Day: June 19, 2024

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged Tuesday to do “everything” to cut off North Korea’s support for Russia amid the war in Ukraine, as Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang this week.

Blinken made the remarks as Putin and Kim are scheduled to hold a summit in the North Korean capital on Wednesday (Korea time) amid growing concerns about security implications of their countries’ deepening military cooperation.

“We’ll continue to do everything we can to cut off the support that countries, like Iran and North Korea, are providing,” the secretary said during a press conference after his meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington.

Washington has revealed that the North provided Russia with more than 11,000 containers of munitions and related material and dozens of ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine.

Blinken reiterated that Russia is trying “in desperation” to develop and stre
ngthen relations with countries that can provide it with what it needs to continue the war in Ukraine, while criticizing China’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base and Iran’s provision of drones to Russia.

“We are very much concerned about this because this is what’s keeping the war going,” the secretary said, accusing China of “fueling the biggest security threat to Europe as a whole since the end of the Cold War.”

“The fastest way to end the war is for Putin to be disabused of the notion that he can outlast Ukraine and outlast all of Ukraine’s supporters, but also if he knows that the fuel he needs for his war machine won’t be there anymore,” he added.

Stoltenberg pointed out that Putin’s trip to the North “confirms the very close alignment between Russia and authoritarian states,” and underscores that security is a “global” issue.

“What happens in Europe matters for Asia. What happens in Asia matters for us. And this is clearly demonstrated in Ukraine, where Iran, North Korea and China are pr
opping up, fueling Russia’s war aggression against Ukraine,” he said.

“So this idea that we can divide security into regional theaters doesn’t work anymore. Everything is intertwined, and therefore we need to address these challenges together.”

The planned summit between Kim and Putin is being carefully watched by Seoul, Washington and others as it could further accelerate their cooperation in defense and other areas.

Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy aide, has told Russia’s news agency TASS that the summit may produce a treaty on a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” a document likely to cement the bilateral partnership at a time of their isolation on the global stage.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

BAGUIO CITY: Journalists based here are strengthening their 32-year-old children’s environmental awareness and values formation program by volunteering as facilitators and tour guides in the program that was later on adopted by the local government here.

The local government adopted the local journalists’ annual program called Lucky Summer Visitor (LSV), held during the Holy Week since 1992, and called it Eco Walk as part of its Climate Change Adaptation program.

The local government program, which was chosen as Galing Pook awardee in 1995 and among the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) ‘Global 500’ awardee in 2002, took a back seat during the previous local government administration.

Thomas Picaña, Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club Inc. (BCBCI) president and publisher-editor of the local weekly newspaper ‘Amianan Balita Ngayon’ said he is thankful that local journalists remain committed to the program instituted by their colleagues some three decades ago

‘Sana ay magpatuloy ang suporta
niyong mga kasama sa trabaho sa pangangalaga natin ng watersheds dito sa syudad ng Baguio (I am hopeful that you, our media practitioners, will continue to care for our watersheds in the city),’ he said in a speech during the relaunch of the program at the Busol Watershed this Wednesday.

Picaña said the bid to revive the program was because of a dream.

‘Nanaginip ako nagkakape kami nila MonDacs (former journalists and former Baguio City Public Information Office head Ramon Dacawi) sa Luisa’s (a media water hole). Pina-interpret ko sa misis ko. Sabi nya baka may gusto syang iparating, baka may pinapa-alala (I dreamed of having a coffee with MonDacs at Luisa’s. I asked by wife to interpret it. She said MonDac’s might be telling me something, might be wanting me to remember something),’ he said.

Arthur Joel Tibaldo, also known as ‘Artibal’, a retired government worker who was among those who joined the group that started the environment protection program, said he and Dacawi were members of the Baguio Regreen
ing Movement, then led by Bishop Ernesto Salgado.

‘We were asked by the Bishop to come up with an environmental advocacy and values formation (program) for children to inculcate in them the value of protecting the environment. As a group, the old media practitioners met and discussed and there came the Eco Walk,’ he said.

He later on led a group of Grades 5 and 6 students from Rizal Elementary School here to the Busol Watershed, one of the biggest water sources of the city.

‘We asked where their water was coming from and they said it was from the faucet. When asked where the water is coming from, they said it is from the trees. We asked if they wanted to go to the forest and see a lot of trees, they said yes and everything was history,’ he said.

Schools then started to adopt an area in Busol, which was called ‘muyong’, to help protect the forest and the water system in Ifugao, where Mondacs is a native.

Companies also adopted muyongs, which were planted with trees during the rainy season and were cared f
or during off-planting season.

Aileen Refuerzo, who succeeded Dacawi as Baguio City PIO chief and whose husband is also among the conceptualizers of the Eco-Walk said, ‘It (the program) was not just (about) planting.’

‘The children will first be given a mini-lecture at the ‘forest classroom’, a shed established in an area where activities and lectures are conducted. The participants will also have games like finding the longest pine, biggest pine cone and later the web of life which connects living things to each other,’ she said during the event.

With Tibaldo now serving as the program’s lead tour guide and facilitator, Refuerzo said the group is recruiting other media practitioners who will be trained to join the team of facilitators and tour guides.

‘We are reviving the Eco Walk. Interested groups or schools who want to do the Eco-walk can contact us at the PIO-Baguio office and we will organize it with the BCBCI,’ she said.

Community for Climate Change Adaptation

Tam Jewel Tibaldo, 34, grew up joini
ng Eco Walk activities and other media programs like the LSV with her parents.

‘Growing up, I saw the value of my participation in the Eco Walk program, the Lucky Summer Visitor program of the media. Those small experiences, put together, molded me as a person,’ she said in Filipino during the relaunching event.

Now based in Manila, Tam said the environment-related activities inculcated in her not just the love for the environment but also the sense of community.’

‘I would always tell anyone, because I am Manila-based now, (the importance of) the sense of community. We are a small community in Baguio but our tightness as a community (is strong). Everyone is a ‘manong’ (older brother), ‘manang’ (older sister), ‘tito’ (uncle), and ‘tita’ (auntie), and a family, not just friends,’ she said.

Importance of Busol

Busol Watershed is one of the several watersheds being maintained by the city government and the Baguio Water District (BWD) as source of potable water for the residents.

‘Busol is very important bec
ause this supplies nine to 10 percent of the city’s water connections in 16 of the 128 barangays (villages) in the Aurora Hill and Pacdal sides of the city,’ Keith Andrei Cacas, BWD water utilities management officer, said.

It has an area of 336 hectares, with about two-thirds or 227 hectares on the side of La Trinidad, Benguet and 112 hectares in Baguio City. The Baguio side is 80 percent forested while the La Trinidad side is still being reforested.

‘We do regular patrolling to monitor illegal structures and encroachments as a protection of our water,’ said Hugh Palangdao Jr., BWD watershed management officer.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty calling for mutual assistance if either is attacked Wednesday as they held summit talks in Pyongyang.

Putin also said Russia does not rule out military and technical cooperation with North Korea in line with the partnership treaty, fueling concern the two countries could further deepen their already serious military cooperation, including in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“The treaty on comprehensive partnership signed today provides for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this treaty,” Putin said after summit talks with Kim, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.

Putin hailed the treaty as a “truly groundbreaking document” that “reflects the desire of the two countries not to rest on their laurels, but to bring our relations to a new qualitative level,” according to TASS.

Putin also said the U.N. sanctions regime against North Korea should be revised.
He went on to say that “attempts to blame North Korea for the deterioration of the situation are categorically unacceptable.”

“North Korea has the right to take reasonable measures to strengthen its own defense capabilities, ensure national security and protect its sovereignty,” Putin said.

Kim declared that the North’s relations Russia have been upgraded to the level of alliance.

“Relations between our two nations rose to a new high of alliance,” Kim said. “It is greatly satisfying to conclude a great treaty that befits a changed international situation and the strategic nature of new DPRK-Russia relations.”

The two leaders met again nine months after they held a summit in Russia’s Far East last September, as Russia, under international sanctions over its war with Ukraine, has been bolstering military and other cooperation with North Korea.

Since the Kim-Putin summit last year, the two nations have been bolstering military ties, with the North being accused of supplying Russia with ammunition for use in
Moscow’s war in Ukraine in exchange for aid and suspected technological assistance for its space program.

Putin’s trip came amid concerns that the two nations have been strengthening military cooperation beyond arms transactions as they are forming a united front against what they called U.S.-led hegemony.

The two nations have yet to release details about the new partnership treaty, but it will replace bilateral treaties that North Korea and Russia have so far clinched, including a treaty of bilateral ties in 2000 that centered on cooperation in non-military sectors.

North Korea and the former Soviet Union signed a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance in 1961. The treaty included a provision for so-called automatic military intervention, under which if one side is under armed attack, the other provides military troops and other aid without hesitation.

At the latest summit in Pyongyang, the two leaders reaffirmed the ever-tightening bilateral relations.

Kim expressed “full support” Wednesday for Rus
sia’s war in Ukraine and pledged to strengthen strategic cooperation, according to TASS.

He said relations between the two countries are “entering a new period of prosperity,” praising Russia’s role in the global strategic balance and vowing to “strengthen strategic cooperation.”

Putin also expressed gratitude to Kim for Pyongyang’s support for Moscow’s policy on Ukraine and also voiced hope to hold the next summit with Kim in Moscow, TASS reported.

Experts said North Korea and Russia are expected to highlight cooperation in the economic sector as any arms deals and military cooperation violate United Nations Security Council resolutions against Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.

In an article published Tuesday by the Rodong Sinmun, the North’s main newspaper, Putin vowed to build alternative systems for trade and settlements with North Korea that will not be controlled by the West and jointly resist “illegal and unilateral restrictions” in an apparent reference to international sanctions.

After t
he summit, Russia and North Korea signed inter-government agreements on healthcare, medical education and science cooperation, the Kremlin was quoted as saying by Russian news reports.

Experts said Russia is expected to assist North Korea’s space development program in exchange for Pyongyang’s arms supplies, but it is not likely to transfer sensitive weapons technology to Pyongyang.

In late May, North Korea’s attempt to launch a military spy satellite ended in failure as a satellite-carrying rocket exploded right after liftoff. In November last year, North Korea successfully placed a spy satellite into orbit, and it has a plan to launch three more such satellites in 2024.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

CEBU CITY: The Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) on Wednesday launched its newest transfer system service ‘Cebu Connect’ that would cut layover time.

Cebu Connect is designed to facilitate efficient and seamless airport transfers within MCIA, giving passengers a more convenient travel experience.

The system is expected to boost tourism in the country by positioning Cebu as an ideal entry point for both domestic and international tourists.

Athanasios Titonis, chief executive officer of Aboitiz InfraCapital GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (AGMCAC), said the new transfer system aims to cut layover time from an hour to 30 minutes or less.

‘This is part of MCIA’s commitment to meeting global standards in airport operations,’ Titonis said in a statement.

Cosette Canilao, president and chief executive officer of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., said that ‘providing efficient and effortless travel through Cebu Connect is our way of enhancing tourism in Cebu and positioning MCIA among the world’s best airp
orts.’

The airport operator collaborated with government counterparts, including the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority, Bureau of Customs, and Bureau of Immigration, to identify the necessary resources and systems to realize this vision.

The new system includes updating X-ray scanners, multiple counters, and a team of well-trained security and airport staff, thus passengers can expect safe and expedited transfers between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.

Cebu is a strategic location in the heart of the country offering easy access to many destinations in central and southern parts such as Siargao, Camiguin, Bohol, Boracay, and Palawan, all just a short flight away.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down an injunction filed by doctors seeking to stop the government from raising the number of medical school admissions, a ruling expected to affect several similar pending court proceedings.

The top court upheld and finalized the appellate court’s decision to reject the injunction filed by trainee doctors and medical professors calling for the suspension of the government plan to increase the medical school quota by 2,000 starting next year.

The court ruled that there were “no grounds” to stop the government from executing the measure to increase the quota and allow allotments by each university.

“Given the prospect of a shortage of doctors in the future, it would be concerning if the implementation of the medical school admission quota was suspended, as it could significantly hinder expanding capacities at medical schools that play a critical role in public health,” the court said.

The court also said a potential suspension could cause big confusion among high schoo
l students aiming for medical school and the education field.

Wednesday’s ruling by the top court is expected to serve as a precedent for a string of similar injunctions pending in lower courts.

In March, the government allocated 2,000 additional medical school admission seats to universities, many of them to schools outside the greater Seoul area, despite trainee doctors’ collective action to walk off their duties at major hospitals in protest.

About 20 legal actions have been taken by the doctors’ community and medical students to halt the quota hike, but no court rulings have been made in their favor so far.

The majority of intern and resident doctors have walked off their duties at major hospitals since late February in collective action protesting the hike, causing disruptions in health care services nationwide.

Source: Yonhap News Agency