To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news article. Some parts in boldface…
A senator is expecting that a warrant of arrest will soon be issued against suspended Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo after her human trafficking case was submitted for resolution by the Department of Justice (DOJ) following her non-appearance in the preliminary investigations.
Being submitted for resolution, the case will now be decided by prosecutors on whether to lodge it before the courts on the basis solely of the complainant’s allegations, according to the DOJ.
“Since she did not personally show up nor file her counter affidavit, she will mostly like be liable for human trafficking which is a non-bailable offense,” Senator Sherwin Gatchalian told reporters in a Viber message.
“A warrant of arrest will ensue on this particular case,” he added.
Gatchalian earlier advised Guo to appear and address the various cases against her, including human trafficking, birth certificate cancellation, and disobedience to summons.
The Senate issued an arrest order against Guo last July 11 after failing to attend two hearings related to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hub raided in her municipality before the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality.
She also failed to attend the three hearings on the human trafficking cases filed before the DOJ.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think the anticipated issuance of the warrant of arrest will compel suspended mayor Guo to come out from hiding and turn herself in? Do you wish that the warrant of arrest will be issued within the next two weeks?
The economy of the Philippines grew at a fast 6.3% in the 2nd quarter (April to June 2024) according to a Philippine News Agency (PNA) news article. The declared quarterly growth rate placed the Philippines ahead of Malaysia, Indonesia and China.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news article. Some parts in boldface…
Philippine economic growth accelerated to 6.3 percent in the second quarter of the year from 4.3 percent in the same period last year, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said in a briefing on Thursday.
Mapa said economic growth during the period was also higher than the 5.8 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth recorded in the first quarter of the year.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the latest economic growth makes the Philippines one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.
“This performance keeps our position as one of Asia’s best-performing major emerging economies. For East Asia’s economies that have released their second quarter 2024 GDP growth, we follow behind Vietnam at 6.9 percent while leading Malaysia at 5.8 percent, Indonesia at 5.0 percent, and China at 4.7 percent,” said Balisacan.
Among major economic sectors, industry and services grew by 7.7 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, however, contracted by 2.3 percent due to the effects of the El Niño phenomenon.
Household final consumption expenditure grew by 4.6 percent while government final consumption expenditure expanded by 10.7 percent.
Balisacan said the increase in government final consumption expenditure was driven by the timely implementation and expanded coverage programs of various social protection, health, and education programs, and preparatory activities for the 2025 national and local elections. Gross capital formation went up by 11.5 percent.
Public construction sustained double-digit growth of 21.8 percent as the government’s infrastructure agencies expedited the rollout of the Marcos Jr. administration’s construction and rehabilitation projects.
Exports of goods and services rose by 4.2 percent while imports of goods and services went up by 5.2 percent.
On track to meet target – “This significant development brings our real GDP growth to 6.0 percent for the first half of the year, keeping us on track to achieve our target growth rate of 6 to 7 percent for 2024,” said Balisacan.
He said the economy would need to grow by at least 6 percent in the second half to attain the lower end of the target for 2024.
Balisacan assured that the government would ensure the benefits of economic growth would be shared equitably.
“President Marcos began his 2024 State of the Nation Address with one of our most urgent priorities: the government will continue its push for food security by managing food inflation with appropriate supply-side measures,” he said.
He said the government was committed to utilizing strategic trade policy to augment insufficient domestic food supplies to meet rising demand.
The government will also expedite the rollout of social protection programs for the poor and vulnerable sectors, including enhancements to the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Food Stamp Program and the 4Ps Program.
Aside from these, the government will also focus on raising agricultural productivity and improving farmers’ incomes and competitiveness.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think the economy of the Philippines has enough momentum to achieve a growth rate of at least 6.5% for the entire year?
With the 1% withholding tax on online sellers already in effect, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) expects to collect billions of Pesos from the said sellers although they could not give an estimate on how much could be collected, according to a GMA Network news report.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the GMA news report. Some parts in boldface…
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is expecting to collect billions of pesos in taxes from the growing e-marketplace industry after it subjected online sellers under the withholding tax system.
“Itong withholding tax on online transactions, dahil effective na ‘yan, inaasahan natin na malaki rin ang maitutulong nito,” BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. told reporters at the sidelines of the agency’s 120th anniversary celebration in Pasay City on Thursday.
(The withholding tax on online transactions, since this has been effective, we expect it could help immensely.)
Lumagui said the BIR cannot yet give an estimate how much it can collect from imposing withholding tax on online sellers.
“But, we’re expecting that ‘yung revenues natin diyan would be in the billions,” he said.
The BIR’s plan to impose withholding tax to merchants in e-marketplaces took effect on July 15, 2024.
Under its Revenue Regulation (RR) No. 16-2023, one-half of the gross remittances of e-marketplace operations and digital financial services providers to the sellers or merchants for goods or services paid through their platform shall be subject to a 1% creditable withholding tax.
The BIR, however, said the 1% withholding tax shall not be collected “if the annual total gross remittances to an online seller for the past taxable year has not exceeded P500,000” and “if the cumulative gross remittances to an online seller in a taxable year has not yet exceeded P500,000.”
The withholding tax is the amount withheld by a business in payments of goods or services directly remitted to the government on behalf of suppliers or employees.
The BIR defines “gross remittances” as the total amount received by an e-marketplace operator or digital financial services provider from a buyer or consumer for the goods and services sold by or paid to the seller or merchant through the platform of the e-marketplace operator.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think the 1% withholding tax on online sellers will help the BIR collect tens of billions of Pesos more by the end of this year?
In relation to helping the Philippines recover from the many negative effects caused by Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), the declared nationwide ban on POGOs will help expedite the nation’s exit from the “gray list” of a global financial watchdog that has been monitoring jurisdictions for money laundering risks, according to a BusinessWorld news report.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the BusinessWorld news report. Some parts in boldface…
THE RECENT BAN on Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) would help expedite the country’s exit from a global financial watchdog’s “gray list” of jurisdictions under increased monitoring for money laundering risks, the central bank governor said.
“With the POGO ban, we do see a drop in money laundering, which should help us exit the gray list,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BPS) Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. told BusinessWorld in a text message.
Last week, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. ordered a total ban on all offshore gaming operations due to their ties to illicit activities such as financial scams, money laundering, prostitution and human trafficking.
Mr. Marcos directed the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) to shutter all POGO facilities by the end of the year.
This comes after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in June kept the Philippines in its gray list for a third straight year.
The global watchdog said the country still needs to address three remaining action items, one of which is “demonstrating that supervisors are using anti-money laundering and counterfinancing of terrorism (AML/CFT) controls to mitigate risks associated with casino junkets.”
Mr. Remolona earlier said the Philippines would likely exit the gray list by next year as it still needs to address the remaining deficiencies cited by the FATF.
From 2018 to 2023, the Philippines was among the top five countries in Southeast Asia with money laundering activities added over the five-year period, earlier data from Moody’s showed.
The number of money laundering events added in the Philippines jumped by 45% from 2022 to 2023, it said.
Chester B. Cabalza, founding president of Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation, said Mr. Marcos’ order to ban POGOs would encourage more “legitimate” investments to enter into the country.
“With the expected ban, the Philippines may be relieved with the gray list tag and re-strategize for fulfilling more legal and moral entertainment investments for the inclusive growth of the country,” he said via Facebook Messenger.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think improvements will be realized gradually over the next twelve months with the ban on POGOs in effect? Do you think that money laundering and crime related to POGOs will go down sharply?
In the City of Muntinlupa, the City Government issued an official denial in response to the circulating information that local senior citizens aged 70 to 79-years-old will be receiving P1,000 each from the local authorities, according to a GMA Network news report.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the GMA news report. Some parts in boldface…
The local government of Muntinlupa City on Tuesday warned the public that it is not distributing P1,000 birthday cash gifts to residents who are 70 to 79 years old.
The city government noted that it is just currently doing surveys among its elderly residents to organize the city’s database.
“Kung mayroon man pong kumuha ng inyong impormasyon, ito ay para ito sa validation ng datos ng ating senior citizens. Gusto po nating maayos ang database at tama ang impormasyon na basehan ng mga programa ng lungsod,” the statement read.
(If anyone is asking for your information, this is only for the validation of our data on senior citizens. We just want to organize our database and make sure that we have the right information for the city’s programs.)
The city encouraged its residents to report any suspicious messages to the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group: (02) 8723 0401 (loc. 7491), 0968-8674302 (Smart), 0967-1360322 (Globe), and 0992-9893889 (DITO).
Further, the city government advised that senior citizens may reach out to the Office for Senior Citizen’s Affairs at the Bayanan Baywalk or the satellite office at South Park Center.
Let me end this post by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? If you are a resident of Muntinlupa City, do you think that more has to be done to push back against misinformation and the spread of fake news?
For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagement, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673
Even as millions of voters got registered recently with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) for the 2025 National and Local Elections, there are already over five million voters whose names were removed from the official list of registered voters, according to a GMA Network news report.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the GMA news report. Some parts in boldface…
Some 5.1 million names were removed from the Commission on Election’s (Comelec) official list of registered voters for the 2025 national and local elections (NLE), the poll body said Tuesday.
Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said a total of 5,105,191 registered voters were deactivated from the official list while 248,972 names were deleted.
“‘(Those) deleted [were] because of death [and] multiple and double registration,” Garcia told reporters in a Viber message.
Reasons for the delisting were failure to vote in two successive preceding regular elections, by court order, loss of Filipino citizenship, and having non-valid documents.
Meanwhile, Garcia said the poll body received a total of 409,329 applications for reactivation from February 12 to July 20.
Last May, the Comelec said 4.2 million names were removed from its official list of voters, mostly from Calabarzon. Meanwhile, 4.6 million voters registered for the 2025 NLE, the poll body said last week.
The voter registration period for the May 2025 midterm polls started on Feb. 12, and will end on Sept. 30.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Are you concerned that the high number of delisted voters could impact the 2025 National and Local Elections somehow?
After enjoying the big reveals and surprises of the Xbox Games Showcase this past June, things went downhill in recent times. For one thing, I really don’t like the changes Microsoft is implementing on Xbox Game Pass (click here and here to learn the details). With regards to new Xbox stuff this year, the fantasy role-playing game Avowed has been delayed to February 2025 while Indiana Jones and The Great Circle still has no firm 2024 release date as of this writing.
When it comes to games I’ve been playing a lot with my Xbox Game Pass (XGP) subscription, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes was recently patched but it still did not solve the game crashing and shutdown on my Xbox Series X. Rabbit & Bear and 505 Games still have a lot more work to be done to significantly fix and improve Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes on Xbox Series X.
My Xbox enjoyment improved when I started playing the original Grandia after purchasing Grandia HD Collection on the Xbox online store. For the newcomers reading this, Grandia HD Collectioncontains Grandia (released on PlayStation and Sega Saturn) and Grandia II (released on Dreamcast and PlayStaion 2) and those games have remastered visuals with high-definition TVs (HDTVs) in mind. In my experience, I played and finished Grandia on the original PlayStation console way back in 1999. I never played its sequel but will do so some time later.
As soon as I downloaded Grandia HD Collection on my Xbox Series X, I started playing Grandia for the first time in decades but with HD visuals and other refinements.
Developer Game Arts did amazing work creating the fantasy world and visual concepts that made Grandia a special game to play.
After watching a nice introduction (in animation), the story started with a short scene introducing Mullen, Lieutenant Leen and their superior General Baal. After that, the game’s focus shifted to the port town of Parm with a stylish floating camera sequence showcasing in real-time the polygonal location and the inhabitants (presented as detailed 2D animated bitmap sprites). Shortly after, the youngling Sue and the aspiring adventure Justin got introduced.
As of this writing, I played Grandia for several hours and already surpassed the End of the World (the wall that separated the initial world from the mysterious other. I already have Justin, Sue, Feena and Gadwin in my party.
This is the lounge for the upper class passengers on board a ship. Grandia is a fine example of combining 2D sprites with detailed polygonal environments.
Much early during my playthrough – specifically before witnessing Feena’s first appearance – I had fun rediscovering the unique locations Game Arts created. The town of Parm is a pretty unique location to start the game with. The Sult Ruins were designed with with sneaking and adventuring in mind. Through these and other locations, you will see how creative the game developers really were when it came to world-building as well as giving each location its own unique style and feel.
Because it had been so long since I finished this old Japanese role-playing game (JRPG), I had to orient myself with the game’s functions using the Xbox Series X controller and the technical options that came with the software. I quickly got used to the way the characters’ moved (in response to the controller), the way I was able to move the in-game camera around and how the functions responded to the buttons pressed. In just a few minutes, the Grandia gameplay familiarity came back to me.
Battles are always fun to play and grinding (playing many battles to gain experience points to level up) is not as stressful when compared to other JRPGs.
Game Arts came up with clever views of a local community like this to give gamers a unique look of this part of the game’s world.
Oh yes, the battles are still a lot of fun to play! During battles, there is this bar on the lower part of the screen showing the icons of your characters and monsters/enemies moving from left to right. Once the icon reaches a crucial point at the right, the game will enable you to take your turn and decide which action to execute. Once you made your choice of action, your character will be animated accordingly. It should be noted that striking enemies will not only reduce their hit points but also delay the flow of their icons on the bar. As such, battles can be strategic with regards to the actions you take and which enemy you targeted.
With regards to leveling-up, you don’t just gain experience points to develop and improve your playable characters. You will also improve their use of weapons and magic as they involve leveling-up. Along the way, you will get opportunities to acquire weapons and armor, and you can have different types of magic implemented into your character with the use of the Mana Eggs. The freedom of choice is clearly evident in the gameplay.
In addition to enjoying the gameplay and options, I appreciate the Game Arts’ approach on telling the story, the light-hearted way of presenting the characters and how they implemented creative pay-offs to the build-ups that preceded them. I also enjoyed the many visual concepts the developers came up with to make Grandia’s fantasy world, cultures and people come to life.
While I am still several hours away from finishing Grandia again, I can say that my current enjoyment of is literally returning with a vengeance and it helped me forget about the Xbox-related disappointments.
Right now, I am enjoying Grandia in HD and I intend to finish it again.
Feena with Sue and Justin. These characters are memorable and amusing to watch.
Recently in the City of Las Piñas, more than three hundred senior citizens availed the free vaccine shots for pneumonia during the City Health Office’s vaccination drive held at Barangay Talon Uno, the City Government confirmed via social media. Vice Mayor Aprl Aguilar was present during the health activity.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the City Government’s social media post. Some parts in boldface…
The City Health Office, led by OIC Dr. Juliana Gonzalez, held a free pneumonia vaccination drive for senior citizens at the Talon Uno Covered Court on Tuesday, July 16. City Vice Mayor April Aguilar attended the event to express her support for the initiative.
Over 300 senior citizens received vaccinations, providing them with essential protection against pneumonia. This effort is part of the City Health Office’s ongoing commitment to safeguarding the health of the most vulnerable sectors of the community.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: If you are a resident of Las Piñas City, what is your reaction to this development? Would you happen to know if the City Government will organize a pneumonia vaccination drive in your barangay soon?
For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagement, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673
Recently in the city of Parañaque, the local police (who were armed with a warrant of arrest issed by the Parañaque City Family Court) apprehended a 55-year-old man for statutory rape and rape by sexual assault, according to a Manila Bulletin news report.
To put things in perspective, posted below is the excerpt from the Manila Bulletin news report. Some parts in boldface…
A 55 year-old man was arrested by members of the Parañaque city Police Warrant and Subpoena Section and Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) for statutory rape and rape by sexual assault on Friday, July 26, the Southern Police District (SPD) said.
The suspect was identified as “Hipolito,” who was arrested in Quirino Avenue, Barangay Don Galo, Parañaque City.
The police said the suspect was arrested by virtue of warrant of arrest issued by Judge Moises D. De Castro of Parañaque City Family Court, Branch 10 on June 4, 2024 with no bail recommended bail.
Let me end this post by asking you readers: What do you think about this recent development? If you are a resident of Parañaque, are you concerned that there could be rapists hiding in your local community right now?
For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagement, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673
More than P831 million worth of coins have been deposited through the many coin deposit machines (CoDMs) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as of July 15, 2024, as published on their website.
Based on the latest statistics, a total of P831,774,151.23 (6.1% higher than the previous month’s count of P783,628,810.29) in coins got deposited into BSP machines on 202,110 transactions (5.4% higher than the previous month’s 191,804 transactions) from customers. In terms of physical quantity, 223,021,306 in coins were deposited. The previous count of deposited coins was 211,689,731.
Doing the math on the latest statistics, customers averaged P4,115.45 per transaction (versus the previous month’s P4,085.57 per transaction) at the machines. As for the grand total Peso amount divided by the number of coins deposited, the average is P3.7296 per coin deposited (versus the previous month’s average of P3.7018 per coin deposited).
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Were you able to deposit your excess coins into a BSP coin deposit machine in your locality recently? Has the BSP coin deposit machine near your been breaking down a lot in recent times?
For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagements, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673
