There was a post at a facebook group reporting that a Law Enforcement Officer of SBMA allegedly did them wrong by giving them a Jaywalking Ticket and telling them to pay for it.

Even though the Officer was correct this particular post garnered the attention of netizens of Subic Bay and Olongapo City.

**Today, the Tong Lung Employees reported to directly to the Law Enforcement Manager Col. Tolentino on the issue and apologized admitting their fault.

Photo credit by our community contributor Gerardo Johnson. (April 20, 2018)

“I admire these two ladies who have the heart to surface and come to my office to ask for apology. The LED officer did not ask money from them. It was a fabricated story made by Derrick Abenoja of Tong Lung.” – Col. Vicente Tolentino

This is a reminder that we should all post responsibly and do it in a way to uplift the morale of our beloved City of Olongapo and our work place the Subic Bay Freeport.

Kudos to the Law Enforcement Department and the citing Officer who served 25 years without fault.

source: Subic Bay Community Center

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Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate criticized Malacañang for hesitating to sign an Executive Order that would end labor contractualization or ‘endo’ (end of contract), saying that the Palace ‘tricked’ workers from both the private and public sectors into thinking that the practice will end.

“Marapat na lalong magprotesta ang mga manggagawa dahil dito (It is only right for workers to protest about it),” Zarate said, after news broke that President Rodrigo Duterte would no longer sign the EO ending the contractual labor policy.

n a previous report, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque claimed that the president will stop ‘endo’ on or before May 1, which is Labor Day.

“The President wants it as soon as possible. We all know that Labor Day is May 1. So, I would think that it will come out on or before May 1,” Roque said.

Read: Duterte to sign ‘endo’ EO on or before May 1 – Roque

Zarate questioned Malacañang’s intentions, claiming that the government, including offices directly under the cabinet secretaries, have the largest number of contractual employees.

“How can the Duterte administration end ‘endo’ when, according to the Inventory of Government Human Resources, as of July 1, 2016, there are 721,282 contract of service (COS), job orders (JOs), casual, and contractual workers out of the 2,301,191 government employees,” the solon said.

“This figure is more than twice the 282,586 contractual workers in the public sector in 2008. Top agencies in 2016 with the most number of JOs and COS include the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and Department of Education (DepEd),” he added.

The left-leaning lawmaker also provided staggering numbers on contractual employees in the public sector. He claimed that 44 percent of employees at the University of the Philippines (UP), and 36 percent at the University of the Philippines–Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) are contractual workers.

At the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), 81 percent are also without regular status, according to Zarate.

Labor groups have also expressed disappointment over the President’s failure to sign the EO that would have ended the practice of offering short-term and unprotected temporary work arrangements to workers.

Malacañang, however, admitted earlier this month that it is powerless to enforce a ban on contractual work arrangements as certain amendments to the Labor Code are needed to fully implement it.

Read: Palace powerless to ban ‘endo’ in PH – official

Before he was appointed chief justice, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra was also quoted as saying in news reports that lawmakers should amend the Labor Code to abolish contractualization, particularly the granting of exemption granted to certain from making contractual work arrangements.
The elimination of contractualization, however, is one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s main campaign promises in the 2016 national elections.

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

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Singapore-registered container vessel NYK Joanna hits the shallow portion of the waters off McMany’s Point in Subic, Zambales after avoiding collision with a fishing boat. Photo from Subic Coast Guard Station

SUBIC, ZAMBALES – A container vessel registered in Singapore ran aground off Subic Bay early Thursday morning (April 19) as it attempted to avoid a fishing boat.

Commander Paolo Abejuela, chief of the Coast Guard Subic station, said NYK Joanna was leaving Subic Bay and was headed for Manila at past midnight when it veered away to prevent a collision with the boat.

“The cargo vessel hit the shallow portion of the waters off McMany’s Point when it avoided the fishing vessel,” Abejuela told the Inquirer.

Abejuela said the cargo vessel suffered minimal damage from hard corals, but not a coral reef, which would have made it a protected area.

The inspection team from the Philippine Coast Guard and a towage company did not detect any leak in the vessel’s hull nor find oil traces in the surface water.

“There was no damage to the cargo vessel,” Abejuela said.

The vessel was extracted from the area about 11 a.m. and was anchored on a safe place for further assessment that it is seaworthy before the ship is allowed to sail, he said.

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

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A 2.2-magnitude earthquake shook Zambales at 2:25 p.m. on Thursday, a report from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

The earthquake was of tectonic origin and struck five kilometers southeast of Botolan, Phivolcs said.

Phivolcs said the origin of the earthquake was located 16 kilometers deep. No aftershocks and damages were expected, Phivolcs said.

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

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By Eric Leister, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist

The peak of the annual Lyrid meteor shower is set to occur Saturday night into Sunday morning.

Coinciding with Earth Day on April 22, the event will feature roughly 20 meteors per hour during its peak.

“This event is the most significant meteor shower since January,” said AccuWeather Astronomy Blogger Dave Samuhel.

If you are unable to view the event due to the weather or other plans, both Friday night and Sunday night will still bring a high number of meteors per hour.

Viewing this weekend’s meteor shower will be easy for stargazers of all ages and will not require the use of binoculars or a telescope.

“The shower will be best viewed after midnight, when the radiant is highest in the sky. “ Samuhel said.

To maximize the number of meteors able to be seen, onlookers should head to a dark area where light pollution is minimal.

“The moon will set around midnight on the peak night, making viewing conditions much better during the overnight hours,” Samuhel said.

Once the moon sets, the darker skies will make it easier to spot some of the fainter meteors.

Of course, the weather will also play a key factor in viewing the meteors, as clouds can partially or fully obscure the night sky.

A large storm moving across China will produce plenty of clouds across much of the country, which will also stream into some neighboring countries.

The best viewing conditions are expected across Japan, Southeast Asia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.

These areas can expect little to no cloud cover and comfortable temperatures overnight.

Viewing conditions will worsen across South Korea and Japan on Sunday night as the storm from China moves eastward with plenty of clouds and the chance for rain.

Another storm will bring poor viewing at times to areas from eastern Turkey into Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan from Friday into Sunday night.

Source: www.accuweather.com

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