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Prayers better than visits to cemeteries – bishop
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['Catherine A. Modesto']
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2018-11-03 00:02:18+00:00
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Prayers for the dearly departed and the saints are more significant than the yearly visits to cemeteries on November 1, All Saints’ Day, or November 2, All Souls’ Day, according to Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo.“It is true that it is more important to pray for the departed ones than to visit them in cemeteries,” Pabillo said in an interview on Friday.Through prayers, “we ask the help of those who have already made it in the other life, both those in heaven and those in purgatory because we are still struggling against evil,” he added.“One day, they [those in heaven] too will join the triumphant church. Those in purgatory, having the saving grace of God in them, will be fully with God after their period of purification. If we are in the state of God’s grace, we saints on earth belong to the militant church,” Pabillo said.He added that in the Christian faith, the dead but not yet “holy” saints are “being purified in purgatory,” undergoing “cleansing” to help them through prayers on All Souls’ Day.In the same vein, the bishop said, the faithful have to thank the Lord for there are also saints who have reached heaven, “sharing the glory of the angels” and hope that “our beloved dead would be among them.”“How wonderful it is that we belong to this great communion that stretches for thousands of years! We are really in good company,” the bishop said.He added that those who do not “belong to this communion are those who have rejected God and His love. Those who definitively rejected Him are those in hell. Those on earth who live in grave sin also reject Him but hopefully they can still accept Him in this life. We work and pray for this.”On Thursday, about 1.3 million Filipinos reportedly flocked to Metro Manila’s major cemeteries to pay respects to their dear departed relatives and families.As of 11 a.m. on Friday, an estimated 89,029 people were at the Manila North Cemetery, where a number of former presidents, heroes, government official and celebrities were laid to rest.The crowd at the Manila South Cemetery was pegged at 19,426.WITH ROY D.R. NARRA
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/prayers-better-than-visits-to-cemeteries-bishop/461384/
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Duterte: No to village elections in October
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['Jaime Pilapil']
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2017-06-28 23:46:52+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte is still opposed to holding barangay (village) e lections in October this year for fear that drug lords will finance the bids of incumbent chiefs and other candidates who are coddling them.Secretary Martin Andanar, chief of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), however, told a Manila forum on Wednesday that the President will respect Congress postponing via a law the October 23 barangay and Sangguniang Barangay (Village Council) elections.“The President suspects that current barangay leaders who are into the illegal drug business will be financed by drug lords to make sure the continuity of their business. He is for the postponement,” Andanar said.“[Many villages] are drug-infested. As proof, in the Marawi raid, millions of pesos worth of shabu were discovered and even the former mayor was suspected to be involved in it,” he added, referring to the discovery by the military of shabu in an abandoned house in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, during a clearing operation.Duterte has said terrorists like the Maute Group are involved in the illegal drug trade and that “narco” politicians are supporting them.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-no-village-elections-october/335370/
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Duque, Garin face more raps
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2018-10-31 00:08:53+00:00
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DENGVAXIA ‘DEATHS’The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) has filed more criminal charges at the Department of Justice (DoJ) against Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd, his predecessor Janette Garin, and several others in connection with Dengvaxia-related deaths.PAO Chief Persida Rueda-Acosta on Tuesday assisted family members of 10 alleged casualties of the vaccine in filing 10 counts of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide, torture, and violations of the Consumer Protection Act (Republic Act 7394), particularly “defective product” and “mislabeled product,” against Duque, Garin, other health officials, and officials and personnel of vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur, and its distributor Zuellig Pharma.One of the victims was Senior Police Officer 2 Vicente Arugay who was represented by his wife Mary Jane.Complainants from Cebu province included Wilson and Theresa Alcontin, Eleazar Brigoli Sr., Jiny Casona and Marilyn Teleron, Erwin and Judelin Apa, Domingo and Luzviminda Cortes, Marlon and Damasajuevesano, and Argel Sam and Lara Nina Garces.The other complainants were Antonio and Rosalinda Castroverde of Valenzuela City and Rey and Jessica Viaros of Sariaya, Quezon Province.Duque was charged in particular with obstruction of justice by Arugay and Viaros for alleged violation of Section 1B of Presidential Decree 1829 or Obstruction of Apprehension and Prosecution of Criminal Offenders for his continued refusal to give the list of those inoculated with Dengvaxia.Also charged were Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials and personnel Vicente Belizario Jr., Kenneth Hartigan-Go, Gerardo Bayugo, Lyndon Lee Suy, Irma Asuncion, Julius Lecciones, Joyce Ducusin, Rosalind Vianzon, Maria Lourdes Santiago, and Melody Zamudio; Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) officials Socorro Lupisan and Maria Rosario Capeding; Sanofi corporate directors and officers Carlito Realuyo, Sanislas Camart, Jean Louis Grunwald, Jean-Francois Vacherand, Conchita Santos, Jazel Anne Calvo, Pearl Grace Cabali, and Marie Esther de Antoni; and Zuellig’s Kasigod Jamias, Michael Becker, Ricardo Romulo, Imran Babar Chugtai, Raymund Azurin, Nilo Badiola, John Stokes Davison, Marc Franck, Ashley Gerard Antonio, Ana Liza Peralta, Rosa Maria Chua, Danilo Cahoy, Manuel Concio 3rd, Roland Goco, and Ma. Visitacion Barreiro.In February this year, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption and Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution Inc. filed charges at the DoJ against Garin, former president Benigno Aquino 3rd and former Budget secretary Florencio Abad for their alleged involvement in the purchase of P3.5 billion worth of Dengvaxia and the implementation of a massive vaccination program under which more than 800,000 school children were inoculated with the anti-dengue vaccine.They were charged with technical malversation for conspiring to unlawfully effect the release of savings from the fiscal year 2015 Mutual Benefit Personnel Fund and use the same to augment the anti-dengue immunization program.The respondents were also charged with multiple homicide and physical injuries through negligence under the Revised Penal Code by the family of the victims of the deadly vaccine.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duque-garin-face-more-raps/460051/
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Alvarez takes swipe at missing DOT chief
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['Domingo S.', 'Joseph Fajardo', 'Rox Rey', 'Toni Lorenz', 'Low Wendy', 'Mikaela Say', 'Anthony Grave', 'Samantha', 'Sam', 'Cassy Cass']
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7/4/2017 0:00
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Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez called out Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo for skipping tourism events in the country and her frequent trips abroad.Alvarez issued the strongly-worded message during the grand opening of the 2017 World Game Fishing Competition here Thursday afternoon.Before 69 of the best anglers from 19 different countries and event guests, Alvarez asked the DOT secretary to be more active in tourism events, particularly international sporting events here.“I’m asking the undersecretaries and directors of the tourism agency, please, tell your Secretary to limit her travels abroad. She must turn her head to the provinces,” Alvarez stressed in the local dialect.Teo was represented during the opening ceremony by DOT Undersecretary Silvino Q. Tejada.“How can you do or perform your work well when you do not know what is in the provinces? This is a very important event and I suppose the Secretary of tourism must be here, not only representatives,” Alvarez stressed.He, however, said he appreciates the presence of Tejada and other DOT officials.In the same event, Alvarez also criticized Teo for her alleged failure to participate in the recently-concluded road trip of the members of House of Representatives from Luzon to Mindanao.He said the road trip was intended to evaluate, validate and assess the status of infrastructures in the country in relation to tourism and in preparation for the 2018 budget, particularly sea and airports and other newly discovered tourism spots leading to various tourism destinations in the country.“We invited her because that was a tourism-related activity. But she failed to attend.”In a separate interview here on Friday, Undersecretary Tejada said Teo absence in the opening ceremony of international fishing competition was due to her scheduled eye treatment.Tejada added that Teo may be available for the grand opening of the four-day 2017 Women’s World Surfing Cup in General Luna on May 2, 2017.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/04/07/alvarez-takes-swipe-at-missing-dot-chief/
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Court junks VACC plea over historic Manila building
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-10-13 23:35:41+00:00
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The Court of Appeals (CA) has junked a petition filed by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) that seeks to halt the conversion of the historic Army and Navy Club in Manila into a hotel and a casino gaming outlet, now known as the Rizal Park Hotel, owned by businessman Simon Paz.In a two-page resolution dated September 7, 2017 but released just recently, the CA’s former 15th Division, dismissed VACC’s motion for reconsideration and stood pat on junking the petition for certiorari and prohibition on issues of technicality for violating the principle on hierarchy of courts.“Petitioner has not shown any cogent or compelling reason to warrant a reversal or even a modification of the aforesaid resolution. Hence, the dismissal of the petition for certiorari and prohibition must be sustained,” it ruled.The decision was penned by Associate Justice Ramon Ramon Garcia and was concurred in by Associate Justices Leoncia Dimagiba and Jhosep Lopez.The court ruled that the VACC should have filed first the case with the Regional Trial Court, which has jurisdiction over the case.The group had sought to stop Oceanville Hotel and Spa Corp. from building the Rizal Park Hotel.Respondents in the petition were the city government of Manila, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), National Historical Commission of the Philippines, Oceanville Hotel and Spa Corp. and Vanderwood Management Corporation.The City of Manila has allowed Oceanville to lease the property for 25 years.Under the lease contract, Oceanville may sub-lease any part of the property.Oceanville later on sub-leased a part of the Army and Navy Club for 20 years, commencing on November 3, 2014 up to November 12, 2034, to Vanderwood, which constructs the gaming facility, and sub-leased 6,500 square meters of the property to Pagcor.The CA said the ruling of the Manila city government to enter into an agreement with a private corporation is not considered a judicial, quasi-judicial or ministerial action that can be a subject of a petition for certiorari.“The City of Manila’s execution of the lease contract with Oceanville Hotel and Spa does not fall within the ambit of judicial, quasi-judicial or ministerial function as the same is within its prerogative, powers and authority in the exercise of its executive function. On this court alone, certiorari and prohibition will not lie,” according to the court.The Army and Navy Club was founded in 1898 and declared to be the first American social club in the Philippines.By 1911, it was moved to its new location in the southeastern portion of a landfill that had extended the Luneta (now Rizal Park) seaward, opposite the Manila Hotel.The club was built based on a structural plan of architect Daniel Burnham.When World War II broke out, it was occupied by the Japanese in 1942 and was destroyed by the war.The club was later liberated by Filipino and American troops in 1945.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/court-junks-vacc-plea-historic-manila-building/356263/
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Court junks ex-Gov’s plea to dismiss case
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-10-11 00:03:04+00:00
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The Sandiganbayan’s Sixth Division has denied former Capiz Gov. Vicente Bermejo’s plea for the dismissal of a graft case that he is facing in connection with the purchase of four vehicles. He filed a motion to quash and/or motion to dismiss for inordinate delay. But the anti-graft court dismissed Bermejo’s appeal for lack of merit. “For purposes of determining if the right to speedy disposition of cases was violated, it must be shown that there was serious prejudice caused by inordinate delay in the proceedings. The court does not find any vexatious, capricious and oppressive delay in the present case,” the Sandiganbayan said. The Office of the Ombudsman accused Bermejo of giving Philippine Pan Subic Ventures, Inc./Phil-Pan Subic Ventures Inc. unwarranted benefit, advantage and preference by purchasing four used vehicles for P1.9 million without public bidding.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/court-junks-ex-govs-plea-to-dismiss-case/450517/
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5 in JBC shortlist for Sandiganbayan
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2016-12-16 21:14:34+00:00
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The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) sent a transmittal letter to President Rodrigo Duterte with a shortlist of four Regional Trial Court judges and an Ombudsman director who shall vie for the position vacated by a retired Sandiganbayan associate justice.The letter, dated December 9 stated: “Dear President Duterte…..Pursuant to Article VIII, Section 9 of the Constitution, the Judicial and Bar Council has the honor to submit the following nominations for the position of Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan [vice Hon. Jose R. Hernandez].”Topping the list with seven votes from the council is Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Maryann Corpus-Mañalac. Vying for the post against her are two others from the Makati RTC — Judge Edgardo Caldona with six votes and Judge Honorio Guanlao Jr. with four votes.Aparii, Cagayan RTC Judge Oscar Zaldivar got four votes.The only non-trial court judge who made it in the shortlist is Bayani Jacinto, a director from the Office of the Ombudsman.The JBC letter was signed by the seven members of the JBC, led by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Aranal-Sereno and attached with it were the curriculum vitae of the nominees.The Sandiganbayan now has three vacancies with Hernandez’s retirement and the early retirement of Justice Napoleon Inoturan. On February 1, 2017, Justice Roland Jurado is also scheduled go on an early retirement.The Sandiganbayan now has seven divisions composed of one presiding justice and 20 associate justices.The seven-man council, which is constitutionally mandated to screen and vet nominees to the president for vacant posts in the judiciary and the Offices of the Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman, is chaired by Sereno, with ex-officio members, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguierre II, along with members of the legislative branch namely Senator Richard Gordon and Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Mindoro Oriental, who have a term-sharing seat in the JBC.Retired Supreme Court Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez is the JBC executive committee head, lawyer Jose Mejia represents the academe, and Milagros Fernan-Cayosa represents the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and the newest member retired Judge Toribio Ilao, represents the private sector. JOMAR CANLASThe Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) sent a transmittal letter to President Rodrigo Duterte with a shortlist of four Regional Trial Court judges and an Ombudsman director who shall vie for the position vacated by a retired Sandiganbayan associate justice.The letter, dated December 9 stated: “Dear President Duterte…..Pursuant to Article VIII, Section 9 of the Constitution, the Judicial and Bar Council has the honor to submit the following nominations for the position of Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan [vice Hon. Jose R. Hernandez].”Topping the list with seven votes from the council is Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Maryann Corpus-Mañalac. Vying for the post against her are two others from the Makati RTC — Judge Edgardo Caldona with six votes and Judge Honorio Guanlao Jr. with four votes.Aparii, Cagayan RTC Judge Oscar Zaldivar got four votes.The only non-trial court judge who made it in the shortlist is Bayani Jacinto, a director from the Office of the Ombudsman.The JBC letter was signed by the seven members of the JBC, led by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Aranal-Sereno and attached with it were the curriculum vitae of the nominees.The Sandiganbayan now has three vacancies with Hernandez’s retirement and the early retirement of Justice Napoleon Inoturan. On February 1, 2017, Justice Roland Jurado is also scheduled go on an early retirement.The Sandiganbayan now has seven divisions composed of one presiding justice and 20 associate justices.The seven-man council, which is constitutionally mandated to screen and vet nominees to the president for vacant posts in the judiciary and the Offices of the Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman, is chaired by Sereno, with ex-officio members, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguierre II, along with members of the legislative branch namely Senator Richard Gordon and Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Mindoro Oriental, who have a term-sharing seat in the JBC.Retired Supreme Court Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez is the JBC executive committee head, lawyer Jose Mejia represents the academe, and Milagros Fernan-Cayosa represents the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and the newest member retired Judge Toribio Ilao, represents the private sector.JOMAR CANLAS
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/5-jbc-shortlist-sandiganbayan/302186/
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DoH presents to civic groups proposed amendments to RH Law
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-10-05 20:02:56+00:00
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The Department of Health (DoH) on Wednesday met with various civic groups to present its proposed amendments to the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law in compliance with an order of the Supreme Court (SC).About 30 civic groups from various sectors trooped to the DoH for a public consultation on some provisions of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10354 or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law or RH Law.Juan Antonio Perez 3rd, Population Commission executive director, said the public consultation is a way to comply with the order of the SC.Perez added that there were still contentious issues that were discussed in the consultation on some provisions of the IRR with the groups.“The original law allowed who are already pregnant to access family planning without the consent of the parents and the Supreme Court said that cannot be allowed, so we took that out. But some said, they should not have removed that, but we said, fine, but we have to follow the Supreme Court,” he said.Rolando Bautista, a member of the Alliance for the Family Foundation Philippines Inc., said they are glad that natural family planning is included in the revised Implementing Rules and Regulation of the law.On October 5, the concerned groups and individuals will submit their position paper regarding the revised provisions of the IRR of the RH Law.On October 9, the final version will be published in a newspaper of general circulation and will take effect on October 24.KENNETH HERNANDEZ
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/doh-presents-civic-groups-proposed-amendments-rh-law/354788/
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DepEd reduces teachers’ workload
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['Neil Alcober']
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2018-09-05 00:04:59+00:00
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THE Department of Education (DepEd) has reduced the workload of teachers by simplifying and cutting down the number of school forms and streamlining processes.After reviewing the tasks and duties of public school teachers, the Education department reduced 36 common school forms to 10, including forms for Senior High School. It also streamlined processes to minimize duplication and redundancy of data, thereby cutting down the time and effort spent by teachers on work preparations.“Since varying forms required by different agencies for diverse purposes continue to emerge, DepEd is relentless in conducting reviews that will further simplify the forms and processes, thereby enabling teachers to focus more on teaching,” the department said.The agency is also looking into interventions such as talking with teachers and process owners to consider data sharing instead of creating separate forms, and the possible hiring of personnel who will prepare administrative and management reports.The Education department said the review of work processes was conducted “to ensure that the data collected are not compromised and are integral to proper assessment, planning, and allocation of resources and intervention.”“Reports enable teachers and the DepEd to identify areas of improvement and set the direction for evidence-based decisions to aid in the delivery of quality basic education,” the DepEd said in a statement.“Workers in the agency — from members of the executive and management committees to their staff who perform technical and administrative duties even during weekends, holidays, and hours before and after office; from teaching and non-teaching personnel who have lasted decades in service to drivers and utility personnel who go beyond their regular tasks — are toiling hard to keep the agency on track,” it added. service,” the DepEd said.“Along with teaching, professions that ensure the delivery of basic education and social services are among the noblest and most fulfilling calling one can devote the self to, and being in public service requires twice the passion and commitment. Being in public service is to experience suffering and joy at the same time: the risks and the challenges, and the excitement and satisfaction of touching people, changing lives and contributing to our betterment as a nation,” it added.The government kicks off today the celebration of National Teachers’ Month. However, the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) said there were nothing to celebrate because teachers are overburdened.Benjo Basas, the group’s national chairperson, said teachers were overworked because of the rigid and document-centered performance rating system, complicated lesson preparations, frequent class observations, performance of clerical tasks, Saturday classes and weekend meetings.“Teaching is a special task. It requires physical, mental, intellectual and emotional preparedness. A teacher must always have passion in her work. But with stressful clerical tasks that that would cause negativity, anxiety, stress and even depression, what will happen to our teachers?” he said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/deped-reduces-teachers-workload/438146/
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Sulu lawmaker: Probe officials’ aiding of terrorists
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-07-30 18:42:26+00:00
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A lawmaker has called for a congressional inquiry into suspected involvement of local officials of Sulu province in trading of illegal drugs and aiding of terrorists now that the National Police Commission (Napolcom) has ordered stripping the Sulu governor and 13 other provincial mayors of their powers over local police for the same unlawful activities.Rep. Munir Arbison of Sulu made the call recently under House Resolution 1137, noting that local officials are supposed to be at the forefront of the government’s war on illegal drugs and terrorism.“We need to get down to the bottom of this. Otherwise, the sacrifices of our young and gallant soldiers will just be in vain,” Arbison said in a statement.Mindanao, which covers Sulu, has been declared under martial law since May 23 by President Rodrigo Duterte to combat the terrorist Maute Group in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur.Congress has granted a five-month extension of martial law and warrantless arrests in Mindanao as requested by the President last week to suppress persistent rebellion from four groups—Maute Group, Abu Sayyaf Group, Ansarul Khilafah Philippines and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.The Napolcom resolution was released on June 4.Aside from the local officials of Sulu, also stripped of police powers were Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu and 28 Maguindanao mayors; Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. and 37 Lanao del Sur mayors.; Gov. Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo and 22 Lanao del Norte mayors; Gov. Datu Pax Pakung Mangudadatu and 12 Sultan Kudarat mayors; Gov. Hadjiman Salliman and 10 Basilan mayors; Gov. Nurbert Sahali and nine Tawi-Tawi mayors; and Mayor Frances Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi of Cotabato City.“A scan of the spate of kidnappings that happened in the last 10 years will reveal that local Sulu officials played an indispensable role in kidnapping in the guise of negotiation for ransom in the spate of kidnappings by the Abu Sayyaf Group,” Arbison said in his resolution.“The Napolcom resolution already points us to the truth that we must all seek out, if we are to fully liberate Sulu and Mindanao from quagmire of extremism and senseless war,” he added.Arbison cited a copy of an affidavit dated April 12, 2017 and executed by Olaf Ihlau, former editor of German news magazine Der Spiegel, who disclosed that he personally brought the ransom allegedly to the residence of former Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan in exchange for the release of Andres Lorenz in July 2000.“The inquiry in aid of legislation should result in possible review and amendments of kidnapping and serious illegal detention of the Revised Penal Code, Republic Act 9372 or the Human Security Act of 2007, RA 6975 or the Philippine National Police [PNP] Law and the newly-approved RA 10927 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act,” he said.In March, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana expressed frustration in the increase in the number of Abu Sayyaf hostages from 18 to 31 since President Rodrigo Duterte took over on June 30, 2016.“There is no way for President Duterte to succeed in his war against illegal drugs and the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups if public officials of local government units who are supposed to be in the forefront of our difficult and long battle against these criminals are playing footsies with drug lords and kidnap-for-ransom groups,” Arbison said.LLANESCA T. PANTI
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sulu-lawmaker-probe-officials-aiding-of-terrorists/341527/
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Alex Dacanay writes ‘30’
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['Margie T. Logarta']
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2017-11-20 22:07:31+00:00
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ALEXANDER “Alex” Dacanay succumbed to myelofibrosis – a rare kind of leukemia – on Monday at the National Kidney Institute. He was 71.Dacanay, a six-year stalwart of Nikkei and veteran of media outlets such as WHO and Panorama magazines, had been in and out of hospital for several months. When he retired from the industry, he went on to teach English Literature at his alma mater, the University of the Philippines. A gifted bass singer, he also did stints with the Madrigal Singers, which also counted as a member comedienne Nanette Inventor, and a media chorale.A chess player, he also covered the sport for government radio. He reported on the 1978 World Cup in Baguio City, which saw Anatoly Karpov pitted against Viktor Korchnoi.Dacanay is survived by spouse Barbara Mae Dacanay, also a journalist, and their children Nadine, Nikos Lexis, Kim, Camille and Nicole, sons-in-law Adee Mendoza and Graciano Fiorillo and grandchildren Banaue, Roja and Daniele.Details of the wake have yet to be announced.Another journalist, Manila Standard reporter Christine Herrera, died on Sunday while on vacation in Bangkok, Thailand. She was 49.Herrera is survived by husband Lito Herrera, daughters Nikki and Abby, son-in-law JB and grandson Malcolm Mason.She joined the Standard after her stint in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. She covered the Senate and the House of Representatives.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/alex-dacanay-writes-30/364001/
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Senate to pass free tuition, free Internet access measures
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-03-10 19:31:12+00:00
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THE Senate may be able to pass two more bills and a resolution concurring with accession to the Paris Agreement on third and final reading before Congress adjourns next week for a two-month summer break.According to Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino 4th, Senate Bill (HB) 1304 or the Free Higher Education for All Act, which seeks to provide free tuition in state colleges and universities (SUCs), has already been approved on second reading last March 7 and is set for final reading on March 13.Aquino, an author of the bill, on Friday said institutionalizing free tuition in the SUCs will lead to more college graduates.According to him, only one of four students in the SUCs will earn a degree while the rest will drop out because of poverty.At present, the senator said, 1,645,566 students are enrolled in different SUCs, where the average weighted annual tuition is P9,407.If HB 1304 is enacted, the government will shell out around P16 billion every year to subsidize tuition in the SUCs.The Senate last Tuesday passed on second reading SB 1277 or the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act.Aquino, chairman of the Senate committees on education and on science and technology, said free Internet access will be provided to all national and local government offices, public schools, public transport terminals, public hospitals and public libraries.“It is imperative that we institutionalize this very important platform to improve access to quality Internet in the Philippines, especially when only 52.6 percent of Filipinos have Internet access,” the senator noted.Under the measure, the Department of Information and Communications Technology will be mandated to craft a plan and a timeline for the rollout of this program.It will also take the lead in coordinating with local government units to ensure the on-ground implementation of the program.Meanwhile, the Senate will also approve on third reading the resolution concurring with the accession to the Paris Agreement that will allow the Philippines to access funds that will help the country adapt to the impact of climate change.Sen. Loren Legarda, chairman the sub-committee on the Paris Agreement under the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said the Paris Agreement would be beneficial to a vulnerable developing nation like the Philippines.“The Paris Agreement establishes the obligation of all parties to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The agreement is governed by voluntary mitigation contributions and transparent processes that will ensure continued collective progress toward meeting the ambitious global goal,” Legarda explained.Ratification will send a strong signal about the country’s “continuing commitment to work with the rest of the world in ensuring the survival of this generation and the generations to come, and the ability of the Earth to sustain life.”Congress will adjourn on March 17 and will resume on May 2 for a month-long session before it adjourns sine die on June 2, officially ending the first regular session of the 17th Congress.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/senate-pass-free-tuition-free-internet-access-measures/316509/
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Duterte urged to support inventors
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['Francis Earl Cueto']
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2017-02-11 23:28:34+00:00
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A GROUP of Filipino engineers has urged President Rodrigo Duterte to support Filipino inventors who are seeking a dialogue with him to present their latest technological innovations that are proudly Filipino-made.Aquilino Tubigan Jr., an engineer, said it is time to support inventions made by Filipinos, emphasizing local inventions can be used in present industries that would result to the Philippines being less reliant on imported technology.Tubigan, the inventor of the “i-charj,” – a charging station for gadgets found in malls, convenience stores, transport terminals, ships and areas with high people traffic – added the government should also provide more support to Filipino inventors in order to incentivize and reward their creativity and innovative minds.Speaking at the 30th anniversary celebration of the Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI) held recently at the H2O Hotel in Manila Ocean Park, Tubigan said the success stories of Filipino inventions that got financial assistance from the agency is an inspiration as well. TAPI is a bureau under the Department of Science and Technology.“Filipino inventors need all the help that they can get especially in the aspect of promotion and commercialization of their inventions. Most creative and innovative minds are not as gifted when it comes to the promotion, marketing, and eventual sales of their creation. Apart from nurturing the creativities of Filipino inventors,” Tubigan said.He added that government should likewise come in to either impart to them the entrepreneurial spirit or at least link them to the appropriate entities that can help turn their respective inventions for mass production and commercialization.He added that many Filipino inventors can present their innovations for reduced electrical consumption for homes and industries, as well as the latest gadgets and trends comparable to those found in the United States and Japan.TAPI Director Edgar Garcia welcomed the suggestion of Tubigan and assured Filipino inventors that the institute would continue to find ways to extend to them government support, so the country could also benefit from local inventions.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-urged-support-inventors/311735/
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Independence Day fairs to offer thousands of jobs
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-06-10 00:21:52+00:00
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THOUSANDS of employment opportunities will be up for grabs for jobseekers in 15 regions nationwide as part of the coming Independence Day celebration, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE).In a report to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd, Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) Director Dominique Tutay on Friday said the DoLE’s job and business fairs on June 12 will be held in 21 venues nationwide.Venues for the job and business fairs are:National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila)–Senior Citizen’s Garden in Rizal Park, Manila.Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)–SM Baguio City.Region I–CB Mall, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan; Nepo Mall, Dagupan City; Candon Civic Center, Candon City, Ilocos Sur; Manna Mall, San Fernando City, La Union; and Robert Estrella Gymnasium, Rosales, Pangasinan on June 13.Region II–Cagayan State University, Caritan Campus Gym, Tuguegarao City.Region III–Malolos Convention Center, City of Malolos, Bulacan.Region IV-A–Binangonan Municipal Hall, Binangonan, Rizal.Mimaropa–Xentro Calapan Mall, Roxas Drive, Lumangbayan, Calapan City; and Municipal Plaza, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro.Region VI—Marymart Mall, Iloilo City.Region VIII—Tacloban City Convention Center, Tacloban City; and Catbalogan City Plaza, Catbalogan City, Samar on June 15.Region IX—KCC Mall de Zamboanga, Gov. Camins Road, Zamboanga City.Region X—Limketkai Atrium Center, Cagayan de Oro City.Region XI—Felcris Centrale, Quimpo Blvd., Davao City.Region XII—SM City of GenSan, General Santos City.Caraga—Provincial Capitol, Butuan City on June 14.Negros Island Region—888 Premiere Mall, Bacolod City.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/independence-day-fairs-offer-thousands-jobs-2/331931/
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Form drug councils or face charges, village execs told
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2018-05-19 00:01:17+00:00
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Newly elected village officials should give priority to the creation of their Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council and ensure that these are functioning, Rep. Luis Raymond Villafuerte of Camarines Sur said Friday.“The presence of a functioning anti-drug abuse council in each barangay should be the priority of the village officials upon assuming office. They should not take this step lightly. Otherwise, they could face complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman for their negligence,” Villafuerte, vice chairman of the House Committee on Local Government, said in a statement.Based on the records of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, only 86 percent or 39,417 out of the 42,036 villages nationwide have active anti-drug council personnel. However, only 61 percent of the 39,417 anti-drug councils has a plan of action in place.Data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, on the other hand, show that out of the 24,424 drug-affected villages,15,290 are classified as slightly affected, 9,089 are moderately affected, while 45 barangays are seriously affected.“The government needs all the help it can get to rid of the drug menace,” Villafuerte said.He called on local government units to tap their barangay health workers in treating outpatient drug abuse cases.Villages are required to appropriate a portion of their annual budget for the anti-drug councils. Local leaders who fail to set up Badacs can be charged administratively for dereliction of duty.An anti-drug council is led by the barangay chairman. It members are composed of a kagawad, Sangguniang Kabataan chairman, school principal, civil society representative, faith-based representative, and a police representative.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/form-drug-councils-or-face-charges-village-execs-told/399553/
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Duterte: Revise EO on firecracker ban
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2016-11-04 21:06:04+00:00
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With the holiday season just around the corner, will the country see fewer firecracker-related injuries under the Duterte administration?President Rodrigo Duterte is apparently not keen on imposing a nationwide ban on firecrackers because of its economic implications.In a text message, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Duterte ordered his Cabinet to revised the draft Executive Order (EO) that would limit the use of firecrackers or pyrotechnic devices for “possible loss of jobs.”“A revised EO on the firecracker ban will be submitted,” according to Andanar, when asked if the President has approved the nationwide ban on firecrackers during a Cabinet meeting in Malacanang on Thursday.“The concerned agencies will look into the proposal to regulate pyrotechnics to mitigate the possible loss of jobs and at the same time enable traditional celebration of festivities,” he said.Duterte enforced a successful fireworks ban when he was still mayor of Davao City, and has promised to replicate the policy nationwide.The President earlier said he will consult members of his Cabinet and let them decide on a possible ban on firecrackers.“I am going to have the Cabinet meeting. There will be a loss of business, economic, whatever, social, everything. I need the Cabinet to decide. It will be a Cabinet decision,” Duterte had said.The proposed EO, which the Department of Health (DOH) expects Duterte to sign before November, wants a shift from individual household use of firecrackers to a community fireworks display.Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial told an earlier news conference that the DOH has been firm on its position that it would limit the use and possession of firecrackers or pyrotechnic devices in the country.“The controlled and supervised display and use of firecrackers and pyrotechnics, that is still what we advocate,” Ubial had said.“We’re hoping, because it was done in Davao, and I was the regional director during the time we implemented it in Davao, we had zero cases of firecracker injuries in Davao,” he added.Davao City has prohibited the manufacture, sale, distribution, possession or use of firecrackers or pyrotechnic devices in the city since 2002.Duterte, who was mayor then, signed the city ordinance.CATHERINE S. VALENTE
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-revise-eo-firecracker-ban-2/294837/
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Robredo: Marcos out to steal VP post
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-03-08 22:01:22+00:00
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Former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is out to stifle the will of the people by reversing election results, Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo said on Wednesday.The Vice President made the comment during a forum on International Women’s Day when she was asked about a pending electoral protest lodged against her by Marcos.Robredo beat Marcos in the May 2016 vice presidential race by 263,473 votes.She cited the propensity of pro-Marcos pages on social media accusing her of having two marriages, having a boyfriend, getting pregnant, committing abortion, among others, which were all false.“I am a target of these false claims not because I am a threat to the President. All the attacks against me are concerted, and they are saying the same thing because they are paid to do that. My opponent in the last elections cannot accept defeat, and he is still hoping that he will sit as Vice President,” Robredo said.“We need to show them that they could not corrupt the result of the elections. This is a fight beyond the Supreme Court. We should express our sentiments that poll results cannot be bastardized, just like what they attempted to do in 1986,” she added.Robredo was referring to the 1986 snap elections wherein poll count volunteers walked out in protest since the results were manipulated by the Marcos administration in favor of then sitting President Ferdinand Marcos.“[Thirty] years [later], they want to reverse election results again, and the solution remains the same: We should not be cowed,” she said.Meanwhile, the Vice President hit back at anonymous bloggers behind We Are Collective who have accused her late husband and former Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo of coddling drug dealers and jueteng lords in their hometown, Naga City, in Camarines Sur.According to her, the move of the We Are Collective is a result of her being a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, particularly its war on drugs that already left at least 7,000 people dead, including children, all without charges or trial.“What is the price of my being vocal [on dissent]? A lot of stories have been [woven] out of nowhere on me. There’s a story on myself being married before I married Jesse, me having a boyfriend, then they stepped it up by accusing me of being pregnant… and when I didn’t have that baby bump, they said I committed abortion.When they could not get anything going against me, they victimized my husband who has been in resting in peace for the last five years,” she said during the Women Defend Democracy: A Forum on International Women’s Day held in Miriam College in Quezon City.Jesse Robredo died in a plane crash in Masbate in August 2012 after representing then-President Benigno Aquino 3rd in a government function in Cebu.Prior to his death, he had served as mayor of Naga City for 18 years and was a 2004 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Good Governance.“Is this how low they can get? This has to end somewhere. It’s okay if they will attack me because I can defend myself. I don’t want to defend myself against these people who won’t even show their real identity and are lying, but I have to draw the line. It is my husband who are they preying on because they can’t silence me,” the Vice President said, her voice cracking.She added that while it is tough enough to be a woman, the Duterte administration makes it even tougher.“Given a different time, we are better off than other countries as far as gender equality is concerned but there remain women who are victims of domestic violence because they don’t have jobs that will enable them to fend for themselves. But now, these are even extraordinary times. It is more difficult because the environment does not encourage equality,” Robredo said.“You might recall my time as a member of the Cabinet, I had to endure comments on me as a woman. Even if knees were called out in the national conversation. My knees do not even look that good. At the time, I felt uncomfortable. And what I experienced is not different from the case of any other woman,” the Vice President, a former chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, added.She was referring to an incident wherein President Rodrigo Duterte made a joke that he and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd have a habit of looking at the Vice President’s knees during Cabinet meetings.The President made the joke during the commemoration of the Super Typhoon Yolanda tragedy in Leyte where he shared the stage with Robredo.Sen. Risa Hontiveros, also one of the forum speakers, shared the Vice President’s sentiments.“We all thought that we don’t need to fight sexism and misogyny anymore. But as it turns out, usong-uso pa rin ang mambastos ng mga babae [a lot of people still subject women to unwanted sexual advances]. We have to resist this, fight for gender equality and at the same time, defend democracy,” Hontiveros said.“We need to double our efforts… this fight carries a lot of burden, but we will march on,” she added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/robredo-marcos-steal-vp-post/316186/
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Malacañang wants media as watchdog and partner
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['The Manila Times']
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2016-11-24 22:19:27+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte welcomes media’s role as watchdog even as he considers it a partner in informing the people about what the government is doing for them, a Palace official said.In a message he delivered in behalf of Press Secretary Martin Andanar at the launching of the Media Ownership Monitor (MOM) website ((http://philippines.mom-rsf.org/ ), Thursday last week, Press Undersecretary Enrique Tandan said, “President Duterte believes that, as partners for change, the members of the media have a huge responsibility in keeping the government institutions in check. Change happens when there is a constant voice that keeps the government up on its feet, making sure that no detail will go unknown from the public eye.”But the President also wants media to be a partner in delivering the government’s messages to the people.‘’For the President, this is how the media works as the government’s sidekick, so to speak,” Tandan said.Christian Mihr, representing Reporters Without Borders, or RFS, which initiated the MOM project, noted that “the Philippines, a country with a president who decided to lead his countries closer to China media should play a crucial role as a facilitator of societal debates, watchdog of government and essential mediator of democratic processes.”Mihr cautioned about “the subtle yet strong ties between business interests and political power” that could limit media’s independence.The MOM website contains the findings of a three-month research conducted jointly by VERA Files and Reporters without Borders on the top media outlets in the country, their profiles as well as on the extent of media ownership concentration.The study showed that the two giant broadcast companies — ABS-CBN Corporation and GMA Network Inc. — dominate the Philippine media industry and have a major influence in shaping public opinion.The research revealed that some media companies practice corporate layering, which not only masks the real owners but could also be related to taxation issues.Stressing the importance of transparency in media ownership, Mihr asked, “How can people evaluate the reliability of information, if they don’t know who provides it? How can journalists work properly, if they don’t know who controls the company they work for? And how can media authorities address excessive media concentration, if they don’t know who is behind the media´s steering wheel?”He said those are questions that MOM wants to address both worldwide and in the Philippines,e specially.The Philippines is the sixth country where RSF implemented MOM. Started last year in Colombia and Cambodia, this year RSF embarked on MOM in six more countries, Tunisia, Turkey, Mongolia, Peru and Ukraine next to the Philippines. It is funded by the German Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation, BMZ.Reporters Without Borders Germany has existed for 21 years and is part of the international, Paris-based organization Reporters sans frontières, whose aim is to defend human rights, in particular freedom of the press and the right to inform and be informed anywhere in the world.VERA Files is non-profit media organization composed of veteran journalists committed to advance excellence in journalism by engaging in research-intensive, high-impact reports in multiple formats and providing training, particularly mentoring of journalists.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/malacanang-wants-media-watchdog-partner/298253/
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Manalo transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa jail
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['Jing Villamente']
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2017-03-18 21:33:01+00:00
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Dismissed Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) member Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Manalo and two of his companions were transferred to the Metro Manila District Jail in Camp BagongDiwa, Taguig City (Metro Manila) over the weekend.Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Director Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar said the reason for the transfer was the court order issued by Judge Luisito Cortez, of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 84, that the three accused in the Manalo siblings case be confined at the Camp Bagong Diwa facility.Eleazar said that the commitment order covered Jonathan Ledesma, accused of direct assault with frustrated murder; and also Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Villanueva Manalo II and Victor Eraño “Jem” Manalo Hemedes who are accused of violation of Republic Act No 10591, or the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition Act.Ledesma is accused of firing at QCPD officers serving a search warrant after an earlier shooting incident where two people were wounded on the building they occupied in the INC compound at No. 36 Tandang Sora, Culiat, Quezon City (Metro Manila), wounding two police operatives.The three and 24 other occupants of the building were arrested after police found and seized five different kinds of assault rifles, assorted ammunition and assorted spare parts of firearms last March 2. After a few days detention, the 24 were released by the prosecutor for further investigation of the charges against them.Another raid on March 8 at the said compound yielded a large cache of firearms which included 56 long firearms, 17 short firearms, 27 grenades and close to 18,000 rounds of live ammunition.Eleazar said Manalo and his companions were charged after they failed to show any license proving ownership of the firearms.He added that QCPD just merely complied with the court order.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/manalo-transferred-camp-bagong-diwa-jail/317894/
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Leader of ‘rent-sangla’ scam group arrested
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['Roy Narra']
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2018-08-29 00:08:44+00:00
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THE Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) on Tuesday said the alleged leader of a group tagged in the “rent-sangla” scam has been arrested. HPG Director Chief Supt. Roberto Fajardo said Rafaela Anunciacon was arrested in a parking lot of a shopping mall in San Pedro, Laguna on Saturday afternoon through an arrest warrant on a case of estafa and swindling filed against her on February 16, 2017. The Department of Justice earlier indicted Anunciacion and her alleged cohorts Marilou Cruz, Edgardo Ramos, Alfredo Ronquillo, Eliseo Cortez, Anastacia Cauyan, Sabina Torrea and Leonardo Torrea for 14 counts of syndicated estafa. Her cohorts are hiding from authorities. Fajardo said the group has victimized numerous people in their “rent-sangla” scam in Metro Manila, Central and Southern Luzon. Under the scheme, the scammer will sell or pawn a car they rented without the knowledge of the vehicle owner. Since 2017, the PNP-HPG already recovered 608 vehicles that Anunciacon’s group used in their scam; of these, 514 were already given back to their owners. Ninety-four of the cars are currently impounded and waiting to be claimed by their owners. Fajardo said they would find a way to modify Anunciacon’s charges from estafa to carnapping that has no bail recommended. She has posted a P40,000 bail last year for an estafa case.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/leader-of-rent-sangla-scam-group-arrested/435642/
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Carpio to lead in ruling on ‘tokhang’ cases at SC
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-11-15 23:03:50+00:00
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The Supreme Court (SC) has named the magistrate who will conduct a study and make recommendations on a consolidated petition against the Duterte administration’s war on drugs and police tokhang operations to give both petitioners and the government an opportunity to defend the legal bases for their respective positions.In an en banc raffle held at the High Court, the case will be assigned to Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio after the consolidation of the two petitions.The Almora petition (GR 234359) was raffled off to Carpio while the the Dano petition (GR 234484) was raffled off to Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr.Since the docket number of the Almora petition is lower than the Dano petition, the case will both be handled by Carpio.Carpio is the most senior magistrate in terms of stay in the High Court, considering that Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, despite being the head of the SC, ranks more junior than Carpio.He will be in charge of leading the magistrates in the study of the case as the SC has scheduled the conduct of oral arguments on November 21 at 2 p.m.The SC also ordered the consolidation of the petitions separately filed by Aileen Almora, Rowena Aparri and Jefferson Soriano; and Ma. Juanita Daño, et al.It has given the respondent Philippine National Police (PNP), et al. ten days to file its comment on the petitions and the plea for other reliefs.Both petitions sought the issuance of an amparo writ, a remedy available to any citizen whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by any unlawful act or omission of a public officer, or of a private individual or entity.On the basis of the Almora petition, which was raffled off to Carpio, the petitioners who are represented by lawyers from the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) urged the High Court to strike down as unconstitutional PNP Command Memorandum Circular (CMC) No. 16-2016 for Oplan Double Barrel, the police’s anti-drug campaign, and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Memorandum Circular 2017-112, which put up a system of anonymous reporting for offenses involving illegal drugs, criminality and corruption.They argued that the PNP circular is alarming since it expressly authorizes the police to kill drug suspects.The petitioners said the DILG circular violates citizens’ right to due process.They pointed out that President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs has no legal basis because it is based on a mere verbal campaign promise by Duterte to rid the country of illegal drugs within the first six months of his term and is not supported by any executive order or proclamation issued by the President.The petitioners argued that submitting names of alleged criminals can be done by anyone who suspects, rightly or wrongly, that another person is a criminal.The Daño petition was filed after the issuance of the memorandum and sought relief from the SC against tokhang anti-drug operations of the Manila Police District (MPD).The petitioners are led by Sister Ma. Juanita Daño of the Religious of the Good Shepherd and Francisco Blanco Jr., brother of an alleged tokhang victim.They urged the High Court to bar the MPD Station 6 “from conducting any anti-illegal drugs or anti-criminal operations in San Andres Bukid without the required coordination and presence of representatives from the barangay (village), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the media and such other persons required to be notified or having the authority to be present at and observe such operations.”There are 35 “drug-related deaths in the area” spanning 13 months.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/carpio-lead-ruling-tokhang-cases-sc/363029/
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P8.3 billion to pave way for free tertiary education
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2016-12-19 22:43:49+00:00
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SENATORS on Monday said the P8.3 billion infused into the budget of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for free college education in state universities and colleges (SUCs) is just the first step in the government’s plans to make tertiary education free.Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian noted that the additional funding for CHED is a promising start for eventually institutionalizing the free tuition policy of the government.Gatchalian, an author of the proposed Free Higher Education Act, warned that college students enrolled in SUCs could stand to lose their free tuition benefits if Congress failed to include a budget insertion to fund the program in the future.The senator explained that funding the education of SUC students requires multi-year budgetary planning over four to five years, the typical length of an undergraduate degree program.“We need to pass a law which would create a sort of security of tenure for SUC students by establishing a mechanism which will guarantee funding for their tuition over the entire span of their degree program.Otherwise, their right to education will be left at the mercy of budget season politics,” Gatchalian said.He added that the law on free college education should not only ensure the right to education but also protect public funds from possible abuses.Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino 4th also expressed the need to for a law, noting that while funds have already been earmarked for free tuition in SUCs next school year, there is still a need to have a law to make the allocations a regular item in succeeding national budgets.Aside from Gatchalian and Aquino, four other senators filed similar measures on free tuition in SUCs and the Senate expects to pass them by February or March next year.“We’re hoping we can pass these by February or March in time for the June school year so that free tuition in SUC will be available every school year,” Aquino, chairman of the education committee, said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/p8-3-billion-pave-way-free-tertiary-education-2/302684/
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No politics in Sept 21 quake drill – DND
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-09-18 20:38:14+00:00
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The earthquake drill set for September 21 is not meant to stifle protests against drug-related killings or rallies on the 45th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, a Department of Defense (DND) official said on Monday.“There is no politics involved here. We do this regularly, on a quarterly basis. We have been doing this for the last 10 years based on the availability of the pilot areas [where we are conducting the drill],” Romina Marasigan, chief of the Public Affairs of the Office of Civil Defense, said.Organizers of the September 21 protests who call themselves Movement Against Tyranny have accused the government of sabotaging their planned protest rally by holding a quake drill.“Yesterday, we received reports that the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council is holding a nationwide earthquake drill in the afternoon of September 21, simultaneous with the Luneta rally. We will not be intimidated by such actions. We will not be prevented from exercising our constitutional right to freedom of expression and assembly,” the movement said in a statement.“The Movement Against Tyranny calls on our people to come to the Luneta on September 21 and stand together, in solidarity and in peace, to show our opposition to the state-perpetrated extrajudicial killings and President Duterte’s dangerous drift towards authoritarian rule,” it added.On September 15, President Rodrigo Duterte said he will not stifle dissent and suspended work and classes on September 21 because of the series of protests set on the 45th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in 1972 by then president Ferdinand Marcos.“This early, I am announcing that I am ordering a holiday so that nobody will get hurt amid these demonstrations,” Duterte said in a radio interview.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/no-politics-sept-21-quake-drill-dnd/351379/
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Asean warned vs wildlife trafficking
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['Jaime Pilapil']
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2017-03-06 21:10:33+00:00
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A senior official of the United States Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs has urged Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, to tighten their watch in ports to stop wildlife trafficking.Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Foote, on World Wildlife Day last March 3, conducted a telephone briefing participated in by journalists from Southeast Asian countries.Foote identified Southeast Asia as one of the three major conduits of wildlife trafficking.He identified the Philippines as transit port for Australian wallaby, yellow-chested cockatoos from Papua New Guinea and long-beaked echidnas from Indonesia, among others.Foote said countries in the region are origins and transit points of illicit wildlife trade to premier destinations like China, which treats wildlife as major ingredient in traditional medicines.Other major destinations are the United States and members of the European Union.From the Philippines, the most in demand is the Palawan forest turtle.“Wildlife trafficking is a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise that not only raises a critical conservation concern but also represents a serious threat to the security and economic stability of the countries involved. World Wildlife Day presents an opportunity to raise public awareness on the impacts of wildlife trafficking on the natural environment and the people who share it as well as to highlight the key role which the US is playing to combat this illegal activity,” Foote told reporters from Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines, among others.Wildlife trafficking is considered most acute in Southeast Asia because of lax law enforcement, weak border controls and the lure of high profit.“Wildlife trafficking is a transnational crime that has devastating impacts on the ecosystem and the society. It pushes species to the brink of extinction, restricts economic development, threatens security, provides funding and strength to violent criminals to undermine the rule of law,” Foote said.He added that his office in Bangkok is conducting training for law enforcers, prosecutors and even judges.“In Southeast Asia, we provide legal training, investigative and prosecution capacity as well as build regional cooperation to go after wildlife traffickers. No country can be effective in tackling this issue on its own,” the American State Department official said.He added that he hopes to strengthen global enforcement efforts and reduce demand for illegal wildlife products.He added that the US, since 2014 has been at the forefront in global combat against wildlife trafficking, particularly in attending to the three main pillars, namely strengthening law enforcement, reducing demand and expanding international cooperation.Foot said his office “is using the experience we have developed working with international law enforcement and criminal justice community over the past 40 years in combating different forms of crimes, particularly narcotics trafficking, to counter wildlife trafficking. Our main efforts include strengthening legislative framework with our partner nations, enhancing investigative and law enforcement functions, building prosecution and judiciary capacity and strengthening cross-border cooperation.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/asean-warned-vs-wildlife-trafficking/315764/
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DILG, SKorea discuss $200M aid to LGUs
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['Jing Villamente']
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2017-02-04 22:03:47+00:00
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The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is discussing with the South Korean government the grant of $200-million worth of water treatment and purification equipment to assist local government units (LGUs) with poor-quality water sources.DILG Secretary Ismael ‘Mike’ Sueno said the advanced water purifying equipment being offered by the South Korean government to LGUs in the form of soft loans can purify salt water and even canal water in high volumes.“If our agreement with South Korea would push through, the said equipment will help communities in far-flung areas where access to clean drinking water remains to be a challenge,” Sueno said.The South Korean government expressed its willingness to assist LGUs during a recent meeting between DILG and Korean officials in Quezon City.“Although nothing is official yet, we are excited about this and we are in close correspondence with the Korean government to come up with a mutually-beneficial understanding,” Sueno said.A technical working group may soon be created to facilitate and discuss the specifications of the equipment and its suitability to the needs of LGUs.DILG Assistant Secretary for Plans and Programs Epimaco Densing 3rd said the assistance will complement DILG’s efforts in providing LGUs easy access to potable water supply through the Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig para sa Lahat (SALINTUBIG) project.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/dilg-skorea-discuss-200m-aid-lgus/310569/
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Former Antipolo judge named Sandigan justice
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2018-04-24 00:15:17+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Kevin Narce Vivero, a former Antipolo Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge, as associate justice of the Sandiganbayan.Vivero will replace associate justice Samuel Martires.His appointment paper was signed by the President on November 28, 2017 but it was released to the media on Monday, April 23.Duterte recently appointed 17 new judges, including the daughter of Supreme Court Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin—Pia Cristina Bersamin-Embuscado.Also, the President named Allen Capuyan, a former officer of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as presidential adviser for indigenous peoples’ (IDPs) concerns.Capuyan will have the rank of undersecretary. His appointment comes over a month after he resigned from his post as Manila International Airport Authority assistant general manager for security and emergency services after customs broker Mark Taguba tagged him in the P6.4-billion shabu smuggling controversy at a hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. Capuyan denied involvement in irregularities at the Bureau of Customs.Duterte also appointed Javey Paul Francisco as commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), replacing Blas James Viterbo who resigned in February due to health issues.Francisco, former director of the SEC Davao Extension Office, will serve until May 20, 2021.His appointment papers were signed on April 18.Viterbo’s resignation came weeks after the SEC revoked the incorporation papers of online news site Rappler, which published articles critical of the President and his administration, for supposedly violating the foreign ownership restrictions on mass media companies.Meanwhile, Duterte appointed Jose Arturo Garcia Jr. as general manager of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). Garcia served as the MMDA assistant general manager for planning.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/former-antipolo-judge-named-sandigan-justice/394417/
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Imus imposes liquor and videoke ban, minors’ curfew
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['Joel P']
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14/03/2017 0:00
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Authorities in this capital district have reminded residents to comply with the ordinances imposing nighttime liquor and videoke ban and a curfew covering minors in all barangays (villages).The ordinances are now in full implementation after the dry run period set by the local government had lapsed.Mayor Emmanuel L. Maliksi approved the ordinances after Vice Mayor Arnel “Ony” Cantimbuhan and the 12-man Sangguniang Panlungsod (District Council) have passed the measures during their sessions in the third quarter of 2016.Imus was the first district to have officially approved and implemented the ordinances for peace and order and minors’ safety in the province.The ordinances’ public advisory was posted by the city government in its social media website for the last six months starting in August 2016.The curfew for minors – aged 17 and below – starts at 10 p.m. and ends at 5 a.m. while the liquor and videoke ban are in effect from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. daily.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/03/14/imus-imposes-liquor-and-videoke-ban-minors-curfew/
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8 airports being readied for night operations
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-10-23 22:12:10+00:00
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To improve air travel and help decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the government is rushing the upgrading of eight airports across the country to enable them to operate after sunset, according to a lawmaker.Citing a Department of Transportation (DOTr) report to Congress, Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. recently said the airports in the cities of Naga (in Camarines Sur, not in Cebu), Tuguegarao, Cauayan, Dumaguete, Dipolog, Cotabato, Pagadian and Ozamiz are undergoing rehabilitation and expansion, mostly consisting of runway widening and terminal upgrade for night-landing capabilities.“Several domestic flights departing Manila are being crammed during the daytime because of the inability of many provincial airports to receive flights at night. This has somewhat contributed to the jamming of the NAIA, which has only two runways handling both international and domestic flights,” Campos added in a statement.The lawmaker said provincial airports unable to operate at night also have to send out all their Manila-bound flights during the day.At present, Campos added, only 19 of the country’s 42 airports are able to receive and dispatch night flights.“The 19 will increase to 27, once the eight airports have been set up for round-the-clock operations,” he said.“There’s no question that air travel around the country will be easier for everybody, including foreign tourists, once we get all our airports running at night to maximize their operations,” according to Campos.He earlier bared that the government has set aside a total of P10.1 billion in fresh funding to modernize the infrastructure of 40 airports in 2018, with Clark International Airport getting the biggest slice of P2.74 billion.Besides Clark, the other airports set to receive additional infrastructure development funds in the 2018 national budget are: Kalibo Airport, P920.00 million; Bicol International Airport, P899.68 million; Tacloban Airport, P716.12 million; Bukidnon Airport, P425.00 million; Bohol (Panglao) International Airport, P386.00 million;Laoag International Airport, P368.50 million; Cauayan Airport, P306.40 million; Dumaguete Airport, P300.00 million; Calbayog Airport, P245.00 million; Zamboanga Airport, P221.00 million;San Jose Airport (Camarines Sur), P200.00 million; Surigao Airport, P200.00 million; Ozamiz Airport, P192.20 million; Butuan Airport, P184.00 million; Dipolog Airport, P182.00 million;Roxas Airport, P169.00 million; Cotabato Airport, P161.00 million; Basco Airport, P145.00 million; Ormoc Airport, P128.00 million; Maasin Airport, P122.00 million;Antique Airport, P110.00 million; Sanga-Sanga Airport, P100.00 million; Pagadian Airport, P84.20 million; Tuguegarao Airport, P61.80 million; San Vicente Airport, P50 million; and Virac Airport, P50 million.Campos said 13 other smaller airports across the country would also get a combined P262.61 million, or an average of P20.20 million each, for infrastructure upgrade.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/8-airports-readied-night-operations/358253/
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Group hits ‘midnight’ ban on new OFWs
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-11-14 22:58:34+00:00
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A public interest group has accused the Department of Labor and Employement (DoLE) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration of being remiss in their jobs in protecting the interest of applicants for overseas jobs from illegal recruiters.The Lilac Center for Public Interest (Lilac) pointed this out on Tuesday, saying the DoLE and the POEA’s helplessness was evident in last week’s directive of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd, who suspended processing of all new applications for overseas employment certificates (OECs), including those of direct-hire workers.On November 9, Bello issued Department Order (DO) 185, Series of 2017, suspending for 15 days the processing of all new applications for OECs “in view of persistent reports of illegal recruitment activities, including direct hires, and in order to protect the public from pernicious activities of unscrupulous individuals preying on Filipinos desiring to work overseas”.Lilac Center president Nicon Fameronag described Bello’s move as “midnight policy” that disregards the plight of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) abruptly an, cuts short their dreams.“This is a midnight policy. Besides, you don’t burn a whole house because a part of it is ridden with termites,” Fameronag, a former DoLE undersecretary for employment, said of Bello’s order.He explained that if the DoLE is so concerned about illegal recruitment activities, what it should do is to empower and enable more the POEA’s anti-illegal recruitment branch (AIRB) by assigning to it more personnel and money so that it can intensify and expand its anti-illegal recruitment campaign.The Lilac Center executive also doubted that the DoLE can get to the root cause of illegal recruitment in only 15 days–the life span of DO 185.“Illegal recruitment is the unwanted husband of the government’s overseas employment policy. It has been there since and we wonder what Secretary Bello’s investigating team can unlock and undo in half a month,” Fameronag said.Bello earlier said that some unscrupulous employees of the POEA were in cahoots with illegal recruiters, earning as much as a quarter of a million or P250,000 from applicants for OECs but did not clarify if the amount was monthly or yearly.He said an internal purge would be undertaken and heads will roll after an investigating committee has submitted its report on the racket.“In the meantime, we have to stop the processing of applicants. That’s how serious the problem is. Some people in the POEA are earning a quarter of a million or more in said activities. We would be remiss in our job if we won’t do this,” Bello added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/group-hits-midnight-ban-new-ofws/362821/
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Do public school teachers need salary increase?
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['Paul Parenas']
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25/10/2017 0:00
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Malipot“If the teachers are so poorly paid, how come hardly anyone is leaving?”Education Secretary Leonor Briones raised this question amid renewed calls for a salary increase for teachers. She maintained that public school teachers enjoy higher salaries and better benefits compared to their counterparts in the private sector.In an earlier interview with the Manila Bulletin, Briones cited the “current situation” involving public school teachers. She also addressed their repeated demands for the government to increase their salaries.Briones said that even without the demand of teachers groups for salary hike, they have “automatic” increase in their salaries. “Every year, the teachers get automatic salary increases as part of the salary standardization program of the government,” she explained.Compared to the salary of teachers in small private schools in the provinces, Briones noted that the salary of public school teachers “is 30 percent higher.” Compared to private schools in Mindanao, she said that “the salaries of our teachers are 50 percent higher.”Briones said that the entry level salary for teachers in public schools (Teacher I) is more than P19,000 – plus all the other benefits such as allowances and bonuses which range from P5,000 to P35,000 – along with two months vacation with pay and many other forms of incentives. “On the average, for the whole the year, the lowest salary would be at 25,000,” she said.This salary, Briones said, is at least 30 percent higher than in the average private schools, especially those built by missionaries, church institutions, and others in the far-flung areas. “I have visited private schools where the teachers’ starting salary is P6,000,” she shared.Briones noted that among the challenges being faced by Department of Education (DepEd) when it comes to teachers is the “reverse migration” or teachers transferring to private schools to the public. “Before, the thinking was that those who are in the private sector are highly paid compared to those who are in the public sector,” she said.Aside from the migration of private school teachers to the public schools, Briones noted that “a good number of private small schools out there in the provinces are closing because they cannot keep up with competition with the public sector in terms of salaries and many private schools are having difficulty keeping their teachers.”Renewed call for salary hikeTeachers’ group Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) are once again calling on the DepEd and the government to increase their salaries. They made the call after receiving recent reports that many public school teachers nationwide are receiving below the P4,000 mandated take home pay after loan deductions.For ACT Chairman Benjamin Valbuena, salary increase for both public and private school teachers is a “pressing demand now more than ever.” He noted that since the salaries of public school teachers “are simply not enough,” many of them resort to acquiring loans from both public and private lending institutions. ACT has been demanding for salary increase for entry level positions or P25,000 for teachers and P16,000 for non-teaching personnel.Yes to increase but…Coming from a dynasty of teachers, Briones noted how “things, numbers, and reality have changed” over the years. “Compared to other jobs in the public sector, the movement of salaries of teachers is relatively faster,” she said.“I’m not saying that they should not have any increases anymore,” Briones explained when asked if she supports the demand of teachers for wage hike. “I’m just saying that relative to their counterparts in the private sector – on the average – they are paid higher,” she added.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/10/25/do-public-school-teachers-need-salary-increase/
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Rookie policeman abducted in Caloocan
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['Jing Villamente']
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2017-08-25 21:54:08+00:00
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Police are tracking down the whereabouts of Police Officer 1 Jomar Regalado Reyes, of Valenzuela Police Station, who was reportedly abducted by armed men on Thursday afternoon in Caloocan City. Reyes was driving a red Toyota Avanza (ZJH 145) when a white L-300 van hit it from behind along Mariano Ponce Street, Barangay 135 that prompted him to pull over. Witnesses said about four armed men from the van then ordered Reyes at gunpoint to take the back seat while one of the suspects took the wheel and drove towards EDSA. While cruising along EDSA, a burst of gunfire inside the Avanza was heard and the victim in hand cuffed was seen being brought out of the car and dragged inside the van which sped off towards unknown direction. Victim’s wife, May Olivia Reyes, said her husband is involved in money lending business (5-6). Meanwhile, Caloocan acting chief of police, Chief Insp. Ilustre Mendoza, said several license plates; P106,000 cash; several bladed weapons and hats were recovered inside Reyes’ red Avanza.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/rookie-policeman-abducted-caloocan/346719/
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Balikbayan box tax suspension pushed
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2017-10-07 22:47:31+00:00
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SENATOR Ralph Recto and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Saturday said thousands of Filipino overseas will benefit from the move of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) suspending the balikbayan box tax measure.Recto said “common sense won” when Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapena suspended on October 3 the requirements for balikbayan senders to fill up an information sheet, submit a photocopy of their Philippine passport, and purchase invoices of goods to be shipped.Recto warned in July that BOCs order for senders to paste a list of contents on the box “was tantamount to providing a keyhole that might tempt unscrupulous handlers to open it and rid it of its contents.”“If it is itemized, it’s as if you’re saying, ‘Open me, I’m yours,’” he added.Cayetano said the suspension of the implementation of the duty- and tax-free privileges of consolidated balikbayan boxes “is good news for the hundreds of thousands of overseas Filipinos.”“We would like to thank the Bureau of Customs and also the Department of Finance for being sensitive to the needs of our kababayans [countrymen] abroad and for listening to their appeals,” he said.Cayetano said Philippine embassies and consulates general in the United States and other countries where balikbayan come from have been receiving requests for assistance from members of Filipino communities who will be affected by the orders.The BOC announced on Thursday the temporary suspension until March 31, 2018 of Customs Administrative Order (CAO) 05-2016 and Customs Memorandum Order 04-2017.Lapena recalled CAO 05-2016, which tightened controls on balikbayan boxes, and CAO 04-2017, which aligned balikbayan privileges with Republic Act 10683, the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), and ordered their review.Recto welcomed the review as an opportunity to purge the current guidelines of “bureaucratic overreach and a wrong interpretation of the law.”“It is clear in the CMTA, and in the debate records of the House and the Senate, that an OFW [overseas Filipino worker] can send home, tax- and duty-free, a balikbayan box valued not more than P150,000 three times a year,” he said.Recto said the previous BOC management “wrongfully read the cap on the privilege as P150,000 a year, when that amount is per shipment, which can be availed of three times annually.”Provisions of CMTAAnother concern of Recto is one provision in the CMTA that has a bearing on the “Marawi crisis, the typhoons which hit us, and our misfortune of being at the receiving end of calamities – man-made and natural.”He said Section 120 of the CMTA deals with “relief consignment” or goods such as food, medicine, equipment, shelter materials for free distribution to or use of victims of calamities.Under the law, “clearance of relief consignment shall be a matter of priority and subject to a simplified customs procedure,” the senator said.“These shipments must be cleared beyond the designated office and shall be waived of corresponding charges. The examination of goods are allowed only in exceptional circumstances,” he said.“For example: If balikbayan box rules limit the consignees to relatives of senders, what is the rule to be followed if a kindhearted OFW sends a package to a non-relative in Marawi?” Recto added.Under the law, the Department of Finance and the Department of Social Welfare and Development should jointly issue the rules and regulations on relief consignment.“Hopefully there’s one already, so that when governments and citizens of predominantly Muslim nations will send aid to Marawi, either by barges or by boxes, the rules are already in place,” he said.Recto authored for a law raising the tax-exempt value of balikbayan boxes.This resulted in Section 800 (g) of CMTA which allows OFWs and other Filipinos residing abroad to bring in or send to their families in the Philippines tax-free balikbayan boxes, whose contents are not intended for barter and sale, and as long as they are not worth P150,000.Cayetano said with the suspension of CAO 05-2016 and CAO 04-2017, Filipinos abroad are no longer required to present proofs of purchase for items they place inside balikbayan boxes that they send to their families in the Philippines.Under both orders, Filipino citizens who send balikbayan boxes to the Philippines are also required to submit a photocopy of their Philippine passport to avail of the government’s tax exemption.Customs authorities said the decision to suspend the orders was in response to the appeals of Filipinos abroad who would be affected by the new tax policy.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/balikbayan-box-tax-suspension-pushed/355107/
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Promotion of PSG chief confirmed
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-05-24 22:05:16+00:00
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THE Commission on Appointments (CA) confirmed the promotion of Presidential Security Group (PSG) commander Lope Dagoy to the rank of brigadier general during its Wednesday session.The appointments body approved Dagoy’s promotion even if he was not present during the confirmation hearing because he was on official mission with President Rodrigo Duterte in Russia.Dagoy replaced Brig. Gen. Rolando Bautista as commander of the PSG last March. Bautista was assigned as head of the 1st Infantry Division (1st ID).Apart from Dagoy, 28 other generals and senior officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippine (AFP) also got the appointment body’s confirmation of their respective promotions.But the promotion of Brig. Gen. Pedro Sumayo was not swift as that of the other nominees after members of the CA committee on national defense grilled him in connection with his supposed involvement in the “Hello Garci” wiretapping scandal.Sumayo, a former commander of the Military Intelligence Group-21 (MIG-21), testified in 2011 before a Senate committee investigation of the alleged poll fraud that took place in 2004 and 2007 and told the panel that he was ordered to destroy taped recordings of wiretapped conversations.The recordings contained telephone conversations between former Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and various individuals, including one that sounded like then-President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.Senators Panfilo Lacson and Grogorio Honasan asked Sumayo about the alleged wiretapping operations of the latter’s team at the time.Sumayo told the senators that his group was involved in interception of communications including phone calls but it was limited to enemies of the states like the New People’s Army and the Abu Sayyaf Group.But he denied any knowledge on the supposed wiretapping of Garcillano and Arroyo.Sumayo, the current assistant deputy chief of staff for communications, then assured the members of the CA that he would not allow such incident to happen again.“My job is to defend the network and infrastructure of the AFP, ” he said.Lacson told Sumayo that never again should the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines or any unit of the AFP allow themselves to be used by whoever is occupying Malacañang.“Let’s remain professional because after all, we serve the country, not a particular political group,” he said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/promotion-psg-chief-confirmed/329024/
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‘Some sectors’ using ICC to destabilize govt
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2017-12-08 22:24:21+00:00
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The Philippines government has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to allow itself to be used by “some sectors” that are out to destabilize President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.Speaking before the General Debate of the 16th Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC in New York on Friday before dawn (Manila time), Malacañang spokesman Harry Roque said the Philippines is doing its best to address the issues of illegal drugs, criminality and terrorism in the country and that individuals, without naming any of them, are only out to topple the government through the ICC.“We urge the court to resist attempts by some sectors to treat the court as a venue to pursue political agenda to destabilize governments and undermine legitimate national authorities,” Roque added.“It is indeed actions like these that politicize and dilute the court’s mandate which [actions] ultimately undermine national efforts to punish and prosecute crimes covered by the statute and derail current efforts to achieve universality of the Rome Statute,” he said.Roque noted that while the Philippines reaffirmed its support to the principles of the ICC, the international court should bear in mind that it only serves as a “court of last resort.”He reminded the ICC not to meddle in state parties’ proceedings, “unless it can be shown that the state party is unwilling or unable to investigate and prosecute such crimes.”“We trust that the court’s exercise of its mandate will respect national processes geared toward exacting criminal accountability for conduct committed within our territory,” Roque said.“A violation of the very basis for our consent, which is complementarity, will constrain us to reassess our continuing commitment to the court and the Rome Statute,” he added.Roque described the ICC as a court envisioned to have a complementary, not primary, jurisdiction for prosecution of persons most responsible for the four international crimes mentioned under the Rome Statute.“The Rome Statute requires the court and other bodies to respect and defer to the primary criminal jurisdiction of such state party, unless it can be shown that the state party is unwilling or unable to investigate and prosecute such crimes,” he said.“In cases of allegations that crimes under the jurisdiction of the court have been committed within the territory of a state party or by its nationals, the Rome Statute requires the court and other bodies, such as the Office of the Prosecutor, to respect and defer to the primary criminal jurisdiction of such state party,” Roque added.Prior to his attendance to the general debate in New York, Roque on December 5 floated the possibility that the Philippines may withdraw its membership from the ICC, if the latter violates the “principle of complementarity.”The principle of complementarity, as defined by ICC, states that the international court may only exercise jurisdiction where national legal systems fail to do so, including whether they purport to act but in reality are unwilling or unable to genuinely carry out proceedings.The Philippines is among the parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC.In November 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte said the Philippines might follow Russia’s decision to withdraw from the ICC, which he called “useless.”Duterte is facing complaints filed before the ICC by self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato’s lawyer Jude Sabio, Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th and Magdalo part-list Rep. Gary Alejano for crimes against humanity in relation to the rising death toll in the government’s war on drugs.Article 127(1) of ICC Statute provides that a state party may withdraw from the ICC through written notification addressed to the Secretary General of the United Nations.The withdrawal from the ICC will take effect a year after the date of receipt of the notification.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sectors-using-icc-destabilize-govt/367468/
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US, Pinoy soldiers mark Veterans Day
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['Michael Joe T. Delizo']
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2016-11-11 20:49:05+00:00
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American and Filipino war veterans were honored on Friday at the annual Veterans Day ceremony at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City (Metro Manila).War veterans of both nations participated in the event, which was led by United States Chargé d’Affaires Michael Klecheski and Eduardo del Rosario, Philippine Defense Undersecretary for Civil, Veterans and Retiree Affairs.Klecheski and del Rosario recognized the united stand of Filipino and American soldiers against war.“Our soldiers have worked, fought and died together,” Klecheski said.“The soldiers of our two countries have served at war, peace time and during disasters,” he added.Del Rosario said, “May the sacrifices of our heroes be passed on to the next generation that is peaceful, humane and developed.”The US Embassy in Manila and its affiliated offices were closed to the public on Veterans Day, an American holiday.Regular services will resume on Monday.Veterans Day is being celebrated every year in the US on November 11, the day that major hostilities of World War I formally ended with the signing of the Armistice at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.MICHAEL JOE T. DELIZO
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/us-pinoy-soldiers-mark-veterans-day/296068/
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Draft constitution to double party-list seats
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-08-07 00:02:11+00:00
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Under the proposed federal constitution drafted by the Consultative Committee (ConCom), the number of party-list representatives in the House will double from 20 percent to 40 percent, Buhay party list Rep. Lito Atienza said.Atienza, former three-term mayor of Manila, said his group favors President Rodrigo Duterte’s draft constitution for a strong and indissoluble republic” offhand because “it will allow underrepresented sectors to seek and obtain greater representation in Congress.”“Senior citizens and women, for instance, may want to seek stronger representation.Even our teachers, who now comprise the nation’s largest group of professionals, may feel that they deserve a louder voice in Congress,” Atienza said.The 1987 Constitution limits the members of the House of Representatives to no more than 250, unless otherwise fixed by law, with 20 percent of the seats reserved for party-list representatives.However, the number of House seats has exceeded 250 since 1987 because of the passage of laws creating new congressional districts in provinces or cities with rapidly increasing populations.At present, there are 292 sitting House members, with 233 elected by congressional district (80 percent) and 59 party-list representatives voted nationwide (20 percent).Atienza said the draft Constitution seeks to increase the number of House seats “to no more than 400, unless otherwise provided by law,” with 40 percent or up to 160 seats reserved for party-list representatives.At least five sectors — labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous peoples and fisherfolk — would be given a head start in the fight for increased proportional representation, with up to 80 seats reserved for them initially.The draft charter states that for “three consecutive terms following the ratification of this Constitution, one half of the seats set aside for parties voted under the proportional representation system shall be reserved for labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous peoples and fisherfolk groups, provided that they organize themselves as parties or coalitions of parties.”The other half of the total seats allocated for proportional representation shall be open to all other political parties or coalitions.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/draft-constitution-to-double-party-list-seats/427362/
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Duterte appoints 11 new judges
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-01-20 21:16:05+00:00
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The first batch of judges under the Duterte administration for 2017 has been appointed by Malacanang.The latest appointments of 11 Regional Trial Court (RTC) judges for Region 4 or Southern Tagalog and Region 5 or Bicol were relayed in a transmittal letter of Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on January 17, 2017.The appointees were Mary Jane Valeza-Maranan for Lemery, Batangas, and Niven Canlapan for Carmona, Cavite.For Laguna, Tomas Ken Romaquin was appointed for Binan, Mary Jean Cajandab-Pamittan for Santa Cruz, Rosauro Angelito David for Santa Rosa and Gil Jude Santa Maria, also for Santa Rosa.For Puerto Princesa, Palawan, appointed were Arnel Cezar for Branch 163, Anna Leah Tiongson-Mendoza for Branch 164 and Ramon Chito Mendoza for Branch 165.Alma Balilla Operio was appointed for Labo, Camarines Norte, and Erwin Dimayacyac for Oriental Mindoro.Upon Duterte’s assumption as President last year, he appointed only two RTC judges who were later assigned in Pangasinan.The Judicial and Bar Council, which shortlisted the latest appointees, is constitutionally mandated to screen and vet nominees to the President for vacant posts in the judiciary and the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman.It is headed by Sereno, with Sen. Richard Gordon, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd as ex-officio membersRetired Supreme Court Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez is the head of the Executive Committee and represents the retired SC justices sector.Lawyer Jose Mejia, who represents the academe, retired Judge Toribio Ilao, who represents the private sector, and lawyer Milagros Fernan-Cayosa from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines are the other regular members of the JBC.JOMAR CANLAS
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-appoints-11-new-judges/307974/
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Duterte to push through with Israel, Jordan trips
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2018-08-23 00:03:16+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte is bent on visiting Israel and Jordan next month to ensure the safety of Filipinos in those two countries.“Pupunta ako ng (I will go to) Israel, why? Because it’s heating up. And there are 28,000 Filipinos there. I have to go to Jordan because there are 48,000 Filipinos there. I have to make sure (of their safety),” Duterte said during an assembly of mayors from Visayas in Cebu City on Tuesday night.The President said he would send Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu ahead to check the plight of Filipino workers amid the Israel-Palestinian conflict.Cimatu served as special envoy to the Middle East under former president Gloria Arroyo.He was also Duterte’s special enjoy for overseas Filipino workers.Duterte earlier said he was having second thoughts about his visit to Israel and Jordan because of the expense it would entail.Malacañang earlier said the President would visit Israel on September 2 to 5, making him the first Philippine president to set foot on the Jewish state since Manila and Israel established ties in 1957. From Israel, the President will fly to Jordan.Duterte is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel President Reuven Rivlin during his visit to discuss cooperation in labor, tourism, trade, agriculture, counterterrorism and law enforcement.Following a surge of violence in Gaza, the United Nations proposed strengthening the protection of Palestinians but Israel rejected it.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-to-push-through-with-israel-jordan-trips-2/433482/
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AFP, PNP join hands vs terror
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['Fernan Marasigan']
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2017-03-22 21:45:49+00:00
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THE Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) continue their close coordination against terrorist groups, a police official said on Wednesday, a day after a member of the Maute terror gang was arrested in Quezon City.Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos said the PNP will continue to take precautionary measures to ensure the security of the public not just in Metro Manila but in other areas.The police on Tuesday said the terrorist Maute group had gained a foothold in Metro Manila with the capture of one of its members, Nasip Ibrahim.Police officials said that the PNP foiled a possible attempt to sow terror in Metro Manila with the arrest of Ibrahim.But the military said it has not monitored the presence of terrorist groups in the metropolis.Maute is a Lanao-based terrorist group that aligned itself with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or ISIS.Carlos said the PNP’s announcement on the presence of the Maute group in Metro Manila was the result of its investigation following the attempt to bomb Rizal Park in Manila and the planting of an improvised explosives device (IED) near the US Embassy in November last year.Carlos said the military’s stand that there are no terror groups in Metro Manila was based on its monitoring. He explained that the two agencies have divergent stands because they differ in the appreciation of information.Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr., AFP spokesman, said there is no contradiction between the AFP and the PNP because when Ibrahim was presented before journalists, the military was not in possession of information and the data “that as necessary to make a more extensive statement.”“So we could not link anything, or conclude anything until we have the information,” he pointed out.Padilla said the issue will be settled soon because of the “intelligence fusion” between the police and the military.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/afp-pnp-join-hands-vs-terror/318598/
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ARMY FETES GENERALS LUNA, RICARTE ON THEIR BIRTHDAY
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['Fernan Marasigan']
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2016-10-23 21:20:37+00:00
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Philippine Army officials will honor on Monday two Filipino generals who fought Americans–Antonio Luna and Artemio Ricarte–on their 150th birthday.Born on October 20, 1866, Ricarte served as Philippine Army commander from March 22, 1897 to January 22, 1899.He was succeeded by Luna, who served the Army from January 23 to June 5, 1899.Luna was born on October 29, 1866.The two are among those who led the Philippine Revolutionary Army during the Philippine-American War.Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año, the current Army commander, will lead top Army officials in wreath-laying rites at the Libingan ng mga Bayani prior to Monday’s flag-raising ceremony.Col. Benjamin Hao, Army spokesman, clarified that honoring the anti-US generals has nothing to do with the anti-US stance of President Rodrigo Duterte.He explained that every year, the birthdays of revolutionaries and late Army commanders are being celebrated but this time it is a little bit special because it is the 150th birthday of Luna and Ricarte.“[Whether] 50th, 100th or 150th, they are special, that is why we have a special celebration [for them],” Hao said.Besides Ricarte and Luna, two movie producers and actor John Arcilla, who played Luna in the recent blockbuster “Heneral Luna,” will be cited and given plaques.Besides history books detailing the heroism of Luna, Hao said, many soldiers supposedly have been inspired by the movie that depicted the revolutionary general’s leadership during the Philippine-American War.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/army-fetes-generals-luna-ricarte-birthday/292747/
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Senate OKs energy efficiency bill
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['Jordeene Sheex Lagare']
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2018-02-07 00:03:33+00:00
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The Senate has approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to institutionalize a framework for energy efficiency and conservation in the Philippines.Senate Bill (SB) 1531, or the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act of 2018, intends to create a comprehensive energy efficiency and conservation policy that would mandate efficient and judicious use of energy resources.It calls for promotion of development and utilization of both new and alternative sources of energy efficient technologies and systems.The measure mandates the creation of a national energy efficiency and conservation plan that outlines national targets and strategies and imposes a regular monitoring and evaluation system.It will introduce energy efficiency and conservation standards and strategies in local governance through formation of a local energy efficiency and conservation plan and include guidelines on energy conserving design on building for issuance of building permits.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/senate-oks-energy-efficiency-bill/378624/
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Arroyo turns 71, wishes for peaceful village polls
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2018-04-06 00:03:02+00:00
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Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo marked her 71st birthday on Thursday by wishing for a peaceful conduct of barangay (village) elections in May.“I wish that we have peaceful barangay elections,” she said before her supporters who gathered at Saint Augustine Church in her hometown of Lubao, Pampanga, at 10 a.m. where a Mass was celebrated for her birthday.The village elections are finally pushing through this year after two consecutive postponements supposedly to give way to ridding the villages of drug suspects and narco politicians.Also present during the Mass were members of her family and local government officials led by her longtime ally, Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda.Former Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto officiated the Mass.“We wish her the best of health and that she continues to serve the country,” he said during the Mass.Arroyo is on her last term as a lawmaker from the Second District of Pampanga.Prior to being a lawmaker and a President from 2001 to 2010, she served as Trade secretary, senator and Vice President.After the Mass, Arroyo, in cooperation with the Lourdes T. Arroyo Foundation, handed out livelihood assistance to several micro-entrepreneurs in her district before attending a luncheon in her honor in Lubao.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/arroyo-turns-71-wishes-for-peaceful-village-polls/390653/
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340,000 families affected by Habagat
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['Roy Narra']
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2018-08-19 00:02:54+00:00
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At least 347,419 families in Luzon were affected by the strong winds and rain brought by the enhanced southwest monsoon or habagat, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).The affected families were from Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and National Capital Region (NCR).A total of 25,740 families remained in evacuation centers.The NDRRMC said P57.8 million worth of crops and infrastructure were destroyed.It said electricity had been restored in 48 of 75 areas in Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and CAR that experienced power interruption.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/340000-families-affected-by-habagat/432119/
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DepEd wants teachers’ poll pay tax exempt
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['Neil Alcober']
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2018-05-15 00:02:32+00:00
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THE Department of Education (DepEd) will ask congress to pass a law that will make teachers’ election honoraria and allowances tax-free.“What we are trying to do after the election is to ask Congress to enact a law that will make the honoraria and allowances tax exempt. That’s the first order of business after the election,” Undersecretary Alain Pascua, who is also the chairman of the Election Task Force, told reporters in a news briefing on Monday.“We will also ask Congress to fast track the passage of such bill so that teachers who will be serving in the 2019 elections will already be exempted from the 5-percent withholding tax,” Pascua added.The education department had said that teacher volunteers with annual basic salary of P250,000 and below will receive their tax refund. The Bureau of Internal Revenue imposed a 5-percent withholding tax on the honoraria and allowances given to teachers who rendered work in the village and youth polls on held on May 14, 2018.Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the tax refund will be given in the next two weeks.“Computations were made; it will range from P300 to P350. In two weeks’ time, that [amount] will be returned once our teacher-volunteers submit and have their certification of salary grade verified,” she added.Under the tax code and the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law, the remuneration given to the chairman of the electoral board is subject to a tax of P350. For the members of the electoral board, their poll honoraria is taxed P300.Pascua said teachers who served during the elections can get their honorarium and allowances through cash cards which were given after the voting ended.The education department earlier appealed to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to increase the poll allowances of teachers.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/deped-wants-teachers-poll-pay-tax-exempt/398870/
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Oil companies impose hefty price hike
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['Jordeene Sheex Lagare']
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2018-05-15 00:06:35+00:00
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Oil companies imposed on Tuesday a big-time price hike after slashing prices last week.The cost of diesel went up by P1.20 per liter and gasoline by P1.10 per liter. The price of kerosene rose by 95 centavos per liter.Caltex, Flying V, Pilipinas Shell, PTT Philippines, and Seaoil adjusted their pump prices at 6 a.m. Tuesday.This was not the first time the oil firms imposed a hefty price increase. They also increased their pump prices by more than P1 per liter on March 27 and April 3.The price hike announcement came despite the decline in oil prices in the world market.Reports said Brent crude futures stood at $76.79 per barrel, 33 cents or 0.4 percent lower than their last close.US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures closed at $70.44 per barrel, down 26 cents or 0.3 percent.Since the beginning of the year, oil companies have increased the price of diesel by P9.19 per liter, gasoline by P8.15 per liter, and kerosene by P10.25 per liter.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/oil-companies-impose-hefty-price-hike/398883/
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Taiwan, KSA, Germany offer over 1,000 jobs
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['William Depasupil']
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2018-02-18 21:24:03+00:00
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THE governments of Taiwan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Germany have opened more than 1,000 job opportunities for Filipino workers under a government-to-government program.The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) disclosed that Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health alone is looking for a total of 500 female specialist nurses for neonatal intensive care units, coronary care units, intensive care units, nurseries, emergency rooms and surgical wards, among others.I-Mei Foods Co Ltd.-Taiwan, is looking for 80 workers, including technicians (male), refrigeration and air-conditioning maintenance workers (male), bakers and staff canteen cooks (male or female), food analysis inspector (male or female), general technicians (male), machine operators-food processing (male or female) and masons (male).Formosa Taffeta Co. Ltd and NXP Semicondoctors Taiwan Ltd., both in Taiwan need a total of 25 female machine operators.POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia said several other firms in Taiwan are also in urgent need of factory workers, among others, while Germany also needs nurses, as well as other government agencies of Saudi Arabia to include electrocardiography and laboratory technicians.Olalia said qualified applicants should register online at www.poea.gov.ph or www.eregister.poea.gov.ph.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/taiwan-ksa-germany-offer-1000-jobs/381157/
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India honors top Pinoy entrepreneurship advocate
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-01-28 00:02:41+00:00
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The government of India has conferred the Padma Shri Award to Jose “Joey” Concepcion 3rd, a leading Filipino industrialist, for distinguished service in trade and industry.The recognition was announced on January 25, the eve of the Republic Day of India.The Padma Shri Award is a prestigious civilian honor bestowed by the Indian government for distinguished and exceptional achievements in all fields of activities and disciplines.Concepcion, a respected business leader, serves as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s adviser for entrepreneurship.He has been instrumental in encouraging an entrepreneurial mindset among young Filipinos through a movement called “Go Negosyo.”The ‘movement over the years has mentored several young Filipinos through entrepreneurship education and helped transform them as successful entrepreneurs.It has also brought about inclusive development and helped alleviate poverty in the Philippines.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/india-honors-top-pinoy-entrepreneurship-advocate/376757/
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1.74M kids to get free meals next year
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2016-12-19 00:27:51+00:00
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The P1 billion additional budget for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will allow the agency to serve one hot meal a day to 1.74 million children aged two to four for 120 days next year, Senate minority leader Ralph Recto said Sunday.While the P1 billion increase is just a “speck” compared to the estimated P328 billion annual economic losses caused by childhood malnutrition, it is a good start in helping malnourished children, Recto said.Recto and Sen. Grace Poe were among those who questioned the small allocation for nutrition services and child feeding during the deliberation of the 2017 national budget. The former lamented that the P13 cost of meal served in schools and daycares was lower than the meal budget for prisoners.“Preso (prisoner) value meals are in fact slightly costlier than school lunches,” Recto said. “Anyone who can whip up a nutritious meal on P13 should win the Magsaysay Award in kitchenomics.”Recto’s complaint prompted lawmakers to increase the meal budget to P20.The government’s feeding program for children runs on two parallel tracks: the SWD takes care of “severely wasted and underweight” children aged two to four while the Department of Education (DepEd) is in charge of enrolled children aged 5 to 11 or those in Kindergarten to Grade 6.The DSWD and DepEd admitted that funding levels for feeding programs are not enough to reverse the ravages of malnutrition.Recto urged the two agencies to spend the money in full and on time.The funding, he said, should be contingent on the two agencies’ prompt use of feeding funds “because of the bad way it was utilized last year, which bordered on criminal neglect.”Citing official audit and fund utilization reports, Recto said DepEd delayed the release of P1.4 billion of last year’s P2.4 billion school feeding funds, transferring it to the regions only on Nov. 13, or when 2015 was about to end.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/1-74m-kids-get-free-meals-next-year/302497/
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DepEd reactivates school cleanup program
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['Neil Alcober']
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2018-05-19 00:05:56+00:00
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THE Department of Education (DepEd) will reactivate the National Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE) for school year 2018-2019 from May 21 to June 8 in preparation for the opening of classes.“The conduct of the OBE will ensure that all our learners are properly enrolled and able to attend school on the first day of classes by addressing problems, queries, and other concerns commonly encountered by our stakeholders at the start of the school year,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said.Under the OBE, the DepEd central office shall set up the OBE Information and Action Center (IAC) at the Bulwagan ng Karunungan which shall serve as the information and complaints processing and routing zone for the duration of the project.Briones urged regional and division offices to set up a command center to receive and respond to concerns directly from the ground.Regional information officers and other OBE personnel attended the 2018 OBE National Orientation from May 10 to 11 at the DepEd-CO to capacitate them on how to properly handle and answer questions from the public.Some of the topics discussed at the orientation include Learner Reference Number and Learner Information System; Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education; Philippine Educational Placement Test; K to 12 Program; enrollment policies; Kindergarten; Alternative Learning System; Madrasah Education Program; Special Education Program; disaster-preparedness; Child Protection Policy; and teacher hiring, among others.To ensure that all school opening concerns will be addressed, including those outside the purview of the agency, the Education department will assemble the OBE Inter-Agency Task Force.“We are also working closely with our partners to ensure the delivery of quality, accessible, relevant, and liberating basic education… Para kapag may concern sa school regarding electricity, o hindi ma-access ang eskwelahan dahil sa sira ang tulay, madali itong maaaksyunan with the assistance of our partners,” Briones said.The OBE-IATF is composed of the Departments of Energy, Interior and Local Government, Health, National Defense, Public Works and Highways, Social Welfare and Development, Trade and Industry, Manila Electric Company, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, Metro Manila Development Authority, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration and Philippine National Police.Classes for school year 2018-2019 will open on June 4 in all public schools nationwide.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/deped-reactivates-school-cleanup-program/399556/
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Senate OKs penal code amendments
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-01-18 22:31:00+00:00
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A proposed measure that seeks to amend the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and prevent the imposition of cruel and excessive punishment has virtually passed the committee level and is expected to be sponsored in plenary next month.Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon on Wednesday terminated hearings on Senate Bill (SB) 14 that will update the value of damages used to determine the extent of liability and adjust amount of fines and is set to come up with the committee report before February.“We hope that this piece of legislation would be treated with urgency and passed expeditiously. We truly believe that the threat of injustice created by an outdated instrument of justice is real, and thus requires immediate legislative action,” he said.In citing the need to amend the 87-year-old penal code, Drilon said qualified theft by a kasambahay (housemaid) of a sack of rice will merit the penalty of reclusion temporal, with an imprisonment ranging from 12 years and 1 day to 17 years and 4 months, because the penalties are based on 1932 values.At present, the conspiracy and proposal to commit coup d’état, rebellion or insurrection, carry a maximum fine of P8,000.Under SB 14, fine for conspiracy and proposal to commit coup d’état, rebellion or insurrection will be increased to P1.6 million while that for maltreatment of prisoners and unlawful arrest will be P100,000.If the proposed amendment is enacted, a person who commits treason can be fined a maximum amount of P4 million instead of P20,000.According to Drilon, even the Supreme Court found that there seems to be a perceived injustice brought about the range of penalties that the court continues to impose on crimes committed today based on the amount of damage measured by the value of money 80 years ago.Since the High Court cannot make adjustments on the outdated values set forth in the RPC on its own, he said, the High Court called on Congress to make the changes with the goals for its passage and take into consideration the changed conditions since the law’s enactment.“This initiative responds to the call of our co-equal branch for the legislature to wield [its] power in not only promoting justice but also preventing injustice by ensuring the proportionality of crime and punishment, and adjusting the amounts stipulated in various provisions of the RPC to their values [at present],” Drilon added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/senate-oks-penal-code-amendments/307587/
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10 foreign terrorists hiding in PH – ‘Bato’
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-01-09 22:54:22+00:00
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At least five to ten foreign terrorists have sought refuge in the country, the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) disclosed on Monday.Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa told a news briefing in Camp Crame in Quezon City that these foreign terrorists are of different nationalities.“I cannot give you the exact figure but as far as police intelligence is concerned, we are monitoring at least five to ten of different nationalities,” dela Rosa said.He admitted that Filipino intelligence operatives are having a hard time looking for the Malay-looking terrorists.The Philippine National Police chief they had received information that the foreign terrorists are training in the country for deployment later to strife-torn Syria.One of those who had finished training in the Philippines, according to dela Rosa, was a suspected member of the jihadist group Ansar Al-Khilafa Philippines (AKP) killed in Sarangani province in southern Mindanao last Saturday.“This Sudanese was bound for Syria. So this group AKP is really aligned with the ISIS,” he said.The slain foreigner was identified as Abu Naila and his wife, a certain Kadija, was also killed during an operation in Barangay Daliao, Maasim town.Superintendent Romeo Galgo, spokesman for the Central Mindanao regional police, said one of the suspects attempted to lob a grenade at policemen sent to arrest them, prompting the authorities to shoot Naila and his wife.Police killed last Thursday morning the leader of the AKP, Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, alias Tokboy.A source from the police intelligence community had said one of the Malaysian terror suspects being monitored hiding in Mindanao is Amin Baco alias Abu Jihad.The intelligence source said Abu Jihad is a member of the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) who has been given safe refuge by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Sulu in Mindanao.The source added that Abu Jihad is also helping ASG members recruit locally.The intelligence source said the Malaysian suspect was involved in past bombing incidents in Mindanao and is one of the five JI members who has been hiding in Sulu under the protection of the ASG.The source from the police intelligence community added that a foreign terrorist from the Kihilafa Islamiya Movement (KIM) is training members of the ASG in guerrilla warfare in an undisclosed location in Lanao del Sur.The ASG and KIM are among the terrorist groups in southern Philippines that have pledged allegiance to the ISIS.The source from the intelligence community identified the foreign terrorist trainor as Abdurahman, a Saudi Arabian and a JI member.The intelligence source said Abdurahman has been staying in the country for many years.The source added that Abdurahman is married to a Tausug and residing at a mosque near a mall in Davao City.According to the intelligence source, the KIM has received funding from a support group in Saudi Arabia.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/10-foreign-terrorists-hiding-ph-bato-2/306007/
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Proposed NATL ID to expand CCT program
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2017-07-21 21:36:16+00:00
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SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs, said the proposed national identification (ID) system will expand coverage of the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program for poor families adding that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) can use the scheme to identify qualified beneficiaries for its CCT program or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). “While almost four million households are now covered by the 4Ps program, I think there are more poor families that the government can still help,” he said. He noted that the DSWD was having problems in expanding the coverage of the program for lack of information about the beneficiaries. Gatchalian added that the national ID system would augment safeguards put in place by law enforcement agencies to protect the public against threat groups. He dismissed concerns that the national ID system would violate privacy rights.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/proposed-natl-id-expand-cct-program/339698/
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New tourism video not copied – DoT
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['Raadee S. Sausa']
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2017-06-13 22:07:36+00:00
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A new promotional video from the Department of Tourism (DoT) that came out on June 12 is an experiential, Tourism Assistant Secretary Frederick Alegre said on Tuesday.The new Philippine tourism promotional clip entitled “Sights,” released during the 119th anniversary of the country’s independence, features blind Japanese retiree M. Uchimura island-hopping in the Hundred Islands of Pangasinan, dancing with locals in the Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao, riding an ATV in the Paoay Sand Dunes in Ilocos Norte and enjoying his snacks on the cobblestoned Calle Crisologo in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.“Definitely this is experiential and it was not copied from South Africa’s released in 2014,” Alegre said.“When you’re with Filipinos, life is better,” is the key message of the DoT’s newest campaign.Netizens have pointed out the video’s striking similarity to a South African tourism ad, which also featured a blind man whose disability was revealed when he pulls out a walking cane.Alegre said the DoT’s campaign stars a real-life retiree staying in the Philippines.“We’d also like to add that we have been consistently putting out testimonials of foreigners in the Philippines and retirement is really a key pillar of the Department of Tourism . . . The Philippines is actually one of the best places in the world for retirees and we’d like to believe that the feature about the Japanese retiree really expresses what they feel about the Philippines,” he added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/new-tourism-video-not-copied-dot-2/332556/
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Sandigan acquits former Baguio camp official
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2017-01-01 20:42:41+00:00
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The Sandiganbayan’s Special Second Division has acquitted Jonathan Malaya, former Baguio Teacher’s Camp officer-in-charge superintendent in a graft case filed against him over approval of a recommendation to award two construction projects to a contractor in 2008 for improvement of the camp’s facilities.Malaya, who was an assistant secretary of the Department of Education at the time, was charged for approving the Bids and Awards Committee’s (BAC) recommendation to award the projects to Nicholas Jift Construction despite its alleged disqualification for submitting a personal check, which supposedly was not an acceptable bid security.“However, a scrutiny of the evidence presented by the prosecution shows that the allegation that accused Malaya acted with evident partiality is untenable. From the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses and the exhibits formally offered, there is simply no evidence or even signs and indications of bias when accused approved BAC Resolution No. 09-08,” the court said in a 17-page decision promulgated on December 5.It was referring to a resolution, which stated that the BAC decided to consider as acceptable bid security the personal check submitted by Nicholas Jift Construction as well as the surety bond of another bidder.Nicholas Jift Construction later emerged as the lowest, qualifying bidder among the three bidders.According to the charge sheet, the projects—which had a total contract price of P17.16 million —pertained to the “[c]onstruction of amphitheater and landscaping around it and in front of Albert Hall” and to the “[l]andscaping of Teacher’s Camp major road with two (2) rotundas and three (3) parking areas.”The court said Malaya “immediately reviewed” the supporting documents, including the consultants’ report which “stated that there were no irregularities in the bidding,” when he received the resolution that was unanimously approved by the BAC members.“These are enough indicia for a prudent man to believe that the procedure laid down in [Republic Act] 9184, the procurement law effective at the time material to this case, was substantially complied with. In other words, as hoPe, accused performed the task required of him—i.e., review the BAC resolution forwarded to him, together with all its supporting documents, and seeing no irregularity, approved the same. And because the actions of the accused were consistent and within the bounds of law, this court, could not see any indications of bias or partiality,” according to the Sandiganbayan.It said “ill will or intent to cause damage could not be imputed from such actions.”HoPe is Head of the Procuring Entity.Republic Act (RA) 9184 is the Government Procurement Reform Act.Malaya “could also not be considered to be grossly negligent” in approving the BAC resolution, the court further said as it pointed out that he reviewed the provisions and the attached documents.It added that he “had every right to rely on the averments found in the BAC Resolution and the report of the procurement consultant. He is not expected to supervise the procurement process, redo the procurement process or investigate when the resolution is brought to him for approval, especially when there are no complaints or protests filed questioning the bidding process.”The court also found that the award of the projects to Nicholas Jift Construction and Malaya’s approval did not constitute as unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference.“Nicholas Jift was awarded the contracts or became the preferred contractor to perform the works bidded out after following the correct procurement procedure pursuant to the prevailing procurement law and its implementing rules and regulations,” it said.“Wherefore, premises considered, the court hereby finds accused Jonathan E. Malaya not guilty of violation of Section 3, par. e, RA 3019 and hereby acquits him of the charges,” the court ruled, referring to the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019).Associate Justice Samuel Martires, who leads the court’s Second Division, penned the ruling, which was concurred in by Associate Justices Michael Frederick Musngi and Geraldine Faith Econg.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sandigan-acquits-former-baguio-camp-official/304636/
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PAL bags most improved airline award
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['Benjie Vergara']
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2018-11-16 00:02:22+00:00
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Philippine Airlines (PAL) was adjudged the world’s Most Improved Airline for 2019 by AirlineRatings.com, which praised PAL for its initiatives “to expand its global footprint using new generation fuel-efficient aircraft equipped with the latest cabins.”It was the fourth major award won by PAL in 2018.“Philippine Airlines has expanded its global footprint by more than 60 percent in recent years with innovative services such as a single-aisle A321neo flight between Manila and Brisbane and an A350-900 trans-polar route to New York.“The four times weekly A321neo service featured the first flat-bed business product on a narrowbody aircraft operated to Australia and replaced three flights a week run by a fuel-hungry A340,” the website said.In February this year, PAL was certified as a Four Star global airline by the international rating firm Skytrax.London-based Skytrax also gave PAL the 2nd Most Improved Airline for 2018 Award in July, based on worldwide passenger surveys.In September, PAL received the Four Star Major Regional Airline 2019 award from New York based Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), again based on a verified passenger voting system.AirlineRatings.com editors said “Philippine Airlines’ bold expansion plans and its commitment to a next-generation, easy product made it a standout for the most improved airline.”PAL President and COO Jaime Bautista said the award “will inspire the PAL team to further enhance and level up our products and services.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pal-bags-most-improved-airline-award/468195/
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Senate bill seeks to stop brain drain
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-03-30 22:02:22+00:00
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IN a bid to stop brain drain supposedly being experienced by the country, Sen. Grace Poe has filed a bill that aims to lure back Filipino experts and professionals who had left the Philippines in search of greener pastures to return and share their knowledge and help strengthen the country’s potential growth.Senate Bill 1324 or the Balik Scientist Act offers benefits, incentives and privileges to returning Filipino experts who are willing to share their expertise and knowledge to spur scientific and technological advancements in the country.“This bill envisions a future in which Filipino scientists contribute to nation-building and inclusive growth through the acceleration of research and development in the country,” Poe said on Thursday.The Philippines, in 2013, deployed 1.8 million workers mostly to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and other countries in the Middle East.But aside from skilled workers, professionals and science and technology personnel such as meteorologists, forecasters and air-traffic controllers also migrated to other countries because of higher pay and better benefits.Poe, citing data from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), noted that the presence of research and development personnel in the Philippines stands at 165 per million Filipinos, way below the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recommendation of 380 per million persons.Her proposal seeks to institutionalize a “brain gain” program that would offer returning Filipino scientists short-term, medium-term or long-term programs to be administered by the DOST.For the short-term program with duration of at least 30 days, benefits include round-trip airfare, reimbursement of excess baggage costs, relocation and tax-exempt daily allowance, participation in grants-in-aid research and development projects and donation of instruments and materials related to the scientific activities.Medium-term engagement, which has duration of six to 12 months, shall also entitle experts to exemption from payment of travel tax including their immediate family and exemption from submission of Immigration clearance certificate and payment of multiple-entry fees.For the long-term award, which has a duration of 24 to 36 months, benefits include housing provision, reimbursement of expenses for the shipment of personal effects and professional instruments including one motor vehicle, exemption from securing an alien employment permit and budget to put up a laboratory, in addition to standard benefits extended to short- and medium-term programs.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/senate-bill-seeks-stop-brain-drain-2/320031/
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PhilHealth adopts new claims scheme
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['Neil Alcober']
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2018-07-03 00:02:00+00:00
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STATE-run health insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) recently signed a memorandum of agreement with health care institutions and medical professionals to enhance the implementation of the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP).The medical associations agreed to implement PhilHealth’s new policy that introduces the use of Claim Form 4 starting September 1. The form summarizes a patient’s pertinent clinical information and eliminates the submission of complete clinical charts for all claims for reimbursement.The parties acknowledged the advantages of using Claim Form 4 as it will ensure quality of care through a review of provider compliance to PhilHealth’s policies and accepted medical practice.PhilHealth said only drugs and medicines that are listed in the latest edition of the Philippine National Formulary will be paid for. The PNF is a list of essential medicines prepared by the National Formulary Committee in consultation with experts and specialists from organized professional medical societies, medical academe and the pharmaceutical industry.Addressing news reports that some hospitals are on the brink of closing down due to delayed reimbursements, PhilHealth said it has taken steps to speed up the evaluation and processing of claims for medical reimbursement. These steps include the hiring of 206 encoders. Some regional offices are also working overtime to cope with the influx of claim documents, the agency said.PhilHealth also informs providers about the status of their claims through e-mail. The email messages contain information on the status of claims paid, claims that are still for payment and claims that are pending, denied and returned to the providers.Just recently, PhilHealth introduced the HCProf Portal through which its accredited medical professionals may view the progress of claims filed by health care institutions for services rendered to PhilHealth members. It provides users with information on the date the claim for reimbursement was filed by the HCIs, total reimbursement amount and the status of the claim.To access the HCProf Portal, accredited health care professionals must provide PhilHealth their active email addresses, PhilHealth Identification Numbers, or accreditation numbers.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/philhealth-adopts-new-claims-scheme/415254/
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Senator says drug use health issue
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-08-03 19:32:58+00:00
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SENATOR Francis Pangilinan on Thursday said President Rodrigo Duterte should look at continued drug use by many Filipinos as a health issue, not a law enforcement problem.Pangilinan made the statement even as he defended fellow Liberal Party member and ex-President Benigno Aquino 3rd from the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte, who was criticized by the former leader for his war on drugs.The President on Wednesday called Aquino “gago” (stupid) for saying that his war on drugs produced “nothing.”Pangilinan, a member of the Senate minority bloc, is acting LP president while Aquino is chairman emeritus.“We believe that addressing the drug problem should be viewed primarily as a health problem with the corresponding rehabilitation programs for those afflicted, not simply viewed as a law enforcement problem,” the senator said.“Dagdag pa, hindi naman kailangan murahin at insultuhin ang kapwa natin kung hindi natin sinasangayunan ang sinasabi nito [In addition, there is no need to curse and insult anyone if we don’t agree with his view],” he added.Sen. Risa Hontiveros, also a member of the minority group, earlier filed Senate Bill 1313 or the Barangay Health and Rehabilitation Strategy, which proposes a scientific, rights-based and evidence-based public health approach in responding to the country’s drug problem.“The Duterte government cannot kill its way out of the drug problem. Drug addiction is not simply a law and order concern. More important, it is a public health and justice issue,” the senator said.“My bill seeks to fundamentally replace President Duterte’s bloody and abusive war on drugs. If the government recognizes my bill as a viable public health approach to the drug problem, then I urge it to prioritize the passage of the bill, stop its flawed drug war and replace it with an alternative public health strategy. Otherwise, it would be just empty posturing and riding on the bill,” she added.SB 1313 seeks to create health intervention and rehabilitation programs and centers for drug dependents based in the barangay (villages) to be able to provide intervention programs to respond to the assessed needs of drug dependents, which include consultation, case management, psycho-education, counseling, health and social support, relapse management and other evidence-based health interventions and strategies.BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/senator-says-drug-use-health-issue/342242/
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CPP: Duterte purging administration of Reds
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['Jr Eutropio Felipe Acma']
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10/9/2017 0:00
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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has called out the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte and accused it of “purging” the government of Left-leaning activists.It also said that the President has lost moral ground in asking CPP members and the New People’s Army to surrender which they called “unacceptable.”This CPP issued the statement after the rejection by the Commission on Appointments (CA) of the appointment of Rafael Mariano as secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform. Mariano’s rejection by the CA came in the heels of the non-confirmation of former social welfare secretary Judy Taguiwalo.The CA had also rejected the confirmation of former environment secretary Gina Lopez.In a statement dated Sept. 7, the CPP said that Duterte’s government “has completely purged his cabinet of Left activists and mass leaders.”The CPP lamented the rejection of one of the advocates of the implementation of agrarian reform programs.“Mariano and Taguiwalo were among the recommendees of the National Democratic Front (NDF) who were appointed by Duterte as part of initial positive efforts to boost the NDFP-GRP peace negotiations. A few other activists and leaders appointed in other positions face the same threat of expulsion from the Duterte regime,” the CPP said.“Mariano and Taguiwalo are arguably the most genuine and competent people’s servants ever to have headed a GRP agency,” the CPP said.The party added that the two had “performed their duties outstandingly and with full adherence to the interests of the downtrodden.”“By having them removed, Duterte has displayed complete devotion to the interests of big landlords, big bourgeois compradors and bureaucrat capitalists,” the CPP said.The CPP also suspected Duterte of reneging on his campaign promise of reconciling with the Left.“The removal of Mariano and Taguiwalo makes it more starkly clear to the Filipino people that Duterte’s pretensions and promises of change are nothing but empty bluster,” the CPP said.However, the CPP said it would continue hoping for the continuation of talks.“As a matter of principle, the revolutionary forces will remain open to peace negotiations in the event that the Duterte regime (or any succeeding regime) will display genuine interest in addressing the issues at the root of the civil war,” the CPP said.The group said that negotiations may still push through, at least from their end.“As a matter of principle, the revolutionary forces remain open to negotiations as a means to attain a just and lasting peace even as it wages people’s war, conduct tactical offensives and confront the US-Duterte regime’s Oplan Kapayapaan all-out war,” the CPP said in a statement.“The NDFP-GRP negotiations, however, cannot be fruitful while Duterte remains obsessed with Oplan Kapayapaan and demanding NPA capitulation.”Duterte, the CPP said, demanded the surrender of the NPA but waged an all-out war against them.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/09/10/cpp-duterte-purging-administration-of-reds/
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Sandiganbayan junks Napoles custody transfer petition
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-04-11 00:04:36+00:00
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The Sandiganbayan’s First Division has denied a plea of Janet Lim-Napoles for custody transfer to the Witness Protection Program (WPP) of the Department of Justice (DoJ).Napoles is one of the accused in a P224-million plunder case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan in 2014 against former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. in connection with the Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel scam.The case is pending before the Sandiganbayan’s First Division.“In the present case, accused Napoles is currently being held in detention at the BJMP Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, pursuant to Republic Act 6975, which mandates the BJMP to take custody and safekeeping of accused awaiting investigation or final judgment,” the court said in a four-page resolution promulgated on April 5.BJMP is Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz, who leads the Sandiganbayan’s First Division, penned the resolution, which was concurred in by Associate Justice Geraldine Faith Econg and Associate Justice Edgardo Caldona.Earlier, the defense filed motions asking the Sandiganbayan’s First, Third and Fifth Divisions to order the BJMP to transfer custody of Napoles to the WPP.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sandiganbayan-junks-napoles-custody-transfer-petition/391728/
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Harsher penalty for perjury in Congress probes pushed
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-02-23 22:23:58+00:00
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Giving false testimonies in congressional hearings should be met with a more severe penalty, a lawmaker said on Thursday.According to deputy minority leader and Kabayan party-list Rep. Harry Roque, he filed House Bill (HB) 5112 after noting that commiting perjury before a legislative probe does not land one in jail.The penalty for giving false testimony in Congress is “probationary” imprisonment of only six months and one day but, even if one is convicted, he will not be jailed, Roque said.He added that his bill provides for prision mayor minimum or six years’ imprisonment.Roque said it was important for people to understand that lying while under oath has a corresponding punishment.In his explanatory note on the bill, he pointed out that perjuries committed during inquiries in aid of legislation “undermine the serious task of the legislature in crafting laws that address some national need.”“When false testimonies are given under oath in a congressional proceeding for some malicious or questionable political end, such contemptible acts make of the second branch of government no more than a malleable, utilitarian tool,” Roque said.“Where legislative acts are based on untrustworthy statements of perjured testimonies, they undermine the very heart of good and accountable government,” he added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/harsher-penalty-perjury-congress-probes-pushed-2/313819/
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PAO chief wants retired lawyers’ benefits released
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-04-05 20:19:30+00:00
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The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) seeks finality of its victory against the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), which has withheld the release of the benefits of the office’s retired lawyers.In an omnibus reply with prayer for the issuance of entry of judgment, PAO chief Persida Acosta on Wednesday asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) to put an end to the suffering of the PAO retirees from the hands of the Budget department.The office had won its case before the regular court against Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, who ordered the blocking of the retirement benefits of the retired government lawyers in the country.The decision was penned by Quezon City RTC Judge Maria Gilda Loja-Pangilinan, dated February 14, but was released only recently.The office pointed out that a motion for reconsideration filed by the DBM must be junked in violation of Section 5 of the 1997 Rules of Court and the Guidelines for Litigation under Administrative Matter 11-6-10-SC and their appeal is only considered as a mere “scrap of paper.”It said the DBM has failed to conform with the requirement that the notice and hearing shall be set within 10 calendar days.The Budget department set a March 31 hearing instead of March 24.The PAO retirees have pleaded for the full implementation of the PAO Law under Republic Act 9406.The office is questioning the DBM’s legal opinion, which contradicted the PAO Law.JOMAR CANLAS
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pao-chief-wants-retired-lawyers-benefits-released/321199/
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NEDA: Family of 5 can survive on P10K a month
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-06-07 00:03:15+00:00
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LAWMAKERS on Wednesday laughed off the projection of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) that a family of five can survive on P10,000 a month.Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto and Senators Panfilo Lacson, Francis Escudero, and Sherwin Gatchalian were incredulous with NEDA’s assumption.“That’s very hard to believe. I challenge them to reduce their salary for three months and try to survive with P10,000 a month for three months. I bet they will change their calculations,” Recto said in a text message.“Quite frankly, I do not know which planet they are talking about because its certainly not Metro Manila or the Philippines,” Escudero said.Sought for reaction, Lacson said, “Actually, we can, if my family will eat only once a day, we won’t brush our teeth nor take a bath, walk everyday to and from our place of work but avoid perspiring so we won’t wash our clothes.”“And yes, ask my wife to stop watching her favorite telenovela because I will sell the TV set. Ask my children to throw away their mobile phones so they won’t ask me for (mobile) pasa loads,” he said.Gatchalian said, “P10,000 simply isn’t enough. The government’s economic managers should use more realistic benchmarks.”“When you break down the numbers, it is clear that a family of five can’t survive on P10,000 per month,” the senator said.For example, the monthly food budget of P3,834 amounts to only P8 per meal for each person. “That’s not even enough to buy a pack of instant noodles,” he said.“P806 per month for transportation amounts to only P5 per person per day. That’s not even enough for a one-way jeepney ride,” said Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs.“Meanwhile, the P2,204 monthly budget for lodging and utilities force a family of five to share a cramped small apartment or even a single room, without even the most basic household comforts,” he added.The NEDA, however, clarified that it did not say that a family of five can live decently with P10,000 a month.In a radio interview, NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said the P10,000 a month budget was only a “hypothetical figure” to show how a family of five can budget the money for basic commodities.According to NEDA, a five member-family can apportion the P10,000 to the following expenses: health (P389), transport (P806), operation of personal transport equipment (P247), transport services (P483), communication (P293), recreation and culture (P141), education (P328), restaurants and miscellaneous goods and services (P1,259), catering services (P805), and personal care (P380).Members of the House of Representatives found NEDA’s stand “outrageous and shameless.”“They are simply out of touch with reality. Why don’t they try to raise their family on a P10,000 monthly budget ?They should step down from their pedestal and try living on a P10,000 monthly budget for at least six months,” Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said.“This proves that Duterte’s economic managers are living in their own world and goes a long way toward explaining this administration’s anti-poor economic policies, such as the grossly regressive tax reform program, inability to end contractualization and indifference to the demand for a national minimum wage,” Rep. Antonio Tinio said.“After they try on such a meager budget, then let’s hear what they have to say. The problem with them is they are feeding us with countless predictions, that the Tax Reform law won’t make people poor or poorer, even calling the poor crybaby,” Zarate added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/neda-family-of-5-can-survive-on-p10k-a-month/405242/
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Gov to appeal decision on Mamasapano suspects
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['Francis Earl Cueto']
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2018-02-28 00:02:02+00:00
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MAGUINDANAO Governor Esmael ‘’Toto’’ Mangudadatu on Tuesday said they will ask the help of President Rodrigo Duterte and the Office of the Solicitor General in filing an appeal before the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeals affirmed a decision of a Quezon City court allowing bail for the 16 policemen tagged in the Mamasapano massacre that left 58 people deal.In the ABS-CBN morning show Umagang Kay Ganda, he said they will talk with Solicitor General Jose Calida regarding their plan.Last Monday, the CA affirmed the order of the Quezon City court, which first granted the policemen bail in October 2014.It said there was insufficient evidence to link the officers to the massacre, known as the worst case of election-related violence in the Philippines.The prosecution has found new witnesses to incriminate the policemen, who allegedly guarded the checkpoints leading to the area where the mass killing took place, Mangudadatu said.Among the those slain in the 2009 massacre were 32 journalists, Mangudadatu’s wife and several female members of his political clan.Over 190 persons stand accused for the multiple murder cases, several of whom are key members of rival Ampatuan family, including their late patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his sons Andal Jr. and Zaldy Ampatuan.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/gov-appeal-decision-mamasapano-suspects/383048/
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Andanar not on way out – BONG Go
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2018-09-02 00:06:16+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte’s top aide has denied reports that Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar was on his way out, saying the Chief Executive is satisfied with the latter’s performance.Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go issued the statement after reports circulated that broadcaster Jay Sonza was being eyed as the new head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).“Si Jay Sonza ay isang kaibigan rin namin ng Pangulo at taga-Davao del Sur naman magaling po ano, pero wala pong katotohanan na tungkol sa balitang yan (Jay Sonza is also my friend and of the President’s and he’s from Davao del Sur, but there’s no truth to that news),” Go said in an interview with dzRH radio, amid rumors that Andanar might be on the way out.“Sa ngayon naman po ay satisfied naman po ang ating Pangulo sa trabaho ni Secretary Andanar at sa mga improvement po na ginagawa niya sa PCOO, sa ating TV, at sa kanilang radio (The President is satisfied with the work of Secretary Andanar, on the improvements he has done for PCOO, its TV and radio programs),” he added.Reports said the President was eyeing Sonza to replace Andanar as PCOO head.Sonza, a former television host, allegedly has the support of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio.The President’s daughter, however, said she was not aware that Sonza was after the PCOO position.“I’m not sure if I have ever met him, I cannot remember any meeting whether casual or official. But I know he is very close to PRD (President Duterte),” the mayor said.Sought for reaction, Andanar said it was up to the President to decide whether or not he would stay in his post.“We all serve at the pleasure of the President,” he told reporters in a text message.Andanar, a former television news anchor, was appointed as head of the PCOO in June 2016.He has been credited for implementing reforms to modernize the government’s information network, including state-owned People’s Television Network channel 4 and the Philippine Information Agency.The PCOO has been rocked with several controversies, including alleged procurement irregularities during a regional summit in Manila, and allegations of incompetence in information dissemination.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/andanar-not-on-way-out-bong-go/437197/
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No coup plot vs Duterte – AFP official
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['Anthony Vargas']
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2016-11-05 21:31:00+00:00
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A SENIOR official of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Saturday said there is no plot to overthrow President Rodrigo Duterte.The AFP official based in Camp Aguinaldo made the statement in the wake of Duterte’s remarks that military personnel who disagree with his anti-United States (US) rhetoric do not need to launch a coup d’etat.“We have no statement. There is no threat of any coup whatsoever and the President has said this many times before,” the senior military official who requested anonymity said.The president on Friday called on military personnel and civilians who disagree with his pronouncements against the US to visit him in Malacañang so that he could give them the reins of the government.“’Yung mga military who do not agree with me because they think I’m closing my ties with America… Alam mokasi mga sundalo natin most of them talagang nag-schooling ‘yan… Pupunta ng Amerika ‘yan kasi nag-aral yan ‘dun (Our soldiers, most of them will go to the US because they studied there),” the President said.“And if the military or the police thinks…. No need for a coup d’etat. God, you are wasting your bullet. Go to Malacanang, we’ll have coffee and I myself will swear you to run the republic and solve the problem,” Duterte added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/no-coup-plot-vs-duterte-afp-official-2/294960/
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Investigate passport racket, Senate urged
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2016-10-14 21:24:41+00:00
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SENATOR Juan Miguel Zubiri has asked the Senate leadership to direct the proper Senate committee to probe an alleged passport racket that recently victimized a group Indonesian Hajj pilgrims.In a privilege speech on Friay, Zubiri cited the need to put a stop to the elaborate scheme, which involves government officers and employees who make a mockery of official processes and in effect prey on Muslim Filipinos.Such scheme, if not stopped, could jeopardize and comprise the country’s primary travel document, making it an easy accessory for the perpetration of crime and acts of terrorism, he said.The senator was referring to a incident that happened early August wherein 177 prospective pilgrims bound for Saudi Arabia to participate in the Hajj were stopped as they attempted to leave the country.The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam.It is the annual pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca, which each Muslim must undertake at least once in his lifetime.The pilgrims were carrying Philippine passports but were later discovered by immigration officials that they are not Filipinos because of their inability to speak and understand Filipino or any Filipino dialect.They were detained and were soon discovered that they are Indonesians who were carrying authentic, but fraudulently obtained, Philippine passports.It was also learned that the Indonesians reportedly paid as much as 131 million Indonesian Rupiah, or about P460,000 to unscrupulous travel agencies who facilitate their hajj journey, including the issuance of Philippine passports.Indonesia, having the largest Muslim population in the world, quickly fills up its yearly quota and Indonesian must wait up to 37 years before they can perform the Hajj.The Philippines, on the other hand, has rarely filled its quota and it could be the reason why the practice of foreign Muslims using Philippine passports was devised.What is alarming, according to Zubiri, is that the passports were reportedly issued by the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, which facilitates the Hajj pilgrimage of Filipino Muslims, ensuring that they fall within the hajj quota.This means that all Filipino Muslims must go through the NCMF in order to perform the hajj.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/investigate-passport-racket-senate-urged/291297/
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Contraceptive implant ban puts women at risk – Popcom
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['James O Sullivan', 'Happy Folger']
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15/06/2017 0:00
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The Commission on Population (Popcom) warned that maternal health in Western Visayas will be at risk because of the ban on contraceptive implants.“Not only are taxpayers’ money wasted, but the lives of women are at risk,” said Popcom Regional Director Harold Marshall.In 2015, the Supreme Court issued a restraining order on the procurement and distribution of two brands of contraceptive implants (Implanon and Implanon NXT) after a religious group claimed these were abortifacients.Popcom, an attached agency of the Department of Health (DOH), wants the restraining order lifted.It warned that maternal deaths could increase in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental because of the ban.In 2015, Marshall said that there were 90 deaths per 100,000 live births in the region.Western Visayas ranked third nationwide in terms of high fertility rate, which is pegged at 3.8.“Every woman in the region has an average of three to four children. That is one or more children than what they desire,” Marshall said.He said dwindling choices for contraceptives will not only affect health concerns, but the capacity of poorer couples to financially provide for their families.Dr. Mary Ann Matillano, chief of the regional DOH’s Family Health and Nutrition Services, said 33,750 pieces of contraceptive implants had been turned over to local governments. But because of the restraining order, the implants were not distributed to women.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/06/15/contraceptive-implant-ban-puts-women-at-risk-popcom/
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DOH reports 581 firecracker injuries
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['Micah Yvana M. Vardeleon']
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2017-01-03 22:21:53+00:00
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~THE Department of Health (DOH) reported more cases of firework-related injuries (FWRIs), bringing the total to 581 as of Tuesday, which is 36 percent or 328 cases less than the five-year period average. It is also 323 cases fewer than that for the same period last year, with 55 percent were from National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila) with 319. Region 6 followed NCR with 71, Region 3 with 40 and Region 1 and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) with 39 each. Top cities in NCR include Manila with 107, Quezon City with 70 and Marikina with 27. Illegal fireworks caused majority of FWRIs with piccolo topping the list and accounting for 186 of 299. Other top injury-causing fireworks are kwitis with 78 and luces with 36. Nearly 70 percent of FWRIs caused by piccolo that were lighted by active users aged 15 years old and below.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/doh-reports-581-firecracker-injuries/305008/
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Batangas bettor wins P12-M lotto jackpot
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2018-03-29 00:02:03+00:00
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A bettor from Batangas is now P12 million richer after bagging the lotto 6/42 jackpot of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) in Tuesday night’s draw.Alexander Balutan, PCSO general manager, said the lone winner correctly guessed the six-number combination 01-05-08-22-34-38 with a total prize of P12,433,941 subject to 20 percent tax.According to Balutan, the winning ticket was bought by the bettor from a lotto outlet in Lipa City, Batangas.The government started to impose 20-percent gaming tax on all lotto jackpot prizes since the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law in January.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/batangas-bettor-wins-p12-m-lotto-jackpot/389135/
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Gov’t can learn from survey findings
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['Robert Uy']
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17/01/2017 0:00
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“Poll shows high satisfaction on Digong,” one report said last week. “Satisfaction with gov’t dipped,” said another.Both reports were on the same survey results, but where one stressed the positive, the other saw more of the negative. The truth, of course, is that the survey held by the Social Weather Stations last December 3-6, 2016, had both positive and both angles. The changes bared by the survey are as yet not too significant, but they give us cause to look forward to the coming surveys.The survey simply said that last December 3-6, with a sample of 1,500 respondents (hopefully representative of this nation of 100 million), 73 percent expressed satisfaction with the new administration; 12 percent were dissatisfied; while 15 percent were undecided. The net satisfaction rating was +61 (73 percent satisfied minus 12 percent dissatisfied). The SWS considers a +61 rating ”very good.”Three months earlier, on its September survey, SWS found 75 percent satisfied and 8 percent dissatisfied, for a net rating of +66. This means that between September and December, public satisfaction with the government dropped by five points – from +66 to +61.This is not a big drop – public satisfaction remains “very good.” But it is still a drop and the people now running the government should try to see where some dissatisfaction has developed and act accordingly.The survey in December listed some areas in which the respondents gave the government higher ratings than in September. Among these areas were in fighting crimes, fighting terrorism, fighting graft and corruption, and reconciling with Muslim and Communist rebels. The administration is seen as doing well in these areas.The administration was not appreciated as well in some other areas, especially the following: ensuring an efficient transport system, foreign relations, providing jobs, helping the poor, and defending territorial rights. Extra efforts in these areas would be appreciated by the people.Opinion surveys are useful tools in democratic governance. They are a way through which the people tell the government what they think about prevailing situations. The government would do well to pay close attention and be guided by them as it carries out its various programs for the nation.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/01/17/govt-can-learn-from-survey-findings/
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PCSO gets 94.48% customer satisfaction rating in 2017
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-05-30 00:03:12+00:00
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THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) got a 94.48 percent satisfaction rating in the 2017 Customer Satisfaction Survey of the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP).The survey was administered via face-to-face interview from February 1 to 24, 2017.Of the 1,036 respondents, 94.48 percent or 985 said they were satisfied with PCSO’s services on medical assistance and prize claims while 5.02 percent was dissatisfied.Majority (73 percent) of the respondents were female. Most of them were college graduates.“Though the percentage of satisfied respondents was high, there is room for improvement considering that there were 217 negative comments. It is worth noting that PCSO is a charity institution, which could contribute to the high satisfaction,” said PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan.The respondents for the survey include PCSO’s Individual Medical Assistance Program beneficiaries and claimants for gaming activities Lotto, Lotto Express, and Sweepstakes.“Overall, the respondents rated PCSO as satisfactory with a Service Quality Index (SQI) of 4.43. In fact, all PCSO offices received either a very satisfactory or satisfactory rating,” Balutan said. “I sign checks up to P20 million a day,” he added.Balutan vowed to further improve the delivery of services.“It could be noted that majority of customers for gaming activities are those who are from lower income brackets,” he said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pcso-gets-94-48-customer-satisfaction-rating-in-2017/402276/
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Law to include casinos in amendments to AMLA
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2016-12-01 21:19:29+00:00
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SENATOR Francis Escudero on Thursday said proposed amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) are expected to be approved by Congress during the first quarter of 2017 ahead of the scheduled plenary session of Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in June. Escudero, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, said he had discussed the measure with his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Rep. Ben Evardone, who would be in charge of crafting the House version of the bill. The senator has sponsored a committee report that seeks to further amend Republic Act 9160 or AMLA of 2001 and include casinos in coverage of the law. The casinos’ inclusion in the list of AMLA is one of the recommendations by the FATF after its assessment three years ago. In the amended act, the cash threshold for any covered transactions is anything exceeding P500,000 or $10,000 or other equivalent monetary instrument. Also covered by the expanded law are money services business or money transfer companies; dealers of precious stones, jewels and metals; dealers of high-value items or goods; and real estate developers, brokers and sales agents.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/law-include-casinos-amendments-amla/299419/
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Go to other hospitals, PGH asks patients
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['Catherine A. Modesto']
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2018-10-05 00:02:58+00:00
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The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila has asked patients with non-life threatening cases to seek emergency treatment in other hospitals or clinics because it is under renovation and cannot accommodate the usual surge of patients for lack of space and personnel.“Our appeal to patients is to stop going to PGH’s emergency room (ER) for now,” Dr. Jonas del Rosario, coordinator for public affairs of PGH, said in a radio interview.The hospital’s ER, intensive care unit and wards have been under renovation since June 1.“We are not allowed to send them home, but we cannot really accommodate 200 patients with just 25 beds and limited medical personnel,” del Rosario said in Filipino.“The nurse to patient ratio must be 1:5, but the ratio right now is 1:20. It is impossible for nurses to give them medicines or be monitored well,” he added.Patients in critical condition are given priority and treated in a makeshift ER.Renovation work is expected to be completed in June 2019.Del Rosario and the Department of Health advised patients to go to Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center,San Lazaro Hospital, East Avenue Medical Center or other other government and rural hospitals near them.Airies Jilene Bajo, 27, of Labuan, Zamboanga City, said she sought treatment at PGH because it is the only hospital her family knows that has complete equipment and specialists. She and some relatives will sleep outside the makeshift ER until she gets admitted.“Sa Ciudad Medical Zamboanga, walang ospital ng puso (there is no hospital that specializes in cardiology,” Bajo said.Marianne Alvez, who comes from Cavite, said the hospital in her town lacks equipment, thus she went to the PGH.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/go-to-other-hospitals-pgh-asks-patients/448391/
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MMDA to shut down bus terminals along Edsa
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['Elshamae Robles']
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2017-07-18 22:54:00+00:00
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The chief of staff of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Tuesday announced that they will shut down 10 bus terminals along Edsa for violating the “nose-in, nose-out” policy and other traffic infractions.The policy, according to Jojo Garcia, orders transport buses to go in and out of the terminal by their noses in order to avoid impeding traffic flow in the passing lanes.The 10 bus terminals are DLTB Bus, Lucena Lines, Raymond Transportation, Saint Rafael Transport Lines, Our Lady of Salvacion Bus Line, JAM Liner, Superlines Transport, Victory Liner, Dimple Star Transport and Roro Bus Transport.The MMDA and the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Quezon City government will also close bus terminals without permit from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.Garcia said the terminals can work with the MMDA and other cooperating agencies to remodel their terminals in compliance with the nose-in, nose-out policy.According to the MMDA chief of staff, this will not affect commuters because transport buses are still allowed to hit the road despite their respective terminals’ closures.Meanwhile, three bus companies have been granted special permits for the construction and operation of bus terminals in Quezon City.In three separate resolutions filed by a city councilor, Safeway Bus Line Inc., Fran-Vill Transit Inc. and Diamond V Eight Transport Inc. were granted concessions.Safeway Bus Line applied for two permits for a garage, an office with motor pool and another bus garage at Barangay Kaligayahan.Diamond V Eight Transport Inc. and Fran Vill Transit Inc. were also granted permits for the construction of a garage in Barangay Santa Monica.The city council said they do not see adverse effects to public health, safety and welfare because of the construction and operation of the facilities.The issuance of permits is in compliance with the city’s ordinance on comprehensive zoning.with JOVILAND RITA
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/mmda-shut-bus-terminals-along-edsa/339127/
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Overseas workers’ ID card comes free – DoLE
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-07-20 20:27:30+00:00
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THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) will soon issue for free identification (ID) cards that it had promised to all qualified overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) on Thursday made the clarification in reaction to complaints from some OFWs who wanted to avail of the ID card that they were being charged P700 for processing and delivery.Bello said unscrupulous individuals out to make quick money could be behind the apparent sabotaging of the ID card program.“Don’t believe those people who claim to have already availed of the OFW ID card, that they were able to apply through the DoLE website and there is a payment of P500 and delivery cost of P200. It’s not true. They just want to earn a fast buck by taking advantage of the new program launched by President [Rodrigo] Duterte,” he added.The ID card program, a major component of the Integrated Department of Labor and Employment (iDOLE) system, was formally launched by the President on July 12.But Bello said the program is yet to undergo a three-month pilot run before Filipino migrant workers can use the ID card as an automated overseas employment certificate (OEC), among other uses.The website iDOLE.ph where the OFWs can log in their applications, according to the Labor secretary, is still for activation and not yet ready for public use.He said the website shown during the launching last July 12 was only part of the test run conducted by information technology personnel and programmer, not the final website and registration page for the OFW ID card.“The activation of the website and the availability of the card, including the corresponding guidelines will be announced once the test run is completed,” Bello said.The cost of the ID card, he added, would be decided after a thorough consultation with the recruitment agencies, the Labor department and the Overseas Workers Welfare Adminisration (OWWA) “but definitely no OFW will pay for that.”“We will be coming up with implementing guidelines only after the consultation. Next week, we will call them [recruitment agencies] and we will be presenting the guidelines, then we will request them to give inputs,” Bello said.WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/overseas-workers-id-card-comes-free-dole/339566/
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Mayors key to solving traffic woes in NCR
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['The Manila Times']
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2016-10-12 22:45:24+00:00
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The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) should work with mayors and other local government officials if they want to succeed in managing traffic,” Buhay party-list group Representative Lito Atienza said during the House Committee on Transportation’s deliberations on bills seeking to grant emergency powers.If not, then they are doomed to fail,” Atienza, also senior deputy minority leader, added.He pointed out that decentralization and getting the mayors and barangay (village) officials involved in the effort to ease traffic congestion in the Metro Manila (National Capital Region or NCR) are essential.“As elected officials, the mayors are in the best position to help in managing traffic in their respective communities. No super body led by an appointed official can compete with the duly elected mayors,” Atienza said.“What is sorely needed now is to clear all secondary streets of obstructions so that the volume in the main thoroughfares like EDSA can be reduced. You don’t need emergency powers to make the mayors move, you need only ask them and they will readily help,” he added, citing his own experience as former three-term mayor of Manila where he tapped the city’s village officials in helping manage traffic.During his nine years as mayor of Manila, Atienza said he mobilized barangay chairmen, councilmen and watchmen in helping improve conditions of secondary roads–by removing all obstructions such as dilapidated and illegally parked cars, construction debris and basketball courts.This time, according to him, the DOTr and the MMDA, should remove all gates placed in different villages, especially in Manila, Makati City and Pasig City.Unless these gates are removed, Atienza said, these secondary roads will become impassable to motorists.“Depriving motorists of the use of these streets is illegal. These gates were supposedly put up by the villages for security reasons. But security should be provided by policemen and barangay watchmen,” he added.Because the mayors have the authority and ability to solve many of the traffic problems, Atienza said, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade should work with them.He also cited other causes of congestion, among them the continued existence of bus terminals at Buendia Avenue-Taft Avenue, with authorities allowing them to use these avenues as parking spaces.“Mayors should be made accountable for the traffic situation in their respective localities. The Department of Interior and Local Government [DILG] should make sure that all LGUs are doing their duty in helping solve the traffic problem. If all of these very simple things can be done, there is no need for emergency powers for traffic to flow more freely. Long range solutions like an underground subway train system are a must but planning should be done now. Otherwise, this will not be completed during President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration,” Atienza said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/mayors-key-solving-traffic-woes-ncr/290903/
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Edgardo Angara laid to rest in Aurora
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-05-23 00:03:13+00:00
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Former Senate President Edgardo Angara, author of many landmark laws in education, health, and the senior citizens sector, was laid to rest on Tuesday in his hometown in Baler, Aurora.Angara’s immediate family, including Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, friends, fraternity brothers, and former colleagues in Congress paid him their last respects.Senators Franklin Drilon, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Richard Gordon and Rep. Pia Cayetano also joined about 1,000 local residents in bidding him goodbye.Angara, 83, was buried at his residence in barangay Reserva, Baler, Aurora.The younger Angara vowed to build on and continue the legacy of his father.“I am truly proud of my father’s achievements and it is very important that his legacy continues,” he said. “My father was a true champion of the people’s right to education and all his advocacies as a politician and educator are all worth pursuing.”The older Angara pushed for laws that created the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).He also authored the Free High School Act, which ensured secondary education to serve especially the poorest, and the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE)—touted as the biggest scholarship program of the government.Among his landmark measures were the Senior Citizens Act, the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers and the National Health Insurance Act that created the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. or PhilHealth.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/edgardo-angara-laid-to-rest-in-aurora/400475/
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Laguna bettor bags P18.2-M lotto pot
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['The Manila Times']
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2016-12-21 21:45:42+00:00
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A bettor from Laguna bagged the P18.2 million lotto 6/42 jackpot of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes office (PCSO) during last Tuesday’s draw.PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan said the still unidentified bettor bought the ticket with the winning combination of 39-25-13-09-01-29 from a lotto outlet in Cabuyao, Laguna using lucky pick (computer-generated).Apart from the lone jackpot winner, 48 other lotto players will be getting P15,440 each as second prize for correctly guessing five of the six-number combination.The third prize of P360 was won by 1,614 bettors.Meanwhile, Balutan said there was no winner during last Tuesday’s draw for P60.5 million Superlotto 6/49 jackpot.Based on the draw results, only seven bettor won the second prize amounting to P70,000 and 1,400 individuals got the third prize and will be getting P565 each.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/laguna-bettor-bags-p18-2-m-lotto-pot-2/303050/
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Group seeks bureau of private education
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['Neil Alcober']
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2018-10-16 00:02:04+00:00
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A group of private schools is pushing for the creation of a bureau of private education under the Department of Education (DepEd) that will focus on the welfare of the private education sector.Dr. Reynaldo Faustino, president of the National Alliance of Private Schools Philippines (Napsphil), debunked the claim of the government that there is complementarity between the public and private schools.“There is no such thing as complementarity between the private schools and public schools. They [government] always claim for complementarity when in fact there is none,” Faustino told The Manila Times at the sidelines of this year’s education advocacy summit held in Pasay City on Monday.The summit, with the theme “Think Education, Think Advocacy: Advocating Complementarity in Delivering Accessible Quality Education,” was attended by thousands of educators and school administrators from various private schools. It was organized by the Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges and Universities (Papscu) and Napsphil in partnership with the Private Education Assistance Committee and REX Group of Companies.“The DepEd is more on the public schools rather than the welfare of the private schools that’s why they are now clamoring for our own department. Let there be a private education not under one umbrella because before we used to have a department of private education. We want it back again, that is one of the advocacies we work on again with the help of the lawmakers but the lawmakers now are busy with the public schools,” Faustino said.He added that there is a wide gap between the public schools and private schools in terms of financial subsidy they receive from the government.“For example, the voucher system for public schools is P17,000 for each student while (it is) only P14,000 for the private schools. For the ESC (Education Service Contracting) program, each student in public schools receive P13,000 but it’s only P9,500 for private schools. There’s a big difference, the discrepancy should not be like that. We’re also taxpayers,” Faustino said.“Sometimes, I challenge the private schools to close down for just one year to see what the government will do, but I’m pretty sure no school would accept that challenge. We will do something so that the government will heed our clamor,” he added.The Education department ‘however’ said the issue on complementarity has been addressed considerably but it cannot provide everything to the private schools.“Complementarity means a shared responsibility. In fact, the government should be providing but we cannot provide everything that’s why the private sector is there to assist us. We cannot provide everything to the private schools because the government cannot afford to shoulder all their costs. They also have a purpose; there are a lot of private schools which are mission-oriented that’s why they are not for profit but, of course, they do some profit but mostly they really want to educate,” DepEd undersecretary for finance Victoria Catibog, who was one of the keynote speakers in the summit, said in an interview.Catibog said the Education department has asked for an additional budget for the Senior High School Voucher System for the next school year to cover more senior high school (Grade 12) students who wish to enroll in private schools.“For the senior high school right now, we are proposing around P20 billion for fiscal year 2019. We were only given P13.5 billion for this school year,” Catibog said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/group-seeks-bureau-of-private-education/452478/
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Labor provisions of draft charter opposed
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['William Depasupil']
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2018-07-21 00:02:18+00:00
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ORGANIZED labor has rejected the labor provisions of the draft federal constitution, saying that it removes the rights of workers to security of tenure and perpetuates the illegal end of contract scheme or ENDO.The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the country’s biggest labor group, on Friday said the Consultative Committee (ConCom) failed to consult the labor sector with respect to the draft Federal Constitution.“Process-wise, it was neither consultative nor participatory. In substance, it clearly favors elite, capitalist interests,’’ it said.The ConCom was tasked by President Rodrigo Duterte to review the 1987 Constitution and pave the way for a change to a federal from a unitary form of government.On July 10, 2018, ConCom made an apology because of the “wrong labor provisions” which were included in the draft charter explaining that it was “an honest mistake.”Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who heads the ConCom, promised to correct their mistake and restore the labor provisions in the 1987 Constitution and add two additional provisions on overseas Filipino workers and on the right to employment opportunities.TUCP Vice President Luis Corral expressed alarm that one week after the ConCom admitted its error in the language of the labor provisions of the draft Constitution, there was still no revised draft available, raising suspicions that there is an intentional and deliberate agenda to remove the rights of workers enshrined under the 1987 Constitution.“The existing proposed language for labor in the existing draft Constitution is totally unacceptable. There is a shift away from the concept of “security of tenure” towards a so-called “security of employment,” he added.President Rodrigo Duterte promised to end labor contractualization during his presidential campaign trail in 2016.Corral pointed out that the draft is obviously intended to cater to the business clamor for the continuation ENDO as the draft introduces the benchmark concept of employability, which effectively means that the employer can terminate workers at will.He said the draft emasculates and effectively removes the guarantees present in Article 13, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution of the right of workers to self-organization, the right to strike and the right to be consulted in decision-making processes.“Security of employment really means employment is dependent at the will of the employer. This is a radical and dangerous departure from ‘tenure.’ Security of tenure refers to the right of workers not to be removed without cause and due process,” explained Corral.TUCP also expressed alarmed that the establishment and enforcement of labor standards will not be under the jurisdiction of the Federal state and instead be relegated to the regional level.“This will mean that each region — invoking the need to attract investments — will bid down their labor standards, lower their wages and benefits, compromise their occupational safety and health, and minimize environmental standards. Development in this federal state model will be a race-to-the-bottom among the regions. It will de facto impose the Bangladesh economic model of sweatshops on our economy and further expand the scope of ENDO and contractualization,” Corral said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/labor-provisions-of-draft-charter-opposed/421519/
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MIAA wants monthy reports from service providers
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['Benjie Vergara']
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2017-08-12 19:58:22+00:00
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The operator of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has urged ground handling firms, airlines and service providers to submit monthly reports on baggage pilferages in a bid to weed out scalawags in the country’s premiere airport.Ed Monreal, general manager of Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), has asked airlines, ground handlers and service providers to implement the measure immediately as MIAA is exercising its powers, functions and duties vested to them by Executive Order 778 or the MIAA Charter in consonance with Administrative Order 151.“They should understand why we finally have to do this. We have always been consultative with them, they know that. But the recent incident is the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak,” Monreal, a former Cathay Pacific Airline station manager, said.Monreal was referring to the incident involving the baggage of the visiting wife of the Turkish minister whose pink jewelry box was stolen before her luggage was transferred onto the aircraft.The incident occurred when the minister’s wife was leaving for Turkey on August 4.The monthly reports should also include intensified guarding of baggage on departure and arrival, and consistent implementation of frisking of all ramp personnel.The airport chief also reminded the strict adherence to the “No/Pockets/No Jewelry/No Watch Policy” at the ramp.Furthermore, ground handlers and service providers were urged to conduct background checks on workers they employ.The MIAA has summoned all records relating to pre-employment checks and verification made by said companies.“I expect everybody’s full cooperation. I strongly urge that you come up with policies and procedures to clean your ranks so we can achieve order in our airport,” Monreal told representatives from airlines, service providers and ground handling firms during its recent meeting.He also directed MIAA’s administration office to also do tight guarding of MIAA employees and other “job order” personnel whose work require them to be at the ramp area.Private security agencies employed by MIAA whose personnel are guarding ramp gates would also be monitored.“The MIAA shall exercise its authority under existing laws, over those who will not cooperate. This could mean revocation of your privilege to operate in NAIA or termination of your accreditation with us,” Monreal said during their meeting.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/miaa-wants-monthy-reports-service-providers/344012/
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10 senators push creation of Culture dept
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['Javier J. Ismael']
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2018-11-08 00:03:02+00:00
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TEN senators have pushed for the approval of a measure that seeks to create the Department of Culture “in recognition of the vital role of Filipino culture in nation building.”Sen. Francis Escudero, chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture, sponsored Senate Bill 1528, or the proposed “Department of Culture Act.”Apart from Escudero, the bill was also authored by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senators Loren Legarda, Nancy Binay, Paolo BenignoAquino 4th, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Joel Villanueva, Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros and Sonny Angara.Escudero said the passage of the bill would nurture and preserve Filipino heritage. The Department of Culture would implement programs that will promote the importance of Philippine arts and culture.The bill, now on second reading, proposes to reorganize the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) into an independent Department of Culture “which will promote and develop the country’s cultural traditions.”Escudero said the proposed department with its attached agencies shall be responsible for the “protection, preservation, regulation, development, management, dissemination and promotion of the cultural, historical and artistic heritage and resources, tangible and intangible, of the Philippines and the Filipino people.”Under the bill, 12 agencies will be attached to the Department of Culture — the Cultural Center of the Philippines, National Museum of the Philippines, National Historical Commission of the Philippines, National Library of the Philippines, National Archives of the Philippines, Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino, Intramuros Administration, National Parks Development Committee, Nayong Filipino Foundation, Film Development Council of the Philippines, National Book Development Board and Design Center of the Philippines.Escudero said the proposed department will be headed by a secretary, who will be joined by at least three undersecretaries and five assistant secretaries.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/10-senators-push-creation-of-culture-dept/464153/
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Oil companies again hike prices
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['Jordeene Sheex Lagare']
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2018-01-08 21:51:08+00:00
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OIL companies again raised the pump prices of petroleum products, the second rate adjustment for the month.Flying V was the first to adjust its prices, raising the cost of diesel and kerosene by 55 centavos per liter and 30 centavos per liter, respectively, at 12:01 Tuesday. The price of gasoline was unchanged.Caltex, Eastern Petroleum, Phoenix Petroleum, Pilipinas Shell, PTT Philippines, and Seaoil also raised the price of diesel by 55 centavos and kerosene by 30 centavos per liter. They too did not adjust the price of gasoline.The prices adjustment was implemented despite the announcement of the Department of Energy (DoE) that fuel stocks should not be subjected to higher excise taxes.Last week, Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said taxes should not be imposed on fuel products already in retail outlets before the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (Train) took effect on January 1.He added the DoE is keeping a close eye on oil companies to prevent profiteering.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/oil-companies-hike-prices-3/373113/
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Robredo warns gov’t vs poor treatment of IPs
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2016-10-27 20:28:42+00:00
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The government should stop treating indigenous peoples (IPs or lumad) poorly if it wants to stop poverty, Vice President Ma. Leonor Robredo said on Thursday.The Vice President made the statement during the IP Leaders Assembly in General Santos City, a week after the violent dispersal of protesting IPs at the US Embassy in Manila wherein a police car tried to run over the lumad at least four times.The police were also caught on video grabbing a driver of one of the jeepneys used by the protesters, mauling him until he bled.The IPs were demanding their right to self-determination and that their ancestral land be free from militarization by Philippine and American armed forces.“The summary of poverty is how does the entire government view the IP community. Because we should view the IP community as an equal partner on everything that we do and… looking back, it seems that it is not what is happening,” Robredo said in her speech.Prior to her stop in General Santos, she visited the IPs belonging to the Mangyan community in Mindoro, the seven tribes of Bukidnon, as well as the IPs in Ifugao and Mountain Province.“One of the first agencies that I met with when I started functioning as your Vice President is the NCIP [National Council of Indigenous Peoples]. But after going around to meet the IPs, I would need to meet with the NCIP again because I have learned that the IPs’ concerns are not being aired and they have a diminished role in communities,” Robredo pointed out.A number of policemen who took part in the violent dispersal at the US Embassy were charged with multiple serious physical injuries, unlawful arrest, obstruction of justice, grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority and conduct unbecoming public officers by the IP protesters before the Office of the Ombudsman.Among these policemen were: Senior Supt. Marcelino DL Pedrozo; Police Chief Supt. Oscar David, National Capital Region (Metro Manila) director; Supt. Albert Barot; Chief Inspectors Dionelle Brannon, Elmer Oseo, Joebie Astucia, Roberto Marinda and Roberto Mangune; Senior Inspector Edgardo Orongan; and Police Officer 3 Franklin Kho.“Even the NCIP… on how the government treats the IPs, it’s like they are just third-class citizens. The IP community is one of the most marginalized of all sectors of society, meaning your property, beliefs and culture are not being valued the way [they] deserve [to be valued],” Robredo said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/robredo-warns-govt-vs-poor-treatment-ips/293431/
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Bill regulating practice of criminology approved
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['Ralph Villanueva']
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2018-01-01 21:13:25+00:00
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A HOUSE panel has approved an unnumbered substitute bill creating a Professional Regulatory Board of Criminology in order to regulate the practice of Criminology profession in the country.The House Committee on Appropriations, chaired by Rep. Karlo Nograles of Davao City, rubber-stamped the funding provision of the substitute bill, which mandates the chairperson of the Professional Regulation Commission to include in the PRC’s programs the implementation of the Act.The funding will then be included in the commission’s annual budget.The bill, entitled “The Philippine Criminology Profession Act” seeks to repeal Republic Act 6506, otherwise known as “An Act Creating the Board of Examiners for Criminologists in the Philippines.”The bill seeks the development of the professional supervision competence of criminologists through continuing professional program and the integration of all criminology professional groups.The board will be composed of a chairperson and four members to be appointed by the President and will be under the administrative supervision and control of the PRC.The board will be mandated to supervise and regulate the registration, licensure and practice of criminology as well as promulgate and issue rules and regulations in implementing the provisions of the Act.The board will promulgate, adopt or amend the syllabi and tables of specifications of the subjects for the licensure examinations in consultation with the academe and the Commission on Education (CHED).Members of the board will be the ones to prepare questions for the licensure examination, as well as administer and correct and release the examination’s results.A Code of Ethics, a Code of Good Governance and guidelines on the conduct of a Continuing Professional Development program for criminologists, in consultation with the Accredited Integrated Professional Organization will be created by the board.The board will have the power to issue, suspend, revoke or reinstate the certificate of registration of registered criminologists or cancel temporary or special permit granted to foreign criminologists and monitor the conditions affecting the practice of criminology and whenever necessary adopts measures to enhance of the profession.The board will also ensure that all higher educational instruction and offering of criminology shall comply with the policies, standards and requirements of the program as prescribed by the CHED or other authorized government offices, in cooperation with CHED and other authorized government offices.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/bill-regulating-practice-criminology-approved/371688/
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Meralco to implement rate hike in 2 tranches
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['Jordeene Sheex Lagare']
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2018-02-09 23:56:06+00:00
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Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced on Friday it would implement in two tranches the imminent P1.08 per kilowatt hour (kWh) hike in electricity rates.Meralco said it would apply the P0.75 per kWh increase in the February bill and the remaining P0.33 per kWh in the March bill, bringing the February rate to P9.47 per kWh from P8.72 per kWh in January.Typical households that consume 200kWh will see an increase of P150 in the February bill.For those who consume 300kWh, they will see an increase of P225; for those who consume 400kWh, an increase of P400; and for those who consume 500kWh, an increase of P375.The generation charge for February climbed by P0.8469 per kWh, which was attributed to higher charges from plants under Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) and Independent Power Producers (IPPs).Meralco said it will reflect an adjustment of P0.5780 per kWh for February, or from a generation charge of P4.0768 per kWh in January to P4.6548 per kWh this month.The difference should reflect in the March bill.The PSA charges rose by P1.7607 per kWh as a result of the return to normal levels of capacity fees, specifically of Pagbilao and Ilijan power plants.Last month, such charges dropped because of early competition of annual capacity fee payments for the previous year.IPP charges also climbed by P0.3430 per kWh as the Philippine peso depreciated against the US dollar, Malampaya gas prices increased after the quarterly pricing and the average plant dispatch lowered.But charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) slightly decreased by P0.0041 per kWh on lower power demand in the Luzon grid.Also, transmission charge to residential customers decreased by P0.0372 per kWh.But taxes and other charges tumbled by P0.2092 per kWh this month.Distribution, supply and metering charges, meanwhile, have remained unchanged for 31 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015.The share of IPPs, PSAs and WESM to Meralco’s total energy requirement touched 40.7 percent, 40.6 percent and 18.7 percent, respectively.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/meralco-implement-rate-hike-2-tranches/379284/
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Jinggoy’s travel plea upheld
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-04-27 22:41:15+00:00
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The Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division has upheld its ruling that granted former Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada’s plea to let him travel to the United States from April 30 to May 30.Estrada, who is out on bail, is facing a P183-million plunder case and 11 counts of graft before the anti-graft court along with other individuals in connection with the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel scam.The court issued hold departure orders in 2014, which barred the accused from leaving the country without its prior permission.“Given the dearth of evidence to back up the prosecution’s motion, this court is not persuaded to reconsider the resolution granting accused permission to travel abroad,” it said in a resolution dated April 24.“Considering these facts and circumstances, the court deems it proper to deny the prosecution’s motion,” the Sandiganbayan added.The prosecution earlier asked the court to reconsider the grant of the travel plea, alleging that the supposed “falsity of the invitation letter attached by accused Estrada to his motion to travel abroad makes the motion misleading and deceiving…”The prosecution said it had received a letter on April 12 of national president Rodel Rodis and national chairman Loida Lewis of the US Pinoys for Good Governance (USPGG).According to the letter, USPGG Michigan president William Dechavez “clarified that his friend from Michigan… who is a close friend of [former] Sen. Estrada, had asked him if he could use USPGG to invite [former] Sen. Estrada. Mr. Dechavez said that he told” the said friend “that he could only use his name as an individual but not the organization, as he would need to clear it with his members, and he was in Sorsogon” in the Philippines.“But apparently, that did not deter” that friend from allegedly “preparing an invitation… with the forged signature of Mr. Dechavez,” the letter said in part.In its resolution, the Sandiganbayan said also in part that “the prosecution did not substantiate its claims with any sufficient means of authentication or reliable proof of the alleged forged letter coming from Mr. Dechavez. As such, this court cannot give any credence to the prosecution’s claims. Hearsay evidence has no probative value whatsoever and, therefore, cannot be the basis for overturning this court’s earlier ruling.”Estrada also earlier filed a motion asking the court to let him travel to the United States “[t]o accept the invitation to be the guest speaker of the” USPGG “on May 20, 2018 on its annual general membership meeting to be held” in Michigan; “[f]or medical consultation with Doctor Christopher Mow, an orthopedic surgeon of Stanford Hospital for his recurring orthopedic shoulder problem;” and “[f]or a vacation with his” wife Precy and children Janella, Jolo, Julian and Jill “and to visit family and friends in the United States.”“This family trip was” Estrada’s “promise to his family especially to Julian when he graduated last March 17, 2015” from high school, according to the motion.Estrada was released from detention in September after the Sandiganbayan’s Special Fifth Division, voting 3-2, allowed him to post bail over the plunder case filed against him and several others.He is one of three former senators–the other two are Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Juan Ponce Enrile–and other individuals including Janet Lim-Napoles who were charged by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan in 2014 in connection with the PDAF scam.The Ombudsman filed in 2014 a P224-million plunder case and 16 counts of graft against Revilla, and a P172-million plunder case and 15 counts of graft against Enrile.Revilla is detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame in Quezon City, while Enrile is out on bail after the Supreme Court granted in 2015 his bail petition on humanitarian grounds.Napoles is detained at a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/jinggoys-travel-plea-upheld/395436/
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Makati is PH’s richest city
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-11-06 00:10:53+00:00
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Makati has edged out Quezon City as the Philippine’s richest city. With assets of P196.57 billion, it was the richest city in 2017, based on the Commission on Audit’s 2017 Annual Financial Report on Local Government.Makati City saw more than a three-fold increase in its assets —from P49.494 billion in 2015 to P54.85 billion in 2016.Quezon City dropped to second place with P68.33 billion in total assets. In 2016, its asssets was valued at P59.556 billion.Manila remained on third place with P38.677 billion in total assets.Of the provinces, Cebu was the wealthiest in 2017 with assets totaling P34.139 billion, up from P32.429 billion in 2016 and P30.331 billion in 2015.Compostela Valley, a newbie on the list, placed second with P18.95 billion, while Batangas climbed to third spot with P15.568 billion in total assets from its previous fourth ranking in 2016 withP8.694 billion assets.Meanwhile, Cainta in Rizal province was the richest town in 2017 with assets totaling P3.988 billion. It was also the wealthiest in 2016 and 2015 with P3.511 billion and 3.176 billion, respectively.It was followed by Sual town in Pangasinan with P2.528 billion.Limay town in Bataan came in third with P2.42 billion in total assets, down from its P2.54 billion in 2016.
|
Manila Times
|
https://www.manilatimes.net/makati-is-phs-richest-city/462737/
|
VP Robredo invited to ASEAN meetings
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['Jun Betito', 'Ron Caniada', 'Liwanag Para Sa Bayan', 'Simon Antonio', 'Parasa Bayan']
|
15/10/2017 0:00
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Vice President Ma. Leonor ‘Leni’ G. Robredo will not be left out in the upcoming 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, after all.The former housing chief, who resigned after President Duterte barred her from Cabinet meetings, received two invitations to speak during the Asean Summit and Related Meetings that will be held next month.In her weekly radio show, “BISErbisyong Leni,” Robredo confirmed on Sunday that she was invited as guest speaker by the Asean Business Advisory Council (BAC) in the event.“One invitation is for me to speak, but they have not given yet the topic, what would be the content of my speech. Second, I was invited to be a panelist in a discussion about women,” she said in Filipino.The Vice President further elaborated that it was not the first time the Asean invited her to talk about women economic empowerment.“We are just waiting for the notice on my speech. It looks like it is an opening speech,” she noted.The Philippines will host this year’s Asean Summit of the 10-nation regional bloc where meetings of leaders and top diplomats will be held in Manila and Clark in Pampanga from November 10 to 14.Among the world leaders who have confirmed attendance to the event is United States President Donald Trump, who will take part in the Philippine-hosted meetings.Last April, the Philippines, as this year’s Asean chair also hosted the 30th Asean Summit and Related Meetings, where Robredo had no official role and participation.Traditionally, the Vice President welcomes state guests, but she only ended up as among the guest speakers in the “Prosperity for All” Summit organized by the 30-member Asean-BAC.The meeting was a side session at the previous Asean Summit.
|
Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/10/15/vp-robredo-invited-to-asean-meetings/
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Public Works, Energy to speed up infra projects
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-07-11 20:30:04+00:00
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THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Energy (DoE) have signed a joint circular meant to fast-track implementation of government infrastructure projects.Under the joint circular, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, through Undersecretary Karen Olivia Jimeno, and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi agreed to have uniform guidelines for the payment and relocation of electric cooperative facilities affected by government projects.The DPWH-DoE agreement, Villar said, would be a big boost to help speed up road projects.Addressing issues causing delay and preventing road works from proceeding such as presence of utilities and right-of-way problems, he added, can accelerate project implementation.The goal is to strictly observe and maintain easements and to relocate and/or compensate improperly located electric cooperative facilities within government’s right-of-way (ROW).“The joint circular with DoE is just and systematized way of addressing ROW conflicts between two [2] entities that promote development. We aim for timely implementation of government projects and at the same time aid electric cooperatives that play critical role in household electrification,” Villar said.“Under the guidelines, programming or planning of upcoming DPWH projects like roads, bridges, flood-control structures and government buildings will have to be coordinated with the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and electric cooperatives to address ROW concerns,” Jimeno said.The DPWH, prior to the preparation of its budget for a proposed government project, will have to inform in writing concerned electric cooperatives that their facilities will be affected, with copy furnished to DoE and NEA, and to be followed by a joint survey and assessment of both parties.Within 30 days after the joint survey, the electric cooperatives shall submit to the DPWH the proposed program of work for the affected facility with cost estimate duly certified by NEA, and bill of materials.The DPWH will determine within 10 calendar days the proper compensation or relocation cost that amounts to present value of relocation of facility based on the NEA equipment and materials price index, less depreciative cost, plus dismantling/removal and disposal cost.Upon determination of compensation, the department and the electric cooperatives shall execute a “Relocation Agreement” with terms of payment of compensation for the affected facility; details of affected facility and approved relocation site; project implementation schedule; target date of completion; and remedy in case of disagreement.After the Relocation Agreement, the DPWH is tasked to prepare a final program of work for its project with the amount of compensation for the electric cooperative affected.WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL
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Manila Times
|
https://www.manilatimes.net/public-works-energy-speed-infra-projects/337845/
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STL earns P19B in 9 months
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['The Manila Times']
|
2018-10-18 00:05:28+00:00
|
Small Town Lottery (STL) operations raked in P19.7 billion from January to September this year, surpassing the 2017 collections, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) said.“From January to September, STL sales has already earned P19,799,218,822, which is P4,051,797,151 above the total STL sales in 2017,” PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan said.He credited the revenue hike to the increase in the number of operating Authorized Agent Corporations (AACs) and the Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipt.At present, the PCSO has 85 operational Authorized STL Agents (ASAs) nationwide.ASAs are corporations or cooperatives duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or with the Cooperative Development Authority that were duly qualified and authorized by the PCSO to conduct STL in a particular area.“Before I took over as PCSO General Manager, STL was only earning P6,462,304,820 a year. When we took over in 2016, STL yielded P15,747,421,671, which was 144 percent higher than the previous year,” Balutan said.“Unknown to many, STL is our second highest-earning product next to Lotto products. As of September, Lotto earned P3,621,614,420; while STL earned P2,688,734,971. Ang liit lang ng (there’s a small) difference between STL and Lotto, and we credit that to our STL operators, especially to their kabos, kubradores, and organic employees,” he added.Apart from contributing billions of pesos to the charity funds of PCSO, STL provides jobs for people who used to play “cat and mouse” with authorities or those who cannot hold jobs because of old age, lack of education, and physical disability.“We have saved them from vices — example drugs — and from being exploited by criminals. These people don’t have to run and hide anymore. STL is giving them and their families a ‘legal’ job and decent life,” Balutan said.
|
Manila Times
|
https://www.manilatimes.net/stl-earns-p19b-in-9-months/453334/
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No restraining order in favor of ERC chief
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['Jomar Canlas']
|
2017-08-04 21:58:44+00:00
|
Beleaguered Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairman Jose Vicente Salazar, who was suspended by the Office of the President, has failed to convince the Court of Appeals (CA) to act on his petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO).Commissioner Alfredo Non was appointed as officer-in-charge (OIC) by President Rodrigo Duterte after Salazar was preventively suspended for 90 days over accusations of corruption.ERC employees filed a complaint against Salazar before the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged civil service violations pertaining to the appointment of some officials.Salazar is also facing other accusations such as breach of procurement laws for certain projects and separate charges of “serious dishonesty, gross neglect of duty and grave misconduct” on account of violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.The ERC official was accused of hastily issuing orders on renewal of seven electric power purchase agreements between FDC Utilities Inc.-Misamis and various distribution utilities.His move to appoint an OIC while he was on leave, when Malacañang had already made an appointment, was also questioned by ERC commissioners.Salazar earlier defied President Duterte’s call for him to resign after ERC Director Francisco Villa Jr. committed suicide amid alleged pressure from commission officials to approve questionable deals.Villa specifically named Salazar in the alleged rigging of the selection process for an audio-visual presentation project.The same was supposedly made to favor a certain Luis Morelos but Salazar has been denying any wrongdoing and said there was no such contract yet with Morelos.After his suspension, Salazar sought redress with the CA but to no avail.In its June 17, 2017 ruling that was released only recently, the CA’s Eighth Division did not give due course to Salazar’s petition.“In any event, without necessarily giving due course to the petition for certiorari, respondents [Palace officials] are required to file their comment thereon [not motion to dismiss], and to show cause in the same comment why petitioner’s prayer for issuance of a temporary restraining order [TRO] and/or writ of preliminary injunction [WPI] should not be granted, within ten [10] days from notice. Petitioner may file a reply thereto, within five [5] days from receipt of the comment, if so minded,” the resolution stated.According to the appellate court, any action on Salazar’s plea for TRO or WPI is held in abeyance pending receipt of the parties’ pleadings.The petition will be deemed submitted for resolution, upon submission of the pleadings or the expiration of the period of filing of the same, unless the court requires the filing of memoranda from the parties, the tribunal held.The resolution was penned by Associate Justice Celia Librea-Leagogo and concurred in by Associate Justices Amy Lazaro-Javier and Pedro Corales.‘Business as usual’It’s “business as usual” for the ERC a day after Malacañang slapped Salazar with a four-month suspension for insubordination without pay.In a text message, spokesman Rexie Digal on Friday said the ERC still has Commissioners Alfredo Non, Gloria Victoria Yap-Taruc, Josefina Patricia Magpale-Asirit and Geronimo Santa Ana “who can validly and legally act on matters pending before us.”Digal added that the commissioners’ first order of business was to nominate Non as officer-in-charge, who was previously named as the OIC by the Malacañang in May after Salazar’s three-month suspension was announced, pending the inquiry into allegations against him such as corruption.Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Ana Marie Banaag, in a news briefing on Wednesday, said the Office of Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea found Salazar guilty of defying a Malacañang order in his August 2 decision.Salazar appointed Ronaldo Gomez, chief officer of the ERC’s Mindanao office, as OIC and executive director during his absence even though the Palace had named Santa Ana to the post.Executive Order 292, or the Administrative Code of 1987, states, “In case of the temporary absence or disability of any subordinate officer or employee in any bureau or office, its head may, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations, designate any other subordinate officer or employee within the organization to perform temporarily the duties of the absent or disabled person.”Republic Act 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, created the ERC as an independent regulator performing the combined quasi-judicial, quasi-legislative and administrative duties in the electric industry.with JORDEENE SHEEX LAGARE
|
Manila Times
|
https://www.manilatimes.net/no-restraining-order-favor-erc-chief/342434/
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AFP to launch new strategy against enemies of state
|
['Fernan Marasigan']
|
2016-12-19 00:20:42+00:00
|
STARTING January next year, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will launch a campaign plan that aims to defeat enemies of the state and address threats to national security, a military official said on Sunday.“The intention is to defeat the enemy of the state and what we call threats to national security. It is just like a blueprint,” Col. Edgardo Arevalo, chief of the AFP Public Affairs Office said.He added that the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations is finalizing the campaign plan that will be announced by AFP chief Gen. Eduardo Año.The six-year plan was crafted by a technical working group from the AFP in consultation with various government agencies.“In a nutshell, maybe I can say it’s about the role that the AFP will perform in nation building,” Arevalo said.He said military officials are ironing out the final details of the plan, the operational definition of terms and the mission statement.The campaign plan is said to be comparable to the Internal Peace and Security Plan Bayanihan (IPSP Bayanihan) implemented by the past administration that leftist groups criticized for allegedly targeting civilians, particularly farmers and indigenous people in the countryside.The IPSP Bayanihan is a broad plan that shall guide the AFP in helping the nation attain and maintain internal peace and security in the near and medium-term. It shall guide the Unified Commands (UC), Major Services (MS) and concerned AFP-Wide Support and Separate Units in planning for and contributing to the attainment of internal peace and security in the country.The plan emphasizes that the primary focus of the AFP in the conduct of its operations is winning the peace and not just defeating the enemy. Also, the new IPSP is a document open to the public to signify the AFP’s intent to draw on the support of the broadest spectrum of stakeholders.It highlights the importance of increased involvement of stakeholders, the national and local government agencies, non-government entities and the entire citizenry in addressing peace and security concerns.
|
Manila Times
|
https://www.manilatimes.net/afp-launch-new-strategy-enemies-state/302493/
|
BSP rate hike buoys investor sentiment
|
['The Manila Times']
|
2018-11-16 12:35:38+00:00
|
THE stock market climbed back to the 7,000 level in early trading on Friday as investors were said to have cheered the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) raising of interest rates.As of noon break, the Philippine Stock Exchange index was up by 1.85 percent or 128.79 points to 7,081.38 while the broader All Shares increased by 1.29 percent or 54.74 points to 4,309.61.Summit Securities Inc. President Harry Liu said market players received positively the policy rate hike on Thursday, while the market was trying to establish a new support level.Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan echoed the view, saying most of the momentum “has been due to the Monetary Board of the BSP deciding to tighten policy [rates] anew” in a bid to stay ahead of the curve.The BSP raised key rates by 25 basis points (bps), bringing its total adjustments on a year-to-date basis by 175 bps since May.This brought overnight borrowing, lending and deposit rates to 4.75 percent, 5.25 percent and 4.25 percent, respectively.Most sectoral indices paused in the green territory, except for mining and oil, down 0.58 percent. ANGELICA BALLESTEROS
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Manila Times
|
https://www.manilatimes.net/bsp-rate-hike-buoys-investor-sentiment/468573/
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‘Decentralize’ PH education
|
['Neil Alcober']
|
2017-07-05 21:22:42+00:00
|
Decentralizing the country’s educational system will make more efficient and more effective delivering quality and relevant education to Filipino learners, according to an education group.Citing a World Bank study, Love Basillote, executive director of the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), told reporters in a news briefing in Pasig City on Wednesday that a mere three years of school-based management can increase achievement test scores by 4.2 points on average.“Imagine what we can accomplish if we did this longer and better,” she said.According to Basillote, it is time for the government and private sectors to discuss the proposed decentralization of Philippine education, noting that “the education sector is too big to be managed centrally.”“There are a lot of local trends that need to be addressed if the local stakeholders are to have a say on what kind of teachers they need to hire and what kind of subjects they need to emphasize,” she said.Basillote pointed to Bohol province as an example.“Their economy is tourism-related but they still have a lot of inputs on manufacturing, and many others. The other thing we are saying is that the bureaucracy is just too big and it is difficult to manage it centrally. We’re also an archipelago, and delivering books and school materials is very problematic. There are companies who want to donate computers [but] it has to be vetted at the national [level] and [it therefore takes longer before thecomputers can be] delivered to the regions,” she said.According to her, there is no need for a federal form of government to decentralize education.“It’s not necessary. Actually, we already have a legal framework for decentralization, the Local Government Code,” Besillote added.PBEd president Chito Salazar said decentralizing education will allow poor provinces to receive adequate resources from the government.“We think that financially, the resources must remain controlled but the implementation, like hiring of teachers, should be more appropriate if the local stakeholders would have a big role in it,” he added.
|
Manila Times
|
https://www.manilatimes.net/decentralize-ph-education/336668/
|
Avoid southern Cebu, Americans warned
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['The Manila Times']
|
2016-11-03 20:59:34+00:00
|
THE United States Embassy in Manila on Thursday warned its citizens from travelling to Cebu, citing alleged threats of kidnapping by terrorist groups in some areas frequented by foreign tourists.In an advisory posted on its website, the embassy alerted Americans that abductions may be carried out in the southern portion of Cebu province, specifically the areas around Dalaguete and Santander (to include Sumilon Island).“US citizens should avoid travel to these areas and are reminded to review personal security plans; remain aware of their surroundings, including local events; and monitor local news stations for updates. Be vigilant and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security,” it said.The embassy also reminded Americans of the most recent Department of State Worldwide Caution, dated September 13, 2016, “which indicates there is an ongoing threat of terrorist actions and violence against United States citizens and interests abroad, including the Philippines.”“Extremists have targeted sporting events, theaters, markets, mass transportation systems–including airlines, and other public venues where large crowds gather. Crowded nightclubs, shopping malls, buses and popular restaurants have also been targets,” it said.Americans should take preventative measures to ensure their safety and security while traveling and residing in the Philippines, according to the embassy.MICHAEL JOE T. DELIZO
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Manila Times
|
https://www.manilatimes.net/avoid-southern-cebu-americans-warned/294660/
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Lacson files complaint vs Faeldon before Ombudsman
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['The Manila Times']
|
2017-09-28 20:12:03+00:00
|
Former Bureau of Customs (BoC) Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon and several others are facing a graft and economic sabotage complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman over alleged rice smuggling in Cagayan de Oro City in March this yearSen. Panfilo Lacson filed the complaint on Thursday.The other respondents are National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Jason Aquino; Tomas Alcid, former district collector, BoC, Port of Cagayan de Oro; and Geniefelle Lagmay, then-Customs liaison officer to the NFA of the Office of the Commissioner, BoC.Also named as respondents are then-directors and/or then-officers of Cebu Lite Trading Inc. (CLTI): Filomena Lim, Lucio Roger Lim Jr., Rowena Lim, Joselito Lopez, Josephine Rizalde and Ambrosio Ursal Jr.“The importations of the Vietnamese white rice were made without the required import permits from the NFA,” Lacson alleged in part in the complaint.“Despite respondents’ knowledge of the lack of any import permit for the two [2] subject rice shipments by CLTI, they nonetheless allowed their entry at the Port of Cagayan de Oro, and caused the unlawful release of these rice shipments from the BoC,” he said.Lacson also alleged that Faeldon “allowed the release of these rice shipments by interposing ‘no objection’ to their release resulting [in] the continuous processing thereof of the same.”Also according to the complaint, Aquino allegedly issued import permits in favor of CLTI “contrary to the prescribed rules, and beyond his authority.”Lacson alleged that Aquino gave CLTI undue favor “when he specifically stated in his certification and confirmation that the validity of the import entries will retroact from the time of the arrival of the shipment. It must be emphasized that there is no law or NFA rule and regulation granting the [NFA] administrator the authority to issue permits with retroactive effect.”The complaint involved a shipment of 21,800 bags of Vietnamese long grain white rice valued at $370,600 on March 9 and another shipment of 18,200 bags of the same rice valued at $309,400 on March 16.“The goods smuggled, with their corresponding values, are sufficient to qualify said smuggling as economic sabotage under [Republic Act] 10845,” Lacson said in the complaint.Republic Act 10845 is the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.“A computation of the values of the subject rice shipments, based on the amounts and exchange rate appearing on their respective Single Administrative Document (SAD), shows that the total value of each shipment is more than the threshold of P10,000,000.00 which qualifies that smuggling as economic sabotage,” Lacson said.Aquino, Alcid and Lagmay were also accused of grave misconduct in the complaint.REINA TOLENTINO
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Manila Times
|
https://www.manilatimes.net/lacson-files-complaint-vs-faeldon-ombudsman/353466/
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Freedom Run, Freedom Trail to raise funds for Death March memorial project
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['Richard Hardin']
|
24/03/2017 0:00
|
11and will cover the Death March route from Mariveles, Bataan to Capas, Tarlac.“Once again, Philippine Veterans Bank, together with our partners, are putting a segment of our nation’s history into the forefront of our national consciousness with the Bataan Freedom Run and the Freedom Trail,” said PVB Chairman Dr. Roberto F. de Ocampo.“These events are not only challenging physically but also mentally to the runners and bikers but they are doing this to honor the World War II veterans who endured and made the ultimate sacrifice during the Death March 75 years ago.”To register and find out more about the Bataan Freedom Run and the Mariveles-San Fernando-Capas Freedom Trail and the route, visit http://www.withoutlimits.ph/component/k2/item/66-bfr2017.html/
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/03/24/freedom-run-freedom-trail-to-raise-funds-for-death-march-memorial-project/
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DoST allocates P4.75M to Siquijor entrepreneurs
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['The Manila Times']
|
2018-01-22 22:10:56+00:00
|
THE Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Siquijor allocated P4.75 million worth of technological assistance to the new batch of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) identified through the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (Setup). The assistance will be given to 11 beneficiaries – six food processors, two firms under the metals and engineering sector and one furniture shop. Last year, 10 MSMEs also received grants from Setup. Of the total amount, DOST Siquijor PSTC has allotted over 50 percent or P2.76 million to food processors; P1,776,500 for metals and engineering firms and P204,887 to the furniture sector. The assistance to the MSMEs will be used to procure equipment and machineries. The beneficiaries will pay monthly the total amount for 36 months through post dated checks.
|
Manila Times
|
https://www.manilatimes.net/dost-allocates-p4-75m-siquijor-entrepreneurs/375894/
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