MANILA — The Department of Tourism (DOT) is working with Royal Air to mount chartered flights between Macau (MFM) and Subic Bay International Airport seven times per week.

“Royal Air is among our airline partners, which the DOT is working with to bring in tourists from China. Through our Route Development Team, we are providing marketing support to air carriers to increase tourist traffic to underutilized international gateways in the Philippines, such as the Subic Bay International Airport,” DOT Undersecretary for Tourism Development and spokesperson Benito Bengzon Jr. said.

Royal Air is planning to mount daily flights from Macau to Subic Bay using a 97-seater aircraft.

The flight is expected to produce additional 697 international air seats or about 35,308 seats per year from China.

“Subic Bay is a special economic zone in the Philippines, which by law allows the entry of foreign nationals without the required visa for a maximum of 14 days. This is a good opportunity for Philippine tourism as Chinese nationals do not need to queue in our consular offices in China to secure the entry visa to the Philippines,” Bengzon said.

“Subic Bay has a lot to offer to leisure and business travelers with its natural, cultural, and adventure attractions coupled with world-class accommodations and other tourist facilities.”

Royal Air has just inaugurated its new Macau to Mactan Cebu International Airport (CEB) route last June 21.

The new daily MFM-CEB route is using the same type of aircraft, producing a total of 35,308 international air seats per year from China.

Royal Air is a registered air carrier in the Philippines that was granted the right to provide chartered air services, through a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board in May 2017.

Likewise, Royal Air now flies from Macau to the Lallo International Airport in Cagayan using BAE RJ-100 aircraft with 97 mono-class seat capacity on a four-times-per-week schedule. (DOT PR)

Source: Philippines News Agency

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Manila, July 25, 2018 — A team of scientists from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) visited the Philippines to participate in National Science and Technology Week (NSTW). During their visit, the NASA scientists interacted with Filipino scientists, engineering students, and high school teachers and highlighted NASA’s collaboration with the Philippine government on climate research and weather monitoring.

During the NSTW opening ceremony on July 17, NASA and the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines handed over 336 specialized lenses for mosquito identification to the Philippine Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Science High Schools Program. The lenses were provided through the U.S. government-funded Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, a U.S.-led initiative to promote citizen science to fight mosquito-borne diseases in 22 countries, including the Philippines.

As part of the NSTW activities, NASA Deputy Chief Technologist Florence Tan participated in a July 20 panel discussion about the use of space technology with Philippine academics, scientists, and government officials. She fielded questions on space debris, prospects for human visitation to Mars, and NASA’s programming in the Philippines.

NSTW is organized by the Philippine Department of Science and Technology. The week-long event brings scientists and students together for five days of activities, presentations, and interactive exhibits on cutting edge scientific research and technology benefiting the Philippines.

NASA scientist Dr. Hal Maring said, “It was a joy to interact with so many Filipino students and experts excited about science, space technology, and technology in general.”

During their July 14 to 26 visit, NASA scientists are also working with Manila Observatory scientists to prepare for next year’s CAMP2Ex Project.

CAMP2Ex, which will begin in mid-2019, is a $20 million partnership that builds on ten years of U.S.-Philippine collaboration to better understand cloud formation in the western part of the Philippines, one of the world’s most unpredictable geographic regions for weather and climate models. As part of the project, NASA and Filipino scientists will undertake a comprehensive effort to map and model the meteorological system of the Philippines, generating high quality data that will inform disaster risk reduction and preparedness.

The CAMP2Ex project will also connect Philippine scientists and students with more than 40 scientific experts from NASA and top U.S. research universities. Philippine project partners include PAGASA, the Manila Observatory of Ateneo de Manila University, and the University of the Philippines.

While in the Philippines, Dr. Maring, who is NASA’s lead scientist for CAMP2Ex, visited Subic Bay to mentor more than 200 Philippine STEM teachers on techniques for teaching climate science and meteorology. Dr. Maring explained, “I was impressed by the STEM teachers’ intense interest in inspiring their students. We had a productive time discussing how to teach climate and environmental science to Filipino youth. I have high hopes for the next generation of science leaders.”

source: ph.usembassy.gov

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By: Eunice Barbara C. Novio

Pinky Date Yabut having dialysis in Olongapo on July 23. CONTRIBUTED

Jimmy Edwards, 66 years old of North Carolina, was among the hundreds of former U.S. servicemen looking for children had they left behind in the Southeast Asia. With over 200,000 Amerasians in the Philippines, many of whom have no birth certificates, only photos, and mementos, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Edwards did not intend to leave behind his girlfriend, a certain “Merlie Asis/Francisco,” and his baby, Pinky, who was born on March 27, 1975 in Olongapo City.

I was on a repair ship that visited Subic and we were there for long periods of time. My brother was stationed there and he introduced me to Pinky’s mother. I put in a request chit to marry her before she even got pregnant, but it was denied. I told her when we returned in nine months I was going to marry her illegally out in town,” Edwards says.

Edwards claims that he was in touch with Merlie until 1978. The last photo he had with his daughter was taken at White Rock Beach in Subic. Pinky was only seven months old when he last saw her.

Finding Pinky

Edwards says that Merlie had married another sailor, thinking that he would not come back. Naturally, the husband did not want Edwards to continue communicating with Merlie.

Father and daughter reunion. CONTRIBUTED

“Her husband sued me to keep me from having contact with her mother and giving her money for Pinky. I still gave money through one of her mother’s friends,” Edwards recalls.

When the letters stopped coming, Edwards started looking for Pinky in 1980. He contacted Pearl S. Buck Foundation and some Catholic groups to no avail. However, on March 28, 2005, just when Pinky turned 30 years old, Edwards got an email from the coordinator of USA Bound Inc., telling him that Pinky Daet Yabut has been found living in poverty in Olongapo. Pinky has also a kidney problem and is undergoing dialysis.

That same year, a German filmmaker heard about the Edwards and decided to do a documentary on Amerasians. Edwards was sponsored a trip to the Philippines to be reunited with his daughter and to meet his grandchildren.

Meeting Pinky made him realize the extent of the “left behind” children of the GIs. He started a website (www.amerasianregistry.yolasite.com/) to help other parents reunite with their children. Edwards was able to locate over 200 fathers and some of them were able to visit their offspring. He also started sending petitions to Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump to change the laws and allow Amerasians to be U.S. citizens.

A dark-skinned Woman in the Philippines

Pinky is the oldest among seven siblings from different fathers. Only one is Filipino, the rest are African Americans.

If a Caucasian Amerasian found things difficult growing up, it was worse for the blacks.

“My classmates and relatives taunted me, calling me names like ‘negra,’ ‘baluga,’ even asking if my blood was also black,” Pinky says.

Like her siblings, Pinky is considered an ‘illegitimate’ since her mother refused to register her name under Edwards. They also found out that their mother used different aliases in their birth certificates. Only when two of her siblings went abroad, and her mother also became an overseas worker, that they were able to know her real name. She is Maria Oliva Daet.

Among the seven children, only one was able to go to the United States with his father. The Filipino sibling died in an illness when he was 17.

“My mother asked a father to bring one brother the U.S. when the base closed down. He was only five years old then. He visited us once. But we lost touch,” says Pinky.

Pinky says that her mother tried to abort her, the reason, she says, why she is sickly.

Despite her sickness, Pinky was able to raise a family–five sons and one daughter. She is now a grandmother too. Maria Oliva, however, still refuses to talk to her, or help her get better.

‘Not American’

In 2008, Pinky applied for a U.S. Visa and was denied. She is not qualified for the Adult Derivative Citizenship because of her mother’s failure to include the name of Edwards as her father. Due to the absence of communication and ignorance of immigration rules, Edwards failed to apply for Pinky’s citizenship before she turned 21.

A letter from the U.S. Consulate to Edwards said:

The petition in Superior Court should have occurred before her 21st birthday. Petitioning her now could no longer constitute legitimation since she already reached the age of 21. If you want to undergo DNA test to prove that she is your daughter, you may do so. However, positive results of DNA would not help resolve the legal issues between you and Pinky, for purposes of derivative citizenship.

Jimmy Edwards and Merlie in 1974. CONTRIBUTED

Further, the letter said that under the Philippine law, Pinky is an illegitimate child since Edwards and Daet were never married. Under the U.S. law, Edwards did not meet the legitimation requirement of the state of North Carolina, his legal residence after Pinky’s birth and before her 21st birthday. In the state of North Carolina legitimation occurs only if the father files a petition before the Superior Court of North Carolina.

Edwards feels that US Immigration is unfair in dealing with the Amerasians’ claim for citizenship.

“Did you know a U.S. citizen father that has a child out of wedlock in a foreign country can’t automatically transmit U.S. citizenship to his child? I have a daughter, her husband, and six grandchildren that will probably never see the land of their father and grandfather,” Edwards laments.

Edwards also expresses his sadness for not being able to help Pinky. On her part, Pinky understands her father is a retiree and has his own family.

Pinky is still undergoing dialysis. Father and daughter are not giving up hope of being reunited.

If you wish to send help to Pinky Yabut in the Philippines please contact her at +63 9473911824 and home address at Blk 17 Narra Street, Lower Gordon Heights, Olongapo City.

A gofund me account was also set up for her dialysis: https://www.gofundme.com/pinky039s-medical-fund

source: usa.inquirer.net

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PAGASA weather specialist Ariel Rojas, however, said the weather disturbance was expected to enhance the southwest monsoon, which will bring rains in some parts of Luzon and the Visayas starting tomorrow until Saturday.

MANILA, Philippines — The low-pressure area east of extreme Northern Luzon yesterday developed into a tropical depression but the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said it has a slim chance of entering the Philippine area of responsibility.

PAGASA weather specialist Ariel Rojas, however, said the weather disturbance was expected to enhance the southwest monsoon, which will bring rains in some parts of Luzon and the Visayas starting tomorrow until Saturday.

Rojas said light to moderate and occasionally heavy rains would be experienced over Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Bicol region, Zambales, Bataan and Western Visayas.

“We don’t expect the rains to be as intense as in the past days, although there will still be occasional heavy rains,” Rojas told The STAR.

The heavy rains spawned by the southwest monsoon, which was enhanced by four successive tropical cyclones – Gardo, Henry, Inday and Josie – inundated many parts of Luzon in the past several weeks.

Widespread flooding, landslides

Widespread flooding and landslides that hit Northern Luzon the past several days due to the southwest monsoon rains induced by tropical cyclones Henry, Inday and Josie have triggered 14 landslides in the Ilocos region and 16 in Central Luzon, Lt. Col. Isagani Nato, spokesman for the Tarlac-based Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), said yesterday.

Since Friday, Nolcom, along with its police counterparts, has been spearheading the ongoing recovery and relief operations in flooded communities in Bataan, Zambales, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan and La Union.

Meanwhile, the flood that hit Olongapo City over the weekend has receded but local disaster officials reported that previously flooded areas are still under ankle- to knee-deep mud.

“The Joint Task Force Karagatan of the Naval Forces-Nothern Luzon (NF-NL) of the Philippine Navy have deployed two teams in Dagupan City and in Subic, Zambales,” Nato said.

On top of this, Nolcom has deployed 67 disaster response units to the Ilocos and Central Luzon.

Nato said military teams are currently deployed in the flood and landslide-stricken localities. – With Jaime Laude

source: philstar.com

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Photo credit: Jeffrey Valentos FB Page

Residents in areas in Bataan flooded the past few days are now dealing with another problem: thick smelly mud.

The mud was left by receding floodwaters, covering houses, buildings, and roads, according to a report on News To Go on Wednesday by Saleema Refran.

In Barangay Gabon in Abucay, only tricycles could go on the road due to the thick mud on the road.

Residents were kept busy cleaning their homes and yards of the mud, some doing so with their bare hands.

In Barangay San Jose, even children took part in the cleanup.

Due to the thick mud, residents sometimes had no choice but walk barefoot.

The Bataan Provincial Health Office warned the public of possible diseases they may get from their environment: skin diseases, tetanus, cholera, dengue, and leptospirosis.

“Ang alam natin nakukuha ‘yan sa pag-wade sa floodwater. Eh ‘yung mga ihi po ng daga at ‘yung iba pang pinagkukuhanan po nito ay nandoon lahat sa putikan,” said Dr. Rosanna Buccahan of the Bataan Provincial Health Office.

Residents were advised to wash themselves after cleaning up the mud and to consult a doctor should they feel unwell.

In Barangay Omboy, authorities used a payloader to remove the mud from the road.

Meanwhile, in Barangay Capitangan, traffic became heavy due to the cleanup of the road.

The province of Bataan was placed under a state of calamity on Sunday due to flooding from torrential rains brought about by the Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) enhanced by Tropical Depression Josie. —KG, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

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