Tuesday, August 18, 2026


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The political economy of Filipino news avoidance

DC Alviar
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The political economy of Filipino news avoidance

Media stories mirror social events. Ugly or beautiful, they will appear in the mirror – in the stories from the media. To the question “What do you care if people avoid the news?” we can say it is his right, it is his choice, so it is really up to him. But the wiser question cannot be removed either: “Why is it necessary to avoid looking at the mirror?”

In the political economy of news avoidance, the public loses. Poor people who struggle to enjoy material things are even more impoverished because they do not know if they still have a fight in life and who and what to fight. Any clear consequence of news avoidance? More pain as people are exposed to their inner poverty despite the depressed state of their livelihood.

Alright, just to be sure, isn’t this just an exaggeration? Here is the sentiment of a netizen the other day (exact, unedited quote):

“Tumataas presyo ng mga gulay, isda, baboy, manok at pati na bigas, asukal atbp. Tumataas din bayad sa mga pampublikong sasakyan. Tataas na rin bayad sa LRT at mga toll gates sa expressways. Lahat na lang ng presyo ng bilihin ay tumataas samantalang patuloy naman ang pagbulusok ng kalidad ng buhay ng mga Pilipino. Lahat na eto ay nangyayari habang panay ang byahe sa labas ng bansa ni BBM kasama ang pamilya at maraming “freeriders”. Umuuwi rin ng regular sa Davao ang VP gamit ang eroplano ng gobyerno. Pati ang anak ni BBM na si Zandro ay gamit rin ang eroplano ng gobyerno kasama ang girlfriend at mga alipores sa pagbyahe sa iba’t ibang sulok ng bansa. Like adding salt to the wound, inaprubahan pa ang Maharlika Investment Fund na walang sapat na seguridad at gamit ang kaban ng bayan ng punong puno rin ng utang! Hanggang kailan kaya matitiis ng sambayanan ang ganitong pamumuhay at kalakaran sa administrasyong ito. Kailan kaya magigising at mabubuksan ang mga nakasarang mata ng mga kapatid nating Pilipino sa tunay na katotohanan, katarungan at kalayaan. Pagod at lugmok na sa kahirapan ang sambayanan Pilipino. Tama na, sobra na…”

If such an analysis by a netizen was exaggerated, how did it become exaggerated? And that question deserves to be answered formally by a Presidential Communications Office (PCO) secretary (Salary Grade 31 – P318,806), by undersecretaries (SG 30 – P205,151), or by assistant secretaries (SG 29 – P181,550), or by directors with a salary level of P142,180 to P181,550. They are 47 senior PCO officials according to the latest count made by a veteran journalist.

Filipinos avoid news from the tri-media but follow the “news” and “views” of social media influencers. Anyare? It is said that the stories on radio, TV, and newspapers are becoming sensationalized and so it is now the chance for the former news consumers to choose sensationalized stories from new influencers, who are no longer far away because they already reveal themselves very flagrantly on their Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok accounts. People have forgotten that there should be gatekeepers or at least the editorial board with gatekeeping functions. Even without accountability, social media influencers gain millions of views and followers because what matters to people is there is something new. What is new? Avoiding news from traditional media. Why try something “new”? No one can fully explain.

The phenomenon of news avoidance is global. However, Filipinos are quick to embrace this thought, mabilis pa sa alas-cuatro. There is a term for that: mapagpaniwala o madaling maniwala  (gullible or easy to believe even if there is an utter lack of rationale to believe the new thought).

In the midst of students of communication and journalism is Christian Esguerra of Facts First who is not far from their age, but already has extensive experience in the newspaper or multimedia platforms. Walang lugi to the seniors who are even sharper in journalism and have proven to be crusading journalists of their respective generations: professors Jose Dalisay, Yvonne Chua, Felipe Salvosa II, and Manuel Mogato, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting.

Maybe they are biased? Or maybe they are on my side, so I am also biased? Or, or, or indeed biased; meaning, we are just on the side of truth and reason?Let us face the truth together and value reason especially now that there are many cases of deception, abuse, fraud, and pagkakampi-kampi. If there is money in exchange for avoiding the news, including pakinabang from political leaders and their influencers, do not take the bait because not only the money, but the person himself in the quicksand will disappear quickly. While in the mud, let us ask ourselves, “Do we deserve this? It is dangerous, maybe there is quicksand everywhere. Now more than ever, we must face the mirror and make reflections. Ugaliing manalamin para hindi na umabot pa sa pagtatanggal ng putik. Rather we take the opportunity to preserve beauty or know what to fix in ourselves and in society.

Underwater noises heard in frantic search for submersible missing with 5 aboard near Titanic

Venus L Peñaflor
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Underwater noises heard in frantic search for submersible missing with 5 aboard near Titanic

A Canadian military surveillance aircraft detected underwater noises as a massive operation searched early Wednesday in a remote part of the North Atlantic for a submersible that vanished while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic.

A statement from the U.S. Coast Guard did not elaborate on what rescuers believed the noises could be, though it offered a glimmer of hope for those lost aboard the Titan as estimates suggest as little as a day’s worth of oxygen could be left if the vessel is still functioning.

Meanwhile, questions remain about how teams could reach the lost submersible, which could be as deep as about 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) below the surface near the watery tomb of the historic ocean liner. Newly uncovered allegations also suggest there had been significant warnings made about vessel safety during its development.

Lost aboard the vessel are pilot Stockton Rush, the CEO of the company leading the expedition. His passengers are a British adventurer, two members of a Pakistani business family and a Titanic expert.

The Coast Guard wrote on Twitter that a Canadian P-3 Orion had “detected underwater noises in the search area.” Searchers then moved an underwater robot to that area to search. However, those searches “have yielded negative results but continue.”

“The data from the P-3 aircraft has been shared with our U.S. Navy experts for further analysis which will be considered in future search plans,” the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard statement came after Rolling Stone, citing what it described as internal U.S. Department of Homeland Security emails on the search, said that teams heard “banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes.”

In underwater disasters, a crew unable to communicate with the surface relies on banging on their submersible’s hull to be detected by sonar. However, no official has publicly suggested that’s the case and noises underwater can come from a variety of sources.

Yet the reports have sparked hope in some, including Richard Garriott de Cayeux, the president of The Explorers Club. He wrote an open letter to his club’s adventurers, who include the missing British man and the Titanic expert aboard the Titan, that they had “much greater confidence” now after they spoke to officials in Congress, the U.S. military and the White House about the search.

Three C-17 transport planes from the U.S. military have been used to move commercial submersible and support equipment from Buffalo, New York, to St. John’s, Newfoundland, to aid in the search, a spokesperson for U.S. Air Mobility Command said.

The Canadian military said it provided a patrol aircraft and two surface ships, including one that specializes in dive medicine. It also dropped sonar buoys to listen for any sounds from the Titan.

Rescuers have been racing against the clock because even under the best of circumstances the vessel could run out of oxygen by Thursday morning.

In addition to an international array of ships and planes, an underwater robot had started searching in the vicinity of the Titanic and there was a push to get salvage equipment to the scene in case the sub is found.

Authorities reported the carbon-fiber vessel overdue Sunday night, setting off the search in waters about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s.

The submersible had a four-day oxygen supply when it put to sea around 6 a.m. Sunday, according to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate Expeditions, which oversaw the mission.

CBS News journalist David Pogue, who traveled to the Titanic aboard the Titan last year, said the vehicle uses two communication systems: text messages that go back and forth to a surface ship and safety pings that are emitted every 15 minutes to indicate that the sub is still working.

Both of those systems stopped about an hour and 45 minutes after the Titan submerged.

“There are only two things that could mean. Either they lost all power or the ship developed a hull breach and it imploded instantly. Both of those are devastatingly hopeless,” Pogue told the Canadian CBC network on Tuesday.

The submersible had seven backup systems to return to the surface, including sandbags and lead pipes that drop off and an inflatable balloon. One system is designed to work even if everyone aboard is unconscious, Pogue said.

Meanwhile, documents show that OceanGate had been warned there might be catastrophic safety problems posed by the way the experimental vessel was developed.

David Lochridge, OceanGate’s director of marine operations, said in a 2018 lawsuit that the company’s testing and certification was insufficient and would “subject passengers to potential extreme danger in an experimental submersible.”

The company insisted that Lochridge was “not an engineer and was not hired or asked to perform engineering services on the Titan.” The firm also says the vessel under development was a prototype, not the now-missing Titan.

The Marine Technology Society, which describes itself as “a professional group of ocean engineers, technologists, policy-makers, and educators,” also expressed concern that year in a letter to Rush, OceanGate’s chief executive. The society said it was critical that the company submit its prototype to tests overseen by an expert third party before launching in order to safeguard passengers. The New York Times first reported about those documents.

The search for the missing vessel has drawn international attention. In Dubai, where the missing British adventurer Hamish Harding lives, Crown Prince Hamadan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum wrote: “Dubai and its people pray for their safety and hopeful return home.”

Others aboard include Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, whose eponymous firm invests across the country. In Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, employees at his firms said they prayed for the two’s safe return, as did government officials. French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet also was on the vessel.

USDA: Babagsak ang pork production ng PH

Carlo Juancho Funtanilla
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USDA: Babagsak ang pork production ng PH

Inaasahang bababa ang produksyon ng Pilipinas ng karne ng baboy kumpara sa inisyal na pagtataya dahil sa epekto ng African swine fever (ASF), batay sa ulat kamakailan ng United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Ayon sa ulat ng USDA, ibinaba ng Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) Manila ang projection sa production ng karne ng baboy sa Pilipinas sa 925,000 metriko tonelada (MT) mula sa naunang forecast na 975,000 MT.

Ang pagbaba na ito ay nauugnay sa patuloy na pagkalat ng ASF sa mga lalawigan sa Central at Western Visayas, kasama na ang Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, at Aklan.

Sa pahayag ng USDA, sinabi nila na, “Noong 2022, ang Central at Western Visayas ay naging unang at ikatlong pinakamalalaking producer matapos ang pagkasira ng mga inventaryo ng baboy sa iba pang mga lugar sa bansa.”

Idinagdag pa nila na, “Ang pag-asang magkaroon ng bakuna laban sa ASF ay kamakailan ay nag-improve matapos ang mga ulat ng matagumpay na pagsubok, subalit kahit sa pinakamagandang posibleng senaryo, malabo pa rin na magkaroon ito ng malaking epekto sa produksyon sa taong 2023.”

Nauna dito sinabi ng Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) na epektibo ang bakuna laban sa ASF batay sa mga clinical trial sa anim na farm sa Luzon.

Sa kasalukuyan, may mga kaso ng ASF sa lahat ng rehiyon sa bansa maliban sa Metro Manila kung saan walang mga nag-aalaga ng baboy. Gayunpaman, nilinaw ng Department of Agriculture (DA) na hindi lahat ng barangay at munisipalidad ay apektado ng sakit na ito.

The saga of a great writer and poet

Melinda Bagsic Evangelista
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The saga of a great writer and poet

15th of a series

Insights from an inspiring leadership seminar with Romy

The seminar-workshop of COPS (Community On Peace and Security) lasted for a few months and it was greatly appreciated by Barangay Chairperson(s), Tanods, students, and the people at large in the 3rd District. During weekends after lecture, the whole group would convene in a modest videoke bar like ISKARGU in Bay, Laguna to sing their favorite songs while enjoying grilled pork and Tilapia for a change. No one drank intoxicating liquor so you can imagine the kind of discipline the group had in pursuing their advocacy. 

The best part of the program was the “graduation day” set for each cluster. The participants came to the assigned venue wearing their Sunday’s best attire all too glad to receive the Certificate of Attendance amidst round of applause from the audience. One Barangay Tanod even bragged that that was the first time he received a written recognition for attending what he called a ‘class’ and that he would have his certificate framed and put on display in the living room of his house. The awarding of the certificates of attendance was a concerted idea of SPO4 Rey Paras, Romy and Fiscal Ante.

The whole program may seem expensive but it was not. It was done by the group purely out of passion, love and dedication to teach the people in the barangays about the importance of : understanding the country’s justice system; how to prevent crimes proliferating during those times; the formation of correct moral values; and the importance of mental health. It was one work worthy of emulation but sad to note, no other group followed. Obviously, nobody wanted to share their time, efforts and knowledge without compensation.

When we were done with the seminars-workshops, Rey Paras and wife Marina treated Romy and I to a week-long vacation in Subic, Zambales. We stayed in a beachfront hotel where we relished the sound of the rushing waves to the shore, the fine sand and the beautiful sunset. We even visited the ‘Bat Kingdom’ and the home of monkeys – a sight to behold! It was my first time to see a throng of monkeys – young and old lined up on the side of the road with a couple of mother monkeys breastfeeding her young like humans. They were waving their hands and making sounds only their kind obviously understood. Much as we wanted to give them food, we were prescribed by the local authorities to feed them.

At the hotel, Romy and I would take down notes we can use in writing short stories and poems for our respective columns in the local community newspaper. Had cellphone with camera been available during that time like today, I would definitely have in my possession a good collection of photographs for reference purposes

 (To be continued)

A Titanic expert, an adventurer, a CEO, and a father and son are on the missing tourist submersible

Venus L Peñaflor
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A Titanic expert, an adventurer, a CEO, and a father and son are on the missing tourist submersible

BOSTON. A renowned Titanic expert, a world-record holding adventurer, two members of one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families and the CEO of the company leading an expedition to the world’s most famous shipwreck are facing critical danger aboard a small submersible that went missing in the Atlantic Ocean.

The submersible Titan was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center, spurring a desperate international rescue effort. Rescuers were racing against the clock because the oxygen supply could run out by approximately 6 a.m. Thursday.

A Canadian aircraft detected underwater noises during the hunt for the Titan. The U.S. Coast Guard said via Twitter early Wednesday that as a result of the noises detected by the Canadian P-3 patrol aircraft, search efforts have been relocated and the data is being used to help guide the ongoing effort.

The expedition featuring the Titan was led by OceanGate, making its third voyage to the Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew.

A pilot and four other people are on the Titan. They are:

STOCKTON RUSH

Although his background is in aerospace and technology, Rush founded OceanGate Inc. in 2009 to provide crewed submersibles for undersea researchers and explorers, according to the company’s website. Rush is the Titan’s pilot, said company spokesperson Andrew Von Kerens.

The private company based in Washington started bringing tourists to the Titanic in 2021 as part of its effort to chronicle the slow deterioration of the wreck.

“The ocean is taking this thing, and we need to document it before it all disappears or becomes unrecognizable,” Rush told The Associated Press in 2021.

In an interview with CBS News last year, Rush defended the safety of his submersible but said nothing is without risk.

“What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface — overhangs, fish nets, entanglement hazard,.” he said, adding that a good pilot can avoid such perils.

Rush became the youngest jet transport rated pilot in the world at age 19 in 1981, and flew commercial jets in college, according to his company biography. He joined the McDonnell Douglas Corp. in 1984 as a flight test engineer. Over the past 20 years, he has overseen the development of multiple successful IP ventures.

Greg Stone, a longtime ocean scientist and a friend of Rush, called him “a real pioneer” in the innovation of submersibles.

“Stockton was a risk-taker. He was smart. He was, he had a vision, he wanted to push things forward,” Stone said Tuesday.

HAMISH HARDING

A British businessman, Harding lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Action Aviation, an aircraft brokering company for which Harding serves as chairman, said he was one of the mission specialists, who paid to go on the expedition.

Harding is a billionaire adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.

“Both the Harding family and the team at Action Aviation are very grateful for all the kind messages of concern and support from our friends and colleagues,” the company said in a statement.

In a Facebook post Saturday, Harding said he was “proud” to be part of the mission.

“Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023,” he posted. “A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive (Sunday).”

Harding was “looking forward to conducting research” at the Titanic site, said Richard Garriott de Cayeux, the president of The Explorers Club, a group to which Harding belonged.

“We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible,” he said in a statement.

SHAHZADA AND SULEMAN DAWOOD

Father-and-son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood are members of one of Pakistan’s most prominent families. Their family said in a statement that they were both aboard the vessel.

“We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time,” the statement said. “The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members.”

Their firm, Dawood Hercules Corp., based in Karachi, is involved in agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunication infrastructure.

Shahzada Dawood also is on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence. The Dawoods live in the UK, according to SETI.

Shahzada Dawood is also a member of the Global Advisory Board at the Prince’s Trust International, founded by Britain’s King Charles III to address youth unemployment.

He has degrees from the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom and Philadelphia University (now Thomas Jefferson University) in the U.S.

PAUL-HENRY NARGEOLET

Nargeolet is a former French navy officer who is considered a Titanic expert after making multiple trips to the wreckage over several decades.

David Gallo, a senior adviser for strategic initiatives and special projects at RMS Titanic, said in an interview with CNN that Nargeolet was on board.

He is director of underwater research for E/M Group and RMS Titanic Inc., has completed 37 dives to the wreck and supervised the recovery of 5,000 artifacts, according to his company profile.

He was expedition leader on the most technologically advanced dive to Titanic in 2010, which used high-resolution sonar and 3D optical imaging on the bow and stern sections as well as the debris field.

While with the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of Sea, he led the first recovery expedition to the Titanic in 1987.

Submersible pilot Randy Holt, right, communicates with the support boat as he and Stockton Rush, left, CEO and Co-Founder of OceanGate, dive in the company’s submersible, “Antipodes,” about three miles off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., June 28, 2013. Rescuers in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean raced against time Tuesday, June 20, 2023, to find a missing submersible before the oxygen supply runs out for five people, including Stockton, who were on a mission to document the wreckage of the Titanic. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Cellphone buyer pinatay sa pukpok ng seller sa Laguna

Arman B. Cambe
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Cellphone buyer pinatay sa pukpok ng seller sa Laguna

CALAMBA CITY, Laguna. Isang trahedya ang naganap nang patayin ng isang nagbebenta ng cellphone ang kaniyang customer matapos umanong pagpapaluin ito ng tubo sa ulo noong Lunes ng gabi, Hunyo 19, sa Purok 7 Ilaya, Barangay Parian dito.

Ayon sa mga ulat, nagkaroon ng hindi pagkakasundo sa presyo ang suspek na si Elmer, na kilala rin bilang “Bukol,” at ang biktima na si Domingo Ramilo Gonzales bago naganap ang insidente.

Matapos matuklasan ng suspek na may interes ang biktima na bilhin ang kanyang cellphone, nagkasundo sila sa isang tiyak na halaga bandang 7:30 ng gabi.

Ngunit noong magbabayad na sana ang biktima, bigla umanong nagbago ang isip ng suspek at itinaas ang napagkasunduang presyo. Dahil dito, nagkaroon ng mainitang pagtatalo sa pagitan nila na nagdulot ng tensyon at galit.

Ayon sa mga saksi, sa gitna ng kanilang pag-aaway, kinuha ng suspek ang isang bakal na tubo at walang habas na pinagpapalo nito ang ulo ng biktima.

Dahil sa malalakas na palo sa ulo, bumagsak ang biktima patungo sa sahig, at nawalan ito ng malay.

Agad na tumakas ang suspek habang dinala ng mga kaanak ang biktima sa Calamba Doctor Hospital. Gayunman, matapos masuri ng mga doktor, idineklara ang biktima na patay na.

Kasalukuyang iniimbestigahan ng mga awtoridad ang insidente.

Nagpapaalala si Police Colonel Randy Glenn Silvio, director ng Laguna Provincial Police Office sa lahat na maging maingat sa mga transaksyon at maging mapanuri sa mga sitwasyon upang maiwasan ang mga karahasan na maaaring maganap. Ang pag-aari ng isang cellphone ay hindi dapat maging dahilan ng pagkamatay ng isang tao, ayon sa kanya.

Slain Hong Kong model Abby Choi mourned at pink-themed funeral

Paraluman P. Funtanilla
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Slain Hong Kong model Abby Choi mourned at pink-themed funeral

Hundreds of mourners attended a funeral on Sunday for a Hong Kong model whose grisly death earlier this year shocked the city, with floral tributes flowing in from loved ones, friends and celebrities alike.

Abby Choi, a 28-year-old mother of four, went missing in late February until parts of her dismembered body were found by police in a rural village house.

The death of the prominent model and influencer, who had made appearances at international fashion shows and commanded significant followings on both Instagram and Douyin – China’s version of Tik Tok – made headlines worldwide.

Friends and loved ones were finally able to bid Choi goodbye some four months after her death at a funeral service that was decked out in her favorite color pink.

Hundreds of people dressed in black lined up outside the Po Fook Memorial Hall in a quiet suburb of Hong Kong just a dozen miles south of where her remains were found.

The entrance was decorated with pink curtains and two images of Choi – posing in a pink dress against a column of balloons in various shades of the same color.

Among those present at the funeral was her late husband Chris Tam, whose family founded a popular noodle chain in the city.

Holding the hands of one of their children, Tam, dressed in a suit, arrived at the funeral parlor an hour prior to the Buddhist ceremony to bid farewell to his wife.

Floral tributes from various celebrities could be seen being carried by workers into the funeral home, including from Aaron Kwok, a veteran of Hong Kong’s pop music scene in the 1990s.

Choi was cremated on Monday with a black hearse embellished with pink flowers ferrying her body to a famous monastery on a nearby island.

Choi’s ex-husband Alex Kwong, 28, his brother Anthony, 31, and their father, Kwong Kau, 65, have been charged with murder over her death. Alex Kwong’s mother Jenny Li, 63, is charged with perverting the course of justice.

The family was denied bail and are currently in jail custody, with the next hearing scheduled on July 31.

Two others have been charged with assisting the ex-husband’s effort to escape, though they have been released on bail.

Pre-trial reporting restrictions are in place.

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This story was first published on CNN.com, “Slain Hong Kong model Abby Choi mourned at pink-themed funeral.”

A search and rescue operation is underway for a submersible touring the wreckage of the Titanic

EDGARDO HERNAL
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A search and rescue operation is underway for a submersible touring the wreckage of the Titanic

The 21-foot-long civilian submersible with five people aboard that went missing Sunday in the remote waters of the North Atlantic Ocean where the Titanic sank has four days of emergency capability, the leader of search and rescue efforts said Monday afternoon.

Assets from the US and Canadian Coast Guards are searching the sea surface 900 miles east of Cape Cod and using sonar to listen for sounds in the water, which is up to 13,000 feet deep in the area.

The five people on board the vessel, which was on an expedition to view the Titanic wreckage, comprised one pilot and four “mission specialists,” Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the Coast Guard’s First District, said Monday in a news conference. He didn’t identify the five and said authorities still were in the process of contacting family members.

He referred reporters to the group conducting the expedition, OceanGate Expeditions, for information about what the term “mission specialist” entails.

“We’re working very closely at this point to make sure that we’re doing everything that we can do to locate the submersible and rescue those on board,” Mauger said.

The Canadian research ship Polar Prince on Sunday notified the military branch it had lost contact with the underwater vessel, according to Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Samantha Corcoran. In a tweet, the Coast Guard said the communications silence began approximately 1 hour, 45 minutes into the vessel’s dive.

Time is a factor, officials said. “In terms of the hours, we understood that that was 96 hours of rescue or emergency capability from the operator,” Mauger told reporters. “And so we anticipate that there’s somewhere between 70 to the full 96 hours available at this point.”

A British businessman based in the United Arab Emirates, Hamish Harding, is one of the people on the submersible, according to a social media post by the company he owns, Action Aviation.

“The sub had a successful launch and Hamish is currently diving,” the company said in an Instagram post on Sunday.

Harding was one of the first people to travel the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean – the deepest known point on Earth. On Saturday he wrote of the Titanic mission: “I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic.”

Search assets include civilian ships

C-130 aircraft were searching the surface and two P-8 planes that use sonar to find submarines were part of the search efforts, Mauger said Monday. Commercial ships are also involved and one has sonar, he added.

“Oftentimes we rely on commercial operators to be the first vessels on scene,” Mauger said. “And so we’ve been in touch with additional commercial vessels that are operating in the area as well as initiating the movement of additional Canadian Coast Guard assets and US Coast Guard surface assets into the area over the course of the next couple of days.”

The US Coast Guard also has been in touch with the US Navy and the Canadian military to determine what underwater rescue capability is available, if needed, Mauger said.

OceanGate is assisting in the search and said it is “exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely.”

“Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families. We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible,” the group said. “We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.”

Chief Mi’sel Joe of Miawpukek First Nation, which co-owns the Polar Prince, the support vessel on the expedition, said he received a call Sunday afternoon alerting him the sub was two hours overdue and still hadn’t surfaced, and they had lost communication with the sub. At that point, requests for search and rescue had gone out, he said.

Sub has safety features, company says

OceanGate Expeditions operates a trip taking passengers to the Titanic’s wreckage at the bottom of the ocean for prices starting at $250,000, according to an archived version of its website, accessible via the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

“Follow in Jacques Cousteau’s footsteps and become an underwater explorer — beginning with a dive to the wreck of the RMS Titanic. This is your chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary,” the website said. “Become one of the few to see the Titanic with your own eyes.”

The eight-day expedition is based out of St. John’s, Newfoundland and begins with a 400-nautical-mile journey to the wreck site. There, up to five people, including a pilot, a “content expert” and three paying passengers, board a submersible named “Titan” and descend over two hours to the bottom of the ocean to see the Titanic up close.

According to OceanGate, Titan is a 23,000-pound submersible made of carbon fiber and titanium. As a safety feature, the sub uses a “proprietary real-time hull health monitoring (RTM) system” that analyzes the pressure on the vessel and the integrity of the structure, the company states.

The Titanic infamously hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in April 1912, killing more than 1,500 people. The wreckage of the Titanic, discovered in 1985, sits in two parts at the bottom of the ocean nearly 13,000 feet below the surface, southeast of Newfoundland.

Unlike a submarine, a submersible has limited power reserves so it needs a mother ship that can launch and recover it, according to NOAA.

‘Think positive’ expedition participant on Polar Prince posts

An expedition participant on board the Polar Prince, the ship that launched the now-missing sub, said they are all “focused on board here for our friends.”

“We have a situation that is now the part of a major Search and Rescue effort, being undertaken by major agencies,” Rory Golden wrote on Facebook after being contacted by CNN. “That is where our focus is right now.”

He asked people not to ask for or speculate on the names of those on the missing sub.

“I have seen some comments already on social media that are highly inappropriate and insensitive,” he said. He added their online and internet options were being restricted “to keep bandwidth available for the coordinated effort that is taking place.”

“The reaction and offers of help globally is truly astonishing, and only goes to show the real goodness in people at a time like this,” he said. He ended the post thanking everyone and saying, “… think positive. We are.”

The Polar Prince ship is seen while moored in Vancouver, British Columbia, Oct. 23, 2017. A search is underway, Monday, June 19, 2023, for a missing submersible that carries people to view the wreckage of the Titanic. Unlike submarines that leave and return to port under their own power, submersibles require a ship to launch and recover them. OceanGate hired the Polar Prince to ferry dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

_

CNN first reported the story.

DOH: Nurses sa PH paubos na

Venus L Peñaflor
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DOH: Nurses sa PH paubos na

Tuluyan nang mauubos ang mga nars na nagtatrabaho sa Pilipinas kung hindi mababawasan ang bilang ng mga umaalis patungo sa ibang bansa upang magtrabaho. Ito ang pahayag ni health secretary Ted Herbosa, na kasabay ng pagpapahayag na mas marami ang umalis kaysa sa mga bagong pumapasok.

“I saw the figures, mas marami ‘yung umaalis kesa sa napo-produce natin. In a few more years, I don’t know how many but I think it can be counted by the fingers of one hand. In a few years, if we don’t do anything, maubusan tayo ng nurses,” dagdag pa ni Herbosa.

Batay sa talaan ng Department of Health (DOH), mayroong 44,602 na doktor at 178,629 na nars ang nagtatrabaho sa Pilipinas. Malayo ito sa mga datos ng Professional Regulatory Commission na nagpapahayag na mayroong 95,000 na lisensyadong doktor at 509,000 na lisensyadong nars sa bansa.

Kinumpirma rin ng Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) na 40-50% ng kanilang mga nars ang nagbitiw sa kanilang mga trabaho sa loob ng nakaraang dalawang taon upang maghanap ng trabaho sa ibang bansa.

Dahil dito, bukas ang PHAPI sa pagbibigay ng pansamantalang lisensya sa mga nars na hindi pa nakapasa sa mga pagsusulit sa board o sa mga nars na hindi pumasa sa unang pagkakataon. Ang layunin nito ay mapunan ang kakulangan sa mga nars at mapanatili ang kalidad ng serbisyong pangkalusugan sa bansa.

Ngunit, itinutulak din ng PHAPI ang mga hakbang upang mapababa ang bilang ng mga nars na umaalis. Kasama na rito ang pagbibigay ng mas maayos na pasahod at trabaho sa loob ng bansa, upang maging kaakit-akit ito sa mga nars na manatili at maglingkod sa Pilipinas.

Sa kasalukuyan, patuloy pa rin ang pag-aaral at paghahanap ng mga solusyon upang mapangalagaan ang mga health worker sa bansa, partikular na ang mga nars na kritikal sa pagpapanatili ng kalusugan ng mamamayan.

Europe, US urged to investigate the type of AI that powers systems like ChatGPT

Carlo Juancho Funtanilla
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Europe, US urged to investigate the type of AI that powers systems like ChatGPT

LONDON. European Union consumer protection groups urged regulators on Tuesday to investigate the type of artificial intelligence underpinning systems like ChatGPT, citing risks that leave people vulnerable and the delay before the bloc’s groundbreaking AI regulations take effect.

In a coordinated effort, 13 watchdog groups wrote to their national consumer, data protection, competition and product safety authorities warning them about a range of concerns around generative artificial intelligence.

A transatlantic coalition of consumer groups also wrote to U.S. President Joe Biden asking him to take action to protect consumers from possible harms caused by generative AI.

Europe has led the world in efforts to regulate artificial intelligence, which gained urgency with the rise of a new breed of artificial intelligence that gives AI chatbots like ChatGPT the power to generate text, images, video and audio that resemble human work.

The EU is putting the finishing touches on the world’s first set of comprehensive rules for the technology, but they are not expected to take effect for two years.

The groups called for European and U.S. leaders to use both existing laws and bring in new legislation to address the harms that generative AI can cause.

They cited a report by the Norwegian Consumer Council outlining dangers that AI chatbots pose, including providing incorrect medical information, manipulating people, making up news articles and illegally using vast amounts of personal data scraped off the internet.

The consumer groups, in countries including Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Greece and Denmark, warn that while the EU’s AI Act addresses some of the concerns, they won’t start applying for several years, “leaving consumers unprotected from a technology which is insufficiently regulated in the meantime, and developing at great pace.”

Some authorities have already acted. Italy’s privacy watchdog ordered ChatGPT maker OpenAI to temporarily stop processing user’s personal information while it investigated a possible data breach. France, Spain and Canada also have been looking into OpenAI and ChatGPT.

Lawmakers vote on the Artificial Intelligence act Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. European Union consumer protection groups urged regulators on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, to investigate the type of artificial intelligence underpinning systems like ChatGPT, citing risks that leave people vulnerable and the delay before the bloc’s groundbreaking AI regulations take effect. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)
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