PAGASA warns of impact

ture since this also depends on rainfall.

A huge impact will be on the water sector. El Niño will also have an impact on health due to the warm weather, she pointed out.

PAGASA is expecting below normal rainfall from October to the first quarter of 2024.

“Pormal nang dineklara ng PAGASA ang pagkakaroon ng El Niño sa Dagat Pasipiko na maaring magkaroon ng epekto sa bansa,” said Ana Liza Solis, chief of PAGASA’s climate monitoring and prediction section.

PAGASA warned that the reduction in rainfall could start by October 2023.

“Mayroong init na nangyayari sa Pacific...Suma total, ang epekto ay kulang ang ulan na dumarating sa Pilipinas,” Department of Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum explained.

[Translation: There is currently a warmth in the Pacific...To sum it up, the effect of this is reduced rainfall in the Philippines.]

The state weather bureau said that at least 28 areas could experience dry conditions and 36 others may record dry spells at the end of 2023.

Camarines Norte and Southern Leyte could experience drought by the end of the year.

PAGASA also said that by January 2024, at least 26 areas in Luzon, including Metro Manila, may experience drought.

However, the state weather bureau noted that these forecasts are based on recent conditions in the Tropical Pacific.

“These are based on recent conditions in the Tropical Pacific, ito pong nade-develop na (this developing) El Niño, which is weak pa lang po siya, and then nakikita po natin na pwede siyang mag-strengthen in the coming months (which is still weak and we can see it getting stronger in the coming months),” said Solis.

“Therefore, uncertainty is high, and updates will be issued by PAGASA.” he added.

VP Duterte...

(From page 1) satellite offices in July 2022 in violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act.

The OVP was also found to have increased its maintenance and other operating expenses following the release of additional funding for medical assistance worth PHP96.42 million.

The COA pointed out that in comparison, Duterte’s predecessor Leni Robredo had zero budget for confidential funds.

It should be noted that Duterte has two separate budgets, one for the OVP and another for the Education department, where she serves concurrently as secretary.

2022...

(From page 1) mandated by the California Penal Code to submit an annual Hate Crime in California report, a copy of which was made available to Philippine News Today.

Based on the report, “the amount of hate crime events has gone up and down over the last decade.”

The reports adds that “in the last 10 years, hate crime events have increased by 145.7 percent.”

The lowest year for reported hate crime was in 2014, with 758 recorded events throughout the state.

For the 10-year period from 2013 to 2022, the data gathered shows a steady upswing in hate crimes throughout the Golden State in the last three years. Previously, there were years when the numbers rose and fell with no clear pattern.

As an example, with 2013 as the base year, single bias events based on race or ethnicity was pegged at 489, sinking to 412 in 2014, rising slightly to 428 in 2015, up to 519 in 2015, steadily rising to 602 in 2017, slipping to 594 in 2018, going down further to 523 in 2019. But from 2020 to 2021 to 2022, increases were steady at 875 then 1,165 then 1,298, respectively.

The “single bias events” are broken down into hate crimes against Whites,

South...

(From page 1)

Gutierrez Day.

“Our family is so blessed to have lolo with us still, healthy and well. What an amazing accomplishment to have reached 100 years old! I thought the best way to celebrate him and his long life was to have 100 people greet him on his big day. Friends and family sent in greeting cards for him. Our family couldn’t be more elated and prouder!” wrote granddaughter Kristine Sinajon on behalf of the Gutierrez clan.

Proceso at 100

She, therefore, plays a similar role as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who also serves as Agriculture secretary in a concurrent capacity.

The immediate establishment of the satellite offices without enough equipment to operate led to the purchases of property, plant, and equipment as well as semi-expendable property, stated COA. This did not fully comply with the law.

State auditors said that based on the receipts, the purchases were reported to the Property Unit only after three months had passed, raising accountability concerns.

Duterte’s office admitted that some of its purchases had been done through reimbursement of funds advances by of-

Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, Arabs, and others.

It must be noted that 2020 was when the COVID-19 pandemic spread rapidly worldwide, with more than a million US citizens or residents succumbing to the disease. Data from multiple sources state that hate crimes, especially against the Asian-American and the Pacific Islander community, which includes Filipinos and FilAms, became the target for all kinds of hate crimes on the mistaken notion that the coronavirus emanated from Asia.

Since the report focuses on 2022, when hate crimes in the state were at their peak, it is worth noting that the types of crimes were broken down into two broad categories – violent crimes and property crimes.

Under the former category which accounted for 69.1 percent or 1,790 total, were the likes of murder, rape, robbery, assault, intimidation, fondling, and kidnapping/abduction.

Under the latter category which accounted for 29.3 percent or 759 total, were such crimes as burglary, theft, arson, vandalism, swindling, weapons law violation, and computer hacking and/or invasion.

The three most common violent ficials. The OVP cited “time constraints” imposed by the law.

The OVP also said “the satellite office staff exercises the necessary diligence to ensure that the items purchased are of the required quality and at the lowest price offered in the market.”

In a statement this week, the OVP said its purchases had passed COA’s audit.

It was ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro who called out the vice president for taking “alleged shortcuts in procurement processes.” crimes, all of which were in the hundreds, were aggravated assault (507 cases), simple assault (602), and intimidation (588).

Castro said the OVP was “mired in corruption,” adding that she would call for a House investigation on the actions of Duterte.

For property crimes, only one category stood out with destruction/vandalism having 699 cases.

From 2013 to 2022, the combined category of violent crime and property crime saw a steady rise with fewer fluctuations. It started with a total of 1,066 in 2013, slipping to 966 in 2014. It then showed a steady rise from 2015 to 2017 at 1,057, 1,184, and 1,311, respectively. The next two years showed a relatively stable level of 1,264 in 2018 then 1,254 in 2019.

Then again, in the last three years of the pandemic, the figures steadily rose from 1,557 in 2020, to 2,203 in 2021, to 2,549 last year.

The 2022 Hate Crime Report in America report confirms what various communities have been claiming all along, that not all hate crimes are reported by the victims.

As stated in the report, the following factors may influence the volume of hate crimes reported to the DOJ:

* Cultural practices of individuals and their likeliness to report hate crimes to law enforcement agencies;

* Strength and investigative emphasis of law enforcement agencies;

The VP’s confidential fund is another matter. She is the first vice president to have such a fund and questions were raised upon her assumption of the twin posts of VP and Education secretary as to the need for a confidential fund free from review by state auditors.

Last month, the ACT party-list raised a howl over the Education department’s asking for a list of its members. This was yet another form of potential red-tagging that Duterte was resorting to, they said.

Castro had been among the first to state that Duterte could use her multi-million peso intelligence fund to go against her perceived enemies.

* Policies of law enforcement agencies; and,

* Community policing policies.

While a comprehensive picture of hate crimes in California has appeared because of the annual report, it must also be noted that the state has done its part in prosecuting the crimes.

Prosecutorial data likewise shows that there has been a rise in the number of cases referred to prosecutors, the number of hate crime case dispositions, the type of filings by agency, and the total convictions.

According to the report, the number of hate crimes referred for prosecution “increased 5.9 percent from 611 in 2021 to 647 in 2022.”

Of the 647 hate crimes referred for prosecution, 456 cases were filed by district attorneys and elected city attorneys for prosecution.

While there was a high rate of conviction, there were apparent instances when hate crime charges were downgraded to a lesser offense. This was done to assure a better chance of conviction, although hate crime victims will not always agree as in their view justice has not been fully served.

Next week: Prosecution of hate crimes gathers momentum

China... (From page 1)

The near-encounter took place on June 30 as the two PCG vessels, BRP Malabrigo and BRP Malapascua, were escorting a supply mission to the Armed Forces of the Philippine troops stationed in a ship in Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) some 195 kilometers (105 nautical miles) from Philippine coast and within the Philippine exclusive economic zone.

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said the Chinese ships “came close to [Philippine] vessels” at about 150 feet (45 meters), forcing the two PCG ships to decrease their speed, even as they both responded to radio challenges from China and issued challenges of their own.

“Ang ginawa nila, they came close sa ating dalawang Philippine Coast Guard vessels with an approximate distance of 100 yards, while at the same time, ang ginawa ng ating 2 Coast Guard vessel, para ma-prevent itong possible banggaan, they have to decrease the speed,” said Tarriela in a briefing.

He said the Chinese Coast Guard vessels showed “blatant disregard” for the ‘Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea’ (COLREGs) in their attempts to obstruct the passage of PCG ships.

Tarriela said the PCG aircraft also received radio challenges from the Chinese ships.

“While at the same time, they are doing this maneuvering and blocking and harassing, shadowing of the PCG vessels, they are also conducting radio challenges. They (China Coast Guard radio challenge) were (saying) that Ayungin Shoal, they have full jurisdiction over it, and we are not supposed to be in that area,” Tarriela said.

“It appears that the [Chinese Coast Guard vessels] are exerting additional effort to prevent the PCG from reaching Ayungin Shoal,” Tarriela added.

“This is particularly alarming as the Philippine Navy’s naval operation is solely humanitarian in nature. Despite this, the Chinese have deployed their warships, raising even greater concerns,” he added.

But despite the Chinese Coast Guard aggression, the AFP successfully carried out its mission at the Ayungin shoal, he said.

He said during the incident, the PCG also spotted two People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy vessels at a distance of 9 nautical miles from Ayungin, which Tarriela describes as concerning.

The “aggressive actions”and “dangerous maneuvers” of the Chinese vessels which were recorded by the PCG and the media triggered deep concerns of Philippine officials like senators and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Senators led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros urged the Philippine government to raise the WPS issue to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly following continued aggressive actions of Chinese vessels against Philippine ships in the WPS.

The senators slammed China’s actions for their “complete disrespect of international law.”

The Philippines has repeatedly accused the Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militias of harassing and attacking fishing boats and other vessels in the region.

In January, Filipino fishermen reported that the China Coast Guard harassed them also at the Ayungin Shoal.

In February, the China Coast Guard with bow number 5205 directed a military-grade laser light to the PCG’s BRP Malapascua in the same area causing temporary blindness to its crew.

On April 23, two China Coast Guard vessels “intercepted” PCG vessels near the Ayungin Shoal, exhibiting “aggressive tactics” towards BRP Malapascua and BRP Malabrigo.

As this development, a Philippine Navy official said there is a need to allocate additional troops and law enforcement resources to fully protect the resources of Ayungin Shoal to combat illegal activities that threaten its ecosystem.

Naval Forces West (NFW) chief

Commodore Alan Javier said during his visit to the BRP Sierra Madre (LS57) and personnel manning the Navy ship last June 29 that the additional troops and law enforcement assets will help prevent illegal activities in the area like the use of compressors, cyanides and more recently “superlights” or fishing light attractors.

Javier visited BRP Sierra Madre as he joined the routine rotation of troops and reprovisioning (RoRe) mission, which aims to ensure the well-being of soldiers stationed at BRP Sierra Madre.

“Commodore Alan M. Javier, the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) Western Command’s (Wescom) NFW’s commander, recently visited Ayungin Shoal’s lone outpost, BRP Sierra Madre as part of his responsibilities to assess the welfare of troops deployed in the area. His visit marks the second high-ranking AFP officer to visit the outpost this year,” Wescom spokesperson Commander Joseph Ariel Coloma said in a statement forwarded Wednesday.

The NFW chief boarded the same civilian-contracted wooden resupply boat that Wescom chief Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos had used during his visit to the station last June.

The visit allowed Javier to personally witness the conditions faced by troops on the frontlines and gain firsthand insight into their challenges.

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