00:00A wonderful over-the-hump Wednesday evening, friends and folks.
00:07Yours truly, Sharms Espina here, and this is PTV News Now.
00:11Now tops on our stories this evening.
00:14The 2025 midterm polls are over.
00:17The people have spoken, and government hears them loud and clear.
00:21And the palace and the president welcomes all senators-elect to the work of government.
00:25A word of caution to all with agendas outside of public welfare or common good.
00:30Government will do everything in its power to get in your way.
00:34The president's sentiments echoed by palace press officer and PCO undersecretary Claire Castro
00:39on the president eager to roll his sleeves and buckle down to work with victorious 12 senators-elect
00:45voted into power in Monday's midterm elections.
00:49Even those on the other side of the political aisle are those aligned with his predecessor
00:53and are critical of him.
00:55Castro says the president respects the will of the many and welcomes all oppositionists
01:00who genuinely wish to work hard and seek to improve government services to the people
01:05and find solutions to the country's pressing problems.
01:08Still, those who seek to disinform and defame the president and his government
01:13will be met with great pushback and put in the rightful place.
01:17Only six of the dozen or 11 in the president's hand-picked candidates
01:20in the Alianza para Sabagong Pilipinas slate made it through.
01:24Namely, Erwin Tulfo, Panfilo Ping Lakson, Vicente Tito Soto, Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid, and Camille Villar.
01:35Need a simple medical procedure and treatment or laboratory test free of charge?
01:41Well, try out government's latest shot at improved healthcare service and broader coverage.
01:46Bukas or the Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Services program.
01:51There are 51 Bukas centers strategically located nationwide.
01:54Eight in the Visayas region, 17 in Mindanao, and 26 in the Luzon mainland.
02:00Such key locations have been put up to offer wider access to expanded healthcare services.
02:06They even offer simple medical procedures like laboratory tests, cancer and tuberculosis screening and management,
02:13animal by treatment, dental care and extractions, mental health support,
02:18and even surgical procedures like breast, tumor, and cataract removal.
02:23The Department of Health is at the forefront of the program's implementation
02:26in cooperation with local government units and affiliated healthcare institutions or medical facilities.
02:32And the public is urged to take full advantage of such entitlements,
02:37thereby supporting the program and ensuring the program's sustainability.
02:43And in news overseas, a drone fitted with a paintbrush is one of the latest tools
02:48in the crusade against taggers and their persistent graffiti menace.
02:52VW's Natashka Moskovaya has more of this feature on AI tools and development and deployment.
02:57Along Washington State's highways, there is a never-ending battle between taggers and transportation crews
03:07whose job is to clean up offensive or distracting graffiti.
03:11Sometimes when I see graffiti and where they've gotten it, I wonder how they got there.
03:15I saw the waste of resources and the challenges of sending my employees up to, you know,
03:19walk on very steep embankments, sometimes needing fall protection.
03:22Mike Goger, a maintenance crew supervisor with a background in aviation, began looking for a solution.
03:28There's got to be somebody out there probably making a drone that will spray paint.
03:32Aquiline drones agreed to take on the challenge.
03:35The Connecticut-based company specializes in drones used to wash skyscraper windows.
03:39For the graffiti cleanup, Aquiline created a drone prototype with a paint sprayer used to cover the graffiti.
03:45Transportation officials say it takes two staffers to do the job,
03:49compared to the six workers needed to do the job before.
03:51This is a tethered drone.
03:53On the back side there, you can see a port that a standard paint sprayer hose will hook to.
03:58You can feed it as much hose as you wish.
04:00We have one person at the controls, and somebody's in charge of just monitoring the paints,
04:04because the aircraft is up there flying.
04:06As this bucket becomes low or empty, we have a person assigned to swap it out,
04:10so we can keep painting as long as we have battery life.
04:12Washington State spent $815,000 to cover about 700,000 square feet of graffiti last year,
04:19prompting state lawmakers to pass a bill that earmarks $1 million to develop new ways of dealing with an old problem.
04:27We'll never stop graffiti. It goes way, way, way back, you know, thousands of years.
04:31But I think this bill will allow us at least to get in front of it, clean it up.
04:37Deploying a drone is fast and cheap, and it can paint over large surfaces.
04:41The Transportation Department's drone team will file a report on the initiative by the end of the year.
04:47Goger says while the cost savings is a bonus, the real achievement is making the crew's job much safer.
04:53Natasha Mosgovaya, VA News, Lakewood, Washington.
04:55And with that, we call curtains on tonight's show.
05:02Join us anew tomorrow night for yet another P&T offering.
05:05And always keep in mind to stay connected by catching the news right here.
05:09Till then, Sharm Zespina here wishing you all a much cooler and more restful night ahead.
05:13This has been Sharm Zespina, and thank you for watching PTV News Now.
