Opinion-Editorial NEWS

Among the most affected by the pandemic is the hospitality and tourism industry when lockdowns and quarantines forced hotels, resorts, bed-and-breakfast inns, amusement parks, etc. to shut their doors. Suddenly, the thriving and booming tourism sector faced its worst nightmare – airports were closed, tours got called off, room bookings were cancelled, events were put on hold indefinitely.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 8.3 percent in the first quarter of 2022, higher than the 7.8 percent growth achieved in the fourth quarter of the previous year, and a significant reversal of the 3.8 percent decline a year ago. According to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua, the country’s growth rate was the fastest in East Asia. Real GDP also rose to ₱4.618 trillion from ₱4.46 trillion in the first quarter of 2019, thereby surpassing economic output in the pre-pandemic period.

With a month and a half left to go, a new administration led by presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will take over. News of prospective Cabinet members and new political movements and alliances will soon fill the news and give us a preview of what a Marcos administration will look like.

“Going home to the family” is an act that marks many stages of one’s life starting with the need to be with family during the holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, or death of a relative. There’s also the desire to be with family to share an achievement, or to nurse defeat.

The Hanoi mission could pose a different task for the battle-hardened Filipino athletes who traveled to the charming northeastern Vietnamese city armed with months of training and a big motivation that comes handy with a little prayer. With the cauldron now lit to mark the pandemic-delayed 31st Southeast Asian Games open, the image of the massive 2019 success is both a spark for a medal drive and a pressure on shoulders too heavy to overcome.

Temporarily set aside because of the wall-to-wall coverage of election news was the fact that President Duterte ordered the immediate termination of e-sabong (aka online cockfighting) operations in the country, days after extolling its benefit in helping raise funds for our economy.  The change of mind, the President said, was due to the recommendation of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año to suspend e-sabong for the meantime.

Hours after the start of the partial and unofficial tally of votes for last Monday’s national and local elections began, the top two presidential candidates issued their respective statements.  

Regardless of the outcome, the important task of rebuilding the economy from the ravages of a crippling pandemic continues. This task could be done best amid political stability — an ideal scenario that is attainable through the conduct of peaceful, orderly and honest elections. Since the present Constitution was enacted in 1987, the nation has witnessed five peaceful transitions in the presidency — longer than at any time in the country’s history. The shift to automated elections has minimized disruptive transitions; we could only hope and pray that this trend continues today.

At 6 a.m. today, May 9, 2022, poll precincts in all parts of the country will open for 65.7 million registered voters — the highest ever, which the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has dubbed as “historic” numbers even with the pandemic still in the background. The 65.7 million voters include the 1.8 million overseas Filipinos who have started voting last April 10.

Phone calls, cards, chocolates, flowers, praises and surprise gifts – those gestures of admiration and love will be flowing all around today, between children and mothers, as the world celebrates Mother’s Day.
On this day, we call on all mothers to take a bow for bringing kindness into this world. Kindness is a virtue people first learned from a mother. It is a virtue that offered help to strangers who lost their jobs during the pandemic, or who lost their houses to natural disasters. It is a virtue that will keep our bayanihan culture alive.

At exactly 12:01 a.m., May 8, 2022, all forms and semblance of campaigning must stop. The miting de avance today of various candidates for national and local posts must also end at that time, formally concluding the 150-day election period that started in Jan. 9. How time flies! And what a ride it has been.  

Better late than never, so it seemed, when President Duterte signed last week Republic Act 11712, or the “Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers Act.”  This law grants mandatory continuing benefits to public and private health workers during the pandemic and other future public health emergencies.

Tasked with ensuring peaceful and orderly national and local elections, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have deployed a total of more than 80,000 personnel ahead of the May 9 electoral exercise.

The Grand Mufti of the Bangsamoro has confirmed the sighting of the crescent moon, and based on this, has declared that the Eid’l Fitr or “the breaking of the fast” during the month of Ramadan would be observed. Hence, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea has announced that May 3 will be a regular holiday throughout the country, in accordance with Republic Act 9177, to honor the country’s Islamic heritage. 

Four and a half years after the end of the five-month long Marawi siege in May to October 2017, Congress has passed Republic Act No. 11696, the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act. The law provides compensation to those whose kin were killed, as well as those whose properties were destroyed in the Battle of Marawi between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Islamic State-linked militants.

A curious thing, isn’t it, how a day especially marked to celebrate work and workers is a holiday. Today, it’s even a double holiday, falling on a Sunday. And perhaps celebrating Labor Day on a weekend captures the very essence of why we commemorate this day dedicated to the workforce.

Twitter has been part of the information landscape for many years. In only 280 words, messages known as “tweets” have started conversations, influenced opinions, and stirred controversy and disinformation that have affected actions on health issues, commercial initiatives, and other human activities.
Recently, the quality of information that Twitter will be offering has become a cause of concern for many users after news that billionaire Elon Musk had bought the social networking service for $44 billion.

We are entering the last few days of the campaign season, and soon, 65-million-plus registered voters will cast their votes on May 9, 2022. From today until election day, crowds will be thicker with different campaign sorties of national and local candidates. All these activities will culminate in a grand miting de avance — a show of force, a statement of strength, and a projection of winnability.