Mining fed boss nabbed for gold smuggling

HARARE: Zimbabwe police on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) arrested the boss of a miners' federation, previously CEO of the football association, for allegedly seeking to smuggle six kilograms of gold overseas.

Henrietta Rushwaya, 53, president of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation changed into busted at the main worldwide airport in Harare with the valuable mineral in her bag as she checked in for a flight to Dubai.


Police stated the gold is valued at around $366,000 (310,000 euros). In a tweet, the police said Rushwaya changed into nabbed after "scanners at the airport checkpoint indicated that there has been some thing in her hand bags."

"Searches found out that the suspect had 6.09 kilograms of gold which had now not been legally and properly cleared with customs and relevant offices for export," police said. "This is a suspected smuggling case," they added.
The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has implemented stricter accreditation and tracking of category societies for secure operations of all Philippine registered ships.
Marina issued Memorandum Circular No. MS-2020-01, which revised the rules at the accreditation of local classification societies (LCS) and entities for the cause of class of ships inside the domestic change.
Marina stated it'd conduct a random audit of LCS to verify its compliance with the satisfactory management device and countrywide regulation. An extra audit would be carried out to LCS on every occasion their classed ships got concerned in a totally critical maritime twist of fate.

LCS have to follow accreditation to Marina with a corresponding charge of P100, 000, that is valid for 5 years.
In case, the certificates of accreditation (COA) is suspended, withdrawn or canceled, the ships that had been issued with the elegance certificate ought to accept reasonable time, however now not to exceed six months, to switch to every other LCS with legitimate COA after the failure of the said LCS to correct or rectify findings.

The LCS is responsible for informing the Marina, at least three days previous to the conduct of the activity of the independent frame auditors.

In case of switch, LCS must have approaches at the switch of class, whether losing or gaining.

"Should the employer decide to switch from one LCS to any other, the dropping LCS ought to right now turn- over all the facts of the ship involved to the gaining LCS," the MC read.


The losing elegance should transmit within 15 days from notice from shipowner to the gaining elegance the ships' data consisting of fantastic recommendation which changed into no longer but complied.

Marina said new certificate for the ship should be issued by using the gaining LCS most effective after all overdue surveys have been satisfactorily finished and all late pointers or overdue conditions of class formerly issued in recognize of the deliver had been finished as distinct with the aid of the losing LCS.

The LCS became obliged to submit quarterly reviews and documents, which consist of an updated list of technical employees involved in class services, technical advisory, technical committee or elegance rule approving body. The accomplishment document ought to include preliminary surveys, renewal surveys, the once a year survey, and sophistication transfer.

The LCS should straight away tell the administration through any manner viable, of any risky occurrences, injuries, equipment or structural breakdowns or disasters that require instant restore or repair by way of a given due date that they may be aware of on a deliver.
Marina stated COA can be suspended if corrective actions had been not completed in the agreed schedules, which must now not typically exceed 3 months.

The COA ought to be withdrawn three months after a suspension under those occasions which include no action taken by means of LCS or after constantly failing to close out non-conformances referred to above.

Marina said failure to conform with any provision of this Circular can be fined P100, 000 for a primary offense, P100, 000 plus suspension of COA for six months for second offense, and cancellation of COA for a 3rd offense. Marina delivered that if LCS were located to be supplying classification services without a legitimate COA, it will likely be fined P300, 000 in keeping with deliver.

FB solidifies grip on gaming business

SILICON VALLEY: Facebook on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) positioned its spin on cloud gaming by way of letting players instantly hop into an array of cell video games at the social network without downloading apps — but gained't be offering the service for Apple iOS gadgets.


Vice president of play Jason Rubin stated that Facebook is not spinning off a cloud gaming carrier along the traces of Google Stadia and Microsoft xCloud, which provide console-best titles hosted on line.

The new Facebook capability is designed to permit players begin games on the social community then switch to downloaded cell apps with out dropping any development it wouldn't synch with iPhones due to "manipulate" exerted by using Apple, in step with Rubin.

"Unfortunately, we're no longer launching cloud video games on iOS, so only Android and net gamers will revel in included cloud games on Facebook at the same time as we paintings on opportunity options for iOS," Rubin stated in a blog put up.
"Apple treats video games in a different way and keeps to exert manage over a totally valuable aid. "

Excluding iPhones and iPads from the Facebook cloud video games providing is the ultra-modern dig at Apple for its tight grip on the App Store, which is the sole source of content material for the organisation's coveted cell gadgets however takes a 30 percent reduce of transactions.

Some developers say Apple takes too huge a chunk of the revenue and continues inflexible rules which could hamstring services competing with the ones of the iPhone maker. Fortnite-maker Epic Games has taken Apple to court docket over the practice.

Apple has argued its App Store grants billions of bucks to unbiased builders, and that its practices are reasonable as compared with other virtual marketplaces. Only those gambling with Android-powered cellular devices or through web browsers will be able to combine with cloud games on Facebook for now, Rubin said.


Games made available in the cloud at Facebook may be accessed right away within the software or in browsers, in line with Rubin. Some 200,000 humans in line with week played cloud-streamed video games at Facebook in the course of a tribulation run in a few areas, in line with Rubin.

"We love console and PC gaming and both codecs might be round for a long time," Rubin stated. "We consider cloud gaming will growth—no longer update—the options to jump into great games."

Gaming at Facebook dates returned to its early days whilst "Farmville" by Zynga become an obsession for many users.

FB solidifies grip on gaming business

SILICON VALLEY: Facebook on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) put its spin on cloud gaming by way of letting players right away hop into an array of cell games on the social community without downloading apps — however received't be providing the service for Apple iOS devices.


Vice president of play Jason Rubin stated that Facebook isn't always spinning off a cloud gaming carrier alongside the lines of Google Stadia and Microsoft xCloud, which give console-first-class titles hosted on-line.

The new Facebook functionality is designed to let players start games at the social network then transfer to downloaded cellular apps with out losing any progress it wouldn't synch with iPhones due to "manage" exerted with the aid of Apple, in keeping with Rubin.

"Unfortunately, we're now not launching cloud games on iOS, so only Android and net gamers will revel in incorporated cloud video games on Facebook while we work on alternative options for iOS," Rubin stated in a blog submit.
"Apple treats video games in a different way and keeps to exert control over a very treasured resource. "

Excluding iPhones and iPads from the Facebook cloud games supplying is the modern dig at Apple for its tight grip on the App Store, that is the sole supply of content material for the corporation's coveted cell gadgets however takes a 30 percentage reduce of transactions.

Some developers say Apple takes too huge a bite of the revenue and maintains rigid rules that could hamstring services competing with the ones of the iPhone maker. Fortnite-maker Epic Games has taken Apple to court over the practice.

Apple has argued its App Store grants billions of dollars to impartial builders, and that its practices are reasonable as compared with other digital marketplaces. Only the ones playing with Android-powered mobile devices or through web browsers could be able to combine with cloud games on Facebook for now, Rubin said.


Games made to be had inside the cloud at Facebook can be accessed right away in the software or in browsers, according to Rubin. Some 2 hundred,000 people in keeping with week played cloud-streamed games at Facebook at some point of a trial run in some regions, in step with Rubin.

"We love console and PC gaming and both codecs could be around for a long time," Rubin said. "We consider cloud gaming will growth—no longer update—the alternatives to jump into fantastic video games."

Gaming at Facebook dates returned to its early days when "Farmville" by using Zynga changed into an obsession for lots customers.

SEC issues guidelines for conversion to one person corporation or ordinary stock corporation

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued the hints on the conversion of groups either to a one man or woman enterprise (OPC) or to an normal stock corporation (OSC) through SEC Memorandum Circular 27, Series of 2020 (SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020). This is in line with Sections 131 and 132 of Republic Act No. 11232 or the "Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines" (RCC), which allows the conversion from an OSC to an OPC, and an OPC to an OSC respectively. SEC MC 20, s. Of 2020 took effect on Oct. 16, 2020.


SEC MC No. 27, s. Of 2020 is divided into 3 elements: the primary part relates to conversion from OSC to OPC; the second element, conversion from OPC to OSC; and the 1/3 component on provisions common to each kinds of conversion. Below are a number of the salient functions of SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020.

Conversion from OSC to OPC

A herbal character of felony age, a believe, or an property (single stockholder) may observe for the conversion of an OSC to an OPC if he has obtained all of the OSC's extremely good capital stocks and has received the required certificate authorizing registration or tax clearance from the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The conversion can also then be processed as an modification of the articles of incorporation (AOI) through the submission of the required files to the SEC (Section 1, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020).
Once the SEC problems the certificate of submitting of the amended AOI reflecting such conversion to an OPC, the OSC's AOI and Bylaws shall be deemed superseded (Section 2, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020) and the OPC converted from an OSC shall prevail the latter and be legally accountable for all of the latter's great liabilities as of the date of approval of the conversion (Section 4, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020). Please take observe that the unique SEC registration wide variety will nonetheless be retained however the company name will endure the OPC suffix (Section three, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020).

Conversion from OPC to OSC

Once the shares in an OPC ceases to be entirely held by using a unmarried stockholder, a conversion to an OSC may additionally come into vicinity. This may be achieved after due observe to the SEC of such facts and of such circumstances leading to the conversion, and after compliance with all of the requirements for an OSC. The fee determines, after assessment of the documentary requirements, if such conversion is relevant (Section 7, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020).

Following the switch/s of stocks in an OPC wherein there at the moment are as a minimum two stockholders in what turned into once the OPC, a note of conversion of an OPC into an OSC will be filed with the commission within 60 days from such switch/s of stocks. The duration for filing the notice will be found despite the fact that the conversion might be carried out for, or will take area, afterward (Section 8, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020).


However, if the awareness is filed beyond the 60-day length from the switch of shares, the conversion into an OSC may also nonetheless be authorized however is already concern to prior payment of penalty if found answerable for the violation of Section 132, when it comes to Section 158 of the RCC on administrative sanctions, after due observe and listening to (Section 10, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020).

The OPC's AOI will be deemed outmoded once the SEC problems the certificates of filing of the amended AOI reflecting such conversion to an OSC (Section 11, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020) and the OSC transformed from an OPC shall be successful the latter and be legally liable for all the latter's amazing liabilities as of the date of conversion (Section thirteen, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020).

The certificates of filing of amended AOI and bylaws shall nevertheless endure the authentic SEC registration number. Please note additionally that the "OPC" suffix ought to be removed (Section 12, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020).

Provisions commonplace to both varieties of conversion

Below are the commonplace provisions to both types of conversion:

The signatory or signatories in the AOI of the transformed enterprise need to truly kingdom that they voluntarily agreed to the conversion applicable to them (Section 15, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020).

The motive of the nature of the conversion from an OSC to OPC will be deemed as optional; while for the conversion from an OPC to OSC, this is taken into consideration obligatory, unless when the winding-up and dissolution are appropriate (Section sixteen, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020).

In case of opposition or dispute bobbing up from the conversion, the aggrieved birthday celebration can also file a established petition for cancellation of the issued certificates with the SEC's Company Registration and Monitoring Department (CRMD), at the floor of fraud in the procurement, according with the SEC's relevant laws and other guidelines or issuances (Section 18, SEC MC 27, s. Of 2020).

Is the government underestimating infections?

In principle, we should be glad that a central database on the epidemic has been created. They unloaded a teenager who showed them how to do it. And we become so paranoid that we want to look for communications specialists among laboratory workers, " says Alek Tarkovsky, president of the Digital Center Foundation.

While the number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 is falling, and all signs in heaven and earth indicate that there will be no need for a "National Quarantine," the debate over data on the epidemic is raging on professional and social media. All this is due to the deterioration of the economy, among other things. In connection with the quarantine, the question of work is acute,and many move to the online sphere, knowing that you can earn additional income, as deltamarket broker does  many professions in connection with the pandemic were called into question.

So far, district and regional sanitary and epidemiological stations have published on their websites data about their region-the number of detected infections, deaths, recoveries, hospitalizations, quarantines and people under epidemiological surveillance. They did this because it was their job to prepare the reports they submitted to the Ministry of Health. It was in the SEZ that the laboratories reported on the number of tests carried out and positive results. The health resort, in turn, published daily data across Poland on social networks.


All this information was summarized and published on one sheet m.in 19-year-old Michal Rogalski. he did it as a social activity. its aggregated data and graphs have been used by the media, as well as by research groups dealing with the epidemic.

What happened to the thousands of infections?

Before the data disappeared from sse websites, rogalski found discrepancies between the number of infections reported locally in mazowiec and those reported by the ministry of health. We were talking about tens of thousands of cases that were not in the data of the Ministry. The case was all the more important because at the time, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki declared a "national quarantine" if the number of infections in Poland rose above a certain level. If you add up these "lost infections", then this is how it should be.

Morawiecki announced, however, that infections are falling and there will be no blockage. this has raised suspicions among many social media users that the authorities are manipulating the numbers. The Ministry attributed this to errors and delays in reporting and reporting them by various methods. However, suspicions were further heightened when it became clear that partial data had disappeared from the pages of the GSE-acting Chief Health Inspector Krzysztof Sachka banned their publication. On the same day, the official Central Data Service started working in the evening. This did not allay my suspicions.

The central database was made possible by the introduction of the EWS system, in which laboratories directly report test results, and sanitary and epidemiological stations-on quarantine information. Previously, sanepid-before the pandemic, the most underfunded and least digitized government agency-inserted them into Excel spreadsheets. However, the new public database is incomplete compared to the data collected by volunteers. In addition, according to biqdata, some private laboratories have not yet received keys to the EWS database, and therefore the data provided is incomplete.

In EYE. press, we write that the data that should first be considered when analyzing the course of the epidemic is primarily data on hospitalizations, patients in serious condition and deaths. the number of detected infections is less significant, because it depends on too many factors-the adopted testing strategy, the percentage of positive results, and delays in reporting.

And we talk about digitalization, the availability of public data, conspiracies and distrust of government with Dr. Alki Tarkovsky, a sociologist and president of the Digital Center Foundation, which has been promoting the principle of open access to data and other public resources for a decade.

Digitization – somehow we will climb up

Milada jendrysik: We met 10 years ago when you were a digital expert in Prime Minister Tusk's team of advisers. the plans for digitalization of the state were ambitious at that time, and the future was bright. And a little on this plan ended. After 10 years and 10 months of the epidemic, the Ministry of Health has finally spat out a central database on it-so far incomplete. Previously, the best database on COVID-19 was managed by 19-year-old Michal Rogalski.

Alek Tarkovsky: Digitization is still not so good. On the one hand, open data is well known. There is a page dane.gov.pl from which you can download multiple databases.

Finally, the pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of healthcare-an electronic prescription has appeared, and an electronic patient bill is being distributed. And here is EWS, a database of infected and quarantined people, from which data about the epidemic is downloaded to the site gov.pl, almost just started to fully function.

What has been implemented in recent years is the participation of citizens in the legislative process-for political reasons. Let's agree that previous governments had problems with this, but everything was going in the right direction. New platforms for social consultations are being developed. Over the past five years, this process has completely collapsed. It is clear why-if even the parliament does not process the laws correctly, then where can citizens make any comments?

Nevertheless, in fairly objective ratings of open data, we somehow climb up, although the availability of this data is still average. However, in the former digitization department, which is now included in the CPRM, there is a great awareness of this problem. It has not yet reached other institutions, but the process continues.

The slogan of open data has always been, in my opinion, non-political, in any case, it was the policy of the authorities-the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, for example, lived with forecasts and refused to publish their data. But this was not a "big" policy, but a certain culture of the organization.

The South Korean authorities will co-finance

The South Korean authorities will co-finance one of the flagship tasks of the Duterte administration through an professional development help (ODA) underneath the concessional mortgage offer made earlier by way of Seoul, the Department of Finance (DoF) said.

“There is just one task that they have got already signed,” Finance Assistant Secretary Maria Edita Tan said, relating to the P9.19-billion New Cebu International Container Port assignment, which the Philippines’ National Economic and Development Authority Board has accredited.

Of the undertaking’s total value of P9.19 billion, South Korea will co-finance P7.96 billion, even as the countrywide government will shoulder the final P1.23-billion balance.

Seoul in advance offered the Philippines $1 billion in concessional loans from the Export-Import Bank of Korea in six years to 2022. The DoF said it changed into South Korea’s way of displaying guide to the Philippine’ government’s formidable infrastructure tasks though the “Build, Build, Build” application.

The Philippines is considering forwarding seven greater tasks for Seoul investment, the DoF said.

A 500-meter berth duration

The Cebu port task entails the development of a field port with a 500-meter berth length in a 25-hectare reclaimed island in Barangay Tayud inside the municipality of Consolacion, Cebu.

It also includes the development and development of 1,450 meters of inland street (get admission to street), and the
creation of a 300-linear meter offshore bridge with a purpose to connect the port to the shoreline.

The venture had been accredited and recommended by using Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd for South Korean ODA financing.

Besides the Cebu container port challenge, Tan stated the government is trying to propose seven greater infrastructure initiatives for South Korean funding.

The seven projects are the Development of Marine Aids to Navigation in Luzon and Visayas; the New Dumaguete Airport Development Project; the Development of Hybrid Power Generation Systems in the Philippines; the Establishment of Mindoro Multi-Grain Processing Center; the Development of the National Animal Identification and Traceability System; the Drive-Through Portal Inspection Facilities in International Ports of Entry; and the Automated Collection of Slaughter Data and Issuance of Meat Inspection Certificates.

Under a proposed cooperation settlement with the Philippines, South Korea’s precedence areas for funding are transport, energy infrastructure, and facts and communications generation.

The settlement is to be finalized between the 2 international locations subsequent month.

The Philippine government plans to spend P8.Four trillion on infrastructure initiatives in the course of the time period of President Rodrigo Duterte till 2022.

THE Philippine Department

THE Philippine Department of Transportation and the German Federal Ministry of Transport signed a letter of intent on Tuesday with an purpose to enhance maritime exchange between the two international locations.

“We have sizable exchange volume between the 2 nations,” State Secretary Michael Odenwald of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) stated during his speech on the Meeting on Cooperation in Maritime Transport on the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).


DoTr Secretary Arthur Tugade signs and symptoms a letter of rationale with German Secretary of State of the Federal Ministry of Transport Michael Odenwald to enhance maritime exchange among the two countries. SOURCE: DOTR
Odenwald said that the change volume recorded among the two international locations in 2016 amounted to 5-billion Euros.

“We have to enforce and boom our improvement cooperation,” Odenwald said.

The settlement includes conducting regular talks between Germany and Philippines to talk about proposals, developments or tasks for mutual pastimes, trade of data for research on maritime accidents, and studies education and workforce development within the field of maritime delivery.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade emphasized that the Philippines changed into now open to do business with the government of Germany, after settling the Fraport trouble.

“The Fraport issue is records, a records that need to no longer be repeated,” Tugade stated.

“We would like to start a courting that is predicated on mutual accept as true with, on mutual faith,” said Tugade.

“The Republic of the Philippines is now open for commercial enterprise…and there shall be no corruption,” Tugade said.
Meanwhile, Odenwald stated that Germany changed into open to proportion expertise to the Philippines within the railway sector and additionally to continue aviation ties.

“We are willing to sell economic ties with the Philippines,” Odenwald stated.

It can be recalled that the administration of then President Fidel Ramos provided the agreement to construct the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA three) to the consortium of Philippine International Airport Terminal Co. (Piatco) and German firm Fraport in 1997.

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but, voided the contract in 2002 due to alleged irregularities.

The Philippine government and Piatco fought a legal conflict over the NAIA three undertaking, which not on time the outlet of the terminal.

On Dec. 21, 2004, the Office of the Solicitor General filed an expropriation case at the Pasay nearby trial court docket to allow the government to perform the terminal on the soonest feasible time. The Pasay court docket issued a writ of possession to the authorities, however ordered it to pay Piatco P3 billion as downpayment on reimbursement nevertheless to be decided.

Piatco went for separate arbitration on the Singapore-based totally International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal.
On Aug. 23, 2006, the ICC ordered the Philippine government to go back the mission to Piatco until a valid writ of possession become issued via a domestic court docket. It said the writ launched by way of the Pasay court in 2004 may be taken into consideration legitimate most effective if there has been evidence that the P3-billion downpayment had been paid.

In September, Piatco obtained P3 billion from the authorities, clearing the manner for the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) to work at the terminal for its beginning. NAIA 3 in part opened in 2008, operating at approximately 50 percentage of its capability.

On May 23, 2011, the Pasay court docket ordered the government to pay Piatco $175.79 million (or approximately P7.6 billion at that time) much less the P3 billion downpayment that the government had paid to Piatco as compensation.

Piatco’s damage claim inside the ICC became rejected however the builder of NAIA 3 asked the High Court of Singapore to opposite the ruling of the tribunal. Its petition changed into also denied via Singapore’s High Court on Nov. 15, 2011.

In August 2013, a Court of Appeals ruling modified the order issued through the Pasay court. The appellate courtroom ordered the government to pay Piatco “simply reimbursement” of $371,426,688.24 (about P16.2 billion at that time), an quantity a good deal higher than what the Pasay court docket had ordered.

The appellate courtroom later amended its ruling, announcing the annual hobby at the $371,426,688.24 repayment must be 6 percent annually—not 12 percent, which the courtroom to begin with set—till it changed into absolutely paid and as soon as the choice became very last.

While the authorities appealed the choice of the Court of Appeals, NAIA three sooner or later operated at full capability beginning August 2014.

In October, the Court of Appeals stated the government may not workout full possession rights over NAIA 3 until it had paid in complete the P16 billion in only reimbursement, a ruling the appellate courtroom affirmed in early 2015.

Apart from the case against Piatco, the government additionally confronted an arbitration case filed with the aid of Fraport, Piatco’s foreign associate, in the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the arbitration arm of the World Bank primarily based in Washington.

The arbitration became concluded in December 2014 and the ICSID ordered Fraport to pay the Philippine government $5 million in damages for violating the Anti-Dummy Law.