Day: June 28, 2024

A senior U.S. Army official on Thursday highlighted the importance of military maintenance and logistics cooperation with South Korea, calling it a “win-win” effort that will help ensure deterrence.

Speaking at a forum, Douglas Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics, and technology, asserted the need for more attention to the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) aspect, an area eclipsed by publicized programs to buy or develop flashy weapons systems.

“If we are fighting there, we are going to have to repair equipment in a sustained conflict. Being able to do that and having practiced doing it … is really kind of a combat rehearsal that increases deterrence and increases readiness,” he said at a forum held at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“There are many benefits, including saving money,” he added.

For the United States, 70 percent of the cost of its weapon systems is in sustainment, repair and maintenance over time, he added, noting pos
sibilities for greater cooperation with South Korea in the MRO field.

His remarks came as questions have lingered over whether the U.S. can effectively sustain combat operations far away from its mainland, particularly in the event of a contingency across the Taiwan Strait or elsewhere in the broader Indo-Pacific.

“The importance of having things forward with our allies on the ground in place rather than having to rely on very long supply chains back to the U.S., especially in a conflict, and building up those stocks, repair parts, repair capability and ammunition stores is both deterrence but also would help overcome fighting a sophisticated enemy who attacked our supply chains and our supply routes,” he said.

He cast cooperation with allies in the maintenance and logistics realms as “really a win-win.”

“It helps ensure that we have things right there where we need it on the ground. That logistics cooperation is as essential a part of preparing for war as training together on how to fight,” he said.

As
for future areas of defense industry cooperation with South Korea, Bush pointed out unmanned aircraft and ground robotics.

“We are trying to go as fast as we can to take advantage of drones and new unmanned aircraft technologies … Also ground robotics, an increasing area of interest for the U.S. because of what we are seeing in Ukraine. We want to make a major effort to have more ground robotics in our formations,” he said.

“Those two together could both be critical ares of cooperation (with South Korea).”

In response, Seok Jong-gun, the minister of South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration, highlighted the growing need for South Korea to employ unmanned systems due to the nation’s chronically low birth rate.

“We are facing North Korean threats and we have a very low birth rate,” he said. “It’s very hard to have enough forces and human resources … We have to apply that to the weapon system and use that as a game changer in our battlefield environment.”

Bush touted South Korea’s defense
manufacturing technology, saying the U.S. has to learn from Korea as it tries to rebuild its own capacity.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

MANILA: Vilma Santos-Recto, considered the most-awarded Filipino actor in and out of the country, has been formally nominated for the Order of National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts.

Dingdong Dantes, president of Aktor (League of Filipino Actors), announced in a press conference at The Manila Hotel Friday that their group submitted the nomination, along with documents and video materials, to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in Intramuros on Thursday.

Other categories for the prestigious honor are in the fields of Architecture and Allied Arts, Dance, Design, Literature, Music Theater and Visual Arts.

Santos-Recto, 70, started acting at nine years old via the film ‘Trudis Liit’ and has never been inactive since then.

‘Vilma Santos has turned in incomparable works for six decades,’ Dantes said. ‘She is a paragon of professionalism, a cultural champion and nation-builder.’

He added that the actress is known across all generations, has an untarnished reputation and is a symbol of e
mpowerment.

Former Department of Education undersecretaries Tonisito Umali and Jesus Mateo also graced the event.

They said the Philippine Alliance of Retired Educators and Metro Manila Association of Retired and Retiring Educators likewise endorsed the nomination.

‘The film is a very effective tool in teaching, a visually appealing way,’ Umali said. ‘I, myself, remember, watching Sister Stella L and the lessons I learned on labor issues, I carried until my government service.’

Santos-Recto played a nun involved in labor woes and the indigent sector’s plight in the 1984 movie ‘Sister Stella L.’

Mateo recalled working with Santos-Recto on classrooms and scholarship initiatives during her term as Batangas 6th District representative from 2016 to 2022.

‘I witnessed her commitment to education-related issues, that’s why we didn’t hesitate in joining the groups that endorsed her nomination,’ he said.

Santos-Recto likewise served as three-term mayor of Lipa City (1998 to 2007) and three-term governor of Bata
ngas City (2007 to 2016). She gave up running for her third and last term in Congress due to pandemic restrictions.

Among the groups which endorsed Santos-Recto’s nomination are the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication, Bicol University through president Baby Boy Benjamin Nebres III, Fashion Designer Association of the Philippines through chair Gil Granado, Society of Filipino Archivists for Film, University of Santo Tomas Department of Communications and Media Studies, Multimedia Press Society of the Philippines through president Ambet Nabus and chair Jun Nardo, Ladlad, Viva Communications, Inc., Hundred Islands Film Festival, Montañosa Film Festival, Mapua University Digital Film Program, Regal Entertainment, Star Cinema/ABSCBN, GMA 7, Ako Bicol party-list and Bantayog Film Festival Cam Norte.

Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan and Lone District of Santa Rosa (Laguna) Rep. Danilo Ramon Fernandez, a former actor, likewise submi
tted their endorsements.

Long-time fan clubs whose members follow the personal and career track of the nominee sent their endorsements, too — Vilma Santos Solid International Inc., Association of Millennials for Vilma Santos, Vilma Santos-Recto the Star for All Seasons Group, Silent Incomparable Legit Vilmanian international, Friends Forever Vilmanian and Vilma Santos Friends Forever, Inc.

A National Artist is one who has made significant contributions to the cultural heritage, achieved artistic accomplishments at the highest level, promoted creative expressions for the development of a national cultural identity and whose works paved the way for future generations of Filipino artists, according to criteria.

Other actors who have been named National Artists are Nora Aunor (2022) and the late Fernando Poe Jr. (2006 or two years after his death).

Fellow actor Tirso Cruz III said the story of Santos-Recto is not yet done.

‘She still has several things to offer,’ he said.

Dantes said they are positive Sant
os-Recto would be conferred the honor, which is expected to be finalized between 12 to 18 months.

‘We don’t have back-up plans because we’re focused on this nomination. We want to make this work,’ Dantes said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

SEOUL: A final court hearing for former opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on an alleged election law violation will take place in September, with a verdict expected around the following month, officials said Friday.

The final hearing session regarding Lee’s alleged election law violation will be held on Sept. 6 following the interrogation of Lee in August and other processes, according to the Seoul Central District Court.

Lee is accused of making false statements during the presidential campaign in 2021 by denying knowing Kim Moon-ki, a deceased suspect and a Seongnam city employee who played a key role in the Daejang-dong development project in violation of the election law.

Lee also allegedly made a false claim in 2021 that the special favor in the land development project in Seongnam’s Baekhyeon-dong district was given at the request of the land ministry, also in violation of the law.

Given due legal procedures, a court verdict on the allegations is expected to be delivered around October, which will mar
k the first court ruling on allegations against Lee.

Lee is standing trial on breach of trust and other corruption charges connected to those development projects in the city of Seongnam, south of Seoul, arising from his term as mayor in the city years ago.

Lee ran for president as the Democratic Party (DP) candidate in March 2022 but was narrowly defeated by then main opposition People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk Yeol.

After serving as the DP’s chairman, Lee resigned on Monday in a preparatory step to seek another term as party leader in a national convention set for August.

Under current rules, a party chair must resign from his leadership position to be eligible as a candidate.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

MANILA: Over 4 million Filipinos have filed their applications to become registered voters in next year’s midterm polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported on Friday.

Data from the poll body showed that as of June 26, a total 4,057,001 applications have been processed since the voter registration activities resumed on Feb. 12.

Of the number, 2,093,011 are females and 1,963,990 are males.

In May, the Comelec met its target of 3 million new voter registrants for the ongoing registration period.

The region with the most number of applicants is Region 4-A (Calabarzon) with with 696,555 (361,671 females and 334,884 males).

This was followed by National Capital Region with 561,714 (304,534 females and 257,180 males), and Region 3 (Central Luzon) with 477,016 (246,218 females and 230,798 males).

The region with the lowest number of registrants is the Cordillera Administrative Region with 53,778 (28,224 females and 25,554 males).

Voter registration activities are held Mondays to Saturdays, includin
g holidays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in all Offices of the Election Officer (OEO) nationwide.

The voter registration is until Sept. 30, 2024.

Applications that are also being accepted during the period are those for transfer, change/corrections of entries in the registration records, reactivation of registration records, inclusion of registration records and reinstatement of name in the list of voters, and transfer of registration records from foreign service post to local.

Source: Philippines News Agency