MANILA: The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has rescued two fishers after their boat submerged in the waters off Cajidiocan, Romblon on Thursday.

In a news release, the PCG said rescued were Edgardo Lozano, 60, and Harry Lozano, 51, residents of Barangay Maragondon in the same town.

In an inquiry by PCG personnel, the two said they were hit by a whale shark off Barangay Cantagda, causing their boat to submerge.

The search and rescue team ferried them to Barangay Danao while the submerged fishing banca was towed.

Source: Philippines News Agency

VERIFY.GOV.KH-the Cambodian Government’s document verification platform developed by Cambodia’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC)-wins a Gold Medal in the ASEAN Digital Awards 2024 hosted in Singapore under the auspices of the 4th ASEAN Digital Ministers Meeting (ADGMIN) on Feb. 1.

The 4th ADGMIN is attended by Digital Ministers from ASEAN Member States; Timor-Leste; ASEAN partners including, the Republic of Korea, China, Japan, India, and the United States; as well as the International Telecommunications Union.

According to an MPTC’s press release issued this evening, in this year’s edition of the ASEAN Digital Awards, 125 top-performing digital products, services, and programmes from the 10 AMS have been submitted for consideration. Through multiple rounds of elimination, VERIFY.GOV.KH-as the government’s official platform for document verification-has been selected as Cambodia’s submission for the Public Sector category and has made its way through to the final round. After the final presen
tation against other finalists, VERIFY.GOV.KH wins the Gold Medal in the Public Sector Category, officially being recognised as the most distinguished digital solution for delivering public services in ASEAN for 2024.

‘This is the first time a Cambodian solution has received the Gold Medal in the Public Sector category of the ASEAN Digital Awards. This award is testament to the fruitful labour of MPTC and the Digital Government Committee (DGC) in developing digital solutions for better public service delivery, for our product has evidently received not only domestic recognition, but also regional recognition as the most outstanding public sector digital solution in ASEAN,’ said delightfully H.E. CHEA Vandeth, Minister of Post and Telecommunications and President of DGC.

‘This success demonstrates more clearly that VERIFY.GOV.KH’s scope should be expanded not only within Cambodia, but also in the region – particularly as a collective mechanism for cross-border document verification among AMSs for verificatio
n of trade documents and other official documents, rendering paper originals and notarization of copies no longer necessary. Such collective action will bring ASEAN Member States another step closer to our collective aspiration of unleashing the potential of digital technologies, and MPTC is committed to contribute to this collective journey,’ he continued.

The ASEAN Digital Awards has 6 categories: (1) Public Sector, (2) Private Sector, (3) Digital Inclusivity, (4) Digital Content, (5) Digital Start-Up, and (6) Digital Innovation, said the press release, adding that in the Public Sector category this year, Thailand’s digital health data system won Silver, and Singapore’s Digital Birth and Death Certificate initiative won Bronze.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse