MANILA: Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to primary and secondary schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children.
Officials grappled with daunting problems, including classroom shortages, lingering COVID-19 fears, an approaching storm and quake-damaged school buildings in the country’s north, to welcome back many of more than 27 million students who enrolled for the school year.
Only more than 24,000 of the nation’s public schools, or about 46 percent, would be able to open in-person classes five times a week starting Monday, while the rest would still resort to a mix of in-person and online classes until Nov. 2, when all public and private schools are required to bring all students back to classrooms, education officials said.
About 1,000 schools will be unable to shift to face-to-face classes entirely during the transition period ending on Nov. 2 for various reasons, including damages to school building wrought by a powerful earthquake last month in the north, officials said.
The Department of Education said some schools would have to split classes up to three shifts a day due to classroom shortages, a longstanding problem, and to avoid overcrowding that could turn schools into new epicenters of coronavirus outbreaks.
“We always say that our goal is maximum of two shifts only but there will be areas that would have to resort to three shifts because they’re really overcrowded,” Education Department spokesperson Michael Poa said Friday at a news conference. Despite many concerns, education officials gave assurances that it’s “all-systems go” for Monday’s resumption of classes, he said.
Sen. Joel Villanueva, however, said such assurances have to be matched by real improvements on the ground.
“The era of missing classrooms, sharing tables and chairs and holding classes under the shade of trees must no longer happen,” said Villanueva, who filed two bills calling for additional grocery, transportation and medical allowances for public school teachers.
Among the worst-hit by the pandemic in Southeast Asia, the Philippines under then-President Rodrigo Duterte enforced one of the world’s longest coronavirus lockdowns and school closures. Duterte, whose six-year term ended June 30, had turned down calls for reopening in-person classes due to fears it might ignite new outbreaks.
The prolonged school closures sparked fears that literacy rates among Filipino children — which were already at alarming levels before the pandemic — could worsen.
A World Bank study last year showed that about nine of 10 children in the Philippines were suffering from ” learning poverty,” or the inability of children by age 10 to read and understand a simple story.
“Prolonged school closures, poor health risk mitigation, and household-income shocks had the biggest impact on learning poverty, resulting in many children in the Philippines failing to read and understand a simple text by age 10,” UNICEF Philippines said in a statement.
“Vulnerable children such as children with disabilities, children living in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, and children living in disaster and conflict zones fare far worse,” the United Nations agency for children said.
Poa said 325 temporary “learning spaces” were being constructed in northern Abra province and outlying regions to replace school buildings battered by a powerful July 27 quake.
Education officials also scrambled to help more than 28,000 students look for new schools after at least 425 private schools closed permanently since the pandemic’s arrival in 2020, mainly due to financial losses. About 10,000 of the students have been enrolled in public schools, according to Poa.
Poverty has also been a key hindrance to education. Crowds mobbed the Department of Social Welfare and Development offices Saturday to claim cash aid for indigent students, injuring at least 26 people who were pinned in entrance gates and prompting its top official to go on TV to appeal for order.
Millions return to Philippine schools after COVID-19 lockdowns
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Millions return to Philippine schools after COVID-19 lockdowns
- Only more than 24,000 of the nation’s public schools would be able to open in-person classes five times a week starting Monday
- About 1,000 schools will be unable to shift to face-to-face classes entirely during the transition period ending on Nov. 2 for various reasons
Myanmar military, minority armed group agree ceasefire, China says
- The two sides held talks in China’s southwestern city of Kunming
- Analysts say China is worried about the advance of anti-junta forces
The two sides held talks in China’s southwestern city of Kunming where they thanked Beijing for its efforts to promote peace, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a regular news briefing on Monday.
“Cooling down the situation in the north of Myanmar is in the common interest of all parties in Myanmar and all countries in the region, and contributes to the security, stability and development of the border areas between China and Myanmar,” she said.
China will continue to actively promote peace and dialogue and provide support and assistance to the peace process in northern Myanmar, Mao said.
The MNDAA is one of several ethnic minority armed groups fighting to repel the military from what they consider their territories.
It is part of the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance, with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army, that launched an offensive against the military junta in late October 2023 seizing swathes of territory near the border with China.
The MNDAA, made up of ethnic Chinese, said last July it had taken control of a major military base near the Chinese border.
Analysts say China is worried about the advance of anti-junta forces which have pushed the military out of vital borderlands and started making inroads toward the central city of Mandalay.
The military seized power from Myanmar’s civilian government in February 2021, plunging the country into crisis.
China fears chaos along its more than 2,000 kilometer long border with Myanmar would jeopardize investment and trade.
Beijing previously brokered a ceasefire deal in the northern borderlands in January 2024, but the deal broke down a few months later.
France to keep fighting for release of French-Israeli hostages, says foreign minister
PARIS: France will keep fighting to obtain the release of the two French-Israeli nationals held by Hamas, foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot told BFM TV on Monday.
“We will continue to fight until the last hour for their release,” Barrot told BFM TV, adding France had “no news on their health status nor on the terms of their detention.”
Hamas released three Israeli hostages and Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, on the first day of a ceasefire suspending a 15-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East.
French-Israeli nationals Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are expected to be on the list of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the draft Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.
South Korea’s Yoon shuns questioning as security tightened after court rampage
- Security being beefed up at the Seoul Detention Center where Yoon Suk Yeol is being held as a pre-trial inmate
- Constitutional Court is holding an impeachment trial to decide whether to permanently remove him from office
SEOUL: South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol refused on Monday to be questioned by investigators under a probe into whether he committed insurrection, as dozens of his supporters faced arrest over a violent rampage on a court building.
Authorities said security was being beefed up at the Seoul Detention Center where Yoon is being held as a pre-trial inmate and at the Constitutional Court which is holding an impeachment trial to decide whether to permanently remove him from office.
Yoon became the first incumbent South Korean president to be arrested last week over his short-lived declaration of martial law on Dec. 3.
On Sunday, he was formally processed for detention, including having his mugshot taken, after a court approved a warrant, citing concern the suspect could destroy evidence.
Following the midnight ruling, angry Yoon supporters stormed the Seoul Western District Court building early on Sunday destroying property and clashing with police who were at times overpowered by a mob wielding broken barricades to attack them.
Police are planning to arrest 66 people for trespass, obstruction of official duty and assaulting police officers, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Other offenders were still being identified and police will also take legal action against them, acting Justice Minister Kim Seok-woo told a parliament judiciary committee.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok expressed deep regret over the “illegal violence” at the court building and also urged police to enforce the law strictly to prevent a repeat of what happened on Sunday.
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Hundreds of protesters, some blasting fire extinguishers at lines of police, broke through a cordon to enter the court building soon after the 3 a.m. ruling on Sunday to approve the detention of Yoon.
Some of them were seen in video footage roaming halls where the offices of judges were located calling out the name of the judge who approved the warrant.
At least one judge’s chamber was broken into by force, Chun Dae-yup, the head of the National Court Administration, said.
Several of those involved livestreamed the intrusion on YouTube, with footage showing protesters trashing the court and chanting Yoon’s name. Some streamers were caught by police during their broadcasts.
Yoon’s refusal to appear for questioning on Monday at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is leading the criminal probe, comes after he has repeatedly refused to cooperate with the investigation.
His lawyers have argued that his arrest on Wednesday and the warrant issued for his detention are illegal because they were backed by a court that is in the wrong jurisdiction and the CIO itself has no legal authority to conduct the probe.
Insurrection, the crime that Yoon may be charged with, is one of the few that a South Korean president does not have immunity from and is technically punishable by death. South Korea, however, has not executed anyone in nearly 30 years.
Yoon said through his lawyers that he found Sunday’s rampage at the court “shocking and unfortunate,” calling on people to express their opinions peacefully.
In the statement, Yoon also said he understood many were feeling “rage and unfairness,” asking police to take a tolerant position.
Trump returning to power after unprecedented comeback, emboldened to reshape American institutions
- Business tycoon Trump overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and a pair of assassination attempts to win another term in the White House
- Trump to jumpstart deportations, increase fossil fuel development and reduce civil service protections for government workers after inauguration
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump, who overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and a pair of assassination attempts to win another term in the White House, will be sworn in as the 47th president on Monday, taking charge as Republicans assume unified control of Washington and set out to reshape the country’s institutions.
Trump is expected to act swiftly after the ceremony, with executive orders already prepared for his signature to jumpstart deportations, increase fossil fuel development and reduce civil service protections for government workers, promising that his term will bring about “a brand new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride.”
Frigid weather is rewriting the pageantry of the day. Trump’s swearing-in was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda — the first time that has happened in 40 years — and the inaugural parade was replaced by an event at a downtown arena. Throngs of Trump supporters who descended on the city to watch the inaugural ceremony on the West Front of the Capitol from the National Mall will be left to find somewhere else to view the festivities.
“God has a plan,” said Terry Barber, 46, who drove nonstop from near Augusta, Georgia, to reach Washington. “I’m good with it.”
When Trump takes the oath of office at noon, he will realize a political comeback without precedent in American history. Four years ago, he was voted out of the White House during an economic collapse caused by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Trump denied his defeat and tried to cling to power. He directed his supporters to march on the Capitol while lawmakers were certifying the election results, sparking a riot that interrupted the country’s tradition of the peaceful transfer of power.
But Trump never lost his grip on the Republican Party, and was undeterred by criminal cases and two assassination attempts as he steamrolled rivals and harnessed voters’ exasperation with inflation and illegal immigration.
Now Trump will be the first person convicted of a felony — for falsifying business records related to hush money payments — to serve as president. He will pledge to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution from the same spot that was overrun by his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. He’s said that one of his first acts in office will be to pardon many of those who participated in the riot.
Eight years after he first entered the White House as a political newcomer, Trump is far more familiar with the operations of federal government and emboldened to bend it to his vision.
He has promised retribution against his political opponents and critics, and placed personal loyalty as a prime qualification for appointments to his administration.
He has pledged to go further and move faster in enacting his agenda than during his first term, and already the country’s political, business and technology leaders have realigned themselves to accommodate Trump. Democrats who once formed a “resistance” are now divided over whether to work with Trump or defy him. Billionaires have lined up to meet with Trump as they acknowledge his unrivaled power in Washington and ability to wield the levers of government to help or hurt their interests.
Trump has pledged to bring quick change to the country by curtailing immigration, enacting tariffs on imports and rolling back Democrats’ climate and social initiatives.
Long skeptical of American alliances, his “America First” foreign policy is being watched warily at home and abroad as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will soon enter its third year and a fragile ceasefire appears to be holding in Gaza after more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
Trump, who spent Saturday and Sunday night at Blair House across from the White House, will begin Monday with a prayer service at St. John’s Episcopal Church. Then he and his wife Melania will be greeted at the executive mansion by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden for the customary tea. It’s a stark departure from four years ago, when Trump refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory or attend his inauguration.
The two men and their spouses will head to the Capitol in a joint motorcade ahead of the swearing-in.
Vice President-elect JD Vance will be sworn-in first, taking the oath read by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on a bible given to him by his great-grandmother. Trump will follow, using both a family bible and the one used by President Abraham Lincoln at his 1861 inauguration as Chief Justice John Roberts administers his oath.
The inaugural festivities began Saturday, when Trump arrived in Washington on a government jet and viewed fireworks at his private golf club in suburban Virginia. On Sunday, he laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery and rallied his supporters at Washington’s downtown Capital One Arena.
A cadre of billionaires and tech titans who have sought to curry favor with Trump and have donated handsomely to his inaugural festivities, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, will be in attendance.
Also present will be the head of TikTok, the popular Chinese-owned social media app deemed a national security risk by the US Trump has promised to lift an effective ban on TikTok through one of many executive orders expected to be issued on Monday as the new president attempts to show quick progress.
At his Sunday rally, Trump teased dozens of coming executive actions, promising that “by the time the sun sets” on Monday he will have signed executive orders involving border security and immigration policy, including a revival of Trump’s first-term effort to shut down access to many new entries under what’s called Title 42 emergency provisions.
Others orders are expected to allow more oil and gas drilling by rolling back Biden-era policies on domestic energy production and rescind Biden’s recent directive on artificial intelligence.
More changes are planned for the federal workforce. Trump wants to unwind diversity, equity and inclusion programs known as DEI, require employees to come back to the office and lay the groundwork to reduce staff.
“Expect shock and awe,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
“What I’ve been urging the president, and my colleagues, to do is stay laser-focused on delivering on our promises,” Cruz said. “And that’s what I expect that we’re going to do.”
With control of Congress, Republicans are also working alongside the incoming Trump administration on legislation that will further roll back Biden administration policies and institute their own priorities.
“The president is going to come in with a flurry of executive orders,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana “And we are going to be working alongside the administration and in tandem.”
Australia foreign minister says Quad in Washington shows ‘iron-clad’ commitment
- The grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the US was formed amid shared concerns about China’s growing power
- Australia's FM is expected to discuss the AUKUS defense technology partnership with the US and Britain
SYDNEY: Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met her Indian and Japanese counterparts in Washington and said the invitation for Quad foreign ministers to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration showed an “iron-clad commitment” to close cooperation in the Indo Pacific region.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio appears on track for confirmation as Trump’s secretary of state on Monday, clearing the way for a meeting of Quad foreign ministers the following day, people familiar with the matter previously said.
The grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the US was formed amid shared concerns about China’s growing power.
“It’s a demonstration of the collective commitment of all countries to the Quad, an iron-clad commitment in this time where close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is so important,” Wong said on Sunday of the foreign ministers’ invitation to Washington.
Wong said she would also meet Rubio and other members of the Trump administration, adding the US alliance was critical to Australia’s defense and economic prosperity. Wong is expected to discuss the AUKUS defense technology partnership with the US and Britain, a decades-long plan to sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
She told reporters in Washington that Australia was “on a pathway of increasing defense expenditure.”
“Our focus is very much on how do we continue to deliver on AUKUS, because we do believe that capability is so important for deterrence, which is the way in which you can secure peace,” she said.
Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a radio interview on Monday that AUKUS would see Australia make a significant funding contribution to the American industrial base to speed up US production rates of Virginia class submarines. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham, Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
