News in Pictures: August 14, 2024
MEXICAN SHIP ON PORT CALL
Mexican sailing ship Cuauhtémoc arrives in Manila’s South Harbor on Aug. 9 for a goodwill visit. The vessel, which serves as a training ship for the Mexican Navy, was welcomed by the Philippine Navy, whose officers were given a tour around the vessel as it was also opened to the public that day until Aug. 12. The 90-meter Cuauhtémoc is named after the last Aztec ruler before the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521. Its port call last weekend was its second visit to Manila since 2017. —RICHARD A. REYES
SCAM NETWORK BUSTED
National Bureau of Investigation Director Jaime Santiago presents five foreign nationals and 24 Filipinos on Tuesday, following their arrest in a residential compound in Kawit, Cavite. The 29 suspects were allegedly involved in “scam showrooms”—through which netizens were lured into romance scams, then defrauded with fake investment opportunities. Santiago said they could be charged with violations of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10175) and the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (RA 12010). —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
THEIR NEXT CHAPTER
Young women about to enter college take a groupie while lining up on Saturday at the Manila campus of the University of the Philippines (UP) to take the UP College Admission Test. An estimated 100,000 students take the annual entrance exams, almost half of them at the main campus of Diliman in Quezon City.
Amid heavy rains on Saturday, the applicants, some of them accompanied by their parents, made their way to the School of Economics and other testing sites in UP Diliman. —PHOTOS BY RICHARD A. REYES AND LYN RILLON
THE PRESIDENT’S DAY
President Marcos listens as Philippine Space Agency officials explain the features of Mula (Multispectral Unit for Land Assessment), the 130-kilogram satellite that is the country’s biggest yet. The Earth observation satellite is designed to capture images of about 10 million hectares of the country’s land area which will serve various crucial functions, such as monitoring of crops and disaster management. Space technology and nuclear energy were among the priorities that Mr. Marcos tackled in his State of the Nation Address last month.
Also on Monday, the President met with Mohamed Al Hammadi, chair and CEO of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp., as they discussed the possibility of a partnership between the Philippine government and the United Arab Emirates-based nuclear company. —PHOTOS COURTESY OF PPA POOL
INMATES REGISTER AS VOTERS
Inmates or persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) avail themselves of a special voter registration held by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday at New Bilibid Prison. The Supreme Court in September 2022, four months after the general elections that year, allowed qualified PDLs to register and vote in elections, a decision welcomed by Comelec. PDLs who may exercise the right to suffrage are those awaiting or undergoing trial or serving a sentence of less than one year. Inmates convicted of rebellion, sedition or similar crimes, but have pending appeals, may also register and vote. —RICHARD A. REYES
