00:00 Today on Rappler
00:12 Migrant workers' secretary Susan Ople dies at 61.
00:16 Senator Rizon Taveros says a cop allegedly asked a witness to say Jemboy Balthazar had
00:21 illegal drugs.
00:22 The Department of Agriculture says it would be difficult to lower the price of a kilo
00:26 of rice to 20 pesos in the immediate future.
00:30 A US court says AI-generated art cannot be copyrighted.
00:33 Reports say ex-owner Elon Musk intends to remove headlines from news posts.
00:38 BITX offers free rides for the FIBA World Cup kickoff games.
00:43 And Potato Corner apologizes for its viral, inappropriate job posting.
00:50 Migrant workers' secretary Susan "Tuts" Ople, a longtime advocate for overseas Filipino
00:54 workers, dies Tuesday, August 22.
00:57 She was 61.
00:58 The Department of Migrant Workers says Ople died around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, surrounded
01:03 by her family and loved ones.
01:05 Ople is the first DMW chief in the department's fully constituted form in 2023.
01:10 She was the daughter of Blas Ople, Labor Secretary of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos,
01:15 who also served as Foreign Affairs Secretary for the Arroyo administration.
01:19 Ople helped both OFWs in and out of government, serving as Labor Undersecretary under the
01:25 Arroyo administration, and founded a non-governmental organization assisting OFWs.
01:30 Her death comes after the recent deaths of two of her brothers, Blas Ople Jr. and Felix
01:35 Toti Ople, due to lung cancer.
01:37 Susan Ople was a breast cancer survivor.
01:42 A cop allegedly asked a witness in the killing of 17-year-old Jerold "Jemboy" Baltazar to
01:47 say the teenager had illegal drugs.
01:49 Opposition Senator Rizal Monteveros reveals this in a Senate hearing on Tuesday, August
01:53 22.
01:54 "A witness of an armed man who introduced himself to the police said, 'Tell them Jemboy
02:05 has drugs,' and admitted it to his lawyer."
02:11 Monteveros, including other senators present at the hearing, have yet to provide more details
02:16 on the supposed attempt of an alleged police to coerce one of the witnesses.
02:20 On August 2, Jemboy was killed by cops while he and his friend were cleaning their boat
02:24 in a river near their house in Barangay NBBS, Caon Laran, Navotas City.
02:30 The Agriculture Department says it would be difficult to lower the price of rice to 20
02:35 pesos in the immediate future.
02:36 "Within the next two years, is it possible to lower the price of rice to 20 pesos per
02:43 kilo?"
02:44 "Next two years?
02:45 It looks like it's difficult."
02:46 Agriculture Undersecretary Mercedita Zombilia says this during the hearing for her department's
02:51 proposed 2024 budget.
02:53 Rice prices now reach more than 50 pesos in many areas.
02:57 Pricing prices affect both farmers and consumers and drive up inflation.
03:02 But she is also quick to clarify there is no rice shortage in the Philippines yet.
03:06 What the country has now are, quote, "meager stocks of rice."
03:09 Zombilia also explains that rice prices are now rising because of the simultaneous increase
03:14 in both global and farmgate prices.
03:17 A United States court says a work of art created by artificial intelligence without human input
03:24 cannot be copyrighted under U.S. law.
03:26 The ruling affirms the U.S. Copyright Office's rejection of an application filed by computer
03:31 scientist Stephen Thaller on behalf of his AI system.
03:34 Thaller filed for U.S. patents covering inventions created by his device for the autonomous bootstrapping
03:40 of Unified Sentience, or DABUS.
03:42 Thaller also applied for DABUS-generated patents in other countries, including the United Kingdom,
03:47 South Africa, Australia and Saudi Arabia, with limited success.
03:51 Thaller's attorney says they will appeal.
03:54 The fast-growing field of generative AI raises novel intellectual property issues.
03:59 The U.S. Copyright Office maintains creative works must have human authors to be copyrightable,
04:04 saying it, quote, "believes the court reached the correct result."
04:09 Business site Fortune says ex-owner Elon Musk plans to remove the headline and link text
04:14 for news articles shared on the social media platform, leaving only an image and the link
04:18 on a shared article.
04:20 News site 9to5Mac notes news articles will then need to have text manually inputted.
04:25 The move appears to be an attempt to make journalists write articles directly on X or
04:29 increase dependence on the platform for sharing news.
04:33 Musk earlier said, quote, "If you're a journalist who wants more freedom to write in a higher
04:37 income then publish directly on this platform."
04:40 The Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange is offering free rides from its terminal to
04:47 the Philippine Arena in Bulacan for the FIBA World Cup kickoff games on Friday, August 25.
04:52 PITX allocates 50 point-to-point buses exclusively for game-goers.
04:57 To avail of the free ride, spectators are advised to go to Gate 8 on the first floor
05:01 of the terminal and present their game tickets to the bus conductor.
05:04 PITX says it aims, quote, "to alleviate any transportation concerns and allow spectators
05:10 to fully enjoy the game."
05:12 The Philippine Arena will host two games on Friday featuring Angola and Italy in the opening
05:16 game at 4 p.m. and the Philippines and Dominican Republic at 8 p.m.
05:20 Snack firm Potato Corner apologizes over an inappropriate job posting that went viral
05:27 over the weekend, saying it does not support or condone discriminatory hiring.
05:32 In a statement, Potato Corner says it is, quote, "all about providing equal opportunities
05:36 for all."
05:37 The now-deleted post by Potato Corner's Ventura Mall branch required service crew applicants
05:42 to, quote, "have a good visual impact, weight proportionate to height, and clear complexion,"
05:47 among others.
05:48 Potato Corner's statement adds, "It is reviewing its procedures and is working with its business
05:53 partners to ensure a similar situation won't happen again."
05:56 Meantime, Filipino social media users take the chance to poke fun at the controversial
06:01 job hiring post, comparing it to applications for a beauty pageant.
06:04 And that's today's wrap.
06:13 I'm Nina Liu.
06:14 Thank you for watching.
06:15 Click the link below for the full story.
06:17 Follow us on Rappler's YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
06:21 [MUSIC]
06:23 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments