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PH food security not promising – Pangilinan
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-10-17 00:05:27+00:00
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SEN. Francis Pangilinan on Tuesday deplored what he called the country’s “not too promising” food security situation, saying hunger stalks millions of Filipinos.|He said the Philippines continues to lag in rice production with only 18 metric tons in 2016 compared to the 27 MT of Thailand and 45 MT of Vietnam.He added that Filipinos have been queueing for affordable NFA (National Food Authority) rice, while some towns in Mindanao saw the price of the staple rise to P70 per kilo.“Hunger stalks an estimated 3.1 million Filipino families, who have experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the last three months, according to latest survey,” Pangilinan said as the country observed World Food Day.He said Thai farmers earn about P32,000 a month with 3.2 hectares of farmland. Filipino farmers, on the other hand, earn P8,300 a month with only 1.3 hectares of farmland.“Worse, this measly income of Filipino farmers is diminished by the high prices of commodities,” the senator said.Filipinos faced an inflation of 6.7 percent in September 2018, the highest in nine years.“Given these, we must take up the mission of improving and safeguarding our nation’s food basket and stabilizing prices and supply, while empowering those at the forefront of agriculture — farmers, farm workers, fisher folks, and those engaged in trade — with the means to improve their lives,” Pangilinan said.“We must also channel resources to policies and programs that directly benefit our undernourished children.Together, we have to demonstrate our resolve to liberate Filipinos from malnutrition and hunger, and give all of us the means to lead productive lives, and contribute to a progressive Philippines,” he added. “If we are to secure our food, we must secure our farmers.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ph-food-security-not-promising-pangilinan/452860/
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Senate wants Palawan brownouts solved now
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['Roy Aipperspach']
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28/09/2017 0:00
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The Senate Committee on Energy pressed yesterday the Palawan Electric Cooperative (Paleco) to make “drastic moves” to immediately resolve the frequent brownouts that have plagued the province since the beginning of the year as its energy crisis has a grave impact on the economy of Palawan.The committee, chaired by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, said the data provided during its hearing held recently showed that even just a single hour without electricity costs the province between P6.1 to P10.7 million in economic productivity losses.“Palawan is a fast-developing economic and tourism center. The volatility of its power supply will pull back the development of the province, to the detriment of the Palaweños. Let us all make sure that the gains made by the island province are not laid to waste due to the sluggish action of the government,” Gatchalian said.One of the solutions proposed by Gatchalian was for Paleco to invoke its legal right to immediately terminate power supply agreements with under-performing generation companies.“You have to stop accommodating them because if we keep on accommodating them, walang mangyayari dito. I guarantee you, the law is on your side,” Gatchalian said.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/09/28/senate-wants-palawan-brownouts-solved-now/
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‘Andres Bonifacio’ now in PH waters
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['Fernan Marasigan']
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2016-12-06 22:25:23+00:00
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THE Philippine Navy announced on Tuesday the arrival of the country’s third Hamilton-class cutter, which officials described as primarily important for the Navy’s maritime security and sovereignty patrols.Capt. Lued Lincuna, Navy spokesman, said a Navy islander would do a low pass as BRP Andres Bonifacio (FF-17), coming from Guam, enters the San Bernardino Strait, a narrow waterway separating Luzon and Samar, Tuesday afternoon.Before entering Corregidor, Lincuna said the cutter would be met by either FF-11 or FF-15, whichever is available.“Then she will be welcomed by other ships assigned at the Naval Forces Southern Luzon and a low pass of an islander aircraft,” he added.Formerly named as USGC Boutwell (WHEC-719), it was decommissioned in March 16, 2016 at Naval Base San Diego, California and was later passed on by the United States to the Philippine government through the Excess Defense Articles program.An arrival ceremony to formally welcome the ship will be held on Friday at at Pier 13, South Harbor, Manila. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is expected to attend the occasion.The highlight of the event, according to Lincuna, will be the tribute to and recognition of efforts of sailors who were instrumental in the ship’s safe and successful voyage to the Philippines.The Navy official said the additional asset would be a big boost to the Navy’s capabilities.“Just like BRP Gregorio del Pilar (FF-15) and BRP Ramon Alcaraz (FF-16), the other two Del Pilar Class Frigates (DPCF), FF17 will be primarily important for the Navy’s maritime security and sovereignty patrols in line with the Navy’s mandate to protect the people and the state,” he pointed out.Built in 1967 at the Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, the cutter engages in many US Coast Guard missions, including search and rescue, law enforcement, maritime security and national defense.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/andres-bonifacio-now-ph-waters/300321/
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Palace downplays Duterte ouster ‘blueprint’
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['Rolly Cavan']
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27/12/2016 0:00
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Malacañang downplayed a newspaper report that former U.S. ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg has made a “blueprint to undermine” President Rodrigo Duterte.Citing a source, the newspaper report alleged that Goldberg listed “strategies”—political and economic isolation, enhancing relations with the opposition, nitpicking the administration’s failures, among others—to undermine and eventually oust the president within a one-and-a-half-year timetable.“As far as I know, as far as I have been informed the State Department has denied anything of this sort and has denied participation of anything of this sort,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters in a press briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday, December 27.Abella expressed confidence that any attempt to unseat Duterte would only fail because “as we can see, you know, the president continues to enjoy the trust of the people on the ground… (people) appreciate what he is doing.”Abella also pointed out that “according to the article, whoever attempts this will find it difficult.”Presidential communications secretary Martin Andanar earlier said the alleged ouster blueprint “remains part and parcel of a larger conspiracy theory, as no one will admit ownership it.He also said since Goldberg had already left the Philippines, “we no longer have to deal with him.”“We have already in our midst a new and much more empathetic U.S. ambassador in His Excellency Sung Kim,” he added.The United States Embassy in Manila also “categorically” denied the existence of the so-called blueprint.In a statement to ABS-CBN News, U.S. Embassy press attaché Molly Koscina reiterated secretary of state John Kerry’s statement in his meeting with Duterte that the U.S. “respects the sovereignty of the Philippines and the democratic choices made by the Philippine people in selecting their leaders.”Koscina also stressed the “broad” Philippine–U.S. alliance, which is one of the “most enduring and important relationships in the Asia Pacific region.”“It has been a cornerstone of stability for over 70 years. It is built on shared sacrifices for democracy and human rights and strong people-to-people and societal ties,” she added in her statement to ABS-CBN News.“We continue to focus on our broad relationship with the Philippines, and will work together in the many areas of mutual interest to improve the livelihoods of the Philippine people and uphold our shared democratic values.”
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2016/12/27/palace-downplays-duterte-ouster-blueprint/
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Calida shrugs off senator’s quit calls
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-05-29 00:04:13+00:00
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SOLICITOR General Jose Calida on Monday refused to dignify the call of Sen. Francis Pangilinan for him to resign amid reports that his family-owned security business bagged P150 million worth of government contracts.Calida visited Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, and Sen. Panfilo Lacson to “follow up” on the progress of the bill amending the charter of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to strengthen it.Calida’s firm Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc. (VISAI) reportedly secured over P150 million contracts in six government agencies, including the Department of Justice, wherein the OSG is an attached agency.VISAI also bagged security services contracts from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., National Economic and Development Authority, National Anti-Poverty Commission, National Electrification Administration, and National Parks Development Committee.Pangilinan asked Calida to resign while Sen. Risa Hontiveros urged President Rodrigo Duterte to remove Calida and file the appropriate charges against him.Asked to comment on Pangilinan’s call for his resignation, Calida said, “My lawyer will make that comment. I will defend myself in the proper forum. Not here.”He maintained that there was no conflict of interest in the government contracts that his family entered into.“There is none, there is none,” Calida told reporters.In a statement, OSG spokesman Hector Calilung said Calida resigned as chairman and president of VISAI on May 30, 2016 before assuming office.“If DoT Secretary Wanda Teo resigned because the DoT/PTV 4 favored her Tulfo brothers’ TV production company to the tune of P60 million worth of government (advertising) contracts then Solicitor General Jose Calida, the lawyer of the government, should resign as well for P150 million worth of government contracts in the DoJ, Pagcor, NEDA etc. that went to the security guard/agency belonging to his wife and children (because he said he already resigned from the company),” Pangilinan said.“Family TV production company. Family security agency. The same. However, the amount involving Calida’s family is almost three times higher,” he said.Hontiveros said, “I challenge President Duterte to prove his anti-corruption rhetoric. I challenge him to not only fire Mr. Calida but also to file the necessary charges against him.”“After all, if he can order the Solicitor General to file a case against the Supreme Court Chief Justice, he can do the same to the former. Otherwise, his anti-corruption stance is pure hogwash,” she said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/calida-shrugs-off-senators-quit-calls/401800/
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US, Philippines hold licensing tabletop exercise
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-10-04 20:56:04+00:00
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The US Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program, together with the Strategic TradeManagement Office (STMO) within the Department of Trade and Industry, recently conducted a tabletop exercise on the Philippine Strategic Trade Management Licensing Process.Experts from the US Department of Energy took the lead in designing and facilitating the exercise, which saw participants from 17 relevant government agencies taking part.The tabletop exercise was designed to help the STMO test its proposed licensing procedure in preparation for full implementation of Republic Act 10697 or the Philippine Strategic Trade Management Act (STMA).The STMA is designed to manage the trade of strategic goods and help prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.The EXBS Program is designed to help countries develop and improve their strategic trade and border control systems.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/us-philippines-hold-licensing-tabletop-exercise/354538/
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Cebu Pacific offers rebooking options
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['Reicelene Joy Ignacio']
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2017-05-25 21:51:09+00:00
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In response to a terrorists’ attack on Marawi City in southern Mindanao on Tuesday, low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific said passengers traveling to Mindanao from May 25 to May 31 may opt to rebook their flights with the airline within 30 days for free or place the cost of the ticket in a travel fund for future use.For flight rebookings, passengers are advised to contact the Cebu Pacific hotline at +632 7020-888. They may also send messages to the official Cebu Pacific Facebook, the carrier said.Cebu Pacific advised those who are traveling to Mindanao to come to the airport much earlier before their flights because of heightened security measures that could take up their time.“In light of the recent situation in Marawi City and the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, Cebu Pacific and Cebgo strongly advise all its passengers to allot sufficient travel time to get to the airports due to the heightened security measures being implemented,” Cebu Pacific said in a statement on late Wednesday.“Heavy traffic is also anticipated around the areas as numerous checkpoints are expected to be put up,” it added.Operations of Cebu Pacific in Mindanao remain normal, with no restrictions or limitations imposed on air travel by authorities, according to the company.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/cebu-pacific-offers-rebooking-options/329192/
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P1-B Asean summit fund unliquidated – CoA
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-07-08 00:06:13+00:00
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Fund transfers totaling P1.046 billion meant for activities during the country’s hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 2017 remained unliquidated as of December 2017, state auditors said.The observation was made in the Commission on Audit’s (CoA) report on the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for 2017.“Unliquidated fund transfers intended to support the activities of the Philippines’ hosting of the Asean in 2017 have accumulated to P1.046 billion at year-end due to the failure of the implementing agencies (IAs) to submit liquidation reports/documents within the prescribed period pursuant to Section 4.6 of COA Circular No. 94-013,” CoA said.Based on the audit report, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) transferred P718.7 million to the DILG for the implementation of its specific tasks and activities for 2016 and 2017 as head of the Committee on Security, Peace and Order, Emergency Preparedness and Response, one of the committees established under the Asean National Organizing Council.An additional P2 billion was also released to the DILG through the 2017 General Appropriations Act. The department also received P775.7 million in supplemental funds from the contingent fund through Special Allotment Release Order in October 2017.“In summary, the Department received P3.494 billion as budget for Asean 2017 activities,” CoA said.In all, P3.3 billion was transferred to implementing agencies from August 2016 to December 2017. These agencies included the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Immigration, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, DFA, Department of Information and Technology, Department of National Defense, Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, National Security Council, National Telecommunications Office, Office of Civil Defense, Office of the President, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Center on Transnational Crime, Philippine National Police, Philippine Nuclear Research Institute, and Presidential Security Group.The CoA said in its report that since these implementing agencies have not submitted liquidation reports, it could not be determined if the funds were fully utilized.In the same audit report, the commission said the Mamamayang Ayaw Sa Anomalya, Mamamayang Ayaw Sa Iligal na Droga (MASA MASID) program’s aim of raising awareness on corruption, drugs, criminality and encouraging community participation and capability building was not achieved.A budget of P500 million was allotted for the program in 2017CoA said the program was not effective because of “slow/non-implementation of programmed activities resulting in the reversion of allotment to the General Fund of P10.545 million” and “non-utilization of fund transfer amounting to P10.500 million.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/p1-b-asean-summit-fund-unliquidated-coa/417210/
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Sotto files Senate bill proposing to lower age of criminal responsibility to 13 from 15
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-09-26 00:02:48+00:00
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SENATE President Vicente Sotto 3rd wants to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 years old amid the rise in the number of crimes committed by minors.He filed on Monday Senate Bill 2026 which seeks to repeal Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 on the ground that criminal syndicates exploit the provisions of the law by using minors in the commission of crimes.RA 9344 exempts children 15 years old and below from criminal liability, which Sotto said was too high even based on international standards. He said SB 2026 would “finally give clarity to the true intention of the law.”He noted that in 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte called on Congress to lower the age of criminal liability “to ensure that the Filipino youth would accept responsibility for their actions and be subjected to government intervention programs.”“This is consistent with the President’s goal to curb criminality in the country,” Sotto added.Citing a study conducted by the Child Rights International Network, the senator pointed out that the average minimum age of criminal responsibility in Asia and Africa is 11. In the United States and Europe, it is 13.“Due to the continuing challenge in the implementation of RA 9344, as amended, the aforesaid law must be further amended to lower the minimum age of criminal liability in order to adapt to the changing times,” he said.“The amendment to the law will institutionalize the criminal liability of teenagers who committed serious criminal offense. Not only was the law abused by criminals but the innocence of these youngsters were deliberately taken from them,” he added.Sotto cited several viral videos where children aged 15 and below were seen beating each other to death, dragging an old man out of a public utility vehicle to steal his purse, and taking the earnings of a jeepney driver.“There are also several cases where minors are being used as pushers or runners of drug syndicates because of the fact that they would not be held criminally liable under the law. The children caught for these crimes are released back into society where many of them end up as repeat offenders,” he said.SB 2026 amends Sections 6, 20, 20-A, 20-B and 22 of RA 9344, as amended so that a child below 18 years of age but above 12 at the time of the commission of the crime would be held criminally liable and subjected to the appropriate proceedings, unless proven that he/she acted without discernment.In cases where it is proven that a child acted without discernment, he or she would be exempt from criminal liability and shall be subjected to the appropriate intervention program under the law.Under SB 2026, for serious crimes such as parricide, murder, infanticide, kidnapping and homicide, if the children who committed these are above nine years old up to 12 years old, they should be deemed “neglected children” under Presidential Decree 603 or the Child and Youth Welfare Code, as amended and shall be placed in a special facility within the youth care faculty or Bahay Pag-asa.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sotto-files-senate-bill-proposing-to-lower-age-of-criminal-responsibility-to-13-from-15/445213/
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‘NLEX R10 section to bring economic gains to Navotas’
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['Jing Villamente']
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2017-08-16 22:17:08+00:00
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Navotas City Mayor John Reynald Tiangco expressed optimism that the R10 section of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Harbor Link Segment 10 will bring in more economic opportunities for the city and its residents. Tiangco joined the groundbreaking of the 2.6-kilometer elevated expressway at R10 corner C3 Road in North Bay Boulevard South with Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, Malabon Mayor Antolin Oreta 3rd, Caloocan Planning and Development Officer Aurora Ciego and NLEX Corp. president Rodrigo Franco. “Through the R10 section, travel time will be greatly reduced and delivery of goods and services from the port area to other parts of Luzon will become easier and more efficient,” Tiangco said. The R10 section forms part of the 5.65-kilometer Segment 10, which connects the McArthur Highway in Valenzuela, Gov. Pascual Avenue in Malabon and C3 Road in Caloocan. In its website, DPWH said the section will “decongest Metro Manila by providing access to the NLEX without passing through EDSA or the Balintawak Toll Plaza.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/nlex-r10-section-bring-economic-gains-navotas/344870/
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Busted: China factories making fake branded food out of leftovers, industrial salt
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['Felipe Torres', 'Rodrigo Almario', 'Erwin Rc']
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16/01/2017 0:00
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Some 50 factories in Tianjin, China have been busted for producing artificial seasoning and sauces made out of recycled spices and industrial-grade salt, a Beijing newspaper reported.Products with brands such as Lee Kum Kee, Haday, Knorr and Totole are revealed to have been sold throughout China, said a report by The Beijing News.It said the underground business has been well-established and in operation for more than a decade, with an estimated 100 million yuan ($15 million) in annual output revenue.In Duliu County, about five major factories are dominant, producing six vans of goods a day.Beijing News also reported that prices of the factory-made goods are lower than online retail prices, leading to significant profit margin.A female worker in one of the factories said a bottle of Knorr chili sauce costs 3 yuan ($0.50) and a packet of Totole chicken flavor 5.5 yuan ($0.80) a packet.Online retail prices for these products cost 20 and 30 yuan ($3 and $4.50) respectively.As to how the condiments are made, one factory worker interviewed explained in detail: “Take making soybean sauce for example, you just mix industrial salt, tap water, pigment and food additives together in a certain ratio.”Tap water and industrial-grade salt are also reportedly used as ingredients.Industrial salt contains cancer-causing agents and heavy metals that damage the liver and kidneys.The report also said the factories purchase used spices and herbs such as star anise, pepper and fennel from melon-seed processing factories in nearby Wangkou town. The said ingredients are then dried and ground to powder in dilapidated low-rise buildings.Fake branded chicken stock is also made using a banned food coloring.All counterfeit food products have packaging that mimics the original ones, down to the QR barcodes.The factories are equipped with security cameras regularly monitored by staff for anyone asking about the products.Factory owners earn so much, some can even afford luxury cars, the report also said.Police are now investigating the factories’ operations.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/01/16/busted-china-factories-making-fake-branded-food-out-of-leftovers-industrial-salt/
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Step up drive vs illegal gambling – PCSO
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-09-18 20:42:43+00:00
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The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) called on the police to intensify its crackdown on illegal gambling as it denounced the continuous operation of gambling lords.PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan said government efforts to eradicate illegal gambling will come to naught if the Philippine National Police (PNP) will not face the problem head on.The PCSO expanded the Small Town Lottery (STL) operation to help fight different illegal numbers game like jueteng, swertres and masiao but illegal gambling operators had used legitimate PCSO games as front for their illicit activities.“We are aware that STL is being used and abused by some illegal gambling operators to legitimize their business, that is why we are urging the PNP to do their job and go after these gambling lords who are using PCSO products as cover for their illegal operations,” Balutan said in a statement.He urged the police to carry out operations against illegal gambling syndicates instead of raiding government-authorized STL operators.Balutan issued the statement after Misamis Occidental Rep. Henry Oaminal complained during a congressional hearing on Wednesday about the illegal gambling lords operating in his district.“We will [again] bring this matter to the PNP chief Ronald de la Rosa and ask them to go after the illegal Swertres operators in Mindanao,” Balutan said.He urged the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to go after gambling syndicates who are using STL as well as STL collectors moonlighting as illegal bookies.The PNP had signed an agreement to help the state-run charity institution expand its STL operation by going after illegal gambling syndicates.Balutan said the PCSO increased the number of accredited STL operators and hiked the share of the PNP from its earnings to encourage them to fight illegal gambling.“STL operations from different parts of the country helped us big time in the increase of our revenues wherein 30 percent of the revenue are being used for the charitable services of the agency, particularly health,” he added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/step-drive-vs-illegal-gambling-pcso/351380/
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Marawi schools rehab to start next month
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-06-06 00:02:27+00:00
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THE reconstruction of damaged schools in Marawi City will start next month, according to a consultant of the Department of Education.Nonnie Jeruta, who works as a consultant for the department’s disaster risk reduction management service under the office of Undersecretary Alain Pascua, said the reconstruction of schools on ground zero was initially scheduled on June 15, but was moved to next month.On May 23, Education Secretary Leonor Briones and other DepEd officials visited the Amai Pakpak Central School in Marawi City to launch Oplan Balik Eskwela sa Marawi.“We were able to enter the area because we were with Secretary Briones. We can’t go there without the go signal of the military,” Jeruta said.The DepEd said at least 20 schools have to be repaired. Some needs total reconstruction.“Currently ang ginagawa namin ngayon dun nire-recover namin lahat ng mga usable equipment sa schools like armchairs and tables at dinadala namin yan sa mga temporary learning spaces para magamit doon (We have recovered all usable equipment in these schools like armchairs and tables and we brought these to the temporary learning spaces”,” Jeruta added.“Ten schools were totally damaged, and we have three or four schools that need to be repaired,” he added.Jeruta said it will take more than five years to finish the reconstruction of schools in Marawi City.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/marawi-schools-rehab-to-start-next-month/404848/
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Hike workers’ pay, Malacañang urged
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-08-07 00:57:22+00:00
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OrganizeD labor has reiterated its call on President Rodrigo Duterte to increase the minimum wage nationwide, citing falling purchasing power of the daily pay and rising cost of living.The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) issued the appeal even as the Regional Tripatite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (Metro Manila) deliberates this week on a final new wage increase for minimum wage workers in the region.The ALU-TUCP earlier filed an across-the-board P184 daily wage hike for minimum wage workers in Metro Manila.“President Duterte can text or call the wage board and prod them the amount of wage increase that he desires and it will be done. The President can also issue a presidential executive order mandating a wage increase needed by workers and their families to cope with and survive the increasing prices of goods and services. The President has a variety of options to make a significant wage hike,” ALU-TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said over the weekend.He added that the workers had been desperate for a significant across-the-board wage increase for many years but the wage board has always been granting meager wage increases despite an improving economy.“The last time the workers experienced a significant wage hike was in 1989 or 28 years ago when then-President Corazon Aquino gave a P25 daily across-the-board wage increase nationwide. After that, the wage board has been issuing a pittance… as if the workers are beggars,” Tanjusay said.The ALU-TUCP said workers’ minimum wage should be P675 a day, not the current P491 for workers in the NCR, adding that the real value of P491 has eroded to P375.The wage board last year issued Wage Order (WO) NCR-20 effective June 2, 2016 granting P10 as daily COLA (cost of living allowance).On September 6, 2013 it granted a P10 daily increase in basic wage effective October 4, 2013 and the integration of the P15 of the P30 COLA under WO NCR-17 effective January 1, 2014.WO NCR-19 on March 16, 2015 granted a P15 daily increase in the existing basic wage effective April 4, 2015.These increases, according to the ALU-TUCP, have been overtaken by increases in electricity and water rates, health and education costs and prices of oil including liquefied petroleum gas and basic goods and services.Despite the gains in the economy and productivity, workers and their families have not been granted a single peso in real wage increase since 1989, it said.According to government official figures, as of April 2017, the purchasing power of the legislated P491 daily minimum wage in NCR is only P357.09, eroded by 27.3 percent.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/hike-workers-pay-malacanang-urged/342901/
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Cheng Yong named envoy to China
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2018-05-29 00:04:17+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Cheng Yong as special envoy to China to foster closer relations between Manila and Beijing.Duterte signed Yong’s appointment paper on May 23 but it was released to the media only on Monday.Yong will serve for six months but his term of office was not indicated in his appointment paper.In July 2016, former president Fidel Ramos accepted the post as special envoy to China. However, Ramos resigned in October 2016, saying he had done his job “to break the ice and to help restore the ties of goodwill and friendship.”Duterte also appointed Amable Aguiluz 5th as his special envoy to the Gulf Cooperation Council and Miguel Ayala as his special envoy to Australia.Aguiluz will serve another fresh term from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 while Ayala will serve from July 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/cheng-yong-named-envoy-to-china/401798/
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Relocation eyed for Manila ‘squatters’
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['Raadee S. Sausa']
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2018-04-11 00:01:41+00:00
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THE Manila city government is studying how and where to relocate people living in waterways in the nation’s capital. “We need to do this because they are at risk during floods. Not only that we want them to be out of danger during flashflood, we want to show that we are dead serious in solving the problem of slums in our cities,” Mayor Joseph Estrada said on Tuesday. The practice of illegal dumping of waste and garbage into the esteros, sewerage and waterways has resulted in massive flashfloods in many streets in Manila. “We have to strictly implement the measures against illegal dumping of garbage anywhere else and impose stiff penalties,” Estrada said. He added that the city is studying a plan on how and where to relocate those living in the waterways. Meanwhile, the mayor appealed to all politicians in the city for unity and cooperation and to set aside politicking at this time. Estrada said the elections are “still too far away” and advised the city politicians to refrain from engaging in early campaigning.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/relocation-eyed-for-manila-squatters/391770/
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DA to lift rice import restriction in 2 years
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2016-10-18 21:36:33+00:00
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THE Department of Agriculture is seeking a two-year grace period before lifting quantitative import restriction on rice in order to give local rice farmers time to recover and improve rice production.Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol, during a hearing by the Senate Committee on Agriculture on Monday, told senators that the rice farmers are still not ready with removal of the import restriction because of the failure of the Aquino administration to provide needed assistance to the sector and series of calamities that hit the country.The quantitative restriction (QR) on rice means a 35 percent duty is imposed on imported rice under a minimum access volume of 805,200 metric tons, while a higher tariff of 50 percent is imposed on imported rice outside of the MAV limit.The head of the National Economic and Development Authority and other economic managers have been calling for the lifting of the QR, saying the move will bring rice prices down and raise farmers’ incomes as they will be enticed to shift to more profitable crops.Pinol said local rice farmers could not yet compete with neighboring rice- producing countries like Vietnam and Thailand.“The best option is to give them [farmers] a grace period of two years. You have to understand our country has been hit by calamities. We went through extraordinary conditions,” the Agriculture secretary said in an interview after the Senate hearing.Pinol noted that aside from calamities, the government in the past did nothing to help improve the agriculture sector, particularly in providing the needed irrigation systems, seeds and marketing assistance.“These are the things we are trying to correct and we can address these by giving farmers a two-year grace period,” he said.The DA chief added athat the primary target is to increase rice production of farmers during the grace period by filling the irrigation gap of 1.3 million hectares.Of the targeted three million hectares, National Irrigation Administration data showed, only 1.7 million hectares of land have irrigation systems.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/da-lift-rice-import-restriction-2-years/291916/
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Duterte wishing for peaceful Christmas
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['Philippines News Agency']
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2016-12-19 00:26:03+00:00
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ZAMBOANGA CITY: President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday expressed hopes that gunbattles will take a back seat during the Christmas season.Asked by reporters for his Christmas message, Duterte said he is hoping for a peaceful Christmas.“I’d like to greet everybody, to the Filipino people, the law-abiding, and of course, if they find it in their hearts though this is not really something for the Moro but you know that this kind of event is closest to the hearts of the Christians. We can have a peaceful Christmas,” Duterte said in his visit to the Western Mindanao Command (WesMinCom).He also urged the Abu Sayyaf Group to “take a vacation.”“I am asking everyone if we can have a peaceful Christmas. Maybe we can resume fighting some other day,” the President said.“I’d like to greet everybody, the communists, the Abu Sayyaf, Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year for all,” he added.Fresh from his state visits to Cambodia and Singapore, Duterte visited 16 soldiers wounded in clashes with the Abu Sayyaf. The soldiers were confined at the Camp Navarro General Hospital (CNGH) in Zamboanga City.The President also gave financial assistance to the families of three soldiers killed in action.Injured soldiers were each given P100,000 while the families of slain troopers got P250,000.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-wishing-peaceful-christmas/302496/
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Duterte to visit Japan Oct. 25-27
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['Jaime Pilapil']
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2016-10-12 22:46:58+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte will visit Japan for an official visit from October 25 to 27, the Department of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday.“Upon the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will undertake an official visit to Japan on 25 to 27 October 2016,” the announcement said.“During his visit, the President will meet with the Japanese Prime Minister. He will also make a State Call on His Majesty Emperor Akihito of Japan,” it added.The visit, first for the controversial Philippine president, is expected to strengthen all the more the relations between Manila and Tokyo.Duterte first met Abe during an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Laos in September.The former Davao City mayor is also slated to visit Brunei Darussalam on October 16 to 18 before flying to Xiamen, China, on the evening of October 18.Reports said Duterte will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on October 20.Japan had supported the Philippines against China over the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) that overlaps with Manila’s territories.Abe in Laos allegedly told Duterte that he is very famous in Japan because of his firm stand against criminality, including ambitious programs in dismantling drug addiction in the country.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-visit-japan-oct-25-27/290904/
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China, Vietnam behind cyber attacks on PH, Asia
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['Nelson Badilla']
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2017-05-25 21:56:15+00:00
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FireEye, an intelligence-led company, on Thursday disclosed that cyber attacks mounted on Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, for several years already were sponsored by the governments of China and Vietnam.Travis Reese, FireEye president, told reporters in a news briefing that the cyber attacks have tremendously affected operations of governments, private companies and even the media.Reese said the attacks, which began in 2013, gave huge economic benefits to China and Vietnam.Apart from economic advantage, the cyber attacks also gave huge political and business advantages in terms of understanding the whole government and trade movements of various countries, including the Philippines, according to Bryce Boland, FireEye’s chief technology officer for Asia Pacific.He, however, refused to reveal details.Boland said groups engaged in cyber espionage have been aggressive in carrying out their attacks in order to have better gains each year.He cited as an example the Conference Crew, which was founded in 2016 and has since expanded its operations early this year against critics of public and private institutions in seven countries, including the Philippines, where it collected important and strategic information that it will use for the interest and advantage of China.Boland said the Conference Crew sponsored by the Chinese government has increased its attacks on the defense and banking industries, financial services, telecommunications, consulting and media.The Conference Crew attack on the government is “predominantly [focused] on national security and diplomacy.”Boland also cited Vietnam’s state-sponsored APT 32, which started its cyber espionage operations in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries in 2013.He said the group hit several governments, business firms and even a number of journalists.APT 32’s operations continued until this year during which it raised its attacks on the Vietnamese diaspora and the Philippines, according to Boland.What is alarming with these cyber attackers is that they continuously improve their espionage tools in carrying out their operations against their targets in order to get better and important information, he said.Reese said this problem on cyber operations has been brought up with various governments and private institutions.According to him, the Philippine government and business firms are very much “cooperative” with FireEye.Reese said government officials and business leaders should be “careful in how they divulge” the information to the public so that the cyber attackers would not get vital information that they will eventually use to carry out their cyber operations on the governments, including the Philippines, and business firms.He also cited the strategic importance of the media, which has been a big help in disclosing the cyber attackers’ dirty job.Boland warned that the attacks would continue in the next few years.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/china-vietnam-behind-cyber-attacks-ph-asia/329196/
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Ping to Faeldon: Stop arrogance, hypocrisy
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2017-10-20 21:01:39+00:00
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SENATOR Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Friday warned resigned Bureau of Customs (BoC) chief Nicanor Faeldon that he might end up at the Pasay City Jail or Building 14 at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) if he continued showing arrogance and hypocrisy.Faeldon is detained in one of the rooms at the Senate parking lot after the Senate blue ribbon committee cited him for contempt on September 12 for refusing to cooperate with the probe of the smuggling of P6.4-billion shabu from China.Faeldon filed separate ethics complaints against Lacson and Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th on September 18 and September 25, respectively, for maligning his image when they accused him of involvement in the shabu smuggling.Lacson raised the possibility of Faeldon’s transfer to the Pasay City Jail or at the NBP—the national penitentiary—in a radio interview when he was asked about the fate of Aegis Juris president Arvin Balag, who was also detained at the Senate on October 18 for contempt when he evaded questions of senators on his membership in the fraternity.Balag is one of the suspects in the death of hazing victim Horacio Castillo 3rd.High-risk inmates, including drug dealers, are housed at NBP’s Building 14.Lacson said Faeldon received over P100 million in “welcome gift” from alleged unidentified fixers when he assumed the post of BoC chief.Faeldon denied the allegation and on October 2 sought the transfer of his ethics case from the Senate Committee on Ethics to the Committee of the Whole.The ethics panel, however, ruled to hold in abeyance Faeldon’s complaint since he himself does not recognize the Senate blue ribbon committee’s authority to conduct the inquiry into the smuggling of the P6.4-billion shabu.“Just a little more arrogance and I will route a resolution to transfer him to the city jail,” Lacson said.“It is okey to be arrogant, but to be a hypocrite. Commissioner Lapena himself received a ‘welcome gift’ offer. And the one who made the offer confirmed that Faeldon indeed received [the money]. And he even has the guts to say that I’m imagining things,” he added.Lapena is newly-installed Customs chief Isidro Lapena, who used to head the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ping-faeldon-stop-arrogance-hypocrisy/357660/
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Lacson, Drilon push national ID system
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2017-12-04 21:41:06+00:00
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SEN. Panfilo Lacson on Monday proposed the consolidation of all biometrics data already gathered by some government agencies to cut the costs in implementing the proposed national identification system.The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the government has to “start all over again” in terms of gathering biometrics. It has committed to undertake the initial phase with a P2 billion budget for 2018. This will be used for biometrics, verification and issuance of the ID.The Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs headed by Lacson conducted a public hearing on 11 pending measures calling for the establishment of a national ID system.Lacson said the Social Security System, Commission on Elections, Land Transportation Office, and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) already spent public funds to “capture the biometrics of so many millions of Filipinos.”“Baka p’wede i-consolidate, integrate, para makamenos sa gastos (Why not consolidate, integrate them to savefunds?)” Lacson said in an interview.Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon agreed with Lacson.He said the existing system of various agencies such as the SSS, GSIS, Comelec, Department of Foreign Affairs, and Philhealth, among others, can be used and integrated. In total, these agencies have covered about 93 percent of the population.Drilon said the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) should take the lead in interoperatibility and interconnectivity systems.For the initial phase, those 18 years old and above should be covered, which account to about 62.6 million Filipinos.The senator allayed fears that the ID system would compromise the citizens’ rights to privacy, saying the bill’s main objective is to enhance the delivery of basic services in the country.“We want to debunk for the record the claim that the bill may affect data privacy as the pertinent provisions of the Data Privacy Act will still apply,” Drilon said during the public hearing.He explained that the measure should not be viewed as a threat to security as the bill’s main objective is “to ease transactions with government agencies.“There will be proper safeguards so as not to interfere with the individual’s right to privacy. It will also be ensured that unscrupulous persons will not have access to confidential information,” Drilon said.The PSA, through Undersecretary Lisa Grace Bersales, also dispelled fears of a possible breach in privacy.Drilon said the data that are being proposed to be included in the national ID system would not be different from the information that are currently present in all government-issued IDs.Filipinos will be given a Common Reference Number (CRN) containing essential information such as full name, address, date and place of birth, sex, civil status, signature, CRN and date of card issuance, along with a recent photo.The CRN/ID can be used by a citizen when he or she transacts business in government agencies.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/lacson-drilon-push-national-id-system/366661/
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DTI to help REGION 4 exporters become more competitive
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['Anna Leah E. Gonzales']
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2018-02-17 20:40:29+00:00
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The Department of Trade and Industry Region 4-A, in partnership with the DTI-Export Marketing Bureau, will conduct a forum on Doing Business in Free Trade Areas: Regional Exporters Coaching Session on February 20, 2018 in Tagaytay City to help companies in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (Calabarzon) understand the impact of economic integration on their businesses. The event is part of DTI-EMB’s Philippine Export Competitiveness Program for 2018, partnering with more DTI regional and provincial offices, Negosyo Centers, local government units and private-sector organizations. The forum will include learning sessions that will help participants understand Free Trade Agreements, markets covered by FTAs, its significance in terms of size, demographics, income, attractiveness, statistical indicators on the trend and progress for Philippine trade in these markets. It will also help exporters in the regions to understand tariff classification, and the process of registering to the Client Profile Registration System. Currently, Calabarzon’s thriving industries include semi-processed industrial raw materials and industrial components coming from its 31 world-class industrial estates and economic zones. Most of the country’s automotive assemblers, including Ford, Honda, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Toyota are also located in the region.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/dti-help-region-4-exporters-become-competitive/380888/
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New driver’s license cards offer better security
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['Mary Gleefer F. Jalea']
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2017-08-29 21:20:37+00:00
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The Land Transportation Office (LTO) assured the public on Tuesday that the new set of driver’s license cards with five-year validity have better security features.According to LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante, the new license cards with “very technologically advanced processing” have 32 security features (20 in front, 10 at the back), apart from its five-year validity.A two-dimensional (2D) bar code for better identification and access control is provided along with the driver’s biometrics that the previous licenses did not have.“The driver’s photo does not fade easily and has concealed data containing the driver’s name and license number which can only be detected through special lenses,” Galvante said.Hologram markings present in the cards can detect violated traffic rules and will automatically be uploaded in the system.Galvante said the licenses issued from October 2016 to August 25, 2017 that were previously made from paper may be converted to plastic cards.Those who have availed of these must wait until September, however.Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, who led the ceremonial release of the plastic cards on Tuesday, even got his own license, saying it took him only about “4-5 minutes” to process it on the same day.He said the LTO has a “backlog of 3.6 million plastic cards nationwide and, of this total, more than a million are still in Metro Manila.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/new-drivers-license-cards-offer-better-security/347500/
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Philippines condemns terror attack in Kabul
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2017-12-30 01:06:51+00:00
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THE Philippines on Friday expressed its condolences to Afghanistan as it condemned the latest terrorist bomb attack in Kabul that left more than 40 persons dead and at least 80 others injured.In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said there were no Filipinos reported among the casualties in the latest terror incident that was claimed by the Islamic State (IS).“The Philippines joins the government and the people of Afghanistan in mourning the loss of many lives in the terrorist attack in Kabul on Thursday,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said.“We condemn this senseless act of violence that deliberately targeted innocent civilians, many of them young students and even some women and children,” he added.The Philippine Embassy in Islamabad reported that none of the estimated 1,500 Filipinos working in Kabul and other parts of the country were among the casualties in the attack.Chargé d’Affaires Anwar Ito said the attack targeted a Shi’a cultural center and a news agency in the western part of the capital.The incident came three days after an attack on an intelligence compound also in Kabul left 10 persons dead.Ito said Filipinos in Afghanistan were reminded to remain vigilant and to take necessary precautions to ensure their safety and security.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/philippines-condemns-terror-attack-kabul/371235/
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Argosino, Robles, Sombero plead not guilty to plunder
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-07-01 00:03:27+00:00
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FORMER Immigration deputy commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles, and Wenceslao “Wally” Sombero Jr. pleaded not guilty to the plunder charges filed against them before the Sandiganbayan.The three were arraigned on Friday before the court’s Sixth Division.Sombero also pleaded not guilty to the 46 charges of graft, bribery and violation of Presidential Decree.The court will begin hearing on July 6 Sombero’s application for bail in connection with the plunder case.In March, the Office of the Ombudsman filed a plunder complaint before the anti-graft court against the three in connection with money allegedly received through Sombero — who was president of the Asian Gaming Service Provider Association, Inc. — in November 2016 in exchange for the release of illegal Chinese workers.In the amended charge sheet, the Ombudsman alleged that Argosino, “by himself and/or in conspiracy with” Robles and Sombero, amassed, accumulated and acquired, directly or indirectly, ill-gotten wealth P50 million.The amended charge sheet alleged that the two former immigration officials repeatedly received or collected money “delivered to and received by the accused Argosino, together with Robles, on two instances…as consideration for the intervention and assistance of accused Argosino and Robles in the release of Chinese nationals arrested and detained at Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Pampanga.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/argosino-robles-sombero-plead-not-guilty-to-plunder/414713/
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Senators eye extra budget for Bangsamoro
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-07-30 00:05:29+00:00
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SENATORS will seek the passage of a supplemental budget to fund the implementation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said.President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday signed the BOL into law, abolishing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and replacing it with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BAR) with more powers.However, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the P160 billion needed to fund the BOL was not included in the proposed P3.7-trillion 2019 national budget, because Congress had yet to ratify the BOL when the 2019 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) was crafted.“We have to discuss with DBM the course of action to take but definitely we will fund the BOL plebiscite,” Zubiri said in a text message.“We thank President Duterte for signing the BOL as he promised. He closely followed our work. Now, the more difficult part begins,” he said.The senator said the Bangsamoro stakeholders, including legislators, should see to it that preparations for the new region would be adequate.“We need a plebiscite to implement the law. I will follow through with the provisions for the plebiscite, its funding and Comelec’s (Commission on Elections) preparations for the BOL, even as it prepares for next year’s midterm elections,” Zubiri said.“I’m sure the President will see to it that all government agencies concerned will be up to their respective tasks and that budget, personnel and other resources needed will be sufficient,” he added.Senators Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Panfilo Lacson, Richard Gordon, Nancy Binay, and Zubiri lauded the President for his “strong political will” to pursue genuine and lasting peace in Mindanao.Lacson said the BOL was not perfect but a big leap toward peace in Mindanao.“I would have wanted the creation of two sub-regions under one Bangsamoro Autonomous Region so we could do away with the possible breakaway factions from the Tausug and other ethnic groups from the Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Palawan geographical areas of Mindanao,” he said.“We should have learned from history when the Maguindanaoans and Maranaws from Central Mindanao broke away and formed the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) when the central government talked peace with (Nur) Misuari’s MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front),” Lacson said.Angara is hopeful the greater powers and autonomy given to the new BAR “will be used for the greater good and welfare of its residents.”“We are hopeful that a new chapter in the history of the Bangsamoro will make their lives better,” said Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government.Binay said: “With the passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, it only shows that true local autonomy can be achieved within the framework, context, ideals and spirit of the 1987 Constitution.”Gordon said: “We have to stretch ourselves without violating the Constitution, without unjustified appeasement but more importantly to achieve unity, peace and upliftment of all our people especially in Muslim Mindanao.”Zubiri said he was hoping fellow lawmakers would approve any proposed supplemental budget for BOL “otherwise, the ARMM areas shall continue to be administered under the ARMM law.”“From experience, we had all learned that the old ARMM law has become deficient as a framework for peace and economic growth for the region,” he said.Zubiri said the President’s signing of the BOL into law also meant that the national government was “finally serious about achieving peace and order in Mindanao.”“Police, defense and security matters really have to be ironed out between government forces, MILF, MNLF and other armed rebels,” he said.“We made airtight provisions in that aspect. Otherwise, our development projects for the Bangsamoro cannot be implemented,” he said.Zubiri said “it took a Mindanaoan President to finally get this done, and this will be his administration’s legacy.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/senators-eye-extra-budget-for-bangsamoro/424764/
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JICA trains teachers, students on ‘monozukuri’
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['Neil Alcober']
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2016-11-18 20:37:01+00:00
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THE Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has trained teachers and students in Cebu on Japanese manufacturing standards and philosophy called “monozukuri” to further boost the country’s manufacturing industry and employability of Filipino graduates.“Monozukuri” is a popular Japanese approach and philosophy of pursuing innovation in manufacturing that aims to maximize customer satisfaction and create excellent products. It also refers to a work culture anchored on community coexistence, environment harmony and effective resource utilization.The training is part of JICA’s technical cooperation for grassroots project and is the second phase of an earlier “monozukuri” training held in Cebu City implemented in November 2013 until March 2016.To date, majority of the 164 Filipino engineering students in Cebu have gained “monozukuri” knowledge during the project’s first phase.The project also expects jobs to be generated from exchanges of universities and industries between Cebu (University of San Jose Recoletos and University of San Carlos) and Saitama (Toyo University and Shibaura Institute of Technology).“We hope that through the ‘monozukuri’ training, more Filipino students will visit Saitama for training and employment and also contribute to Philippine society,” Saitama Governor Kiyoshi Ueda said.In addition, Saitama in partnership with Cebu and the Department of Education (DepEd) Region 7 are launching an Active Learning Promotion Project on January 2017 as continuing support to human resource development and sharing of Japanese technology and expertise with the Philippines.The project aims to introduce problem-solving skills to teachers and school administrative staff including students from pilot schools that will be identified under the project.The Philippine government earlier reiterated its focus on jobs creation and capacity-building of Filipino graduates as part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic agenda.The Saitama Prefecture is known for its successful implementation of the “monozukuri” approach in its manufacturing practices. Many of its young employees are proactive and committed to constantly raising the level of quality in their work.Saitama has the fifth highest gross domestic product, at $20 billion in 2012, among all 47 prefectures of Japan, based on International Monetary Fund data.Aside from training Filipino students on Japanese techniques and standards, JICA continues to support the Philippines’ human resource development through an ongoing senior high school modeling project with DepEd that aims to support the country’s implementation of technical vocational education.NEIL A. ALCOBER
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/jica-trains-teachers-students-monozukuri/297234/
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Ejercito, Aquino push Cordillera autonomy
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-08-19 00:15:10+00:00
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SENATORS Joseph Victor Ejercito and Paolo Benigno Aquino 4th sought the creation of the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera (ARC) to give the Cordillera people “full autonomy.”Ejercito filed on August 8 Senate Bill 1923 establishing the ARC to replace the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). Aquino also filed on August 9 SB 1930 seeking the creation of the ARC.Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Jan. 17 filed SB 1678 seeking to establish ARC which he said “is home to over 1.2 million indigenous peoples (IPs).”The Constitution requires majority of the votes cast by the constituent units in a plebiscite to give the region autonomy in self-governance much like the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).“However, legalizing autonomy in the Cordillera region has failed in two separate plebiscites,” Ejercito said.On Oct. 23, 1989, the first organic act for the CAR was approved and a plebiscite was held on Jan. 30, 1990.“However, due to the people’s non-readiness for autonomy, inefficiency of information, misinformation, and a very short campaign period, only the province of Ifugao voted in favor of the region’s autonomy,” he said.A second plebiscite was held on March 9, 1998 pursuant to the second organic act enacted on Dec. 22, 1997. Only the province of Apayao voted in favor of autonomy.“More than 31 years have passed and the Cordillera still has not achieved full autonomy. Having their autonomy would allow them to undertake measures suitable for their region — not just politically and socially but cultural and economic development as well,” Ejercito said.Aquino said the proposed organic act would recognize the regional identity of the Cordillera people and enable its people to craft policies that are relevant to their unique culture, history and resources.“Establishing the ARC should be prioritized over any shift from presidential to federal form of government. The passing of this measure will fulfill the provision of the 1987 Constitution, and would convey the government’s trust in the people of the Cordillera region,” Aquino said.Zubiri said under SB 1678, the area of the proposed ARC would consist of the city and provinces that should “vote favorably in the plebiscite called for the ratification of this Organic Act pursuant to Section 18, Article 10 of the Constitution.”The coverage of the plebiscite shall be the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, and the chartered city of Baguio.Aside from the internal revenue allotment, the national government must provide the ARC an annual assistance of P10 billion for the first five years and P5 billion for the next five years.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ejercito-aquino-push-cordillera-autonomy/432131/
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Duterte on another ICC case: Go ahead
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2017-05-16 21:29:57+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he is not troubled by threats from Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano to file a complaint against him before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his alleged human rights violations.Speaking to reporters upon his arrival in Davao City from China, Duterte added that he is ready to face any complaint against him in any tribunal.“Yeah, he can go ahead. He is free to do it. This is a democracy,” the President said during a news conference.Duterte made the statement after the quashing by the House of Representatives on Monday of an impeachment complaint against him filed by Alejano for lack of substance.Alejano is considering going to the ICC to make Duterte answer for alleged state-sponsored killings in the President’s war on drugs.In April, lawyer Jude Sabio filed a complaint before the ICC, accusing the President of committing crimes against humanity and mass murders since the Duterte administration started its deadly war against the narcotics trade.But Duterte reiterated that he had been investigated by the Commission on Human Rights during the time of now detained Sen. Leila de Lima but failed to prove all the allegations against him.He said separate inquiries at the Senate and the House of Representatives found that the drug killings are not state-sponsored.“Look, I was investigated by the [Commission] on Human Rights when [de Lima] was still the chairman. I was investigated again when she was the Justice secretary. Then, I was investigated again by the Senate and I was investigated again by the House [of Representatives],” the President added.Duterte said although there have been casualties in the war on drugs, he is not sanctioning murder.“Some guys are being taken for a ride. Totoo ‘yang may namatay. Anak ng… Ano ba namang gyera sa droga na walang namatay [That’s true, some were killed. Son of a… Is there a war on drugs where no one dies]?” he added.“Pero not in the character and kind that I was dissed, ‘yung mag-utos ng ganun, pati bata. Kalokohan ‘yon. Kilala man ninyo ako [But not in the character and kind that I was dissed to order (the killings), even of children. That’s insane. You know me],” the President said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-another-icc-case-go-ahead/327506/
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Sarah Duterte vows support for Bong Go
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2018-07-20 00:11:08+00:00
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Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio endorsed President Rodrigo Duterte’s top aide Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Thursday, saying she will fully support him if he decides to run for a Senate post next year.The mayor endorsed Go during the mass oath-taking of the new members of “Hugpong ng Pagbabago” (Alliance for Change) in Pantukan, Compostela Valley.Sara heads Hugpong ng Pagbabago, a regional party to coalesce support for the President’s agenda.“It’s too early for Secretary Go to decide, but if ever he pushes through with his senatorial bid next year, we will give him 100 percent support,” she said.Go thanked Sara for her endorsement but he said he will focus on his work for now.“Nag usap kami kanina. Maraming salamat kay Mayor Inday at sa Hugpong ng Pagbabago. Pero wala po ‘yan sa isipan ko, malayo sa isipan ko, hindi po ako interesadong tumakbo (We already talked about it. Thank you very much Mayor Inday and the Hugpong ng Pagbabago for the support. But I have not thought about it, I’m not interested in running for senator),” he said.The President’s supporters, including several Cabinet officials, have been urging Go to run for Senate.Go earlier said Duterte would have the final say on whether he would run or not.Meanwhile, Go advised his supporters to help those in need instead of investing in billboards showing his face.“Nagpapasalamat ako sa mga supporters ko pati na rin supporters ni President Duterte. Pero pakiusap ko lang po na ‘yung perang gagamitin sa pagpapatayo ng billboard ay itulong na lang po sa mga nangangailangan…tulungan na lang po natin ang mga biktima ng sunog at kalamidad (I thank all my supporters as well as the supporters of President Duterte. But I would like to ask them instead of using the money for billboards… let’s use it to help provide for the needs of those affected by fires and calamity),” he said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sarah-duterte-vows-support-for-bong-go/421260/
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House asked to start ball rolling on coco levy bill
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['James Konstantin Galvez']
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2016-11-01 20:45:52+00:00
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THE House committee handling a proposed coconut levy trust fund bill has been urged to start working on the measure that would pave the way for immediate release of the P75-billion fund for the benefit of 3.5 million coconut farmers in the country.Senator Francis Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, said his committee already concluded hearings on the trust fund bill in September and it is set to come up with a report to be presented in plenary.Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Carlos Dominguez had said a law is needed to release the fund collected from coconut farmers during the martial law years.In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that the coconut levy fund is public fund and awarded it to the government solely for the development of the coconut industry.President Benigno Aquino 3rd in March 2015 signed two Executive Orders (EO)– 179 and 180–which provided guidelines that will govern the inventory, transfer, reconveyance and disposition of coconut levy fund and coconut levy asset and administrative guidelines for the reconveyance and utilization of such assets, respectively.But the Supreme Court (SC) issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the two EOs after a petition was filed by the Confederation of Coconut Farmers Organizations of the Philippines Inc..The petitioner claimed the enforcement of the two orders would result in the plunder of the coconut levy fund.The P75-billion fund is already with the national treasury and cannot be spent without congressional approval or a new law.The needed legislation, according to Pangilinan, requires prompt action of both Houses of the Congress.“We should not keep our farmers waiting much longer. This is something that is more than 40 years late,” the senator said.During a hearing of the Pangilinan committee on the proposed coconut levy trust fund bill, the PresidentialCommission on Good Government gave an update on the status of the P75.354-billion fund.Cash of P62.5 billion is broken down into principal at P56.5 billion, interest at P3.6 billion, San Miguel Corp. share dividends at P854 million and remittance from the United Coconut Planters Bank at P1.48 billion.A total of P12.847 billion in government securities is broken down into principal at P12.33 billion and interest at P515.3 million.The Duterte administration has recognized that the monies cannot be distributed to the farmers as it had promised during the election campaign because those who contributed to the levy fund more than 40 years ago cannot be determined anymore, among other reasons.In separate statements, Dominguez and Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said the TRO issued by the Supreme Court is preventing Malacañang from using and distributing the fund.Earlier, according to Piñol, the President ordered the Department of Agriculture and the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office to release some P60 billion worth of coconut levy fund to the farmers.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/house-asked-start-ball-rolling-coco-levy-bill/294229/
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Military assails Reds’ renewed recruitment
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['Fernan Marasigan']
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2017-03-30 21:09:09+00:00
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THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has taken to task the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) for ordering its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), to step up recruitment, saying the move was in conflict with the next round of peace negotiations in Oslo, Norway.“This [recruitment] is a sad development, granting this is truly their real intent. Why? Because it is an indication of an expansion program that ironically runs counter to the essence of the ongoing peace talks,” Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr., AFP spokesman, said.“It also belies the real intent of the group… that they really do not desire a long, just and lasting peace for the country,” he added.The Philippine government and communist rebels agreed to return to the formal negotiating table about a month after President Rodrigo Duterte scrapped peace talks over bloody clashes between the military and rebel forces.In a lengthy message to the NPA on its 48th anniversary (March 29), the CPP Central Committee gave the following tasks to its armed wing in fufillment of the recruitment drive:• carry out extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare on an ever widening scale and deepening mass base and toward developing full-scale guerrilla warfare;• accelerate the recruitment of armed personnel in all regions across the entire archipelago. Recruit large numbers from the educated youth and working class to become cadres and political officers in the New People’s Army;• resolve the gross imbalance in growth and strength of NPA forces by carrying out a campaign to rectify errors to spur a dramatic increase in the NPA strength in Luzon and Visayas. Combat military conservatism, militia-ism and civilianization in the people’s army;• increase several times over the number of people’s militia units in all barrios where there are Party branches, and build local guerrilla units at the municipal or section levels where there are Party section committees;• expand and consolidate existing guerrilla fronts and build new ones. Develop guerrilla war theaters by raising the capacity of contiguous NPA guerrilla fronts to coordinate and utilize the interplay of its forces;• carry out the revolutionary land reform program more intensively and on an ever widening scale. Undertake anti-feudal campaigns at inter-barrio or higher levels;• help build the Party within the people’s army and among the masses. Carry out intensive political education among the Red commanders and fighters to raise their revolutionary consciousness, steel their will to fight and strengthen their absolute devotion to serve the people and the revolutionary cause; and• persevere in carrying out the policies of the people’s democratic government. Enforce policies with regard to the protection of the environment, as well as those covering the operations of business and economic ventures to ensure the well-being of the people.Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the NPA has a strength of under 5,000 assisted by a huge support group “that benefit[s] on the extortion that they are doing.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/military-assails-reds-renewed-recruitment/320028/
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War on drugs is war on poor – Robredo
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-02-24 20:50:21+00:00
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The Duterte administration’s war on drugs is a war on the poor, Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo said on Thursday.The Vice President made the statement during a War on Drugs lecture in commemoration of the death anniversary of the late senator Jose Diokno held at the De La Salle University College of Law.“There is a brewing climate of fear among our countrymen, especially among the poor. And how can they not be afraid? The war on drugs is increasingly a war against the poor. We have to be vigilant against the dehumanization of the poor, the way the most vulnerable in our society are treated as disposable facts,” Robredo said.At least 7,000 drug dependents were killed in the last seven months as a result of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs–a kill list that included children–and who were all killed without charges and trial.Robredo said victims of war on drugs who sought her office’s assistance told her that they were rounded up twice in a basketball court, the women separated from the men, those with tattoos asked to stand in a corner, their belongings searched.Others were told they did not have the right to demand a search warrant because they were squatters and did not own the property on which their houses were built.Worse, some fell into a palit-ulo scheme where the wife or husband or relative of a person on a so-called drug list would be taken in if the person himself on the list could not be found.“Filipinos in the margins are up against our apathy and inaction. They are up against the dangerous lie that their lives do not matter. We need to stop this. Our rights and liberties must not discriminate against class and social standing,” Robredo pointed out.LLANESCA T. PANTI
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/war-drugs-war-poor-robredo/314021/
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Lawmakers cornered on 'death' bill
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-01-24 21:45:03+00:00
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Lawmakers cornered on ‘death’ billhome/News/Nation/Lawmakers cornered on ‘death’ billNew members of the House of Representatives are being cautioned on voting against and asking questions on the proposed death penalty bill, a lawmaker said on Tuesday.According to Rep. Tom Villarin of Akbayan party-list, House leaders have been calling the attention of the lawmakers who did not vote for the bills favored by the super majority bloc namely the proposed two-tier tax scheme for cigarettes and the renewal of the franchise of Smart Communications.The proposed death penalty law covers heinous crimes and including drug-related offenses and deems the possession of 10 grams of illegal drugs as drug trafficking that is punishable by death.“The feedback I have been getting [among the new lawmakers] is that when you are a member of the House Committee on Justice or a member of the House Committee on Rules, you have no right to interpellate during plenary debates. This is tantamount to scaring the members of Congress not to speak up against death penalty. Why does it have to be this way?” Villarin, who is against the death penalty, said.The super majority bloc in the House, led by President Rodrigo Duterte’s PDP-Laban, is in coalition with the Nacionalista Party, Nationalist People’s Coalition, National Union Party, Liberal Party and Lakas-CMD.The Speaker of the House is Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte, while the House Majority Leader is Rodolfo Fariñas of Ilocos Norte.“This is a move to silence the members of the House; an attempt to stifle opposition. We should allow free discussion on the measure. It’s tough for the [new super majority] lawmakers [to vote against the death penalty] because the House leaders will summon you. There’s the amendment to the Sin Tax law [providing for two-tier tax scheme for cigarettes], and the bill on the Smart franchise. There were lawmakers with the majority who voted against, and the House leaders called their attention,” Villarin pointed out.Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay renewed his call on the House leadership to allow aconscience vote, instead of a party vote, on the death penalty bill.“We call on the leadership not to insist on a party or pressure vote. A conscience vote is necessary for this important and retrogressive measure. Members of the House should be allowed to fully exercise their conscience and conviction in this. Many members of the super majority will go against the party decision and will vote against the reimposition of death penalty,” Lagman said.He added that, there is no overriding reason involving heinous crimes that would justify the restoration of the death penalty as provided for by the 1987 Constitution, which the Duterte administration also wants revised.“The burden of proving otherwise is on those proposing the death penalty. But so far, they have failed to make a justification since crime incidents have been reduced,” Lagman said.Lagman added that the Philippines is a signatory to the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, which only provides imprisonment as punishment for drug-related crimes.“That commitment cannot be violated by a mere legislative action on the part of the House or the Senate, even an action accrued by the President,” Lagman said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/lawmakers-cornered-death-bill/308547/
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‘More Pinoys seeking gov’t jobs’
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['Neil Alcober']
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2017-03-03 20:29:16+00:00
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MORE Filipinos want to work in the government as indicated by the thousands of jobseekers going online daily to look for available careers in the public sector, according to career resource site JobStreet.com.JobStreet.com has partnered with various government agencies to provide a dedicated page exclusively featuring job opportunities available in the government.Philip Gioca, JobStreet.com Philippines country manager, said a total of 200,000 applicants visit online job postings everyday.“Close to 200 applicants are applying for only one [job] position, so this means that many Filipinos are now interested to work in the government,” Gioca noted in an interview during formal launch of the government jobs page on Friday.With this page dedicated to government jobs, Gioca debunked perception that only those with connections can avail themselves of government employment.He said he is hoping that through the jobs page, the government would employ the most qualified applicants.“Hopefully, [through] JobStreet, only applicants with the right qualifications and the desire for public service would be hired, instead of those who have a padrino or backer from the inside,” he said.JobStreet.com aims to cooperate with the government’s objective of providing more transparency in all its transactions, including dissemination of information on available careers in the public sector.“You have to understand the transparency of the job postings [in the website] wherein jobseekers can see the status of their application,” Gioca said.He stressed that jobseekers aiming for a career in the government must have Civil Service eligibility.“If you are really interested to work in the government, you should have [passed the] Civil Service [examinations],” he said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pinoys-seeking-govt-jobs-2/315253/
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PWDs receive P6M from foundation
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['Michael Joe T. Delizo']
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2017-01-15 21:09:05+00:00
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THE change of administration in Makati City (Metro Manila) last year cost the jobs of some employees affiliated with former Mayor Romulo Peña Jr., including dozens of persons with disabilities (PWDs) hired as administrative aides.Lalaine Guanzon, 47, was among those struggling to find a living amid political uncertainty in the city while suffering from rheumatoid arthritis—a long-lasting autoimmune disease that primarily affects joints and limits the movements of a person.From her home in Barangay Comembo, the single mother of two would roll her wheelchair from place to place and make her own worth.“So since June 2016, I had no work. I still have two sons so I have to stay strong for them,” Guanzon said.She was one of 100 PWDs from Metro Manila who was targeted by the Maybank Foundation when it launched last week the RISE entrepreneurship-mentorship program in the Philippines.RISE, an abbreviation for Reach Independence and Sustainable Entrepreneurship, has already been successfully running in Malaysia and Indonesia in helping mainly PWDs and marginalized persons to help them increase their income without the need for business start-up grants.Under the program, the participants will attend a three-day entrepreneurship and financial training session, followed by a six-month mentoring period.According to Guanzon, attending the RISE training helped her develop entrepreneurial skills and achieve higher income.“Sa ibang training, matutuhan mo gumawa ng tocino, pero ’yun na ’yun [In other trainings, you learn how to make cured pork, and that’s it]. “Pero ’yung mga financial strategy, paano mo mapapaganda product mo, paano mo siya mama-market, dito namin natutuhan [But here with RISE, we learn about financial strategies, product development, marketing],” she said.The foundation is pouring in an initial P6 million for the program pilot in the Philippines.Another 100 participants will be picked in Cebu by March.“This year, Maybank will be marking its 20th year in the Philippines,” Maybank International CEO Pollie Sim said. “What an opportune time to celebrate this significant milestone than to roll out a successful program in the Philippines, a key market of the Maybank Group.”“Hindi dapat maging hadlang ang disability para mawalan ng pag-asa para magtrabaho. Kung masipag ka, mabubuhay ka. Hindi sagabal ang kapansanan para sabihin mong wala kang makain [Disability is no hindrance to having a job. If you are industrious, you will survive. Disability is no obstacle to having food],” Guanzon said.MICHAEL JOE T. DELIZO
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pwds-receive-p6m-foundation/307108/
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Andanar’s father is envoy to Malaysia
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['Ralph Villanueva']
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2018-08-14 00:04:32+00:00
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PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Wencelito Andanar, father of Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar, as special envoy to Malaysia.The older Andanar, a former undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, will serve for six months.Duterte also named Jeffrey Dy to the post vacated by former Customs deputy commissioner Noel Prudente.Julia Sosito was also appointed as presiding commissioner of the Department of Labor and Employment, replacing Gregorio Bilog 3rd.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/andanars-father-is-envoy-to-malaysia/429976/
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Court taps contractuals for VP election protest
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-11-16 20:32:59+00:00
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The Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, has authorized initial hiring of 60 contractual workers for a vote recount in connection with a protest of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. against Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo.The SC, acting on a recommendation of the electoral tribunal’s acting administrative officer Eden Candelaria, issued a resolution on October 18 to effect the workers’ employment.The workers shall include a finance consultant, secretaries, ballot box handlers and custodians, copying machine operators, utility workers/messengers, lock custodians, drivers, tabulators and data encoders.The Presidential Electoral Tribunal has set salaries ranging from P14,586 to P30,000 for the contractual employees.Also, it gave a nod to an amendment of its 2010 Rules allowing a non-lawyer to be qualified for the position of coordinator of revision committees and authorizing the filling up of the position of recorder.The electoral tribunal has already given the green light for the Commission on Elections to decrypt and print ballot images and other data found in the Secured Digital (SD) cards at its main office in Intramuros, Manila, on October 23.The decryption and the printing of the ballot images will be from Marcos’ three pilot provinces—Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.In the 2016 race for Vice President, Marcos lost to Robredo by 263,473 votes.He later accused her of “massive electoral fraud, anomalies and irregularities” such as pre-shading of ballots, pre-loaded SD cards, misreading of ballots, malfunctioning vote counting machines and an “abnormally high” unaccounted votes/undervotes for the position of Vice President.JOMAR CANLAS
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/court-taps-contractuals-vp-election-protest/363313/
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Charges eyed over Asean summit disbursements
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['Ralph Villanueva']
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2018-07-21 00:01:13+00:00
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THE Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) will file charges against its officials connected with the alleged anomalous disbursements for the country’s hosting of the 2017 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit, an official said on Friday.The 2017 Commission on Audit (CoA) report on the PCOO found that 17.7-percent of office’s Asean fund1, or P38.8-million, was questionable as it awarded contracts to suppliers without adhering to the provisions of the Government Procurement Act.In a media interview, PCOO undersecretary Marvin Gatpayat told reporters that the office is investigating around five people connected with the issue, after learning that there might be some discrepancies in the conduct of procurement for the country’s hosting of the Asean summit.Gatpayat said that the CoA findings covered the procurement activities, which were assigned to two deputy officials, whom he refused to name ““to avoid trial by publicity.”Gatpayat said that their office is already looking into it after receiving Audit Observation Memorandums (AOMs) on the procurement irregularities.“As ordered by the Secretary, the PCOO Legal Department is conducting an investigation on the matter. Show cause memorandums have been issued and an investigation report is forthcoming,” Gatpayat said.The investigation report will be released in the next 10 days or so, he added.Gatpayat also welcomed an investigation of Office of the Ombudsman.“The investigation will be made public. The CoA has option to have it investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman. But definitely, we will conduct our investigation and penalize people who violated any government laws,” Gatpayat said.The PCOO chaired the Committee on Media Affairs and Strategic Communications during the 2017 event.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/charges-eyed-over-asean-summit-disbursements/421517/
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Caritas Manila wins in dispute over name
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-05-13 23:21:59+00:00
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THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided in favor of the Catholic-run charitable organization Caritas Manila against a health maintenance organization with a similar name.Caritas Manila, Inc., the lead social services and development arm of the Archdiocese of Manila, had filed a complaint against Caritas Health Shield Inc., a health care services provider, and asked the SEC to order the latter change or modify its corporate name.The SEC Office of the General Counsel, in its decision, acknowledged that Caritas Manila had the prior right over the name “Caritas” because it was incorporated on May 3, 1977, 18 years earlier than Caritas Health Shield, which was formed on April 25, 1995.Caritas Manila also provided evidence that Caritas Health Shield had a “confusingly similar name,” and that the similarity of names had led the public to perceive the two entities as related to each other.The charitable institution pointed out that it had received complaints of spam text messages and mistaken emails.Caritas Manila also claimed that Caritas Health Shield violated Section 18 of the Corporation Code, arguing that the use of the name “Caritas” infringed upon its trade name.The “unlawful use” of the word “Caritas” for medical health services has also damaged its public image as a charitable institution, the Catholic charity claimed.The SEC ordered Caritas Health Shield to change its corporate name by dropping the word “Caritas.”“Wherefore, premises considered, respondent Caritas Health Shield Inc. is hereby ordered to change its corporate name by removing the word ‘Caritas,’ or otherwise adopt another name through an amendment of its Articles of Incorporation, and [file] the same with this Commission within thirty (30) days from date of receipt hereof. It is further directed to submit a compliance report within the same period, enclosing therein a certified copy of the approved Articles of Incorporation,” the SEC said.Caritas Manila Executive Director Fr. Anton Pascual welcomed the favorable decision.“It cleared the name and reputation of Caritas Manila and so, the donors and most especially the people that we support will no longer be confused,” he said in a statement.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/caritas-manila-wins-dispute-name/327082/
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PCSO donates P5M to veterans’ medical center
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-08-22 00:04:24+00:00
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Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Alexander Balutan on Tuesday turned over an endowment fund of P5 million to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City.VMMC Director Dr. Dominador M. Chiong Jr. and Dr. Mariano Mejia, chief of the medical professional staff, received the check.“VMMC is an endowment fund program partner hospital, and one of the priority programs of the government under the leadership of President Rodrigo Duterte is to uplift the health condition of the Filipino by providing financial assistance for various health and medical-related programs, medical assistance and services and charities of national character,” Balutan said.The Endowment Fund Program Partner Hospital (EFPH) provides medical and health services to poor patients.“The assistance per patient shall be comparable to 100 percent of PhilHealth case rates. Services include medical, hospital, laboratory for indigent charity patients (confined and receiving outpatient management),” Balutan said.The assistance given to confined patients at the charity ward shall be based on the published case rates of PhilHealth. However, for outpatients accessing hospital medical services, the patient and medical services should be covered by PhilHealth.“Under the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), VMMC shall be given one year to utilize the grant. Any remainder which will not be utilized shall be returned to PCSO,” Balutan said.The MoA also stipulated that if the hospital does not comply with its obligations, the agreement shall be terminated.“They should also submit their liquidation report within the prescribed period. We have measures to monitor the utilization of funds. We are a generous giver, but our beneficiaries must make sure they utilize the fund properly and it will really benefit the poorest of the poor,” Balutan said.The PCSO, through its Charity Assistance Department, shall provide technical assistance in the implementation of the program and monitor the utilization of the fund.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pcso-donates-p5m-to-veterans-medical-center/433227/
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2-tier tax on tobacco seen causing govt revenue dip
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-02-05 19:50:52+00:00
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THE recently approved House Bill (HB) 4144 that seeks to further amend the Sin Tax Reform Law by returning to a two-tier approach on tobacco tax is seen by Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara as a move that could further lead to diminution of revenues for the government.This is contrary to the claims of proponents of the proposed measure that a two-tier tax scheme on tobacco could help increase government revenue as it would impose higher tax rates on tobacco products.Angara, in an interview noted that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recorded a decline in the collection of excise tax on tobacco in 2016 compared to the revenues in 2015.At the hearing of the Senate ways and means committee on the proposed tax reform package of the government last week, the BIR noted an P8-billion decrease in sin tax collection from tobacco products, from P99.5 billion in 2015 to P91.6 billion in 2016.The tax bureau attributed the decline to the proliferation of fake tax stamps, smuggled cigarettes and the bigger graphic health warning on cigarette packs.Angara noted that the high price of tobacco products brought by high levies also contributed to the low revenues collected because of low sales in cigarettes.He said the two-tier tax system on tobacco could further lead to the decline because it would also bring taxes higher.“We need to study the proposal carefully because we don’t want the revenues collected from tobacco sin tax go down further considering that the government is using it to fund universal health care,” according to Angara, who heads the Senate ways and means panel.The House of Representatives in its approved HB 4144 proposes a P32 tax rate per pack for cigarettes priced at P11.50 and below and P36 per pack for cigarettes with a net retail price of above P11.50.Under the current Sin Tax Reform Law, tobacco products, regardless of the price, are charged with a unitary rate of P30 per pack.The unitary tax rate started January this year.Prior to the imposition of the uniform tax rate, the government was imposing a two-tiered system whereby cigarettes priced at P11.50 per pack were being taxed P25 while those priced higher were slapped P29 per pack.“It [HB 4144] may lead to further diminution of revenues because at P29 and P25, the last two tier before the unitary system this year, revenue went down, so if we further increase taxes, it could lower revenue collection, That’s just but logical, right?” Angara pointed out.The senator said he sees no reason to rush deliberations on the House proposal noting that there are more important measures, like the tax reform package, that need attention.“What is good with the sin tax law is that there is a built-in amendment every year. There’s a built-in increase of 4 percent, so even if we don’t introduce amendments to it, the government is still earning,” Angara added.He assured his counterparts at the House of Representatives that his panel would immediate act on a House bill that seeks to grant amnesty on unpaid estate taxes once it is passed and transmitted to the Senate.Angara said his committee will be adopting an Una ang Pamilya (Family First ) philosophy, “by setting rules that are easy to comply with, and rates that are affordable.”“We will lighten the tax burden on a deceased’s assets in order to lighten the grief of the heirs,” he added.The House Committee on Ways and Means also approved the substitute bill “An Act Granting Amnesty in Estate Tax.”Angara also filed Senate Bill 980 that seeks to “trim estate tax rates” and increase the tax deductible expenses, such as the medical expenses incurred by the deceased.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/2-tier-tax-tobacco-seen-causing-govt-revenue-dip/310691/
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Ex-DoH chief: Libel suit vs me harassment
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['Kenneth Hare Hernandez']
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2018-02-25 00:01:25+00:00
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Former Department of Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial has called as “harassment” a libel case filed against her and three others by another former DoH chief, Janette Garin.“I have not read the complaint, I cannot comment. But I think it’s malicious to probably stop me and the three other doctors from testifying in the ongoing Senate and Congress hearings on Dengvaxia. It’s just harassment,” Ubial said in a text message on Saturday.“What is my motive? I’m nobody now,” she added.Last Friday, Garin filed before the Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office four counts of libel against Ubial, former consultant Francisco Cruz, former DoH Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa and health reform advocate Anthony Leachon.The four were charged with violation of Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code and/or Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.In an interview with local media, Garin said the Ubial group is creating public hysteria with their statements on implementation of the dengue immunization program of the DoH under the Aquino administration.“That is no longer good. They are not only maligning the person but they are also creating public confusion and that is difficult to make accusations if you become part of hysteria, if you tolerate panic and disrupt public health programs. The impact is very huge because we are not only the ones to be affected but also the younger generations,” she added.Garin said she was “maligned and dishonored” by statements made by Ubial in a January 14 news briefing.She also pointed out the latter’s statements made against her on her Twitter account.Cruz, in a news briefing last January, spoke of a “mafia-like” system inside the Health department involving Garin and other Health officials in which he said they have benefited from the P3.5-billion anti-dengue vaccine deal.Herbosa commented in the past on the speed with which the vaccine was procured.He also made statements on his Twitter account against Garin.Leachon was implicated because of his statement last December regarding the supposedly hasty implementation of the anti-dengue vaccine program.The controversial dengue immunization program started in 2016 during Garin’s term as DoH chief.Her successor, Ubial, in a Senate hearing said she initially wanted to stop the vaccination program as early as March 2016, citing incomplete trials and hasty implementation but that she was pressured by some lawmakers to proceed with the progarm.Ubial named Iloilo Rep. Oscar Garin Jr., husband of Garin, as among those who allegedly pressured her into continuing and expanding the vaccination program.She said the congressman wanted to continue and expand the program to Central Visayas in one of the hearings for the 2018 budget.He has denied Ubial’s allegations.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ex-doh-chief-libel-suit-vs-harassment/382446/
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China opens major economic conference
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['Agence France-Presse']
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2017-12-19 00:06:02+00:00
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BEIJING: China opened a major economic planning conference on Monday as the country tries to pivot away from its no-holds-barred growth model.The annual Central Economic Work Conference gives leaders the opportunity to review past economic policy and plan for 2018.The pursuit of high growth propelled China to the number two spot on a list of the world’s largest economies, but led to heavy pollution, rampant waste, and a mountain of debt.President Xi Jinping has indicated the country would move in a new direction, telling the Communist Party Congress in October that China needs to shift from high growth to high quality development.Implementing Xi’s new approach will be the focus of the behind-closed-doors meeting, state news agency Xinhua said.The “three tough battles” for 2018 will be curbing major risks, eradicating poverty and pollution control, Xinhua reported, repeating Xi’s directions to the party congress.One prong of that push — tackling the country’s noxious air pollution — is already showing signs of dampening economic growth.Last week, official data showed industrial output slowing in November, as authorities in some northern cities have forced steel factories and smelters to cut production, with some running at half capacity.The industrial cuts and measures to switch the country to natural gas heating, have given the capital a rare string of blue sky days but some analysts forecast a meaningful impact on growth.In a recent note, Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics forecast the aggressive crackdown on pollution “would shave just short of half a percentage point off gross domestic product growth” for the final quarter of this year and beginning of 2018.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/china-opens-major-economic-conference/369424/
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SC asked to stop firetruck delivery
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-04-20 22:02:23+00:00
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The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday was asked by a former party-list lawmaker to stop the delivery of reportedly overpriced Austrian firetrucks covered by a questionable P2.8-billion supply contract.In his petition, former ABAKADA party-list congressman Jonathan de la Cruz asked the High Court to hasten its ruling on the group’s plea for temporary restraining order (TRO) and/or writ of preliminary injunction (WPI) on the release of funds amounting to P3.07 billion for supply contracts entered into by the previous Aquino administration with an Austrian firm, Rosenbauer International Aktiengesellschaft.The controversy caused the head of Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno to roll after he was sacked by President Rodrigo Duterte on suspicion of corruption.“President Duterte perceived and smelled a ‘first whiff’ of graft and corruption in the acts of former [Interior] Secretary Sueno, whom he unceremoniously dismissed… But it appears that nothing in the way will deter, prevent and stop the culpable parties from fleecing moneys from public coffers,” de la Cruz stated in his petition.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sc-asked-stop-firetruck-delivery/323165/
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Palace wishes Pope Francis good health
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2016-12-17 23:33:24+00:00
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Malacañang on Saturday joined the rest of the world in greeting Pope Francis on his 80th birthday.In a statement, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar extended the Palace’s well wishes and gratitude to Pope Francis.“We wish Pope Francis good health and good humor as he continues to guide us to build a more humane world. Maligayang kaarawan sa Santo Papa [Happy Birthday to the Holy Father]!” Andanar said.“For more than three years as head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has successfully inspired people around the world with his humble example, concern for the poor, and strong attention on God’s mercy,” he said. “The people of the Philippines, home of Asia’s largest Catholic population, remain grateful for the historic first visit of His Holiness to the country in 2015. His touching homily in Tacloban has left an indelible memory in the hearts of thousands, especially survivors of typhoon Yolanda or Haiyan.”Pope Francis visited typhoon-damaged Tacloban and met with thousands of victims of super-typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/palace-wishes-pope-francis-good-health/302333/
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‘Nothing irregular in X-ray photos of magnetic lifters’
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-09-02 00:02:22+00:00
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An official of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) said there was nothing irregular in the photographs of the X-ray scan conducted on four magnetic lifters that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) claimed to have contained P6.8-billion worth of shabu.The Customs official who asked not to be named said the shipment could have passed through any port in the Philippines and the X-ray scan results would be the same as long as the resolution was not manipulated.“We have to accept for now that the said magnetic lifters were devoid of illegal substance until the PDEA can present evidence proving otherwise. The burden of proof that there were illegal drugs lies with the PDEA, not the BoC,” he said.PDEA chief Aaron Aquino said the magnetic lifters contained shabu, a claim disputed by the BoC.The House of Representatives Committee on Dangerous Drugs is holding an inquiry into the alleged smuggling of huge volumes of shabu.Rep. Romero Quimbo, head of the House’s ways and means panel, during the hearing on Thursday questioned the supposed discrepancy in the colored photographs that he obtained from a source and the black and white photos the BoC submitted to the committee.Quimbo said the hollow portions at the bottom of the images that showed brown discoloration proved the existence of shabu as pointed out by the PDEA.But the Customs official said the Manila International Container Port X-ray inspector who looked at and interpreted the scan was not remiss in his job and was trained by Nuctech, the supplier of the X-ray machines for the bureau.During the hearing, John Mar Morales downplayed the bits of brown at the bottom of the lifters that Quimbo noticed, saying it was the same in the space in the black and white scan. Morales said if the magnetic lifters contained anything, the light brown discoloration would appear darker.The BoC’s X-ray Chief Zsae de Guzman said what Quimbo presented was a “pseudo-color” scan that gives “different effects” on the image.The Customs official welcomed the committee’s decision to invite an expert of Nuctech to interpret the X-ray scan images.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/nothing-irregular-in-x-ray-photos-of-magnetic-lifters/437189/
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Bertiz lands in hospital
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['Mary Gleefer F. Jalea']
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2018-10-04 00:05:15+00:00
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ACTS-OFW Rep. Aniceto “John” Bertiz 3rd failed to attend the special meeting of the House of Representatives’ Ethics panel on Wednesday to discuss his case because he had chest pains on Tuesday and had to be taken to a hospital, lawmakers said.Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said Bertiz was rushed to the hospital hours after he filed House Resolution 2212 directing the ethics committee to investigate the incident at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAAIA) Terminal 2 over the weekend.Bertiz caused a stir after a video of him harassing a security personnel of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport went viral.The lawmaker’s chief-of-staff, Jun Aguilar, told The Manila Times that Bertiz underwent laboratory tests and a stress test, thus he could not attend the ethics meeting.“We still do not know the results of the tests,” Aguilar said.He said Bertiz had an angioplasty procedure in September 2016.Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza told reporters Bertiz also suffers from hypertension.On Tuesday, Bertiz said he would surrender the security pass given him by the NAIA.Bertiz had repeatedly apologized for his “inexcusable” behavior.In filing HR 2212, Bertiz said he “opted to subject himself motu propio to an inquiry as to whether or not [he] has breached ethical standards for members of the House of Representatives.”The panel’s closed-door meeting on Wednesday aimed to tackle the NAIA incident internally. No public hearing has been set to further investigate Bertiz’s behavior.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/bertiz-lands-in-hospital/448064/
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US trust rating among Filipinos drops, China’s improves – SWS
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['Night Moves']
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2/3/2017 0:00
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RuizFilipinos’ trust in the country’s long-time ally, the United States, has declined in the fourth quarter Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results.The fourth quarter nationwide survey conducted last Dec. 3-6, 2016 among 1,500 respondents found 70 percent of Filipinos having “much trust” in the United States, 19 percent were undecided whether they have much trust or little trust, and 11 percent having “little trust” in the country.This translates to a net trust rating of “very good” +59, which is lower than the +66 (76 percent much trust, 11 percent little trust), registered during the third quarter SWS survey fielded in September, 2016.Net trust ratings of +70 and above is classified by SWS as “excellent;” +50 to +69, “very good;” +30 to +49, “good;” +10 to +29, “moderate;” +9 to -9, “neutral;” -10 to -29, “poor;” -30 to -49, “bad;” -50 to -69, “very bad;” and -70 and below, “execrable.”SWS noted that the net trust rating of the United States has been positive since it was first surveyed in December, 1994.The respondents were particularly asked, “For the following, please indicate if your trust/faith in (name of country) is “very much,” “somewhat much,” “undecided” if much or little, “somewhat little,” “very little,” or you have not heard or read anything about the (country) ever?”Meanwhile, China’s net trust rating significantly improved to +9 (39 percent much trust, 30 percent little trust), from -33 (22 percent much trust, 55 percent little trust) in the previous quarter.SWS noted that China’s net trust rating has been positive in only eight out of 40 surveys since public trust on selected countries was included in August 1994.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/03/02/us-trust-rating-among-filipinos-drops-chinas-improves-sws/
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Navy activates aircraft for patrolling sea borders
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['Dempsey Reyes']
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2018-03-25 21:15:08+00:00
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A Beechcraft King Air TC-90 aircraft of the Philippine Navy has been activated and is now ready for patrolling the country’s maritime borders and vast sea areas, according to the Philippine Fleet.Lt. Sahirul Taib, Philippine Fleet spokesman, said the activation ceremony was held last week at the Naval Air Group’s headquarters in Sangley Point, Cavite City, with Rear Admiral Danilo Rodelas, Philippine Fleet commander, gracing the event.Another TC-90 aircraft that was also activated in November last year made its first maiden flight by conducting maritime air surveillance over Bajo de Masinloc off Zambales in January this year under the operational control of the military’s Northern Luzon Command.The aircraft spotted several Chinese fishermen and Coast Guard vessels in the area.The two TC-90s were donated by Japan and these were originally for leasing but it was decided that they be turned over during bilateral talks between Tokyo and Manila last year.Three more TC-90 aircraft will be given today, also at Sangley Point, with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Japanese government representatives attending the turnover.Rodelas said the activation of the second TC-90 aircraft would strengthen the Navy’s capabilities in securing the maritime areas of the country.“As we activate the second TC-90 aircraft, it will bolster our surveillance capabilities as we patrol our vast sea lanes of communication and maritime borders,” he added.“In time, these aircraft will be deployed to areas of critical interest to our national security,” Rodelas said.He cited threats being faced by the Philippines as a maritime nation such as piracy, terrorism, border protection and climate change, saying all these threats “dictate” that the country must be “perpetually ready” in addressing problems.The Philippines is in a row with China over territories in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).China was recently found to have named several underwater features within the mineral-rich Philippine Rise (Benham Rise), a move that alarmed several Philippine government officials.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/navy-activates-aircraft-for-patrolling-sea-borders/388483/
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Senator: Save the Philippines from ‘debt trap’
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2018-02-17 20:57:06+00:00
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DETAINED Sen. Leila de Lima has pushed for the establishment of a debt management system to save the Philippines from “debt trap.”She recently filed Senate Bill (SB) 1675 establishing a Comprehensive Debt Management System that would ensure transparency and accountability on all government borrowings.De Lima said Congress should exercise its oversight powers to “scrutinize all foreign and domestic borrowings negotiated, contracted, or guaranteed by President [Rodrigo] Duterte.”The Duterte administration plans to roll out more than P8 trillion in public infrastructure projects from 2018 to 2022 funded mostly by foreign loans and overseas development assistance (ODA).“It behooves us to remember that it is unlikely that any administration goes into a borrowing spree with the intent to fall into a debt trap,” de Lima said.“Therefore, assurances aside, there remains a need to institute reforms and safeguard to avoid a recurrence of the Marcos era ‘death trap,’” she added.De Lima also raised the need to form a Congressional Oversight Committee on Debt Management to ascertain if the President’s borrowings “are done for the best interest of the country and its people.”It is also part of the mandate of the committee to review all existing laws, and implementing rules and regulations and executive issuances relating to foreign and domestic borrowings, she said.“The committee is empowered to require all government agencies concerned, including the Office of the President, to submit all pertinent information and data on foreign and domestic borrowings; provided, however, that information or data that are privileged shall be furnished the committee only in executive session,” according to de Lima.Under SB 1675, also to be known as the Comprehensive Government Debt Management Reform Act, the State is mandated to “holistically manage all government borrowings through a unified government debt management policy.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/senator-save-philippines-debt-trap/380912/
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Sailor deployment drops 25% – DoLE
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-06-19 21:56:56+00:00
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THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the Integrated Seafarers of the Philippines (ISP) are calling on Filipino seafarers to become entrepreneurs so they can have another source of income to fall back on amid an alarming 25 percent drop in the deployment of mariners.ISP president Capt. Gaudencio Morales pointed this out at the sidelines of the recent launch of the DoLE-National Reintegration Center for Overseas Filipino Workers (NRCO)-ISP Business Plan Competition (Harnessing Seafarer’s Capacities for Business Enterprises Development), which was established to encourage seafarers to go into business.The downtrend in deployment, according to Morales, was confirmed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).“There is a decline in our deployment of seafarers because remittances from the shippers have declined,” he said, adding that “shipping experts have predicted that deployment will continue to drop until 2018.”The BSP said the remittances from sea-based workers declined by 8.23 percent even as overall remittances from overseas Filipinos, both land and sea-based, rose to $2.4 billion or P120.8 billion early this year.Data from the POEA showed that the deployment of Filipino seafarers started to decline in 2016, from 406,531 in 2015 to 304,329 or a decrease of 25 percent.Morales cited three main factors for the decline: slump in the price of oil in the world market, slowdown of China’s industrialization and downturn in the global shipping market brought about by the poor economy of many countries.“Because of low oil prices, off-shore oil rig projects also slowed down, which negated the need for supply ships,” he explained.Morales said the slowdown in China’s industrialization resulted in the scrapping of the country’s old ships.“The global shipping market downturn reduced the exchange of goods among countries, which means that there is no need for ships. Shipping firms don’t buy new ships and either sell or scrap their old ships, so there is no need for crew,” he added.Morales said the perennial problem of the oversupply of Filipino seamen also contributed in part to the problem, adding that the ranks of seafarers have also swelled with 20,000 to 25,000 maritime graduates every year.“Everyone is aware of this oversupply but it remains a problem because we can’t stop maritime schools from accepting students,” he said.According to Morales, parents who want their children to become seafarers should be aware that just like the nursing profession, there is an oversupply of seafarers.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sailor-deployment-drops-25-dole-2/333670/
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Coconut agency chief suspended for ‘corruption’
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['James Konstantin Galvez']
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2017-03-20 23:13:21+00:00
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Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Administrator Avelino Andal was placed under preventive suspension while facing investigation for alleged corruption in the sale of coco lumber, the Office of the Cabinet Secretary announced on Monday.The PCA board, according to Halmen Valdez, undersecretary at the Office of the Cabinet Secretary, made the decision after receiving information that Andal was behind his employees’ alleged extortion of P1.50 per board foot of trees being cut in the provinces of Basilan, Mindoro, Marinduque and Quezon.“The [PCA] board has received numerous affidavits and sworn statements and receipts related to alleged illegal collection of P1.50 per board foot of lumber [being made by] Administrator Andal’s trusted employees,” Valdez said in a text message.Although the collected “fee” may seem small, he added, the total amount allegedly extorted will reach P90 million.Valdez noted that more than 400,000 coconut trees are expected to be cut down in Basilan alone.Andal was the third executive of a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) linked to corruption.National Irrigation Authority (NIA) Administrator Peter Lavinia was sacked by President Rodrigo Duterte for allegedly receiving “40 percent” from irrigation projects, while National Food Authority Administrator (NFA) Jason Aquino was tagged for making a cash cow out of government-led rice importations.Likening himself to Emperor Julius Caesar who was assassinated by a cabal of conspirators from the Roman Senate and Army, Andal said the suspension order was an unjust, unfair and oppressive exercise against him because he was not given a chance to explain his side.He added that he was preventively suspended without any verified complaints and was denied his basic right to confront his accusers or present his side of the matter.“The minds behind this conspiratorial plot to unceremoniuosly unseat me even had the temerity to systematically misrepresent and mislead the trust and well-meaning anti-corruption sentiment of some PCA career officials and employees,” Andal said.There is a pattern of wide-ranging conspiracy covering various GOCCs such as the PCA, NIA, NFA and National Housing Authority, according to the PCA administrator.“[This] is part of a demolition job by some vested interest groups that have wormed their way in and cozied up to the Duterte government after they jumped ship from the past regime,” Andal said.He added that there is a small group who wants to remove him because of his earnest moves to uproot corruption and that the “conspirators” fear to be caught in the anti-corruption drive in the agency.Andal said he will not recognize the effectivity of the supposed board resolution, calling it a “bogus order.”He added that he will continue to discharge his duty as PCA administrator.Valdez, meanwhile, explained that preventive suspension is not a penalty but a “preventive measure, and a preparatory act to give way to a fair investigation.”She denied that the PCA chief was not informed of the matter.“In fact, Andal received a letter from [Special Assistant to the President] Bong Go asking him to explain what he did. However, Andal suspended his people who are involved [the accomplices and accessories], hence it follows that the board should suspend the principal [Andal],” Valdez said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/coconut-agency-chief-suspended-corruption-2/318274/
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Massive mangrove planting seen to strengthen E. Visayas coastal areas
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['Aurora Abude-Schaefer']
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11/1/2017 0:00
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The massive mangrove plantation initiated by the government will strengthen the protection of the coastal areas in Eastern Visayas against the rise of sea water or storm surge due to strong typhoons.DENR-8 Regional Director Leonardo Sibbaluca told reporters in an interview that more coastlines in Eastern Visayas will be planted with mangroves as the Secretary Regina Paz “Gina” L. Lopez of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is pushing for a massive mangrove plantation nationwide.Lopez in her recent visit to this city told reporters in an interview that she is pushing for a mangrove plantation in coastal areas suitable for mangrove growing nationwide to protect the coastal communities from the rising of sea water or storm surges during the occurrence of strong typhoons.The DENR chief cited the protection given by mangroves on coastal communities, saying that “during typhoons the best protection is the mangrove.”Sibbaluca said the massive mangrove plantation establishment in Eastern Visayas is to strengthen the degraded mangrove forests along coastlines and make coastal communities less vulnerable to future destruction of more intense typhoons or extreme weather occurrences and the effects of climate change.The government earlier allotted P1 billion for the mangrove reforestation and beach forest rehabilitation nationwide on top the P6.2-billion budget allotted for the country’s National Greening Program.Sibbaluca told reporters that his office is in the process of evaluating and assessing all areas and establish more mangrove plantations in places suited for mangrove growing in the region.New areas that will be found suited for the new proposed mangrove plantation establishment will be an additional to the previous targeted areas for mangrove plantation establishment in Eastern Visayas. He, however, declined to give the number of hectares for this new additional and proposed mangrove plantation establishment because his office is still to “evaluate and assess the suitable areas for mangrove planting.”Records show that that DENR-8 launched the R380-million Eastern Visayas mangrove and beach forest rehabilitation project on April 22, 2015, with the target to plant 13,500 hectares of mangrove and beach forest areas along Leyte Gulf areas.The project covers the coastal areas from Tacloban City to the town of Abuyog including the municipalities of Palo, Tan-auan, Tolosa, Dulag, Mayorga, Javier, and Macarthur, in Leyte; while for the provinces of Samar and Eastern covers the towns of Basey and Marabut, in Samar; and the municipalities of Lawaan, Balangiga, Giporlos, Salcedo, Guiuan, Hernani, and Llorente all of Eastern Samar.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/01/11/massive-mangrove-planting-seen-to-strengthen-e-visayas-coastal-areas/
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Imee urged by supporters to snub House hearing
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['Joy Soontit', 'Maynila Dyaryo']
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12/7/2017 0:00
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Supporters of Ilocos Norte Governor Imee R. Marcos urged her to snub the hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability on the alleged fund misuse of the provincial government later this month.House Resolution No. 882 introduced by Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Rodolfo “Rudy” C. Fariñas directed the Committee to “to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, in regard to the use by the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte of its shares from the excise taxes on locally manufactured Virginia-type cigarettes or the special support fund under Republic Act No. 7171.”The provincial government of Ilocos Norte had used tobacco funds in 2011 and 2012 to purchase motor vehicles which were then delivered to tobacco farmers and barangay captains as post-harvest facilities for use in transporting goods from farms to markets.Previous hearings were held on May 2, 16, 29, and on June 20, with the third resulting to the detention of six Ilocos Norte government’s employees, dubbed ‘Ilocos Six’, for allegedly refusing to shed light on the matter.“Halatang pamumuliitka ang ibig nito. Kung kumpleto ang ebidensiya, bakit ‘di sa Ombudsman at Sandiganbayan at Kataas-taasang Hukuman magsampa ng kaso (It is obviousloy politiclaly motivated. If there is solid evidence then why not bring it upm before the Sandiganbayan or Supreme Court),” Katipunan ng Pilipinong Maka-bayan (KPM) and Kabataan Sandigan at Gabay ng Pilipino Incorporated (KASAGPI) leader Roberto “Ka Obet” Dela Cerna pointed out.“Para sa’kin, sana si Governor, ‘wag na siyang um-attend kasi para sa akin, pag-iipit na lang ito na ginagawa ng Kongreso sa kanya. What if kagaya ng ginagawa nila sa’Ilocos Six,’ kapag hindi nasabi kung ano yung gusto nilang marinig eh agad-agad nilang ide-detain. Obvious naman na pinupulitika lang tayo (Governor Marcos should not attend, it is obvious that congress is out to pin her down. What if she suffers the same fate as the Ilocos Six, if they fail to get the answers they want and expect, they will just detain her. It is obvious that politics in involved),” added Harrold Toledana of the 31k-strong Buong Bansa Magkaisa (BBM) Youth Movement.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/07/12/imee-urged-by-supporters-to-snub-house-hearing/
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Bill on security of tenure pushed
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2018-08-10 00:02:42+00:00
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Sen. Joel Villanueva on Thursday pushed for the passage of the proposed Security of Tenure law, saying it would address issues raised against the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Nutriasia that were recently rocked by labor issues.In an interview after the hearing of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development on the regularization of workers, Villanueva noted that Senate Bill 1826 seeks to provide social protection to workers since it bans labor-only contracting.The Labor department recently ordered PLDT to regularize thousands of its workers. Employees of Nutriasia, meanwhile, held a strike and were dispersed in Marilao, Bulacan.NutriAsia Human Resources group head Thelma Meneses, who attended the Senate hearing, maintained that the company does not engage in illegal labor schemes, particularly labor-only contracting.She clarified that the employees who went on strike were not workers of NutriAsia but were employed by their contractor, B-Mirk Enterprises Corp.“The striking workers are all regular and permanent employees of B-Mirk. They are not contractual, they are not casual, they are not endo,” Meneses told the senators.She cited the decision of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) issued on June 25, 2018 confirming that the strikers were employees of B-Mirk.Meneses said NutriAsia’s trained personnel cook their products but post-production work such as filling and packing are outsourced to B-Mirk.“Outsourcing of packing processes or warehousing operations or even retail distribution is no different from outsourcing these specialized services similar to the practice of the BPO industry,” she said.B-Mirk employs about 10,000 workers.On June 2, 2018, around 200 workers walked out of the Marilao plant and blocked the gates of the compound that NutriAsia share with its business partners.“They locked and chained our gates, set up barricades and blocked the way leading into and out of the compound, preventing more than a thousand non-striking workers from gainful employment for nearly two months,” Meneses said.Meneses said NutriAsia and B-Mirk pursued a peaceful resolution to the labor problem through mediation.“Despite the strikers’ claimed desire to also achieve a peaceful resolution, they were absent in half of the scheduled mediation meetings. Moreover, the strikers refused to comply to the DoLE instructions to lift the blockade and allow the return to work of the non-striking workers,” she said.Reynante Gudinez, representative of the Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng NutriAsia, who was at the hearing, admitted that he was employed by B-Mirk.Asked if they have a supervisor who oversees their job in the plant, Gudinez said the supervisor is a regular employee of NutriAsia.“This is where the issue of control comes in. These workers are hired by a contractor but their work is being supervised or controlled by the principal employer,” Villanueva said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/bill-on-security-of-tenure-pushed/428525/
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‘Scheduling’ snags China official’s visit
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-02-24 20:51:54+00:00
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‘Recent remarks’ of Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay about China’s construction activities in the South China Sea were not the reason why a scheduled visit to the Philippines of the Chinese commerce minister was postponed by Beijing.This was clarified on Friday by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, who described the remarks as “regrettable.”“Due to scheduling reasons, the China-Philippines Joint Commission on Economic and Trade Cooperation has decided to postpone its meeting for several days. The two sides are still working on relevant preparations,” Geng said in a regular news conference.He pointed out that the successful visit to China by President Rodrigo Duterte last year brought about a turnaround in China-Philippines relations and that the two sides are making joint efforts to implement various cooperation agreements.Geng said the two countries have returned to the right track of properly dealing with the South China Sea issue through bilateral friendly consultations and Manila and Beijing have seen booming cooperation in various sectors.But the “recent remarks” of Yasay, according to the Chinese spokesman, apparently deviated from the consensus of the two leaders and have gone against the current trend of the sound and rapid development of China-Philippine relations.“[Such remarks] disagree with the overall stable situation of the South China Sea and run counter to the shared desire of regional countries to maintain peace and stability of the South China Sea and promote regional cooperation,” he added.Geng made no mention of the specific “remarks” made by Yasay that China finds unacceptable.The Philippine official was recently quoted as saying that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) had “grave concern” over China’s reclamation activities and installation of weapons systems at the South China Sea.The Foreign Affairs secretary also on Thursday told reporters in an interview that it would be a “game changer” if China decided to reclaim or build an artificial island in Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal).“China finds them [remarks] baffling and regrettable. We hope that Mr. Yasay can follow the consensus reached by the two leaders and the shared desire of regional countries, exercise prudence and make concrete efforts to uphold China-Philippines relations and regional peace and stability,” Geng said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/scheduling-snags-china-officials-visit/314023/
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Relocation looms for El Nido informal settlers
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['Neil Alcober']
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2018-03-24 23:15:57+00:00
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THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is pushing for the relocation of informal-settler families who have built houses along the coasts of El Nido, a protected area in Palawan and a world-famous tourist destination.DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu over the weekend said the local government has issued final notices for the 24 families to vacate Corong Corong Beach in El Nido where they had built houses.“We are working closely with the local government to ensure that the relocation site for these informal-settler families is prepared as soon as possible,” Cimatu added.The houses of the informal settlers are built on stilts and sit directly above waters of Corong Corong Bay.Local DENR officials said the houses do not have toilets and the settlers dispose of their waste directly into the sea.“You can smell the stench in that area. These activities have a significant effect on the water quality in the immediate area around the houses. Aside from the fact that they do not have toilets, they are also encroaching on the easement zone, so we hope to move them to a new location soon,” Cimatu said.“We have learned that some of the families have other homes around El Nido where they can go to. However, for some reason, they chose to live in these informal settlements in the sea. For these families, moving should not be much of a problem,” he added.In the meantime, Cimatu urged the families to be more responsible for the garbage that they throw out.“Holy Week is almost upon us. They [informal settlers] should reflect on the environmental consequences of their actions. They should be more conscientious about the waste they produce,” he said.“First, they should not throw waste directly into the sea. They should segregate and dispose of their waste responsibly. Do the right thing,” Cimatu added.It is not only informal settlers that are encroaching on the three-meter easement or salvage zone in the coasts of El Nido.Earlier this month, DENR Mimaropa (Mindoro Oriental and Mindoro Occidental, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) issued notices to vacate to 32 businesses, including resorts and restaurants, which were found to have structures falling inside the easement zone.The establishments have been given one month to remove structures inside the salvage zone.Aside from encroachment into easement zones and timberlands, El Nido is also facing concerns about degrading water quality and inadequate sewerage facilities.These are the three key issues that Task Force El Nido, composed of the DENR, the Environmental Management Bureau, the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development and the El Nido local government, is aiming to solve.Formed last month, the task force is now inspecting over 200 establishments for compliance with environmental laws and is coordinating with other stakeholders to protect and ensure the sustainability of El Nido as an ecotourism destination.El Nido is part of the El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area, a 90,321-hectare key biodiversity area protected under Presidential Proclamantion 32 signed by then-President Joseph Estrada in 1998.It is famous for its pristine blue waters and white sand beaches, lush forests, towering limestone rock formations and caves and numerous islands.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/relocation-looms-for-el-nido-informal-settlers/388339/
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Diokno: Nayong Pilipino execs responsible for deal
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['Mayvelin U. Caraballo']
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2018-09-05 00:01:02+00:00
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Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno has denied charges that he was involved in facilitating a questioned lease deal between Nayong Pilipino Foundation Inc. (NPFI) and Landing Resorts Philippines Development Corp.“We should not distract ourselves from the main issue here.Ultimately, it is the GOCC (government-owned and -controlled corporations) governing board that has full responsibility and accountability for its decisions,” Diokno said in a statement released on Tuesday.Former government corporate counsel Rudolf Jurado has accused Diokno and Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez 3rd of revoking the bidding requirement for the Nayong Pilipino deal.Jurado claimed that the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) and its ex-officio members, Diokno and Dominguez, came up with a January 2018 circular that overturned rules requiring a public bidding for lease deals of 10 years or more for properties larger than a hectare.The Budget department claimed that the ruling had been misconstrued by Jurado, saying that the GCG circular only emphasized the applicability of Executive Order 301, series of 1987, on the lease of government property for private use, “which authorizes the heads of the agency, to determine the reasonableness of the terms of the lease and the rental rates and enter into such lease contracts.”“This was reiterated in GCG MC (memorandum circular) 2018-02, which expressly recognized that though the proposed Major Development Projects and Contracts of GOCCs lie within the sound business judgment of the respective governing boards of the GOCCs, they are still mandated by existing laws, rules, and regulations to exercise extraordinary diligence in the conduct of business and in dealing with the properties of their respective GOCCs,” the department added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/diokno-nayong-pilipino-execs-responsible-for-deal/438127/
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Palace looking for Judy’s replacement
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2017-08-18 22:55:01+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to name a new head of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) after the Commission on Appointments (CA), rejected anew Secretary Judy Taguiwalo’s ad interim appointment, Malacañang said on Friday.In a press conference, Palace spokesman Ernesto Abella said no names have been raised yet on who will replace Taguiwalo but he added that an officer-in-charge will be named to head the department.Majority of the CA members rejected Taguiwalo’s appointment in an executive session right after the two-hour hearing on Wednesday.Taguiwalo was the third cabinet secretary of Duterte rejected by the CA after then foreign affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay and environment secretary Gina Lopez.After Taguiwalo failed to get the CA members’ nod, Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson conducted an online poll for the next DSWD secretary.Vice President Maria Leni Robredo, Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Lorraine Badoy, and former Tarlac representative Monica Teodoro-Prieto are included in the list of people who might replace Taguiwalo.Uson’s survey showed that Robredo, with 81 percent of the votes, has a wide lead over Badoy and Prieto.But Abella shrugged off the online poll saying, “I’m sure the President has other ways of measuring a candidate’s capability aside from surveys. It means that the he has a different set of categories.”Asked if there is a possibility that Duterte will appoint Robredo as DWSD secretary, Abella said it seems to be a “difficult choice.”“Perhaps, there might be conditionalities that may not be too favorable regarding that. I don’t know. It all depends on the President,” he added.“I mean, I’m not saying no for Leni. I’m just saying that it seems to be a difficult choice,” Abella said.Robredo once served as housing czar but resigned last December after she was advised not to attend Cabinet meetings.Meanwhile, Abella said it was possible that Taguiwalo may be appointed to another government office.He added that during Taguiwalo’s stint as social welfare chief, she enjoyed Duterte’s “full trust and support,” even when she sided with leftist groups opposing the President’s position.“We wish Secretary Taguiwalo all the best in her future endeavors. She knows she will always have the President’s gratitude and friendship for the time, albeit brief, that they spent together in the service of our people,” Abella said.“I don’t know if that’s possible [that Taguiwalo may be reappointed in other government offices]. I don’t know if there’s a precedent for that but I would not be surprised. I mean, I don’t think it’s entirely unthinkable,” he added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/palace-looking-judys-replacement/345360/
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Customs to track ports in real time
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-09-24 19:48:31+00:00
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BUREAU of Customs (BoC) Commissioner Isidro Lapeña has ordered the conversion of the controversial Command Center (ComCen) of the agency into the Operations Center (OpCen) that would track in real time all customs ports around the country but without the authority to issue alert orders on flagged shipments.Lapeña issued the order over the weekend that followed his earlier directive disbanding the ComCen, which he said was not only illegal but also ineffective where the issuance of alert orders was concerned.“ComCen has a lot of computers and monitors, among other equipment. It will be used by the OpCen to monitor the activities in our ports around the country in real time,” he said.OpCen’s function would be similar to that of the Philippine National Police operations center, according to Lapeña, a retired police general prior to his earlier appointment as chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and now as Customs commissioner.The ComCen was a superbody created by then-BoC chief Nicanor Faeldon through Customs Special Order (CSO) 45-2016.It was vested with a centralized power to monitor the bureau’s entire operations and the only unit vested with the authority to issue alert orders.Lapeña issued Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No.14-2017, which delegated back the power to issue alert orders to the deputy commissioner for intelligence (IG), deputy commissioner for enforcement (EG) and all district collectors for shipments arriving within their district and sub-ports.He explained that when an alert order is issued, appraisal and examination is conducted at the collectors’ level and the one who issued it is supposed to do that but which ComCen could not do because it had no one to send to ports outside the Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port.“Without a personnel, it can’t be properly implemented. That is why I immediately directed the issuance of a Customs memorandum order to abolish ComCen and giving authority to the deputy commissioners,’ Lapeña said.All other powers and functions of the ComCen under CSO 45-2016 will be exercised and performed by the corresponding offices and officials pursuant to the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) and Executive Order 127, Series of 1987.Lapeña said grounds for the issuance of alert orders and other provisions of the CMTA and other pertinent laws shall be strictly observed.He also requires all Customs officers who issue alert orders to submit to the office of the commissioners a summary of all alert orders issued within 24 hours upon issuance, a summary of all examined alerted shipments within 24 hours upon completion of examination and summary of shipments examined within 48 hours from the time the consignee or broker was notified of the alert order.“In cases where physical examinations of alerted shipments were not conducted within 48 hours from issuance of the alert order, the status report should also indicate the reason for the delay in [such examinations],” Lapeña said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/customs-track-ports-real-time/352583/
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DoE normalizing power, fuel supplies after ‘Urduja’
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['Jordeene Sheex Lagare']
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2017-12-25 00:02:36+00:00
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AFTER Typhoon Urduja struck the Visayas and Mindanao last week, the Department of Energy (DoE) is doubling its efforts to normalize power and fuel supplies in affected areas.Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said in a statement late last week that the DoE would be monitoring the situation in the affected areas even during the holidays to ensure ample and secure energy supply.“We are doing all that we can to bring back to normalcy the energy situation and secure fuel and power supplies in the typhoon-stricken areas, especially now that Christmas is fast approaching,” he added.Several power facilities were restored after Urduja made landfall and exited the country based on consolidated reports from the National Power Corporation (NPC), National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), National Electrification Administration (NEA) and various electric cooperatives.In Luzon, electricity supply provided by the Quezon I Electric Cooperative (Quezelco I) is now 88.81 percent restored and full restoration was expected on Friday.The Palawan Electric Cooperative did restoration works in Brookes Point and Bataraza towns where there was a landslide.Rehabilitation of power facilities within the service area of Busuanga Island Electric Cooperative was at 75.21 percent.In the Visayas, Biliran now has 93 barangay (villages) energized out of 117 total villages affected—Biliran, 11; Cabucgayan, 13; Caibiran, 17; Naval, 20; Culaba, 13; Almeria, 7; and Kawayan, 12.In Leyte, the most affected electric cooperatives are Don Orestes Romualdez Electric Cooperative (Doreleco) and Leyte III and V Electric Cooperatives (Leyeco III & V).Leyeco III is now 96 percent energized at the barangay level, while Doreleco is hitting energization by 92 percent.The remaining villages to be energized within Leyeco V are Ormoc, 2; Merida, 1; Palompon, 2; Villaba, 7; Tabango, 5; Leyte, 5; Matag’ob, 3; San Isidro, 4; and Calubian, 38.Only the town of Maslog within the coverage area of Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative Inc. has remained unenergized.In Masbate, the most affected town of Esperanza was energized and the DMCI Satellite plant in Aroroy is serving Mandaon municipality and a portion of Aroroy.“All other cities/municipalities the weather disturbance affected are now 100 percent energized,” the DoE said.Technical staff of the DoE’s Oil Industry Management Bureau conducted an onsite inspection in Naval, Biliran to monitor the oil supply situation in the area.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/doe-normalizing-power-fuel-supplies-urduja/370491/
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President set to sign workplace law – Go
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-08-20 00:02:11+00:00
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SPECIAL Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go said the country’s workers would soon get more protection once President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Occupational Safety and Health Bill (OSHB) into law.In a media interview during the 6th Regional Competitiveness Summit on August 16, Go announced the President was set to sign the OSHB.“The Occupational Safety and Health Bill will be signed by our President soon,” he said.Go added that the OSHB would serve as a protection for workers as it seeks to strengthen compliance with occupational safety and health campaign standards .Under the bill, employers are jointly liable with the project owner, contractor, subcontractor and any person who controls or supervises the work done, in case of death or injury in the workplace.“This is protection for the workers, in workplaces, for employers to make sure that the place of work is safe. The employer become liable if something untoward happens,” Go said in Filipino.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/president-set-to-sign-workplace-law-go/432388/
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What we can learn from the survey
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['Ra Jsn Oduger']
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13/10/2017 0:00
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in satisfaction in Class E, the poorest class in Philippine society and long considered the mass base of President Duterte.Some pundits believe this may be due to the perception that most of those who have fallen in the nationwide anti-drugs campaign, as carried out by the Philippine National Police (PNP), were poor folk. President Duterte has now ordered in a memorandum signed Oct. 10, that all anti-drug operations will henceforth be led by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), with the PNP only in a supportive capacity.This first year of the administration has been concentrated, it seems, on the anti-drugs campaign. It is indeed a tremendous problem that merits the all-out efforts of the government to eradicate it for the future of the nation’s youth. But other problems also call for the government’s attention, most notably the age-old problem of widespread poverty.The drop in ratings may thus be also related to the unfulfilled expectations of so many poor folk for a better life through more employment, more and cheaper food on the table, and better government services such as in mass transportation. The “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program is thus anxiously being awaited for the massive government spending may well stimulate the national economy in a way that will touch the lives of the poor.The campaigns against drugs, against corruption, for more independent foreign policy, for closer ties with our neighbors are all important. But the government should start focusing on long-awaited reforms and programs that will have a direct effect on the everyday lives of the people, especially the poor. This could be what the people want to tell the government with their responses to the recent SWS survey.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/10/13/what-we-can-learn-from-the-survey/
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MIAA chief strengthens drive vs. abusive taxi drivers; urges public to report complaints
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['Chris Revera', 'Herbert Halm']
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2/2/2017 0:00
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As the incidents of swindling and robbery involving taxi drivers increase, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Ed Monreal vowed to strengthen the airport’s drive against abusive drivers.He has directed the office of the Assistant General Manager for Security and Emergency Services (AGMSES) to intensify the anti-crime operations, focusing on the aforementioned crimes as well as theft.According to Monreal, the MIAA has recorded a total of 1,249 cases involving taxi drivers in 2016.Just last month, a certain Ralph Perez posted on social media his experience about how he was victimized by a taxi driver.Based on Perez’s story, taxi driver Victorino Duldulao tried to overcharge his bill as he noticed the taxi meter was running too fast.Perez was only able to escape and ask for help when he told Duldulao he needed to withdraw cash from an ATM.After an intensive surveillance, the Special Task Force headed by Airport Police Officer (APO) II Roderick Mejia was able to apprehend Duldulao at NAIA Terminal 3 on Wednesday (Feb. 1).”It (operation) was quite tricky because the driver used ‘kambal plaka’, but through intensive surveillance, we were sure that he was the last one who used the unit,” Mejia told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).”Kambal plaka” is a public transport modus operandi done by using twin/multiple plates.Even if Duldulao tried to resist, he eventually admitted he was responsible for robbery-overcharging.He is currently under the custody of the airport police. Duldulao was charged with resistance to lawful order, concealing true name, and direct assault.Duldulao has no driver’s license, and has an outstanding robbery case according to MIAA.Authorities are currently contacting other possible victims of Duldulao to be able to consolidate data and file criminal case.Appeal to the publicMonreal is urging the public to report if they have been victimized by taxi drivers.The airport manager noted that there were cases which failed to be filed due to the lack of documents gathered.”We’re really serious about these issues. We’re not promising we’ll have zero cases, but we’re doing our best,” Monreal said.He added that the increasing number of cases involving taxi drivers doesn’t just give a bad image to the airport, but also to the country, especially for tourists.The need for taxisIt was in 2016 when airport authorities allowed the white/regular taxis to pick up passengers in NAIA.When asked if these regular taxis have contributed much to the increasing cases involving taxi drivers, Monreal clarified that allowing these taxis in the airport premises is for the passengers’ welfare.”We should be servicing around 2,000 passengers per hour. Let’s say only half of them would take a cab, we still need transport services since we only have around 700 coupon taxis,” he explained.The MIAA chief also reminded passengers to keep the taxi coupon, and to demand for it if they were not given one.They can also complain if they were not issued taxi coupons, he added. (PNA)
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/02/02/miaa-chief-strengthens-drive-vs-abusive-taxi-drivers-urges-public-to-report-complaints/
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Another mass killing of innocents in US
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['Eric Skopec', 'Melenggay Laranery']
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10/11/2017 0:00
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It was only a little over a month ago, on October 1, that a lone gunman rained bullets on a crowd attending a country music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, killing 58 people and wounding over 515. It was the deadliest shooting attack in the US ever.Last November 5, another gunman opened fire at the congregation in a Baptist church in the small town of Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing 26 and wounding 20. It was the fifth deadliest mass shooting incident in modern US history.To this day, it is not known why the killers in these two incidents did what they did. Both were white men but this does not seem to have anything to do with why they chose to kill so many people they had never met before and knew nothing about.In recent shooting attacks in Europe, the gunmen were mostly members of the jihadist Islamic State (IS) inspired by extremist Islamic ideology. Our own Marawi rebellion was led by IS fighters who wanted to establish a regional center of an international Islamic State caliphate.New United States President Donald Trump had this jihadist threat in mind when he sought to ban immigrants and visitors from five mostly Muslim countries in the Middle East. But the two latest mass killings in Nevada and Texas do not support his fears. The killers were not Islamist jihadists. The Las Vegas gunman was a wealthy golf-playing casino gambler; the Texas gunman was a US Air Force veteran discharged by the military in 2014 for allegedly assaulting his wife and child. Neither were connected to any organized terrorist group.The Texas mass killing, like that in Nevada a month earlier, like the many other similar incidents in the US for several years now, raised calls from many quarters for stricter US gun laws. But gun ownership is a revered tradition in American history, a great part of the lore of the American West, and protected by the American Constitution no less.After the Texas shooting, voices are bound to be raised anew for some restrictions, such as banning individuals with known histories like the discharged Air Force veteran. All other countries, including the Philippines, have strict gun laws.But, considering the long-standing tradition and a powerful gun lobby, the US is not likely to make any change in the present situation. The public outrage has not reached sufficient strength for the US Congress to act. The US may have to expect more such attacks in the coming months and years.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/11/10/another-mass-killing-of-innocents-in-us/
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NBI returns vehicles in rent-a-car scam
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['Kenneth Hare Hernandez']
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2017-02-21 20:58:27+00:00
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Director Dante Gierran of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has ordered bureau personnel to return vehicles recovered from a rent-a-car syndicate to their rightful owners.A total of 256 vehicles are now in custody of the NBI regional office in Tagaytay City in Cavite province, south of Manila.The NBI was given by the Department of Justice (DOJ) 15 working days to investigate and run after members of the syndicate only one of whom has been arrested.The DOJ on Tuesday issued a lookout bulletin order (LBO) against three suspects in the rent-a-car scam that has victimized car owners from different parts of the country.In a memorandum, DOJ Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd ordered the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to place suspects Ana Pamplona Borlon, Lea Constantino Rosales and Rafaela Anunciacion under an LBO.Aguirre instructed BI Commissioner Jaime Morente to enforce the LBO and to see to it that all airports and seaports shall be alerted about the flight or travel of the suspects.“I enjoin all our Immigration officers and everyone concerned to strictly discharge their duties. This ‘Rent-Tangay’ scam has victimized a lot of persons, let us bring those responsible to our courts so that justice will be served,” he said.The “Rent-Tangay” is a racket where the suspects act as renters of private vehicles and pay an agreed amount of monthly rent.The suspects will then pawn the rented vehicles to other persons and promptly disappear in a move akin to carting away (tangay in Filipino) the vehicles.Scam victims last week sought audience with the DOJ during which it was learned that there are around 500 people who fell for the racket.Some of the vehicles were recovered in southern Mindanao provinces such as Lanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi.Under the LBO, all Immigration officers are directed to immediately coordinate with the Office of the Secretary of the DOJ any attempt on the part of the three suspects to leave the Philippines, as well as with the NBI director information about the suspects.All the latest information shall cover the aliases, date and place of birth, copy of passport and latest photo of the three suspects.Aguirre also ordered the Justice department to obtain a warrant of arrest “if it should be found that there is probable cause to criminally charge the respondents.”WITH JOMAR CANLAS
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/nbi-returns-vehicles-rent-car-scam-2/313483/
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7 arrested for illegal discharge of firearms
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['Anthony Vargas']
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2016-12-26 21:54:54+00:00
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Police on Monday said they have arrested at least seven persons for illegal discharge of firearms in different parts of the country.According to Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos, Philippine National Police spokesman, three of the violators were apprehended in the Ilocos Region, three in the Central Visayas Region and one in the Cordillera Autonomous Region under the PNP’s “Ligtas Paskuhan 2016” campaign.Carlos said three cases involving victims hit by stray bullets have been recorded in Central Visayas (two) and Soccskargen (one).The PNP spokesman added that one person was also arrested in the Davao Region for illegal possession, use and sale of firecrackers.Carlos said at least eight persons were reported to have been injured by firecrackers in Metro Manila (five), Ilocos Region (2) and Central Luzon (1).
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/7-arrested-illegal-discharge-firearms-2/303818/
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Bello to PLDT: Regularize 7,000 workers
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['William Depasupil']
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2018-07-11 00:09:32+00:00
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THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) called on telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) to regularize more than 7,000 workers and pay them P51.6 million monetary benefits.Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd made the appeal amid the firm’s continued refusal to implement his department’s order.Instead of regularizing the workers, PLDT terminated its service contracts.“It is now final and executory,” Bello said, referring to the resolution he signed on January 10, 2018, that denied with finality the appeal of PLDT to the department’s resolution directing the telecommunications giant and its contractors to regularize the more than 7,306 workers.“Definitely it is wrong to terminate their workers. [PLDT] has to comply with the order and regularize their workers from its contractors,” the Labor chief said.Even if the contract between PLDT and its service contractors are terminated, he said the workers should be regularized and their contractors blacklisted.“The order is to regularize all of more than 7,000 workers which were outsourced by the contractors because they are found to be labor-only contractors. The job, work or services of the workers are necessary and desirable to the business of PLDT, hence they should not be outsourced,” Bello said.“I told them already to propose their regularization plan and submit it to us. We are willing to consider. I’m sure that PLDT is also a law-abiding company. We will have a meeting with them to clear the legal extent of the order,” he added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/bello-to-pldt-regularize-7000-workers/418133/
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Stable ‘Noche Buena’ food prices assured
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['Jing Villamente']
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2016-12-07 22:02:58+00:00
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Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Teodoro Pascua on Wednesday said the government is working to ensure continued stable prices for Noche Buena (Midnight Meal) Christmas foods and prime commodities. He foresees no higher consumer prices until the end of December, even with the recent Philippine peso depreciation similar with other Asian currencies.In a news conference at the Pandesal Forum of Kamuning Bakery Café in Quezon City, Pascua cited the continued stable prices of pandesal, breads and other flour-based food products were the result of the government’s continuous consultations with bakery groups and other sectors, as well as declining global prices of wheat and flour.He said he and DTI have been meeting and working closely with diverse business organizations, enterprises and consumers to monitor prices of basic foods and consumer goods.Pascua urged the media to encourage a less Western or more pro-local consumer behavior, such as promoting the buying of Filipino-made parol lanterns instead of the Western idea of Christmas trees, singing or playing Filipino Christmas carols instead of Western music with lyrics about winter or snow, etc.He said a source of good news for stable consumer goods and food prices for 2017 is the Duterte administration’s new plan to roll out DTI’s P1 billion special fund for micro-lending to micro, small and medium-scale (MSME) entrepreneurs, which hopes to ease the burdens of small traders who used to be dependent on high-interest, so-called “5-6” loans.This special DTI fund for micro-lending, according to Pascua, can grow to as much as P6 billion by 2018.Pascua said retailers and consumers should consult DTI’s list of suggested retail prices (SRPs) of Noche Buena products released on November 4.He added that the DTI welcomes complaints by the public about possible profiteering, exorbitant prices, faulty quality standards, etc.Pascua said the public can communicate to the DTI via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, telephone, writing letters or visiting their offices.The public is encouraged to use DTI’s “e-Presyo” to guide consumers, retailers, distributors and manufacturers to monitor DTI’s SRP prices.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/stable-noche-buena-food-prices-assured/300509/
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Fast-track tax reform bill, senators urged
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['Jaime Pilapil']
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2017-07-05 21:30:56+00:00
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A tax expert and adviser of the Department of Finance on Wednesday urged senators to fast-track the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 1408 or The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (Train) Bill because it is needed in the ‘Build Build Build’ flagship program of the Duterte administration.Rene Diaz, a former congressman from Nueva Ecija and now chairman of the Center for Strategic Initiatives, said he is confident that administration senators will not think twice to support SB 1408 and called on their “patriotic spirits” to pass it at once so the Duterte development plans could be achieved soonest.“Aside from reducing the burden from the middle class, the majority of Filipino workers, the poor people will benefit more because more opportunities await them like available jobs,” Diaz told a forum in Malate, Manila.When asked about those to be affected by the tax reform package, he identified companies engaged in oil, car and soft-drink making.To finance the ‘Build Build Build’ projects, Diaz said, the government could not just rely on official development assistance or ODA and loans from countries like China and Japan, among others.“It is very critical to assure our world creditors that we have money to pay them back,” he added.‘Build Build Build’ projects are mostly transport programs that will entail building railway systems, additional roads and ports.“We cannot implement these projects by just borrowing, we need cash money to make them rolling,” according to Diaz, who, during his stint in Congress, was the principal author of the Tax Reform Act of 1997, the mother legislation of the Train bill.He said the Senate must pass House Bill 1408 by October before the two Houses of Congress deliberate on the 2018 budget.“The majority senators have enough numbers to pass the bill, so we expect them to pass it without difficulty. Of course, there will be lobbyists from these big companies, but the patriotic spirits of our senators must prevail,” Diaz added.He said the Finance department must conduct more roadshows and media briefings to explain to the public the benefits of the Train bill.Diaz urged people who are hooked on social media to visit the Facebook account of the Department of Finance where the Duterte tax reform package is explained in detail.He also urged the department to empower the Bureau of Internal Revenue to have access to computer systems of major retailers to identify where their vessels are coming and where their goods are delivered.“In this way, we can track their goods and we will know exactly how to tax them,” Diaz said.He is proposing other ways to raise revenues from the sale of the 400-hectare New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City and transferring it to the 33,000-hectare Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija.The sale will generate at least P200 billion, Diaz said.He is supporting the granting of tax compromise to tax cheats like smugglers, saying filing cases against them in court takes decades and with most cases finding the accused innocent in the end.Diaz wants other government-owned vast tracts of lands for sale like Boystown in Marikina City and National Mental Hospital in Mandaluyong City, among others.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/fast-track-tax-reform-bill-senators-urged/336672/
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MMDA eyes special lanes for fire trucks
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['Philippines News Agency']
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2016-12-31 17:23:40+00:00
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The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) plans to designate special lanes for fire trucks and other emergency vehicles along EDSA and other major thoroughfares by the first quarter of 2017.MMDA General Manager Thomas Orbos said fire trucks and ambulances should pass unimpeded so they could swiftly respond to emergencies.“We assure that the MMDA will be able to provide our riders, through the assistance of our Metrobase, to help them pass through these special lanes. We will inform traffic enforcers that a certain emergency incident is happening,” Orbos said.The MMDA will give emergency vehicles accreditation.Orbos explained that special lanes are not VIP lanes and are intended to ensure that traffic will not be a hindrance to vehicles providing medical, rescue and other emergency services.“We would like to reiterate that these special lanes must not be abused and must be utilized for truly emergency purposes,” he said.The agency will also deploy towing trucks to clear obstructions, such as illegally parked vehicles, on streets leading to residential communities where there is an emergency.The Bureau of Fire Protection-National Capital Region (BFP-NCR) will convert its conference room into a war room that will be equipped with monitors to mirror those at the Metrobase for efficient monitoring and response to fires in Metro Manila.PNA
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/mmda-eyes-special-lanes-fire-trucks/304567/
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DoLE allots P709M for youth job program
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-04-16 22:17:33+00:00
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THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has allotted P709 million for its youth employment program this year.Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd on Sunday said some 164,000 out-of-school youth and poor students, 15 to 30 years old, will benefit from the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES).Also qualified under the program, Bello added, are displaced or would-be displaced workers as a result of business closures, work stoppages or natural calamities“The budget is intended for the salary of the SPES beneficiaries to help support their studies and other needs” he said.SPES is one of the Labor department’s youth employment-bridging programs that aims to provide beneficiaries with short-term job opportunities during summer and/or Christmas vacation or any time of year to help them continue their education in any secondary, tertiary or technical-vocational institution.Beneficiaries may be employed from 20 to 78 days and may be assigned as service crew, student assistant, clerk, office/administrative assistant, support staff, bookkeeper or plant nursery helper/assistant.Under Department Order 175 or the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10917, applicants must be 15 to 30 years old at the time of application.Services rendered during the period of employment relevant and related to the course of the beneficiary may have equivalent academic and practicum or on-the-job training credits as may be determined by appropriate government agencies.The period of employment of SPES beneficiaries who are eventually hired as employees by the same employer shall form part of their probationary period.Sixty percent of the salary of student beneficiaries will be paid by employers (private or public) in cash while the remaining 40 percent by the government to be paid also in cash.Low-income local government units (LGUs), on the other hand, may submit a letter to the DoLE regional director requesting the department to shoulder a higher percentage share in the salary of SPES beneficiaries based on the following schemes: up to 75 percent share for 6th class municipality; up to 60 percent for 5th class municipality; and up to 50 percent for 4th class municipality or 6th class province.Based on a Bureau of Local Employment report, the National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila) was allotted the biggest budget amounting to P106,192,000 intended for 16,860 beneficiaries.In Luzon, Cordillera Administrative Region was allotted P29,774,000 for 8,050 beneficiaries; Ilocos Region (Region 1), P15,215,000 for 4,180 beneficiaries; Cagayan Valley Region (Region 2), P41,173,000 for 10,590 beneficiaries; Central Luzon Region (Region 3), P83,241,000 for 17,690 beneficiaries; Calabarzon (Region 4A), P54,269,000 for 11,120 beneficiaries; Mimaropa (Region 4B), P22,412,000 for 6,060 beneficiaries; and Bicol Region (Region 5), P22,028,000 for 6,390 beneficiaries.In Western Visayas (Region 6), the SPES budget is pegged at P37,128,000 for 8,870 beneficiaries.Central Visayas (Region 7) had an allocation of P72,756,000 for 16,010 beneficiaries; and Eastern Visayas (Region 8), P24,320,000 for 7,130 beneficiaries.In Mindanao, the allocation and target beneficiaries are: Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9), P47,937,000 for 12,490 beneficiaries; Northern Mindanao (Region 10), P35,281,000 for 8,570 beneficiaries; and Davao Region (Region 11), P35,172,000 for 8,010 beneficiaries; Soccsksargen (Region 12), P55,045,000 for 14,390 beneficiaries; and Caraga (Region 13) P26,835,000 for 7,380 beneficiaries.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/dole-allots-p709m-youth-job-program/322494/
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Former BuCor chief to testify vs de Lima
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-11-17 22:07:26+00:00
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The Department of Justice (DoJ) has junked drug charges filed against former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Rafael Ragos in exchange for his testimony against detained Sen. Leila de Lima.De Lima is accused before the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court Branch 204 of taking part in and benefitting from the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP), the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City.In an amended charge sheet, the DoJ cleared Ragos of the charges and named the senator and her former lover Ronnie Dayan as the primary accused in the case.An 11-page resolution was issued by the Justice department led by State Prosecutor Peter Ong after Ragos filed a supplemental motion for reconsideration.The former BuCor chief said he cannot be indicted for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9165 because of his admission into the Witness Protection and Security Benefits Program (WPSBP).He added that he only delivered P10 million in drug payoffs to de Lima, who was then Justice secretary, and Dayan on separate occasions.”With the foregoing disclosures and his admission into the WPSBP, the undersigned panel of prosecutors recommends that Ragos be excluded from the information in Criminal Case No. 17-165. The other grounds relied upon by respondent Ragos in assailing the joint resolution dated February 14, 2017 are, thus, rendered moot and academic,” the resolution said.Ragos had disclosed before the House of Representatives that he delivered P5 million to Dayan at the senator’s residence in November 2012, saying he saw Dayan handing a bag containing the money to de Lima.“I had no choice but to say yes to Mr. Dayan because I know how close he is to Secretary de Lima. I am a frequent visitor to the house of Secretary de Lima in Parañaque [City] and her office on Padre Faura [Street in Ermita, Manila, where the DoJ is located] and even their house in Bicol, so I was able to observe their behavior and intimacy toward each other,” the ex-BuCor chief said in his affidavit.Ragos, then the director of the Corrections bureau, supposedly was getting orders from de Lima and Dayan.Bucor is an agency under the Justice department, which supervises the NBP.De Lima’s bid for the Senate in the 2016 elections was reportedly funded by illegal drugs.De Lima and Dayan are charged for conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading, a violation of Section 26 (b) in relation to Section 5, Section 3 (jj) and Section 28 of RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.“The inmates of the [NBP], not being authorized by law and through the use of mobile phones and other electronic devices, willfully and unlawfully traded and trafficked dangerous drugs,” the charge sheet read.“Thereafter [the inmates] gave and delivered to de Lima and/through Dayan the proceeds of illegal drug trading amounting to P5 million on 24 November 2012 and another P5 million on 15 December 2012,” it said.De Lima was charged with three separate cases of drug trafficking before the Muntinlupa RTC that were assigned to three different courts.The cases for sale and trading of illegal drugs and liability of government officials under RA 9165 were assigned to RTC Branch 204 Judge Juanita Guerrero, Branch 205 Judge Amelia Fabros-Corpuz and Branch 206 Judge Patria Manalastas-de Leon.In the first case before Guerrero, charged were de Lima, Dayan and Ragos.In the second case before Corpuz, the senator is joined by her nephew Jose Adrian Dera.In the third case before de Leon, de Lima was charged along with Dera; Dayan; former BuCor chief Franklin Bucayu and his alleged bagman Wilfredo Elli; high-profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian; and the senator’s s former bodyguard Jonel Sanchez.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/former-bucor-chief-testify-vs-de-lima/363423/
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Angara asked to spare socialized housing from tax
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['Jing Villamente']
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2017-09-23 20:31:11+00:00
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A consumer and commuter’s group on Saturday appealed President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara to not to remove the tax relief for socialized housing.In the weekly forum at the Kapihan sa Annabels, United Filipino Consumers and Commuters (UFCC) president Rodolfo Javellana said that if Angara’s proposal to remove the tax relief for socialized housing is passed by Congress and signed into law by President Duterte, the senator’s reelection could suffer from the backlash of taxpayers, particularly the poor, he said.“Senator, please do not deprive us of our dream to own a decent housing,” he added.Angara’s measure proposes to tax the purchase of a low-cost and socialized house worth P450,000.Under Republic Act 7279 or the Urban Housing and Development Act of 1992, the 12-percent value-added tax only applies to the purchase of a housing unit worth P3.2 million and above.According to UFCC, Angara’s tax reform plan would burden people, including overseas Filipino workers who could afford to buy only low-cost and socialized housing units worth P450,000.“If I were him, he must not push for the insertion to scrap the housing tax relief,” Javellana said.“Spare housing from tax,” he said.“Sadly, it will be our members who account for 60 percent of the buyers of mass housing projects, and that their families, who are barely able to scrape enough income for their monthly Pag-IBIG [Home Mutual Development Fund] amortizations, will bear the brunt of the tax imposition,” Javellana added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/angara-asked-spare-socialized-housing-tax/352315/
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Blue Ribbon to probe SolGen firm’s contracts
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2018-08-20 00:04:39+00:00
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THE Senate Blue Ribbon committee will push through with its investigation of supposed conflict of interest arising from security service contracts between several government agencies and the security firm owned by the family of Solicitor General Jose Calida.Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the committee, said unless the Supreme Court issued a restraining order, the hearing, called for by Senate Resolution 760, would proceed.“The SolGen is not exempted,” Gordon said in an interview over radio station dzBB.Calida and his family last week asked the Supreme Court to stop the Senate from investigating P150 million in contracts obtained by their Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc. (Visai) with the government.Senate Resolution 760, filed by members of the Senate minority bloc on May 30, noted that of the 14 government contracts bagged by Visai, nine came after Calida assumed the position of solicitor general.“If there is a restraining order, I will respect, I will withhold. Although being a separate body we can do it, but out of respect [we will not do it],” Gordon said.The Blue Ribbon committee, however, has not yet set the date of the hearing.Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th on Friday pointed out that Calida does not have any immunity from legislative inquiry.“Let me remind Mr. Calida that he is not a sacred cow. Thus, his petition for TRO (temporary restraining order) has no legal basis,” Trillanes said.“Mark me, no matter where he hides, Mr. Calida’s corrupt practices will soon be exposed. Tuloy ang imbestigasyon (The investigation will proceed)!” he added.Visai secured a contract with the Department of Justice, wherein the Office of the Solicitor General is an attached agency.It bagged security services contracts from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., National Economic and Development Authority, National Anti-Poverty Commission, National Electrification Administration and National Parks Development Committee.The minority bloc is composed of Senators Franklin Drilon, Francis Pangilinan, Paolo Benigno Aquino, 4th Risa Hontiveros, Leila de Lima and Trillanes.WITH BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/blue-ribbon-to-probe-solgen-firms-contracts/432392/
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Importers to PPA: Reject 25% tariff hike
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-06-26 21:26:21+00:00
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IMPORTERS and port stakeholders have called on the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to reject the 25-percent hike in cargo handling tariff for international containerized cargo at the Batangas Container Terminal.Earlier, a PPA technical working group approved a hefty increase in cargo handling tariff for the Manila North Harbor Port Inc. (MNHPI) despite a united position of stakeholders rejecting the hike, citing adverse effects of such adjustment on ordinary Filipinos as well as on government efforts to improve business competitiveness.The PPA board last week gave the green light to MNHPI’s request for 24-percent tariff increase, which will be implemented in three tranches.But in a statement, clients of the Batangas terminal have rejected the argument of Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI), which operates the facility, that the upward adjustment was a “cost recovery measure” since the port terminal’s profit actually increased last year.JR Dayco of MCC Transport/Maersk raised the issue that ATI enjoyed an increase in volume since 2013.ATI vice president for commercial and marketing Sean James Perez, however, argued that since 2010 when the company started operating the container terminal until 2013, there was “no market or income.”ATI earlier issued a statement announcing that its net earnings rose eight percent last year at P1.91 billion, up from P1.77 billion in 2015 on the back of record volume of cargo handled by its international ports in Manila and Batangas.In a recent public hearing, Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary for Maritime Fernando Juan Perez admitted that the planned upward adjustment will lead to higher prices of consumer goods even as he acknowledged the need for the Batangas terminal to survive.“This [tariff] will impact on the regular Juan dela Cruz as the consignees will just pass this increase to the consumer. The increase is too big for the ordinary layman,” he said.Based on minutes of the meeting, Fernie Casiño of Suzuki Motorcycle Industries said the increase will jack up prices of motorcycle units.Perez noted that the impact of the tariff hike will not just be on motorcycles but on other goods as well such as chicken, rice and flour.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/importers-ppa-reject-25-tariff-hike/335042/
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LTO to Maria Isabel Lopez: Surrender driver’s license
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['Mary Gleefer F. Jalea']
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2017-11-27 21:36:37+00:00
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The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Monday revoked the driver’s license of former beauty queen Maria Isabel Lopez and ordered her to pay a fine of P8,000 for violating the anti-distracted driving law, disregarding traffic signs and reckless driving.Lopez will not be able to drive for two years.“The Driver’s License of respondent Maria Isabel Lopez Yokohama is revoked effective immediately, the respondent being an improper person to operate a motor vehicle and further ordered to surrender her Driver’s License Card within 24 hours upon receipt hereof to the Office of the Director, Law Enforcement Service, Land Transportation Office for disposition,” the LTO said.The LTO summoned Lopez on November 13 for removing plastic barriers used for the lane designated for VIPs and diplomats attending the 31st Association of Southeast Asian (Asean) Summit.Lopez had apologized for her act and claimed that it was not her intention to breach security.But the agency dismissed her appeal.“(Lopez) is not isolated from the mainstream of society and secluded in a world of her own, unconcerned with the daily lives of the rest of the nation…Hence, she should have been more circumspect in her actuations as a licensed driver and a responsible citizen,” the LTO said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/lto-maria-isabel-lopez-surrender-drivers-license/365348/
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Armed Forces, PNP to keep tattoo ban
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['Roy Narra']
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2018-04-03 00:04:19+00:00
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Existing bans in the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on tattoos sported by applicants stay.In both the PNP and the AFP, however. would-be policemen and soldiers can still enter the service if they remove their tattoos first.PNP chief Ronald de la Rosa on Monday clarified that they do not slam the door on tattooed applicants rightaway.“We don’t reject them outright. We tell them to go home and remove their tattoo,” he said.He, however, admitted that their ban on tattoos discriminates against would-be policemen who wear them.“Our process is really discriminatory. [But] [d]o you really want to see someone in police uniform who has tattoos all over his arms? People would think that they [are] criminals,” the PNP chief said in English and Filipino.Besides, he added, the organization just wants to uphold tradition.“We are just being traditional here because if you will lose this standard, they [police applicants] are not pleasant to look at… I know you will invoke your right to artistic desire but, for us, it is taboo,” de la Rosa said.Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana agreed, saying also on Monday that he would want to keep the prohibition for it is a “strict rule” that should be observed.Lorenzana was reacting to a proposal made by Rep. Karlo Nograles of Davao City (First District) to lift the tattoo ban in getting recruits for the military.Over the weekend, Nograles said it is high time for the AFP and the PNP to ditch the prohibition within their respective organizations, adding it is no longer “taboo” to sport tattoos.According to him, he knows “a lot of people” who were refused entry into the military because of the existing ban on tattoos.Nograles said the ban is “unfair” since having a tattoo is not a proper gauge of skills in the field.Lorenzana, however, maintained that the military is only imposing strict rules for its applicants.“Any good reason [why] we will lift it? We would like to keep it that way. Just like the haircut. The military imposes rules on haircut and even mustaches, why not tattoos? Tattoos are ugly and connote a gangster image,” he said in an interview with reporters.“It is already their fault [if they have tattoos] [but] they can have their tattoos removed [before applying as soldiers],” Lorenzana added.Nograles said it was “quite archaic” or old-fashioned for the military to impose the tattoo ban.But Lorenzana said the military has always been an “old-fashioned organization in some ways.”“We have standards of behaviors that hark back to medieval times and they are still relevant today [such as] following orders, wearing approved uniforms and badges, fitting into an organization, having a regulation haircut, having regulated daily activities [to] be physically fit,” the Defense chief pointed out.Nograles also proposed to scrap the minimum height requirement for PNP aspirants, describing it as “nonsensical.”De la Rosa agreed, saying, “We cannot really base one’s skills and kindness based on their height so, for us, it is OK. There is just a law needed to modify it. We are gonna lobby for it.”The current height requirement in the PNPA is 5 feet, 4 inches for male applicants and 5 feet, 2 inches for female applicants.with
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/armed-forces-pnp-to-keep-tattoo-ban/390169/
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City jail, not PNP center, for Sombero
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-04-21 00:05:52+00:00
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The Sandiganbayan’s Sixth Division has denied Wenceslao “Wally” Sombero Jr.’s plea for detention at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center at Camp Crame in Quezon City.The denial means that Sombero, who is accused of plunder, will have to be held at the Quezon City Jail Annex at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.His camp earlier filed a motion seeking his detention at the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame–the organization’s general headquarters–while the plunder case, which he and two others are facing, is pending.It cited Sombero’s “security concerns and health issues.”“This court resolves to deny accused Sombero’s urgent ex-parte motion, it appearing that the PNP Custodial Center only accommodates detainees on a temporary basis, pending their transfer to the appropriate detention facility,” the Sandiganbayan said in a three-page resolution dated April 17.Meanwhile, the anti-graft court granted a plea of former Bureau of Immigration Deputy Commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles to withdraw their plea for the transfer of their temporary detention to the PNP Custodial Detention Center.Argosino, Robles and Sombero are facing the plunder case before the Sandiganbayan in connection with money, which Argosino and Robles allegedly received through Sombero in exchange for the release of allegedly illegal Chinese workers.At the time material to the case, in November 2016, Sombero was president of the Asian Gaming Service Provider Association Inc.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/city-jail-not-pnp-center-for-sombero/393758/
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CHR slams govt plan to name ‘narco politicians’
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['Mary Gleefer F. Jalea']
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2018-04-23 00:02:47+00:00
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The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has urged the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to “be more discerning” in publicly naming barangay (village) officials allegedly involved in the drug trade.“The commission agrees that there is a need to cleanse the local government from those who exacerbate the drug problem. We, however, urge the PDEA to be more discerning in releasing any information pertaining to the drug list,” the CHR said in a statement over the weekend.The rights body reiterated that, instead, filing a case in court “is the proper way to apprehend and exact accountability” from erring public officials.Public accusations without due process to concerned personalities will likely cause “undue shame, violates their right to fair trial, erodes their dignity and results in suffering of their families” and have “irreversible” consequences should they be proven innocent later on, the CHR said.On April 17, PDEA chief Aaron Aquino announced that , once ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte, the agency would release to the public the list of erring public officials in Eastern Visayas who are allegedly involved in the drug trade but still want to seek reelection.“We have to publish their names so that if they are candidates now for the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK or Youth Council) and barangay (village) elections, they should not be elected,” Aquino said in a news conference.The President signed Memorandum Order 21 commanding the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to ensure peaceful synchronized barangay and SK elections that will be held on May 14.The AFP, the PNP and other concerned agencies are “directed to coordinate and cooperate with the Comelec [Commission on Elections] in the performance of their duties,” a portion of the order read.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/chr-slams-govt-plan-to-name-narco-politicians/394195/
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Former Army chief named BCDA head
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2018-01-12 21:32:00+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed retired Army chief Lt. Gen. Glorioso Miranda to the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).Duterte signed Miranda’s appointment paper on January 8 that was released to the media on Friday.Miranda was named as member of the board of directors of the BCDA to serve the unexpired term of office of Serafin Salvador.He will assume his post until June 30, 2018.Miranda, a member of the Philippine Military Academy “Matikas” Class of 1983, served as the acting commanding general of the Philippine Army from December 2016 until his retirement in October 2017.Duterte has been outspoken in appointing former members of the military to his government.In an earlier speech, the President was confident that tapping Miranda as a member of BCDA board could help in fighting corruption within the agency.“I really salute General Miranda. That is why [automatically] he will be a member of the board of this [BCDA]. No military man is running that,” Duterte said.“I need somebody there from your sector so, I said, you can look into how it is being run. Now, [if] there is corruption, you can flog [those involved],” the President added.The BCDA, a government-owned and controlled corporation or GOCC, is mandated to transform former US military bases for “alternative productive civilian use.”Among those converted were Bonifacio Global City in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, and Newport City in Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/former-army-chief-named-bcda-head/373891/
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Ex-police got P60M ‘bribe,’ not P50M, from Jack Lam
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-02-12 20:51:13+00:00
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THERE is a discrepancy of P10 million between the amount that retired police official Wally Sombero claimed to have given to two Bureau of Immigration (BI) associate commissioners in exchange for the release of undocumented aliens working for Chinese gambling tycoon Jack Lam, and the amount that Lam stated in affidavits that his interpreters had submitted to the Senate blue ribbon committee.Based on the affidavits received by his committee from Lam’s interpreters, Sen. Richard Gordon on Sunday said, a total of P60 million was released to Sombero on the night of November 26 and early morning of November 27.At the time, former BI associate commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles met with Sombero at the City of Dreams in Pasay City (Metro Manila) supposedly to discuss the case of the 1,316 Chinese illegally working at Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Clark, Pampanga.Argosino and Robles are fraternity brothers of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd who also met with Lam, Sombero and the two interpreters at Shangri-La hotel in Bonifacio Global City (Taguig City) in Metro Manila in the afternoon of November 26.Gordon said the claims of the interpreters about the P60 million gave Sombero a reason to return to the country and face the Senate blue ribbon committee.“That is why I don’t want that information to come out until Sombero comes in, because he will be in trouble in case he insists that he only received P50 million,” Gordon said in an radio interview aired over dzBB.But since the information is already out, the senator added, Sombero could now prepare his answer to the committee regarding the P60 million.The blue ribbon committee was supposed to present during its hearing last week Lam’s reported business partner Charlie “Atong” Ang and interpreters Alex Yu and Norman Ng.Sombero last year filed complaints for violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against Argosino and Robles for allegedly extorting P50 million in exchange for the release of Lam’s workers.Gordon said Sombero had assured him that he will be attending the blue ribbon hearing on Thursday (February16).According to the senator, he spoke with the former police official last Friday and was told by Sombero that he would return to the country and face the Gordon committee.The senator said he assured Sombero that the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms will provide him security once he arrives in the country.Sombero, in a letter to the Gordon panel, said he was very concerned about his and his family’s safety because of supposed threats that he has been receiving.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ex-police-got-p60m-bribe-not-p50m-jack-lam/311881/
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2 CA justices lead race for high court post
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['Catherine A. Modesto']
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2018-10-02 00:02:16+00:00
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Court of Appeals Justices Japar B. Dimaampao and Ramon D.R. Garcia led the shortlist of candidates for the associate justice post in the Supreme Court (SC), the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) said on Monday.Dimaampao and Garcia got six votes each from the JBC panel composed of ex-officio members Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra and Senator Richard J. Gordon, and members Jose C. Mendoza, Maria Milagros N. Fernan-Cayosa and Toribio E. Ilao, Jr.They were followed by RosMari Carandang, Manuel M. Barrios and Apolinario Bruselas, Jr. who got five votes.Appellate court justices Edgardo de los Santos, Ramon Paul Hernando, Amy Lazaro-Javier and Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez tied with four votes each.Last week, Davao Mayor Sara Duterte submitted her opposition to Marquez’s application, accusing him of currying her favor by attempting to have “petitioners and witnesses” drop a disbarment case against her so she could endorse him to the position of associate justice.She also advised the Office of the President to be wary of Marquez, saying it must “think twice in appointing this individual to be a justice, more so a chief justice.”Thirteen candidates were screened by the JBC to replace Ombudsman Samuel Martires. Of the 13, eight were publicly interviewed by the JBC members on September 26 while five others still had valid interviews with them.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/2-ca-justices-lead-race-for-high-court-post/447283/
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Waste woes demand long-term investments from LGUs – expert
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['Elmer B. Sambo']
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6/9/2017 0:00
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An expert said there is a need for local government units (LGUs) to invest in anaerobic digesters – tanks where microorganisms break down biodegradable waste into useful material – to improve solid waste management (SWM) nationwide.“Long-term SWM investments will help turn biodegradables into organic fertilizer and biofuel while protecting the environment and reducing the volume of trash for disposal,” said Eligio Ildefonso, executive director of the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) Secretariat.Ildefonso stressed the urgent need for anaerobic digester investments stems from the increasing volume of waste, as well as the government crackdown on illegal dumpsites and the permanent closure of the Payatas sanitary landfill where Quezon City had been dumping its trash.The government target to increasingly divert waste from landfills increases this urgency, he added.According to experts, anaerobic digestion is a biological process that occurs naturally when microorganisms break down organic matter in environments with little or no oxygen.Data from the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) indicate the extent of biodegradable waste and the potential for harnessing the anaerobic digestion process in several Metro Manila LGUs.The data showed that biodegradables account for the bulk of waste in the cities of Caloocan (48.6 percent); Mandaluyong (46 percent); Marikina (46.54 percent); Pasay (41.20 percent); Quezon (54 percent); Taguig (52.37 percent); and Valenzuela (46 percent); as well as the municipality of Pateros (57.46 percent).Biodegradables also form a significant part of waste in Las Piñas (27.73 percent); Makati (36 percent); Parañaque (28.36 percent); and Pasig (38 percent).The volume of waste Metro Manila LGUs dispose of daily varies from 487 cubic meters in Las Piñas to 3,507.7 cubic meters in Caloocan, according to the EMB data.“LGUs can reduce the volume of waste for disposal by turning biodegradables into organic fertilizer and biofuel through anaerobic digestion using proper facilities,” said Ildefonso, noting that locally available basic anaerobic digesters cost about P1 million each.To meet financing requirements, he said several barangays could form a cluster and pool their funds to purchase an anaerobic digester for their common use.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/09/06/waste-woes-demand-long-term-investments-from-lgus-expert/
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P117-B train project to link Manila and Bicol
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-01-23 20:51:36+00:00
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FILIPINO and Chinese transportation and railway officials are expected to seal anytime soon a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that would pave the way for the rehabilitation and modernization of the 653-kilometer Manila to Bicol railway system.The P117.3-billion Manila-Bicol South Railway Project was approved last year by the National Economic and Development Authority.“The President told us, ‘Give me a railway,’ ”Philippine National Railways Chairman Roberto Lastimoso said on Monday during the weekly Tapatan sa Aristocrat media forum in Malate, Manila, quoting President Rodrigo Duterte.“It will happen, we will do it, ” according to Lastimoso.The Manila-Bicol train project will be implemented under the public-private partnership scheme.Lastimoso disclosed before the media forum that also in the pipeline is the P214-billion North-South Railway Project, which will connect the Visayas and Mindanao regions.It will be one of the biggest infrastructure projects under the Duterte administration, he said.In the same forum, lawyer Timothy John Batan, Railway Sector senior project development officer of the Department of Transportation, said the Manila-Bicol project would come first.“The modernization of the Tutuban [in Manila’s Divisoria area] to Bicol railway system will come handy because it has no more right-of-way problems,” he added.At present, the PNR train service is only from Tutuban to Calamba City, Laguna, south of Manila.Batan assured though that once the project is completed in 2021, it will reach Legazpi City (provincial capital of Albay in Bicol), including an additional route to Matnog, Sorsogon, and Clark Freeport, Pampanga, north of Manila.During the presidential campaign in May last year, Duterte expressed his support for the establishment of a modern train system in Luzon that will reach up to the Ilocos Region and also in the entire island of Mindanao and as well as in the Panay, Negros and Cebu regions.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/p117-b-train-project-link-manila-bicol/308406/
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'Fake news bill imperils freedom of expression'
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-06-23 20:52:06+00:00
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‘Fake news bill imperils freedom of expression’home/News/Nation/‘Fake news bill imperils freedom of expression’A proposed bill slapping as much as P5-million fine and five-year prison time for peddlers of fake news will endanger citizens’ constitutional right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press, lawmakers warned on Friday.Congressmen Teddy Baguilat of Ifugao and Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna and Antonio Tinio of Alliance of Concerned Teachers sounded the alarm over the proposal made by Sen. Joel Villanueva.Villanueva’s Anti-Fake News bill penalizes “a person who maliciously offers, publishes, distributes, circulates and spreads false news or information or causes the publication, distribution, circulation or spreading of the same in print, broadcast or online media and the person having full knowledge that information is false or has reasonable grounds to believe that the same is false.”Villanueva’s proposal says such false news or information must cause or tend to cause panic, division, chaos, violence and hate or must exhibit or tend to exhibit a propaganda to blacken or discredit one’s reputation.“That bill is patterned after the German law but the German law was legislated to fight hate messages and has strong constitutional grounds because of its anti-Nazi, anti-hate provisions. In our case, I would suggest we should instead work on ways on how to fight fake news without having the state use its powers to restrict freedom of expression,” Baguilat, a former journalist, said in a text message.The Ifugao lawmaker was referring to Germany’s war history wherein the Nazis led by Adolf Hitler ordered all Jews in Europe killed for supposedly being an inferior race.“While the proliferation of fake news and online misinformation has to be addressed decisively, we submit that criminalizing it is not the way forward. The bill’s very broad scope may infringe on the people’s constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of expression,” Zarate, also a former journalist before becoming a public official like Baguilat, said.Baguilat and Tinio said self-regulation remains the best way to fight fake news since media organizations are already liable for peddling false information under the libel law and that government officials are already covered by the law on Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials.Zarate and Tinio said fake news is just modern-day propaganda, a strategy that has been used by the country’s colonizers and then-President Ferdinand Marcos to stifle dissent among the Filipinos who were fighting for freedom and democracy, respectively.Instead of penalizing fake news peddlers, Zarate called for speedy passage of the Freedom of Information bill so the public will have available facts, rather than fake news, to consume.“The best way to counter fake news is for the people to be well informed of facts,” he said.LLANESCA T. PANTI
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/fake-news-bill-imperils-freedom-expression/334510/
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Summer season to start this week
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['Mary Gleefer F. Jalea']
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2018-04-08 20:02:43+00:00
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The state-run weather bureau on Sunday said it may officially declare the start of summer this week as the northeast monsoon or amihan season is about to end.According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), summer indicates the onset of dry season with weather systems including easterlies or warm winds from the Pacific.“Easterlies will bring warm weather to the country this week, particularly toEastern Visayas, while the northeast monsoon will only likely affect Luzon in two to three days,” weather specialist Gener Quitlong said.Quitlong added that Pagasa is not expecting any major weather system approaching the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).Forecast temperature also ranges from 25 to 33 degrees Celsius in most areas of the country, he said.In the meantime, the northeast monsoon will continue to bring cloudy skies with scattered rains over Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, Bicol Region and the provinces of Aurora and Quezon also on Sunday.It will also bring partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains over the Ilocos Region and Central Luzon.Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers, Pagasa said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/summer-season-to-start-this-week/391375/
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Arming priests against Church teachings – CBCP
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['Catherine A. Modesto']
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2018-06-26 00:04:27+00:00
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The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Monday reiterated its policy against arming priests with guns, saying it is against the teachings of the Catholic Church.In a statement dated June 23, but released to media on June 25, CBCP President Archbishop Romulo G. Valles of the Archdiocese of Davao said it is not appropriate for priests to arm themselves.“I have already stated my mind on this issue that I disagree with such manner of action – that a priest would carry firearms,” Valles said.Although he acknowledged the dangers faced by members of the clergy, Valles said, “it is simply not appropriate” for a priest to carry guns to protect himself because a Church leader is supposed “to act in the person of Christ.”“A priest is a person who is configured to Christ. In the teachings of the Church, a priest acts in the person of Christ. In the midst of the Church, in the midst of society, because of the grace of priestly ordination, we are supposed to see and feel in his presence the person of Christ,” the archbishop said.He said the CBCP is extremely troubled and “deeply saddened” by the killing of priests but the attacks do not give priests the privilege to be armed with guns.Last week, the Philippine National Police said 246 priests, ministers and pastors have applied for permits to carry firearms.Valles called on archdioceses and dioceses to discuss the appropriateness of carrying guns.He also called on the police to protect the people, including priests, from criminals.Three priests have been killed for the past six months — Fr. Richmond Nilo, Fr. Mark Anthony Ventura, and Fr. Marcelito Paez.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/arming-priests-against-church-teachings-cbcp/412482/
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Sister Fox to fight deportation order
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['Kimberly Malait']
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2018-07-21 00:15:16+00:00
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Sister Patricia Fox’s camp announced on Friday that it would file a motion for reconsideration at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday morning, following the deportation order filed against the Australian nun.The 71-year-old missionary is once again being ordered by the BI to leave the country within 30 days; however, the order may be put on hold once she files a motion for reconsideration.The bureau also ordered for Fox to be included in the immigration blacklist, barring her from re-entering the country once she leaves.In a press conference, Fox dubbed the deportation order as “ridiculous” and said that she finds no reason for the case against her.“I did not expect it because I’ve never been very outspoken, very upfront or very prominent, so I am not sure how I suddenly became a threat to national security or sovereignty,” Fox said in English and Filipino.Fox’s lawyer, Maria Sol Taule expressed her disappointment in the deportation order through a Facebook post hours after receiving the order on Thursday.“Sister Pat has been doing her missionary work in the Philippines for the past 27 years undisturbed by any deportation case. Helping the poor is not a risk to public interest, peace or order. In fact, the government must recognize her selfless service to the oppressed sectors of this society,” said Taule.Catholic bishops condemned the order of the bureau to deport Fox, saying that this has confirmed the Church’s suspicion that the “government is systematically harassing anyone who has condemned its policies.”Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes said, “this confirms our suspicion that this government is systematically harassing people who criticise their policies. They consider Sr. Fox a threat because of her defence of the rights of the Lumads who are being persecuted or driven from their lands on account of the government’s support for mining companies. We know that thousands of Lumads are leaving their homes because of the military accusing the Lumads of being Communists.”Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo expressed sadness and asked the government “why is it afraid of fact-finding missions [of which Sister Fox took part] when its policies are as good as it claims”.The prelate added that “this is another instance of creeping authoritarianism.”The BI has defended its deportation order of Fox and downplayed the influence of President Rodrigo Duterte in crafting it.The bureau made the decision after seeing a photo of Fox holding up a sign protesting the release of all political prisoners in the Philippines. Fox’s camp remains resolute in their defence that the nun never said anything against the government and the country’s security.BI spokeswoman Dana Krizia Sandoval said that the grounds to deport Sister Fox leaned “more on her engagement in political activities and not just the statement of the President. President was just in the three paragraphs of the resolution and the rest of it is based on her involvement in partisan political acts.”However, Sandoval said that “it is also in Duterte’s statement, mentioning that Sister Fox is already an undesirable alien that we saw as part of his power to deport or expel an alien.”Fox made the headlines after Duterte ordered her probed for having a “foul mouth” and displaying “disorderly conduct” after being detained overnight at the BI facility for overstepping her visa privileges by allegedly engaging in political activism.On April 10, 2018, BI officer Melody Penelope Gonzales from the Intelligence Division, submitted a summary of information of Fox’s alleged participation in various protest rallies, fact-finding missions, jail visits and for her support, contribution and involvement in an assembly against the government, and requested for the cancellation of her visa.On April 23, BI’s Board of Commissioners (BOC) ordered to forfeit Fox’s missionary visa and downgrade it to tourist’s visa. It also issued a directive to the Catholic nun to leave the country within 30 days from the receipt of the BOC’s order.On April 30, she filed a motion of reconsideration on the April 23rd order but it was denied by the BOC.The Department of Justice on June 18 granted her appeal to reverse the BI’s decision to withdraw her missionary visa, which would expire on September, and order her to leave the country.With Reports from CATHERINE A. MODESTO
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sister-fox-to-fight-deportation-order/421523/
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Lawmaker seeks passage of ‘all-inclusive’ Anti-discriminatory act
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['The Manila Times']
|
2017-02-02 20:51:41+00:00
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DEPUTY Speaker Sharon Garin, AAMBIS-Owa partylist representative, pushed for the passage of House Bill 3541 or the Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Act saying that protection from various forms of discriminatory practices must be all-inclusive. Garin, author of the bill, stressed that the measure recognizes the inter-sectionalities and layers of human rights abuses, and does not give entitlement to any specific community, but assures that violations or threats to human rights are addressed. She said indigenous people are denied access to basic services because of prejudices against their cultural expressions. Also biases against one’s sexual orientation or gender identity result in the denial of one’s right to work or education, she added. The proposed measure, pending before the Committee on Human Rights, provides protection against various forms of discriminatory practices such as inflicting stigma, denial of right to education, right to work, and access to goods and services, among others. If approved, anyone found guilty of discriminatory practice shall be penalized with a fine not less than P100,000 or imprisonment of a minimum of two years, or both at the discretion of the court.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/lawmaker-seeks-passage-inclusive-anti-discriminatory-act/310253/
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Duterte congratulates new SKorea president
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2017-05-10 21:58:34+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday congratulated Moon Jae-in for winning South Korea’s presidential elections on Tuesday.“On behalf of the Filipino nation, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte wishes to extend his warm congratulations toMr. Moon Jae-in on his election as the new President of the Republic of Korea [ROK],” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.Moon, a human rights lawyer, won the elections weeks after former President Park Geun-hye was impeached and jailed over corruption allegations.Abella said the Philippine government remains committed to further strengthen relations with South Korea after Moon’s win.“The Philippines and the Republic of Korea have strong, comprehensive and long-standing bilateral ties. Our two countries have extensive cooperation on political, economic, cultural and people-to-people exchanges in the bilateral, regional and multilateral spheres,” he added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-congratulates-new-skorea-president-2/326497/
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Customs stops release of ‘Ukay-ukay’
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-01-04 22:45:53+00:00
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~The Bureau of Customs has secured a temporary relief from the Court of Appeals (CA) that allowed the implementation of a circular prohibiting the conditional release of importation or re-exportation of used clothing locally referred to as ukay-ukay. This came about after the appellate court’s Special Seventh Division issued a 60-day temporary restraining order preventing the implementation of the orders by the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 11 dated September 30, 2015 and November 10, 2015 that enjoined the enforcement of Customs Tariff Decision Circular No. 01-2015. The BOC argued in its petition that the lower court ignored the State’s policy of safeguarding public health by prohibiting the importation of used clothing as enshrined in Republic Act (RA) 4653 and implemented by CTD Circular No. 01-2015. The circular revoked all rulings, decisions and practices allowing the conditional release of imported used clothing in lieu of the strict implementation of RA 4653. The case concerns the importation of Coam Philippines Incorporated and Globaltex Impex Inc. of used clothing that earlier sought relief from the Manila RTC. The CA’s resolution penned by Associate Justice Elihu Ybanez and concurred in by Associate Justices Danton Bueser and Victoria Isabel Paredes states, “In effect, the respondent Judge [Cicero Jurado] placed private respondents’ rights on the pedestal to the detriment of the general welfare of the public in violation of the doctrine that private rights must yield when they come in conflict with this public policy and common interest.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/customs-stops-release-ukay-ukay/305183/
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Binay camp slams Ombudsman
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-06-13 22:39:00+00:00
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THE camp of former Vice President Jejomar Binay on Wednesday slammed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales for her decision not to pursue the cases filed against former lawmakers and government officials in connection with the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.A few days ago, the Ombudsman said she will no longer be pursuing the cases against the previous administration who benefited from the PDAF scam. She justifies this by citing the alleged absence of evidence and lack of time, even if an affidavit has been signed by Janet Napoles naming these high-profile allies and personalities.“It seems that the Ombudsman is no longer hiding her hypocrisy and double standard. But the Ombudsman can and will always find time against the former Vice President, even if the complaint lacks basis in fact,” Joey Salgado, Binay’s spokesman, said in a statement.“Clearly, the Ombudsman intends to spend her last days in office pursuing her personal and political agenda against former VP Binay while being a true-blue Yellow protector to the end. It’s selective justice, pure and simple,” Salgado added.He issued the statement after the Office of the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office recommended the filing of graft charges against Binay and other individuals behind the sale of a property owned by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.According to the Ombudsman, the FIO recommended the filing of charges for alleged violation of Sections 3(e) and (g) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against Binay, former Senior Vice President Wendel Avisado and former Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas executives Del de Guzman, J. Miguel de Jesus, Enrique Lagdameo, Pedro Destura, Dale Corvera, Maximo Edralin Jr., Remedios Petilla, Roberto Pagdanganan, Harmes Sembrano, Mildred Garay, Manuel Jose Dalipe, Leo Lasacar, Danilo Asiaten, Lutgardo Barbo, Jose Mari Pelaez, Ireneo Aquino, Jose Eduardo Delgado, Henry Dy, Jose Ma. Gastardo, Pepito Carpio, Nemesio Miranda Jr., Jaime Semana, Wilfredo Chato, Alan Zulueta, Jorge Banal Sr., Efren Edgard Dieta, Rodolfo Tamani, Von Carlo Yacob, J. Rizal Pangilinan, Salud Bagalso, and Amado Espino Jr.Investigators also recommended the filing of charges against Alphaland Makati Place, Inc. President Mario Oreta and former Bureau of Internal Revenue officers Teodoro Galicia, Mark Anthony Panganiban, and Romeo Tomas.The Ombudsman said its investigators found that the BSP National Executive Board authorized on June 2, 2011 the sale of the property in Malugay Street, Makati City to AMPI for P600 million.The Ombudsman said the property was undervalued “considering that under the Omnibus Loan and Security Agreement between BSP and AMPI, the Malugay property was mortgaged for P1.7 billion.”The Ombudsman said former BIR officials certified that the sale was exempt from payment of capital gains tax, resulting in a P63-million loss in tax collection for the government.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/binay-camp-slams-ombudsman/407854/
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‘Who is to clean up the mess?’
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['Reicelene Joy Ignacio']
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2017-07-18 22:56:28+00:00
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Grab and Uber should not ask for help from the government on legal remedies that would make their operation lawful, according to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).“Who is to clean up the mess? For both Grab and Uber, do not come to us to solve the mess,” LTFRB spokesman Aileen Lizada said in a news briefing on Tuesday at the LTFRB main office in Quezon City.Lizada was addressing concerns raised by drivers applying with the two transport network companies, including the financial distress brought about by the decision of the board to apprehend vehicles operating without franchises, or colorum vehicles.“Do not throw this to us, TNCs. You have earned millions already,” Lizada said, referring to transnational companies.Lizada pointed out that Grab is estimated to earn P60 million a month and Uber, P75 million a month.“You pay their [drivers] respective amortizations. Do not turn to us to make legal what you have done illegally,” he said, noting that other drivers even bought new cars to be peers of Grab and Uber.LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra 3rd said they will create a technical working group to discuss issues such as accreditation, accountability and pricing.“The board has been very supportive [of TNCs],” Delgra added.The LTFRB moving against Grab and Uber will only worsen traffic congestion in the country, according to lawmakers.“The current policy stance of the LTFRB is the situation that creates and worsens the problem of colorum vehicles instead of solving it,” Aangat Tayo party- list Rep. Neil Abayon 3rd said in a statement also on Tuesday.According to Abayon, the board should instead process all pending and new applications for certificates of public convenience (CPC) of motor vehicles registered with the two transport companies.He said the LTFRB should open new jeepney routes in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Pampanga, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.“The mandate of the LTFRB is public service. Refusal to open new jeepney routes and process CPC when there is a clear massive demand to address the needs of our growing urban population is tantamount to gross neglect of duty, and could be justification for taking justified court action to compel the LTFRB to reverse its current policy stance that is a disservice to the riding public,” Abayon said.Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Rep. Jericho Nograles said the LTFRB should address first the proliferation of colorum buses, jeepneys, taxis and UV Express and dismantle illegal terminals rather than cracking down on Grab and Uber.“What they do not understand is the fact that while it is true that traffic volume is causing Metro Manila’s traffic, it should not be blamed on Uber and Grab because unlike other public conveyances that are constantly on the road to get passengers, most of these transport network services are only on the road when they have a client,” Nograles added.He urged LTFRB officials to take public transport especially on Fridays to see any basis for their claim that vehicles of the two transport networks contribute to traffic in Metro Manila.The board said they should not be blamed for not allowing operations of vehicles without CPCs as it is only heeding its mandate.The LTFRB issued Memorandum Circular 2016-008 last year directing its technical division and regional offices not to accept any applications for transportation network vehicle services, especially those of Uber, GrabCar and Uhop, because of the rising volume of TNVS applications.It will slap colorum TNVS drivers with P120,000 fine and impound their vehicles for at least three months starting July 26.The LTFRB has imposed a fine of P5 million each for Grab and Uber for their violations, including operation of colorum vehicles.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/who-is-to-clean-up-the-mess/339132/
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Espinosa’s drug supplier leaves PNP custody
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['Anthony Vargas']
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2016-12-16 21:15:17+00:00
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THE alleged supplier of illegal drugs to Kerwin Espinosa, the self-confessed Eastern Visayas drug trader, is no longer in the custody of the Philippine National Police-Anti-Illegal Drug Group (PNP-AIDG) in Camp Crame, a police official said on Friday.“Lovely Impal is no longer here in Camp Crame and all we know is that she’s with her family now,” PNP-AIDG Director, Senior Supt. Alberto Ignatius Ferro, told reporters in a chance interview in Camp Crame in Quezon City (Metro Manila).Ferro did not say where Impal is but added the PNP unit that facilitated her surrender is the one securing her.As this developed, Espinosa denied on Friday the allegation that he is planning the liquidation of former Albuera, Leyte chief of police Chief Insp. Jovie Espenido, who has been reassigned as the chief of police of Ozamis City.Espenido in a radio interview last week had claimed that Espinosa has access to a mobile phone. He said in a statement sent by his counsel, lawyer Lanie Villarino to Camp Crame, “Chief Insp. Espenido alleged that I have been in contact with my men in Albuera because I am planning a hit on him. Again, this is not true,” adding that he is guarded by police 24/7.Espinosa also said was not allowed to use a cellphone and the only time he has an access one was when his lawyers were around and after being cleared by PNP-AIDG officials to make some phone calls.Espinosa also said that the only people he had communicated with were his siblings and close relatives in Albuera during the time that his father, the late Mayor Rolando Espinosa was about to be laid to rest.Espinosa was transferred by the PNP-AIDG to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) late on Wednesday night.No longer in Camp CrameFerro said that even if Espinosa named Impal as his supplier of illegal drugs, the PNP cannot continue to detain her.“Unfortunately, there’s no warrant of arrest against her and there’s no case filed against her… so we don’t have any legal authority or legal basis to detain her and she’s the one who voluntarily surrendered to the PNP Chief,” Ferro said. “We are respecting her decision to surrender.”The PNP-AIDG director added they are verifying details of the statement they were able to get from Impal.Impal is a native of Cagayan de Oro City, but also owns some properties in Iligan City and Makati City. According to Espinosa, she is facing drug charges before the Regional Trial Court in Cebu.Case of cops involved in Espinosa killingThe PNP-Internal Affairs Service (IAS) started on Friday its preliminary conference on the administrative case against more than 20 police officers involved in the killing of Espinosa Sr.Among the police officers that appeared in Camp Crame were the 13 personnel of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) led by their chief, Supt. Marvin Marcos who was accompanied by fellow CIDG officers, Supt. Santi Magtira and Chief Insp. Leo Laraga, the officer who had claimed that he shot the late mayor after a raid on the Baybay City sub-provincial jail in Leyte last November 5.Personnel of the PNP Maritime Group who were included in the CIDG operation also attended the preliminary conference.However, lawyer Shella Castillio, chief of the PNP-IAS Legal Affairs Service, who served as the hearing officer, said the preliminary conference was not finished because of the voluminous documents that have to be submitted by the prosecution and the accused. The conference will resume on January 10, after which both parties will be given 15 days within which to submit their respective position papers.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/espinosas-drug-supplier-leaves-pnp-custody-2/302187/
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Aussie nun on her arrest: I’m not important
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['Mary Gleefer F. Jalea']
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2018-04-21 00:03:08+00:00
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Australian missionary Sister Patricia Fox on Friday said she intends to fly back to her country in May for a congregational meeting but will return to the Philippines to continue her work “if things go well.”Fox, 71, reiterated that the plan to return to Australia had been set long before her arrest and temporary detention by Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials on Monday.“I already booked to go back for congregational meeting and holiday in May but I have also booked to come back in June. I plan to stay here and continue our mission,” she told The Manila Times in an interview.Fox said “she did not know where [President Rodrigo Duterte] was coming from” after he launched a tirade against her “for disorderly conduct” and revealed that he was behind her arrest on Wednesday.“You do not have the right to criticize us. But you can come here and enjoy all the sights, but while I am here, you do not insult my country,” Duterte addressed Fox in a speech.“To be honest, I did not think I was that important. I was a bit sad because I have been here for a long time in the Philippines. I was a bit sad to hear some of it, and I was not sure where he was coming from so I was surprised,” Fox replied.Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) had started its investigation of the case to assist Fox after she appealed to the agency for due process, days after she was temporarily detained at the BI office.“The CHR had already conducted a motu propio investigation of Fox’s case. One of the allegations here is that there is no basis for her arrest and detention but we will look at the procedures whether human rights standards have been violated,” CHR spokesman Jackielyn de Guia said in an interview with reporters.According to De Guia, the commission is mandated to ensure that all human rights of Filipinos and foreigners in the country are guaranteed.“We have to remember that the right to assembly is a right to [be enjoyed by] any person. As long as it is in a peaceful rally and it does not violate certain laws, joining rallies per se is not a crime. We just have to see whether they are engaged in certain acts that violate the [laws of the] government. It is important that they abide by our laws as well,” De Guia said.Fox, was arrested on Monday afternoon “for attending protest rallies” and was released on Tuesday.Rights groups had also previously slammed Fox’s arrest and said it highlighted “the adverse impact and repressive features” of Operations Order SBM 2015-025, an order banning foreigners from engaging in political activities in the Philippines.
|
Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/aussie-nun-on-her-arrest-im-not-important/393756/
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Bicam report on child protection bill ratified
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['Glee Jalea']
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2018-11-09 00:05:29+00:00
|
The House of Representatives has ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the bill that seeks to provide protection to children in situations of armed conflict.The approved version of House Bill 7442 authored by Quezon City 4th District Rep. Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. and Senate Bill 2023 authored by Sen. Vicente Sotto 3rd seeks to protect children in armed conflict from all forms of abuse, violence, neglect, cruelty, and discrimination, taking into consideration their gender, cultural, ethnic and religious background.The proposal, also known as the “Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict Act,” applies to all children involved in or displaced by armed conflict, or those who were either forcibly recruited, or who voluntarily joined a government force or any armed group in any capacity.The bill grants children the right to be with their families, especially with their mothers, during evacuations and in evacuation centers; the right to the protection of their family’s properties and possessions in all circumstances; the right to be consulted and to participate in all matters affecting them; and the right of access to justice including free legal aid when filing cases against the perpetrators, among others.It seeks to slap life imprisonment and a fine of P2 million to P5 million against anyone found guilty of killing, torturing; maiming and raping children.Meanwhile, the penalty of imprisonment of 14 to 20 years and a fine of P1 million to P2 million shall be imposed on any person found guilty of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment committed against children.The Inter-Agency Committee on Children in Situations of Armed Conflict (IAC-CSC) is mandated to document the capture, surrender, arrest, or rescue of children by government forces; conduct human rights training and information campaigns with local government units; and implement a monitoring and response system for grave child rights’ violations in situations of armed conflict.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/bicam-report-on-child-protection-bill-ratified/464573/
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‘Informal settlers’ colonies fire hazard’
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['Jing Villamente']
|
2017-02-26 21:33:41+00:00
|
Squatters’ colonies or informal settlements serve as a breeding ground of fire hazards, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said over the weekend.BFP chief Director Bobby Baruelo said for as long as such colonies exist, the bureau cannot assure that zero-fire incidents will be possible.BFP records, according to Baruelo, showed that most fire incidents all over the country struck densely populated areas of informal settlers.He said residents in these areas continue to ignore government reminders about fire safety and consciousness.“[The attitude of the informal settlers is that they don’t listen. They refuse to attend scheduled seminars or lectures in their barangay (villages). They always say, ‘Will those lectures be able to feed us’]?” a visibly upset fire chief said.Fire fighters, however, will not stop visiting fire-prone areas to remind residents about fire prevention.Before the kick-off to Fire Prevention Month (March), Baruelo said residents especially in Metro Manila should expect firemen to be visible in their respective areas for fire safety awareness campaigns.Banking on a successful formula that resulted in a sharp decrease of fire incidents, the BFP-National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila) has made the fire safety awareness campaigns year-round activities.The Metro Manila Fire Department recently launched the “Lingguhang Babala para Iwas Disgrasya,” to remind the public about fire prevention.The BFP-NCR director, Senior Supt. Wilberto Rico Neil Kwan-Tiu, said that under the project, firemen will be deployed outside offices and make a round of the villages every week to drive home the reminders.The reminders include checking LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) tanks for leaks, not leaving a lighted candle overnight and avoiding use of extension cords or “octopus” electrical connections.BFP-NCR records show that the common causes of fire are faulty electrical wiring, lighted cigarette butts, open flames from torches and unattended stoves, candles and gas lamps.
|
Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/informal-settlers-colonies-fire-hazard/314309/
|
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