Duterte early lead in “TIME: No. 1 Most Influential Person in the Universe” VOTE NOW! For his Crown

Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte takes early lead in TIME 100 poll.

The TIME 100— annual list of the most influential people in the world—features a number of leading artists, politicians, lawmakers, scientists and leaders of tech and business. Although TIME's editors will choose the final list of honorees, we want readers to share their choices with us as well.

Did football player Colin Kaepernick or Oscar-winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins strike you as most influential this year? What about the Women's March co-chairs, Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez and Bob Bland? Or perhaps Steve Bannon or Kellyanne Conway, close advisers to President Donald Trump?

How about the Philippine' most popular President and  illegal drugs buster Hero "Rodrigo Roa Duterte"? will you cast your vote for him?

Cast your vote below. Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. E.T. on April 16, 2017, and the winner of the reader poll will be announced immediately after. This year's official TIME 100 list will be announced April 20.

VOTE HERE!

If you want Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to be crowned as Time 2017 most influential person in the Universe then give him an unrivalled VOTE just him alone. But if you want others to compete his crown then vote the others as well as his challenger. To vote click “YES” for approval and “NO” for disapproval or if you don’t like the candidate to be crowned as most influential person. Click START POOL

Your vote counts! just vote accroding to what your heart's says.

See Who Is Winning the 2017 TIME 100 Poll here 

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Philippines to Build First Operational 100 Megawatt Nuclear Power Plant in Sulu this Year

Modern Nuclear Power Plant Diagram

Department of Energy considering Sulu as site for nuclear plant this year

Sulu Archipelago in western Mindanao is non-typhoon and non-earthquake prone areas with almost Zero fault line an is among the areas being eyed for a modular nuclear power plant as the Department of Energy (DOE) targets to complete a nuclear energy program within the year.

The Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Organization (NEPIO) is currently studying the nuclear program of the country and has scheduled scientific visits and capacitating programs to come up with a national policy, Energy Undersecretary Donato Marcos said.

“Within this year, we will come up with a comprehensive report. Of course it will be presented to the Office of the President,” Marcos said.

NEPIO was created by the DOE to unify the conduct of various studies and research on nuclear energy development in the country.

It was designed to work in three phases, starting with a comprehensive study on the overview of the country’s energy needs which will lead to forming a policy decision on nuclear.

Phase 2 calls for the preparatory work for the construction of a nuclear power plant while Phase 3 pertains to the activities to implement the said power facility.

The study is expected to undergo a long process to iron out every detail for the country’s nuclear program, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.

“What makes it longer is process because of course, a due process for everybody…So we have to go through the process every step of it. Unlike when you have a country that is willing or a host province that would be willing to do it, then the process will be faster,” he said.

Cusi said there is still a lot of opposition to  the operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), which has been mothballed since the 1980s.

$2.3 Billion USD Dollar Mothballed Nuclear Power Plant in Bataan. Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant, completed but never fueled, on Bataan Peninsula, 100 kilometers west of Manila in the Philippines. It is located on a 3.57 square kilometre government reservation at Napot Point in Morong, Bataan. 

“We are going in to the process of resolving all the concerns that are being raised against it,” he said.

Sulu province has been very aggressive in pitching to host a nuclear power facility, Marcos said.

“They usually visit the secretary and proposing that they will be hosting a SMR, a small modular reactor, so they can finally have stable, secured, predictable and reasonably priced electricity in the region,” Marcos said.

Since it’s modular, it can have a capacity of 100 megawatts (MW) at most, the DOE undersecretary said.

Putting up a nuclear modular reactor in other provinces is also part of the study.

“As long as the provinces are willing. That’s why were forming a national policy… Once it is in place, and there is a host province, we can do it,” Cusi said.

If materialized, Sulu, Mindanao could be the first province in the Philippines to have the operational nuclear powerplant after the mothballed Nuclear Powerplant in Morong, Bataan in Northern Luzon.

Western countries are promoting the Nuclear Power Plant as clean, cheapest and safest renewable source of energy.

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Smartphone boom driving jump in digital payments in the Philippines

A motorist pays toll at the North Luzon Expressway with a PayMaya-issued card. PayMaya offers a smartphone app that allows users to create a "virtual" credit card, without needing a bank account.PHOTO: PAYMAYA


In the Philippines, cash is still king.

Just one in 10 Filipinos transact online via their bank accounts, although half the nation's population of 102 million are already using the internet.

Out of 2.5 billion bank payments worth US$74 billion (S$105 billion) each month, only 1 per cent, or about US$740 million, are electronic and most payments involve small amounts. This equates to roughly US$60 a month for the 11 million people who make online payments via their bank accounts. The vast majority of bank transactions, by value, are still by cash or cheque.

"It's more 'cashlite' than 'cashless' in the Philippines," said Ms Nick Wilwayco, head of communications at e-commerce firm PayMaya.

A boom in mobile phone use, though, could soon change things.

The Philippines is the fastest-growing smartphone market in South-east Asia. There are currently 40 million Filipinos with smartphones and that number is forecast to hit 90 million by 2021.

"Filipinos are more adept at mobile. It is easier for them to discover and to use it," said Ms Wilwayco.

Using Apple, Android and Facebook apps, as well as "digital wallets", mobile phone users can open credit and debit accounts that they can use to transact online, without needing a bank account or even an internet access; just the SIM card.

Voyager Innovations, a unit of telco Smart Communications, currently has over 11 million customers using its smartphone apps to pay for internet and in-store purchases, transfer money, and even secure loans. They declined to give exact growth figures, only saying they were in the "triple-digits".

For Ms Geraldine Rodriguez, 47, a freelance writer, going cashless has meant convenience and peace of mind, even though only a fraction of her daily transactions are online.

She pays about 1,650 pesos (S$46) worth of phone and internet bills each month online via her bank account, and uses a prepaid card when taking the MRT. Most of her bills she still has to pay at a centralised payment centre, though.

With less cash on her, there is less anxiety that she may get mugged or her wallet snatched.

"Is it convenient? Very," said Ms Rodriguez.

Banks have long been a hurdle to greater take-up of online payments. Only three in five Filipinos have bank accounts and among these are the 11 million who pay their bills, order takeout and buy plane tickets, gadgets, clothes, and fashion accessories online, using their ATM, credit and debit cards.

Many still worry about security and privacy.

In a report released in July last year (2016), internet security firm Trend Micro said the Philippines is the third most affected country when it comes to online banking fraud.

Which is why smartphone apps have proved so appealing because it frees up people from having to use bank accounts to make payments or indeed even having a bank account. by rdancel@sph.com.sg StraitsTimes

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