STUDENT PUBLICATION OF NUEVA ECIJA
SET TING THE STANDARD IN NEWS EXCELLENCE
DFA: No Filipino
seeking repatriation
after Libya flooding
CNN Philippines Staff USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance
M etro Manila (CNN Philippines,
September 15) — No Filipinos have
sought repatriation following the deadly
flooding in Derna, Libya early this week,
a Department of Foreign Affairs official
said Friday.
DFA Usec. Eduardo de Vega said
that there were no Filipinos among the
thousands of deaths recorded in the
DFA Sec. Manalo to stand in for Marcos at 78th UNGA
CNN Philippines Staff
M etro Manila (CNN Philippines,
September 15) — The Facebook
page of Sonshine Media Network
International (SMNI) has become
unavailable about two months after its
original YouTube channel was taken
down.
Accessing the link of the SMNI page
on Facebook as of Friday will show the
notice, “This content isn’t available right
now. When this happens, it’s usually
because the owner only shared it with a
small group of people, changed who can
see it or it’s been deleted.”
The media network has since put
up another Facebook page “SMNI
Public Affairs,” which one of its hosts,
former National Task Force to End
Local Communist Armed Conflict
African country.
The Associated Press quoted the
Libyan Red Crescent as saying the death
toll from the massive flooding has soared
to 11,300 with over 10,000 still missing.
CNN said Doctors Without Borders
reported at least 5,000 have died.
“Hindi po kailangan i-evacuate,” said
Embassy of the Philippines
spokesperson Lorraine Badoy, earlier
said acts as a “backup page.”
CNN Philippines has sought a
statement from Facebook parent’s
company Meta on why the SMNI page is
unavailable.
Earlier, facebook users who attempted
to like posts from SMNI received a notice
from the social media platform stating,
“This Page has shared posts that violate
our Community Standards. Review posts
on this Page before liking it.”
The news channel is known to have
been used by its hosts to red-tag
journalists and human rights activists in
the country.
It is the broadcasting arm of
Philippine megachurch leader Pastor
Apollo Quiboloy, who is facing several
De Vega in a public briefing. “Nilipat
sila sa high ground ng mga Libyan
employers nila. Walang humihingi ng
repatriation. Wala ring nasa shelter,
lahat may natutulugan, naninirahan sila
sa bahay talaga or apartment.”
[Translation: There’s no need for
evacuation. They were moved to high
ground by their Libyan employers. No
one is seeking repatriation. There are no
Filipino in shelters, everyone is staying
inside a house or apartment.]
The disaster happened in the early
hours of September 11 after heavy rains
caused two dams to collapse, and
neighborhoods in Derna are believed
to have been washed away into the sea,
according to a report by CNN.
But the DFA said Filipinos in Libya
who want to seek financial assistance or
return to the Philippines can contact the
Philippine Embassy.
charges in the United States for sex
trafficking, fraud, coercion, and bulk
cash smuggling charges.
In June, YouTube also terminated
Quiboloy’s channel due to violation of
its guidelines. This was after a user on
X (formerly Twitter) flagged that the
“Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy” account
continues to post videos despite
the televangelist’s standing arrest
warrant with the US Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
A month after, YouTube also took down
the channels of SMNI and Quiboloy’s
megachurch Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Since then, SMNI has created a
different YouTube account called
“Sonshine Media.”
OPINION
Address Maharlika fund anxiety
CNN Philippines Staff
A nother
challenge
day,
to
another
Maharlika Investment Fund—
the
this time from a group of
lawmakers who have asked
the Supreme Court to declare
this high-profile initiative of
the Marcos administration
unconstitutional.
Indeed, it seems that there
is opposition to the creation
of this sovereign wealth fund
from opponents at every corner
along its long and tortured
journey toward realization,
so much so that one has to
wonder if it will ever end.
From the moment the
proposal was made public,
rumors immediately began
swirling that the scheme was
meant to be a vehicle to help
repatriate the hidden wealth
of the Marcos family that has
been kept abroad since the
1986 Edsa revolution.
Once the idea of the fund
started to take a more definite
shape, its critics—including
not a few voices from within
government—started to
express their apprehension
over the financial resources
that would have to be drawn
from other state agencies to
provide the seed for Maharlika’s
creation. In particular, the
public balked at the idea that
billions of pesos of pension
contributions of members of
the Social Security System
and the Government Service
Insurance System would be
contributed to the fund. After
a few weeks of rowdy public
debate, the idea was dropped.
Technocrats, businessmen,
and economists were also
alarmed that dollar reserves
of the central bank would be
earmarked as the monetary
authority’s contribution to the
fund. This was, quite possibly,
the weakest element of the
Maharlika fund’s proposed
structure since it would draw
resources from a pool of foreign
exchange which the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas holds in
safekeeping to help stabilize
the value of the peso during
times of economic stress.
Then came the criticism
that the President of the
Philippines—originally slated
to be the fund’s chair under
the original proposal—would
politicize the use of the
resources, possibly ordering
fund managers to invest in
businesses or projects that
are more beneficial to the
sitting administration than
those that are not, regardless
of their utility to the Filipino
public. After a few weeks, that
idea, too, was quietly set aside,
with Maharlika’s chairmanship
being given to the finance
secretary.
Gilas climbs two spots
in latest FIBA world rankings
CJ Marquez, CNN Philippines
M
16)
etro
—
Manila
Gilas
(CNN
Philippines, September
Pilipinas
improved from 40th place
to 38th in the latest world
rankings released by FIBA
on Friday.
Gilas finished 24th out of
the 32 teams that competed
in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
The Philippines
concluded its World
Cup stint with a 21-point
drubbing of China.
Australia is still the
highest ranked nation in
the Asia and Oceania region
at fourth place.
Japan, which secured
an outright berth to the
Paris Olympics next year
after having the best finish
among Asian countries in
the World Cup with three
victories, soared 11 spots to
26th place.
South Sudan had the
biggest climb, moving
up 32 spots to 31st place.
It qualified for the Paris
Olympics after emerging as
the best African country in
the World Cup.
USA reclaimed the top
spot despite failing to bring
home the World Cup title.
Spain fell to second
following a group stage exit.
Germany, the new
World Cup champion,
leapt to third place with an
impressive eight-place rise.