After conducting several online activities during the pandemic, the Philippine Press Institute (PPI) also known as the national association of newspapers and online publications in the country, in partnership with Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC) as its long-standing principal partner, will finally hold its back-to-back events in-person on April 24 and 25 at Citadines Bay City Manila. The highly anticipated annual National Press Forum now on its 27th edition themed “Midya at Pandemya: Taking Charge of Journalism Post-Pandemic”, and this season’s Civic Journalism Community Press Awards can also be watched via Facebook livestreaming on the 25th. Prior to these, the annual gathering of newspaper owners, publishers, journalists and media executives from its PPI-member publications nationwide will kick off said events on the 24th as they elect the Institute’s trustees and officers.

“We are going full blast with these annual events which PPI members have eagerly waited for. Now is the best time to check on each other and discuss issues and concerns that have greatly affected newspaper operations,” said PPI executive director Ariel Sebellino.

Also invited to attend are educators, students, members of the business community, members of the diplomatic corps, government officials, and representatives from local and international civil society organizations who are encouraged to participate in various discussions on innovations in journalism, sustainability and community engagements.

Keynote speaker is Duuya Baatar from Mongolia, McCain Global Leader for 2022. Joining her are TV5’s Ed Lingao, Rappler’s Inday Espina-Varona, WIN/WAN-IFRA’s Nini Cabaero, Daily Guardian’s Francis Allan Angelo, PhilStar.com’s Jonathan de Santos, and University of Santo Tomas’s Prof. Felipe Salvosa II.

The panel will discuss the need for journalists and newsrooms to sustain good journalism as they leverage on the power of digital platforms and AI technology that enhance their news production.

Aware of the current challenges faced by community newspapers in the Philippines such as declining readership brought about by disruptive technology and innovations, and a changing consumer landscape, PPI chairman Rolando Estabillo stresses “the need for journalists to recalibrate and step up in the conduct of their work”.

Adding frills to this year’s events are the competitions on the best regional booth and best exhibit of photos and stories about the pandemic.

Highlighting the two-day events is the Civic Journalism Community Press Awards that will honor outstanding work of the community press in both weekly and daily categories: migration issues photojournalism, environment, business and economy, editorial page, and editing.

The finalists are: Sun.Star Cebu, Sun.Star Davao, Daily Guardian and Sun.Star Pampanga for the daily category; and Baguio Chronicle, Mindanao Observer, Mabuhay, Metro Post, The Mindanao Cross, Luzonwide News Correspondent, Eastern Visayas Mail, and Lucena Herald for the weekly category.

The awards program, the only one of its kind by far, is being managed by the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC).

This year’s events are also being supported in part by the International Labour Organization, Kusog Bikolandia, SM Investments, Unilab, San Miguel Corporation, SM Prime, and Citadines Bay City Manila. (PR)

With 419 young athletes participating

TACLOBAN CITY – The regional office of the Department of Education (DepEd) has allocated an amount of P1.5 million to augment the budget for this year’s Eastern Visayas Regional Athletic Association (EVRAA) Meet.

The amount is on top of the P2 million allocation by the DepEd central office for the annual scholastic multi-sports competition that returns this year after three years of hiatus due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The competition is set to start on Monday (April 24) and is to end on April 27. It is co-hosted by the schools’ division offices of Leyte and Tacloban City.
A total of 419 athlete students from the 13 school division offices of the region are to participate in the largest regional sports event.

“Sports and physical education provide a great opportunity for children to head outside, get active, and focus on developing different skills. The benefits of sports in education are vast, and they aren’t just physical benefits,” DepEd Regional Director Evelyn Fetalvero said.

Along with the delegates from the 13 school divisions, local government officials from the six provinces and members of the House of Representatives from the region are expected to grace the opening program to be held at the Leyte Sports Development Center, this city.
Fetalvero also emphasized the importance of partnership and strong collaboration of stakeholders in ensuring the success of this big event.

“I laud the efforts of all the 13 schools division offices that despite the challenges in budget and other factors, they were able to prepare their athletes for the EVRAA. I truly understand all their concerns and rest assured that the regional office is doing its best to address those challenges,” she said.

Winners of the EVRAA will represent the region for the upcoming Palarong Pambansa which will be hosted by the local government unit of Marikina, Dep-Ed National Capital Region, and the Marikina City schools division office.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

The Marcos Jr. administration is lighting up more than a thousand communities nationwide, which is included in the National Electrification Administration (NEA)’s P1.89 billion budget for 2023.

NEA is an attached agency of the Department of Energy (DOE).

NEA’s budget, appropriated under the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA), will fund the agency’s programs, including the Barangay/Sitio Electrification Project, Electric Cooperatives Emergency and Resiliency, and Installation of Solar Panels in Public Buildings.
“When we say we want to uplift the lives of the Filipino people, we mean all Filipinos, even those in the farthest barangays or sitios. And we cannot achieve socio-economic improvement in these areas if their communities remain unelectrified. Kaya siniguro po natin na may pondo ang mga programa na magpapa-ilaw lalo na sa mga malalayong lugar,” said Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secreatry Amenah F. Pangandaman.
Among the NEA programs, the Barangay/Sitio Electrification Project will have the biggest fund, P1.68 billion this year.

The project aims to provide electricity to some 1,140 sitios all over the country. Special Provision in the 2023 GAA says the Barangay/Sitio Electrification Project shall prioritize barangays/sitios where an absolute number of indigents and the incidence of poverty are high as identified in the latest official poverty statistics of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), as well as those with the high probability of having electricity.

“This program of the Energy Department will also support President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s goal to ensure that energy in the country is affordable, sustainable, secure, and sufficient, especially during calamities and emergencies,” Secretary Pangandaman added. (PR)

Leading digital solutions platform Globe has been deploying 180 assistance desks in 72 provinces with the highest concentration of users of basic phones, or phones limited to call and text capability.

The move is on top of the assisted SIM registration booths the company has put up in more than 100 sites in partnership with various local government units and partner groceries and malls.

Since January, Globe has also participated in several runs of the NTC-led SIM registration caravans. It has been supporting more than 500 NTC-mandated assisted SIM registration booths that will run in up to four remote areas per region every week until the April 26, 2023 deadline.

Aside from on-ground activities, the company urged customers to take advantage of the GlobeOne app and its dedicated SIM registration website, https://new.globe.com.ph/simreg, to register their SIMs easily for free. Postpaid customers, meanwhile, simply have to text SIMREG to 8080 to confirm that their details earlier submitted to Globe are updated.

“We are committed to making the SIM registration process as seamless and convenient as possible for our customers, which is why we are deploying additional assistance desks in areas with the most unregistered users of basic or feature phones. We are committed to fighting SIM-related crimes to protect our customers, that’s why we want to help everyone comply with the mandate,” said Cleo Santos, Globe Channel Management Group Head.
Globe has 86.7 million SIM users under its network. SIMs not registered by the deadline will be deactivated. (PR)