Starry day for STAR Group

The  Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility has recognized philstar.com, the online arm of the STAR Group of Publications, for its reportage on issues during President Rodrigo Duterte’s second year in office.

This is more than good news, as CMFR,  a non-government organization that promotes responsible journalism and press freedom, annually recognizes and selects “the best, and best practices in Philippine journalism.”

The citation comes heart-warming, as it recognizes  philstar.com  “for coverage that helped Filipinos understand issues that confront them as citizens, and in doing so, fulfilled the role of (the) free press in the Philippines at a time when it is under attack and severely challenged.”

Philstar.com’s Editor-in-Chief Camille Diola was chosen as one of the panelists of this year’s Jaime V. Ongpin Journalism Seminar held last week  at the AIM conference center in Makati City. News editor Jonathan de Santos represented philstar.com at the seminar.

Other panelists at the seminar were Nestor Burgos (Philippine Daily Inquirer), Gerg Cahiles (CNN Philippines), Natashya Gutierrez (Rappler), Karol Ilagan (Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism) and Jeff Canoy (ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs), who was also named as this year’s Marshall McLuhan fellow.

The panelists were selected by the editors of the Philippine Journalism Review Reports and the CMFR board of trustees.

“We are happy to have found journalists who are a class apart, reporters who have pushed the limits of narrowing space and time to check abuse of power, counter false narratives and correct fake news,” CMFR executive director Melinda Quintos de Jesus said.

She added: “[They are] exemplars of best practice and provide the public with news that has gone through a process of fact checking and verification and more important, they work on news that matters.”

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The President’s nullification of Sen. Sonny Trillanes’ amnesty is the hot topic of the day. One of the supportive remarks  comes from his colleague in the Senate, Ralph Recto. In his statement to the press, he said that when he (Recto) lost his  2007 re-election bid, one of the first congratulatory calls he  made was to the detained Sonny Trillanes.” In my mind, here was a guy who, without setting one foot out of prison, was granted amnesty, not by one person but by 11,189,671 people.

“When he won reelection in 2013, more people – 14,127,722 million this time – affirmed that the absolution earlier bestowed on him was right, Recto said. 

“We should honor the mandate and the trust millions of our countrymen had reposed on Senator Trillanes.  If he had committed offenses after Peninsula, if he had broken any law since, then the right course is to charge him, and not to nullify an amnesty that he applied for, recommended by the military, granted to him by the President, and concurred in by Congress. He should be granted every opportunity to challenge the revocation of the amnesty in complete freedom.”

 Sen. Trillanes attracts controversy when he dabbles in politics, said Recto.   But what is not well known is his immense contribution in policymaking which he conducts without fanfare.”

 Recto served in the Cabinet of President Arroyo and he thinks Senator Trillanes had done time for the mischief he had created during her incumbency. 

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From the 2nd district of Leyte, Rep. Henry Ong proposes that tariff on bottled products should be reduced by the NEDA, the Department of Finance, and Department of Trade and Industry. chair of committee on banks & financial intermediaries, Rep. Ong said prices of commodities would be reduced if the tax on imported glass bottles, glass products and raw materials used for manufacturing glass bottles is reduced. This would mean cheaper glass bottled products as soy sauce, vinegar, patis, sardines, fruit juices, milk, coffee, cooking oil and catsup.         

Another effect is the reduction of the piles of plastic containers which contribute to the destruction of the environment.  

He calls on the NEDA, DoF and DTI to make a study of the proposal, and have an executive order signed by the President as soon as possible.

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Overseas Filipino workers may be earning dollars now, but do they have enough to tide them over when they’ve reached retirement age? Not so, says Rep. Francisco Datol Jr. of the Senior Citizen Party-list, and member of the committee on population and family relations. 

“Millions of OFWs will be reaching retirement age in the coming years in batches of hundreds of thousands,” he says.  “Chances are most of them have no social security coverage and have made little or no provisions for retirement and emergency health care.”  

According to Datol, Philippine Statistics Authority figures show that 17.4 percent of the 2.3 million OFWs worldwide are age 45 and above, meaning in a matter of more or less one decade they will retire. 

Retiring  OFWs are those who are turning 56 or older and have been working overseas since 1987 or any of the years thereafter. In other words, the OFWs who were deployed when they were young in the 80s and 90s but will be reaching retirement age in the coming years.

He is asking the Overseas Filipino Bank, Social Security System, PhilHealth, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to devise a program that will give a reasonable modicum of basic and upgradeable retirement care to our retiring OFWs.

The program should cover both documented and undocumented OFWs. These three institutions can put together a program that can be sustained by a combination of direct and indirect premiums.

He suggests indirect premiums because, “considering future costs of health and retirement care, direct premium contributions may not be enough to make the OFW Retirement Care Program sustainable and viable.”

“The indirect premiums can come from percentages of taxes, proceeds from the sale of state assets, shares in administrative fee collections, which can incrementally build up the fund backing the retirement care program. 

For the OFWs who are more financially able, he suggests that  private insurance firms, pre-need companies, and health maintenance organizations should  create new products specifically designed for retiring and returning OFWs. 

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Tony Boy Dela Rea sent us an email about how successful his 61st birthday celebration turned out. Cipriano Dela Rea de Saulog-Reyes and Francisca Dela Rea were happy about the natal day celebration of their only son Tony Boy. Well-wishers  flew in from all parts of the world just to celebrate with him. Among  them were the  1975  Mutya  ng Pilipinas Tourism, San Juan City councilor Leonardo Celles, former PRC commissioner Nete Dela Rea, film director Elwood Perez, top mannequin Goldie Burns, Star Olympics organizer Nita Trofeo, film director Cloyd Robinson, movie actress Deborah Sun, film producer/movie actress Liz Alindogan, Ej and Prince San Juan, former Marinduque governor Leandro Palma and the New Capitol Estates officers, Cosmopolitan Agency’s Bong Bolivar, Raul and Cora Pablo, beauty queens Joy Conde, Jane Umali, Maridel Coching and Joyce Ann Burton, Congressman Winston Castelo and councilor Precious Hipolito-Castelo and 100 more distinguished personalities.

Lia Marie Guerrero hosted the event. Jan Visuals did the lights and sounds.

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