PHILIPPINE PESO EXCHANGE RATES TABLE

Top 10Mar 15, 2023 01:00 UTC

Philippine Peso 1.00 PHP inv. 1.00 PHP
US Dollar 0.018175 55.019386
Euro 0.016932 59.060478
British Pound 0.014953 66.874970
Indian Rupee 1.495778 0.668548
Australian Dollar 0.027216 36.743032
Canadian Dollar 0.024886 40.183192
Singapore Dollar 0.024458 40.886694
Swiss Franc 0.016618 60.174212
Malaysian Ringgit 0.081431 12.280381
Japanese Yen 2.443862 0.409188
Alphabetical orderMar 15, 2023 01:00 UTC
Philippine Peso▲ 1.00 PHP▲▼ inv. 1.00 PHP▲▼
Argentine Peso 3.673266 0.272237
Australian Dollar 0.027216 36.743032
Bahraini Dinar 0.006834 146.328155
Botswana Pula 0.240068 4.165480
Brazilian Real 0.095490 10.472250
British Pound 0.014953 66.874970
Bruneian Dollar 0.024458 40.886694
Bulgarian Lev 0.033116 30.197143
Canadian Dollar 0.024886 40.183192
Chilean Peso 14.585346 0.068562
Chinese Yuan Renminbi 0.124883 8.007474
Colombian Peso 86.078353 0.011617
Czech Koruna 0.402539 2.484234
Danish Krone 0.126069 7.932163
Emirati Dirham 0.066749 14.981453
Euro 0.016932 59.060478
Hong Kong Dollar 0.142657 7.009830
Hungarian Forint 6.594182 0.151649
Icelandic Krona 2.544991 0.392929
Indian Rupee 1.495778 0.668548
Indonesian Rupiah 279.354106 0.003580
Iranian Rial 769.002148 0.001300
Israeli Shekel 0.065878 15.179607
Japanese Yen 2.443862 0.409188
Kazakhstani Tenge 8.388624 0.119209
Kuwaiti Dinar 0.005576 179.350258
Libyan Dinar 0.087420 11.438974
Malaysian Ringgit 0.081431 12.280381
Mauritian Rupee 0.856433 1.167633
Philippine Peso▲ 1.00 PHP▲▼ inv. 1.00 PHP▲▼
Mexican Peso 0.338383 2.955231
Nepalese Rupee 2.394366 0.417647
New Zealand Dollar 0.029181 34.269260
Norwegian Krone 0.191697 5.216560
Omani Rial 0.006997 142.912668
Pakistani Rupee 5.073772 0.197092
Polish Zloty 0.079674 12.551104
Qatari Riyal 0.066158 15.115216
Romanian New Leu 0.083328 12.000724
Russian Ruble 1.376645 0.726404
Saudi Arabian Riyal 0.068158 14.671836
Singapore Dollar 0.024458 40.886694
South African Rand 0.329680 3.033249
South Korean Won 23.722876 0.042153
Sri Lankan Rupee 6.150509 0.162588
Swedish Krona 0.190291 5.255101
Swiss Franc 0.016618 60.174212
Taiwan New Dollar 0.553167 1.807774
Thai Baht 0.627462 1.593722
Trinidadian Dollar 0.123161 8.119436
Turkish Lira 0.345138 2.897392
US Dollar 0.018175 55.019386
Venezuelan Bolivar 43735.735996 0.000023
 POLITICS
The six-year term of President Rodrigo Duterte, which ended on June
30, was defined by the politics of threats and intimidation, thousands
of extrajudicial killings of mostly impoverished Filipinos from urban
areas, and serious damage to the country’s democratic institutions.
Since the inauguration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as president, the
human rights situation has hardly changed.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human

Rights (OHCHR), in a September report that assessed the progress of
the Philippines-UN Joint Program on Human Rights, which began in
June 2021, laid out major human rights problems facing the country.
Among these are the continued “harassment, threats, arrests, attacks,
red-tagging against civil society actors, as well as the continued drug
related killings by police.” The report also noted that “access to justice
for victims of human rights violations and abuses remained very
limited.”

President Marcos has sought to reassure the international community

that he is committed to human rights. His officials, speaking before
the United Nations Human Rights Council in October, highlighted
several steps that they intended to take, while asserting that the
human rights situation in the Philippines has improved. Human rights
and civil society groups, however, debunked these claims with reports
to the council of continuing human rights violations.

“Drug War” Killings

Soon after taking office on June 30, President Marcos stated he would
continue the “war against drugs” initiated by his predecessor. While
Marcos claimed his administration would do a “slightly different” anti-
drug campaign by focusing on the rehabilitation of drug users, the
unlawful use of force by the police and government agents continued.
Monitoring by Dahas, a program run by the Third World Studies
Center of the University of the Philippines, found that at least 90
people had been killed in what the center termed “drug-related
violence” in the period since Marcos’ inauguration and September 30.

The government reported that members of the Philippine National

Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency killed 6,252
individuals during anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016, to May 31,
2022. After Marcos took office, the government stopped releasing
these statistics. The official death toll does not include those killed
by unidentified gunmen whom Human Rights Watch and other rights
monitors have credible evidence to believe operate in cooperation with
local police and officials. The OHCHR calculated in a 2020 report that
the death toll was at least 8,663. Domestic human rights groups and
the government appointed Philippines Commission on Human Rights
state that the real figure of “drug war” killings is possibly triple the
number reported in the OHCHR report.

The authorities have seriously investigated very few “drug war”

killings. Only a handful of cases—12 out of thousands—are in varying
stages of investigation by police or active review by prosecutors. To
date, there is only one case, the video-recorded murder of 17-year-old
student Kian delos Santos in August 2017, which resulted in the
conviction of police officers.

“Red-Tagging” and Harassment of Activists

Government and military officials accused civil society groups of being
supporters of communist New People’s Army (NPA) insurgents, who
have been waging a 53-year armed conflict across the Philippines.
Such accusations made without evidence are part of what is commonly
known in the Philippines as “red-tagging,” which put the accused at
heightened risk of attack by the security forces or unidentified
gunmen. The military, police, and other national security forces
have actively used social media to convey “red tagging” threats, and in
several cases, those red-tagged persons were subsequently killed by
unknown gunmen.

The government’s National Task Force to End Local Communist

Armed Conflict, which works closely with the military, police, and the
president’s office, accused numerous political activists of being
members of the Communist Party or the NPA. Among those red-
tagged by the task force is former Vice President Leni Robredo, who
lost to Marcos in the recent presidential election. The task force has
also red-tagged journalists, book publishers,
and international nongovernmental groups (NGOs), including Oxfam.

In September, Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar, a judge of the Manila

Regional Trial Court who had dismissed a case that sought to declare
as “terrorist groups” the Communist Party of the Philippines and its
armed wing, became a target of red-tagging, prompting lawyers’
groups and even the Supreme Court to intervene. The court
specifically demanded an explanation from former National Task
Force spokesperson Lorraine Badoy why she should not be held in
contempt.

Leaders and lawyers of peasant organizations and human rights

groups who were red-tagged have been physically harmed by
government security forces and vigilantes; several have been killed.
Others were harassed, such as a group of nuns and peasant women
who were charged with aiding “terrorist activities.” In June, Clarita
Carlos, the new chairperson of the National Security Council, publicly
said that she did not favor red-tagging. Despite this declaration, the
practice continued.

Attacks against Journalists

On October 3, unidentified gunmen fatally shot Percival Mabasa, a
radio commentator in Las Pinas, a city in Metro Manila. Popularly
known on-air and online as Percy Lapid, he was the second journalist
killed since President Marcos took office. On September 18, a man
stabbed radio broadcaster Renato Blanco to death in Negros Oriental
in the central Philippines. Two other journalists were murdered in
2022, according to UNESCO. Federico Gempesaw, a radio
commentator, was shot dead on June 29 in Cagayan de Oro City, while
Jaynard Angeles, also a radio journalist, was killed on January 12 in
Tacurong City, in the southern Philippines.

Apart from these killings, the harassment of journalists also persisted

in the past year. In July, the government sought to silence journalists
critical of the administration by shutting down websites Bulatlat and
Pinoy Weekly, two alternative press publications. The National
Security Council sought to close these two outlets because of alleged
links to communist insurgency, a charge the editors and journalists
denied.
MANILA, Philippines — The world yesterday marked International Women’s Day with
the theme, “We for Gender Equality and Inclusive Society,” for this year until 2028.

Among those who celebrated the social, economic, cultural and political achievements
of women were Vice President Sara Duterte and Carmelita Talusan of the Bureau of
Customs at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

President Marcos honored Filipinol, women including First Lady Liza Marcos and
Duterte, in observance of International Women’s Day. ?“We salute Filipino women who
continue to demonstrate strength and determination in their homes, work and
community,” Marcos said in Filipino in a post on Twitter.?Marcos’ post was
accompanied by photos of the First Lady, Duterte, Budget Secretary Amenah
Pangandaman, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco, Presidential Communications
Secretary Cheloy Garafil, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, Migrant
Workers Secretary Susan Ople and Department of Health officer-in-charge Maria
Rosario Vergeire.

In a speech delivered during the celebration in Taguig, Duterte said the pursuit of
gender equality should not be seen solely as a women’s issue.

She said Filipino men are encouraged and have been advocating for gender equality
too.

“By helping women access economic opportunities, for example, we empower them to
be financially independent, improve the standard of living of their families and are better
able to ensure the good health and education of their children,” Duterte said.

“It is my hope that by working hand in hand in this pursuit, we can provide more digital
opportunities for socio-economic growth and gender empowerment, and enable women
to rise above any form of online violence affecting their mental and physical well-being,”
she added.

Meanwhile, Talusan said the observance of International Women’s Day does not only
address the challenges in achieving gender equality, but also recognizes and celebrates
the contributions and achievements of all women.

“On this day, I would like to honor all women at the port of NAIA for their dedication and
commitment in serving the country as well as for upholding the bureau’s core mandates
of revenue collection, trade facilitation and border protection,” Talusan said during a
speech delivered at the Customs house. “Together, let us remain stronger, united and
committed towards achieving our goals.”

Duterte underscored the need to stand together for inclusive development and remain
at the forefront of social transformation for the benefit of women, children, youth and
other vulnerable groups.

As education secretary, she highlighted the importance of advocating an inclusive digital

education that would provide opportunities for women to overcome inequality.

As this developed, women’s group Women Workers United reported a dramatic

increase in the cases of violence against women in the country, saying the situation is
expected to further worsen amid rising inflation.

The group said that every 20 minutes, a woman becomes a victim of rape or other
forms of violence.

It said women comprised the most number of unemployed people in the country and are
forced to take informal and precarious work.

Meanwhile, the Nagkaisa Women’s Committee said that inflation affects women more
than men as well as widens the gender gap and inequality.

“Women workers who are concentrated in informal, precarious and underpaid jobs
without security and social protection have to grapple with the impacts of inflation and
the pandemic,” Jillian Roque, chief of the Public Services Labor Independent
Confederation, said.

“As inflation continues to erode purchasing power, women are forced to make sacrifices
for their families by starving themselves and skipping meals, or cutting back essential
items and services, including health care,” Roque said.

To mark International Women’s Day, labor groups yesterday took to the streets and
dialogued with the Department of Labor and Employment.

The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) said women continue to struggle in the
workplace

as the female union density rates remain low at 2.7 percent.

The FFW said that women’s employment in contractual work and odd jobs in the
informal sector are significant barriers to their unionization.

The labor department reminded employers nationwide to ensure gender equality in the
workplace.

In an advisory issued in support of International Women’s Month 2023, Labor Secretary

Bienvenido Laguesma said employers must uphold the principles of equal pay for equal
work as well as equal employment opportunities for women. – Helen Flores Mayen