal clarified that the application for accreditation and revocation are two different processes.

“While the PhilHealth President may resolve applications, only the PhilHealth Board has the authority to act on withdrawals or revocations of accreditations,” it added.

The case stemmed from a spot inspection, in which PhilHealth’s fact-finding team found that a medical center had submitted fraudulent claims for patients who had already passed away.

The report said that a doctor from the center certified that one patient had undergone dialysis sessions after July 16, 2016, despite records showing the patient died on said date.

The doctor claimed that he and other medical staff were also victims of the center’s fraudulent practices, arguing that the two whistleblowers had publicly confessed to forging signatures to submit false claims for non-existent dialysis treatments.

PhilHealth later informed the doctor that his accreditation was revoked due to alleged misrepresentation involving false information.

He appealed the decision to PhilHealth’s regional office but was denied by the PhilHealth President and Chief Executive Officer.

He elevated the case before the Court of Appeals, ruling in his favor. The court said the revocation of his accreditation was invalid as it was issued without proper authority. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana