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LWUA order: Conserve water

PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN

THE LOCAL Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) said it directed its water districts to conduct water conservation measures and have a non-revenue water (NRW) of less than 20% amid the threat of droughts posed by El Niño.

“We gave a directive [to water districts] that the non-revenue water or the water losses… should be less than 20%. Those having leaks, it should be no more than 20%,” LWUA Administrator

Vicente Homer B. Revil, speaking partly in Filipino, said in a televised interview on Tuesday.

Last year, the LWUA said that an average of 488 cubic meters of water a year is lost to waste — half of the size of Angat Dam.

The LWUA oversees 533 water districts which serve 648 local government units and 22.3 million of population in the country.

Mr. Revil said the agency has spent P1 billion worth of projects in 2023, eight of which were implemented last year.

“We will have about 135 water sources that will be opened up through irrigation dams for multipurpose use. It can be used for household, domestic, and commercial,” he said.

Mr. Revil also assured enough supply amid the onset of El Niño. “We are just preparing for the worst scenario that can happen but for now we have enough water for the countrymen.”

El Niño is projected to enter a stronger phase in January, persisting until May, according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA.

The LWUA is a government-owned and -controlled corporation that manages the development of water systems outside of Metro Manila. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

UN to check PHL media freedom

REPRESENTATIVES of media groups, artists, and freedom advocates hold up placards of emojis to champion freedom of expression during a press conference at a restaurant in Quezon City on Tuesday, ahead of the official visit in Manila of UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion Irene Khan. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

THE UNITED NATIONS (UN) Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression is set to visit Manila on Jan. 23 to Feb. 2 to look into issues surrounding freedom of speech involving media workers and civic organizations in the Philippines.

The UN officer, Irene Khan, will hold dialogues with media and civil society groups to discuss current laws and regulations on free speech, according to the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner’s website.

It said she will “examine, in the spirit of cooperation and dialogue, the situation of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression in the country” and check on Philippine laws on digital privacy and access, and fake news.

Human rights group, Karapatan, urged Ms. Khan on Tuesday to investigate alleged trumped-up lawsuits filed by the government against human rights defenders and journalists.

“Red-tagging has quickly evolved into terrorist-tagging and the use of such laws to impede human rights and development work and quell free expression and dissent — all under the pretext of counterinsurgency and counterterrorism,” Karapatan said in a statement.

The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) said there had been 109 incidents of attacks and threats against journalists in the current administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.

In a statement, the NUJP also cited 36 incidents of harassment, which includes cases of surveillance of media practitioners and of journalists being tailed by unknown individuals.

“We welcome the visit of UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan and we look forward to discussing the Philippine press situation with her,” the group said.

“We hope that she will heed our recommendations for a freer press and an environment more conducive to the exercise of freedom of expression in the Philippines,” it added. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Surigao del Norte housing pushed

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

THE OFFICE of the Presidential Assistant for Eastern Mindanao (OPAMINE) is gearing up to take the lead in launching President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s flagship housing program in San Benito, Surigao del Norte.

Presidential Assistant for Eastern Mindanao Leo Tereso Magno disclosed that the initiative came about after a request from San Benito Mayor Ma. Gina Menil to include her municipality in the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) program.

During their meeting last Monday, Mr. Magno underscored the crucial role of the local government in expediting the housing program’s implementation. In turn, Ms. Menil assured her local administration’s swift preparation of the necessary documents to initiate the project in San Benito. 

Since signing a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD) last year, Mr. Magno has been lobbying for the 4PH program in Eastern Mindanao to help create sustainable communities by providing quality housing for Filipinos.

“It is our job at OPAMINE to bring President BBM’s housing program to every municipality, city, and province, led by DHSUD under Sec Jerry Acuzar. We are ready to assist anyone interested in realizing the dream of providing homes for their fellow citizens,” he told Businessworld.

Last December, Mr. Magno announced at a media forum that the DHSUD and OPAMINE are eyeing the construction of about 180,000 housing units in Davao City. — Maya M. Padillo

Filipino now heads Aseanpol

PHILIPPINE Police Colonel David M. Vinluan has been named the executive director of Aseanpol, an organization composed of all chiefs of police in Southeast Asia that addresses transnational crimes.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Mr. Vinluan will be the first Filipino to hold the position since the organization was founded in 1981.

Aseanpol, which is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, deals with operational, enforcement and preventive measures against transnational crimes.

In his speech during the handover ceremony held on Monday in Kuala Lumpur, Mr. Vinluan vowed to “carry on the fight against organized threats of transnational crimes in the region.”

Mr. Vinluan, is also a member of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo and had been a member of the UN Police Division in the UN Headquarters in New York.

In October last year, the Philippine Department of Justice (DoJ) said it was working with the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Supreme Court, and their regional counterparts to identify crime hotspots in the Philippines.

“We are committed to continued collaboration with our international partners to address the shared challenge of transnational organized crime,” Justice spokesman Jose Dominic F. Clavano IV said at a United Nations regional conference in Bangkok in October. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Philippine foreign affairs chief to visit Uganda

ENRIQUE A. MANALO — DFA.GOV.PH

PHILIPPINE Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo on Tuesday said he will be going to Uganda on Jan. 19 to 20 to discuss global security issues .

In a statement, he said the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Uganda will cover issues climate change and sustainable development.

“This trip will be excellent opportunity to engage with countries from Africa and other regions to boost South-South cooperation and promote the shared interests… of developing countries,” Mr. Manalo said.

“NAM’s role in maintaining global peace and security and sustaining constructive and credible multilateralism that works for the people is important especially in the current international context.”

The visit will be his first to the African continent.

Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John E. Uy will also be going to Uganda to represent the Philippines in the Third South Summit of the Group of 77 on Jan. 21 and 22 in Kampala, Uganda.

The summit aims to boost cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, sustainable development and climate change, among others. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Bangsamoro parliament eyeing 2 island hospitals

A SOLDIER from the Navy’s 1st Marine Brigade and a volunteer physician treat a sick child during a medical mission on Bongo Island, which will soon have a hospital through an enabling measure filed before the Bangsamoro parliament. — PHILIPPINE STAR/JOHN FELIX M. UNSON

COTABATO CITY — Members of the Bangsamoro parliament want to improve a small medical dispensary and create a new one to service patients on two remote islands where sick islanders can hardly be evacuated to modern hospitals when seas are rough.

The Information Office of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliament announced on Tuesday that regional lawmakers have filed Bill 269, an enabling measure for the setting up of the Bongo Community Hospital in Bongo Island in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, and Bill 264, meant to improve the Siasi District Hospital in Siasi, Sulu.

Siasi is an island town close to the border of the territorial seas of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, both component-provinces of BARMM.

The proposal to create the Bongo Community Hospital, or BCH, was authored by BARMM parliament members Suwaib L. Oranon and the physician-ophthalmologist Kadil M. Sinolinding, Jr., most known as “the doctor in the Bangsamoro parliament.”

His humanitarian team has treated free 3,116 marginalized people with eye problems from across the Bangsamoro region and Region 12 since he was appointed member of the regional parliament last August.

Bongo Island, covering Barangays Litayen, Tagudtungan, Tuka Maror, Gadungan Pibpandaran, Macarimbang, Limbayan and Kutungan, is home to mixed Iranun, Tausug, Sama and Badjao communities, is about seven miles off the shores of the seaside Parang town in northwest of Maguindanao del Norte.

Parang Mayor Cahar P. Ibay told reporters on Tuesday that he and his constituent barangay officials in Bongo are thankful to Mr. Sinolinding and Mr. Oranon for authoring a bill aiming to set up a community hospital in the island.

“We are wishing for its immediate enactment into a regional law. We are ready to help put up that medical facility in Bongo once its creation gets the approval of the 80-member BARMM parliament,” Mr. Ibay said.

The BARMM parliament’s Information Office said Bill 264 is also an enabling measure for the expansion of the Siasi District Hospital, or SDH, operating for 58 years now.

The bill, if approved by the BARMM parliament, shall double the 25-bed capacity of the facility and make facilities hospital-grade.

Bill 264 was authored by parliament members Mr. Sinolinding, Hamid U. Malik, Nurredha I. Misuari, Deputy Speaker Abdulkarim T. Misuari, Tarhata M. Maglangit, Amilbahar S. Mawallil, Rasol Y. Mitmog, Hashemi N. Dilangalen, Albakil D. Jikiri, Romeo K. Sema, Muslimin A. Jakilan, Adzfar H. Usman, Denmartin A. Kahalan, Randolph C. Parcasio, and Abdulazis M. Amenoden.

Both Bills 264 and 269 compel the Ministry of Health-BARMM to oversee and bankroll the operations of the proposed hospitals. — John Felix M. Unson

In show of strength, Trump dominates Iowa caucus

REUTERS

DES MOINES, Iowa — Donald Trump secured a resounding victory in the first 2024 Republican presidential contest in Iowa on Monday, asserting his command over the party despite facing scores of criminal charges as he seeks a rematch with Democratic President Joseph r. Biden.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 45, finished well behind in second place, edging out former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, 51, as they battle to emerge as the chief alternative to Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump, 77, won by an unprecedented margin for an Iowa Republican contest, strengthening his case that his nomination is a foregone conclusion given his massive lead in national polls.

“THANK YOU IOWA, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!,” Mr. Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.

With 95% of the expected vote tallied, Mr. Trump had 51%, while Mr. DeSantis was at 21%, and Ms. Haley 19%, according to Edison Research. The largest margin of victory for an Iowa Republican caucus had been 12.8 percentage points for Bob Dole in 1988.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy ended his long-shot presidential bid after earning just under 8% of the vote on Monday and endorsed Mr. Trump in a speech to supporters.

If Mr. Trump finishes above 50%, winning more than all his rivals combined, it will further weaken his opponents’ argument that his march to the nomination can be derailed.

His performance reflected his popularity among Republican voters — even after two impeachments, his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by a mob of supporters and his 91 criminal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election, retaining classified documents after leaving the White House and falsifying records connected to hush money payments to a porn star.

Nearly two-thirds of caucus-goers embraced his false claims about voter fraud, saying they did not think Mr. Biden legitimately won the presidency. More than 60% said Mr. Trump would still be fit to serve as president even if convicted of a crime.

Mr. Trump dominated across the board, according to an Edison entrance poll: he won a majority among men and among women; among those who consider themselves very conservative, somewhat conservative and independent; among those who graduated college and those who did not.

He captured a majority of Republicans who put immigration as their top concern — and a majority of those who said the economy was their main worry.

“The Iowa caucus results demonstrate the strength of Trump’s grip on the Republican Party,” said Jimmy Centers, an Iowa-based Republican strategist. “Absent a quick consolidation of the field, Trump appears to be on a fast track to the nomination.”

That consolidation appears unlikely, with both Mr. DeSantis and Ms. Haley vowing to press ahead following Monday’s results, ensuring Trump’s opposition will remain fractured as the campaign moves to other states.

Mr. DeSantis in particular had wagered his campaign on Iowa, barnstorming all of its 99 counties and pouring resources into the state.

“We’ve got our ticket punched out of Iowa!,” Mr. DeSantis told supporters in West Des Moines on Monday.

Ms. Haley, who has enjoyed a steady rise in polls over the last few months, sought to position herself as the leading Trump challenger.

“At one point in this campaign there were 14 of us running. I was at 2% in the polls,” Ms. Haley told a crowd of supporters. “When you look at how we’re doing, in New Hampshire, in South Carolina and beyond, I can safely say tonight Iowa made this Republican primary a two-person race.”

Republicans in more moderate New Hampshire will choose their nominee eight days from now. Polls show Mr. Trump with a smaller lead over Ms. Haley there, with Mr. DeSantis far behind.

Trump has aimed to create an air of inevitability around his campaign, skipping all five of the Republican debates thus far and largely eschewing the county-by-county politicking that most candidates do ahead of the Iowa vote.

LIFE-THREATENING COLD
Iowans braved life-threatening temperatures to gather at more than 1,600 schools, community centers, and other sites for the state’s first-in-the-nation caucus, as the 2024 presidential campaign officially got under way after months of debates, rallies, and advertisements.

“Trump is very narcissistic, he’s very cocky, but he’s going to get stuff done,” said Rita Stone, 53, a Trump backer, who attended a caucus at a West Des Moines high school. Like many other voters, Ms. Stone said her leading concern was the US southern border with Mexico, praising Mr. Trump’s effort to build a wall when he was president.

Unlike a regular election, Iowa’s caucus requires voters to gather in person in small groups, where they cast secret ballots after speeches from campaign representatives.

Edison projected there would be approximately 120,000 votes counted, far short of the record 187,000 cast in the 2016 Republican caucus.

With the cold weather depressing turnout, Mr. Trump’s grip on his most loyal supporters may have given him an edge.

Iowa Democrats did not vote on Monday for their presidential nominees because the party has reshuffled its nominating calendar to put states with more diverse populations ahead of Iowa this year. They will cast their ballots by mail, with the results to be released in March.

Iowa has historically played an outsized role in presidential campaigns due to its early spot on the campaign calendar.

But the winner of Iowa’s Republican caucuses did not go on to secure the nomination in the last three competitive contests in 2008, 2012, and 2016.

A political battleground that backed Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, the state is now seen as reliably Republican in presidential elections as registered Republicans edge out Democrats. — Reuters

Artificial intelligence lab OpenAI seeks to allay election meddling fears

STOCK PHOTO | Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

SAN FRANCISCO — Artificial intelligence (AI) lab OpenAI published a blog post Monday seeking to address fears that its technology will meddle with elections, as more than a third of the globe prepares to head to the polls this year.

The use of AI to interfere with election integrity has been a concern since the Microsoft-backed company released two products: ChatGPT, which can mimic human writing convincingly, and DALL-E, whose technology can be used to create “deepfakes,” or realistic-looking images that are fabricated.

Those worried include OpenAI’s own CEO Sam Altman, who testified in Congress in May that he was “nervous” about generative AI’s ability to compromise election integrity through “one-on-one interactive disinformation.”

The San Francisco-based company said that in the United States, which will hold presidential elections this year, it is working with the National Association of Secretaries of State, an organization that focuses on promoting effective democratic processes such as elections.

ChatGPT will direct users to CanIVote.org when asked certain election-related questions, it added.

The company also said it is working on making it more obvious when images are AI-generated using DALL-E, and is planning to put a “cr” icon on images to indicate it was AI-generated, following a protocol created by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity.

It is also working on ways to identify DALL-E-generated content even after images have been modified.

In its blog post, OpenAI emphasized that its policies prohibit its technology to be used in ways it has identified as potentially abusive, such as creating chatbots pretending to be real people, or discouraging voting.

It also prohibits DALL-E from creating images of real people, including political candidates, it said.

The company faces challenges policing what is actually happening on its platform.

When Reuters last year tried to create images of Donald Trump and Joseph Biden, the request was blocked and a message appeared saying it “may not follow our content policy.”

Reuters, however, was able to create images of at least a dozen other US politicians, including former Vice-President Mike Pence. — Reuters

N. Korean hackers, criminals share money laundering networks in Southeast Asia

STOCK PHOTO | Image by geralt from Pixabay

LONDON — North Korean hackers are sharing money-laundering and underground banking networks with fraudsters and drug traffickers in Southeast Asia, according to a United Nations report published on Monday, with casinos and crypto exchanges emerging as key venues for organized crime.

The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said without elaborating it had observed “several instances” of such sharing in the Mekong area — which includes Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia — by hackers including North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

The UNODC said it had identified the activity via analysis of case information and blockchain data.

Contacted by phone about the UNODC report, a person at North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva said, without giving his name, that he was “not familiar with the issue” and that previous reporting on Lazarus was “all speculation and misinformation.”

Lazarus, which the United States has said is controlled by North Korea’s primary intelligence bureau, has been accused of involvement in a string of high-profile cyberheists and ransomware attacks. Funds stolen by North Korean hackers are a key source of funding for Pyongyang and its weapons programs.

The UNODC report said Southeast Asia’s casinos and junkets, which facilitate gambling by high-wealth players, as well as unregulated cryptocurrency exchanges, have become “foundational pieces” of the banking architecture used by organized crime in the region.

Casinos have proven “capable and efficient in moving and laundering massive volumes” of crypto and traditional cash undetected, it said, “creating channels for effectively integrating billions in criminal proceeds into the formal financial system.”

The junket sector has been infiltrated by organized crime for “industrial-scale money laundering and underground banking operations,” with links to drug trafficking and cyberfraud, the report said.

It cited licensed casinos and junket operators in the Philippines which helped launder around $81 million stolen in a cyber-attack on Bangladesh’s Central Bank in 2016, which was attributed to the Lazarus Group.

The proliferation of casinos and crypto have “supercharged” organized crime groups in Southeast Asia, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Jeremy Douglas told Reuters.

“It’s no surprise sophisticated threat actors would look to leverage the same underground banking systems and service providers,” he said. — Reuters

China plays waiting game in run-up to Taiwan inauguration

CARLOS DE SOUZA-UNSPLASH

BEIJING — China’s muted response to the weekend victory by Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te signals what some analysts see as the start of an uneasy four months before he takes office, with Beijing treading carefully before then.

Mr. Lai, from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), will not replace outgoing Tsai Ing-wen until May 20 — but Beijing has little appetite to break a delicate balance that has settled over its ties with Washington in recent months, some diplomats and analysts say.

The situation is further complicated by a looming US presidential election in November, risking plenty of bipartisan pressure from candidates as foreign policy debates intensify.

China claims neighboring Taiwan as its own and has never ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its control. Some DPP figures are bracing for a tough four-year term ahead for Mr. Lai, who was branded by Chinese officials as a “dangerous separatist” well before the vote.

The tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru offered a taste of that in ditching its recognition of Taiwan for China, which reflects a long-running diplomatic effort by Beijing to deprive Taipei of its last few diplomatic allies. Taipei described the move as an act of post-election malice.

But while Beijing may maintain pressure on Taipei to enforce what it calls “red lines” over independence for the island it insists is “sacred” Chinese territory, it is unlikely to tighten the squeeze just yet.

“The line is very clearly drawn,” said Victor Gao, a professor at China’s Soochow University.

“China will not fire the first shot. But China will never allow pro-Taiwan independence activists to fire the second shot, after firing a first shot which is anti-peace.”

Ms. Tsai and Mr. Lai both reject China’s sovereignty claims and have repeatedly offered talks, which Beijing has rejected. They say only Taiwan people can decide their future.

Few Chinese analysts and scholars are speaking openly given the delicate nature of the situation, but some outside the country detect a marked caution.

“China’s response is relatively muted now because it wants to leave it to the US to rein in Lai first,” said Qi Dongtao, a senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute in Singapore. “If the US fails to rein Lai in, then China can step in.”

Taipei-based political scientist Wen-Ti Sung, a nonresident fellow at Washington’s Atlantic Council think tank, said Beijing’s courting of Nauru was “low-hanging fruit.”

Chinese officials are now likely conducting internal studies into what went wrong — why Beijing’s preferred Kuomintang (KMT) opposition party didn’t take the presidency, Mr. Sung said.

Not that it was a complete failure. Mr. Lai won less than 40% of the vote and together with smaller opposition parties, the KMT can form a majority in the legislature.

RANGE OF OPTIONS
After his victory on Saturday, Mr. Lai said he wanted to improve ties with China and was open to talks, but Beijing has no shortage of options should his rhetoric change or broader Washington-Beijing ties cool again.

Western diplomats say China’s Central Military Commission, commanded by President Xi Jinping, has likely been presented with a variety of escalatory options beyond its on-going deployments across and around Taiwan.

China’s military has not directly commented on the election, but on Monday its Eastern Theater Command released footage of naval combat drills in the East China Sea, without giving a detailed location.

“Battle alert, battle alert!,” the command said in accompanying text. “The enemy suddenly arrives and the commander quickly issues combat instructions.”

Such action is on a vastly smaller scale to the extensive missile drills and naval maneuvers that surrounded Taiwan after the visit to Taipei by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August 2022.

Economically, Beijing has coercive options too given ongoing business flows and trade ties, while security analysts and diplomats say China has the ability to attempt cyberattacks against Taiwan infrastructure.

In late December, China scrapped tariff cuts on some 12 chemical products it imported from Taiwan — moves described by Taipei officials as an attempt to interfere in the election. But further pressure on the two sides’ 2010 free trade deal, the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, cannot be ruled out, analysts said.

“The economic sanctions option they tried three weeks or so before and didn’t work. So now Beijing needs to retool and optimize how it’s going to use economic sanctions in a way that can send its message against Mr. Lai without unduly alienating Taiwanese society,” Mr. Sung said.

Politically, too, Beijing can exploit connections with various opposition figures and groups, analysts said, noting that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said on Saturday that the vote tally showed that the DPP “cannot represent mainstream public opinion.”

So far, China’s state media has kept a low profile, with no editorials on the election result published by the English-language Global Times or a CCTV-affiliated social media blog that frequently comments on Taiwan issues.

Retired newspaper commentator Hu Xijin wrote in a WeChat blog post on Saturday that “if (Lai) does not restrain himself after taking office and intensifies his efforts to promote a radical line… he may trigger a war and become a sinner for the ages.” It was later deleted. — Reuters

OFW groups join support for Pag-IBIG contribution hike

OFW organizations are also backing Pag-IBIG Fund’s plan to increase members’ monthly savings rate this year, agency officials announced on Jan. 16.

After gaining support from labor and employer groups, Pag-IBIG Fund’s plan also received nods from the Kapisanan ng mga Kamag-anak at Migranteng Manggagawang Pilipino, Inc. (KAKAMMPI), the Kabalikat ng Migranteng Pilipino, Inc. (KAMPI), the Kaibigan ng mga OCWs, and several other OFW groups.

“We support unequivocally Pag-IBIG Fund’s proposal to increase the contributions of its members. An increase in contributions is definitely a step towards the right direction as this would mean more funds that could be employed for the benefit of members seeking to apply for home loans and short-term loans. Not only is it timely, but more importantly, it is the right thing to do,” said Luther Calderon, who serves as President of KAMPI.

In their respective letters sent to Pag-IBIG Fund, the OFW groups noted that the new Pag-IBIG monthly savings rates would enable members to improve their benefits and better prepare for the future.

Under Pag-IBIG Fund’s new savings rates, the maximum monthly compensation to be used in computing the required 2% employee savings and 2% employer share of Pag-IBIG Fund members shall be increased to P10,000, from the current P5,000. As a result, the monthly savings of Pag-IBIG Fund members, for both the employee’s share and the employer’s counterpart, shall increase to P200 each from the current P100.

Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene C. Acosta, meanwhile, expressed her appreciation for the support of the OFW groups and gave assurance that Pag-IBIG Fund members shall receive better benefits under the agency’s new rates.

“We thank the KAKAMMPI, KAMPI, Kaibigan ng mga OCWs and all other OFW groups for their support and sharing in our efforts to improve the benefits received by our members, including our fellow Filipinos working overseas, by increasing our monthly savings rates,” Acosta said.

“We at Pag-IBIG Fund recognize the aspirations of our fellow Filipinos working overseas of providing a better life and future for their families. That is why we assure our OFW members that the increase in the Pag-IBIG monthly savings rates shall mean better benefits to further help them pursue their dreams.  Under our new rates, members shall have higher Pag-IBIG Savings that earn annual dividends, which they shall receive upon membership maturity or retirement, as well as higher multi-purpose and calamity loan amounts to help them with their financial needs. This shall also allow us to continue offering affordable home loans and provide them better opportunities to gain a home of their own,” Acosta added.

 

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North Korea’s Kim calls for South to be seen as “primary foe”, warns of war

KREMLIN.RU/EVENTS/PRESIDENT/NEWS/60363/PHOTOS-COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG

SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday called for the constitution to be changed to ensure that South Korea is seen as the “primary foe” and warned his country did not intend to avoid war should it happen, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.

In a speech to the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, Kim said he had concluded that unification with the South was no longer possible, and accused Seoul of seeking regime collapse and unification by absorption.

Kim said the constitution should be amended to educate North Koreans that South Korea is a “primary foe and invariable principal enemy” and define the North’s territory as separate from the South.

“We don’t want war but we have no intention of avoiding it,” Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA.

North Korea should also plan for “completely occupying, subjugating and reclaiming” South Korea in the event of a war, and South Koreans should also no longer be referred to as fellow countrymen, Kim added, calling for the severing of all inter-Korean communication and the destruction of a monument to reunification in Pyongyang.

Three organisations dealing with unification and inter-Korean tourism would also be shut down, state media added.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, at a cabinet meeting, said Pyongyang was being “anti-national” for calling the South a hostile country.

Kim’s call for constitutional changes come as tensions have worsened in the Korean Peninsula recently amid a series of missile tests and a push by Pyongyang to break with decades of policy and change how it relates to the South.

Analysts have said North Korea’s foreign ministry could take over relations with Seoul, and potentially help justify the use of nuclear weapons against the South in a future war.

Ruediger Frank, professor of East Asian Economy and Society at the University of Vienna, said Kim’s new policies “will trigger a cascade of changes across inter-Korean relations and regional dynamics”.

“This opens the door to regular interstate relations, including both diplomatic normalization and potential conflict,” Frank wrote in the report for the US-based 38 North project. – Reuters

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