Philippine news and current events
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The local digital banking space is a battleground but in the middle of the rivalry to be No. 1, the six digital banks decided to establish their own association first, the Digital Banking Association of the Philippines (DBAP). The digital banks want DBAP to be their launching pad to help them to go global. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas apparently agrees, and has endorsed the establishment of the group, according to bank officials. For now, there are only six banks with digital banking license in the Philippines. Most of the digital banks started operations within the first six months of 2022. The country's digital banks are: government-owned Overseas Filipino Bank Inc. of Land Bank of the Philippines; Tonik Digital Bank of Tonik Financial Pte Ltd. of Singapore; UNObank Inc. of Singapore; GoTyme Bank Corp. of the Gokongwei Group’s Robinsons Bank; Maya Bank of the PLDT Group; and UnionDigital Bank of Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines.
The Ukrainian government is ready to share the experiences of its soldiers to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and discuss the establishment of a military technical exchange program. Denys Mykhailiuk, Ukraine's Chargé d'affaires in Malaysia, who also has jurisdiction over the Philippines, believes that the Philippine government may be interested in learning how Ukraine defended their rights against the occupation of a bigger and more powerful country like Russia. "We can also discuss some military technical preparation and exchange in experience because our forte is the biggest war conflict since the time of the Second World War and for the Filipino army, they might be interested to study and learn experience from our veterans on how to counter a bigger enemy," Mykhailiuk said. However, the Ukrainian official clarified his government is not encouraging the Philippines to go to war. Instead, he said the Philippines should be prepared for any scenario, especially since there are parts of the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone being claimed by a bigger and more powerful country. The Ukrainian official did not mention any specific country, but China is claiming almost the entire West Philippine Sea, which according to the 2016 arbitral ruling is within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone. Freedom of navigation, maritime issues, and free trade are among the topics that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to discuss with Philippine President Bongbong Marcos via a phone meeting. According to Mykhailiuk, "We also cooperate greatly in the areas of granting of free navigation and free trade, you know the Filipinos is the number one country with the quantity of seafarers and Ukraine is the second one, and so we can cooperate greatly in protection of maritime trade." The AFP has not yet responded to Ukraine's offer of a military technical exchange program. However, it said earlier that despite China's actions in the West Philippine Sea, it still supports the peaceful resolution of disputes. The Ukrainian official announced the offer of a military technical exchange program to the AFP in commemoration of Ukraine's 32nd Independence Day. This is a significant event for Ukraine, even amid the ongoing war between Ukrainian and Russian forces. However, the Ukrainian official reveals that despite the ongoing war, they are already planning and developing a recovery plan for rebuilding their infrastructure. He said his country recognizes the skills of Filipino workers, such as engineers and construction workers, and hopes to have Filipino labor to help them rebuild their country. "We will definitely be in bad need for labor, qualified labor to the country. We already launched the so-called fast recovery plan to transform and rebuild our economy not after the war but already in the time of the war because nobody knows how long it will be, and we lost approximately 30% of our economy," Mykhailiuk said. He said Ukraine will be needing engineers, construction and development laborers for what is foreseen in the next 50 years as the biggest construction site in Europe. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, only a few Filipinos remain in Ukraine, most of whom are spouses of Ukrainian nationals who chose to stay to help defend their country. —LDF/KG, GMA Integrated News
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 25) — ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro said she will study the possibility of holding Vice President Sara Duterte to account, including filing an impeachment complaint, over the alleged unauthorized use of confidential funds for Duterte's office in 2022. House deputy minority leader Castro said the Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent ₱125 million as confidential funds in 2022 even without Congressional authorization, as there was no appropriation for confidential expenses for the OVP under the 2022 General Appropriations Act (GAA). Congress enacted the 2022 GAA in 2021, before Duterte was elected into office. She only started her term on June 30 last year. Castro said former Vice President Leni Robredo "did not ask for and consequently was not given any confidential funds for her office for fiscal year 2022." Asked if Castro would file an impeachment complaint against Duterte, the lawmaker said, "Tungkol sa impeachment, siyempre pag-aaralan natin 'yung mga possibility para mapanagot kung makikita natin talaga itong mga binanggit nating violation na ito, lalong lalo na ‘to misuse of public funds, technical malversation, at saka paglabag sa Constitution." [Translation: About impeachment, we would study the possibilities on how to hold officials accountable if we prove there were violations, especially the misuse of public funds, technical malversation, and violating the Constitution.] Castro said she is still waiting for the findings of the Commission on Audit’s (COA) investigation into the matter. "Darating tayo diyan sa bagay na ‘yan sa impeachment pag buo na ‘yong ating data, information, facts, at documents," she added. [Translation: We will come to the discussion of impeachment once our data, information, facts, and documents are complete.] The lawmaker pointed out the presence of confidential funds in the OVP’s report for 2022 during the hearing of the House committee on appropriations in the proposed 2024 budget of COA on Thursday. She believed this was realigned. COA chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba said they will look into it. "The Vice President needs to explain how she could incur obligations amounting to ₱125 million in confidential expenses in the last six months of 2022 despite the fact that her office has no Congressional authorization to do so for that year," Castro said. "Without such authorization, the strict rule prohibiting public disclosure of the use of confidential funds does not apply in this case," she said. "Therefore, we ask that the OVP provide a detailed public accounting of how the ₱125 million was spent." "There may also be violations of the Supreme Court ruling on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) if savings were used to fund this ₱125 million confidential fund," she added. For her part, Duterte said she welcomes the probe recommended by Castro to COA on the 2022 confidential funds of the OVP but stressed the lawmaker "doesn't deserve an explanation." "All she did was wildly and masterfully arrange some allegations against me and the OVP, which will all be answered once the probe is done and during the budget hearing," the vice president added. "Meanwhile, I hope she finds gratification and great joy over the thought of my impeachment from office. Enjoy," she said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 17) — The Supreme Court En Banc has penalized five lawyers for posting homophobic remarks on social media, saying the right to privacy of lawyers is limited especially when it comes to their online activities. Lawyers Noel V. Antay, Jr., Morgan Rosales Nicanor, Joseph Marion Peña Navarrete, and Israel P. Calderon were reprimanded with stern warning, while lawyer Atty. Ernesto Tabujara III was dealt with a heavier punishment of ₱25,000 fine and stern warning. They were found in violation of Rule 7.03 of the Code of Professional Responsibility. The decision stemmed from a Facebook post initiated by Antay who posted that he prosecuted a case for estafa against a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. He alleged the convicted individual cursed at him and accused him of being a bigot. He then narrated that the judge, whom he described as "somewhat effeminate," chastised the convict. The high court said Antay opened the conversation with homophobic undertones. "These descriptions are uncalled for and have no context in the narrative, thus showing his gender bias," read the decision signed by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and 14 justices and released on Wednesday. Nicanor, Navarrete, and Calderon chimed in on Antay's post. The justices noted that their comments reeked of misleading stereotypes and wrong, perverse undertones often pinned against members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Tabujara was meted with the heaviest penalty among the five lawyers. He commented under Antay's post: "(s)ino 'yung bakla na judge…(n)aka eye liner and eye shadow pag naghe-hearing. Ang taray pa!" He later on commented that the joke among lawyers is that in a certain courthouse, "sa 2nd floor puro may sira ulo mga judge, sa baba bakla at mga corrupt." [Translation: Who is the gay judge who wears eyeliner and eyeshadows during hearings? And so prickly! In the second floor, the judges are crazy, but in the first floor, you can find the homosexuals and the corrupt ones.] It said Tabujara lumped the alleged homosexual judges with the allegedly corrupt ones, thereby implying that homosexual judges have the same degree of immorality as those of corrupt judges. It added that unlike the other lawyers, Tabujara did not sincerely apologize and showed no hint of remorse, which the court found disturbing. It also slammed Tabujara's comments that he is an ally of the LGBTQIA+ sector to explain his side. "It smacks of hypocrisy," the decision read. "If hurt was unintentionally inflicted, a sincere apology can lessen the sting." The magistrates ruled that lawyers' right to privacy vis-a-vis online activities is not absolute. "It is not a defense that the discriminatory language was uttered in what was seemingly intended to be private exchanges among the macho men. The fact that their exchanges became public trumps whatever intention they may have had to keep their communications private... Unfortunately or fortunately, respondents' true character came to light," the court said. All five lawyers were told that a repetition of the same or similar offense will be dealt with more severely.
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President and concurrent Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Monday defended the Department of Education’s (DepEd) proposal to have P150 million worth of confidential funds, saying that education is tied to national security. Duterte said the DepEd must have confidential funds “because education is intertwined with national security.” “Napakahalaga na we mold children who are patriotic children, who will love our country and defend our country,” Duterte said. (It is so important that we mold children who are patriotic children, who will love our country and defend our country.) The Vice President, however, did not specify how the confidential funds would be able to accomplish such objectives. Both the DepEd and the Office of the Vice President (OVP) proposed a P150 million confidential fund. Duterte pointed out that there is a joint circular with regard to confidential funds, which will detail where the funds are used. “Nakalatag din doon kung paano siya liliquidate and by its nature, its confidential funds so we cannot discuss kung paano siya ginagamit sa operations,” she said. (It is laid out there how it will be liquidated and but by its nature, its confidential funds so we cannot discuss how it will be used in its operations.) According to Duterte, she leaves it to the decision of Congress as to how much to allocate to both the OVP and DepEd.