The SUN HK

Pagasa: Dry spell to worsen in MM, 16 provinces in May

Posted on 04 May 2019 No comments

Metro Manila stews in the summer sun.

The dry season will worsen in May due to a weak and prolonged El Nino, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) .

Apart from Metro Manila, the drought will also affect the provinces of Bataan, Cavite, Marinduque, Romblon, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, and Sorsogon.

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In Visayas, the provinces of Aklan, Biliran, Eastern, Northern and Western Samar and Leyte will be affected by drought.

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Pagasa said Bohol, Cebu and Southern Leyte would experience dry spell.

At present, 41 provinces are experiencing drought, a severe dry condition.

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Drought is defined as three consecutive months of way below normal (60 percent reduction from average) or five consecutive months of below normal (21 to 60 percent reduction from average) rainfall condition.

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A dry spell is described by Pagasa) as three consecutive months of below normal (21 to 60 percent reduction from average) rainfall condition or two consecutive months of way below normal (more than 60 percent reduction from average) rainfall condition.

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So far, damage to the local agriculture sector due to El Niño has reached the P8-billion mark,
but the government said this has no significant effect on total national production.

Latest data released by the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed damage and losses from the weak El Niño have increased to P7.96 billion.

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This is equivalent to an estimated volume of 268,656 metric tons and damaged agricultural areas at 277,890 hectares affecting 247,610 farmers and fisherfolk.

Affected regions are Cordilleras, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Zamboanga peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soccsksargen and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

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For rice alone, damage has reached P4.04 billion affecting 144,202 hectares and production volume of 191,761 metric tons.

For corn, damage has increased to P3.89 billion affecting 133,007 hectares of lands with volume loss at 254,766 MT.

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Consul Deric’s new job offers exciting sea of challenges

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Consulate and POLO officials give Consul Roderico Atienza a farewell dinner at Cinta J.

By Vir B. Lumicao

Consul Roderico Atienza, who used to be deputy head of post in Hong Kong, is going home May 1, ending a relatively brief but “rewarding” posting in the city to take up a new and challenging assignment in the Department of Foreign Affairs.

His departure ends a two-year and two-week stint here that would have been much shorter, had it not been for a delay in the signing of the new government budget.

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He says there is really nothing special about his leaving. “In fact, if I have to go by the scheduled rotation, it was really due on the 31st of January. That was exactly when I completed six years overseas,” Consul Deric said.

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His departure comes just a month shy of the expected recall to the Home Office of Consul General Antonio Morales and Consul Fatima Quintin, both of whom are also winding up six years of posting abroad.

Consul Deric says he will assume his new role one of two directors of the Maritime Ocean Affairs Office.

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“It is a standalone office inside the DFA that recognizes the importance of the archipelagic nation status of the Philippines as one of the framers of the United Nations Law of the Sea of 1982,” he said.

He calls the UN Law of the Sea “one of our greatest diplomatic victories together with Indonesia. We essentially defined one of the provisions recognizing archipelagic nations. It’s the Bible of the sea, right? Essentially, if you classify that, it’s one of the biggest transfers of territory that is legal and won without a fight.”

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“Part of my role when I return to Manila is to make sure that we adhere to and respect and implement what is due to us by the law, especially in the area of the South China Sea,” Consul Deric said.

The Philippines has an overlapping claim over the South China Sea with Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. Some reefs, islets or shoals are within the Philippines’ economic zone that stretches 200 km from its western coastline.

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“If there is something about the South China Sea, then I’d be included or my team would be included. I think it is incumbent upon us that if we have rights to the sea, …we should be observant of that and, of course, benefit from that,” he said.

He looks back to his stay in Hong Kong “as very rewarding and in so many ways a relief. The good thing about Hong Hong is that the results of the work you can do here are immediately felt and seen.”

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“In that sense, you have a – whether you say it’s a psychic or psychological – reward, because you can see that the people you are helping in very short order receive the benefits,” he said.

It is in Hong Kong, which is teeming with Filipino workers, where he realized the important role of a consulate, something that he did not see in Korea where he was the consul general before coming here.

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OFWs in Korea are “under a very orderly system of government. There is a lot of system of monitoring and enforcement actions” that Hong Kong also has.

But he said with some 220,000 workers and with the power of social media, the Hong Kong post creates opportunities but also some challenges.

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It's now the turn of those born in 1968 or 1969 to apply for new HK identity cards

Posted on 03 May 2019 No comments

Samples of the new Smart HKID

If you were born in 1968 or 1969 you must apply for a new smart identity card in person at a Smart Identity Card Replacement Centre (SIDCC) on or before June 1, the Immigration Department (ImmD) announced today.

The SIDCCs will be open from Mondays to Saturdays, from 8am to 10pm (except public holidays).

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To avoid a last-minute rush, eligible applicants are advised to apply for the new smart identity card as early as possible.

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They may make an appointment booking via the Internet (www.gov.hk/newicbooking), the ImmD mobile application or the 24-hour telephone booking hotline 2121 1234.

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The ImmD appeals to applicants to pre-fill the application form when making an appointment booking through the Internet or mobile application in order to enjoy a faster service.

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Eligible applicants may also bring along up to two family members or friends aged 65 or above to replace their smart identity cards together during the same visit to an SIDCC.

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Applicants should bring along their existing smart identity cards when they proceed to SIDCCs to apply for the new smart identity card.

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If eligible applicants are absent from Hong Kong during their call-up period, they can apply within 30 days of their return to Hong Kong.

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For details of the Territory-wide Identity Card Replacement Exercise, please visit the websitewww.smartid.gov.hk or call the enquiry hotline 2824 6111.

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Budget constraints delay mailing of OAV ballots

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The delay in the enactment of the 2019 budget has consequently delayed the mailing of official ballots to overseas absentee voters due to lack of funds for stamps.

This means that a good number of overseas Filipino have yet to receive their official ballots for overseas absentee voting from the diplomatic posts in their respective countries. Overseas voting ends on May 13, the same day for the general balloting.

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“We have to fund more posts para sa stamps. Although we have estimated it, may mga kulang po talaga. Kaya may mga balota pa pong hindi pa name-mail kasi nga kulang ‘yung pondo sa postage,” Election Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said in an interview by GMA 7.

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Guanzon cited the delay in the passage of the P3.757-trillion national budget for the delay in purchase of enough postal stamps for the official ballots.

“As you know, we had to make do with a reenacted budget up to a certain time,” she added.

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Overseas voters have two options to cast their ballots for absentee voting. One is for the voter to go to the Philippine embassy or consulate to cast his or her vote. The other is through the mail, wherein the embassy or the consulate sends the official ballot to the voter, who then mails it back to the diplomatic post.

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James Jimenez, spokesperson of the Comelec, explained that it was the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that should provide funding and purchase the stamps, and that Comelec would later on reimburse the DFA. He said the DFA did not have adequate funding for the stamps.

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The Comelec en banc has authorized the release of $50,000, equivalent to P2.6 million, in addition to the initial P50 million already released.

“Ang solution ng Comelec is to authorize na mag-advance kami ng pera para mabilhan ng postage. Masolusyonan yon by allowing the posts, in some case ‘yung posts mismo ang mag-aadvance ng pera,” Jimenez said.

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“Tapos ire-reimburse ng Comelec. Again, noong 2016, reimbursement talaga ang style natin kaya hindi tayo nag-provide ng pondo upfront,” he added.

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Both Guanzon and Jimenez expressed confidence that the official ballots would be received by voters abroad, and would be mailed back to the embassies and consulate in time for the last day of overseas absentee voting on May 13.

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