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Binay vows to shun ‘obstructionist politics’
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['Neil Jayson Servallos']
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2018-09-27 00:08:05+00:00
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Former vice president Jejomar Binay said he would be the “constructive” voice in the House of Representatives should he win in the elections next year.Joey Salgado, Binay’s spokesman, said the former vice president does not believe in “obstructionist politics,” thus, he intends to support policies that will improve the lives of the poor.“Former vice president Binay will point out policies and programs that could burden our countrymen. But he will also propose solutions,” Salgado said in a statement.Binay will run for the House seat for the first district of Makati under the ticket of his daughter, Makati Mayor Mar-Len Abigail “Abby” Binay.Salgado said the former vice president aims to dispel division in the country due to politics while working for better policies for the residents of the first district of Makati.“Upholding the dignity of every Filipino should be a shared goal, whether one is with the administration or the opposition. It is an aspiration that should unite all political parties,” Salgado said.Binay had announced that he would retire from politics after losing in the presidential election in 2016.On Monday, Mayor Binay announced that her father would run for a House seat in 2019.The former vice president served as Makati mayor from 1986 to 1998, and again from 2001 to 2010.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/binay-vows-to-shun-obstructionist-politics/445681/
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Agri engineers seek food security solutions
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['Conrad M. Cariño']
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2017-04-23 00:37:54+00:00
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Agriculture engineers hold their annual meeting in Legazpi City next week to seek technological solutions to help secure the country’s food needs.Since its establishment 67 years ago, the Philippine Society of Agricultural Engineers (PSAE) has been promoting the agricultural engineering profession to accelerate the sustainable development and modernization of the agriculture and fishery sector for the benefit of farmers, fisher folks and government and industry partners.“The PSAE started with humble beginnings in the 1950s with only a handful of members. Presently, it boasts the membership of 8,332 professional agricultural engineers who are bursting with creative ingenuity and who can be mobilized for the provision of professional and technical services as provided for under the Philippine Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Act of 2016,” the group said in a statement.The PSAE will be holding its 28th Philippine Agricultural Engineering Week that will be highlighted by its 67th PSAE Annual National Convention and the 14th International Agricultural Engineering Conference and Exhibition, that will be held simultaneously with the 3rd Southeast Asian Agricultural Engineering Student Chapter Annual Regional Convention 2017 on April 23-29 at the Legazpi City Convention Center in Legazpi City. The theme of the convention is “Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers: Prime Movers for the Development and Management of Appropriate Technologies for Food Security.”Among the papers to be presented in the convention is “Development of Appropriate Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Technologies in the Philippines” by Rossana Marie Amongo PhD, the director of the Center of Agri-Fisheries and Biosystems Mechanization of University of the Philippines Los Banos in Laguna. Among the foreign experts tapped for the convention is Lilik Sutiarso PhD, the president of the Indonesian Society of Agricultural Engineering, and Nurhayati Binti Maarof, an agriculture officer of the Agriculture Department of Malaysia.Suriatso will present the paper “Strategy Direction on Development of Appropriate Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Technology for Supporting Food Sovereignty Program in Indonesia” while Maarof will present “Agricultural Engineering Management and Development Extension Program in Malaysia.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/agri-engineers-seek-food-security-solutions/323628/
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EJKs and an old administrative order
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['Rey David', 'Lucas Temoteo', 'Kwak Kwak Kwak', 'Berdugo Katapang', 'Liwanag Para Sa Bayan', 'Simon Antonio']
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11/10/2017 0:00
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they killed, they claimed, because the victim fought back, “nanlaban.”“AO has not been repealed or revoked. Thus the definition of EJK remains the same,” Abella said.Against this legal definition by a Malacañang administrative order is the commonly understood definition of an EJK as one which was carried out not in accordance with judicial processes and with the rule of law, including rules on arrests and other police operations.Senators Franklin Drilon, Grace Poe, and Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV charged that PNP is “playing with pure semantics” and hiding behind a former administration’s definition of EJK. As for the general public, one survey by Social Weather Stations showed that 54 percent of the respondents said they do not believe the PNP claim that those killed in police operations all fought back.The anti-drugs campaign remains a major program and accomplishment of the Duterte administration. But it is time to review the police operations used thus far to ensure scrupulous adherence to established legal processes. It may also be time to stop using a faulty administrative order to claim 100 percent perfection in the campaign.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/10/11/ejks-and-an-old-administrative-order/
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Senate to look into NHA housing plans
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-04-16 22:17:02+00:00
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THE Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement will begin its investigation on Tuesday of allegedly unoccupied socialized housing units built by the National Housing Authority (NHA) in order to formulate rules and regulations for effective and efficient socialized housing programs for the marginalized sector.Committee chairman Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito has raised the need to make an inventory of available, unoccupied and idle housing units for immediate awarding to qualified homeless beneficiaries in order to prevent wastage of public funds and property and reduce the housing backlog in the country.Ejercito filed Senate resolutions 272 and 285 calling for a congressional inquiry into the unoccupied housing units in light of the urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap occupying vacant housing units in NHA’s housing projects in San Jose del Monte City and Pandi town, both in Bulacan, last March 8.According to the group, their action was meant to call government’s attention to come up with a long-term solution to housing and poverty and push for national industrialization and genuine land reform to finally resolve poverty.The housing projects, part of a housing program for military and police personnel under Administrative Order 9 signed by then-President Benigno Aquino 3rd.The NHA built a total of 2,300 units in Bulacan but only 300 have been occupied.Ejercito said there are more than 60,000 units from other housing and resettlement projects of the NHA all over the country that remain idle and already damaged and deteriorating.The housing units were not occupied by recipients over allegations that the houses built are not liveable.Some recipients complained that living in the housing units has been a nightmare for them and for their families, citing the small units, poor construction materials used, lack of access to public transportation and inadequate community facilities.The congressional inquiry, Ejercito said, is aimed at finding out the real reasons why the housing projects funded by the government remained unoccupied and find ways of expediting awarding of the units.He called on his colleagues for immediate passage of Senate Bill 1393 that seeks to establish on-site, in-city or near-city strategy for informal settler families.According to Ejercito, off-site resettlement produced more problems for resettlers as housing areas lack basic utilities and social services such as water, electricity and schools; lack livelihood opportunities; and cause job loss.“Resettlers claim that after 10 to 20 years of living in off-site resettlement, poverty continues and their situation even grew worse,” the senator noted.He said an on-site, in-city or near-city resettlement program promotes the right of the people to access housing within the city as a preferred option and institutionalizes the peoples’ planning process as a critical element in the implementation of housing projects.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/senate-look-nha-housing-plans/322500/
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Comelec told to itemize costs in Marcos protest
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-05-09 22:02:02+00:00
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The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to comply with its mandate in submitting the itemized costs it may be required to pay under automated elections in connection with an election protest filed against Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo by former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who had accused Robredo of “massive fraud.”In a resolution, the High Court sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal required the Comelec to make a report on the actual amount it may incur and pay for election machines that will be used in recount of votes for Marcos and Robredo in the May 2016 elections .“The tribunal resolves… [to] direct the Comelec to comply with the tribunal’s resolution dated November 8, 2016 on the itemized cost[s] it may be required to pay under the Automated Election System contract, and whether Smartmatic TIM Inc. has made any communication to it in enforcing Article 6.9 of the AES contract,” the resolution read.The SC has set a preliminary conference on the recount of the votes on June 21.Robredo has asked the Presidential Electoral Tribunal to dismiss a motion of Marcos seeking to junk her counter-protest in relation to the 2016 polls.Marcos went to the electoral tribunal because Robredo initially failed to pay the first installment of the required fee for her counter-protest.Rule 34 of the 2010 Rules of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal gives the tribunal the power “to dismiss the protest or counter-protest or take such action as it may deem equitable under the circumstances.”Robredo had filed a motion for reconsideration of her refusal to pay cash deposit for the counter-protest but it was rejected by the electoral tribunal.In his protest, Marcos assailed the election results in 39,221 clustered precincts.He prayed for manual count and judicial revision in 36,465 precincts and annulment of election results in 2,756 precincts.Comelec data showed that the 39,221 clustered precincts are composed of 132,446 precincts.The SC recently ordered preservation of the “automated election equipment and records such as Vote Counting Machines [VCMs], Consolidation and Canvass System [CCS] units, Secure Digital [SD] cards [main and back-up] and the other data storage devices in all of the ninety two thousand five hundred nine (92,509) clustered precincts used in the May 2016 elections, effective immediately and continuing until further orders from the tribunal.”Marcos, who lost to Robredo by 263,473 votes, accused her of “massive electoral fraud, anomalies and irregularities” such as preshading of ballots, pre-loaded Secure Digital cards, misreading of ballots, malfunctioning VCMs and “abnormally high” unaccounted votes/undervotes for the position of Vice President.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/comelec-told-itemize-costs-marcos-protest/326335/
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Senate does not need de Lima – Jinggoy
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-05-02 21:13:03+00:00
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SENATOR Leila de Lima should abandon her plan to seek the court’s permission for her to participate in Senate deliberations on important bills because she would just be wasting her efforts if she proceeded with it, former senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada said on Tuesday.In a statement posted on Facebook, Estrada added that the Senate does not need de Lima’s presence for it to perform its legislative duties because the senators can easily muster a quorum.“The Senate can function even without you! In fact, they don’t even need your vote! You should know that! You’re supposed to be a topnotch lawyer, right?” he said.Like de Lima, Estrada is currently detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in connection with a plunder case against him.The former senator was reacting to an earlier statement of de Lima that her legal team is studying legal options for her to be allowed to attend sessions at the Senate.De Lima wants to take active part in the deliberations on important legislative measures and attend other official functions in the Senate even while in detention.Estrada recalled that he made a similar attempt when he was still a senator and asked the Sandiganbayan to allow him to attend the last session of the Senate in 2016 for him to pack his things and to bid farewell to his colleagues but the court turned it down.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/senate-not-need-de-lima-jinggoy/325200/
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Philippine, US Military brass unfazed by Duterte tirade
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['Fernan Marasigan']
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2016-10-26 22:24:31+00:00
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DESPITE President Rodrigo Duterte’s public display of anger against America, a number of activities between the US and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has been lined up ahead of a meeting of the Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board next month, sources at Camp Aguinaldo disclosed on Wednesday.One of the sources, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on the matter, said while President Duterte has said he does not want anymore bilateral exercises with the US, he has not given concrete guidance or instruction what particular exercise he is against.“For example, HADR [humanitarian assistance and disaster readiness], it has not thing to do with the West Philippine Sea [South China Sea]. The intelligence exchange program, it also has exercises but it also has nothing to do with the South China Sea. There may be moderation on bilateral exercises within the South China Sea],” the source, a military official, added.The November meeting of the MDB-SEB is one in a series of defense and security-related dialogues held each year between the Philippines and the United States.The meetings foster strong relationships between the Philippines and the US military and improve their abilities to work together on mutual defense and security that includes HADR, cyber security and anti-terrorism.This year, the meeting had been scheduled for October 24 but was moved to November 22 because officials want to finish first the US elections.“This is an annual meeting between the US Pacific Command and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. This is part of our treaty. As long as the treaty is not abrogated, this is part of the conditions of the treaty,” the source explained.Among the activities scheduled for next month, according to the source are officers’ exchange visit, intelligence exchange, bilateral exercises and HADR.The military official said these scheduled activities would be presented to Duterte on the first week of November during a Cabinet meeting.Philippine military officials, he added, are still hoping that the President will clarify his anti-US stance even as he noted that when Duterte makes a statement, it does not mean it is already a policy.“He made it clear to us that his statement is not the official policy line because it has to be discussed within the Cabinet,” the source said.But another official said the MDB-SEB meeting may be postponed. He did not elaborate.This source added that the officials of the AFP and the Department of National Defense (DND) have not received written orders from Duterte on his announcements against the US particularly on bilateral exercises.He, however, said that after the US elections, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and other security officials would sit down with the President and present him the pros and cons of joint military exercises.“From there, he [Lorenzana] will ask the President to decide whether to totally stop or reduce the military drills,” the source added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/philippine-us-military-brass-unfazed-duterte-tirade/293270/
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Trump wants to fix ‘bad’ ties with PH
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2016-12-08 21:07:23+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte said he felt like a saint when US President-elect Donald Trump said he wanted to fix the “bad relations” between the Philippines and the United States.Duterte, in his speech on Wednesday night during the State Conference on United Nations Convention Against Corruption, revealed snippets of his phone call with Trump on December 2.“He said… ‘Oh, President Duterte, we should fix our bad relations, it needs a lot of [fixing], you know, you just set something good [there] and you’re doing great,” he said, quoting Trump.The Philippines had a strained relationship with the US after President Barack Obama criticized Duterte on his brutal war against illegal drugs.Duterte said Trump told him that he is “doing great” in his war against illegal drugs.“I know what’s your worry about these Americans criticizing you. You are doing good, go ahead. I had this problem in the border of Mexico and America and this goddamn s*** guy is…’” Trump said.“So ngayon, kung makinig ka kay Trump magsalita sa akin, naging santo ako. Doon sa isang administrasyon, well… [So now, if you hear Trump talk about me, I become a saint. With that administration, well…],” Duterte said, apparently referring to the administration of then-President Benigno Aquino 3rd that portrayed him as evil.He added that he considers the business tycoon and incoming US President Trump as his friend.“Despite the protestations of Obama picturing the Philippines, well, of course, including me, to be murderers and everything, here comes Trump,” Duterte said.“[Trump said]… ‘So you are doing all right. Do not mind them.’ [And he also said]… ‘Media? No media supported me and I did it on my own.’ That’s why I’m very impressed with you, Mr. President,” he also quoted Trump.Duterte mentioned again Trump’s “invitation” to him should he travel to the US.“‘Oh yes, when you come to Washington, D.C. or New York City, look me up and we’ll have coffee. And maybe you can give me a suggestion, one or two how to solve this goddamn, son of a b****,’” the President again quoted Trump.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/trump-wants-fix-bad-ties-ph/300704/
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On Cloud Nine with ‘Pangaronon,’ ‘Magayon’
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-01-19 20:34:52+00:00
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Days after Mayon Volcano started spewing ashes, netizens were stunned by a photograph of dark smoke billowing from its crater that resembled a legendary couple in “a tragic but beautiful love story” behind the formation of the country’s most active volcano.The story of star-crossed lovers “Daragang Magayon” and “Pangaronon” circulated on social media after Ciriaco Santiago 3rd posted a photo of an unusual cloud formation surrounding Mayon that seemed to be of a couple embracing each other.“Woke up to reading the myth about ‘Daragang Magayon’ and her one true love, ‘Pangaronon.’ Sounds delusional pero nakakakilig [but I get goosebumps] and with images… circulating, somehow maniniwala ka [you would believe],” James Banaag (@dearscarjames) said.Legend has it that “Daragang Magayon,” a local term for “beautiful maiden,” fell in love with a man named “Pangaronon” (Ulap or “cloud” in other versions) who previously saved her from drowning.Unknown to the couple, another lad named Pagtuga was one of many young men in town who was attracted to Magayon’s beauty.Magayon, however, could not reciprocate Pagtuga’s love.When news reached Pagtuga that the couple were already bound to get married, war broke out and there was bloodshed between his tribe and that of Pangaronon.When Pangaronon’s side was ready to declare victory, Magayon ran to the waiting arms of her lover.Unfortunately, a deadly arrow coming from Pagtuga’s tribe cut short the happiness of the two who were locked in an embrace.The lovers were believed to be buried where Mayon Volcano is currently standing.The photo now serves as a reminder of a true and lasting love.GLEE JALEA
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/cloud-nine-pangaronon-magayon/375382/
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Lift judicial barriers, legal aid groups urged
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2018-11-03 00:04:09+00:00
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TAIPEI,Taiwan: The 2018 International Forum on Legal Aid kicked off on Thursday with Taiwan’s leader Tsai Ing-Wen calling on the group’s legal aid partners worldwide to remove judicial barriers to help the poor.The forum, with the theme “Expanding the Horizons of Legal Aid,” was attended by 84 delegates from 17 countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Korea, Mongolia, Japan, India, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.The Philippine delegation was headed by Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) Chief Persida Rueda-Acosta and Commission on Filipinos Overseas Chairman Francisco Acosta.Tsai said part of the democratization process and growth is improving the judicial system, particularly attending to the needs of the underprivileged, the disabled, women and children.“I encourage our legal aid partners to continue their efforts to implement our consensus on judicial reforms, and improve legal aid for various social sectors like laborers, women, children and youth, the physically and mentally challenged, indigenous peoples, and immigrants and foreign workers. Our common goal is to gradually remove judicial barriers so that we can help all those in need,” she said.Tsai said that by handling litigation cases worldwide, the Legal Aid Foundation has solved underlying social issues after collaborating with civic groups to propose legal amendments and system reforms.“The theme of this international forum is a call to transform the traditional, passive approach to legal aid. It asks us to actively discover needs, integrate resources from all sectors of society, and combine local experience with service data. That will help us provide more timely and appropriate legal aid services that respond to current social issues,” she said.Tsai cited Taiwan’s experience in Legal Aid promotion, which started not long after the national judicial reform conference in 1999.“Taiwan’s Legal Aid Foundation has been operating for 14 years. During that time, annual government funding for the foundation has increased from 300 million NT dollars to 1.4 billion NT dollars; the number of cases that the Foundation handles has increased 11-fold; and the number of people receiving legal consultation services has increased almost 30-fold,” she said.“Through the legal aid system, Taiwan has effectively implemented the people’s right to institute legal proceedings, and their right to equality, as guaranteed under our Constitution.”She urged the representatives of legal aid organizations from the participating countries to join “mutual exchanges that will inspire our work.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/lift-judicial-barriers-legal-aid-groups-urged/461390/
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DepEd launches drive vs cyber violence
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['Neil Alcober']
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2018-11-11 00:05:37+00:00
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The Department of Education (DepEd) has launched a campaign that aims to educate parents, teachers and the school community on how children can be safe online, in collaboration with Stairway Foundation and the Internet and Mobile Marketing Associations of the Philippines (IMMAP).The campaign dubbed #BeCyberSafe consists of three components — Project for Keeps, Dalir-Eskwela, and Chatbot.Project for Keeps is a social media movement created to empower children, with the help of their guardians, to take control of their online profiles, and keep themselves safe from online strangers and predators.Coined from the words daliri (finger) and eskwela (school), Dalir-Eskwela offers a range of educational materials including videos, brochures, and posters that discuss cybersafety, cyberbullying, online chatting, gaming, and pornography. Chatbot is a social media page with a messaging feature which will be used as a helpline where child protection issues faced in the cyberspace may be reported and addressed.“The launching of this program is certainly very welcome because we are now recognizing that harm can be inflicted not only in physical ways, not only by the destruction of our infrastructure and our facilities, the books that we read, what we teach our children, but also through cyberspace,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said.“We extend our gratitude to our partners for helping us ensure the best interest of our learners,” she added.“The Child Protection Policy of DepEd aims to nurture learners in a safe environment not only in the physical sphere, but also the cyberspace. In this digital age when children socialize and spend considerable time online, DepEd recognizes that their right to protection against violence and abuse should also be realized online,” DepEd Undersecretary Josephine Maribojoc said.“A child in the cyber world is a whole person with dignity, as much as a child in the physical world. Let us respect and protect each one of them, wherever they may be,” she added.The Philippines has 67 million Internet users.“Every Filipino who uses the Internet is also possibly using social media. Across the region, the Philippines has the very peculiar situation. In many countries, the social media penetration rate is much lower than the Internet penetration, and the Philippines is in this special situation right now,” Ysrael Diloy, Senior Advocacy Officer of Stairway Foundation, said.Citing recent studies conducted by Stairway Foundation and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), Diloy said around 43.8 percent or almost half of the respondents aged 13-18 have experienced cyber violence.“One of the very alarming aspect of this is in the context of social abuse online, in particular, having being sent sexual messages and having their sexual activities or nude body shown online,” he said.Diloy said a survey conducted by Stairway in 2015 showed that 3 out of 10 children chatted with strangers online.“We are in the world right now where children use technology but in a risky manner. Technology is being used to exploit children and, unfortunately, we are in a world where adults and children use the same platform. We all have the same Smartphone devices but we use it differently. There is a cultural detachment in technology and online safety. When we started online safety in 2007, our main messaging is that don’t talk to stranger online,” he added.The IMMAP said children should be protected from social media violence.“While our core mission revolves around advancing digital marketing, IMMAP believes that we need to nurture and support the overall digital ecosystem in the country,” Karen Alba-Alday, IMMAP’s Advocacy Committee Head, said.“We need to create a better and safer Internet in every Filipino. We are committed to educate all Filipinos on their safety,” she added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/deped-launches-drive-vs-cyber-violence/465527/
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Magnitude 4.1 earthquake hits Davao Occidental
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['Jove Moya']
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2018-10-21 01:00:59+00:00
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A magnitude 4.1 earthquake hit Davao Occidental on Friday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs) said. The quake that struck at 2:15 a.m. was located 63 kilometers (km) east of Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental. Its origin was tectonic and had a depth of 89 km. No major damage was reported and no aftershocks were expected, Philvolcs added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/magnitude-4-1-earthquake-hits-davao-occidental/454936/
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Lawmaker: Appointing ‘barangay’ officials illegal
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-08-01 21:28:06+00:00
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The Duterte administration’s plan to replace barangay (village) officials with appointed officers-in-charge (OIC) is illegal, an opposition lawmaker said on Tuesday.Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay cited Section 8, Article 10 of the Constitution that states, “The term of office of elective local officials, except barangay officials, which shall be determined by law, shall be three years and no such official shall serve for more than three consecutive terms. Voluntary renunciation of the office for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of his service for the full term for which he was elected.”“The Duterte administration’s insistence on replacing incumbent elected barangay officials with appointive OIC is a blatant violation of the Constitution and aberration which supplants the popular electoral will. The Constitution classifies barangay officials as “local elective officials” and, consequently, they are installed in office by electoral mandate, not by appointment,” Lagman said in a statement.“Due to the classification by the Constitution of barangay officials as “elective local officials,” the various laws pertinent to the election of barangay officials provide for a hold-over,” he added.Lagman invoked Republic Act (RA) 10923 approved on October 2016 that postponed the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Council) elections to the fourth Monday of October 2017 that provide for hold-over, reading, “Until their successors shall have been duly elected and qualified, all incumbent barangay officials shall remain in office, unless sooner removed or suspended for cause.”Similarly, other statutes on village elections like RA 6653 (May 1988), RA 9164 (March 2002) and RA 9340 (September 2005) also invariably provide for hold-over.The Duterte administration wants the October 2017 village elections postponed so as to rid the barangay ranks of officials who are involved in the illegal drug trade.“Barangay officials suspected of complicity in drug-related offenses or any criminal act must be prosecuted and removed for cause pursuant to law, not substituted with OIC,” Lagman said.“Hold-over provisions recognize that elected barangay officials shall remain in office until the election, not appointment, of their successors,” he added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/lawmaker-appointing-barangay-officials-illegal/341845/
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PH supports Korean peace agreement
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['Philippines News Agency']
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2018-05-06 00:02:18+00:00
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The Philippine government on Saturday hailed the historic meeting of the leaders of South and North Korea andexpressed support to the peace declaration that followed it.The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Manila hopes the development between the two states will lead to the long-sought peace in the Korean Peninsula.South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met at the Inter-Korean Summit in Panmunjeom on April 27. The two leaders signed the “Panmunjeom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity, and Unification of the Korean Peninsula.”“It is hoped that this development will contribute to the ongoing process of reducing tensions, the peaceful resolution of prevailing issues between concerned parties, and the eventual denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula that will contribute to the peace and stability of the region,” the DFA said in a statement. “The Filipino people stand with our Korean brothers and sisters at this critical moment in history.”On May 4, Pyongyang’s time was reset 30 minutes earlier, aligning its time zone with Seoul.“The time-resetting is the first practical step taken after the historic third north-south summit meeting to speed up the process for the north and the south to become one and turn their different and separated things into the same and single ones,” state-run Korean Central News Agency said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ph-supports-korean-peace-agreement/397095/
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QC bans sell of junk food near schools
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-07-21 21:33:15+00:00
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QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista approved an ordinance prohibiting the selling and promotion of junk food and soft drinks within a 100-meter radius from schools. The Quezon City Anti-Junk Food and Sugary Drinks Ordinance Of 2017, authored by Councilor Irene Belmonte, aims to promote the health and welfare of students being one of the priorities of the Quezon City government. The ordinance covers all private and public preparatory, elementary and high school levels in Quezon City. Furthermore, giving away of junk food and sugary drinks as a mode of promotion, encouraging the buying thereof, giving samples, marketing, advertising, and sponsorship by the aforementioned products will no longer be allowed. Establishments caught selling junk food and sugary drinks will be fined P1,000 for the first offense; P2,000 for the second offense; and P5,000 and a ground for revocation of barangay (village) or business permits for the third offense.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/qc-bans-sell-junk-food-near-schools/339695/
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Impeach raps vs SC justices dismissed
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['Mary Gleefer F. Jalea']
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2018-09-26 00:03:15+00:00
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THE Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives on Tuesday threw out the impeachment complaint filed against seven Supreme Court justices who voted to oust former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno via quo warranto.Voting 22-0, the panel approved the committee report and the resolution dismissing the consolidated complaints filed by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, and Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano in less than 10 minutes.Oriental Mindoro 1st District Rep. Salvador Leachon presided over the hearing which was attended by Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.The complaint was filed on August 23 against former Associate Justice now Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam, Andres Reyes Jr., and Alexander Gesmundo for alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust in connection with their May 11 decision to remove Sereno through quo warranto proceedings.“With about 22 votes in favor of the motion, the seven impeachment complaints against the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as well as the six associate justices of the Supreme Court, the impeachment complaints are hereby dismissed and the committee report is now considered approved,” Leachon said.On September 4, the justice committee found the impeachment case sufficient in form.A week later, lawmakers found the complaint insufficient in substance “for lack of concrete evidence.”Lagman said his group would appeal the decision of the justice panel.“We will challenge the validity of the resolution because it did not comply with the rules,” he told reporters.Citing the Committee on Rules, Lagman said out of 68 members of the committee, there are 34 regular members and 34 ex-officio members who can decide on the matter. The prevailing decision should be 50 percent plus one, equivalent to a total of at least 35 votes.“Fifty percent is 35, not 22,” he said.Lagman previously maintained that the quo warranto petition against Sereno was “malevolent, orchestrated, conspiratorial and malicious.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/impeach-raps-vs-sc-justices-dismissed/445215/
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Gatchalian seeks probe of Malampaya funds
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-01-10 21:59:37+00:00
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SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday sought an investigation into the alleged anomalous disbursements of over P38.8 billion Malampaya funds under the Arroyo and Aquino administrations.He filed Senate Resolution 579 that directs the appropriate Senate committee to conduct an inquiry “on the release of the Malampaya Funds by the Department of Budget and Management without complete documentary requirements.”Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, said as of May 21, 2012, P38.8 billion has been released by DBM to various non-government agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), and the provincial government of Palawan.“These funds were meant to finance the development of energy resources. Their usage for other purposes, and without following the clear procedural requirements concerning their disbursement, is a serious cause for concern that must be looked into by the government,” he said.“Considering the large amount of public funds involved, I believe an immediate inquiry is necessary to hold erring public officers responsible for the irregular release of these funds, and to prevent future illegal exploitation of these funds,” the senator added.In its 80-page Sectoral Performance Audit report released on October 30, 2017, the Commission on Audit focused on Malampaya Fund releases by the DBM from 2004 to 2012, covering the full six-year term of former president and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the first two years of former president Benigno Aquino 3rd.The CoA said the fund releases “were not intended for energy resource development and exploitation programs and projects of the government.” The state auditor said that due to the questionable fund releases, “the very purpose for which Malampaya Fund was established is therefore yet to be served.”The Malampaya Fund, which holds the government’s profit share from the exploitation of natural gas resources in the Camago-Malampaya Reservoir under Service Contract 38, accrued P173.280 billion from the operations between January 2002 and June 2013.These funds were collected by the Department of Energy and managed by the Bureau of Treasury for the exploration and development of energy resources. In 2007, the DBM was authorized to release money from the Fund according to certain guidelines.However, the CoA report revealed that Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) and Notices of Cash Allocations (NCAs) were issued with incomplete documentary requirements, such as the lack of project proposals, requests for funds from the implementing agencies, proof of DBM evaluation, or approval by the President.The senator said the questionable release of the Malampaya funds violated Presidential Decree No. 910 Series of 1976, Executive Order 683 Series of 2007, Joint Circular No. 3 series of 2008 of DBM, Department of Energy and Department of Finance, and other relevant laws and rules and regulations as specified in the Commission on Audit’s Special Report No. 2017-04.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/gatchalian-seeks-probe-malampaya-funds/373444/
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PNP chief’s mistah new Marines chief
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['Dempsey Reyes']
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2017-09-05 21:55:58+00:00
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The mistah of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald de la Rosa in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) is the new commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps who assumed the position on Tuesday.Brig. Gen. Alvin Parreño, deputy commandant of the Philippine Marines, replaced Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Salamat, who was assigned as the new commander of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), a unified command under the military in charge of securing disputed areas in the North including the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) and Philippine Rise (Benham Rise).On Monday, Salamat became the Nolcom chief after Lt. Gen. Romeo Tanalgo retired from military service also on the same day.Parreño and de la Rosa are members of the PMA “Sinagtala” Class of 1986.Prior to this designation, Parreño began his Marine officer days by leading the Marine Rifle Platoon and became commander of the Force Reconnaissance Battalion.From a full colonel, he was promoted to brigadier general when he was assigned as the commander of the Naval Reserve Command from being the commander of the First Marine Brigade in 2016.Based on his profile, Parreño fought separatist and terrorist groups in Mindanao.On Tuesday, a change of command ceremony was held at the grandstand at the main headquarters of the Philippine Marines in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pnp-chiefs-mistah-new-marines-chief/348876/
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Bello ‘selling’ OFW cards – lawmaker
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2018-07-13 00:05:48+00:00
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Rep. Aniceto Bertiz of ACTS-OFW party-list accused Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd of charging P720 for the identification card 1-DoLE card of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW).Bertiz said the card was donated by his group and should be given free. The card was supposed to replace the Overseas Employment/Exit Certificate (OEC).Bertiz also accused the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) of taking credit for the OFW ID project. He said Bello and Assistant Secretary Kris Ablan of the Presidential Communications and Operations Office claimed credit for the ID project during a recent pre-State of the Nation Address briefing in which the two labor officials accused Bertiz of maligning DoLE.“Those IDs were donated by our party-list, and DoLE charged P720 per ID. Mr. Ablan’s misrepresentation in the said [pre-SONA] forum, which I did not attend, then gave Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello the excuse to malign my name and character,” Bertiz said in a news conference.The lawmaker, a former OFW, said Ablan should apologize or “better yet, resign from his post.”Bertiz questioned Bello’s capability as an aspirant to the post of the Ombudsman, saying the Labor secretary cannot even be honest about the IDs, which were donated by ACTS-OFW party-list.Bertiz challenged Bello to go to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to confirm for himself that the OFW ID is “useless” since it is not recognized in Immigration counters. He said Immigration authorities still require OFWs to bring their OEC.In a radio interview, Bello argued that he ordered the suspension of the implementation of the OFW ID card because it has been made into a money-making scheme.“The OFW ID is important because the OFWs are really complaining of the hassle of securing an OEC. The ones who made the OFWs pay for the card are not authorized to do so, that’s why I suspended the implementation of the use of OFW ID card,” Bello said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/bello-selling-ofw-cards-lawmaker/418812/
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JV sees passage of health care bill
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2018-09-03 00:08:38+00:00
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Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito sees the passage by the Senate of the Universal Health Care bill this month.The head of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography wants the measure approved by the bicameral conference committee in October before lawmakers become busy with the 2019 midterm elections.“(My) target is to finish it in two weeks and hopefully we can pass it in October,” Ejercito said in an interview with Radio DZBB.“That would already be the start of the political season, so I hope we can pass it by then. This is one of the landmark measures we are aiming to approve immediately,” he added.At least three senators expressed their intention to interpellate, but Ejercito said he does not expect his colleagues to oppose Senate Bill 1458 which was certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte in July.Among the issues that would be tackled during the interpellation period are the funding sources, the responsibility of provinces in the implementation of the law, and service delivery networks.“Our primary objective is to guarantee equal access to quality and affordable health services for each Filipino, along with ensuring that such will not be a financial burden,” Ejercito, the sponsor of the measure, said in a text message.Under the measure, the Philippine Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) would pool health funds and financial assistance from various government agencies, including the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).This means that sick Filipinos or their kin will no longer have to queue for several hours to get assistance from the PCSO.Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Ejercito said the health expenditure of each Filipino rose by 8.7 percent in 2016 — P6,345 — compared to P5,840 in 2015.Ejercito however said the data does not really capture the burden of individual Filipinos, especially families with members suffering from serious illnesses.Of the total health expenditures, 54.2 percent were shouldered by families while only 34.2 percent were paid for by the government in 2016.Once the Universal Health Care bill takes effect, each Filipino can save P7,000 or more annually in medical expenses, depending on his or her ailment or condition.Under the proposed law, all Filipinos will automatically be covered in the National Health Insurance Program.The bill also seeks to expand the service coverage and aims to strengthen the preventive and promotive aspects of health service.Ejercito said the measure harmonizes and coordinates the duties and responsibilities of the Department of Health, Philhealth, local government units, and other concerned agencies.The bill will also address the lack of hospital beds in state medical facilities.The House of Representatives approved House Bill 5784 or the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) bill on third and final reading in September 2017.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/jv-sees-passage-of-health-care-bill/437420/
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DILG completes 535 infra projects
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['Jing Villamente']
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2017-01-02 22:18:46+00:00
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~By A total of 535 or 68 percent of the 787 projects aimed to bring real change to conflict-affected areas have been completed through the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)’s Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) program. DILG Secretary Ismael Sueno said since the program started in 2012, they have been monitoring the 252 remaining projects, which are on various stages of implementation. Through PAMANA, the DILG addresses sub-regional development interventions covering economic structures, local roads, evacuation centers, water supply systems and community infrastructure sub-projects. “Real development, real change is inclusive and does not leave behind areas affected or vulnerable to armed conflict,” Sueno said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/dilg-completes-535-infra-projects/304828/
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Groups seek laws to curb child rape
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['Neil Jayson Servallos']
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2018-08-26 00:03:39+00:00
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ADVOCACY groups vowed to push for more effective laws to raise the age of sexual consent in order to deter child rape and help better determine the grounds for statutory rape.The groups asked Sen. Risa Hontiveros to sponsor a bill that will amend the anti-child rape and anti-trafficking laws that provide that children aged 12 and above are legally able to consent to have sex.Dr. Elizabeth de Castro of the Psychosocial Support and Children’s Rights Resource Center said 12-year-olds are still not able to comprehend the meaning of consent and sexuality.“Laws should not keep the age of sexual consent as low as 12 years, because even more Filipino children would fall victim to commercial sexual exploitation,” de Castro said.The groups want the age of sexual consent raised to 16.De Castro cited a recent Unicef study that tagged the Philippines as the global epicenter for child sex abuse, with eight out of 10 Filipino children reportedly at risk of cyber sexual abuse.Another study of international humanitarian organization Plan International completed in 2016 said children from slum areas are abused in online shows, asked to carry out degrading acts on film and service a global audience of pedophiles.“The Philippines has the lowest age of sexual consent stated in its laws, as compared to its neighboring countries in Asia where the minimum is 16 or 18 years old,” the study titled “Children and the Sex Trade in the Digital Age” said.De Castro said one of the main culprits of child sex abuse is unsupervised computer and internet access among children, such as the “Pisonet” scheme of renting net connection and early use of gadgets.She said an estimated 100,000 Filipino children are trafficked through prostitution rings and cybersex hubs each year.“This is a business of men. The best place to traffic due to poverty and geography, corruption and internet and mobile access, migration mentality, this makes us a perfect place for trafficking,“ Anthony Pangilinan of Called to Rescue said.Kill culture of silenceIn some instances, parents abet the trafficking of their children, Trish Ayson of child abuse rehabilitation through sports group Girls Got Game said.“Impoverished parents living in Philippine shanties don’t believe they are doing anything wrong,” she revealed. “Because they think they are just actually performing on the computer, and there’s no contact, there is no touch, it’s fine.”She said an increasing number of children are now being filmed and coaxed to be unwittingly abused online, sometimes by their peers.According to Pangilinan, some individuals are “cashing in on Facebook to put perverts in direct contact with their victims. Once the transaction ends and photos and videos are sold, the connection through a secret page will be deleted.”Plan Philippines said it is working with the Facebook Philippines team based in Bonifacio Global City to control the conduct of cybersex using their social network.“These incidents are not limited to the marginalized, as even more children unwittingly surrender themselves to different sexual markets online because of poor family values and sexual education,” Pangilinan said.He added that sex education should start at a young age so that children can develop the sense of valuing sexuality.“Most parents, even those in the middle class, do not know how to talk to their children. With that, they tend to lock themselves in their rooms, and their parents do not know that they are in contact with predators online, sending videos and photos,” he explained.Meanwhile, Ernesto Almocera Jr. of Plan International Philippines said sex should be taught properly to children.“The culture of silence unwittingly emboldens our children to engage (in sex) because they do not know the value of their sexuality. Our country is generally a conservative country and sexual matters like these are not discussed at home and at school,” Almocera said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/groups-seek-laws-to-curb-child-rape/434694/
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QC mayor to sign deeds of donations for 11 schools
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-09-05 21:21:13+00:00
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The Quezon City Council has authorized Mayor Herbert Bautista to sign the deeds of donations for 11 public Senior High Schools in the city’s First District. In City Resolution 7130-2017, introduced by Councilor Victor Ferrer Jr., 11 units of 32” LED monitor television, sound systems with mixers and DLP Professional Projector with Screen were purchased through the initiative of Councilor Anthony Peter Crisologo, and will be donated to the 11 public schools of the First District. The beneficiaries are Ernesto Rondon High School, San Francisco High School, Quezon City Science High School, Pugad Lawin High School, Judge Juan Luna High School, Sergio Osmena Sr. High School, Masambong High School, Balingasa High School, San Jose High School, NOH-School for Crippled Children and E. Rodriguez Jr. High School. The items will be delivered to the schools so that the city-owned property can be utilized by the recipients without cost. “All these donated items constitute a means by which the receiving schools can adequately provide, if not improve, the quality of education and services that these schools render their students,” Bautista said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/qc-mayor-sign-deeds-donations-11-schools/348847/
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Duterte feels vindicated after Trump acknowledged opioid crisis in US
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['Melenggay Laranery', 'Felipe Soriano', 'Paul Parenas', 'Chinese Taosug']
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27/10/2017 0:00
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The United States is now in “total disorder” following President Donald Trump’s declaration of the opioid crisis as a national health emergency, President Duterte said on Friday night.The President felt vindicated after America finally realized the gravity of the deadly drug crisis, saying he previously warned about the problem but got criticized by then President Barack Obama for his relentless anti-drug crackdown.Duterte also taunted his drug war critics, particularly the “yellow” forces, for looking up to America as a model in the war against drugs in the past, when it is now battling the painkiller-addiction.“Before I left, I was viewing CNN. Trump has declared a national emergency because of drugs. Sinabi ko na. Sinabi ko, ‘Kayo, paimbestiga-imbestiga sila Obama noon. One day, to your sorrow.’ O kita mo ngayon. They just declared (I told them so. I told Obama wanted to investigate me, I told them ‘one day to your sorrow.’ Look at them now),” he said Friday night.Duterte spoke at a homecoming event of the Davao City-based Center for Bright Beginnings here at the Davao Convention Center.“Yung America, yung idol ninyo noon. Kita mo [Look at America, your idol. Look at them] so what’s happening to America? It is in total disorder,” he said.Trump, in an address at the White House, said the opioid epidemic has become a national health emergency. He has authorized federal agencies to use resources to arrest the drug problem, including providing treatment for addicts. The US leader acknowledged that the epidemic would “get worse before it gets better.”Duterte said it took “time” for America to realize the drug crisis while he had long known about the “devastation” of drugs on a person’s health.He recalled that he even told then Obama to “go to hell” after reprimanding him in public over the drug crackdown.“It’s national, it’s because it affects the health. Tsaka (Also) illegal substance affects the health and affects the peace. Huwag mong kalimutan ‘yan (Do not forget that),” he said. “It is health, it is law and order,” he added.During his address, Duterte also ordered the Department of Education (DepEd) to provide information materials to all schools on the adverse effects of drugs such as marijuana, ecstacy, shabu, heroin, and other illegal drugs.The President also spoke directly to the children who were in the audience.“Alam ninyo kung bakit nagagalit ako sa TV? Kasi yung mga bad people, ayaw ko sila dito sa mundong ito (Do you know why I get mad on TV? It’s because of the bad people, I don’t want them here in our world),” President Duterte addressed the toddlers who were seated on a mat.“Kaya gusto ko silang mawala para walang gugulo sa buhay ninyo (That’s why I want them to disappear so that they won’t mess up your lives),” Duterte said.He added: “At pag lumaki na kayo kagaya ng papa mo at mama mo, ang buhay ninyo hindi masyado problema (And when you grow up like your fathers and mothers, your lives will not have much problems).”Duterte said his government wanted to leave behind a society where children could live comfortably.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/10/27/duterte-feels-vindicated-after-trump-acknowledged-opioid-crisis-in-us/
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De Lima renews call to stop EJKs
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2017-12-23 20:18:00+00:00
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THE Christmas season is the “perfect time” for the government to heed the people’s call to end alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) of suspected drug personalities as a result of its war on drugs.Detained Sen. Leila de Lima said this on Saturday as she reiterated that the campaign against illegal drugs should be based on human rights and the rule of law.“Christmas, after all, is best spent if family members remain intact and complete,” said de Lima, who is detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center on drug charges.“But may we also remember that Christmas this year, as with last year, brings sadness and grief to many of our countrymen who will not be with their loved ones killed in [President Rodrigo] Duterte’s drug war,” she said.She claimed that the death toll connected to the government’s war on drugs has already reached about 13,000, “with the President vowing to continue his violent approach to ‘solving’ illegal drugs in the country until the end of his term in 2022.”Like her birthday wish, de Lima said her Christmas wish is to “be vindicated from all the trumped-up” illegal drug charges filed against her by the Duterte administration.De Lima said she wants to go back to her old, normal life. “I miss those days where I can do the simple things that make me happy, like going to the wet market, cooking, and driving on top of doing my regular duties as a public servant,” she added.The senator said she also misses going to the church every Sunday, including visits to Our Lady of Manaoag Church in Pangasinan, twice a month.De Lima, as with other PNP Custodial Center detainees, were granted visits from family and relatives on Christmas Eve, December 24, until 1 a.m. the following day and on December 25, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.She hopes this will be her “first and last Christmas in detention.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/de-lima-renews-call-stop-ejks/370293/
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Red Cross to attend statutory meet
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['Neil Alcober']
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2017-11-04 20:51:34+00:00
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THE Philippine Red Cross (PRC) official delegation led by its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Gordon will be taking part in the 2017 Statutory Meetings of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which will be held on November 5 to 11, 2017 in Antalya Turkey.The event is composed of the General Assembly of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Red Cross and Red Crescent (RCRC) Forum to discuss relevant humanitarian concerns.This year, PRC is vying for re-election as member of the governing board to represent the Asia Pacific Region.The 21st General Assembly is the supreme body of the IFRC that meets every two years to define and discuss new humanitarian policies, as well as address thematic areas of the national societies.The assembly will bring together more than 1,200 delegates, 190 national societies, IFRC, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and corporate partners to provide an excellent set of goals and discuss several agenda.The movement aims to further improve coordination, cooperation, and response, not only in large-scale emergencies but also in day-to-day situations. It also amended the IFRC Constitution to modernize its election process by allowing electronic voting as well as strengthening its compliance mechanism.The attendees will discuss: youth development; volunteering, strengthen recovery and resiliency from disasters and crises; protecting healthcare; respecting the emblems; migration; restoring family links; addressing mental health and psychosocial needs; and the promotion of a culture of non-violence and peace.Every four years, the IFRC elects a president, four of its vice presidents, and 20 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to form its governing board. The IFRC governing board is the highest policy making body of the Red Cross Movement worldwide. Its members are involved in establishing, reviewing policies, and ensuring that policies are appropriate. It also gives the national societies an ownership of the policies and will to implement them.The president occupies the highest office of IFRC, and she/he is responsible to the general assembly in ensuring that IFRC pursues its general purpose and exercises its functions as defined in the Constitution.PRC was chosen among the 35 exhibitors to showcase set of humanitarian works domestically and the support provided by the PRC outside the Philippines including several operations in Nepal, Ghaza and Bangladesh. An interactive exhibit to engage some 1,200 delegates from different parts of the world will also set up.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/red-cross-attend-statutory-meet/360653/
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‘Unitary tax system favors cigarette multinationals’
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-02-16 21:22:05+00:00
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A London School of Economics-trained economist, quoting the latest technical manual (Chapter 2) of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tobacco Tax Administration, said a unitary tax system favors producers of expensive brands, a segment dominated by multinational tobacco companies.Dr. Ernesto R. Gonzales, post-graduate professor at University of the Philippines-Manila, added, “That’s why the European Commission, recognizing the health objectives of cigarette excises, simultaneously impose two types of taxes on tobacco—a specific tax to set a minimum floor which is high enough to discourage smoking and an ad valorem tax for progressivity.”Gonzales cautioned lawmakers and pro-health advocates that they might be overlooking the issue of upshifting to premium brands under a unitary tax regime because of negligible gaps in retail prices.Under provisions of Republic Act 10351 or the sin tax reform law, the Philippines is now under a unitary tax regime where cigarettes are taxed P30 per pack regardless of classification (non-premium and premium).“In fact,” Gonzales said, when the price gap between cheaper and more expensive brands narrows, the price increase, due to higher taxation, may alter consumers’ marginal willingness to pay for product ‘quality’ subject to income.”According to him, “the hypothesis that the market share of lower-priced cigarettes falls when specific excises increase, as the relative price between higher- and lower-priced cigarettes is reduced, is supported by empirical evidence. Sobel and Garrett (1997) find that increases in specific taxes reduced the market share of generic (lower-priced) brands in the U.S. significantly.”The manual further states: “Theory shows that profits are relatively higher under specific taxation (e.g. Delipalla and Keen, 1992). Moreover, a tax increase may lead to an increase in profits. More than 100 percent overshifting (i.e. prices rise by more than the tax increase itself) is a requisite for an increase in profits: as a higher tax increases consumer price and reduces demand, for profits to rise, the after-tax mark up must rise. It is not therefore surprising that tobacco multinationals prefer specific taxes.”Philip Morris International’s (PMI) 2015 annual report (page 57) supports this upshifting trend, “The decline in our cigarette shipment volume reflected the lower total market combined with lower consumption of our low and super-low price brands, following price increases in late 2014 and early 2015, partly offset by higher market share, driven by adult smoker uptrading (upshifting) to Marlboro, combined with market share growth of Fortune, reflecting the narrowing of retail price gaps with brands at the bottom end of the market.”Collated data in the same page of the report also showed that Marlboro sales in the Philippines increased by 2.7% that roughly translates into billions of pesos.Gonzales supported former National Economic and Development Authorit chief Romulo Neri’s statement that Table 1 of SEATCA Tobacco Tax Index 2015 report shows only Brunei Darussalam and Singapore out of 10 Southeast Asian countries with a unitary excise tax.“He did not misuse data provided by SEATCA but merely cited it objectively,” he pointed out.“Comparatively,” Gonzales said, “Page 36 of the WHO manual shows a table that out of 182 countries, 60 used ad valorem [according to value], 48 used mix ad valorem and specific excise tax system while specific (unitary or multi-tier) excise tax are applied in 55 countries and 19 have no excise taxes at all.”In concluding his argument, he pointed out that the two-tier tax rates under House Bil. 4144 are higher than the current unitary tax rate and is pro-health since poor smokers are more elastic to price changes, thus a P32 tax (under two-tier) is more discouraging than a P30 rate while noting that poor smokers are sensitive to price increases.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/unitary-tax-system-favors-cigarette-multinationals/312604/
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Court asked to junk train fare hikes amid MRT mess
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-11-23 20:29:56+00:00
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The Supreme Court (SC) was against asked by a militant party-list group on Thursday to scrap fare hikes for Metro Manila’s train systems amid breakdowns in operations the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT 3).In a motion filed before the SC, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate led his party list group in asking for immediate resolution of a consolidated petition seeking nullification of Department of Transportation and Communications Order 2014-04 on the fare hike directive.The order gave way for the adjustment of the base fare from P10 to P11 for both the Metro Rail Transit and the Light Rail Transit 1 and LRT 2 with additional P1 for each kilometer beginning January 4, 2015.With this, the maximum fare on the train lines went up to between P28 and P30, from the previous P15 to P20.Other petitioners in the case are former Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco and the United Filipino Consumers and Commuters Inc.Named respondents in the consolidated petition were then-Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, MRT 3 and LRT 1 and LRT 2 officials, Metro Rail Transit Corp. and Light Rail Manila Consortium.Bayan Muna said the riding public should be given a refund by the train systems.“[T]he MRT 3, despite the much-questioned and much-protested fare hike, continues to give its passengers poor and unsatisfactory service. It continues to experience technical problems that endanger the safety of the riding public. News about its malfunctions has now become so common, and complaints from the public have been increasing,” the pleading stated.It pointed out ta series of incidents in the MRT 3 that include a coach that detached from the train requiring evacuation of around 130 to 140 passengers, a woman whose right arm was severed on November 14 when it was caught in the MRT 3 train’s coupler and a disposable diaper left hanging on the MRT 3’s overhead system that stalled operations for more than an hour.“The worsening condition of our rail systems in spite of the implementation of the fare hikes only proves the correctness and validity of petitioners’ grounds for their opposition to the 2015 LRT/MRT fare hikes, as embodied in the Department Order No. 2014-014 of the then-DoTC,” the pleading said, referring to the Department of Transportation and Communication.“In essence, the petitioners argued that the unilateral imposition of the fare hike is a violation of the riding public’s right to due process; that the fare hike was without sufficient factual basis; and that the fare hike is unjust and unreasonable and contrary to public policy,” it added.JOMAR CANLAS
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/court-asked-junk-train-fare-hikes-amid-mrt-mess/364663/
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Lone Cavite bettor bags P54-million lotto pot
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-05-15 21:18:13+00:00
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A lone bettor from Cavite won the P54.435 million 6/49 Superlotto jackpot of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) during Sunday night’s draw.PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan said the lucky winner placed his bet at a lotto outlet in Imus, Cavite.The bettor using standard bet correctly guessed the winning combination 05-43-34-02-33-26, bagging the total jackpot of P54,425,004.Balutan said apart from the grand winner, 20 other bettors would get P52,760 each after correctly guessing five of the six-number combination.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/lone-cavite-bettor-bags-p54-million-lotto-pot/327359/
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Court defers Trillanes’ plea to junk arrest
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['Neil Jayson Servallos']
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2018-10-13 00:02:48+00:00
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The Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 on Friday deferred granting Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th’s motion to scrap the arrest order against him, and instead ordered the senator’s camp to file in five days its reply to the Justice department’s opposition.Makati Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda made the order after the Department of Justice (DoJ) opposed Trillanes’ motion, which gave the senator’s lawyer Reynaldo Robles a period of 5 days to file his reply to the opposition.Trillanes filed a 19-page omnibus motion for reconsideration by way of special appearance through his counsel Reynaldo Robles last October 1, where he asked the court to void its September 25 order for his arrest as it lacked “legal and factual basis.”It said that Branch 150 made a “grave” mistake in issuing an arrest order which was weighed through the basis of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation 572 which voided Trillanes’ amnesty ab initio (from the beginning).After both parties have filed their respective pleadings, the court shall deem the motion for resolution. NEIL JAYSON SERVALLOS
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/court-defers-trillanes-plea-to-junk-arrest/451464/
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Two suspect cases test negative for avian flu
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['Kenneth Hare Hernandez']
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2017-08-16 22:25:11+00:00
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The Department of Health (DoH) on Wednesday said laboratory test results released by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) showed that the two suspect cases of farmers in San Luis, Pampanga, with flu-like symptoms turned out as negative.DoH Assistant Secretary Enrique Tayag said they have been informed of the negative test results of the suspect cases.Tayag added that the two farm workers were discharged from the hospital. “They have already been told to rest at home,” he said.The Health official added that the two were also advised to continue taking Oseltamivir capsules.Earlier, the DoH said there were two suspected cases of avian flu infection being monitored in San Luis.Tayag said cross-infection of chicken to human is rare while human to human infection is “with great difficulty” as studies on the disease show that among a million exposed in other countries, only 200 were infected by avian flu.The avian flu strains that have been known to jump to humans are the H5N1 and H5N7 sub-types.The strain that hit the chickens of San Luis was avian influenza type A sub-type H5 as confirmed by Agriculture Secretary Emmanual Piñol in a news briefing.The Health department is yet to receive a report from the Agriculture department on what exact strain affected the chickens in Pampanga.A person infected with avian flu shows some of these symptoms: mild conjunctivitis or swelling of the eyes and severe pneumonia.Farm workers on Monday reported flu-like symptoms after being interviewed by the RITM.They were taken to an undisclosed hospital where they were subjected to nasal and throat swabs.After 48 hours of monitoring, they were confirmed negative for bird flu.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/two-suspect-cases-test-negative-avian-flu/344875/
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Make transportation terminals ‘sanctuaries’
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-03-28 00:01:53+00:00
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Land and sea transportation terminals should be improved because they are a crucial and important part of traveling in the Philippines.This was pointed out by Sen. Grace Poe, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Services, who sponsored on March 19 passage of Senate Bill (SB) 1749 under Committee Report 286.The report seeks to improve land transportation terminals, stations, stops, rest areas and roll-on/roll-off (Ro/Ro) terminals through simple, effective and practical measures.“Along the tens of thousands of kilometers of lengthy roads all around the country, land transportation terminals, stations, stops and rest areas are like sanctuaries for travelers using land transportation,” Poe said.“This measure is a win-win proposal. It will improve the experience of weary Filipino travelers who use these transport terminals during their long trips. It is an improvement which will be immediately seen and felt,” she added.SB 1749 seeks to mandate owners, operators or administrators of land transport terminals, stations, stops, rest areas and Ro/Ro terminals to provide clean, sanitary facilities for passengers.It harmonizes existing laws and regulations on this matter such as the “Code on Sanitation of the Philippines” and LTFRB’s [Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board] “Guidelines for Off-Street Terminal Operations.”SB 1749 also “seeks to prohibit the collection of fees from passengers for the use of sanitary facilities in transport terminals. This institutionalizes the LTFRB’s existing guidelines on the same issue,” Poe said.According to the Long Term Vision of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) study Ambisyon Natin 2040, Filipinos consider traveling as “one of the signs that their family is living well.”“[A family is considered well-off if it can afford to travel. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) supports this data],” the senator said.According to the PSA, 42 million Filipinos traveled in 2016 or equivalent to 58 percent of the population aged 15 and above.“This could be the reason why tourism in the Philippines is thriving,” the senator said.The PSA reported that domestic tourism receipts reached over P2.1 billion in 2016.Poe said SB 1749 seeks to mandate the provision of free Internet in these terminals as well as the establishment of at least one lactation station, which must be “separate” from the sanitary facilities.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/make-transportation-terminals-sanctuaries/388914/
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Govt can’t have 25-M SMC shares – SC
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['Jaime Pilapil']
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2016-11-02 21:58:11+00:00
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The Supreme Court (SC) has denied an omnibus motion of the government to include the 25.45-million San Miguel Corporation (SMC) shares that were subject of a 1990 compromise agreement as part of SMC assets to be reconveyed to the State.In a 27-page en banc resolution penned by Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. in the consolidated cases in GR Nos. 177857-88 (Philippine Coconut Producers Federation Inc., et al. v. Republic) and GR No. 178193 (Ursua v. Republic) promulgated on October 5, 2016, the High Court said the denial was without prejudice to the right of respondent to institute the appropriate action or proceeding where SMC’s alleged right over the 25.45 million SMC treasury shares will be determined and finally resolved.The contested 25.45 million SMC shares were subject of the compromise agreement dated March 20 and 22, 1990 entered into by and between the SMC Group and the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) Group that SMC subsequently converted to treasury shares.The SC held that it has no jurisdiction over SMC since it is not a party to the case.It noted that SMC was never made a party to CC No. 0033-F filed by the government to recover the SMC shares of stock registered in the name of the Coconut Industry Investment Fund Holding (CIIF) Companies nor was it “given a chance to justify, let alone ventilate, its claim over the 25.45 million shares it has in its possession even when it had volunteered to participate and moved to intervene in the said case.”“Certainly, SMC cannot, under the premises, be considered as such judgment obligor in CC 0033-F as it was not impleaded by respondent Republic as a party despite the clear mandate of the Rules of Court that ‘parties in interest without whom no final determination can be had of an action shall be joined as plaintiffs or defendants,’” the High Court said.Civil Case (CC) No. 0033 was the case for recovery of ill-gotten wealth instituted by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) with the Sandiganbayan against former President Ferdinand Marcos, Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., et al.in 1987.The SC, however, also held that its “acknowledgment that the court has no jurisdiction over SMC in the present case is not ‘allow[ing] San Miguel Corporation to keep these treasury shares under the guise of technicalities.’”The question of jurisdiction, the court has repeatedly explained, is not a mere question of technicality or a simple matter of procedure but an element of due process.“Indeed, it is unsporting, nay the height of injustice a clear violation of the due process guarantee, to order SMC to comply with any decision rendered in CC 0033-F when it was never given the opportunity to present, explain and prove its claim over the presently contested shares,” the High Court said.It added that that its pronouncements in Republic v. Sandiganbayan, Lobregat et al. (GR No. 96073), one of the cases that sprang forth from the sequestration made by PCGG of pieces of property suspected to have been ill-gotten by Marcos and his cronies, is not applicable in the present case because “[u]nlike in the foregoing cases, SMC presently has a legitimate claim over the 25.45 million shares in its treasury by a commercial transaction not otherwise alleged to be conducted under any ‘illicit or anomalous conditions.’ SMC and the CIIF Companies (through UCPB) entered into the contract of sale in March 1986 and SMC paid P500 million on April 1, 1986 or several days prior to the actual sequestration… As the manner of SMC’s acquisition of these shares was arm’s length and not made through public funds, the present issue does not fall within the ambit of our pronouncements in Republic v. Sandiganbayan.”The SC said SMC should have been allowed to participate and present its evidence in CC 0033-F when it filed a “Motion to Intervene” but government lawyers opposed the intervention and found the same improper.Undeniably, it added, SMC was not given the proper chance to be heard and furnish proof on its claim of ownership over the treasury shares.That was a denial of its right to due process and it should be corrected, the SC said.It clarified its January 24, 2012 resolution where it finally rendered judgment on the captioned consolidated petitions and affirmed with modification the partial summary judgments (PSJs) of the Sandiganbayan holding that the CIIF Companies and the CIIF block of SMC shares are public funds/assets.The High Court underscored that the government participated in negotiation of the compromise agreement.It also held that there was nothing on record that says the government offered to return the P500 million to the SMC Group.That is to say that while the respondent Republic is asking for the delivery and reconveyance of the 25.45 million shares, the SC said, it has not intimated its intention to return the P500 million it received (through the CIIF Companies now declared as government-owned) for the same shares.It further held that while the general rule is that the State cannot be put in estoppel by the mistakes or errors of its officials or agents, it is established that “[t]he rule on non-estoppel of the government is not designed to perpetrate an injustice” Thus, several exceptions to the Republic’s non-estoppel have been recognized.Justice Velasco was joined by Justices Arturo Brion, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Jose Portugal Perez, Jose Catral Mendoza and Bienvenido Reyes.Senior Justice Antonio Carpio, Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Francis Jardeleza and Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa did not take part.Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Justice Marvic Leonen wrote separate dissenting opinions.Sereno voted to grant the government’s motion.“It was only because of the obstinate refusal of SMC to heed the Sandiganbayan’s directives to deliver the shares, and its stark circumvention of the sequestration proceedings that the compromise agreement was brazenly implemented despite the absence of the Sandiganbayan’s approval. This court cannot countenance these acts of SMC by holding it blameless and putting the Republic in estoppel through the delayed action of its agents she said .”Leonen said that by denying the manifestation and omnibus motion filed by the government, “the ponencia [ruling] effectively reconsiders the long-settled cases of San Miguel Corporation et al. v. Sandiganbayan [First Division], Cocofed, et al. v. Republic and Republic v. Cocofed et al.”He added, “It is the duty of this court to see through the elaborate legal machinations of parties who have substantial resources by using the light of principle and the true spirit of our fundamental laws in order to achieve social justice. It is simply unfair for a party to decline to follow a final and executory order of this court in one case and then cry due process in another. Social justice is not mere shibboleth It is a constitutional fiat.Not only is it a juridical necessity; it is also the basis of a humane society… The majority’s position falls short of achieving this ideal It has made it more difficult for impoverished coconut farmers to gain what is truly [owed] them after suffering the exactions of the martial law years.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/govt-cant-25-m-smc-shares-sc/294445/
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Duterte has shortlist of next chief of military
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['Fernan Marasigan']
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2016-12-04 22:45:36+00:00
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THE Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Department of National Defense (DND) have submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte a shortlist of military officials for the next AFP chief of staff, a military official disclosed on Sunday.The military, according to Col. Edgard Arevalo , chief of the AFP Public Affairs Office, is waiting for the formal announcement from Malacanang on who will replace AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Ricardo Visaya, who will vow out of the service on December 8 as he reachs the mandatory retirement age of 56.Arevalo refused to reveal the names of those in the shortlist.“There is already a shortlist but I’m not in a position to divulge the names but what I heard is there is already a shortlist that is being studied by the Commander-in-Chief,” he said.Commonly, candidates for the top military post are three-star generals who are either unified or major service commanders.Arevalo said whoever is picked by the President to replace Visaya is qualified.“But then again we always would like to give the President a free hand. We would like to give him ample choices of successors to chose from, or options to chose from,” he added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-shortlist-next-chief-military/299993/
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Dswd proposes P1.45B for drug surrenderers
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['Angelica Ballesteros']
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2016-10-11 21:16:47+00:00
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The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has proposed a P1.45-billion supplemental budget earmarked for the national drug rehabilitation program to attend to the needs of 600,000 surrenderers, an official said on Tuesday.At a news conference dubbed as “Unang 100 Araw ng Pagbabago,” Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns Anton Hernandez added that the proposed allotment will go to after-care support for the drug surrenderers to go back to their community.“The department … will soon be implementing the after-care, reintegration, rehabilitation and transformation support for recovering drug dependents,” Hernandez said.“The department acted on instruction from Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco to submit the proposal to the DILG for the consolidation and to get the approval from Budget Secretary [Benjamin] Diokno,” he added, referring to the Department of the Interior and Local Government.The proposal is for a total of P1,452,982,000 for October to December 2016 and the year 2017.Target participants are 37,916 drug surrenderers [for the funds of October to December] that represents 10 percent of the surrenderers as of August 16 data of the Philippine National Police (PNP).The after-care program is part of the three-part rehabilitation supervised by the DILG.According to Hernandez, the program will be the last stage of reintegration.“What we want is to help the drug pushers and users who have surrendered to rehabilitate themselves and return of the mode of society as productive members,” he quoted DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo as saying.“Our country’s drug problem has to be addressed through interventions that go to the root causes–poverty caused by lack of social support for many Filipinos, corruption in various levels in the various agencies in the government and lack of sustainable and productive employment for the poor,” Hernandez added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/dswd-proposes-p1-45b-drug-surrenderers/290745/
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San Juan City hosts Marawi benefit concert
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['Neil Alcober']
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2017-09-17 00:33:03+00:00
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THE city government of San Juan will be hosting a benefit concert on September 20 for the victims of the ongoing Marawi siege. Its venue is at the Filoil Flying V Center in the city.Mayor Guia Gomez said the city government collaborated with the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Pinaglabanan, JCI Katipuneros and JCI Dambana to raise funds to help those affected by the long-standing conflict in Marawi City through a musical production dubbed as “San Juan para sa Marawi.”“We are grateful that we have this benefit concert as a platform for San Juaneños to share their sympathy and blessings to our brothers and sisters in Marawi. The San Juaneños are very kind and accommodating in nature and an event like this is a great opportunity to further imbibe the spirit of bayanihan [cooperation] in the city,” Gomez added.The concert will feature the musical prowess of some of the most reputable personalities in the industry that includes Basil Valdez, Celeste Legaspi, Ryan Cayabyab and The Company.By purchasing a ticket for as low as P300, Gomez said that concert goers will not only be able to enjoy a quality entertainment but can also fulfill their humanitarian role.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/san-juan-city-hosts-marawi-benefit-concert/351155/
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Lawmakers press PLDT probe
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2018-07-19 00:10:03+00:00
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The Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives called for a congressional inquiry on the refusal of Philippine Long Distance and Telephone (PLDT) to comply with a government order to grant regular status to its 7,300 employees.The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) had ordered the telecommunications giant to regularize thousands of its contractual employees but the order has yet to be implemented.“The DOLE issued a Clarificatory Order that reiterated and clarified its prior compliance order to PLDT regarding the regularization of its workers. The same clarificatory order tells PLDT to regularize its workers without any condition. It is now imperative for the House of Representatives to take an active role in mounting pressure for the PLDT to implement DOLE’s regularization order, uphold the workers’ rights, and investigate the labor rights violations experienced by the workers,” the Makabayan bloc said in a resolution filed on Wednesday.The group is composed of representatives from Bayan Muna, Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Gabriela, Kabataan and Anakpawis party-lists.Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd gave PLDT until the end of July to comply with the order.The PLDT appealed DoLE’s order before the Court of Appeals.Makabayan said PLDT should be held accountable for terminating its service contracts with various agencies in June, leaving 10,000 contractual workers jobless.“In just a span of almost half a month, PLDT workers have shown their united efforts and actions to advance and intensify their campaign for their just and legitimate demands for regularization. Therefore, it is here resolved that the committee on labor and employment conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the mass lay-off of thousands of PLDT workers nationwide and urge PLDT to regularize its workers,” the Makabayan bloc said.In its statement issued earlier, PLDT vowed to “continue to exert best efforts in good faith to resolve these issues, bearing in mind the welfare of the affected workers and PLDT’s own employees, its commitments to trade partners like its 38 service contractors, and its duty to deliver quality services to its customers.”“While PLDT awaits judicial relief from the CA, PLDT is carrying out an orderly and effective intake process in response to the DOLE order. This process involves the proper identification of individuals named in the DoLE order and establishing their respective qualifications and fitness for work,” PLDT said.The company denied terminating its service contracts with various agencies on June 30, saying that it was DoLE who ordered 38 service contract providers, including its call center and business process service providers, to cease and desist from providing services to PLDT.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/lawmakers-press-pldt-probe/420926/
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Nationwide smoking ban takes effect today
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['Kenneth Hare Hernandez']
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2017-07-22 23:04:40+00:00
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The nationwide smoking ban, as mandated by Executive Order (EO) No. 26 will be in effect starting today, July 23.Under EO 26, smoking in public places such as schools, workplaces, sidewalks and public vehicles is prohibited. The sale of tobacco to minors is also banned.The EO also requires establishments to put up “No Smoking” signs that measure at least 8 by 11 inches (20.3 by 27.9 cm), with a “No Smoking” symbol occupying at least 60 percent of the sign.Designated smoking areas should be open or rooms with adequate ventilation and must be separated from other rooms.The Department of Health (DoH) has established a hotline for the public to report establishments violating the nationwide smoking ban.The public may report establishments in violation of the provisions of the smoking ban through the DOH Hotline (02) 711-1002.DOH Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag clarified that only establishments and not private persons can be reported through the hotline.“There are many asking if they can report a person. That will be hard because it is a matter of whether they smoked or not,” he said.“What you will report to us when we receive the call, is the time when you saw the violation, the exact establishment and address. We will collate that and it will be sent to the local government through the DILG, since we had arranged the matter. The next step will be to them,” Tayag added, referring to the Department of Interior and Local Governments.He also appealed to the public not to abuse the hotline that may affect the smoking ban implementation.“We are asking the public to not let the hotline go to waste using false reports, malice, revenge or any other reason. They should only report the truth,” the health official said.LGUs urged to implementThe Health department has also advised local government units (LGUs) to create a smoke-free task force in their own communities to help with the implementation of the nationwide smoking ban.“We expect the local government[s] to organize a smoke-free task force,” Tayag said.The DOH official said that while the local health units are expected to lead the initiative, other members of the community can volunteer to help implement the smoking ban.“Normally, the one who leads their [village’s] health council will become team leader [of the task force]. But others also can also volunteer to join their group,” Tayag said.“They can also deputize barangay officials and if they have traffic enforcers on their payroll, they can also deputize them,” he added.He also mentioned other local government employees can volunteer to join the smoke-free task force if the group is not large enough to monitor tobacco use in the area.“Local government employees can volunteer in your area such as teachers, doctors, nurses, accountants, if your task force is small, you might find it hard to monitor,” he said.“The size of the task force will depend on the local government unit, like they can have a large task force which has many teams which they can deploy to monitor [an area], but the important thing is, it is a combined force of the local government and police of the PNP [Philippine National Police],” he added.Still no IRRHealth Secretary Paulyn Ubial on Wednesday said the nationwide smoking ban, as mandated by EO 26, will still be enforced starting today even in the absence of its implementing rules and regulations (IRR).Ubial added that there is still no IRR as “it is still being vetted with other government agencies.”She, however, said the IRR will be released as soon as possible after July 23.“We were hoping that it will come out [in] 60 days, but it did not happen since there are still many comments and consultations, so we’re hoping that it will come out soon, but we are not putting a deadline,” Ubial added.Tayag earlier said EO 26 can still be implemented even without an IRR, a requirement for new laws.The nationwide smoking ban is patterned after the anti-smoking ordinance that President Rodrigo Duterte imposed in Davao City when he was the mayor there.E-cigarettes or vapes are still being studied by the DoH to be included in the smoking ban based on the recommendation of the World Health Organization.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/nationwide-smoking-ban-takes-effect-today/340033/
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Caloocan police’s ‘culture’ of illegal-drug ops probed
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['Nelson Badilla']
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2017-09-17 17:46:50+00:00
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The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) will investigate whether a recent robbery involving members of the Caloocan City police was pulled off under the guise of legitimate operations against illegal drugs.Director Oscar Albayalde over the weekend said the NCRPO wants “to ascertain if [Senior Inspector (Warren) Peralta’s operation on September 7] was already a culture” in the Caloocan police.Albayalde last Friday sacked all 1,000 policemen of the Caloocan City police over the case of 13 members of the city police headed by Peralta who were caught on closed-circuit television camera robbing the house of a city resident last September 7.The case, according to the NCRPO police chief, reminded him of a similar illegal operation also done by 10 Caloocan City policemen last December.The 10 policemen are facing criminal and administrative charges.Albayalde said the Peralta group was ordered to report to the Philippine National Police’s Internal Affairs Service for a thorough investigation.He added that the 1,000 policemen sacked last week will be replaced by “disciplined” and “better” policemen.Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan expressed strong support to Albalyalde’s decision.In a statement, Malapitan said the policemen who use their uniforms for illegal operations against innocent residents of the city instead of protecting them must be punished accordingly.He, however, urged Albayalde to file appropriate charges against the 13 “criminal” instead of simply making them undergo retraining.The Caloocan City Police has been in hot water since August 18 over the killing of 17-year-old Kian Loyd de los Santos by city policemen carrying out a supposedly anti-illegal drug operation.Two days later, 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz and 14-year-old Reynaldo de Guzman were reported to have been kidnapped and later killed by armed men believed to be Caloocan City policemen.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/caloocan-polices-culture-illegal-drug-ops-probed/351239/
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P40B allotted for free education
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['Ralph Villanueva']
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2017-09-21 21:04:05+00:00
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The House of Representatives on Thursday said it had carved out P40 billion that will be used for the free college education program of the Duterte administration.“I am happy to announce that we found P40 billion to finance free higher education for 2018,” Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles said in a news conference at the chamber.According to Nograles, also the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, the amount was gathered from funds of different agencies.He said the appropriations committee got P30 billion from the Department of Education, P6 billion from scholarship programs of state universities and colleges or SUCs, P3 billion from the Department ofTransportation and P1 billion from the Department of Information and Communications Technology.Nograles added that the P40 billion will be used for free tuition and miscellaneous expenses in SUCs and inlocal universities and colleges that are accredited by Commission on Higher Education or CHEd.The allocation will also go to free technical vocational education in institutions that are under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or Tesda.It will also cover subsidy for nutrition education in SUCs and private schools, as well as student loans, according to Nograles.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/p40b-allotted-free-education/351979/
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Distribution of lots inside Marawi reservation pushed
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-09-04 21:50:37+00:00
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Former Vice President Jejomar Binay has asked the government to include the distribution of lots inside a military reservation in Marawi City to their occupants at present in its rehabilitation plans for Lanao del Sur’s capital city that has been ruined by armed conflict.In a letter to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Binay cited a petition from several residents of Marawi City who have been living within the military reservation that he received when he was chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).“These residents had requested the agency’s help in transferring to them ownership of the lots they occupied. Sadly, the change in administration precluded any further action on their request,” he said.The former HUDCC chairman urged Lorenzana, as Defense secretary and as martial law administrator in Mindanao, to consider his proposal in the government’s rehabilitation program for Marawi.Some 66,738 families made up of 324,406 individuals from Marawi and nearby Marantao, Lanao del Sur have reportedly been displaced by the Marawi siege.Many of them have been staying in evacuation centers while others have sought refuge in relatives’ homes in other towns and provinces.Recently, news of a rediscovered 1953 Presidential Decree giving military rights over some 6,000 hectares of land in Lanao del Sur, including the bulk of Marawi City, has caused anxiety among the already beleaguered residents.A number of local government leaders and representatives of Lanao del Sur has spoken up to warn concerned officials against causing further agitation among the Maranao people, giving emphasis to historical evidence as basis for the latter’s claim over the territory as their ancestral lands.Military officials, however, quickly sought to allay their fears by giving assurance that “ the military will not claim any land that it does not need.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/distribution-lots-inside-marawi-reservation-pushed/348633/
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SC justice sounds alarm over leakages
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-06-26 21:24:28+00:00
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A Supreme Court (SC) justice expressed alarm over alleged leakages of documents at the tribunal that came to fore after they ordered a temporary stop to the implementation of a landmark policy allowing consumers to choose their own supplier of electricity.In a letter, Justice Marvic Leonen told his fellow justices to tell their respective staff to take extraordinary precautions to prevent leakages of their synopses and votes during their discussions at en banc or division sessionsThis very letter was leaked to The Manila Times.Leonen said his office found an article in the online edition of Business Mirror entitled “Epira [Electric Power Industry Reform Act] incomplete without RCOA [Retail Competition and Open Access].”According to him, the article lifted quotes from their synopses, which were circulated only among members of the full court.The Supreme Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the implementation of Department of Energy (DoE) Circular DC2015-06-0010, Series of 2015, and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Resolutions 5, 10, 11 and 28, Series of 2016.The TRO was issued on February 21, or less than a week before February 26, when the resolutions were supposed to take effect.The DoE’s order said power users consuming an average of at least 1 megawatt (MW) per month are required to source power from a licensed retail electricity supplier (RES).Most of the power customers today are being supplied by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).“The court also noted the urgent need to issue the TRO, considering the February 26 deadline. If a TRO is not issued, the petition will become moot, and petitioners stand to suffer grave and irreparable injury, because they will be disconnected from the distribution utility or made to pay a supplier of last resort a 10-percent premium between the higher contracts and the Wholesale Electricity SpotMarket, the SC said…” a statement that the Business Mirror article quoted from the synopses.Leonen did not print his name in the letter but he signed the same using the letterhead of his office that reads “From the Chambers of Mario M.V.F. Leonen, Associate Justice.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sc-justice-sounds-alarm-leakages/335040/
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DSWD initiates free medicine program for poor
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['Dempsey Reyes']
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2017-03-26 01:09:43+00:00
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The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has urged poor families from various regions to avail themselves of its Libreng Gamot Para Sa Masa (Lingap), where free medicines will be given away by the agency.Metro Manila (NCR), Central Luzon, Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Davao Region can now obtain free medicines under DSWD’s Lingap program.Lingap is already implemented in selected hospitals in the said regions through the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital for NCR; Jose B. Lingad Memorial Hospital in San Fernando City, Pampanga for Central Luzon; Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City for Western Visayas; Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City for Central Visayas; and Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City and Davao Regional Hospital in Tagum City, both for the Davao Region.The DSWD’s free medicine initiatives is a project of President Rodrigo Duterte that provides P1-billion to fund medicine assistance for indigent Filipinos who cannot afford to buy medication.Some 984 indigent Filipinos from the said regions, as of March 22, have themselves availed of the Lingap program with a total disbursement of more than P8 million, according to the department.Lingap’s implementation is guided by the department’s Memorandum Circular No. 02, ensuring an orderly and standard utilization of the P1 billion fund by the Duterte administration.According to Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, the Lingap program is a “very good initiative” that will go a long way in providing assistance for poor families.“It is most heartbreaking to hear stories of impoverished Filipinos dying because they did not have the money to buy the medicine they needed to prolong their lives,” she said.“With Lingap, we can help a large number of our [fellow Filipinos] get the medicines they need,” she added.Under the program guidelines, indigents who are either confined in or receiving out-patient treatment from identified hospitals who are in need of prescription medicines are qualified to become beneficiaries of Lingap.The program’s priorities are families or individuals who are indigent, vulnerable or disadvantaged; informal sectors and poor based on the DSWD list; those who are in a crisis situation assessed by social workers; government employees and contract of service workers working in the government; and beneficiaries of soldiers and police who were killed or wounded in the line of duty.DSWD said that those who want to get of free medicine should provide a valid ID. A patient’s representative should also present an ID with a written authorization signed by the patient.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/dswd-initiates-free-medicine-program-poor/319252/
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Bill extending validity soon to lapse
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-07-28 22:10:37+00:00
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A proposed measure that seeks to extend the validity of driver’s license to five years is awaiting the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte.If signed into law, Sen. Grace Poe said on Friday, driver’s license holders would not need to line up every three years to renew their license and can even extend its validity to 10 years if they will not commit any traffic violation.Poe, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Services and sponsor of the Senate version, said the bill was transmitted to Malacañang for the President‘s approval on July 11.But even if Duterte failed to sign it, the enrolled bill would lapse into law in 30 days.After it becomes a law, Poe said, her panel will work with the Department of Transportation and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in drafting the implementing rules and regulations, which shall be promulgated not later than 30 days from the legislation’s effectivity.To make renewal of licenses convenient for drivers, the measure requires the LTO to create an online process within a year from the effectivity of the law.Congress also inserted a provision that license fees shall not cost more than the government’s procurement expense to make sure that drivers are not unduly charged in securing licenses.Also a fine of P20,000 shall be imposed against applicants for willful misrepresentation, connivance with an officer, falsification of documents and cheating during examinations, and they shall be prohibited from applying for two years.Based on LTO data, 5.8 million driver’s licenses were issued in 2016 alone.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/bill-extending-validity-soon-to-lapse/341113/
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Marines welcome separation from Navy
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['Dempsey Reyes']
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2018-03-18 00:03:33+00:00
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The leadership of the Philippine Marine Corps has welcomed proposed bills in both chambers of Congress to transform the Marines into a separate major service under the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).Maj. Gen. Alvin Parreño, Marines commandant, on Friday said they are in favor of the move made by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte and Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara proposing the Marines to be separated from the jurisdiction of the Philippine Navy.Both Alvarez and Angara are reservists in the Marines.Parreño pointed out that they are not aiming to be a huge unit like the Navy, the Philippine Army and the Philippine Air Force, despite the bills authored by Alvarez and Angara in the House of Representatives and the Senate, respectively.“We do not intend to be a big unit… and we don’t intend to compete for resources from any other branch of service [in the military],” he said in a text message to reporters, when asked if he is eyeing an expansion of the Marines once it becomes a separate branch of the military.“There will be a transition and we are still preparing for it,” Parreño added.He cited the Corps of Royal Marines in the United Kingdom with only 8,000 men despite being a separate service of the UK military.The Philippine Marines is a 7,500-strong unit under the Navy and the AFP.Parreño explained that the Marines is replenishing its battalions with more soldiers deployed across the country“We have this table of organization that we have to fill up. We are aiming to add more men to our battalions since it has a small number and my first objective is to fill that up,” the Marines chief said.Alvarez and House Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas filed House Bill 7304 or the Philippine Marine Corps Act this week that also seeks the establishment of Marines headquarters in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.Angara filed Senate Bill 1731 turning the Marines into an independent military branch, saying the Marines could play a crucial role in protecting the country’s territorial waters.The AFP at present has three major services—the Army, the Air Force and the Navy, which are traditionally headed by a three-star general belonging to each command.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/marines-welcome-separation-from-navy/386927/
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House won't release detained officials
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-06-03 00:02:48+00:00
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House won’t release detained officialshome/News/Nation/House won’t release detained officialsThe House of Representatives will not release the six Ilocos Norte provincial government officials detained at the chamber’s home at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City for their refusal to shed light on alleged misuse of P66.45 million in tobacco funds to buy vehicles under the watch of Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos.House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas of Ilocos Norte still refused to free the detainees despite the latter’s petition for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus before the Court of Appeals on Friday.The petition was filed by the provincial officials’ counsel, Da Vinci Crisostomo.The six detained in House Legislative Building since May 29 are Pedro Agcaoili (Provincial Planning and Development Office chairman); Josephine Calajate (provincial treasurer); Eden Battulayan (ProvincialTreasurer’s Office staff); Encarnacion Gaor (Provincial Treasurer’s Office staff); Genedine Jambaro (Provincial Treasurer’s Office staff) and Evangeline Tabulog (provincial budget officer).It was Fariñas’ House Resolution 882 that precipitated the inquiry into the usage of shares from excise taxes imposed on locally-manufactured Virginia-type cigarettes.“Under our Rules, until they stop their contemptuous act of giving evasive answers, meaning refusal to answer… I don’t think any man of sound mind, moreover, Appellate Court justices, would believe them,” Fariñas said in a statement.He was referring to Jambaro, who claimed in the congressional probe that she cannot remember receiving two cash advances amounting to P32 million and P18 million, for the purchase of the 110 minicabs and five buses four years ago.Fariñas accused Gaor of receiving P15.3 million for the purchase of the vehicles.“They said they could not remember anything, and that was the same excuse given by the Provincial Treasurer, Accountant, Budget Officer and the Planning Development Coordinator who requested their purchase. These people even claim they could not remember if there were such transactions. There is a clear conspiracy to hide or cover up these alleged misuse of funds for overpriced motor vehicles acquired through cash advances,” the congressman, a lawyer, pointed out.Fariñas noted that as soon as the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability began its investigation of the matter, all the documents concerning the purchase of such vehicles were stolen from the Commission on Audit in the Ilocos Norte provincial capitol.He said the offices of the Provincial Treasurer, Accountant, Budget Officer and Development Coordinator have destroyed all their files.“I hope they won’t rob also the banks of their records of the three checks involving the cash advances,” Fariñas added.Fariñas and Marcos used to be party-mates in the Nacionalista Party (NP).Marcos, however, did not issue a Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (Cona) to Fariñas for the 2016 elections–a required document to make Fariñas the official NP candidate for the congressional seat of the 1st District of Ilocos Norte.It was unclear why Marcos refused to issue the CONA to Fariñas.Since he was not issued the CONA, Fariñas joined then-ruling party Liberal Party (LP) that fielded former Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd for the 2016 presidential race.Roxas lost to then-Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte by over nine million votes.Shortly after the elections, Fariñas joined the ruling party PDP-Laban and was eventually named the House Majority Leader of the 17th Congress.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/house-wont-release-detained-officials/330635/
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Duterte signs law protecting workers
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2018-08-21 00:10:16+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure seeking to ensure the safety of Filipino workers, from hazards in their work environment.Duterte signed Republic Act 11058 or “An Act Strengthening Compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Standards” on August 17, but the documents were released to the media only on Monday, August 20.The new law mandates the labor secretary to issue the standards of occupational safety and health(OSH) based on the number of employees, nature of operations, and the risk or hazard involved.Covered by the law are all establishments, projects, sites, including Philippine economic zones and all other places of work except in the public sector.RA 11058 requires employers to provide a place of employment free from hazards, give complete job safety instructions and comply with OSH standards including the provision of protective and safety devices.It also requires all safety and health personnel to undergo training on basic occupational safety and health as prescribed by the Department of Labor and Employment.Employers who violate the law face a penalty of P100,000 for each day of violation to be counted from the day the employer or contractor was notified of the violation.The new law also provides for the creation of an OSH committee, which will ensure the enforcement of the safety and health program of the covered workplaces.The committee will be chaired by the employer or his representative. Its members will include safety officers representing the contractor or subcontractor and company workers either coming from the union or those picked via simple majority vote.The committee shall plan, develop, oversee and monitor the implementation of the safety and health program.The President also signed RA 11057 or an “Act Strengthening the Secured Transactions Legal Framework in the Philippines,” which provides for “the creation, perfection, determination of priority, establishment of a centralized notice registry, and enforcement of security interests in personal property.”RA 11057 shall apply to all transactions of any form that secure an obligation with movable collateral, except interests in aircraft and interests in ships.Under the law, the priority of security interests and liens in the same collateral shall be determined according to time of registration of a notice or perfection by other means, without regard to the order of creation of the security interests and liens.To reduce the risk posed by accepting movable collaterals, the new law provides the establishment of an electronic registry with the Land Registration Authority (LRA).Within six months from the passage of the law, the Department of Finance, in coordination with the Department of Justice, through the LRA, shall promulgate the rules and regulations for its implementation.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-signs-law-protecting-workers/432837/
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‘Martial law lessened crime in Mindanao’
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2018-09-12 00:02:37+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday claimed that martial law in Mindanao has reduced cases of criminality in the conflict-stricken region.“It has lessened criminality by and large. And the only way to do that is to conduct a survey amongst the people of Mindanao, the political leaders, they can call them,” Duterte said during a televised interview with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo in Malacañang.“May mga number man ‘yang mga istasyon and maybe they can conduct an interview or they can always ask their networks there to do the survey. Tingnan natin (Let’s see),” he added.Duterte made the statement after Malacañang said it was considering extending martial law in Mindanao after the twin bombings in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.Executive Salvador Medialdea earlier explained that while he does not necessarily recommend the extension of martial law, it may be an option.“We’re trying to make it as easy as possible kung ganito pa rin nangyayari, ano’ng gagawin? Upo lang tayo diyan? (If this continues to happen, what should we do? Should we just sit around?),” Medialdea said in a media interview.Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio also said she was open to the possibility of martial law extension in Mindanao if the Armed Forces of the Philippines finds it necessary.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/martial-law-lessened-crime-in-mindanao/440461/
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EX-MAYOR WANTS JUSTICE TO INHIBIT FROM CASES
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2016-11-20 21:50:52+00:00
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~Former Makati City (Metro Manila) Mayor Elenita Binay is seeking the inhibition of Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang from the graft and malversation cases filed against her (Binay) and several others in connection with the allegedly anomalous procurement of hospital beds in 2001 and sterilizers in 2000 for the Ospital ng Makati (OsMak). Binay’s camp has filed a motion asking for the inhibition of Tang, who concurrently leads the court’s Third Division where the cases are pending. The Sandiganbayan’s internal rules provide that if a court division’s chairman inhibits from a case, the case shall be transferred by raffle to another court division. It filed the motion earlier this month over a hearing on Binay’s omnibus motion, which asked the court to re-raffle the cases so that the graft and malversation charges pertaining to the procurement of sterilizers be separately tried from the graft and malversation charges pertaining to the procurement of hospital beds. The defense said during the October 13 hearing on the omnibus motion, “Accused Binay was astounded by the unexpected statements and adverse reaction of the Honorable Presiding Justice Cabotaje-Tang which, with due respect, gave an impression that she was personally offended by the filing of the Omnibus Motion.” Tang’s demeanor, it added, “affects Binay’s confidence that she will get a fair trial that respects her constitutional rights.”REINA TOLENTINO
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ex-mayor-wants-justice-inhibit-cases/297519/
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Sereno likely to be convicted–Jinggoy
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2018-03-22 00:41:16+00:00
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THERE is a strong probability that Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno will be convicted by the Senate, which will sit as an impeachment court, for non-filing of her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), according to former senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada.“If [then] Chief Justice Renato Corona was convicted because of misdeclaration of SALN, Sereno’s case is heavier because she did not file her SALN when she was a professor at the University of the Philippines,” Estrada said during a roundtable discussion with The Manila Times on Tuesday.He added that Sereno would have to answer a lot of questions regarding her non-submission of SALN as well as legal fees she received when she was hired by the government in arbitration proceedings against the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco) in 2011.Sereno was said to have earned $336,287.66 or P15 million in the case against Piatco, builder of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.Filing of SALN is required by law, provided for under Article XI, Section 17, of the 1987 Constitution and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.In his own opinion, Estrada said, the allegations against Sereno are enough for her to be convicted by the impeachment court.The House justice committee on Monday approved a resolution containing six articles of impeachment against Sereno that are anchored largely on her failure to submit her SALN and usurpation of the collegial authority of the SC.The articles of impeachment will be submitted to the plenary for further deliberation and voting before they are transmitted to the Senate.Estrada, however, said an impeachment trial is a numbers game, meaning an official facing trial could be acquitted even if evidence against him or her is strong if the required number of senator-judges is not met.A two-thirds vote of all the members of the Senate is needed to convict Sereno and since the Senate currently has 23 senators, including detained Sen. Leila de Lima, 16 senators need to vote in favor of conviction.“I have a strong feeling. It still depends on the pieces of evidence that they will present in the impeachment court,” Estrada said when asked if he thinks Sereno will be impeached.He was among the senator-judges who voted to convict Corona in 2012 for the latter’s failure to fully disclose his SALN.Apart from Estrada, 19 other senators voted to convict Corona while three senator-judges namely Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Joker Arroyo voted to acquit him.When asked what advice he could give Sereno when she faces the impeachment court, Estrada said Sereno should always respect the members of the Senate impeachment court.According to him, one of the most unforgettable incidents during the Corona impeachment trial was the time when the then-Chief Justice walked out of the session hall while the proceedings were still ongoing.“Some of the senators were offended by it and if not for that walkout maybe he had a chance to be acquitted,” Estrada said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sereno-likely-to-be-convicted-jinggoy/387709/
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Sandigan upholds acquittal of ‘JV’ Ejercito
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2017-10-09 22:54:57+00:00
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The Sandiganbayan’s Sixth Division has stood pat on its ruling that acquitted Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito and several others in a technical malversation case that was filed against them over the allegedly anomalous procurement of firearms in 2008 when he was San Juan City mayor.Earlier, the prosecution asked the anti-graft court to reconsider its decision, which granted a demurrer to evidence filed by Ejercito, former San Juan Vice Mayor and now City Councilor Leonardo Celles, City Councilor Vincent Pacheco, former City Councilor and now Public Information Officer Grace Pardines and former city councilors Andoni Carballo, Dante Santiago, Francis Peralta, Edgardo Soriano, Jannah Ejercito-Surla and Joseph Torralba; and a demurrer to evidence filed by former City Councilors Angelino Mendoza, Rolando Bernardo and Francisco Zamora.But the Sandiganbayan denied the motion for reconsideration “for lack of merit” in a resolution which, citing a 2015 Supreme Court (SC) ruling, said, “A judgment of acquittal is immediately final and executory upon its promulgation. As a general rule, it can neither be appealed nor reconsidered because it will place the accused under double jeopardy.”“The order granting the demurrer to evidence filed by the accused is an adjudication on the merits of the case, and is tantamount to an acquittal,” the court said, citing a 2007 SC ruling.The Office of the Ombudsman filed the case at the Sandiganbayan last year, alleging that the then-respondents applied the city’s calamity fund for a purpose different from which it was intended when they supposedly authorized and caused the use of such fund to purchase the firearms.In its decision in August, the court’s Sixth Division found that the prosecution’s evidence “failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the fund used in the procurement and payment of the subject high-powered firearms or part thereof was sourced from the San Juan City 2008 calamity fund.”This prompted the prosecution to seek reconsideration.“It was proven beyond reasonable doubt that the calamity fund was indeed used to purchase the subject firearms,” the prosecution argued.But the Sandiganbayan’s Sixth Division found “nothing new in the arguments raised by the prosecution in its motion.”It said, “The prohibition on double jeopardy admits of the following exceptions: 1] deprivation of due process and mistrial; and 2] grave abuse of discretion under exceptional circumstances. However, these exceptions do not exist in this case. While the prosecution ascribes grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of this court, this issue is not a proper subject of a motion for reconsideration.”The court thus denied the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sandigan-upholds-acquittal-jv-ejercito/355483/
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DepEd urged to allow hiring of unlicensed teachers
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['Neil Alcober']
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2018-07-02 00:05:11+00:00
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THE Department of Education (DepEd) has been urged to recall a regional memorandum that required all elementary and secondary schools, including private schools, to hire licensed teachers only.Education lawyer Joseph Noel Estrada said DepEd National Capital Region (DepEd-NCR) regional memorandum 78, s. 2018 merely reiterates the Teachers Professionalization Act that requires a license for basic education teachers but is subject to exceptions.He said the law is echoed in the DepEd’s Manual of Regulations for Private Schools in Basic Education under DepEd Order 88, s. 2010 as amended.“In the spirit of the constitutional mandate of complementarity, I urge the DepEd to reconsider regional memorandum 78 and initiate a review of the policy environment that affects its implementation,” Estrada said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.“In other words, the government should provide an environment where subjects of the law, as in this case the private schools and the teachers, can comply in good faith and equitably. Unless the problems on shortage of licensed teachers are addressed, teacher education curriculum reviewed, and the compensation structure of all public and private school teachers studied carefully, the spirit of the Teachers Professionalization Act will not be realized, and quality education will suffer,” he added.The regional memorandum, Estrada said, failed to mention that under the K-to-12 law or RA 10533, new graduates and new hires without teachers’ licenses can teach in elementary and secondary schools in subjects where there is a shortage of teachers, for a period of five years from date of hiring.“NCR has one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in terms of senior high school (SHS) population in both public and private schools and it needs more SHS teachers for the two million learners,” he said.“More important, the DepEd-NCR failed to consider the long-standing problem on the shortage of qualified and licensed teachers in the country. In fact this year alone, DepEd announced it will need to open 75,000 new teacher items. And based on data, DepEd has thousands of still unfilled teacher items in the past three years all over the country. Where does DepEd expect to source out their needed licensed teachers if not from the private schools?” the lawyer added.Estrada said the government should first address the shortage of licensed teachers and the migration of licensed teachers from the private schools to public schools because of high salaries before implementing regional memorandum 78.The Federation of Associations of Private Schools and Administrators (Fapsa) said the regional memorandum could pose a serious threat to private schools whose teachers have transferred to public schools.“Closure becomes very imminent if that regional DepEd Memo 78 is implemented,” Eleazardo Kasilag, Fapsa president, said in a statement. “Even some big schools have non-LET teaching faculty. Are we really considered partners or foe?”Kasilag warned private schools may end up bankrupt if they are ordered to hire only licensed teachers because they cannot match the salary given to teachers in the public schools.“Most of us can only afford the regular minimum wage,” he said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/deped-urged-to-allow-hiring-of-unlicensed-teachers/414932/
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Duterte open to PH–China joint energy exploration in West PH Sea
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['Francisco G.', 'Kevin Kevz', 'Rox Rey', 'Toni Lorenz', 'Low Wendy', 'Jhay Bosit', 'Gigi Leny', 'Glenn Robio', 'Kier Luis', 'Odie Bulgar']
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19/12/2016 0:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte said he is open to a joint exploration for energy between the Philippines and China in disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea despite not bringing this up during his state visit to China.This, even as he stressed that he is not deviating from the July 16 U.N. tribunal ruling that favored the Philippines, which he said he would someday bring up with Beijing.“Bakit naman ako maghanap ng away? If I send the Marines there, they’ll be wiped out in just one minute. It will be a disaster,” the president said in a speech in Malacañang on Monday, December 19.“Kung gusto n’yo, let’s just develop what’s the oil there, hati-hati na lang tayo. Anuhin ko naman iyang dagat kung walang… What will I do with the Scarborough Shoal? Swim there everyday? For what? To send my soldiers there to die? Nakalutang lahat? Sumaryosep!” Duterte said.During his state visit to China in October, Duterte ruled out discussions on possible joint exploration for energy in disputed maritime territories in the West Philippine Sea, saying that he has yet to get the consent of Congress on the matter.He also told Chinese president Xi Jinping that there will be a day that they will have to take up the issue on the U.N. tribunal ruling.“Not now because I am here as a visitor… but I will bring it up,” the president recalled telling his Chinese counterpart.“Alam na niya, pati ang ambassador dito iyong Chinese. I will bring this up, someday… it will be during my time… I have this arbitral award, so I have to push it,” he added.The president made the statement two days after he said he will “set aside” the tribunal ruling favoring the Philippines in the sea arbitration case.“In the play of politics now, I will set aside the arbitral ruling,” Duterte said in a speech in Davao City last Saturday.The chief executive likewise said that he will “not impose anything on China… because the politics here in Southeast Asia is changing.”Yesterday, however, Malacañang clarified that Duterte is not renouncing the country’s claims.Read more: Palace clarifies gov’t not renouncing West PH Sea claimsIn 2004, the Philippines, China and Vietnam once signed a joint marine seismic undertaking (JSMU) for the three countries’ state-owned oil companies to conduct exploration in the maritime area west of Palawan within Philippine territories. But the Philippine Congress questioned the legality of JSMU, particularly on how it would undermine the Philippines’ territorial integrity.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2016/12/19/duterte-open-to-ph-china-joint-energy-exploration-in-west-ph-sea/
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Top policeman charged in Jee Ick Joo kidnap-slay
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-04-18 22:19:31+00:00
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The Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged before a regular court police Supt. Rafael Dumlao, the alleged mastermind in the abduction and murder of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo last October.Dumlao was charged before the Pampanga Regional Trial Court along with former National Bureau ofInvestigation (NBI) errand boy Jerry Omlang.The two will be the additional respondents in the kidnapping with homicide case.The DoJ issued the amended information and filed the same on Monday, two days ahead of the arraignment set by Judge Irineo Pangilinan Jr. of the Angeles City Regional Trial Court Branch 58.Dumlao has been tagged by Police Officer 3 Ricky Santa Isabel as the mastermind in the kidnap-slay of Jee.The two other officers implicated and charged earlier in the case are Santa Isabel and Senior Police Officer 4 Roy Villegas.Gerardo Gregorio Santiago, the owner of a funeral parlor in Caloocan City (Metro Manila) where Jee’s remains were brought and flushed in the toilet, was charged for being an accessory to the kidnap-murder.Ramon Yalung, another respondent to the case, was excluded as an accused.Jee was abducted, along with his househelp, from his Angeles City (Pampanga) house by armed men allegedly pretending to be carrying out an anti-drug operation.The businessman was strangled inside the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City on the same day he was kidnapped.In the meantime, the DoJ issued a separate information for kidnapping and serious illegal detention against Dumlao, Santa Isabel, Omlang, Villegas and some John Does for the abduction of Jee’s househelp Marisa Morquicho.In addition, the Justice department indicted Santa Isabel, Dumlao, Omlang and Villegas for car theft after the South Korean’s black Ford Explorer was taken forcibly.The DoJ ruled that there is no probable cause to charge NBI officials Ricardo Diaz, Jose Yap and Roel Bolivar.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/top-policeman-charged-jee-ick-joo-kidnap-slay/322888/
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Meralco hikes July rates
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['Jordeene Sheex Lagare']
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2018-07-07 00:07:03+00:00
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CUSTOMERS of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will shell out more money for electricity this July after the power distributor announced a P0.3136-per-kilowatt-hour (kWh) rate hike in the June billing cycle.In a statement on Friday, Meralco said it was adjusting the power rate for July to P10.1925 per kWh from P9.8789 per kWh, because of a P0.2823-per kWh increase in the generation charge.Typical households that consume 200 kWh will see an increase of P62.00 in their July billThose that consume 300 kWh will pay P93.90 more, those with 400 kWh will pay P125.20 more, and those with 500 kWh will pay P156.50 more.The utility said the generation charge would rise to P5.2651 per kWh in July from P4.9828 per kWh in June, pushed by higher prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and the weakening of the Philippine peso against the US dollar.Cost of electricity from independent power producers (IPPs) went up by P0.3573 per kWh because of the continuous peso depreciation and lower average plant dispatch. About 96 percent of IPP rates are dollar-denominated.Charges at WESM rose by P0.7039 per kWh as demand for power in the Luzon grid touched a record high of 10,876 megawatts (MW) last month.It can be recalled the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) raised yellow alerts in the country’s largest island from May 29 to June 1 and on June 4 due to insufficient reserves. Tight supply conditions also persisted in the second half of June with more generating capacity on outage.The local currency’s slump also led to a P0.1513 per kWh raise in the power cost from power supply agreements (PSAs). About 63 percent of PSA rates are dollar-denominated.Transmission charge to Meralco’s residential customers steadied, while taxes and other charges went up by P0.0309 per kWh this month on higher generation charge.Meralco’s distribution, supply, and metering charges, meanwhile, have remained unchanged for 36 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015.Shares of WESM, IPPs, and PSAs to Meralco’s total energy requirement hit 13 percent, 38 percent, and 49 percent, respectively.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/meralco-hikes-july-rates/416650/
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DENR names 3 new water management areas
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['Eireene Jairee Gomez']
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2018-08-06 00:01:22+00:00
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The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has named three more river systems as water quality management areas (WQMAs), bringing to 37 the number of water bodies nationwide under stringent policies for protection from pollution.In three separate administrative orders signed by Environment Secretary Secretary Roy Cimatu, the Malabon-Tullahan-Tinajeros and the Las Piñas-Parañaque river systems in Metro Manila, and the Iyam-Dumacaa river system in Calabarzon were designated as WQMAs.The DENR said the administrative orders aim to protect and improve the water quality of the three river systems pursuant to Republic Act 9275 or the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004. The river systems are also important sources of livelihood for local residents, it added.“Their designation as WQMAs will ensure clean water in these rivers for present and future generations. Water is vital for irrigation, livelihood, and water supply,” Cimatu said.To date, there are 19 WQMAs in Luzon, eight in the Visayas, and 10 in Mindanao.Designating WQMAs will enable concerned officials both at the national and local levels to take focused interventions on specific water quality issues relevant to a particular locality, according to Cimatu.“The WQMA is a significant tool in enforcing the Clean Water Act. It aims for the improvement of water quality to meet the guidelines under which they have been classified or to improve their classification so that it meets its potential use,” he said.Under the RA 9275, the DENR is mandated to designate certain areas as WQMAs using appropriate physiographic units such as watershed, river basins, or water resources regions to effectively enforce its provisions and improve the water quality of water bodies. To achieve this, the environmental agency coordinates with the National Water Resources Board.The law seeks to provide a decentralized management system for water quality protection and improvement of rivers.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/denr-names-3-new-water-management-areas/427129/
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DepEd won’t allow ‘Tokhang’ in public schools
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['Neil Alcober']
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2016-11-11 20:52:29+00:00
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Public schools will not be subjected to Oplan Tokhang of the the Philippine National Police (PNP), Education Secretary Leonor Briones said on Friday.“The entire department would like to reiterate its steadfast support of the PNP’s campaign against illegal drugs. However, we would also like to inform everyone that both the Department of Education (DepEd) and the PNP recognize and implement the long-standing policy that prohibits, with or without the drug problem, police and military personnel from entering school grounds,” Briones explained.The PNP earlier said it will expand its anti-illegal drug campaign to schools through Oplan Double Barrel Alpha.Oplan Tokhang is part of the Oplan Double Barrel introduced by PNP Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa wherein police officers visit houses of drug suspects and ask them to mend their ways.Briones said the reported pronouncement of dela Rosa on the inclusion of schools in Oplan Tokhang could be in reference to his coordination with DepEd on how the police can help in enhancement of drug-education programs.She added that as early as May and prior to implementation of Oplan Tokhang, the Education department has been instructed by President Rodrigo Duterte to provide teachers and students in Grade 4 and up with drug-awareness guidelines.The department has also started a statistical sampling scheme, wherein students (with parental permission) and teachers tested will not be named. The ongoing scheme will determine the extent of the drug problem and by how much the size of the sample can be expanded.According to Briones, the tests are being conducted to help rehabilitate, not criminalize, students and personnel.She said if a teacher has been identified as a drug user, the policy is to advice the teacher to take a leave of absence to prevent harm on students and to undergo rehabilitation.NEIL A. ALCOBER
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/deped-wont-allow-tokhang-public-schools/296073/
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3-tiered tax for sugary drinks proposed
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2017-08-26 20:29:15+00:00
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SENATOR Juan Miguel Zubiri on Saturday proposed a three-tiered tax on sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) that he believes is “not anti-poor.”The Senate Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, has been conducting public hearings on the comprehensive tax reform package dubbed as Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN).“We want to earn government revenue through the sugar tax but, we don’t want to kill the industry,” Zubiri said. The Senate has yet to craft its version of tax reform program.“We are studying the following specific tax based on content: Tier 1: 0-5 grams per liter-Exempt; Tier 2: 6-12 grams per liter-P3; Tier 3: Above 12 grams per liter-P5,” he said.Or based on volume, P5 per liter for those containing locally-produced sugar, and P20 per liter for others which contain imported sugar and sweeteners such as HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), he added.The House of Representatives had already passed House Bill 5636 that imposes a P10-excise tax on every liter of sugar-sweetened beverages, which include sweetened juice drinks, tea and coffee; all carbonated beverage with added sugar; flavored water; energy drinks; sports drinks; powdered drinks not classified as milk, juice, tea and coffee; cereal and grain beverages; and other non-alcoholic beverages that contain sugar.“I believe that my proposal hits the sweet spot wherein the taxation method and tax rates can address important concerns such as government’s need for revenue, need to stop the rising incidence of diabetes, obesity and dental caries among the many health issues related to excessive consumption of sugar,” Zubiri said.Angara said his panel will study the proposal of Zubiri and the Sugar Alliance of the Philippines imposing SSB tax per liter but at a lower rate of P5 per liter in the first two years of implementation, and then shift to a sugar content-based taxation for the suceeding years.He said that part of the incremental revenues of the proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, estimated at P47 billion, should be used to sustain feeding programs to address malnutrition, widen access to potable drinking water supply, and to expand the dialysis program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.Zubiri said he fully supports the position of medical doctors to stop excessive sugar consumption but said,“However, we should not slap a tax rate that will make sugar, food and beverage items containing sugar very expensive.”“If we tax it too steeply, people may not to be able to afford it because of the high price. One example is the flavored milk drinks which improves taste and encourages milk drinking, especially among children,” he said.He also warned that an “excessively high” sugar tax could lead to the collapse of the sugar industry, displacement of thousands of farmers and mill workers, and hunger to at least 5 million Filipinos dependent on the sugar industry.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/3-tiered-tax-sugary-drinks-proposed/346883/
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$2M forfeiture raps vs Perez affirmed
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2018-06-10 22:08:54+00:00
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The Sandiganbayan has affirmed the $2 million civil forfeiture charges filed against former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez and his family.The court’s Third Division led by Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Perez, his wife Rosario and brother-in-law Ramon Arceo, Jr. for lack of merit.The Sandiganbayan said Perez and his co-accused cannot invoke inordinate delay as reason for the court to reverse its decision.State prosecutors accused Perez of extorting $2 million from then Representative Mark Jimenez of Manila. They claimed that Perez did not declare the money in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.“The herein respondents raised nary a whimper during the pendency of the preliminary inquiry before the Office of the Ombudsman although they were very much aware of such fact. They did not assert their right to a speedy disposition of the preliminary inquiry after then Ombudsman Gutierrez directed a further study of the recommendation of the Special Panel to file a petition for forfeiture against their properties,” the Sandiganbayan said in its resolution.“Thus, balancing the private constitutional right of the respondents to a speedy disposition of their case and the imprescriptible right of the State to institute an action to recover ill-gotten wealth, the balance should be tilted in favor of the state’s right to public justice,” it added.The anti-graft court also cited the Office of the Ombudsman’s findings that showed that the $2 million was transferred to the bank account of Perez’s business associate Ernest Escaler in Hong Kong. From there, the money was deposited to the bank accounts of Rosario, Arceo, and Escaler.The Sandiganbayan has previously cleared Perez of four criminal charges including extortion and graft; violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Government and Public Officials and falsification of public documents. The cases all had to do with the $2 million that Perez forced Jimenez to pay in exchange for the approval of a $470-million power plant deal.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/2m-forfeiture-raps-vs-perez-affirmed/406802/
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Power back in 70% of typhoon-hit households
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['Jordeene Sheex Lagare']
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2018-09-21 00:04:37+00:00
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Electricity has been restored in 74.8 percent of households affected by typhoon “Ompong” (international name: Mangkhut), the Department of Energy (DoE) said on Thursday.Data from the DoE showed that 1.8 million out of the 2.4 million affected households already have electricity.Supply restoration was still ongoing in Cagayan and Apayao provinces. Apayao is still in the dark but power supply in Cagayan was partially restored at 31 percent.On the transmission side, the 69-kilovolt (kV) Magapit-Sta. Ana Line, the 69-kV Tuguegarao-Magapit Line (Alcala-Magapit Line Segment), and the 69-kV Magapit-Camalaniugan Line remained unavailable, according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/power-back-in-70-of-typhoon-hit-households/443419/
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CLOUDY SKIES, RAINSHOWERS THIS SATURDAY
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['Elshamae Robles']
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2017-07-01 00:23:13+00:00
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The weather bureau said on Friday that on the first day of July, cloudy skies with light to moderate rainshowers and thunderstorms will prevail over Caraga, Northern Mindanao, Zamboanga Peninsula as well as in Central and Western Visayas. Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and thunderstorms will also occur over Metro Manila and the rest of the country. Light to moderate winds coming from the southwest to south will prevail over Luzon and coming from the southwest to west over rest of the country. An inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) has been formed near the areas of Mindanao. Pagasa said the ITCZ may bring rain showers this weekend especially in the afternoon or evening. Areas in Visayas are likely to have fair weather on Saturday and coastal waters nationwide will be slight to moderate. The bureau also said one to two tropical cyclones are likely to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility in the month of July that could land in Eastern Visayas or Central Luzon.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/cloudy-skies-rainshowers-saturday/335826/
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De Lima asks Senate to let her join sessions
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-05-21 19:30:33+00:00
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DETAINED Sen. Leila de Lima is asking for a Senate action that would allow her to participate in decision-making processes of the chamber by allowing her to vote even if she is held on drug-related charges.In a three-page letter addressed to Senate President Aquilino 3rd dated May 11, 2017, de Lima maintained that since she is still an elected senator and has not yet been stripped of her office, it is not too much for the Senate to ask the court to allow her occasional furloughs for her to be able to attend Senate sessions and vote on vital legislation.“The minimum that I request is for an expression of support for my desire to occasionally be granted furloughs by the court in charge of my detention, for purposes of voting on crucial landmark legislation on a case-to-case basis,” the senator stated in her letter.De Lima explained that she should be allowed to execute her duties as a lawmaker since the penalties of temporary absolute disqualification and temporary special disqualification for public office do not take effect during her detention.She said penalties only take effect upon imposition of a judgment of conviction.De Lima argued that if detention prisoners were allowed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to register as voters and to vote in general elections from municipal and city jails, she sees no legal barrier in the applicability of the same principle to the case of a detained senator.She noted that if the courts in the past granted furloughs to detained senators to attend birthdays, it is not too much for the Senate to ask the court in charge of her detention to grant such a consideration, especially since her intention is not merely to go to a birthday party.“The Senate and your good office will not exactly be going out on a limb in supporting such a request. The fact remains that I am still a Senator of the Republic,” de Lima said in her letter to Pimentel.De Lima said she sees no reason why the 14 million Filipinos who voted for her in the May 2016 elections should be deprived of their representation in the Senate and have their sovereign mandate discarded without any valid legal reason.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/de-lima-asks-senate-let-join-sessions/328433/
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Senate ratifies work-from-home bill
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-10-04 00:10:21+00:00
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THE Senate on Wednesday ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed law allowing employees in the private sector to “telecommute” or work from home.Telecommuting is a work arrangement that allows an employee to work in an alternative workplace.Sen. Joel Villanueva, chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, hailed the ratification of the measure. He said telecommuting would “remain as employers’ prerogative based on a mutual agreement.”The senator said that while a telecommuting program “is voluntary or optional, it should not be less than the minimum labor standards set by law including that for health and safety of workers, schedule and workloads, work hours and social security.”“That’s why we are pushing for the approval of this measure so that we can have a stable and consistent legal framework that can provide an enabling environment to encourage participation and enforce compliance among enterprises, big or small,” he said.Once the bill is signed into law, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is expected to come up with guidelines that would ensure the “fair treatment” provision of the measure such as the rate of pay, including overtime and night shift differential, and other monetary benefits not lower than those provided in applicable laws, and collective bargaining agreements (CBAs).DoLE must also indicate the employees’ right to rest periods, regular holidays, and special non-working days as well as equivalent workload and performance standards as those of comparable workers at the employer’s premises.The bicam report also provides for the establishment of a telecommuting pilot program in select industries for a period of not more than three years to enable DoLE to determine the advantages and disadvantages of a telecommuting program in the Philippines, Villanueva said.“We congratulate all our co-authors in both Houses for their unceasing support to this measure which will give our workers a meaningful work-life balance,” he added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/senate-ratifies-work-from-home-bill/448068/
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Sebastian files graft raps vs de Lima, 2 others
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['Jaime Pilapil']
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2016-11-04 21:07:03+00:00
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Convicted carjacker Jaybee Sebastian on Friday filed graft and criminal charges before the Department of Justice (DOJ)x against Sen. Leila de Lima and two former prison officials.The complaints were filed by Roxanne Sebastian on behalf of her husband Jaybee.Sebastian accused the former Justice secretary of being responsible for the proliferation of the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in exchange for campaign funds.He also accused de Lima of lying for wrongly alleging that he is a government asset inside the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City (Metro Manila).Sebastian said he was transferred from the NBP’s maximum security compound to Building 14 despite threats to his life.The charge sheet claimed that de Lima was charged with violation of Section 3 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019; Section 5 of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (RA 6713); the Anti-Torture Act (RA 9745); An Act Punishing the Receiving and Giving of Gifts of Public Officials and Employees (Presidential Decree 46) and indirect bribery.Also named in the charge sheet were former Bureau of Corrections chief Ricardo Rainier Cruz and former NBP head Richard Schwarzkopf Jr.Cruz and Schwarzkopf, however, were not included in the complaints for indirect bribery and violation of Presidential Decree 46.JAIME R. PILAPIL
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sebastian-files-graft-raps-vs-de-lima-2-others-2/294839/
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Binay files bill to protect women
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-06-03 01:06:35+00:00
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SEN. Nancy Binay has sought a law establishing the Address Confidentiality Program to provide women and children who were victims of violence additional protection and assistance.She filed Senate Bill 1827 which aims to create the Address Confidentiality Program to provide “a substitute address” in public records for victims of violence.Under the bill, the victims will be given substitute address that they can use when interacting with government agencies “to keep their actual address confidential and free from the risk of discovery by third parties.”“Women and children who have reported to be victims of violence require additional protection and deserve the right to live a normal life,” Binay said.The senator said Republic Act 9262 or the Anti Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004 was enacted into law to protect women and children from violence and threats.“However, violence against women and children continue to increase in spite of the ongoing campaigns and programs of the government,” Binay said.“The program participants application and its supporting materials are not public records and shall be kept confidential by the DoJ (Department of Justice),” she said.Any DoJ employee who will disclosed the name, residential or mailing address of a program participant will be imprisoned for one year and will be fined P500,000.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/binay-files-bill-to-protect-women/403857/
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Bias in funding teachers’ allowances, perks scored
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['Neil Alcober']
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2017-03-10 19:30:15+00:00
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EDUCATION Secretary Leonor Briones on Friday described as “unfair” the rule that only some local government units (LGUs) can tap their general fund in giving public school teachers whom they hire additional allowances or honoraria or both.Briones noted that the LGUs can legally draw from the general fund for such perks but not from the special educational fund, which can be used only for school improvements.But, according to her, there are local government units that are unable to grant additional allowances or honoraria or both because there is no allocation for the two items in their general fund.“You can see the unfairness of it all especially if you are teaching in a far-off municipality where they cannot give [additional allowances],” Briones said.The special education fund is sourced from the 1 percent levy on the assessed value of real property.The Education department has been receiving reports that several LGUs have already received an audit memorandum on disallowance of use of the special education fund for giving the additional allowances to teachers.Bonuses previously granted through the special education fund by local government units are only part of the additional compensation that public school teachers take home on top of their basic salary.Under the Salary Standardization Law 4, an entry-level public school teacher, or Teacher 1, receives a basic monthly pay of P19,077 within the first tranche, which could amount to P24,000, including bonuses.A starting teacher in a small provincial private school gets a mere P6,000 on average.In public schools, the basic monthly pay can go as high as P24,141 for a Head Teacher 1; P33,452 for a Master Teacher 1; and P36,409 for a School Principal 1.NEIL A. ALCOBER
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/bias-funding-teachers-allowances-perks-scored/316508/
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Criminal prosecution to ‘proceed’ vs Mighty
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2017-03-14 21:50:24+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte has directed his legal team to study possible charges against the owners of the tobacco company Mighty Corp.“I’ve been instructed to study, prepare a case against the Mighty cigarettes’ [owner]. I’ve been in coordination with the BIR Commissioner [Caesar Dulay],” Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo told reporters in a chance interview, referring to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.Panelo said criminal charges could still be filed against Mighty Corp. even after it settles its tax liabilities with the government.“Other than law, civil liability can be settled. Criminal prosecution will have to proceed,” he added.The President’s adviser noted that there are two separate cases against Mighty Corp.“They are supposed to pay some taxes. They have avoided that, then we can prosecute them for that. With the respect to the discovery of false tax stamps, that’s another case,” he said.Duterte earlier said he is willing to absolve the owners of Mighty Corp. in connection with their tax liabilities if they double their tax deficit worth P1.08 billion to P3 billion.Panelo said the President makes “a statement subject on what the law says.”“As I said in our press briefing, when the President makes a statement, it is based on what the law says so any positions or conditions imposed by law will be followed by the President,” he added.The President’s lawyer said the Department of Justice would still be the lead agency but he would coordinate with them.Duterte said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) during the Aquino administration had discovered the tax evasion by Mighty Corp. but the “previous administration has ignored” it.“I understand that they [BIR] have prepared even prior to the discovery of false tax stamps, which the previous administration has ignored. [The tax-evasion case was] supposed to be filed against Mighty [Corp.] but it laid there for a while,” Panelo said.The President had ordered the arrest of the Mighty Corp. owners for “economic sabotage” for allegedly using fake cigarette tax stamps.The Bureau of Customs earlier said it was eyeing a P1-billion tax evasion case against the company.The day Duterte ordered the arrest of the Mighty Corp. owners, the company’s president Alex Wong Chu King met with Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd and National Bureau of Investigation Director Dante Gierran over the allegations, and vowed to cooperate with authorities.Wong Chu King, however, could not be arrested because there is no case filed against him yet.He is now facing an impending tax evasion case for failure to pay the right excise tax from the imports it made from 2011 to 2013.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/criminal-prosecution-proceed-vs-mighty/317210/
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Car thief killed in Pasig City
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['Neil Alcober']
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2017-07-02 00:22:51+00:00
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~A SUSPECTED car thief was killed while his cohort escaped after a shootout with policemen in Pasig City on Saturday morning. Suspect Rico Cagalingan “alias Momoy” of Jenny’s Avenue, Barangay Rosario, Pasig, died from gunshot wounds on the way to Pasig City General Hospital. A cab driver earlier reported to the police that his taxi was forcibly taken by two armed men at about 1 a.m. along Julia Vargas Avenue in Barangay Ugong, also in Pasig City. Pasig police chief, Senior Supt. Orlando Yebra Jr., said an alarm was sounded off and Cagalingan and his cohort on board the reported cab were flagged down at a checkpoint along Connecticut Street corner Kenneth Road in Barangay Nagpayong. But instead of stopping, they fired at authorities triggering a gunfight. The law enforcers retaliated hitting Cagalingan while his companion fled. Recovered from the crime scene were a caliber 38 revolver and four fired cartridges.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/car-thief-killed-pasig-city/335969/
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Duterte: PH must import; ‘can’t be rice-sufficient’
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['Ralph Villanueva']
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2018-10-13 00:10:47+00:00
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PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday justified his order to have an “unimpeded” importation of rice, as the country “cannot be rice-sufficient.”In a press conference upon arriving from his visit to Bali, Indonesia for the Association of South East Asian Leaders’ Summit, Duterte said it was the policy of the government not to let its people go hungry.“The stomach come first. So the policy of the government is to keep the people, not from… keep them away from hunger,” Duterte said.“So we have to import, whether we like it or not and we have to plan. But frankly, I do not think that we will be rice sufficient. I don’t know if… in the years to come,” Duterte added.Earlier in the week, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said that the President allowed the “unimpeded” riceimportation to address the accelerating inflation rate in the country, which reached a record high of 6.7 percent in September.“[Duterte] wants to flood the market with rice, so that even if the price of crude and other prices of oil should go up further, that the people will have access to affordable rice,” Roque said in a press briefing on Tuesday.The directive came after an “animated” issue and discussion during Monday’s Cabinet meeting in Malacañang.“We expect that with this kind of order, even giant Filipino companies like San Miguel Corporation, which was specifically mentioned in the Cabinet meeting yesterday, will now be able to import rice and that this increase in supply of rice will result in overall lowering of prices,” Roque said.Duterte said that it was up to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol to come up with a “formula” on the guidelines for the importation.“Well, that is for Piñol to come up with a formula. Maybe during harvest time or a later period after that. There must be a space for the local products to be consumed… bought and consumed. Then, after comes the lean months, which we have also to consider,” he said.Duterte said that aside from the large tracts of land converted into “cash crop” instead of “food crop,” the “unpredictable” weather was also a problem for rice.He added that the agriculture sector was the “weakest link” in the country’s economy.“[The weather] has affected really rice planting. So I don’t know if it is now a truism but climate change maybe has really made more storms violent and longer periods of dry and wet season,” Duterte said.“We can only hope that [all these] are balanced. That’s the job of Piñol. And I hope he will do his homework well in the years to come. As I have said in the Cabinet meeting, I thought that problem would never confront me. So that early on I appointed people, precisely to meet the challenges of rice shortage,” he added.Duterte earlier signed numerous orders to address inflation, including administrative order 13, which removes non-tariff barriers and streamlining administrative procedures on the importation of agricultural products; memorandum order (MO) 26, which directs the Departments of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Trade and Industry to adopt measures to reduce gap between farmgate prices and retail prices of agricultural products; MO 27, which directs the DA and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police and the Metro Manila Development Authority to adopt measures to ensure the efficient and seamless delivery of imported agriculture and fishery products from ports of markets; and MO 28, which directs the national food authority to immediately release existing rice stocks in its warehouses.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-ph-must-import-cant-be-rice-sufficient/451472/
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No nursing jobs in Germany–DoLE
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-09-24 19:47:35+00:00
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The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has warned overseas Filipino workers against a Germany-based illegal recruiter that recruits nurses and other healthcare workers for supposed jobs in that country.A report submitted to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) identified the recruiter as Meine Agentur 24.On its website and Facebook page, the recruiter lists its address as Leipzig, Germany.It advertises the need for workers for nursing and other healthcare jobs and offers a qualification course for nursing staff to prepare them for supposed employment in Germany.But the Philippine Embassy in Berlin reported that the name of Meine Agentur 24 does not appear on the online registry of businesses in Germany.According to Bello, the POEA also has no record of Meine Agentur 24 in its database of accredited foreign employers.Meine Agentur 24 charges applicants 5425 Euros supposedly for the cost of studying the German language and for nursing school training.In addition, applicants have to acquire their own visa and should have 5360 Euros in a bank account to cover the cost of their 20-month stay in Germany, including expenses for food, accommodation, clothing and transportation.The POEA reminds applicants that the legal ways of landing a nursing job in Germany are either through the Triple Win Project or licensed Philippine recruitment agencies.Meanwhile, it recently issued guidelines on multiple accreditation of foreign employers and placement agencies that are hiring Filipino workers subject to certain conditions.Under POEA’s Memorandum Circular N0. 6, s2017, a foreign placement agency is allowed to be accredited with four licensed recruitment agencies, while an employer is to be accredited up to a maximum of five licensed recruitment agencies.The multiple accreditation, however, shall be allowed subject to certain conditions.The principal/employer and the recruitment agencies shall adopt a uniform compensation package for the hired workers.A foreign placement agency hiring household service workers can apply for a second accreditation if it has hired and employed at least 100 HSWs immediately preceding the request for dual accreditation.For the third accreditation, the foreign placement agency must have deployed at least 200 workers and submit a Certificate of No Pending Case from the POEA’s Adjudication Office.For the fourth accreditation, the foreign placement agency must have deployed at least 300 workers and only after one year from the third accreditation, and upon submission of a Certificate of No Pending Case.The foreign principal shall also submit an undertaking that it will comply with all its obligations to other licensed recruitment agencies, including monitoring the status of its hired worker.Only foreign placement agencies and employers without pending cases and were not previously suspended can apply for multiple accreditation.WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/no-nursing-jobs-germany-dole/352581/
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NFA’s rice importation order deplored as ‘biased’
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['Juan Barili']
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4/3/2017 0:00
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President Duterte was asked by a group of farmer-importers to intercede in their behalf after the National Food Authority (NFA) extended until Mar. 31, 2017 the importation of rice, but only from India and Pakistan and not from other rice-exporting countries like Vietnam and Thailand.In a press briefing in Quezon City, Edwin Paraluman, chairman of the Philippine Farmers Advisory Board (PFAB), branded as unfair the decision of NFA Administrator Jason Aquino to bar the importation of rice from countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.He noted that members of his group who are mostly lowly farmers have incurred huge losses as a result of Aquino’s decision.However, Paraluman remained mum on Aquino’s decision to grant the extension of rice importation only to India and Pakistan, citing that the administrator’s decision was a clear proof of double standard as his group was prevented from importing rice from India and Pakistan after February 28.Gerry Magisa another leader of the farmer importer group in Agusan said he already paid for including the required tariff for his rice import from Thailand and Vietnam but the delivery was snagged due to the NFA’s decision.“Rice imported from Thaildand and Vietnam cannot be delivered in the Philippines since Customs can seize it without the March 31 rice importation extension since it will them be considered smuggled goods.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/03/04/nfas-rice-importation-order-deplored-as-biased/
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Leni still P1.4M short of her poll protest dues
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-07-31 23:36:05+00:00
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Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo still needs P1.4 million in order to pay her P7.4 million protest dues.Members of the Piso Para sa Laban ni Leni fund-raising campaign, in a statement on Monday, said they collected P6 million in two months from at least 25,000 supporters.Robredo’s counter-protest dues are valued at P15.4 million because she is questioning results in 8,042 clustered precincts composed of 31,278 established precincts.Former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., on the other hand, already paid P66 million in full for his protest on election results in 39,221 clustered precincts composed of 132,446 established precincts.“Our movement is a testament how Filipinos from all over the country value and want to protect their votes,” Museo Pambata founder Cristina Lim-Yuson, a leader of the Piso Para sa Laban ni Leni initiative, said in the statement.“We will continue to ask support until we reach the amount needed,” Yuson added.The Anti-Graft Law, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Presidential Decree 46 prohibit Robredo from receiving donations in the course of her official duties or in connection with any operation being regulated by, or any transaction that may be affected by the Office of the Vice President.Yuson and the rest of Robredo’s supporters are arguing, however, that it is their right to make donations to Robredo based on their constitutional right to suffrage and the right to protect the outcome of exercising such right.That outcome, they said, is their vote for Robredo.Other leaders of the Piso Para sa Laban ni Leni campaign include Robredo’s fellow Ten Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service (Towns) awardees namely: former Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Zorayda Amelia Alonzo, former human rights commissioner Paulynn Sicam, award-winning singer Celeste Legaspi-Gallardo, Ateneo de Manila University Press director Karina Bolasco, and former Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman.The campaign leaders have filed a motion to intervene before the Supreme Court, serving as Presidential Electoral Tribunal, to allow them to make donations for Robredo’s poll protest.The electoral tribunal, however, is yet to decide on this petition.It has already extended the deadline for the payment of Robredo’s remaining counter- poll protest dues for an unlimited time, pending the results of the recount of votes in Camarines Sur, Negros Oriental and Iloilo as sought by Marcos.Robredo beat Marcos in these three provinces and beat him in the overall tally by 263,473 votes in the May 2016 elections.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/leni-still-p1-4m-short-of-her-poll-protest-dues/341719/
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PDEA to deploy 110 fresh graduates to seaports
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-12-14 20:10:14+00:00
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The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) will deploy 110 of its fresh graduates to monitor 13 major seaports and 1,200 seaports nationwide, the agency reported in a statement on Thursday.Meanwhile, 16 of its fresh graduates will be assigned to PDEA’s financial investigation unit to train them to follow “drug money trail” and investigate possible “money laundering activities.”PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said the 110 agents will be involved in close scrutiny of cargos entering the country and will also sit beside X-ray technicians of the Bureau of Customs to help in detection of smuggled illegal drugs.“This is a big boost to our intensified anti-drug campaign, particularly in our seaports where the bulk of illegal drugs is smuggled,” Aquino noted.The deployment of the agents is a provision of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to be entered into by PDEA, Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and Philippine Ports Authority.The proposed MoA was discussed when Macario Almario 3rd , Marina administrator, visited Aquino.Aquino said the partnership between PDEA and Marina is a big boost to curb the incidence of smuggling of illegal drugs into seaports nationwide.“They will be our new eyes and ears against drugs syndicates who take advantage of the country’s porous shoreline, which serves as entry and exit points of illegal drugs,” he added.On December 12, 126 fresh graduates of Drug Enforcement Officers’ Basic Course of PDEA Academy were conferred with badges during graduation rites at Camp Castañeda in Silang, Cavite.PDEA is still the lead agency in conducting anti-drug operations even though President Rodrigo Duterte last week brought back the Philippine National Police (PNP) to the war on drugs.Palace spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte has signed a memorandum allowing the PNP “to resume, providing active support to the PDEA in the conduct of anti-illegal drugs operations.”“This supersedes the earlier memorandum that designated the PDEA as the sole agency that will deal with the anti-illegal drug operations,” Roque told reporters in a news briefing.“The PDEA remains the lead but the PNP will again participate in the anti-illegal drug operations,” he said.On October 10, PNP chief Ronald de la Rosa officially terminated anti-illegal drug operations under “Oplan Tokhang” and “Oplan Double Barrel Reloaded” under heavy international and local pressure amid killings of thousands of suspects.Duterte himself signed a memorandum ordering the PDEA to take over anti-drug operations.The agency concluded its almost two-month solo lead in the war on drugs with only “one” death, PDEA officials confirmed on Wednesday.RJ CARBONELL
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pdea-deploy-110-fresh-graduates-seaports/368658/
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Interior dept wants LGUs returned in draft charter
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['Ralph Villanueva']
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2018-09-08 00:05:58+00:00
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THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Friday said it would insist on putting back the classifications of local government units (LGUs) in the draft Constitution calling for a shift to a federal system of government.In a Malacañang news briefing, DILG Assistant Secretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya said this move would allay fears of local government officials that LGUs would be abolished under a federal government.Malaya said the consultative committee (con-com) tasked to review the 1987 Constitution did not include the LGUs in their draft because “it is common federal practice” across the globe that only regions are included in the Constitution.But this does not mean that the LGUs will be abolished, he said.“The concern of the local government officials is why the LGUs are not included in the draft constitution. Now that the President has given us the opportunity to improve the draft, the DILG will insist on putting the LGU classifications in the new and improved constitution to dispel the concerns of mayors and governors,” Malaya said.“The position of the DILG here is, there is nothing wrong with putting the LGUs back in the government. But of course, the reconfiguration, the amalgamation, the regions will take over that,” Malaya added.Malaya said returning the classifications would not result in any big effects.“What will happen is, we will ensure that the LGUs are there, but the merging, the municipalities that will become cities, it will now be a regional concern rather than a national concern,” Malaya said.No new taxes under federalismMalaya also claimed there would be no new taxes when federalism is in place, only a change in the utilization of revenues.“The reason why some of the critics are saying there will be new taxes is, they are familiar with the US system and in the US, there is an income tax at the federal level and an income tax at the state level,” Malaya said.“What we’re working on now is a more equitable distribution of resources,” Malaya added.With more resources in the hands of the regions, there will be more revenues for development, he said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/interior-dept-wants-lgus-returned-in-draft-charter/439193/
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Justice ‘elusive’ after 7 years
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['Jing Villamente']
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2016-11-21 22:42:01+00:00
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Justice for victims of the Maguindanao Massacre has remained elusive as court battle over the carnage reaches its seventh year.Tomorrow (November 23), the country will again remember the 58 victims killed, including at least 32 journalists, in what has been billed as the world’s most gruesome mass murder involving media practitioners.As of November 15, 2016, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 had heard 232 witnesses, 131 prosecution witnesses, 58 private complainants and 43 defense witnesses.From 197 accused (15 surnamed Ampatuan),114 were already arrested, including one whose case was dismissed for lack of probable cause.One accused was dropped from the amended information while two were discharged as state witnesses and one was out on bail.Arraigned were 112 of the accused.Four of the accused, including primary accused Andal Ampatuan Sr., died while in detention.Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes has conducted trials where 12 lawyers, seven prosecutors and 27 defense counsels participated, with the transcript of stenographic notes reaching 53 volumes.After several court proceedings since 2009, the court has in its possession 109 volumes of records on the massacre cases, plus eight folders containing various pieces of evidence enough for court staff Roger Cristobal to be overwhelmed when asked about the number of litigation hours consumed.The court has also resolved 12 sets of formal offer of evidence in connection with the bail petitions of the 69 accused.It has also resolved all bail applications of the accused except that of Andal Ampatuan Jr., whose formal offer of evidence was deemed submitted for resolution on October 14, 2016.The prosecution already filed five sets of formal offers of evidence against 106 accused, with the first batch involving nine accused being resolved on June 13, 2016.The second batch of formal offer of evidence involving 45 accused was resolved on November 15, 2016 while initial presentation of evidence of these accused will commence on January 19, 2017.More than 150 witnesses and thousands of pages of documentary evidence were presented but the special court handling the case–while making substantial progress in the past year–is yet to issue a single verdict against any of the accused charged with 58 counts of murder.Despite efforts to speed up the resolution of the case, Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, whose wife Genalyn and two sisters along with a number of female lawyers and staff died in the carnage, said “justice is still an elusive dream.”Genalyn was on her way to the provincial capital of Shariff Aguak to file the governor’s certificate of candidacy when their convoy composed of media groups and their supporters was stopped by more than a hundred men in Ampatuan town.All were shot and buried, women were raped before they were killed while the body of reporter Reynaldo Momay was never found.Then-Buluan town vice mayor, Mangudadatu was up against the Ampatuan clan for the governorship, a move that slighted the powerful strongmen of the province.Prosecution witnesses claimed that Ampatuan Jr. was at the forefront of the attack, an allegation he personally denied when he took the witness stand last month to testify on his whereabouts during the incident.Other prominent members of the Ampatuan clan, including now deceased Andal Sr., were tagged as masterminds of the crime but they too denied the charges.Since 2001, the Ampatuans had been in control of Maguindanao as patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. first rose to power when then-President Corazon Aquino appointed him as Chief-of-Offices of Maganoy (now Shariff Aguak).
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/justice-elusive-7-years/297722/
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Villar denies filing bill banning ‘unli-rice’
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-06-15 21:44:48+00:00
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SEN. Cynthia Villar on Thursday made it clear that she has no intention to file a bill that would prohibit food establishments from serving unlimited rice but she is urging concerned government agencies to come up with programs that would promote healthy eating among young people.“I am not planning to make a law banning ‘unli rice’, not at all. I just voiced out my concern that eating too much rice is one of the main causes of high blood sugar that leads to diabetes,” she explained.Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, was reacting to news reports claiming that she was planning to ban food establishments from offering unlimited rice to address problems on rice supply.“I cannot prevent people from eating unlimited amount of rice. It is their choice. It was just a genuine expression of concern on my part,” the senator said.During a recent hearing, the senator said that countries like Japan promote balanced diet that consists of a small portion of rice and a generous amount of vegetables.Villar said she will ask the Department of Health and the Department of Education to develop a new diet program that will encourage children to eat more vegetables and less rice.The senator cited a study claiming that eating one plate of white rice everyday increases the risk of developing diabetes by 11 percent.Health experts are also recommending adding 20 percent brown rice to the daily white rice consumption to reduce the risk of diabetes by around 16 percent.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/villar-denies-filing-bill-banning-unli-rice/332912/
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Portion of unreleased SAF allowance ‘returned’
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['Roy Narra']
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2018-04-19 00:07:12+00:00
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The former budget and fiscal officer of the Special Action Force (SAF) has already returned a portion of the P58.849 million in allowance that allegedly had not been released to members of the elite police group, according to outgoing Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald de la Rosa.In a testimonial dinner in his honor on Tuesday night, De la Rosa said Senior. Supt. Andre Dizon already gave back P37 million to Police Director Noli Taliño, current SAF chief.“Dizon already returned it to Gen. Taliño and [the latter] already distributed the money that is about P37 million,” De la Rosa added in Filipino.Taliño confirmed the PNP chief’s statement, disclosing that P10 million was given to him on April 12 and P27 million on April 16.Some of the SAF members got their allowance last Monday, according to him.“Some of the SAF members already received their allowance. We started giving it out [on April 16],” Taliño said.He added that former SAF Director Benjamin Lusad earlier said the allegedly missing subsistence allowance was used instead for various SAF operations and activities.De la Rosa, however, said investigation of Lusad must still continue.“The complaint stays and the investigation goes on whether or not the money was returned. Whether it was brought to them [SAF members] or not, this should be investigated,” he added.De la Rosa said the PNP Directorate for Comptrollership has launched an investigation of the case.The PNP Directorate for Comptrollership is in charge of the police agency’s budgeting.De la Rosa said he will order the PNP Internal Affairs Service to probe the case.Twelve SAF members filed a complaint against Lusad, Dizon, Senior Police Officer 2 Maila Bustamante and SPO1 Jack James Irica before the Office of the Ombudsman on April 12 over the unreleased Daily Additional Subsistence Allowance (ASA) for 2016 and 2017.The complainants said Lusad did not give them their daily ASA, which is P30 a day or P900 a month, from July 2016 to January 18.Their allowance, they added, was only given for January 2016 and January to July 2017.The four had been sacked from their posts effective April 17.De la Rosa previously said he will leave the case to incoming PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, who will officially replace him on April 19.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/portion-of-unreleased-saf-allowance-returned/393424/
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Poe wants pension for senior citizens
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-03-22 23:59:00+00:00
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SEN. Grace Poe has filed a bill that will provide a universal social pension for the more than 6.5 million senior citizens nationwide.She filed Senate Bill 1750 that seeks to amend Republic Act 7432, as amended by RA 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.In filing SB 1750, Poe said that senior citizens are an “extremely vulnerable group.” “They encounter many challenges which are difficult to hurdle due to their old age.”“As such, they require special protection from the State. The drafter of the 1987 Constitution recognized this and included provisions on the protection of the elderly in our fundamental law,” she said.She noted that senior citizens rely on other sources of income, such as assistance from their children and on contributory pensions from the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).”“This measure thus proposes the provision of a Universal Social Pension for all senior citizens. If enacted into law, all senior citizens will be provided with a pension of P1,500,” the senator said.According to a study entitled Population Ageing in the Philippines: Issues and Challenges, the elderly population is increasing more than the growth of the total population.As of 2010, there were 6.5 million elderly Filipinos, accounting for 6.9% of the population. By 2030, the percentage of elderly Filipinos is projected to reach 11.5%.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/poe-wants-pension-for-senior-citizens/387918/
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PH, Timor-Leste forge stronger tech-voc partnership
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['Neil Alcober']
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2018-10-14 00:05:51+00:00
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THE Department of Education (DepEd) and the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, through its Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport (MoEYS) and Secretariat of State of Vocational Training and Employment (SEFOPE), convened for the bilateral meetings geared towards the betterment of the educational systems of both countries.The meetings, held in the capital Dili, aimed to identify and explore possible cooperative activities in the education sector of the two countries, with focus on technical-vocational education and training.During the meeting on October 1, the Timor-Leste delegation reported the potential areas of cooperation with the Philippines, including management system, teacher discipline, student exchange, and effective teaching of official languages.In the meeting with Sefope on October 3, the delegation expressed hope that the Philippines would contribute in developing middle-level skills training, sharing its experiences on technical-vocational budget and expenses and the process of accreditation of training centers.Education Undersecretary Jesus Mateo, head of the Philippine delegation, presented and addressed the queries of the Timor-Leste representatives on the Philippine education system.Mateo also assured the delegation that an inter-agency meeting will be conducted in the Philippines involving the key government agencies in charge of the areas of concerns they raised. These include the Department of Labor and Employment, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and other agencies.The DepEd official likewise conveyed his aspirations for a stronger partnership between the Philippines and Timor-Leste, and noted that the “offshoot of this conversation is that there will be more conversations in the future with the end view of coming up with possible cooperation.”Joining Mateo in the delegation were First Secretary and Consul of the Philippines to Timor-Leste Jason Juvencio Anasarias, DepEd International Cooperation Office (ICO) Director Margarita Consolacion Ballesteros and ICO Officer Farida Bianca Velicaria.Meanwhile, the Timor-Leste delegation was composed of MoEYS Minister, Her Excellency Dulce de Jesus Soares; Secretary State for Vocational Training and Employment (SSVTE), His Excellency Julião da Silva; Ambassador of Timor-Leste to the Philippines José Gaspar Piedade, and other ministers/deputy ministers, and diplomats.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ph-timor-leste-forge-stronger-tech-voc-partnership/451959/
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Hagedorn seeks court reconsideration on cases
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2017-08-12 19:47:23+00:00
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Former Puerto Princesa City mayor Edward Hagedorn is asking the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division to reconsider the denial of his plea to dismiss the graft, perjury, and breach of conduct cases filed against him, which stemmed from his alleged failure to “truthfully and accurately declare” several real properties, motor vehicles and corporate/business interests in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) for 2004 to 2012.Earlier, the court thumbed down the urgent omnibus motion filed by Hagedorn wherein he sought the quashal and outright dismissal of the charge sheets.“The unexplained and unjustified delay in the prosecution of Accused is a violation of his constitutional right to speedy disposition of his case,” the defense said in a motion for reconsideration.According to Hagedorn’s camp, he was charged before the court almost four years from the institution of the complaint against him which, it said, was as early as October 23, 2013.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/hagedorn-seeks-court-reconsideration-cases/344009/
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President Duterte’s social media supporters unite
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['Rex Lamador', 'Jon Ouano', 'Agapito Pormosa', 'Mamang Mulat', 'Dr. Ugaddict', 'Iron Sal Pomelo', 'Ging Ging', 'Mel Angeles', 'Hugpongfederal Capiz', 'Daniel Laurente']
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6/2/2017 0:00
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s supporters from the world of social media gathered for a meeting which they called “Trollerati Party”, hosted by ‘Thinking Pinoy’ on Monday night, February 6.The party was co-hosted by ‘Mamshies’, their special guests are known Pro-Duterte supporters like MTRCB board member Mocha Uson, political analyst Sass Sasot, former editor of Manila Standard Jojo Robles, Atty. Berenguer, among others.Thinking Pinoy shared videos of Mamshies’ interview with the guests, discussing their contribution in support of Duterte.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/02/06/president-dutertes-social-media-supporters-unite-2/
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Palace waiting for BBL draft
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['Jaime Pilapil']
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2017-06-28 22:01:36+00:00
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President Rordigo Duterte is waiting for a copy of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is expected to submit anytime this week to Malacanang.Secretary Martin Adanar of the Presidential Communications Operations Office on Wednesday said submission of the MILF’s BBL version will start the “ball rolling” as it will be endorsed by the Palace to Congress.“Anytime this week, we expect the MILF leadership to send their proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law to the Palace. Maybe they are now ready,” he told a forum in Manila.Andanar said Congress is also working on a plan to shift from the presidential form of government to a federal one, which can also establish the Bangsamoro autonomous region.“However, if the BBL will be passed and approved in a referendum, then it will be implemented,” he added, referring to the shift to federalism.Meanwhile, Jesus Dureza, the government chief peace negotiator, in a separate forum on Tuesday, said the MILF leadership told him that their version of BBL is just undergoing some finishing touches and will be ready in a few days.“They are working on how to avoid conflict with the Constitution so it has a smooth passage in Congress,” he told a gathering of businessmen in Makati City.Thee existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is composed of five Muslim-dominated provinces but the MILF want more autonomy.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/palace-waiting-bbl-draft/335367/
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SC: President’s judicial choices unquestionable
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-03-08 22:02:17+00:00
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With finality, the Supreme Court (SC) en banc has declared unconstitutional the power of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to clip the authority of the President of the Philippines in making appointments to the judiciary.In a ruling penned by Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, the full court voided the council’s “clustering” of the shortlist of nominees for all positions in the judiciary.Sereno heads the JBC.The clustering of the shortlist of nominees was introduced during Sereno’s incumbency where the council selects and separates the names of candidates as they please.The SC held that the appointing powers of the President is plenary and cannot be clipped or limited by the JBC by implementing the “clustering” scheme.This case came about after the tribunal junked a petition filed by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and several lower court judges questioning the appointments of two junior magistrates in the Sandiganbayan–Associate Justices Geraldine Faith Econg and Michael Frederick Musngi–in January 2016 for alleged violation of the Constitution.In the petition, the IBP said then-President Benigno Aquino 3rd violated the constitutional rule in handpicking Econg and Musngi from the same shortlist submitted by the JBC.It cited Section 9, Article VIII of the Constitution, which provides that “members of the Supreme Court and judges of the lower courts shall be appointed by the President from a list of at least three nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council for every vacancy.”These forced Judges Philip Aguinaldo, Reynaldo Alhambra, Danilo Cruz, Benjamin Pozon, Danilo Sandoval and Salvador Timbang Jr. to join the petition and became the petitioners in the case as they “suffered direct injury in this case.”In its February 21, 2017 ruling that was released only recently, the SC held that “the declaration of the court that the clustering of nominees by the JBC for the simultaneous vacancies that occurred by the creation of six new positions of Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan is unconstitutional was only incidental to its ruling that President Aquino is not bound by such clustering in making his appointments to the vacant Sandiganbayan Associate Justice posts.”“Wherefore, premises considered, except for its motion/prayer for intervention, which the court has now granted, the motion for reconsideration (with motion for the inhibition of the ponente) and the motion for reconsideration-in-intervention [of the decision dated 29 November 2016] of the Judicial and Bar Council are denied for lack of merit.”It, however, has agreed not to issue a ruling on the separate shortlists of nominees submitted by the JBC to President Rodrigo Duterte for the vacancies in the SC at present resulting from “the compulsory retirements of Associate Justices Jose P. Perez and Arturo D. Brion because these were not in issue nor deliberated upon in this case, and in order not to preempt the decision the President may take on the said separate shortlists in the exercise of his power to appoint members of the judiciary under the Constitution.”In the meantime, the tribunal also ordered Sereno to explain the removal of senior incumbent SC justices as consultants to the JBC.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sc-presidents-judicial-choices-unquestionable/316187/
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Complaints vs rogue policemen pouring in
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['Fernan Marasigan']
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2017-02-13 22:26:40+00:00
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THE Counter-Intelligence Task Force has been barraged by complaints against misfits in uniforms but so far only two were arrested for allegedly extorting money from motorists, the Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Director General Ronald dela Rosa, disclosed on Monday.Dela Rosa, in a news conference, announced the arrest of Senior Police Officer 2 Rodito Magluyan and Police Officer 3 Roel Candelario, both assigned to Station 9 of the Manila Police District.The two were collared by their colleagues after they received P500 marked money from a policeman who posed as taxi driver during an entrapment in Malate Manila, on Sunday.The two, dela Rosa said, would be included in the group of rogue policemen that would be reassigned to Basilan province in southern Mindanao.According to the PNP chief, the number of reported bad egss is increasing and it would be better if these policemen would just leave the police service.He said complainants had surfaced because they know that the PNP leadership is serious in weeding out the bad eggs in the police organization.Dela Rosa appealed to the media to help the PNP in monitoring and reporting inept, corrupt and undisciplined policemen.“[We will never tolerate these members of the force to rejoin the organization. But I am afraid that these rogue policemen would be able to return to the PNP after I retire],” he said.Meanwhile, dela Rosa clarified that moonlighting is being allowed in the PNP as long as the jobs are legal and would not lead to conflict of interest.If the policeman is off duty and is not consuming government time, he said, that policeman may have a second job as taxi driver or security aide in establishments or for individuals of good moral standing.“[Conflict of interest arises when a policeman, for instance, serves as bodyguard of a drug lord or gambling lord],” dela Rosa added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/complaints-vs-rogue-policemen-pouring-2/312056/
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90 percent of vehicles tested in Davao City fail emission tests
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['Happy Folger']
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15/11/2017 0:00
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About 90 percent of vehicles tested for emission by the Environmental Management Bureau ((EMB) did not pass standards in this city, as set by the Clean Air Act, according to officials.Speaking at the bimonthly Connect Health and Wellness Forum at SM Lanang Premier, EMB engineer Melvin Dapitanon said that the results of their November 7 joint roadside emission assessment showed that most of the vehicles tested did not pass the emission tests.These included around 30 government vehicles.“Sa roadside inspection of the PUJs, most of the diesel engine failed with the emission standard of the Clean Air Act,” Dapitanon said.The joint emission testing activity tested around 80 vehicles from PUJs, government vehicles, and passenger buses.Only one of the 20 buses from the Bachelor Express did not pass the test, as most of their fleet were already Euro 4 compliant, he noted.The bus tests were conducted last November 9 at the Bachelor motorpool in Ma-a.Only 10 percent of the tested vehicles were PUJs, with the rest being private and government vehicles.During the testing, the vehicles were merely tagged and required to come back for testing the following week.Penalties for failing to mee emission standards begin at P1,000 for violators, according to Dapitanon.The local ordinance, meanwhile, requires vehicles that do not pass emission standards to be brought to the motorpool of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) within 72 hours.As early as 2015, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had already released standards that regulated the emission of mobile sources of air pollution.The guidelines were made available via DENR administrative order 2015-04.By 2018, new vehicles will be required to be subjected to Euro 4 standards, which mean lower emissions, less aromatics, and better combustion performance for vehicles.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/11/15/90-percent-of-vehicles-tested-in-davao-city-fail-emission-tests/
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PH govt, NDF lauded for peace talk efforts
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['Neil Alcober']
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2017-01-21 23:44:45+00:00
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THE Philippines government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) were lauded by the Norwegian government for their strong commitment to pursue the peace talks as the negotiations moves to the more challenging and substantial part.Speaking at the opening of the third round of talks at the Holiday Inn in Rome, Italy on Thursday, facilitator and Norwegian Special Envoy Elisabeth Slattum said members of both panels have shown great willingness, dedication and courage to work for peace in the Philippines.Seeing the draft documents of the agenda items, Slattum said both panels are ambitious and want a better future for the Filipinos. Based on the drafts, the Norwegian official is positive that both panels are few steps closer to achieving the common goal of just and lasting peace.Slattum cited few achievements of the peace talks. In just a few months, she said, the parties already made history with each side’s declaration of a unilateral ceasefire; the release of 19 NDF consultants that boost the peace talks; and the reaffirmation of the previous agreements to accelerate a final peace agreement.For the third round, Slattum hoped both panels would reach consensus on the socio-economic, and political and constitutional agenda items to address the root causes of the conflict.Qc mayor joins panelMayor Herbert Bautista of Quezon city attended the opening ceremony of the third round of formal talks as one of the Philippine government panel advisers and observers.In his opening remarks, the Philippine government Negotiating Panel Chairperson and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III acknowledged Bautista as first among all government panel advisers and observers.“Let me also mention, Your Excellencies, we have with us our two able advisers, in the person of Mayor Bautista and, of course, another adviser…[Angeles City] Mayor Ed Pamintuan,” Bello said, addressing Slattum and Norwegian Ambassador to the Philippines Erik Forner.Appointed as adviser for local government concerns last August for his experience as long-time Quezon City executive, Bautista is also a national security expert who was recently promoted to Colonel in the Reserve Command of the Philippine Army. Bautista is a member of the Philippine government panel’s Reciprocal Working Committee on Socio-Economic Reforms, the most substantive agenda in the peace negotiations.“I wish to contribute to addressing the root causes of the armed conflict in our country and hope to bring local government and community-based solutions for the achievement of a just and lasting peace for the Filipino people,” Bautista said.For a common goalAmid unresolved issues on the releases and bilateral ceasefire, Slattum urged them to jointly solve problems and work together for a common goal.Slattum reminded both panels that a peace process is not a zero sum game where there is one winner and one loser.“A successful peace process is when both parties come out on the winning side,” she said, adding, however, that either side may not be perfectly content of the outcomes because some decisions they have to make will not be popular.“Both sides make painful consensus along the way. Both sides need a great deal of courage,” she pointed out. “Much is at stake for both parties,” she said.This is why, Slattum said, the peace process needs the patience, support and involvement of the Filipino people.She said it is not easy to negotiate peace; thus, most attempts failed miserably around the world. Most, she said, find it easier to continue with war rather than to continue working and sacrificing for peace.Slattum, however, noted that once a peace negotiation is successful, the reward is immeasurable and for the long-term—the winner is the Filipino people.Norwegian Ambassador to the Philippines Erik Forner also looks forward to a fruitful and constructive talks in the third round.Forner emphasized the importance of dialogue and negotiations as essential parts of the process even in circumstances of armed conflict and strong disagreement. Norway, he said, recognizes that stable and lasting peace require political processes and negotiated solutions.While overcoming differences and to make a lasting peace is not easy as the conflict already caused lives and human sufferings in 48 years in the Philippines, Forner, said the commitment demonstrated by both panels to do more is already an assurance that the peace process will move forward.He said they are aware of the differences to overcome within the next few days when substantial items are pushed on the table. But, he said, “we will manage our expectations, yet we are rest assured that all of you will do your very best to move the process forward.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ph-govt-ndf-lauded-peace-talk-efforts/308082/
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32 nabbed in drug sweeps in Olongapo
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['Patrick Roxas']
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2017-08-22 21:39:47+00:00
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The Olongapo City Police Office (OCPO) conducted a “One Time Big Time” (OTBT) anti-illegal drug operation here on August 19 and arrested 32 suspects involved in using or selling illegal substances.Police said the arrests were made during 12 simultaneous buy-busts and through 24-hour checkpoints in the whole city manned by peronnel from six police stations including the Olongapo Police Public Safety Company,City Intelligence Branch, police stations and the City Police Anti-Drug Enforcement Unit working as one in the relentless campaign against illegal drugs and criminality in the city.The OTBT operation netted 70 pieces of heat-resistant plastic sachets of shabu approximately weighing 12.62 grams, buy-bust money, drug paraphernalia, one tricycle and one Toyota Innova.Those arrested are now facing charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) at the City Prosecutor’s Office.Senior Supt. Melchor Baliuag Cabalza 3rd, OCPO director, said the operation is just one of the many OTBTs that will be conducted to ensure that the Olongapo police are winning in the war against illegal drugs that the Philippine National Police is waging in support of the nationwide Project Double Barrel Reloaded.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/32-nabbed-drug-sweeps-olongapo/346151/
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AMA subsidiary to join bidding for new telco
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-11-04 00:03:06+00:00
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The AMA Telecommunications Inc. (Amatelco) will join the bidding for the third telecommunications player.The firm, a subsidiary of AMA Education System, said it is preparing to join the bidding.“Yes, we bought the bidding documents to officially express our interest together with our middle eastern partners with technical and financial experience,” Amatelco President Felizardo Colambo said.The submission and opening of bid proposal was set on Nov. 7, 2018.In July 2016, according to the statement, the firm was granted a 25-year congressional franchise to build, install, establish, operate and maintain wire and/or wireless telecommunications system in the country for commercial purposes.Colambo said the company will participate and bid as a member of a consortium of investors with prospect of delivering to consumers the highest committed level of service and lower subscription cost.“If selected, our commitment is to build telecom infrastructure up to the farthest barangay (village) in the Philippines which is more than compliant to the terms of reference of the bid,” he added.President Rodrigo Duterte earlier called for the selection of a third player, prompted by complaints over the quality of PLDT and Globe’s services.Meanwhile, House Deputy Minority Leader Luis Campos Jr. on Saturday said “shared wireless communications towers” could help boost Internet connectivity nationwide.“The immediate beneficiary of new common towers will of course be the third telecommunications player that the government is bringing in precisely to drive competition in the supply of superior Internet services,” Campos said in a statement.“We support every initiative that will help quickly improve public access to faster Internet connection speeds at a lower price,” he added.“Assuming we have independent private firms putting up new towers for collective use, the third player should be able to quickly scale up service coverage, since it can opt to just lease the new structures,” Campos said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ama-subsidiary-to-join-bidding-for-new-telco/461835/
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Priest killed over illicit affairs – Duterte
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['Ralph Villanueva']
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2018-05-22 00:02:59+00:00
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PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said a parish priest in Gattaran, Cagayan was killed last month because of his numerous illicit affairs.In a speech during the annual town fiesta of Tabogon in Cebu, Duterte showed a matrix with a title page whichread, “Shooting to Death of Father Mark Anthony Ventura.”The diagram showed a picture of Ventura surrounded by photos of eight women.“Look at the matrix. Why would you not be killed? You had an affair [with a wife] of a vice mayor, a police officer, a soldier, a business tycoon. You would really get killed,” Duterte said in Cebuano.He said the government should not be blamed for the slay.“Why blame me? His fellow parish priest is married to a member of the NPA (New People’s Army) there in Cordillera. It was the NPA who reported first about his death,” Duterte added.Ventura was shot dead on April 29 after celebrating Mass in a village in Gattaran.His killers have yet to be apprehended.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/priest-killed-over-illicit-affairs-duterte/400225/
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P30-B cancer fund pushed
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-04-25 00:02:34+00:00
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The government should bridge the disparity in cancer treatment for rich and poor patients given the skyrocketing cost of cancer care and medication.The suggestion was made on Tuesday by Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, who had filed Senate Bill (SB) 1570, or the National Integrated Cancer Control Act, which seeks to make cancer treatment and care more affordable for all Filipinos.SB 1570 provides for a P30-billion cancer assistance fund to support the medical and treatment assistance program for cancer patients, especially those who belong to the most vulnerable sectors of society.“Treating cancer isn’t cheap. The average cost for a year’s worth of treatment could run into hundreds of thousands to millions of pesos,” Angara said.Because of the high cost, he noted, people with advanced cancer turn down recommended care while other cancer patients and their families use up all or most of their savings to pay for treatment.It is high time the government come up with an integrated and comprehensive approach to bridge the divide between rich and poor cancer patients, Angara said.“We need to develop a system in which all people with cancer have access to high-quality and affordable cancer treatments,” he added.The senator said cancer is a complex and catastrophic disease that is an urgent public health concern as he pressed for patients’ increased access to drugs for cancer treatment and expanded coverage for preventive and diagnostic services.He raised the need to institutionalize a systematic, well-organized, well-coordinated and well-funded, patient- and family-centered integrated cancer control programs at all levels of the existing health care delivery system.Angara also noted that many of the medical advances that allow cancer patients to live longer come at a high cost, and chemotherapy is one of the most expensive parts of treatment.Other cancer care expenses include doctor and clinic visits, radiation treatments, imaging tests like X-rays and MRIs, hospital stays, surgery and home care, he said.SB 1570 also seeks to expand current benefits from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. or PhilHealth to include screening, detection, diagnosis, treatment assistance, palliative and supportive care, survivorship follow-up care and rehabilitation.This expansion covers all types and stages of cancer of patients regardless of age.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/p30-b-cancer-fund-pushed/394650/
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PCSO: Only Duterte can stop Small Town Lottery
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['Francis Earl Cueto']
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2017-02-15 22:57:16+00:00
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DESPITE threats of being charged before the Office of the Ombudsman, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Alexander Balutan remained adamant over the issue of the Small Town Lottery (STL), saying they will continue with its operation despite allegations by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez that the numbers game is illegal.Balutan said that contrary to claims made by Alvarez that STL operations are being used as a front for the illegal numbers game, halting STL operations will only benefit illegal gambling or jueteng operators.“Stopping STL only favors gambling lords and their ilk,” he noted on Wednesday.“We respect the opinion of House Speaker Alvarez, but we request that he reconsider whose side he’s on: the Filipino people who will benefit from the government’s increase in charity services and the opportunity to provide employment, or the illegal gambling operators and those who coddle them,” Balutan said.Alvarez warned that he will be forced to file a complaint against them before the Office of the Ombudsman, if the STL operations will not be stopped.He said STL operations are not national in scale.But Balutan said while they respect the opinion of the House Speaker, he assured that the PCSO, which is working under the Office of the President, is following the request of President Rodrigo Duterte to end illegal gambling operations in all its forms.He clarified that the PCSO takes guidance and direction from the President who has been clear from the very beginning of his intention to eliminate illegal gambling operations and curb corruption.Balutan explained that the PCSO’s enabling law (Republic Act 1169, as amended) will prevail in so far as state-run lotteries are concerned.This law is among those which Executive Order (EO) 13 aims to implement and protect.EO 13 is an executive issuance to honor PCSO’s charter mandate.PCSO Chairman Jorge Corpuz earlier said halting STL will result in loss of revenue for the agencyHe added that through the expanded STL, the PCSO has been able to collect in the last quarter of 2016, P6.46 billion, a far cry from the P4.7 billion collected for the whole of 2015.The government is poised to lose almost P28 billion in revenue if STL operations come to a halt.This loss translates to billions of funds for the government’s charity services and free medicines for the poor.“I told him [Alvarez] to help us since this might boomerang because thousands will be adversely affected, particularly the poor, whose welfare the government seeks to uplift and address,” Balutan said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pcso-duterte-can-stop-small-town-lottery/312474/
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‘Fatten yourselves up while you still can’
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['Roy Narra']
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2018-02-23 00:02:47+00:00
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Drug lords in the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP), the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City, are probably feeling “festive” for the term extension of Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP).They can ‘fatten themselves up” now that de la Rosa’s next posting–head of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor)–has been put on hold.The BuCor runs the country’s prisons, including the NBP.President Rodrigo Duterte in a news conference on Tuesday night said he will extend de la Rosa’s term as PNP director general.The country’s top policeman is set to retire this April.“Patuloy ang pagpipista ng mga drug lords doon. Pataba muna sila habang hindi pa ako dumating [The drug lords can continue the festivity. They can fatten themselves up until I report for work there],” de la Rosa said.He assured that retired police Chief Supt. Valfrie Tabian, the current BuCor officer-in-charge, is making sure everything is in order in the NBP.De la Rosa previously ordered Special Action Force (SAF) head Noli Talino to deploy more troops to medium and minimum security jails in the national penitentiary.Presence of more SAF commandos in other parts of the NBP will prevent more drug-related activities there, he said.Duterte extended de la Rosa’s term again, also citing “some unfinished business” in the police organization such as flushing out police scalawags and police scoundrels.De la Rosa accepted the term extension despite having already made retirement plans.He said he will serve Duterte “until his last breath.”De la Rosa was supposed to retire in January this year upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56 but the President extended his term up to April.He, however, said he was told by the President’s staff also on Thursday that he will stay in his post “indefinitely.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/fatten-still-can/381981/
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Imee cited for outstanding public service
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['Randy Martinez', 'Pnoy']
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5/4/2017 0:00
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Ilocos Norte Governor Imee R. Marcos was recently honored for significant achievements in public service by the Golden Globe Annual Awards Council (GGAAC).The lady governor received her award in a recent ceremony at the Manila Hotel’s Grand Centennial Ballroom.GGAAC is an award-giving body recognizing business excellence and outstanding leadership.Their stories are then shared in a bid to inspire others to do the same.The Golden Globe Annual Awards is a joint undertaking of the GGAC, National Data Research Examiner and Marketing Services, Inc., non-profit youth support organization SINAG (Sining at Gabay ng Buhay) Foundation, Inc., and SINAG News Magazine.Governor Marcos likened governance to being a businessperson or master developer, saying that there’s a need to be creative and have a vision for the province.Marcos said her adminisrationn touched off a battle against complacency in Ilocos Norte, intensifying livelihood and educational opportunities for Ilocano productivity and inclusive growth.This also involved tapping the youth sector through flagship program Sirib Express, which offered more scholarships and conducted leadership camps, which led to the formation of Sirib Ilokano Kabataan Association (SIKA), a youth volunteer organization that assists the provincial government of Ilocos Norte in delivering basic services.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/04/05/imee-cited-for-outstanding-public-service/
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Aguirre to NBI: Probe sabotage on drug war
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-09-10 19:55:53+00:00
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The Department of Justice (DoJ) has tapped the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into the possibility that the killing of male teenagers is meant to sabotage the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd said he ordered the NBI to explore this angle in its ongoing investigation of the killing of Kian Loyd de los Santos, Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman.“We have to determine if there are other motives [beyond the] killing of these teenagers because we can see a trend that is targeting teenagers. This has not happened before when the war on drugs started,” Aguirre noted.The DoJ chief echoed President Rodrigo Duterte that there seems to be a deliberate effort to sabotage his administration’s crackdown on illegal drugs.“This [sabotage] appears to me as an effort to ultimately destroy our police force and of course the President,” Aguirre said.Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta, who is providing legal assistance to the parents of the three slain teenagers, is also looking into that possibility.“It’s obvious already that there’s an agenda in these killings. They are sacrificing teenagers to pursue their agenda. How could they stand doing that?” the PAO chief said.She added that they will be filing a criminal complaint for murder at the DoJ in the killing of Arnaiz, 19, and de Guzman, 14 this coming week.“This will be a joint case. The complaint will be filed as a double murder case,” Acosta said.She added that the case will be based on a memorandum of Police Senior Supt. Chito Bersaluna identifying Police Officer 1 Jeffrey Perez and PO1 Ricky Arquilita as the policemen involved in Carl’s killing.Acosta disclosed that they were able to find a key witness to support the criminal charges.“This witness gave us very important information on what really happened to Carl and [de Guzman]. So together with the testimonial evidence and physicial evidence like forensic tests, we find basis to pursue murder and torture charges against these policemen,” she said.JOMAR CANLAS
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/aguirre-nbi-probe-sabotage-drug-war/349890/
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Trillanes accuses Gordon of cover-up
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2016-10-14 21:25:33+00:00
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SENATOR Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, will be remembered as one who tried to “cover up” the truth about extrajudicial killings happening in the country, Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th said on Friday.Trillanes issued the statement a day after Gordon concluded his committee’s investigation of the alleged summary executions of suspected drug suspects in the country and absolved President Rodrigo Duterte of any involvement in them.Gordon, in news briefing after he officially terminated the inquiry, said there are no indications that such killings are state-sponsored and only a “fool” would say there are.“You’d be a fool to say he’s sponsoring killings… he’d be a fool and I don’t think he’s a fool,” he said, apparently referring to President Rodrigo Duterte, who is alleged to be behind the summary executions.The President, according go Gordon, is inspired to eliminate illegal drugs because he really means to eradicate them, saying he does not think that Duterte would push anybody to kill.Trillanes, however, said Gordon cannot prove anything about the issue because he never tried to look into the matter since he assumed chairmanship of the Senate committee.“Sen. Gordon cannot prove what he did not attempt to investigate in the first place,” Trillanes said.He added that his fellow senator could say anything he wants but he would not succeed in convincing people who also witnessed what really happened during the proceedings.Gordon, in terminating the hearing, said the committee already has more than enough information to come up with a report and recommendations on the issue.When asked if the committee would recommend the filing of charges against Edgar Matobato, a self-confessed member of the so-called Davao Death Squad, he replied that members of the committee would have to discuss it first.Gordon said Matobato is a liar and his testimony was riddled with inconsistencies aimed at implicating Duterte in unexplained killing in Davao City when the latter was still the mayor there.He added that if Matobato is really telling the truth, Duterte should have been charged after the confessed assassin came out with his revelation in 2014 when Sen. Leila de Lima was the head of the Justice secretary.“He [Gordon] can go on a monologue again to try to justify his actions but he won’t be able to convince the people who witnessed what transpired during the hearings. Eventually, the truth would come out and when that day comes, Sen. Gordon should be remembered as one of those who tried to cover it up,” Trillanes noted.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/trillanes-accuses-gordon-cover/291299/
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CHED, state schools doubt sustainability of free tuition
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['Neil Alcober']
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2017-01-20 21:17:32+00:00
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THE Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (Pasuc) are worried about the sustainability of free education, once the proposed measure granting free tuition to students enrolled in state universities and colleges (SUCs) is approved.Patricia Licuanan, CHED chairman, said her agency will find a practical way of implementing free education as she assured that the P8.3-billion proposed budget for the poor students will be given to all state schools for the next academic year starting in June.“But what I’m concerned about is whether this [free tuition] can be sustained over the long term because… and so maybe if we have a lot of money, we have no problem with it but if the budget is very limited, we have to prioritize the poorest [students], but how do we do that is still not clear to us,” Licuanan told this reporter in an interview at the sidelines of an education forum organized by the Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges and Universities (Papscu) at Club Filipino in San Juan City (Metro Manila) on Thursday.“I think the P8.3-billion additional budget for state universities and colleges for 2017 would be enough, so it’s just a matter of how we are going to… what will happen in 2018 and so forth that I think we have a difficulty,” she explained.Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino 4th authored Senate Bill 177 or the Free Higher Education for All Act, a landmark legislation that aims to provide additional funding to state universities and colleges so that all poor but bright students can enroll in college.Pasuc president Ricardo Rotoras said they will submit to the Senate the needed amount to fully subsidize all SUCs.“We have this estimate, and how much we need in order to provide free education.The amount is so enormous. We’re worried about the sustainability of providing the fund.What we submitted is the framewor, but the figures or the estimate based on what we believe would be like reasonable funds that state universities and colleges would need but we did not yet submit them [figures], but the amount is quite big,” Rotoras added.When asked if the government is capable of giving state schools additional funding every academic year, he replied, “Actually, we worry on that because if you look at the previous trend of the budget given to state universities and colleges, and considering the amount is not that big yet and then they provide how much more this plan to the budget for the education.”There are 113 SUCs in the country and they serve about 1.6 million students, including University of the Philippines, Rotoras said.“The average per capita right now is P27,000 per student, I mean, you can easily multiply the P27,000 x 1.6 million and that’s the current… and we also consider the state schools would be charging the fees,” he added.“Now, the collection of state universities and colleges is about P27 billion and then if we add that the amount is quite big. I can give the figure but I don’t have it now but I can provide that when necessary,” Rotoras said.The government, according to him, should pay not only the students’ tuition but also their miscellaneous fees.“Miscellaneous [fees] are much bigger than tuition. Most of the students won’t be able to finish schooling because they pay not only the tuition but also the miscellaneous fees and other costs of education like boarding house, transportation and educational tours, among others,” he said.“I think the government should really look into how much funds we really need if we intend to provide free tuition,” the educator added.Rotoras underscored the significance of the complementary roles of public schools and private schools.“We have to recognize the fact that we need the private schools. Countries in the region are also relying on help of private institutions. In other words, we have to look at this in the context as one higher education system,” he said.“The government, alone, is not capable to provide all these educational services if the private schools would die. That’s something we have to look into also in the whole context how this free education should really target those who really need it,” Rotoras added, referring to poor students.“We should not allow the private institutions to die because it’s not going to be sustainable if the private schools would not be there,” he said.Rotoras sees a massive migration of students from private schools to state universities and colleges as a result of the free education policy in the state schools.“Certainly, some students from the private schools would transfer to the public schools. For the past eight years, our growth rate in the state colleges and universities is about 8 percent, so we are increasing annually about 8 percent,” he said.“If you look at it [free education], it’s really very attractive on the part of the parents and students to transfer to public schools. Let’s say 15 percent or 20 percent migration from the private schools, it’s not impossible to assume that percentage. And just imagine about 20 percent growth rate in the state colleges, and right now we have difficulty in providing them the classrooms, for the longest time we received substantial budget for capital outlay. Many of the state universities and colleges do not have the classrooms, do not have laboratory rooms, and do not have all these basic facilities. Just to cater to the existing students, we are really having difficulty on that,” the educator added.Licuanan, however, said she sees this differently.“Probably not now. One of the things they’re saying is that they will use… because now we only have few freshmen, so I don’t know if they will be allowed to transfer because one of the proposals in that technical working group is it should support only existing students for now,” she explained.Licuanan, meanwhile, refuted claims of militant student group National Union of Students of the Philippines that she is “anti-student and anti-poor” for her statements regarding the new policy of free tuition in state universities and colleges.“My remarks are anti-poor? How can it be anti-poor when I was saying that we should prioritize the poor students? I really don’t think I am the enemy here. They think me being against this free tuition, it is my duty to raise certain issues, which I did, but I want to say that whatever is the law I will implement it,” she said.On Thursday, the student group claimed that Licuanan and CHED are “blatantly anti-student and anti-poor as they give conditions when it comes to providing free public education.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ched-state-schools-doubt-sustainability-free-tuition/307976/
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PACC to probe shabu entry
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['William Depasupil']
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2018-08-28 00:15:02+00:00
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THE Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) will conduct its own investigation of the reported collusion of some officials of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) with notorious smugglers that led to the entry into the country of billions of pesos worth of illegal drugs.PACC Commissioner and concurrent spokesman Manuelito Luna on Monday said the commission would subpoena Customs officials and employees as well as importers and brokers.“The PACC finds the facilitated smuggling of over P4 billion and P6.8 billion worth of illegal drugs very disturbing and will not take this sitting down,” Luna said in a text message to The Manila Times.“In this regard, the commission will be summoning personalities to shed light on the matter and will not hesitate to recommend to the President [Rodrigo Duterte] the firing of public officials found to be remiss in the performance of their duties or worse, acted in conspiracy with smugglers in facilitating the entry of the contrabands,” he added.The PACC’s power to investigate motu proprio emanates from Executive Order 43 issued by Duterte on October 4, 2017. The PACC was created to assist the President in investigating and hearing administrative cases against presidential appointees with salary grade 26 and higher.The House of Representatives has started its investigation of the entry of illegal drugs.In June this year, 355 kilos of shabu were found inside two abandoned magnetic lifters at the Manila InternationalContainer Port (MICP). The shipment arrived at the MICP on June 28. It was declared abandoned after Vecaba Trading, the importing firm, failed to file an entry document within the required 30-day period from the date of discharge.Vedasio Cabral Baraquel, the registered owner of Vecaba Trading, was charged with violation of Section 1401 (Unlawful Importation) in relation to Section 118 (g) (Prohibited Importation), pursuant to Section 4 and 5 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.In early August, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency discovered four magnetic lifters suspected to have contained shabu in a warehouse in Cavite.PDEA Chairman Aaron Aquino said the four magnetic lifters were found positive of shabu residue.The PDEA estimated that the four lifters could have contained one ton of shabu.The BoC found that the shipment entered the country through the MICP, and was consigned to SMYD Trading owned by Marina de la Cruz Signapan.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pacc-to-probe-shabu-entry/435321/
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Iglesia seeks to break own Guinness record
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['Mary Gleefer F. Jalea']
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2018-05-05 00:08:01+00:00
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THE Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) will lead a charity walk against poverty on Sunday and is hoping to break its world record for the largest charity walk across multiple venues held in 24 hours that it set four years ago.“The joint effort of INC members across the globe is one of many international campaigns of the INC’s sociocivic programs under the leadership of INC Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo to strengthen the bond between the congregations of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) and the communities in which they serve,” the group said in a statement on Friday.INC will hold its second “Worldwide Walk” to Fight Poverty simultaneously in 358 areas in 44 different countries on Sunday.The Guinness Book of World Records recognized the INC’s first Worldwide Walk in 2014 as the largest charity walk across multiple venues held in 24 hours, with the participation of 519,221 individuals in 129 sites in 16 countries.The proceeds were donated to the victims of the Super Typhoon “Yolanda”.INC General Auditor Glicerio B. Santos Jr. expects this record to be surpassed given that the number of sites has doubled in twice as many countries.“More importantly—since voluntary contributions by INC members will go to the beneficiaries of the activity—a greater number of participants means that we will be able to raise more funds for the different livelihood, food and medical assistance programs the church has organized in impoverished communities around the world,” said Santos.Santos said proceeds of the second Worldwide Walk would be used to support INC-led programs, including the self-sustaining resettlement communities in the Philippines and 22 eco-farming sites such as the one recently established in Ladybrand, South Africa.The Worldwide Walk in Metro Manila will start at 4 a.m. in front of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) along Roxas Boulevard.The Manila Police District Traffic Enforcement Unit (MPD-TEU) released a traffic advisory on Friday announcing the closure of some roads that would be affected by the INC event.Supt. Erwin Margarejo, MPD spokesman, said a rerouting scheme would be implemented as early as 10 p.m. on Saturday.The affected roads include the east and westbound lanes of P. Burgos, both lanes of Finance Road, east and westbound lanes of T.M. Kalaw, westbound lane of President Quirino Avenue, north and southbound lanes ofBonifacio Drive, and north and southbound lanes of Roxas Boulevard.Under the re-routing plan:* All vehicles coming from three bridges (Mc Arthur, Quezon and Jones) intending to use the southbound lane of Roxas Boulevard shall go straight to Taft Avenue to point of destination.* Light vehicles coming from the northern portion of Manila utilizing the southbound lane of Roxas Boulevard shall turn left to A. Soriano, right to Magallanes Drive, right to P. Burgos to point of destination.* Vehicles from Ayala Bridge to Roxas Boulevard shall turn left to Taft Avenue.* All vehicles coming from the southern portion of Manila intending to use the northbound lane of Roxas Boulevard shall use F. B. Harrison Street, straight to Mabini Street, then right to Quirino Avenue.* Vehicles utilizing the westbound lane of UN Avenue and the westbound lane of Quirino Avenue shall turn right or left to Taft Avenue.The Worldwide Walk is a charitable activity organized by INC to give emphasis on poverty being a global problem while pressing the public to take considerable action.The INC describes itself on its website as “a Christian religion whose primary purpose is to serve and worship the Almighty God based on His teachings recorded in the Bible. It is not a denomination or sect. It is neither affiliated to any federation or religious bodies nor itself an assembly of smaller churches or religious organizations.”The INC was founded by Felix Y. Manalo in 1914, according to its website.Manalo died in 1963 and was succeeded by his son, Eraño.Following the death of Eraño Manalo, his son Eduardo took over the reins of what is now considered as one of the most influential churches in the Philippines, whose block vote during elections has been sought after by political candidates.The INC maintains nearly 7,000 congregations and missions grouped into 142 ecclesiastical districts in 143 countries and territories in the six inhabited continents of the world, according to its website.with KIM MALAIT
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/iglesia-seeks-to-break-own-guinness-record/396861/
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Philippine Army has 13 new generals
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['Manny Villa', 'Marvin Macoy']
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14/04/2017 0:00
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Thirteen senior officers of the Philippine Army recently donned their new star ranks at a ceremony held at Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.Promoted to Major General was Arnel B. Dela Vega, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.Those promoted to the rank of Brigadier General were Felipe B. Bejar Jr., commander of the 51st Engineering Brigade; Perfecto M. Rimando Jr., commander of the 801st Infantry Brigade; Glorivine R. Dida, assistant deputy commander of the 2nd Infantry Division; Fernando T. Trinidad, commander of the 903rd Infantry Brigade; Francisco F. Mendoza Jr., commander of the 802nd Infantry Brigade; Felicisimo C. Budiongan, assistant deputy commander of the Mechanized Infantry Division;Ramiro Manuel A. Rey, commander of the Special Forces Regimen (Airborne);Arnulfo C. Matanguihan, commander of the 302nd Infantry Brigade; Nixon M. Fortes, commander of the 103rd Infantry Brigade; Milfredo M. Melegrito, commander of the 702nd Infantry Brigade; Jose C. Faustino Jr., commander of the 501st Infantry Brigade; and Manolo M. Samarita, commander of the 602nd Infantry Brigade.Lt. Gen. Glorioso V. Miranda, Army chief, led the ceremony with the HPA-based officers, enlisted personnel and civilian employees as audience.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/04/14/philippine-army-has-13-new-generals/
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Police to AI: Prove killing of ‘60’ minors
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['Rj Carbonell']
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2017-12-05 21:33:48+00:00
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The Philippine National Police (PNP) was doubtful of a report from human rights group Amnesty International (AI) that around “60” children were killed in the bloody and controversial conduct of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos, PNP spokesman, sounded furious when he downplayed the report of AI, which said its researchers in the Philippines witnessed alleged atrocities committed against the children first-hand.“Show us the numbers. Show us the individuals. Show specific cases,” Carlos said in a phone call to The Manila Times on Tuesday.The human rights group said it interviewed family members who revealed that they themselves witnessed how children were killed at close range as they begged for mercy.“They pointed a gun at my head [and] told me to get out… I heard shouting and three gunshots, then three more shots,” an AI witness said as she recalled how her young boyfriend was killed.Carlos said it was the international group’s agenda to cite unverified data without proof just to make the Philippine police look bad.“That is their technique. I don’t know where they got their data,” he added.Carlos gave little weight to the human rights group’s call for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings, including the murders of children.“What do they know about the local law?” he said of the ICC’s capability to judge the alleged human rights violations.On Monday, AI released a statement that said “as many as 60 children” have been killed in anti-drug operations since June 2016, amid growing concerns that the drug war will be brought back to the PNP.According to the group, it had an international research team that witnessed how large numbers of children suspected of being drug offenders were kept in an overcrowded and unsanitary holding centers for minors in Manila.The group disclosed that some children said they were beaten and tortured by the police after their arrests and were framed to pose in photographs with planted drugs.AI also brought up the case of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos thatcaused a national outcry after a police report and CCTV footage showed different accounts on how he was killed.The police claimed that he was a drug offender who fought back.The CCTV footage and witnesses, however, revealed that delos Santos was dragged to an alleyway unarmed before he was shot gangland-style.More than 12 policemen were investigated and arrested for the killing but there have been no convictions.The ICC earlier hinted that it would investigate the crimes against the children.“Police and armed persons linked to the police have killed dozens of children since 2016. Children have also been tortured and detained in appalling conditions, while families have been torn apart,” according to James Gomez, Amnesty International’s regional director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.“The case of Kian delos Santos has rightly sparked outrage. The blatant lies by officers to try to cover up their role in the cold-blooded murder of a child show that the police cannot be trusted to investigate themselves,” Gomez said.AI called on the ICC to urgently open a preliminary examination on the killings of children since President Rodrigo Duterte took power and led the Philippine drug war, and check for “crimes against humanity.”“It is time for international justice mechanisms to step in and end the carnage on Philippine streets by bringing the perpetrators to justice. The country’s judiciary and police have proven themselves both unwilling and unable to hold the killers in the ‘war on drugs’ to account,” Gomez said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/police-ai-prove-killing-60-minors/366849/
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