All posts by Pol Pinoy

Government, Law Enforcement, Social Media, Technology

Senators Aquino And Hontiveros Want Stiffer Penalties For Fishing

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DAA65C9C-B04B-4CB0-8692-4A1F0AA9B4ACMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Reacting to a recent public advisory from the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), Opposition Senators Bam Aquino and Risa Hontiveros jointly filed a bill that would impose stiffer penalties for illegal fishing in the country and in South China Sea territories claimed by the Philippines.

”We thank PLDT for reminding us and the Filipino public to continue fighting against this illegal acivity,” the Senators said.

But it was all a case of “lost in translation.”

PLDT’s advisory had to do with ‘phishing’ not ‘fishing.’  (Phishing is a cyber crime where potential targets are contacted by scammers via email, text or phone to ‘fish out’ sensitive data to be used in identity theft and other crimes.)33832D7F-47BF-402A-8AB9-E78388078C8C

But rather than suffer embarrassment, Aquino and Hontiveros said they will still pursue their proposal to give more teeth to the country’s anti-illegal fishing law.

 

Economy, Finance, Government, Politics, Travel

Move Over Angat Buhay, Leni Robredo Launches New Pilot Program

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B9A74524-0476-4218-BEBF-4A8889585210.jpegQUEZON CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Quezon City Bureau) – “Angat Buhay” has been a signature project of Vice President Leni Robredo, aimed at helping poor Filipinos with livelihood projects that would improve their economic status.  But that’s  in the past.

As Robredo enterered her third year as Vice President yesterday (notwithstanding the still ongoing electoral protest filed by Bongbong Marcos), her office has announced a new nationwide project that would enable Filipinos to travel across the country and even internationally.

The new program is called “Travel now, pay later.”

The idea for the program came about when the Commission on Audit (COA) announced that the Office of the Vice President has not liquidated local and international travel funds received by her staff.  COA rules are crystal clear that cash advances for government travel must be liquidated within 30 days and excess funds returned within that period.

The OVP says it will ask Congress to increase its budget in the coming fiscal year in order to help jumpstart the travel program.

In the meantime, Robredo said the program will be implemented on a pilot basis, starting with her office staff.

So expect more local and international travel for OVP officers and employees.  They can all travel now and pay later.

Law Enforcement, Media, News Satire, Politics, Social Media

Adobo Chronicles To Sue Rappler For Cyber Libel

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Rappler’s Ressa

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Now that the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office has given the go signal to indict “Thinking Pinoy” blogger Rey Joseph “RJ” Nieto for calling opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV a “narco” in one of his posts on social media, yet another lawsuit is brewing.

The Adobo Chronicles will file tomorrow, a complaint against online news source, Rappler and its CEO, Maria Ressa, for “false and baseless defamatory imputation” against the popular satire news site.

The complaint stemmed from an opinion piece previously published by Rappler and re-tweeted by Ressa, accusing The Adobo Chronicles of not knowing the difference beween ‘fake news’ and ‘satire.’

”In effect,” the complaint stated, “accusing The Adobo Chronicles of being ‘fake news’ as opposed to satire is tantamount to cyber bullying and spreading inaccurate information.”

This lawsuit just adds to Rappler’s legal issues — from the revocation of its media license by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to tax evasion charges slapped against it by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Ressa could not be contacted for comment because she blocked The Adobo Chronicles from her Twitter account.