refresh and restart’

company that owned the sunken oil tanker, the captain of the MT Princess Empress, along with six crew members and 19 personnel from the PCG of varying ranks.

“Issuance of an authenticated form, a document purporting to be a copy of an original document when no such original exists. RDC Reield directors are presumed to be the authors of the falsified document as they were in possession of the same and made use of the document,” DOJ spokesperson Jose Dominic Clavano said.

He also pointed out that the owners of the sunken ship benefitted from the use of the falsified document.

The captain of the MT Princess Empress was liable as he was considered a general agent of the ship owner.

A s for the PCG personnel, Clavano said they were found liable “as they conduct pre-departure inspections for domestic oil tankers prior to voyage, and first and foremost on their checklist is to check the validity of the CPC.”

In line with this, a director and a regional head of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) in Region 5, along with two officials of RDC Reield, were charged with falsification of construction certificate and tonnage measurement; certificate of ownership; and certificate of Philippine registry.

“ The officials from Marina and RDC Reield Marine Services Inc. allegedly conspired for the purpose of illegally registering the MT Princess Empress with false documents,” Clavano explained.

Likewise, two officials of RDC Reield were charged with perjury under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code.

A mong the documents allegedly perjured were the supporting documents to apply for a tonnage measurement certificate.

The two company officials, through the falsified construction certificate, and the perjured affidavit of ownership and builder’s certificate, obtained the tonnage measurement certificate signed by the engineers of Marina. The certificate was issued in favor of MT Princess Empress,” the DOJ spokesperson pointed out.

C lavano said Pola, Oriental Mindoro Mayor Jennifer Cruz also stood as a complainant in the case aside from the NBI.

Pola was among the towns that sustained the most damage from the oil spill.

HALF A MILLION FILIPINOS FIND JOBS IN APRIL–PSA

By Andrea E. San Juan

THE number of jobless Filipinos fell to

2.26 million in April, according to the preliminary results of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

O n Friday, PSA said the number of unemployed Filipinos declined by 506,000 in April from the 2.76 million posted a year ago.

O n a month-on-month basis, however, the number of employed Filipinos declined by 160,000 from the 2.42 million recorded in March.

The latest data translates to a 4.5 percent unemployment rate in April, an improvement from the previous year’s 5.7 percent.

To ensure the “continuation” of this trend, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a statement on Friday, “The government affirms its commitment to the unimpeded implementation of economic liberalization reforms and other essential legislation.”

“ These efforts will be complemented by comprehensive collaborations among government entities and society as a whole to enhance the employability and productivity of our work force,” Balisacan added.

Further, the Socioeconomic Planning chief noted the government can “capitalize” on digital technologies to foster innovation, upgrade services, and effectively respond to the needs of the work force.

“Hence, the complete execution of the Philippine Digital Work force Competitiveness Act is also vital for equipping the work force with digital technology skills and fostering innovation,” he said.

Mean while, the number of employed persons went up by 2.43 million to 48.06 million in April from the 45.63 million posted in a year ago.

National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said the year-on-year rise in employed persons in April can be attributed to the increase in wholesale and retail trade, accommodation and food service activities, more tourists, among others.

“S o this is comparing April 2022 versus April 2023 so basically nakikita naman dito ‘yung opening of the economy, more tourists, people are going out that’s why ang ang isa sa mga malalaking sources of employment ayaccommodation and food service activities plus ‘yung ating transportation so those are the areas kung saan may pagtaas tayo sa employed persons,” Mapa said on Friday.

PSA da ta showed the top five major industries with the largest annual increase in employment in April were: wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; accommodation and food service activities; administrative and support service activities; and transportation and storage.

In contrast, PSA said the top three major industries with the largest drop in employment were agriculture and forestry, manufacturing, and construction.

PSA said w age and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons at 61.5 percent in April. This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 27.5 percent and unpaid family workers at 8.5 percent.

Employers in their own family-operated farm or business had the lowest share at 2.5 percent.

Among w age and salary workers, employed persons in private establishments made up 47.6 percent of the total employed, followed by employed in government or government-controlled corporations with 9.2 percent share.