BREAKING: Facebook DOWN as thousands panic across the globe

THOUSANDS of Facebook users are unable to access the social network across the UK and US.

Thousands of Facebook users appear unable to load the social network on desktop computers or mobile phones.

Most users reported a "total blackout", meaning the site would not load, or that they were unable to log in to their accounts.

They are left with an error message.

The outage has left users unable to share links or post articles.

Independent website Down Detector, which measures social mentions around a certain topic to track outages across the globe, shows some users reporting issues.

Parts of the UK and the US are having issues.

One Facebook fan posted a message online saying they'd been faced with a message that reads: "Facebook will be back soon."

"Thanks for your patience as we improve the site."

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LRT Line 1 North Extension

The LRT Line 1 North Extension Project (Closing the Loop) involves the construction of a 5.71 km elevated line fromMonumento Station of Line 1 to North Avenue Station of Line 3. The scope of works include: (1) Civil and Architectural Works, including construction of 3 new stations (Balintawak, Roosevelt and North) as well as improvements in Monumento Station, modification of pedestrian overpasses and the provision and installation of all the required elevators and escalators thereat, (2) Electro‐Mechanical Works (except rolling stock) shall have parameters which are the same as that of CAPEX II‐ A.

The Project is divided into the following construction packages, namely:
1.  Package A: Construction of Viaduct and Pedestrian Overpasses
Package A1 – Construction of Viaduct from Caloocan to Balintawak Area, Pedestrian Overpass and Walkways
Package A2 ‐ Construction of viaduct from Balintawak to Trinoma Area
2.  Package B: Construction of Stations and Station Modifications
3.  Package C: Electro‐Mechanicals Works
EMS – 1:  Signalling
EMS – 2:  Telecommunications
EMS – 3:  Automated Fare Collection System
EMS – 4:  Trackworks

The estimated project cost is P6,322.85 Million with a project duration starting from May 2007 and the two stations operational in 2010. The construction of Common Station in SM North is targeted to commence in the 2nd quarter of 2011 and will be completed by 2nd quarter of 2012. The North Extension Project is financed from domestic funds through appropriations from the General Fund as well as proceeds from the flotation of the National Development Company (NDC) Bonds.

In December 2009, LRT Line 1 was already physically connected with MRT 3 thus closing the loop between LRT 1 and MRT 3 systems.

Commercial operation of Balintawak and Roosevelt Stations to the revenue operation of Line 1 in 2010.

The last phase of this project is to build a Common Station that will connect the Line 1 and MRT Line 3, and in the future with Line 7 as well.

Construction of the common station had been put on hold due to legal issues.

The cancellation and deferment of the project was contributed to the arrest and detention of former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from a controversy, the impeachment trial, conviction, removal and death of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona and outgoing plunder trial case of former senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla, Jr. and the arrest warrant against Senator Leila de Lima for allegedly violating the drug trafficking law.

Even if the physical infrastructure connecting the two rail systems are in place and successfully tested, commuters have to go down at the Roosevelt station of LRT-1 and walk over or take a tricycle or jeepney for the one kilometer distance to the Trinoma terminal of MRT-3.

SM Prime Holdings had earlier given the Light Rail Transit Authority P200 million for “naming rights” over the station.

But Trinoma, of Ayala Land, is already enjoying the actual naming rights in the public mind of the MRT terminal. Ayala also raised some issues over how the common station was to be organized.

On July 30, 2014, the SMPHI obtained a TRO from the high court to prevent the then Department of Transportation and Communications from transferring the common station near Trinoma.

The Supreme Court has extended the restraining order it issued against the relocation of the common station.

DOTC and LRTA’s petition to lift the TRO was denied

The TRO enjoined the LRTA and DOTC from proceeding with the transfer of the common station in front of SM City North EDSA to a new site in front of the Trinoma mall.

Based on the decision, the court cannot turn a blind eye to the serious implications of a change in the location of the common station.

It must undergo the legal process if the DOTC wants to start the construction of the common station to its new location for the sake of the riding public.

The SC also deferred action on SM Prime Holdings Inc.’s petition for injunction in Pasay Regional Trial Court.

The SMPHI had entered into an agreement with the LRTA on September 28, 2009 to put up the common station in front of SM City North EDSA.

Compromise talks were initiated by Abaya, but a resolution was never reached until President Aquino III stepped down last June 30. At one point, Abaya had suggested building two common stations—one each to be located near SM North Edsa and Trinoma—to urge SM to withdraw its lawsuit.

The two-station plan was eventually abandoned and deferred as private sector stakeholders said it would inconvenience commuters.

SM to open mall in Tuguegarao on October 12

SM Center Tuguegarao Downtown will be SM's 2nd mall in the Cagayan Valley region

SM Prime Holdings Incorporated, the country's largest mall operator, will open SM Center Tuguegarao Downtown on Thursday, October 12. This will be its 65th mall in the Philippines.

SM Prime told the local bourse on Tuesday, October 10, that its newest mall will provide an additional 37,000 square meters (sqm) in gross floor area (GFA) to its portfolio, bringing its total GFA to 8 million sqm in the Philippines.

SM said its new mall in Tuguegarao is strategically located at the corner of Luna and Mabini streets, which are main thoroughfares in the major urban city in the north. (READ: FAST FACTS: SM Investments Corporation)

SM Center Tuguegarao Downtown is set to open with 90% of its space lease-awarded. Stores include SM Hypermarket, ACE Hardware, Surplus, Watsons, Miniso, Simply Shoes, and BDO Unibank.

"The opening of SM Center Tuguegarao Downtown will provide SM Prime a sturdier foothold in the northeastern part of the Philippines, along with our other mall in the region, SM City Cauayan in Isabela," SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said in the disclosure.

"We are very excited [for] how this new mall will give a unique shopping experience to this urbanized city in northern Luzon and how it will contribute further to the development of [Cagayan]," Lim added.

In 2017 alone, SM Prime has launched malls in Puerto Princesa in Palawan, Cagayan de Oro, Pasay City, and Antipolo in Rizal. (READ: Doing business under Duterte? Philippines' richest family shows how)

Mall operations remained the top contributor to the net income of SM Prime, which increased by 15% to P7.79 billion during the 2nd quarter of the year.

This brought the bottomline of the country's leading integrated property developer to P14.39 billion in the 1st half of 2017, 14% higher from P12.59 billion in the same period last year.

The SM group aims to have developed 10.96 million sqm of shopping malls; 139,000 residential units; 2,500 leisure homes; 460,000 sqm of leasable space; and 2,187 hotel rooms by 2018.

Duterte forms committee to organize papal visit and world youth day

The national committee is tasked with ensuring the smooth visit of Pope Francis in January 2018

About 3 months before the expected visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte formed a national organizing committee to ensure the smooth flow of his visit for the world youth day.

In a memorandum released Friday, October 3, Duterte called for the creation of the Papal Visit and World Youth Day 2018-National Organizing Committee (PVWYD-NOC) to coordinate preparations. The Committee is chaired by Executive Secretary Salvador Meldidea and vice-chaired by Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano.

Other members include:

• Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana
• Interior and Local Government Secretary Catalino Cuy (OIC)
• Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar
• Health Secretary Herminigildo Valle
• Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade
• Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo
• Presidential Communications Operations Office
• Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eduardo Año
• Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Danny Lim

On Wednesday, Duterte also announced that the Filipino peacekeepers, who successfully escaped a standoff with Syrian rebels in the Golan Heights, have been tasked to secure the Pope.

“As instructed by President Duterte, all heads of the different government departments, local governments as well as the private sectors are encouraged to participate and coordinate all efforts to make sure that the visit of His Holiness in our country next year will be well organized and peaceful,” Meldidea said in a statement.

Among the duties of the committee are ensuring cooperation between public and private sectors, particularly with the central committee of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP); peace and order; and traffic management.

The memorandum, effective immediately, also established two local executive committees – one in Manila and another in Leyte and Marawi – where the Pope is expected to visit. The local committees will “serve as the on-site full-time, day-to-day operations arms of the PVWYD-NOC,” said the statement.

Pope Francis will be making a stop in Leyte and Marawi to visit disaster-hit victims. His visit comes three years and eleven months after Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) killed more than 6,000 people, mostly in Tacloban City in Eastern Visayas and five months after Marawi siege killed 974 militants, 12 militants captured, 168 government forces killed (12 by friendly fire), 1,400+ government forces wounded and 87 civilians dead.

This will mark the first time in three years – only the third time ever – for a pope to go beyond the Philippine capital, Manila, as the first Latin American pontiff vows to reach out to the world's “peripheries.”

The Pope is expected to visit the Philippines on January 17 to 22, 2018. His trip will be the second by a Pope since Pope John Paul II's visit in 1995 and himself in 2015.

Committee approves bill promoting urban agriculture

The House special committee on food security chaired by Rep. Leo Rafael Cueva (2ndDistrict, Negros Occidental) on Tuesday approved a substitute bill seeking to promote integrated urban agricultural development in all metropolitan areas nationwide to address food security concerns.

The unnumbered bill titled “Integrated Urban Agriculture Act” substituted House Bills 2818, 4337, 4354 and 4422 authored by Reps. Estrellita Suansing (1st District, Nueva Ecija), Orestes Salon (Party-list, Agri), Michael Romero Ph.D. (Party-list, PBA), and Harlin Neil Abayon III (Party-list, Aangat Tayo), respectively.

Suansing said the bill seeks to institutionalize integrated urban farming in the highly urbanized cities and municipalities nationwide. This in turn will help address food security concerns and regenerate ecosystem functions.

Suansing, chairperson of the committee on ecology, said world population has been projected to double in 50 years. Relatedly, studies have shown that new land will be needed to grow enough food for everyone, she said.

“Urban agriculture and vertical farming will not only clean our environment and further avoid climate change, but also provide residents with safer, healthier food, at the same time keep farmers in business. Furthermore, urban agriculture and vertical farming will help reduce poverty,” said Suansing.

Salon said that while the Philippines was hailed as one of the fastest growing economies in Asia for gaining 6.9 percent domestic growth product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2016, there is undeniable food shortage in the country as shown by its dismal ranking of 74th among 109 countries studied in the 2015 Global Food Security Index.

“Urban agriculture is a food-producing activity that is community-based and would definitely help an urban area in its quest for sustainable development,” said Salon.

The bill declares it is the policy of the State to reaffirm the fundamental right of every person to adequate food and be free from hunger. As such, the achievement of self-sufficiency and sustainability in food production and security is hence adopted as a primary State policy.

Toward this end, the State shall develop climate change resilient communities in the metropolitan areas through the promotion of modern, appropriate, cost-effective and environmentally safe agriculture technologies to ensure food security, promote a healthy citizenry, and advance an improved quality of life for urban dwellers.

The measure defines integrated urban agriculture as the development paradigm that encompasses principles, management, technologies, and the policies relating to the practice and application of agricultural production of food and goods in urban areas.

It refers to food security as a situation wherein foods are available and affordable at all times and where all people have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.

The bill provides that urban agriculture shall apply to all urban spaces such as idle, government or private lots or buildings, available land resources in state or private universities and colleges suitable for growing crops and raising poultry and livestock, and for agriculture.

It mandates the Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary to establish an office to be known as the Office of Urban Agriculture (OUA) to be under the DA. The OUA shall formulate the implementing guidelines, programs and operating principles consistent with government policies and objectives of the Act.

It also mandates the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) to monitor and ensure proper implementation of the Act. The PCAF shall have as members the Department of Health (DOH) Secretary, National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Chairperson, Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) Chairperson, representative from the private sector who has expertise in urban farming and vertical farming, and Lead Convenor of the Urban Agriculture Practitioners Network of the Philippines.

The PCAF shall ensure that programs established by the Act are implemented in ways consistent with the goal of poverty reduction, food security and healthy eating habits in urban communities.

Meanwhile the OUA, in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the DOH shall develop the research agenda on urban agriculture in the country’s metropolitan areas.

Idle and/or abandoned government lots and buildings owned by either the national government or local governments or available land resources in state colleges and universities shall be considered for growing crops, raising livestock, and producing food.

Safety standards, good agricultural practices, and handling practices must be emphasized and promoted at all times. The OUA, DOST, DENR, DOH, and the local government units (LGUs), together with the pertinent agencies shall oversee the promotion of agriculture and minimize risks of microbial food hazards.

The bill also mandates the inclusion of urban agriculture in the academic curriculum for elementary, secondary and tertiary level students of both public and pivate academic institutions offering courses in Agriculture, Practical Arts, Home Economics and other agriculture-related subjects. A course curriculum on gardening shall be developed and included in the regular curriculum of elementary and secondary education.

For universities and colleges, urban agriculture shall form part of the required period of time spent by students in the National Service Training Program or the Citizens Military Training.