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Include Sabah in talks on federalism, govt urged
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2016-12-09 23:05:09+00:00
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Proposals to adopt federalism as the new system of government in the Philippines should also include the country’s claim to Sabah, former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. told a Senate committee hearing on Thursday.Pimentel, founder of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), which carried President Rodrigo Duterte during the May 2016 presidential elections, insisted that Sabah is part of the Philippines and there are documents that could support such claim.While most Filipinos believe that the Philippines is composed only of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, historical evidence would prove that Sabah belongs to the Philippines, according to the former senator.“Let us keep in mind that Sabah is a part of the Republic of the Philippines and there are documentary evidence which can withstand the test of the United Nations,” Pimentel told the members of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes headed by Senate President Franklin Drilon.Drilon’s committee started a hearing on proposals to amend or revise the 1987 Constitution, including the possible shift to federalism from the present unitary system.The Senate panel invited resource persons from various sectors including the business community, labor, academe, civil society, sectoral and religious groups, as well as respected constitutional and legal experts and former Supreme Court justices.Sen. Leila de Lima expressed reservation on Pimentel’s proposal, noting that the inclusion of Sabah issue in discussions on federalism could complicate the discourse and the entire process.“Insofar as the issue of federalism, there is a very serious reservation about including such discourse [Sabah], such a proposed course of action because it will certainly not only complicate but further delay the process,” de Lima said.Pimentel admitted that the inclusion of the Sabah issue would probably complicate things because he does not expect Malaysia to just be quiet about it.But Filipinos must not forget that Sabah belongs to the Philippines, otherwise future generations would just look at the country as Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.In pursuing the country’s Sabah claim, Pimentel said, there is a need for the government to use the institutions of the UN especially relating to the Convention of the Law of the Sea.Duterte, before he assumed the presidency, vowed to pursue the Philippine claim to Sabah, which is currently under Malaysia.Pimentel is proposing a federal system that will establish at least 12 federal states, including the Bangsamoro state, which he believes would help achieve lasting peace in the region.“Unless we come up with a federal state of the Bangsamoro, the shooting war in Mindanao will continue,” he said.Under his proposal, the President and Vice President will still be elected but as a tandem and make sure that two will get along well.“I think that over the years when the President and Vice President come from different parties, upon election, controversies begin to arise,” he noted.There will be no changes in the current set-up for congressmen under Pimentel’s proposal but senators will be elected by federal states to ensure that every part of the Philippines will be duly represented in the Senate.Pimentel pointed out that in the last elections, it was only Drilon who was elected senator coming from the Visayas region and nobody was elected to represent Eastern Visayas and Central Visayas.In Mindanao, he said, only Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri and Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao were from the region.“So I am suggesting that the senators therefore should be elected by federal state so that we ensure that all parts of this Republic would be duly represented in the [Senate],” Pimentel added.He also suggested that there will be six senators for every federal state, increasing the number of senators to 72.The former lawmaker said the number is not that big considering that the Philippines now has a population of 104 million.According to Pimentel, 24 as the number of senators was based on the period when the population of the country was only 18 million to 20 million.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/include-sabah-talks-federalism-govt-urged/300919/
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Duterte signs mental health law
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['Ralph Villanueva']
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2018-06-22 00:10:00+00:00
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PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday signed into law Republic Act 11036, or the Mental Health Law.Under the law, mental health services and facilities will be made accessible at the community level. Psychiatric, psychosocial and neurologic services in regional, provincial and tertiary hospitals, as well as drug screening services and suicide prevention mechanisms, will also be provided.The law mandates the Department of Health and local government units to sustain a heightened nationwide multimedia campaign to bolster public awareness on mental health.Mental health awareness will also be integrated into the country’s educational system and workplace.The DoH’s National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) will expand its capacity for research and development of interventions on mental and neurological services in the country.Lawmakers lauded the signing of the mental health law.“Truly fantastic news. It’s a bill that languished in congress for almost 20 years. Finally, the long wait is over.Today’s signing of the Mental Health Law will hopefully usher in the prevention of thousands of suicides that have been plaguing our country,” House Deputy Speaker Romero Quimbo said.Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin commended Duterte for signing the new law, calling it a “whiff of good air and provenance that for once, something that all of us should rally behind and support.”Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate echoed these sentiments, saying the signing of the mental health law is timely, coming at the heels of the suicide of celebrities Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade.“We hope that with the passage of this law, the integration of a balanced mental health services through a National Program on Mental Health and Psychosocial Well-Being will be made to promote mental health, prevent mental problems and render comprehensive, equitable, accessible, affordable and quality mental health care,” Zarate said.Psychiatric billsWith the signing of the bill, Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara on Thursday renewed his call on PhilHealth to cover fees for psychiatric consultations and medicines.Under the Mental Health Act, PhilHealth must “ensure that insurance packages equivalent to those covering physical disorders of comparable impact are available to patients affected by mental disorders.”Currently, PhilHealth only covers hospitalization brought about by acute attacks of mental and behavioral disorders at a package rate of P7,800.“We hope that in the drafting of the IRR, free psychiatric consultations and medicines shall be made available for all Filipinos,” Angara said.Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto 3rd and Sen. Risa Hontiveros welcomed the signing of the law.“Help is finally here. This is the victory of the different advocates who helped in crafting the bill and ensured its passage from the time we filed it in October 2016,” Hontiveros said.“Every day, seven Filipinos turn to suicide. One in five Filipino adults also suffer from a form of mental disorder.The Mental Health Law cements the government’s commitment to a more holistic approach to healthcare.Without sound mental health,there can be no genuine physical health,” she said.with BERNADETTE TAMAYO
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-signs-mental-health-law/411034/
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Smaller funding allocation for military pensions seen
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['Mayvelin U. Caraballo']
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2018-03-30 00:01:10+00:00
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Funding requirement for the military’s pension system might be smaller than the P7 to P9 trillion initially estimated, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has said.“The P7 to P9 trillion is the working number but I think it is slightly less,” Budget Secretary Benjanim Diokno said when asked on how much the government would need to raise to address the ballooning pension of uniformed personnel.Declining to provide further details, he mentioned that a Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) study on the military pension commissioned by the Bureau of the Treasury is now finished.“The GSIS already completed the study, which is being reviewed by the Treasury at present,” Diokno said.Nevertheless, the Budget chief assured that the Duterte administration is going to address the problem on military pension within its term.“The longer the problem hangs, it will become bigger. What is important is that those who are in service now would also be able to contribute to the system,” he said.Earlier, Diokno said the government is planning to utilize some military assets to defray the pension fund.He added that the government discovered that the military owns pieces of real state property all over the country that can be sold, leased for long term or developed through joint ventures.Diokno said by utilizing these assets, the government would ensure that there was an annual flow of funds for the military.The government, according to the Budget chief, will propose this year to Congress a measure that will allow the military pension to be transferred to the GSIS during the term of the Duterte administration.He said under the measure, newly recruited uniformed personnel will be required to contribute to the state-run GSIS.Pensions paid to retired soldiers and policemen are sourced from the national budget, which the DBM claims is not sustainable.In a fiscal risk statement for 2017, the Treasury bureau noted that ballooning military pensions were a fiscal risk.The problem was traced to “features” such as automatic pension adjustments mandated by the military’s retirement rules.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/smaller-funding-allocation-for-military-pensions-seen/389323/
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Palace blames BI for staff shortage
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2017-04-04 20:12:29+00:00
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Malacañang on Tuesday blamed Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials for its supposed inaction to hire additional Immigration officers as approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).In a news conference, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said current Immigration employees have to work overtime because the bureau is “not acting” on the proposal of the DBM to create additional positions.“The burden of response is now upon the BI officials, they have not accepted it. They choose to stick to their guns about overtime pay,” Abella told reporters.“But if they [BI] responded, then the queues would really lessen if there were more officials, if there were more officers there in the Immigration [bureau],” he said.Last January 5, the DBM, the Department of Justice and the BI agreed to create additional positions to address the bureau’s concerns regarding the salaries of confidential agents and job orders as well as overtime pay to its personnel.Since President Rodrigo Duterte barred in January the BI from using the funds collected from airport express lanes for overtime pay, some immigration officer have left their jobs.This has resulted in the long lines of domestic and foreign travelers at the international airport in Manila.Abella said the creation of new positions would increase the Immigration officer and immigration assistant positions by 74 percent, augmenting the existing 1,203 bureau personnel.He, however, added that the BI is yet to act on the proposal.“Well, at this stage, according to the explanation of [DBM] Secretary [Benjamin] Diokno… they have made a proposal and they’re waiting for the BI to make the proper response. It’s as simple as that. In a sense, it’s almost a household accounting job,” Abella said.The Palace official added that the government is doing its best to serve the convenience of the commuting public especially since an exodus of travelers is expected during Holy Week.“So if people would be willing to stand aside and step aside, and you know make some accommodations, then one would think that this would be a better thing to do,” Abella said.He noted that they are open to designate military men in the airport as a “compromise.”“You know, if it’s an emergency situation, then we should be able to respond in the right way,” Abella said.CATHERINE S. VALENTE
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/palace-blames-bi-staff-shortage/320981/
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Provide jobs to mining workers – DENR
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-02-06 22:28:00+00:00
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The Department of Environment and Natural Resources should provide jobs for displaced workers resulting from the DENR’s closure of 21 mining firms on February 3.Rep. Arlene Bag-ao of Dinagat Islands was referring to 21 mining companies affected by the purge: Benguet Corp. Nickel Mines Inc.; Eramen Minerals Inc.; Zambales Diversified Metals Corp.; LNL Archipelago Minerals Inc.; Mt. Sinai Mining Exploration and Development Corp.; Emir Minerals Corp.; Techiron Minerals Resources Inc.; AAMPHIL Natural Resources Exploration; Kromico Inc.; SinoSteel Philippines H.Y. Mining Corp.; Oriental Synergy Mining Corp.; Welled Mining Corp.; Libjo Mining Corp.; Oriental Vision Mining Philippines Corp.; ADNAMA Mining Resources Corp.; Claver Mineral Development Corp.; Platinum Development Corp.; CTP Construction and Mining Corp.; Carrascal Nickel Corp.; Marcventures Mining and Development Corp.; and Hinatuan Mining Corp.“It is important to ensure that we protect our environment, especially the watershed, and that members of the community are given opportunities to prosper. With this closure, we also have to actively make the DENR accountable in their policy of providing alternative sources of livelihood for our people so they won’t be deprived of their a chance to improve the quality of life of their families,” Bag-ao said.She called on the mining companies who hurdled the DENR’s environmental standards to keep their business not only compliant with DENR policies and existing laws but also strive to be better than compliant.“It is just as important to revisit our mining laws so that mining companies will toe the line and care for the environment and the communities,” Bag-ao added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/provide-jobs-mining-workers-denr/310865/
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PNP ready to detain Parojinog anytime
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['Roy Narra']
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2018-05-27 00:02:04+00:00
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The Philippine National Police (PNP) said it was ready to detain arrested fujitive Ricardo “Ardot” Parojinog in Camp Crame once he is deported by Taiwan.Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, PNP spokesman, said the police was prepared to temporarily detain Ardot, the brother of slain Ozamiz City mayor and drug kingpin Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., at the PNP Custodial Center.However, he said, “We’re not sure when will he will be sent back here because the deportation process might take some time, since there are also reports that he violated the immigration law in Taiwan so there will be an investigation about that,” he said in Filipino.“There are chances that he will be detained in Taiwan but if he is going to be deported immediately, we can temporarily accommodate him at Camp Crame but he should be brought back to the court of origin where the warrants issued against him came from,” Bulalacao added.Detainees in the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame include Sen. Leila de Lima, former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla and some rebel group members who are deemed dangerous to peace and order.Bulalacao also described Ardot, saying, “He is one of the big fish we finally caught and based on reports of the Ozamiz City chief of police, he is one of the notorious members of a criminal group there.”Taiwanese police arrested Ardot, who is also an Ozamiz City councilor, on May 23 after the Interpol gave them a “red notice” that Ardot did not have the proper documents for his stay in Taiwan.Taiwan police also confiscated identification cards he was carrying with his fake identity — Alberto Garcia Cruz.Ardot will face charges for violating Republic Act (RA) 10591 or the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition and RA 9516 or the law against illegal possession of firearms and explosives once he is deported back to the Philippines.He went missing after the Department of Justice issued an immigration lookout bulletin order against him last year.Last year, Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. and 14 others were killed during a bloody raid at his residence in Misamis Occidental. Ardot was not in the area at that time.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pnp-ready-to-detain-parojinog-anytime/401369/
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Manila committed to UN climate goals – ambassador
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['Jaime Pilapil']
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2016-10-24 21:37:51+00:00
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Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday said the country is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the global body.“Today, we stand ready to advance the SDGs championed by the UN, knowing that the world body must constantly seek to advance human progress wherever possible — even while it must constantly put out wars, end conflicts and respond quickly to disasters and humanitarian crises,” Locsin told the audience at the inauguration of an exhibit on SGDs at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City (Metro Manila).He said the Duterte administration is committed to growth strategy that “weds economic development with environmental sustainability and social inclusion.”As new UN ambassador, according to Locsin, he was always asked on how receptive the community is the international to President Rodrigo Duterte’s tirades against the United States, European countries and even the UN itself.“You can say anything you want but you can never attack the UN because the Philippines is [a member of the] United Nations. We are part of the UN and we will continue to be. We are highly regarded because of the peace-keeping forces [contributed by the Philippines and which the UN deploys to areas of armed conflict],” he told reporters in a chance interview.Locsin said the attacks of Duterte against the UN on the issue of human rights “will not affect the relationship of the Philippines with the UN and other nations.“At the UN, the forum is there so people could talk [but not on] fighting,” he added.Locsin likened Duterte’s attacks to “cha-cha diplomacy” where “you turn left to China, right to Russia and turn around back to facing the US anew.”He disclosed that he met Duterte only once who told him what to “do” and not mind defending him and just do his job “for the country.”Locsin said he will have to stay here in Manila for a while and not attend to his job as UN ambassador in New York where the world body is headquartered.The ambassador added that the UN is helping attract businessmen to invest in the Philippines knowing fully well that they can provide decent work, more income for the poor, access to good health programs and a stewardship approach to use of resources.Also present at the inauguration were UN Resident Coordinator Ola Almgren, Assistant Secretary (Office of the Cabinet Secretary) Evelyn Cruzada, former senator Heherson Alvarez, SM senior vice president for marketing communications Millie Dizon, former Climate Change commissioner Yeb Sano and CNN hero Efren Peñaflorida.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/manila-committed-un-climate-goals-ambassador/292934/
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POEA employees, recruiters earn P250K from racket – Bello
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-11-10 22:56:29+00:00
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Some employees of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) connive with illegal recruiters for the issuance of overseas employment certificates (OECs), earning them up to a quarter of a million or P250,000, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd disclosed on Friday.He did not say if the amount is a monthly or a yearly take.The alleged racket prompted Bello to order the temporary suspension of the acceptance and processing of all new applications for the OECs amid persistent reports of rampant illegal recruitment activities of land-based Filipino migrant workers.“To give you an idea how serious the problem is, we received reports that 90 percent of direct hires are victims of illegal recruitment,” he said in a news briefing.Bello added the suspension would last for 15 days, from November 13 to December 1, but may be extended if the circumstance warrants, depending on results of an investigation by a committee headed by Labor Undersecretary Bernard Olalia..The directive covers all overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), including direct-hire workers.Exempted from the coverage of the suspension are workers who are being hired by international organizations and members of the diplomatic corps, which include members of royal families, and sea-based recruitment agencies.Also exempted are pending applications for Bello’s signature or by the officer in charge of the POEA.The Labor chief said a reshuffle would be implemented in the POEA as part of an initial measure to stop the illegal activities.An internal purge, according to Bello, would be undertaken and heads will roll after the investigating committee submits its report.He said POEA employees involved in irregularities would be charged with violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Law, and even large-scale estafa and bribery.“In the meantime, we have to stop the processing of applicants. That’s how serious the problem is. Some people in the POEA are earning a quarter of a million or more in said activities. We would be remiss in our job if we won’t do this,” the Labor chief added.According to Bello, some 75,000 applications of would-be OFWs are affected by the suspension order but said the problem “has to be nip[ped] in the bud or else [it] would further worsen.”He assured aspiring overseas workers though that the suspension is only temporary and acceptance and processing of the OECs would commence as soon as possible.The order will be implemented by the POEA, for compliance by all land-based private recruitment agencies.Last April, Bello also suspended the issuance of exemptions to direct-hire OFWs over reports linking employees of the POEA to alleged irregularities in the processing of documents.It, however, was lifted after a month upon conclusion of investigation of reported corrupt practices in the processing of documents for direct-hire workers.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/poea-employees-recruiters-earn-p250k-racket-bello/361865/
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Thousands finish drug rehab program
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2018-09-07 00:04:47+00:00
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More drug surrenderees have graduated from the government’s drug rehabilitation program, the Department of Health said on Thursday.Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd said 8,662 residents of the DoH’s Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers (DATRCs) finished their rehabilitation program in July 2018.Duque said the biggest portion of drug surrenderees were being managed as “out-patients,” having joined community-based interventions of the government.“There are 4 million estimated drug users and there were about 1.3 million surrenderees, and about 94 percent are users. Of these, only 0.6 to 1 percent were assessed to be needing in-patient treatment and only between 2 and 10 percent needed out-patient treatment. Of course, all the rest, 90 percent community-based interventions,” the Health chief said in a news briefing in Malacañang.Dubbed as “Rehabinasyon” (from “rehabilitate” and “nation”), the drug program is run by the Inter-AgencyCommittee on Anti-Illegal Drug (ICAD), formed by President Rodrigo Duterte in March 2017.ICAD launched the Rehabinasyon program, which aims to focus on “#RealNumbers, #RealSolutions and #RealStories” from the government’s anti-drug campaign.Under these components, information dissemination, treatment of drug dependents, livelihood programs, job security, and alternative modes of development will be reintroduced and implemented across the country.Duterte won the 2016 elections under his campaign promise to rid the country of illegal drugs and curb corruption in government.From July 2016 to July 2018, at least 4,655 drug suspects have been killed in the war on drugs, according to records from the Philippine National Police (PNP).The PNP recorded some 1.2 million drug surrenderers and about 200,000 of them — roughly 17 percent — have been subjected to recovery and wellness programs of the PNP, the Church, various non-governmental organizations and civil society groups.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/thousands-finish-drug-rehab-program/438859/
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Supreme Court justices slam Sereno
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2018-06-19 00:11:38+00:00
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Justices of the Supreme Court (SC) slammed ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for claiming that some magistrates prejudged the quo warranto case filed against her by Solicitor General Jose Calida.According to well-placed sources of The Manila Times in the high court, the draft resolution penned by Associate Justice Noel Tijam dismissing Sereno’s motion for reconsideration also addressed the former chief justice’s allegations that some magistrates were biased against her.One of the sources said Tijam turned the tables on Sereno by saying that she cannot claim that she was denied due process because she was given the chance to file her comment.“She asked relief from the Court and was in fact heard by the Court, and yet she claims to have been denied due process. She repeatedly discussed the supposed merits of her opposition to the present quo warranto petition in various social and traditional media, and yet she claims denial of due process. The preposterousness of her claim deserves scant consideration,” the source said, quoting Tijam’s draft.The source said Tijam slammed Sereno for alleging that the footnotes on the main decision were made ahead of time or as early as March 15, 2018.“Certainly, there is nothing irregular nor suspicious for the Member-in-Charge, nor any of the Justices for that matter, to have made a requisite determination on the matter of jurisdiction. In professing such argument, respondent imputes fault on the part of the Justices for having actually performed their work,” the source quoted Tijam’s draft resolution.The high court is set to vote on Tuesday, June 19, on Sereno’s motion for reconsideration. Sources said Tijam’s ponencia junked Sereno’s appeal.If majority of the justices adopt Tijam’s resolution, the high court’s ruling ousting Sereno will be made final.Sereno had asked several justices — Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Samuel Martires, and Tijam — to inhibit themselves from the case but they refused. The justices said her allegations of bias were based on speculations and suspicion.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/supreme-court-justices-slam-sereno/409997/
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Diesel up by P0.70 a liter, gas by P0.30
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['Aberon Voltaire Palaña']
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2017-07-03 21:14:40+00:00
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Pilipinas Shell, Eastern Petroleum, PTT Philippines, Total, Seaoil and Flying V on Monday announced that they will raise diesel prices by P0.70 per liter and gasoline prices by P0.30 per liter.Pilipinas Shell and Flying V said they will increase kerosene prices by P0.55 per liter.The higher oil prices resulted from refinery maintenance in Asia that started last April, according to Assistant Director Rodela Romero of the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau.“Other factors are the end of Ramadan and the US holiday season brought by 4th of July celebrationS,” Romero said.The oil companies said they will implement the price changes at 6 a.m. on Tuesday except Flying V, which will adjust prices at 12 midnight Monday.VOLTAIRE PALANA
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/diesel-p0-70-liter-gas-p0-30-2/336394/
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Filipino health experts developing dengue test kit
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['Francis Earl Cueto']
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2018-03-21 00:03:16+00:00
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A test kit to know if someone has been infected by the dengue virus or not is being developed by a pool of Filipino experts from the National Institute of Health (NIH) of the University of the Philippines.The test kit is based on a protocol made by the University of Pittsburgh that Sanofi Pasteur used as basis for its November 29 global announcement last year.The global announcement said Dengvaxia must only be administered to patients who have known histories of dengue infections.The anti-NS1 antibody test kit being developed will allow doctors to check if a patient has a history of dengue infections or if someone inoculated with Dengvaxia but who happens to be seronegative has developed such antigens.Antigens, such as NS1, are toxins that induce the body’s natural defenses against bacterial or virus attacks.When a patient is infected by dengue, his body, reacts producing antibodies to fight the virus.Dr. Edsel Salvana, pediatric infectious disease expert from UP, said he and other concerned doctors are pooling their resources to develop the test kit, which is available only in First World countries such as Singapore.The test kit, Salvana added, will help medical workers and doctors determine immediately if a patient has no dengue virus infection or has a history of dengue.“We need to keep a close eye on the kids who got Dengvaxia. We need to quickly determine serostatus among the Dengvaxia recipients, especially those with dengue-like symptoms, [so that they would] know what to expect,” he said.Salvana added that he met with Dr. Scott Halstead, an 87-year-old American expert in dengue, who testified before the Senate blue ribbon committee recently.He said he fully agrees with Halstead’s findings that viscerotropism and neurotropism are “theoretical risks” and have never been observed in real life for dengvaxia.“He [Halstead] was more straightforward in calling it utter nonsense as the causative agent of all these so-called dengue deaths,” the NIH expert added.Halstead’s testimony destroyed allegations made by Dr. Susie Mercado, who first raised the alarm that children whose remains were exhumed died after being inoculated with Dengvaxia.While not blaming the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) for asking parents to exhume their dead child and look for traces or evidence linking Dengvaxia to their deaths, Salvana agreed with Halstead that autopsies alone cannot prove that the deaths are linked to Dengvaxia.“Autopsies alone are useless for figuring out whether someone died from Dengvaxia. For dengue, you need corroborating nucleic acid and antigen tests and tissue samples.”Despite pleas from doctors and experts, the PAO’s self-appointed forensic expert Dr. Edwin Erfe continues to conduct autopsies on dead children throughout the country.Erfe refuses to acknowledge Halstead’s admonition, causing discomfiture among various sectors in the country.The controversy linking Dengvaxia to the deaths of some children among the 830,000 kids inoculated during the DoH’s public vaccination program has caused tremendous anxiety and panic among Filipino parents.Health Secretary Francisco Duque said the surrounding controversy has affected the DoH’s vaccination program.Recently, dengue outbreaks in Cavite have alarmed health authorities, who noted the proximity of the province to Metro Manila.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/filipino-health-experts-developing-dengue-test-kit/387416/
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DoJ summons drug lords on Duterte list
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-08-01 21:45:41+00:00
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Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday summoned suspected high-profile drug lords who have been named by President Rodrigo Duterte.The DoJ panel of prosecutors issued subpoenas for the conduct of preliminary investigation after criminal complaints were lodged against Cebu-based businessman Peter Lim and seven others in connection with drug charges.Other suspects asked to appear at the Justice department on August 14 and submit their respective counter-affidavits are: Rolan Espinosa, convicted drug lord Peter Co, a certain Marcelo L. Adorco, Max Miro, Lovely Adam Impal, Ruel Mangalindan and Jun Pepito.They are to respond to a complaint for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act (CDDA) filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).The suspects are facing a complaint for violation of Section 26 (b) of Republic Act 9165 or the CDDA.Section 26 (b) pertains to an attempt or conspiracy for the sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation of any dangerous drug and/or controlled precursor and essential chemical.The complaint was filed on July 5.The DoJ prosecutors handling the case are Assistant State Prosecutors Aristotle Reyes and John Michael Humarang.Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd on Monday issued an Immigration lookout bulletin against the accused.They were listed in the lookout bulletin “in connection with the cases of violation of Section 26 [b] in relation to Section 5 [sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation of dangerous drugs and/or controlled precursors and essential chemicals] of Republic Act 9165” or the CDDA.Co is currently detained at the national penitentiary New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City, while Espinosa is under the Witness Protection Program of the DoJ.Impal, who was named by Espinosa as his supplier of illegal drugs, has been detained since January 2017 after being arrested in a buy-bust in Iligan City, Lanao del Sur.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/doj-summons-drug-lords-on-duterte-list/341847/
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LTFRB official, 43 others sacked
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['Nelson Badilla']
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2016-12-12 21:57:13+00:00
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The director of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in Metro Manila and 43 other employees of the same office have been sacked for alleged massive graft and corruption.LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra 3rd,, in news conference right after Monday’s flag-raising at the franchisingboard’s head office in Quezon City, said Regional Director Rodolfo Jaucian and the 43 employees under his command were found to have been maintaining a “ghost data base” being used for their alleged corrupt practices.Specifically, Delgra said the “ghost data base” was utilized for “revival” of “dead franchise[s]” of public utility vehicles in exchange for huge amounts of money.The LTFRB chairman, however, did not say how much money has changed hands.Delgra also disclosed that LTFRB-NCR [National Capital Region or Metro Manila) maintains a number of names that could not be found in the official records of the agency.He pointed out that the relief of Jaucian and the 43 employees of LTFRB-NCR was part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s standing order to clean the franchising board of corrupt officials and employees.Delgra said some of the 44 personnel, anticipating that they would be exposed, had resigned, adding that others await transfer to far-flung provinces.The President previously assailed the LTFRB for rampant graft and corruption.He said the franchising board is one of the government agencies notorious for corruption activities.The two others allegedly are the Land Transportation Office and Bureau of Customs.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ltfrb-official-43-others-sacked/301383/
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QC eyes to build evacuation centers
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['Cris Vacal']
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10/6/2017 0:00
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An ordinance calling for the construction of multi-purpose centers that can be used as evacuation centers in times of calamities in Quezon City has been signed.Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista has signed Ordinance 2578-2017 that concretizes various measures passed by the city council on disaster preparedness.Under the ordinance, written by Councilors Ramon Medalla and Ranulfo Ludovica, the construction of multi-purpose evacuation centers in every district of Quezon City is a necessity to enhance disaster preparedness in the communities.Resolution 3925-2007 urges the barangays in Quezon City to identify and designate evacuation areas while Resolution 5848-2014 supports the Quezon City government in the construction of dedicated evacuation centers in disaster-prone areas.“The schools, covered courts and even churches are being used as evacuation centers, however, the same are not structurally designed to withstand man-made disaster or natural calamities and do not have enough water supply, proper ventilation, toilet and lighting,” the ordinance read.The proposed multi-purpose evacuation centers will have complete amenities such as kitchen, storage room for goods and supplies, clinic, laundry areas, toilets, shower rooms, sleeping quarters, counseling area and other related facilities designed for the convenience and comfort of evacuees.It was disclosed that City Planning and Development Office is now identifying suitable location for the evacuation centers.“As of now, we have already identified two locations where the evacuation centers will be built. These are in Pasong Tamo in District 6 and Barangay Payatas in District 2. We are now working on the acquisition of the properties,” said Marissa Isip of the City Planning and Development.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/06/10/qc-eyes-to-build-evacuation-centers/
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Executive order sought vs smoking in public
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['Micah Yvana M. Vardeleon']
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2017-01-15 21:09:34+00:00
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Tobacco-control advocates are seeking the signing of an executive order (EO) that bans smoking in public places.Statistics show that 10 Filipinos die every hour because of tobacco-related diseases, including lung cancer, heart ailments, diabetes, erectile dysfunction and tuberculosis.“We really need to stop the premature death of Filipinos due to tobacco addiction. Like any other addiction, this must be reduced or totally prevented,” Emer Rojas, president of New Vois Association of the Philippines (NVAP), said.The NVAP appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte, who has launched a nationwide war against drugs since he assumed the presidency more than six months ago, to start addressing smoking and other forms of addiction.“We are calling on President Duterte to finally make a stand for Filipinos against the perennial lies of the tobacco companies by signing the much-awaited EO for a smoke-free Philippines,” Rojas said.Under the EO, the government is expected to impose a ban on smoking in all public spaces, including parks and bus stations, and inside vehicles.Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said “the staff work by the Presidential Management Staff is already completed,” in a chance interview last week.It is one of the three pending EOs with the Office of the President, the other two being those on family planning and fireworks.MICAH VARDELEON
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/executive-order-sought-vs-smoking-public/307109/
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PAL, Cebu Pacific impose higher rates
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['Ma. Lisbet K. Esmael']
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2018-09-25 00:01:50+00:00
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Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific have started collecting additional charges from passengers because of rising oil prices.Maria Socorro Gonzaga, PAL vice president for external affairs and partnerships, told reporters the company implemented fuel surcharge on September 19.Cebu Pacific also did the same, Cebgo President and Chief Executive Officer Alexander Lao said in a separate interview.The two airlines were the first to demand for fuel surcharge amid increasing oil prices, which increased their operating expenses.PAL did not say how much has been added to its flight tickets, but Lao said Cebu Pacific implemented the level three from the matrix approved by aviation authorities, ranging from P74 for domestic flights and P1,425 for international travel.AirAsia Philippines submitted its application for fuel surcharge on Friday and is waiting for the Civil Aeronautics Board’s (CAB) approval.According to CAB’s Resolution 44, airlines have to evaluate fuel surcharges every two months.The matrix also stated that ticket prices would ease once jet fuel prices decreased.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pal-cebu-pacific-impose-higher-rates/444843/
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Labor group to oppose hike in SSS contribution
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['William Depasupil']
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2018-02-24 00:05:15+00:00
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THE country’s biggest labor group will strongly oppose any move by the Social Security System (SSS) to increase the monthly contribution of its 14 million members from the private sector amid inflation induced by a new tax reform law that further reduced workers’ take-home pay.Alan Tanjusay, spokesman for the Associated Labor Union-Trade Congress of the Philippines, on Friday said workers were already having difficulty coping with inflation caused by the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law in all food and non-food necessities, and any additional deductions from their take-home pay would push them deeper into poverty.But Tanjusay said they would support the planned additional increase in SSS contribution if the government granted their demand for a P500 monthly cash subsidy for all minimum wage earners and if needed reforms were implemented, such as improved collection and prosecution of delinquent employers.The subsidy proposal was among the issues brought out by leaders of organized labor during their recent meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang.The group said the P500 subsidy would help the 4 million minimum wage earners cope with the rising inflation and surging cost of living.Under the group’s proposal, the subsidy should only be limited to minimum wage earners who are members of good standing of the SSS for at least six months.The government needs P2 billion a month or P24 billion a year to provide the P500 monthly cash subsidy.The President, according to labor leaders, was receptive to the idea and instructed the labor group to form a study group on the proposed subsidy.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/labor-group-oppose-hike-sss-contribution/382173/
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‘Bato’ hit for calling Filipinos ‘ingrates’
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['Ralph Villanueva']
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2017-10-03 22:29:57+00:00
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A lawmaker has taken to task Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa for calling “ingrates” Filipinos who criticize the government’s war on drugs.“Walang ingratong Pilipino kasi silang lahat ay nagmamay-ari ng gobyerno at kaming lahat sa gobyerno ay nandito para serbisyuhan sila. Di para singilin sila. Ganun dapat ang lahat ng public officials [There are no ungrateful Filipinos because all of them own the government, and us in the government are here to give them service and not ask for anything in return. All public officials should be like that],” Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano said in a news held conference by members of the so-called Magnificent Seven bloc at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.Earlier also on Tuesday, dela Rosa said the critics of the Duterte administration’s crackdown on outlawed drugs are ingrates, adding that they also benefit from the “peace and order” obtaining in the country.“Walang utang na loob ang taumbayan sa kanya. Trabaho nya yan. Bakit mo sisingilin ang lahat sa kanyang serbisyo? Kaya nga pag nandito ako sa gobyerno, damned if you do, damned if you don’t [The masses do not owe him anything. It is his job. Why would he ask for something in return? This is why we are working in the government, damned if you do, damned if you don’t],” Alejano said, referring to the PNP director-general.“At the end of the day, you perform your mandate, you will not do it para ikaw ay sumikat or singilin mo sila sa utang na loob nila pagdating ng araw […. You do not do it so you will be famous or to ask for something back when the time comes],” the congressman added.Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin said dela Rosa should be held accountable for the 13,000 deaths under the administration’s war on drugs, and that the PNP chief’s way of thinking has spiraled out of control.“Kung ang tingin ni Gen. dela Rosa ay yan yung pagiging inggrato, yung paghabol sa katarungan, paghabol sa mga kamatayan sa nangyari sa war on drugs then nasa ibang planeta pala ang kanyang pananaw dahil para sa atin,talagang talamak na ang namamatay under the war on drugs, tapos sinasabi niyang meron tayong peace and order,”[If dela Rosa sees the quest for justice, the clamor of the public for justice for those who had died in the war on drugs as ungrateful, then his reasoning is out of this world because, as we can see it the, casualties of the war on drugs are all over the country and he is saying that we have peace and order],” Villarin added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/bato-hit-calling-filipinos-ingrates/354346/
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Makati exceeds 2017 revenue target
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-11-22 22:43:17+00:00
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Makati City attained 106 percent of its full-year revenue target of P14.5 billion in October, having collected P15.5 billion, according to a report from the Office of the City Treasurer.In a report to Makati Mayor Abby Binay, OIC-Treasurer Jesusa Cuneta said the revenue collected from January to October is 12 percent higher than the amount collected during the same period last year.The mayor thanked the city’s taxpayers and vowed to continue pursuing reforms and innovations towards a “more efficient, responsive and compassionate public service.”“We are heartened by the positive outcome of the changes we have introduced into the processes and systems at City Hall. We wish to reassure our stakeholders, including the business community, that we are firmly committed to raising Makati’s competitiveness level in all aspects of governance,” Binay said.Based on the report, the bulk of revenues came from business tax at P8.2 billion, followed by real property tax at P5.4 billion.The 17.5 percent increase in realty tax collections was boosted by the P727.76 million collected from delinquent realty tax payments and penalties as of end-October.Cuneta said the satellite realty tax payment system in the barangays was another effective collection measure, generating around P90 million since January.Other revenue sources included fees and charges, P658.5 million (five percent increase), and economic enterprises with P186.4 million (12 percent increase).
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/makati-exceeds-2017-revenue-target/364432/
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Manila renovates Health district office in tondo
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['Raadee S. Sausa']
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2018-04-15 23:20:48+00:00
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THE Manila city government has completed the renovation of Health District 2 office on Juan Luna Street in Tondo worth P4 million to provide better health services to residents. Mayor Joseph Estrada who led the inauguration said the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center (GABMMC) was also upgraded with modernized health facilities to ensure quality care and improved medical services. “I want every person in this city to have access in health care. To make this a reality, we have this program of upgrading and modernizing the health facilities at GABMMC. I believe that a good government should and must ensure that its citizens will receive quality care and invest our resources in people, through expanded health cares and improve medical services,” Estrada added. The GABMMC is a city-owned hospital located in District 1 with a 150-bed capacity.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/manila-renovates-health-district-office-in-tondo/392812/
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Senate committee ends P6.4-B shabu inquiry
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-09-19 22:24:06+00:00
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THE Senate blue ribbon committee on Tuesday ended its investigation of the P6.4-billion shabu shipment from China and will shift its focus to the “tara” (payoff) system disclosed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson in a recent privilege speech.Committee chairman Sen. Richard Gordon said with the termination of the inquiry into the illegal-drug cargo, the committee would be releasing its report based on information gathered by the panel during the nine hearings it held.“I will close the meeting on drugs but will not abandon our pursuit of the resolution of cases filed with respect to drugs,” Gordon added as he terminated the shabu shipment probe.The Senate blue ribbon panel started its investigation of the illegal shipment in July upon filing by Gordon of Senate Resolution 425.During the course of the hearings, the panel managed to uncover the multimillion-peso payoff system at the Bureau of Customs (BoC) that played a major role in allowing the entry of illegal items including prohibited drugs into the country without being detected by the bureau.It was learned that the shipment containing shabu passed through the “green lane,” or the lane where imported products are not subjected to inspection.Other lanes include the “super green lane,” the “blue lane,” the “yellow lane” and the “red lane.”The illegal shipment containing 605 kilos of shabu arrived in the country on May 16 and was declared in the BoC’s Electronic-To-Mobile (E2M) Import Assessment System as kitchenware.Importer EMT Trading owned by a certain Eirene Tatad paid a total of P40,038 in taxes and on May 18 the cargo was released to the green lane even though the consignee was registered as a new importer and the cargo came from China.Under the BoC selection system, shipments originating from China automatically go through the red lane and require inspection.On May 23, the cargo left the Manila International Container Port using the trucking service provided by Customs “fixer” Mark Taguba.Three days after the release of the shipment, the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service led by its Director Neil Estrella raided a warehouse in Valenzuela City owned by Chinese businessman Richard Chen (Chen Ju Long) and seized the shabu contained inside five cylinders.There were no charges filed against those involved in the illegal shipment and investigation only started when the Senate conducted its own inquiry into the shipment.Several names were mentioned during the course of the hearing including BoC Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, who was later accused by Lacson of being involved in the corruption at Customs.Taguba, in one of the hearings, claimed that he has to shell out P27,000 to P30,000 per container for payoff on top of legitimate fees amounting to P81,000 to make sure that his cargoes would be released without delays.Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and brother-in-law Manases Carpio were also invited to the hearings aftertheir names were mentioned by Taguba.Taguba told the Senate panel that he gave P5 million to Davao City Councilor Nilo “Small” Abellera as one-time enrolment fee for him to be under the protection of the so-called Davao Group at the BoC.Duterte, Carpio and Abellera denied their links to the group.Rampant corruption activities at the Customs prompted Lacson to dig deeper into the issue and was able to obtain information that put Faeldon at the center of the controversy.In a privilege speech entitled “Kita Kita,” the senator named Faeldon as among those receiving payoffs at the Customs bureau and allegedly received P100 million as “welcome gift” when he assumed as head of the BoC in July 2016.Lacson identified in his speech other officials and personnel of Customs who are on the take and private individuals who were giving “payola.”Remedial legislationGordon said he is eyeing several remedial measures that would stop the entry of illegal drugs into the country, including the possible enactment of a law that would require a pre-shipment inspection of all cargoes.Such policy could effectively stop illegal cargoes from even leaving the port of origin.Currently there is an existing pre-shipment inspection system in place at the BoC but it only covers bulk and break-bulk cargo.The senator wants to make the policy into a law so that it cannot be easily repealed when a new administration takes over.Gordon is eyeing amendments to existing laws that will strictly require arresting authorities to immediately report drug seizures and destruction of seized or confiscated drugs to prevent the drugs from being recycled.He is considering enactment of a measure that will authorize seizure and immediate issuance of freeze orders on assets of arrested drug lords.Gordon has set the next hearing for September 25 and the panel will focus on the corruption at the Customs bureau.“We will cross over to our next investigation on the privilege speech of Senator Lacson. We will continue to pursue that [drugs] even if we terminated this case. We want to make sure that we win in the fight against drugs,” he said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/senate-committee-ends-p6-4-b-shabu-inquiry/351556/
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Cayetano awaits confirmation as DFA chief
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-05-16 21:28:03+00:00
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SENATOR Alan Peter Cayetano will be facing the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday for the confirmation of his appointment as secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).Senate President and CA Chairman Aquilino Pimentel 3rd already signed a recommendation of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the CA foreign affairs committee, for the commission to tackle Cayetano’s appointment.Pimentel said he agreed to look at the appointment of Cayetano in a session of the appointments body on May 17 because he sees no reason to delay the confirmation.Lacson has recommended suspending the rules on submission of documents as courtesy to Cayetano, a member of Congress and also of the CA.Section 24 of the CA rules requires all nominees or appointees to submit papers or documents —curriculum vitae, family background—within 30 days.Cayetano, the running mate of President Rodrigo Duterte in the 2016 presidential elections, was appointed as DFA secretary to replace acting Secretary Enrique Manalo.Manalo temporary took over the post after the appointments body rejected then-DFA Secretary Perfecto Yasay because of Yasay’s misleading statements on his United States citizenship.Lacson earlier said the CA, with the majority of its members, could suspend the rules and waive all the requirements out of courtesy to a colleague in Congress and the CA.Apart from Cayetano, the CA is also set to tackle the appointments of Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo and Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial.Cayetano could expect a swift CA confirmation as most of his colleagues in the Senate who are also part of the appointments body have expressed support to his appointment.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/cayetano-awaits-confirmation-dfa-chief-2/327504/
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Complaint to be filed vs Aquino before DoJ
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-02-10 21:16:30+00:00
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A joint complaint will be filed on Monday before the Department of Justice (DoJ) against former President Benigno Aquino 3rd, former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, former Health Secretary Janette Garin, and other individuals in connection with the suspended dengue immunization program, according to lawyer Manuelito Luna.Luna said former and incumbent officials of the Department of Health (DoH) and Zuellig Pharma and Sanofi Pasteur officials will also be named respondents.The joint complaint will be for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9184 (the Government Procurement Reform Act), violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019 (the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and alleged malversation of public funds, “among others.”“We will hold all of them to account for the highly irregular, if not downright unlawfu[l], procurement of P3.550 billion worth of Dengvaxia vaccines and for their premature and imprudent implementation of the Dengue Immunization Program en masse and for the deaths associated with the administration of Dengvaxia,” Luna said.The joint complaint will be filed by: the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, represented by lawyers Luna, Glenn Chong, and Nasser Marohomsalic; and Francisco Cruz and Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution, Inc., represented by lawyer Nestor Ifurung.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/complaint-filed-vs-aquino-doj/379390/
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Criminal liability threshold breeds ‘more’ child offenders
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-02-27 21:50:46+00:00
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Congressional allies of President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday claimed that the Juvenile Justice and Welfare of Children Law, which increased the minimum age of criminal liability to 15, resulted in more children committing crimes.Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro and Rep. Gwen Garcia of Cebu, however, offered no basis for their declaration.“Raising the minimum age [of criminal liability] to 15 led to more children engaged in criminal activities. You see, putting it [minimum age] back to nine did not produce the desired objective. Must we leave it at that? Must we allow the children to be used by criminals?” Umali told reporters.“Under our present law, children in conflict with the law must be returned to the custody of their parents. But we all know that they run in conflict with the law because their parents neglect them. That’s why our law must be amended. As to the figures, I will leave that to the justice committee,” he said.Garcia said law enforcers in her home province of Cebu have long complained to her dating back to her tenure as Cebu governor that children who commit crimes, most commonly robbery, cannot be arrested because of the limits of the existing law putting the threshold at 15 years old.She argued that these children in conflict with the law already bring their birth certificate with them so that they can easily present it the moment that the police arrest them.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/criminal-liability-threshold-breeds-child-offenders/314475/
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Falsification charges filed vs Erice, miner
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-11-20 22:13:58+00:00
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Criminal charges were filed against Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice and miner Patrick Angelo Gutierrez for allegedly falsifying documents to dupe the government and their business partners of billions of pesos in mining revenues.The complaint was filed at the Surigao Prosecutor’s Office.In the complaint affidavit forwarded to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Rodney Basiana, a small-scale miner from Agusan del Norte, accused Erice, Gutierrez, John Anthony Gutierrez, Miguel Alberto (Mico) Gutierrez, Alejandro Basalio and Antonio Dimabayu of falsifying a mining application. Basiana claimed that Erice and Patrick Gutierrez forged his mining application to make it appear that it was SR Metals Inc. (SRMI) who applied for a mining permit and in 1997.Erice and the Gutierrez family own SRMI. The respondents were supporters of former president Benigno Aquino 3rd and former senator Mar Roxas.Basiana accused the respondents of making it appear that SRMI was the holder of mining claims over an 81-hectare area in Tubay, Agusan Del Norte when it was Basiana Mining Exploration Corp. (BMEC) that held such rights.SRMI was given a permit to extract Nickel and Cobalt (Ni-Co) on a 20-hectare mining site in Sitio Bugnang, Baranagay La Fraternidad, Tubay, Agusan del Norte. It was fined P7 million for over extraction in 2006.Basiana said the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) application executed and signed by Erice on July 7, 2006 “was made with the wrongful intent of injuring and damaging BMEC, my late father, my mother, the other members of the Basiana family and me, amounting to billions of pesos.”It was alleged that BMEC, on August 7, 2000, assigned its rights over its mining application to Manila Mining Corp. (MMC). This is with the colatilla that BMEC shall be the real and true owner of the application and that it has the authority to revoke the same at any period of time.BMEC later exercised its rights to revoke its Deed of Assignment to MMC. On October 18, 2005, BMEC executed a Deed of Assignment over its mining application in favor of SRMI that was then headed by Erice and Eric Gutierrez on the condition that he will be given five percent of the gross proceeds of the sales of the minerals that will be extracted.Basiana claimed SRMI refused to honor its commitment to give him his five percent share.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/falsification-charges-filed-vs-erice-miner/364003/
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LGU, PNP assure safety of foreigners in Puerto Galera
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['Don Hart']
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1/2/2017 0:00
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Local government officials led by Mayor Rockey D. Ilagan and top Philippine National Police (PNP) officials the other day assured the safety of all Korean nationals and other foreign tourists vacationing and staying in this prime tourist destination amid the ‘tokhang-for-ransom’ controversey involving the police.In a meeting held last Tuesday at Angelyn Hotel in Barangay Sabang here, Chief Superintendent Wilben M. Mayor, MIMAROPA (Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) regional police direcor told a group of Korean tourists not to hesitate to report to them any wrongdoing or impropriety of any member of the PNP.“We are concerned with your safety and we don’t like the Jee Ick-Joo case to happen here,” said Mayor, referring to the South Korean national who was allegedly killed by a group of rogue police officers after they kidnapped him together with his household helper in Angeles City, Pampanga last October 18.“Those policemen involved in that case do not represent the Filipino people, they are not the entire PNP and they will be meted with corresponding punishment for their misdeeds which our organization does not tolerate,” Mayor emphasized.Senior Superintendent Christopher C. Birung, provincial director of Oriental Mindoro Police Provincial Office (PPO) said the PNP has assigned a separate specialized unit, the Tourist Police, in Puerto Galera to specifically attend to the needs of Koreans and other foreign nationals who flock to the area for business and leisureKim Jhong, one of the Koreans who attended the meeting said they are thankful with the initiative of the police in reaching out to them.He told Mayor that with the police around, they are not too worried about their safety and described their stay in the said tourist town as “very happy”.“We are happy that you are all happy,” Mayor, in turn, said and told the group of Jhong to invite further their countrymen to visit the Philippines, particularly Puerto Galera.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/02/01/lgu-pnp-assure-safety-of-foreigners-in-puerto-galera/
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Tycoon can only be arrested sans warrant if he returns to PH
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2016-12-05 22:17:48+00:00
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Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday said they want to arrest Jack Lam without a warrant and they can do so only if Lam returns to the country.Without an arrest warrant, the PNP cannot work with its counterpart abroad to bring back Lam to the Philippines, dela Rosa explained before he attended a Senate inquiry into the drug trade.“We will wait for him to return here… we will wait for him. We cannot coordinate [with] Hong Kong, Macau or Chinese enforcement agencies because until now there is no warrant of arrest that was issued against [Lam],” the PNP chief said in Filipino.Lam’s name came to public attention after he allegedly tried to bribe Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre and Andrea Domingo, chief of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), to facilitate the release of at least 1,000 Chinese who were arrested last November 24.The Chinese were arrested for their alleged involvement in an illegal online gambling operation at Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Clark, Pampanga, reportedly owned by Lam.Dela Rosa said the absence of a warrant of arrest against Lam prevents them from seeking help from the International Police Organization or Interpol to issue a red notice against Lam, who was ordered arrested over the weekend by President Rodrigo Duterte.Based on the order of the President, gambling tycoon Lam is an economic saboteur, a continuing crime.Dela Rosa said Lam will also be facing bribery charges.The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has placed Lam on its watchlist.The PNP chief earlier said the President also ordered Domingo to close all of Lam’s gambling operations.The Department of Justice (DOJ) also on Monday issued a Lookout Bulletin Order (LBO) against Lam despite confirmation that he has left the country.In the three-page LBO, Aguirre also ordered Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime Morente to immediately implement the LBO against Lam, whose real name is Yin Lok Lam.The BI is directed “to be on the lookout/alert for [Lam] should he pass through the immigration counters in any of our international ports and/or seaports.”It said Lam left the country last November 29 via Cathay Pacific Airlines bound for Hong Kong.Lam was accused of trying to bribe Domingo and he was able to leave the country even before the President had ordered his arrest.This bribery attempt was made in connection with Lam’s plea to allow Fontana to continue its online gaming operations while applying for a license in exchange for one-percent commission from income of gaming operations.Lam met with Aguirre on November 25, four days before flying to Hong Kong to discuss custodial arrangements for the 1,316 Chinese who were arrested for illegally working at Fontana.The DOJ chief later said Lam’s group to tried to bribe him in exchange for protection for the Chinese who were arrested.The BI has also ordered cancelation of Lam’s investor’s visa.Aguirre said the DOJ “will be filing many cases” against Lam but he did not give details.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/tycoon-can-arrested-sans-warrant-returns-ph-2/300195/
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Various sectors laud signing of free tuition law
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2017-08-05 20:39:44+00:00
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THE Senate minority and militant groups lauded the signing of the free college tuition law on Saturday, but said it would become a reality only if the government allocated enough funds for its implementation.Opposition senators lauded President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to sign the law even when there was some hesitation from his economic managers.State colleges and universities (SCUs) and the militant teachers’ group Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) also welcomed the signing of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.The challenge now, however, is to ensure that the new law will be effectively and completely implemented in 112 state colleges and universities (SCUs) nationwide, the Senate minority bloc said in a statement released by the office of Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.“We hope that [the President’s]economic managers would not bungle its implementation. Their cooperation is crucial to ensuring the success of this landmark law,” they added.During the House of Representatives’ budget hearing, Department of Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said that the government cannot afford to finance free education in the tertiary level. They added that this proposal will only benefit the individual and not the country and is detrimental to private colleges and universities.The Senate minority bloc is composed of Senators Francis Pangilinan, Paolo Benigno Aquino 4th, Antonio Trillanes 4th, Risa Hontiveros and Leila de Lima, who is detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center on drug charges.Congress has already provided P8.3 billion to the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) for tuition fee subsidy in the current General Appropriations Act.However, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) removed provisions for free tuition in SUCs in the 2018 national budget, amounting to over P3.7 trillion, that was submitted to Congress during the President’s second State of the Nation Address.Aquino, principal author and sponsor of the measure in the Senate, estimated that the law would require about P20 to P25 billion to be implemented nationwide, way below Diokno’s P100 million estimate.The minority bloc has assured the public it would ensure that adequate budget would be included in the next year’s appropriation act.“This great progress also proves that while as members of the minority we may disagree with certain policies of the administration, there are issues that unite us to better our country and the life of every Filipino,” Pangilinan said.Hontiveros thanked her fellow senators “for crossing party lines in brave support of this law.”Sen. Winston Gatchalian believes that the free college tuition law will not lead to the “exodus” of students from private schools to SUCs.igilance neededThe morning after the signing, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman youth and union leaders were hopeful asthey gathered to discuss the law with the school administration at Palma Hall.The UP Manila Student Council welcomed the news but asked students to be vigilant because there were hurdles in implementing the law like the protest of Duterte’s economic managers.Last week, UP president Danilo Concepcion reversed the decision to suspend the collection of tuition in the whole university, which drew the ire of the students.Technological University of the Philippines said that all its students would benefit from the program. But it reiterated that students under the Student Financial Assistance Program would be the priority.Aklan State University had made its student assessment form for free tuition available to students for the school year.Naval State University (NSU) officially announced on its website that it would no longer collect tuition fees from their students.“We are encouraging out-of-school high school graduates and returnees to enroll this 2nd semester since the budget is large enough to accommodate new applicants,” Dr. Erwin Salvatierra, NSU student affairs director said.Pangasinan State University shared Senator Bam Aquino’s Facebook post on free tuition with the caption “And now it’s official! #noworries”.Tarlac State University announced that the budget for the law could cover all students for one semester regardless of their academic standing and financial capability.“Ninety five percent of the students of Batangas State University are already assured of the free tuition fee program of the government and from the budget given by DBM,” Batangas State University student council said in a Facebook post.Teachers welcome bill’s approvalTHE militant teachers’ group ACT said, “President Rodrigo Duterte’s signing of the law will expand the access of the Filipino youth to higher education. We praise the President for standing against the position of his economic managers.”Assailing the statements of Diokno and Pernia, ACT’s national spokesman Benjamin Valbuena said, “It seems that these two economic managers are not working for the government, they are more of spokesmen for the private education businessmen.”“Based from the data the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges submitted to the Senate Committee on Education, 77 percent of the students in SUCs are from the families of minimum-wage earners and below. This shows that majority of students are struggling daily to support their expenses and that imposition of fees (tuition and miscellaneous) may further erode their hope to finish college. We want to help them focus on their studies so they can develop their potentials fully. The Free Higher Education Act will help us towards this end. As educators, this is our goal for our students,” Valbuena added.Youth groups to monitor complianceYouth groups vowed to monitor implementation of the law, which orders full government subsidy on the education of students in state universities and colleges (SUCs).Kabataan Party-list Representative Sarah Elago said the passage of the Free Tertiary Education Act was “a landmark victory not only for the youth today, but also for future generations. Not a peso should be collected if we want to actualize the real spirit of the new law.”CHEd Commissioner Prospero de Vera said the government’s free tuition policy would be take effect in the first semester of academic year 2018-2019.According to the 2018 National Expenditure Program, economic managers from the government expect all state-run universities and colleges to collect tuition amounting to P9.1 billion next year.with RJ CARBONELL, NEIL A. ALCOBER and ELSHAMAE ROBLES
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/various-sectors-laud-signing-free-tuition-law/342617/
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Auditors question DoJ cash balance
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-05-27 00:06:00+00:00
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The Department of Justice (DoJ) maintained three bank accounts without authority in 2017, according to the Commission on Audit (CoA).According to the audit report, these accounts were kept at the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) as of year-end 2017 without authority from a permanent committee.The commission said this was “contrary to Section 2 of Executive Order [EO] 338 and Section 4 of the General Appropriations Act [GAA] FY [Fiscal Year] 2017.”According to the audit report, Section 2 of EO 338 requires government offices and agencies to immediately transfer to the Bureau of Treasury public monies in depository banks and other institutions.Section 4 of the 2017 GAA provides that fees, charges, assessments and other receipts or revenues collected by government departments shall be deposited with the national treasury.According to the audit report, one account consisted of Inter-agency Transferred Funds (IATF) and grants/donations; the second was the Victims Compensation Fund (VCF) account; and the third pertained to the Justice department’s Witness Protection Security Program.The first account mentioned above, which amounted to P12.7 million as of year-end 2017, “consists of IATF, which is composed of HUDCC and OP-Presidential Support Fund [PSF], and grants/donations, which is composed of Unicef and AMAN.”HUDCC is the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and OP is the Office of the President.Unicef is the United Nations Children’s Fund.By “AMAN,” the CoA apparently was referring to what an online report said was “an investment and a privately-held company based in Malaysia with branches in the Philippines.”“These are trust receipts of the department which should have been deposited with the National Treasury. They are not authorized to be deposited with the AGDB due to absence of authority from the Permanent Committee; thus, contrary to Section 4 of the GAA FY 2017,” the audit commission said.AGDB is authorized government depository bank.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/auditors-question-doj-cash-balance/401371/
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PCSO to help security guard’s sick child
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['Neil Alcober']
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2017-06-22 22:14:00+00:00
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THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has vowed to shoulder the medical expenses of the child of the security guard who holed himself up in a room in a mall in Quezon City on Wednesday.Hermigildo Marsula Jr., of the Grandiose Security and Services Corp., was drunk when he caused panic at Eton Centris mall. Reports said he was driven to desperation because he had no money for his sick child who needs to undergo surgery.PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan on Thursday said he directed his staff to coordinate with the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) to find out how the agency can help the child.“The PCSO is always ready to help Filipinos, whether they are rich or poor, we are always ready to help them,” Balutan said.Balutan said every Filipino in need should not hesitate to seek PCSO assistance to avoid what happened to Marsula.“The PCSO is one with the government in fulfilling the dream of President Rodrigo Duterte that no one will die due to sickness because they don’t have money to pay for hospitalization,” Balutan said.PCSO Chairman Jose Jorge Corpuz assured the family of Marsula that the agency will help pay the cost of the child’s operation.“That is our mandate, to assist in the medical and financial needs of Filipinos whether they are security guards or any Juan dela Cruz,” Corpuz said. “As I always say, the agency does not choose who to help, everyone is welcome here. That is the real mandate of the agency, to help those in need,” Balutan said.“We have 57 PCSO branches in different parts of the country, you can submit the required documents to the nearest branch for us to give you financial assistance,” he added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pcso-help-security-guards-sick-child/334327/
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‘PCSO in good hands’ of team players
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-02-02 00:03:01+00:00
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“I’m here not as an obstructionist but a team player.”This was the message of Anselmo Simeon Patron Pinili, newly appointed chairman of the board of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office amid the apparently continuing vilification campaign in the media against the PCSO leadership.Pinili is a retired police general of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and a member of the Philippine Military Academy “Matikas” Class of 1983.President Rodrigo Duterte appointed him as PCSO chairman after retired police general Jose Jorge Elizalde Corpuz resigned for health reasons.During a recent flag-raising, Pinili vowed that he and PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan will hand in hand take the agency to greater heights.Balutan is “my classmate and I know he means business, so I know PCSO is in good hands,” he said in a statement.“You know our office right now maybe subjected to some challenges, which I know we can overcome with everyone’s help. I am very frank when it comes to correcting your misdemeanor kaya ‘wag kayo magalit at maibahan kasi sabi ng wife ko malakas daw ang boses ko pero normal ko na talaga ito [Don’t be mad or feel slighted if I have a strong voice, my wife said I naturally have a strong and high pitched voice, that is my normal tone),” according to Pinili.“I hope everyone keeps supporting the PCSO and let’s try to make the PCSO grow and be an office of the people,” he said.One of his priorities, according to Pinili, is to improve and enhance the delivery of quality service to patients.“I’m really sad when somebody [patient] complains at the Lung Center of the Philippines. ‘Yung mga maihirap naiinitan, ‘yung mga privileged nasa aircon. So, sana ‘yung mga ganitong pagpuna ma-address ng ating opisina [The poor are outside the building in a hot area waiting to be called, while the rich and privileged are waiting inside an air-conditioned room. I hope these concerns could be addressed by our office]’. It is the desire of our President to make a government for the poor,” he said.“Tayo dito, we are extending help and sana ‘yang mga AGMs [Assistant General Managers] na nandito, you can look into this para maging malapit tayo. Kasi ang mga pasyente ‘pag nangitian mo lamang eh hindi ka nakakalimutan [We are here to extend help, I hope our AGMs could look into this so that we could be closer to the people. A patient remembers even just a single smile and that patient would treasure that smile and will never forget this simple gesture],” Pinili added.He recalled the President’s speech during an oath of office ceremony at Malacanang on December 6, 2017.“It was about the painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. The painting took the artist Leonardo six long years to complete. When he was about to paint his subjects, he looked for a picture of Jesus Christ in Google, everyone laughs. So, he hired this model who looked like Jesus and painted the apostles/disciples, but couldn’t finish it because he had no photo of Judas Escariot,” he said.“For six long years he labored to find the exact image and then he found one at last. So, he hired this particular model and then began to paint the face of Judas. After Leonardo finished his painting the model revealed that he was the same model he hired six years ago as the face of Jesus Christ,” the chairman added with a smile.“Moral of the story: The President said [all those in the government are kind and good but in the end become Judases]. So, he told all of his appointees including me to be good, because he felt that I was good, but maybe after my stint here in PCSO I would turn into a Judas Escariot.”Pinili reiterated that every PCSO employee must be a team player who can effectively deliver the best services of PCSO to Filipinos, specially the poor.“Help me to be good and I told the general manager here that our office can never be ridiculed or questioned as to our integrity and credibility especially in our lottery games… Hope we will continue to work well,” he said.Pinili was the Ambassador of the Office of the Special Envoy on Transnational Crime, prior to his appointment at PCSO.He was given a Distinguished Service Medal for serving 35 years in the government and awarded the PNP Special Service Medal for being the deputy regional director for administration for two years at the Police Regional Office (PRO) 11.During his term as deputy regional director for administration, the second highest officer of PRO 11, he initiated peace talks between local communist rebel in the municipalities of Santo Thomas, Davao del Norte, and Pantukan, Compostela Valley.Pinili facilitated construction of nine police stations throughout the Davao region.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pcso-good-hands-team-players/377652/
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Philippine Marines chief appointed new Nolcom commander
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-09-03 20:22:59+00:00
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Philippine Marine Corps commandant Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Salamat is the next commander of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom).Salamat replaces Lt. Gen. Romeo Tanalgo, who is set to retire from military service.Nolcom is responsible for securing Philippine territories in Northern Luzon, including disputed waters in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).Salamat is a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Sandiwa” Class of 1985 and a batchmate of newly-installed Southern Luzon Command Maj. Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. and military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr.Padilla was recently appointed as the new deputy chief of staff for plans (J5) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).Tanalgo and AFP chief Gen. Eduardo Año belong to PMA “Matikas” Class of 1983.Año is set to retire on October 26.He will preside at the change of command today at Camp Servillano Aquino in Tarlac City, the main headquarters of Nolcom.During Tanalgo’s stint as Nolcom chief, the command initiated the underwater raising of a fibreglass Philippine flag at the Philippine Rise (Benham Rise) in the South China Sea on June 12, Independence Day.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/philippine-marines-chief-appointed-new-nolcom-commander/348443/
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Davao gets bulk of ‘green’ fund
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2018-06-28 00:03:35+00:00
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Davao City will get the biggest allocation in the proposed “Green, Green, Green” program that aims to help cities develop public open spaces.Julia Nebrija, project director of the Green, Green, Green initiative, said P2.5 billion was allocated for the program this year. The allocation for each city will be determined based on population and land area.“The largest (budget allocation) is with Davao because of the land size. So 50 percent is based on the land size and 50 percent is based on the population. So the largest is Davao,” Nebrija said in a news briefing.“So top are Davao, Quezon City, Zamboanga, Puerto Princesa, Manila and Caloocan. We’re hoping that it would be really a flagship example for a lot of cities to follow,” she added.To get a share of the “green” fund, city governments must submit a letter of intent expressing their interest as well as a conceptual design of the proposed project.“It’s pre-allocated and it is only available to cities. So there’s separate funds for municipalities. The allocation is preset. It’s not that they have to apply, it’s that they have to present projects and meet the requirements to receive the funds allocated to them,” she said.“Once we verify the technical requirements, the design concepts, the funding will be released,” Nebrija added.The Green, Green, Green program aims to improve the connectivity and accessibility of spaces through the construction of eco-friendly bike lanes and walkways.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/davao-gets-bulk-of-green-fund/413238/
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3 police officials reassigned
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-10-19 20:20:04+00:00
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Philippine National Police (PNP) Director-General Ronald de la Rosa on Wednesday ordered the transfer of three high-ranking officials to different police offices.A special order prepared by Police Deputy Director General Archie Gamboa and signed by Rene Aspera , PNP director for Personnel and Records Management, showed that the three police chiefs will be reassigned on October 20.Senior Supt. Graciano Jaylo Mijares, chief of the PNP-Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG), will be reassigned to the police regional office of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac, ARMM police director and whom Mijares will replace on Friday, would be transferred to the PNP’s national headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City.Senior Supt. Joseph Cagayan Adnol, deputy regional director for administration of the Cagayan de Oro City police (Region 10), will replace Mijares as PNP-DEG chief.RJ CARBONELL
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/3-police-officials-reassigned/357550/
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Makati lists over 63,000 traffic violations
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-02-17 20:56:53+00:00
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MAKATI city’s Public Safety Department (PSD) has recorded a total of 63,172 traffic violations for which PSD enforcers issued citation tickets from July to December 2016. Compared with the first half of the year, the number of traffic violations recorded by PSD rose by 239 percent during the first six months in office of Mayor Abby Binay. A report from PSD’s Ordinance Violation Receipt Redemption Management Division shows top 10 violations during the six-month period as Disobedience to Traffic Control Signs – 16,473; Disregarding Lane Markings – 8,194 and Disregarding Yellow Box – 468; Road Obstructing – 7,035; Violation of number coding – 5,651; Illegal Parking – 5,106; Smoke Belching – 4,255; Non-use of Seatbelt – 2,859; No Safety Helmet (motorcyclist) – 1,962; Violation of loading Zone – 1,699 and Driving in Sandos/slippers (PUV) – 1,520. From July to December last year, the city government collected a total of P29.6 million in fines for various traffic offenses.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/makati-lists-63000-traffic-violations/312820/
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More ‘efficient’ SSS seen after departure of 2 top officials
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2018-02-14 00:02:39+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte expects improved efficiency in the management of the Social Security System (SSS) as a result of his decision not to renew the appointments of the agency’s two top officials, Malacañang said on Tuesday.In a news conference in Kalinga province, north of Manila, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte wanted to end the squabble among SSS officials to ensure efficient operations.“Sa tingin ko po, kaya pinalitan iyan ni Presidente, e dahil nakikita niya na mas magiging efficient ang SSS kung walang hidwaan po sa board ng SSS [I think, the President made some changes because he sees the SSS will be more efficient if there was no rift in the SSS board],” Roque said to reporters.On Monday, he announced that the President will not renew the appointments of SSS Chairman Amado Valdez and Commissioner Jose Gabriel la Viña, who had been serving in a holdover capacity.Valdez, a former dean of the University of the East, was appointed by the President in October 2016.La Viña, meanwhile, was the 2016 Duterte campaign’s social media head.Roque said the President is yet to decide on the replacement of the two officials.But he assured the public that operations at the SSS would continue despite the departure of Valdez and la Viña.“Hindi po dahil ang chairman po, ang trabaho naman niya ay nagpi-preside lang sa mga board meetings. At ang isang direktor naman po ay nag-a-attend lamang ng board meetings [It will not affect the SSS because the chairman, his job is to preside only board meetings. And the director is the one attending the board meetings],” Roque said.“Ang management po ng SSS, e hindi po nabago. Patuloy naman po ang trabaho diyan sa SSS [The management of the SSS has not changed. Work continues in the SSS],” the Palace official added.Earlier, the SSS employees reportedly wrote a petition to Malacañang seeking the dismissal of la Viña, who filed charges against several officials for allegedly anomalous approval of contracts.The employees allegedly claimed they were demoralized by la Viña’s decision to go public with his charges before discussing the matter internally.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/efficient-sss-seen-departure-2-top-officials/379996/
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Protect the planet’s oceans, ex-senator urges Filipinos
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-06-07 21:22:08+00:00
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A former senator called on Filipinos to employ “a multidisciplinary cooperative approach to protection of our water bodies” ahead of World Ocean Day on Thursday, June 8.In a statement on Tuesday, Heherson Alvarez said World Ocean Day’s theme “Our Oceans, Our Future” [is] geared to inform, mobilize and unite the world’s population for the sustainable management of the world’s oceans, considered the lungs of our planet.”Alvarez added that the private and public sectors can link up for the protection of the marine and the coastal environments.“Climate change can be managed. It is doable by deploying more of the capacity, funding and technology for alternative energy, which we have in abundance in our country,” he said.According to Alvarez, “the rehabilitation of our water bodies cannot happen with a denial of science that portrays the toll of global warming on our oceans due to excessive carbon dioxide emissions and human folly in overexploitation, unregulated and destructive fishing, marine pollution and habitat destruction.”MAVERICK MATIBAG/INTERN
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/protect-planets-oceans-ex-senator-urges-filipinos/331475/
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Robin Padilla donates P5M for Marawi kids
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2017-08-17 22:59:11+00:00
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Actor Robin Padilla has donated P5 million to the government to help the children affected by the ongoing siege in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur.Padilla turned over his donation to the Department of Social Welfare and Development when he met with President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang on Wednesday.According to the caption of the photos released by Malacañang, the donation was received by Social Welfare Undersecretary Emmanuel Leyco.“The P5-million donation is intended for the immediate psycho-social intervention for the children affected by the armed conflict in Marawi City,” the Palace said in a news release.Padilla was joined by Fisheries Development Authority General Manager Glen Pangapalan, Frabelle Foods Corp. President Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. and his brother Rommel Padilla.Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Eduardo Año and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez were also present during the turnover ceremony.The AFP earlier said various groups have conducted psycho-social aid in Marawi City to address the stress experienced by the displaced residents, particularly the children.Around 400,000 residents have been displaced since fighting between government troops and Islamic State-linked Maute terrorists erupted on May 23.This has prompted Duterte to declare martial law in the entire Mindanao. Congress has extended the martial law declaration until December 31, 2017.The fighting, which enters its 87th day on Thursday, has claimed the lives of 562 Islamist gunmen, 128 government forces and 45 civilians.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/robin-padilla-donates-p5m-marawi-kids/345110/
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BI hits Budget chief for ‘misinformation’
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-04-07 21:27:13+00:00
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The rank-and-file of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Friday got back at Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno for allegedly peddling lies and misinformation on the issue of the non-payment of their overtime pay, which had led to passenger queues in the immigration counters of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in the past several days.In a joint statement, the BI workers’ union Buklod and Immigration Officers Association of the Philippines (IOAP) asked Diokno to be truthful in his statements, saying he did not only distort facts but have also further demoralized the bureau’s employees.“Contrary to Secretary Diokno’s assertion that immigration officers are job order [contractual] employees who could easily be replaced, they are actually permanent employees occupying plantilla positions and who enjoy security of tenure protection under our civil service laws,” they said.The two groups also downplayed Diokno’s claim that some 200 soldiers are already being trained to replace immigration officers who resigned or have gone on leave, noting that there is no concerted or deliberate effort by immigration officers at the airports to go on mass leave or resign en masse to pressure the government to lift the presidential veto on the use of the express lane fund (ELF) to pay for their overtime.“There is no deliberate or organized effort by our members to paralyze our operations and inconvenience the traveling public. If by coincidence our members are absent or are on sick leaves at the same time, these are forced and caused by their inability to shoulder their expenses in going to work, not because they wanted to abandon their duties,” the groups said.An immigration officer’s job, according to them, is “very sensitive and critical.”“You just don’t put somebody in the airport immigration booth and tell him to stamp every traveler who presents himself for inspection. Otherwise, our national security will be compromised. We are not called gatekeepers for nothing,” the statement said.It added that immigration officers hired by the bureau actually undergo rigid screening and training on immigration laws, rules and procedures for four to six months at a training academy in Clark, Pampanga before they are deployed to the airports and seaports.“Many of our young recruits are cream of the crop who hail from some of the best schools in the country,” the statement said.The two groups said applicants for immigration officer must have a four-year college degree, possess professional civil service eligibility and pass difficult oral and written tests before being hired.The BI workers also described as not feasible the Budget department’s offer of 900 new plantilla positions that will purportedly address manpower lack in the bureau.They said opening new vacant positions is not the solution as it will not address the main problem of the low salaries of BI personnel.Earlier, Diokno said past presidents tried to correct the allegedly corrupt system on the continued use of ELF but were all unsuccessful because “they were blackmailed by these BI employees.”Diokno added that the Duterte administration would not allow itself to be taken hostage by such manipulation, citing as an example the air controllers strike in the United States during the time of the then-President Ronald Reagan.“You must remember that during the time of [President] Ronald Reagan some 11,345 air controllers threatened to strike. Reagan called their threat, [and] until now it’s still a third party that runs air control in the US,” he said.The Budget chief belied claims of low salaries, saying some of the immigration employees received as much as P96,000 per month plus 13th and 14th month pays.On non-payment of overtime pay, Diokno said P235 million has been appropriated in the General Appropriations Act for the purpose but the BI made no request for overtime payment.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/bi-hits-budget-chief-misinformation-2/321584/
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Energy dept intensifies inspection of gas stations
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['Philippines News Agency']
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2016-12-10 23:25:54+00:00
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Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has ordered the inspection of liquid petroleum products in gasoline stations and retail outlets nationwide to test the presence of methanol and compliance with Philippine National Standards (PNS) for fuels.Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Donato Marcos and Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB) office-in-charge Director Melita Obillo, along with senior research specialists, led the inspection of fuels using the department’s Mobile Monitoring and Testing Lab van.Earlier, the department said that contrary to national standards for petroleum products, methanol is being used instead of ethanol. The presence of methanol in gasoline can harm and corrode engines.Besides the standard inspections, further confirmation is being done in the geoscientific research and testing laboratories under the department’s Energy Research and Testing Laboratories in its headquarters in Taguig City (Metro Manila).Cusi said that initially, inspection results showed that all gasoline samples passed the calibration test for the quantity of fuels.“But for quality, only one sample is still being confirmed for having methanol at the DOE laboratory,” he said. “We see the need to intensify this campaign to further protect the consumer. That is why this activity is simultaneously being done nationwide through the DOE’s Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao field offices.”Cusi assured consumers the department’s activities will continue to ensure that fuels sold in the market comply with set standards.He also called on the public to remain vigilant and report unscrupulous activities to [email protected]
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/energy-dept-intensifies-inspection-gas-stations-2/301081/
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DTI urged to issue rules for safer children’s toys
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['Raadee S. Sausa']
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2017-08-09 21:38:14+00:00
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TWO groups on Wednesday urged Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez to promulgate the long-delayed Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 10620, or the Toy and Game Safety Labeling Act of 2013.“The apparent delay in the issuance of the IRR, which is deeply lamentable, does not serve the law’s objective of promoting children’s right to safe toys, particularly their right to adequate and truthful information to facilitate sound choice,” Victorio Dimagiba, president of Laban Konsyumer Inc., said.Thony Dizon, coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect, said the DTI should release the IRR as the actual enforcement of RA 10620 depends on it.“The honest-to-goodness implementation of the mandatory labeling requirements, we believe, will help in curbing the unrestrained trade of unsafe toys such as those that are laced with dangerous chemicals,” he added.A study on toys sold in the local market conducted in July 2011 by the EcoWaste Coalition and IPEN, a global NGO network promoting safe chemicals policies and practices, found 29 percent of 200 toy samples to be laden with harmful substances such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury above levels of concern.None of the analyzed toys had labeling information about their chemical composition, and many had no cautionary statements, it said.Subsequent studies revealed the prevalence of more unsafe toys in the market, which can pose chemical, choking, flammability, laceration, strangulation and other health and safety hazards, especially among young children.Legislators took notice of the problem and filed pertinent bills, including Senate Bill 3367 and House Bill 6529, which were consolidated into RA 10620, to protect children from unsafe toys through mandatory safety labeling requirements.RA 10620 requires compulsory labeling for all toys and games in accordance with the appropriate provisions on safety labeling and manufacturer’s markings found in the Philippine National Standards for the safety of toys.It further requires cautionary statement to be displayed in its entirety on the principal display panel of the product’s package and on any descriptive material that accompanies the product.RA 10620 also provides for the removal from the market of toys and games that do not adhere to the labeling and packaging requirements.Such non-compliant toys and games shall be considered misbranded or banned hazardous substance, and shall be withdrawn from the market at the expense of the manufacturer, importer, wholesaler or distributor.For the guidance and protection of consumers, the bill requires the DTI to regularly publish every six months the list of all manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers who fail to comply with the provisions of RA 10620.The law also requires the Department of Health to publish also every six months the list of all misbranded or banned hazardous substances the sale, offer for sale and distribution of which shall not be allowed under RA 10620.It imposes a fine of not less than P10,000 but not more than P50,000, or imprisonment of three months to two years, or both, for any person found to be in violation of the law.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/dti-urged-issue-rules-safer-childrens-toys/343402/
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PH implements sustainable fishing
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['Neil Alcober']
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2017-10-07 22:45:00+00:00
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THE Philippines has begun implementing sustainable fishing reforms with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) as a partner providing critical support on science and policy, saying that it would establish these reforms for its major commercial fisheries by 2022.“Healthy fisheries are critical to the well-being of all Filipinos, and we are committed to making fishing sustainable nationwide,” Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Director Eduardo Gongona said.The Philippines is a top fishing nation in the Asia-Pacific region and boasts the highest marine diversity on the planet. Seafood is critical to the country’s food security. Millions of Filipinos depend on fishing for their livelihood, and 90 percent of the fish caught in the Philippines stays here, making up more than half of the animal protein consumed by the population.“We applaud the Philippines for this extraordinary commitment,” John Mimikakis, vice president for Asia with EDF’s Oceans program, said. “EDF is proud to be partnering with the Philippine fisheries bureau to set an example for the region and the rest of the world for how to build policies that can improve food security and provide economic development, while at the same time recovering fisheries.”Today, more than 800 million people around the world face direct health risks from declining fish populations. New research shows that if nothing is done, 80 percent of the world’s fisheries will be in need of reform in less than 15 years.Overfishing is pervasive in the Philippines, where 70 percent of fish stocks for which there are data are considered overfished.As part of the new fisheries law aimed at combating this problem, BFAR has committed to building science-based policies and is partnering with EDF to develop new scientific processes, provide training, and test new technologies.Through the partnership, EDF will continue to provide science support sharing tools it has developed with BFAR as it develops reforms for the country’s major commercial fisheries. Managers in the Philippines plan to use some of the low-cost methods, developed by EDF’s Fishery Solutions Center, to assess the health of fish populations with the goal of managing fishing effort and catch to allow stocks to rebuild.“Data, science, participation, and transparency are the foundation for good policy,” Jose Ingles, an advisor to EDF in the Philippines, said. “Together, we have an opportunity to build a roadmap for other nations to emulate on how to implement sustainable, science-based, and inclusive policy reforms for their fisheries.”“We view EDF as a critical partner to making fishing sustainable in the Philippines,” Gongona said. “By building our policy reforms on science and investing in reliable enforcement, we can ensure healthy fisheries for the future.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ph-implements-sustainable-fishing/355105/
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Village watchmen ‘can’t carry’ firearms
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['Roy Narra']
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2018-01-31 00:04:38+00:00
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Barangay tanod (village watchmen) should remain unarmed while performing their duties, according to Eduardo Año, officer-in-charge of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.Año on Tuesday said the law does not allow the watchmen to carry weapons even for peace and security purposes.Under Repulic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act of 2012, police auxiliary units members like barangay tanod are prohibited from carrying firearms.The village watchmen were previously allowed to be equipped with firearms under Circular No. 2008-013 of the National Police Commission.“Bagaman mahalaga ang papel ng mga tanod sa pagtulong sa pagbabantay at pagpapanatili ng kaayusan at seguridad sa mga komunidad… hindi sila otorisadong magdala at gumamit ng baril kahit pa ang armas ay personal nilang kagamitan at kahit pa mayroon silang permit to carry outside their residence [Although they play an important role in helping maintain peace and order in the communities… they are not authorized to carry and use firearms even if they personally own them and even if they have a permit to carry them outside their residence],” Año said in a statement.“Ang mga tanod ay hindi po permanenteng mga manggagawa ng gobyerno kaya hindi sila maaaring gumamit ng armas maging iyong mga nakarehistrong baril ng LGU [Village watchmen are not permanent government workers and they cannot use firearms, even those registered with local government units],” he added.Barangay tanod are only allowed to carry nightstick with teargas with belt and holster, handcuffs with holster,whistle flashlight, raincoat, rainboots, small notebooks and ballpens, first aid kits and other non-lethal gadgets, Ano said.Barangay captains, on the other hand, are allowed to carry firearms within their territorial jurisdiction under Section 389 (c) of the Local Government Code as part of their peace and order duties.Philippine National Police chief Ronald de La Rosa previously ordered a crackdown on armed village watchmen.The order came after the December 28, 2017 shooting in Barangay Addition Hills, Mandaluyong City in which two barangay tanod fired at a vehicle carrying what they thought were assailants on the run.Two persons were killed and two others injured in the incident.Ernesto Fajardo, the shooter, has surrendered to authorities.The other watchman, Gilberto Gulpo, is still at large.Both of them, together with 10 police officers involved in the shooting, are facing homicide charges.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/village-watchmen-cant-carry-firearms/377374/
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Security sector to play key role under Bangsamoro law
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['Ted Khan Juanite']
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2018-07-21 00:03:07+00:00
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MARAWI CITY: The security sector will play a significant role once the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) is approved by President Rodrigo Duterte.Chief Supt. Graciano Mijares, the regional police director, said his office was invited to attend the meeting between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) panels to prepare for new security guidelines after the signing of the law.The GPH-MILF Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) completed on Friday a three-day meeting with Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza and Deputy Adviser Nabil Tan in Davao City.Mijares said the meeting resulted in the preservation of the ceasefire mechanism and the peace process as a whole.“The cooperation and lateral coordination between the AHJAG, GPH-MILF CCCH and other peace stakeholders to eradicate illegal drugs, proliferation of loose firearms and to fight the emerging militant and radical groups in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and to take appropriate action on other pressing security concerns in the region were the key issues discussed in the three-day meet,” said Mijares.Also in the meeting were MILF Panel Chairman Mohagher Iqbal, Assistant Secretary Dickson Hermoso of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, and representatives of the International Monitoring Team led by Malaysian facilitator Tengku Dato Ab Ghafar Tengku Mohamed.Iqbal said the MILF would soon prepare for the decommissioning of its firearms after the approval and implementation of the Bangsamoro law.‘Greater chance for peace’Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday said the support of both the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) for the passage of BOL meant a greater chance for the new Bangsamoro region to succeed.The MILF and MNLF have engaged the government in armed conflict for decades in their quest for social justice and independence.MILF Vice Chairman Ghazali Jaafar is head of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) that crafted the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which became the BOL after six days of intense deliberations.“We recognize the sacrifices of the MILF and MNLF and we thank them for their patience and their willingness to set aside political differences for the sake of lasting peace in Mindanao,” Gatchalian said.The Senate and the House of Representatives are expected to ratify the BOL during the opening of the third regular session of the 17th Congress on July 23.President Duterte is expected to sign the bill into law before he delivers his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) later that day.Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said that under the BOL, former MILF and MNLF fighters would be admitted to the Philippine National Police.“Their age, height and educational attainment qualifications may be waived and they can avail themselves of this waiver within five years after the ratification of the BOL,” he said.“Recruits from the MNLF and MILF have up to 15 years after their entry to fulfill the educational attainment requirement,” Zubiri said.The defense and security of the Bangsamoro region is the responsibility of the national government, he said.With Reports from BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/security-sector-to-play-key-role-under-bangsamoro-law/421521/
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Small town lottery sales jump in July
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-08-25 00:01:28+00:00
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Small Town Lottery (STL) is gaining traction and catching up with lotto, Sweepstakes and other digit games, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) said.PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan said that while lotto and other digit games were still the undisputed highest-earning products of PCSO with an overall revenue of P2,591,971,830 for the month of July, STL saw its sales increase to P1,955,334,092, 57.94 percent more compared to the same period last year.“Lotto sales remain high by a few billions, but it appears STL is catching up,” Balutan reported.There is competition in the Visayas and Mindanao between lotto and STL, he said, but assured the gaming public the PCSO was on top of it.“Because both have swertres (three-digit game), they compete. We will look into the reactions [of the sales] as lotto saw a slight dip in swertres. Whereas, the STL swertres saw an increase. We are trying to find ways to balance the games as some [lotto outlets] are complaining that they are losing bettors,” Balutan said.At present, STL is earning almost P2 billion a month. From 18 original STL operators, the agency has now 82.In 2016, STL used to earn P4.7 billion a year but under the Duterte administration it earned P15.7 billion by the end of 2017.From January to July this year, STL earned P13,616,456,257.28 billion, an increase of 83.63 percent compared to the same period last year.Balutan also said that STL has created P320,000 jobs for kabos, kubradores, and rebisadores — people who cannot pass job fairs because of old age, disability and lack of education.The PCSO Charter, or Republic Act (RA) 1169, particularly on revenue allocation, provides that the revenue of the PCSO shall be allocated to 55 percent for prize fund, 30 percent for charity fund and 15 percent as operating fund.“Thirty percent of charity fund goes to the 1,200 patients being served by PCSO every single day. This is including the patients coming from 63 PCSO branches and 62 partner-hospitals with ASAP (At-Source-Ang-Processing) desks nationwide,” Balutan explained, as he encouraged the gaming public to patronize the government-run STL, and not the illegal numbers games.For the first semester of this year, Balutan revealed that the agency already spent P20 million a day for hospitalization, requests for medicines, transplant/implant, chemotherapy, and dialysis, serving 400,000 patients.“We still have five more months. We are confident that we will hit our target of P55 to P60 billion overall revenues, as long as the law enforcement will help us fight against illegal numbers game,” Balutan said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/small-town-lottery-sales-jump-in-july/434159/
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Group seeks end to political labels
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['Mary Gleefer F. Jalea']
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2018-04-02 00:02:47+00:00
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Cause-oriented group Tindig Pilipinas on Sunday called on the public to end political hatred caused by “dilawan” and “Dutertard” tags in the spirit of Easter.“Political hatreds caused by labels such as ‘dilawan’ or ‘Dutertard’ detract from our common humanity,” it said in a statement.The term “dilawan” (yellowish) scornfully describes supporters of former President Benigno Aquino 3rd while their opponents–the loyal supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte–are dubbed “Dutertards.”“Labels and name-calling prevent us from opening our hearts to the suffering and injustice before us and, in the process, allow our hearts to harden and deny difficult truths,” Tindig Pilipinas said.The group also urged the public to elevate national discourse by “[striving] to act and speak dispassionately with charity, having the sincere desire to dialogue and seek the truth” amid those with differing opinions.“Only when we speak and act with prudence and in truth can we avoid labels [we ourselves have at times been remiss] and transcend our own political persuasions and ideological affiliations. Beyond those divisions, we know and we are—one people,” Tindig Pilipinas said.It added that it will continue to support the oppressed, the migrant workers, the women, the marginalized and those who lack representation in national discourse.Tindig Pilipinas is composed of Liberal Party politicians such as Francis Pangilinan, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th and Magdalo party-list representative Gary Alejano, among others.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/group-seeks-end-to-political-labels/389969/
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Sign free tuition bill, Duterte urged
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-08-03 19:31:43+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte should sign the free education bill into law because it is an investment that will stir progress, lawmakers said on Thursday.Makabayan bloc and party-list lawmakers Sarah Elago of Kabataan, Antonio Tinio and France Castro of Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Arlene Brosas of Gabriela, Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna and Ariel Casilao of Anakpawis made the call two days before the proposed bill lapses into law if the President does not veto or reject it.The Makabayan bloc said it was illogical for the government, particularly Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, to say that the state cannot afford to fund the free education bill when it would allocate P1 trillion for its infrastructure program “Build, Build, Build.”The Duterte administration aims to raise P8 trillion for the six-year long program.The lawmakers argued that the free education bill will only cost P34 billion for the first year of implementation, not P100 billion as claimed by Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.“If the government can fund the ‘Build, Build, Build’ project worth P8 trillion until 2022, [it] can very well fund the education of our youth. This is a better investment as against infrastructure projects, which tend to benefit big-time corporations and businessmen,” Zarate said.“This [bill if signed into law] will benefit 1.8 million students in the first year alone. It is not true that only 12 percent of the poor make it through college. Seventy percent of students in SUCs (State Universities and Colleges) are poor, near poor or part of the struggling middle class. Just one percent of the proposed budget for 2018 [which is P3.7 trillion] is [already] enough to fund this law until 2022,” Elago said.She was referring to a statement made by Director General Ernesto Pernia of the National Economic and Development Authority.“The President should not think twice in signing this [bill] into law. This is for the benefit of millions of youth. The balance is clear, we need to invest in our youth because this will result in economic progress,” Casilao said.LLANESCA T. PANTI
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/sign-free-tuition-bill-duterte-urged/342257/
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Germany needs 400 Filipino nurses
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['William Depasupil']
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2018-07-20 00:10:31+00:00
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THE German Federal Republic has job openings for 400 qualified Filipino nurses under its Triple Win Project, a government-to-government program supervised by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia said on Thursday that those who will be hired will receive a starting salary of 1,900 Euros or P117,389, at an exchange rate of P62.31 to a Euro, that will be increased to 2,300 Euros or P143,313 after their recognition as a qualified nurse.Olalia said the employer will shoulder German language training, visa fee, airfare, and in full or part of the board and lodging costs.Applicants must be Filipino citizens, with a science degree and an active license in nursing, and years of related professional experience (bedside) in hospitals, rehabilitation centers and/or care institutions. They must also be proficient in the German language or willing to undergo German language training in the Philippines to attain Level B1, and must be able to attend language classes in October and November 2018; or with Bl or B2 Language Proficiency Level in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.Qualified applicants should register online at www.ereqister. poea.gov. ph and personally submit the required documents, fastened in a folder, under the heading “German Federal Employment Agency RSF No. 180018” at the Manpower Registry Division, Ground Floor, Blas F. Ople Bldg. (formerly POEA Bldg.), Ortigas Avenue corner EDSA, Mandaluyong City.The documents to be submitted are cover letter and curriculum vitae with colored passport size picture; notarized copies of high school and Nursing diplomas; board certificate and copy of license from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC); certificates of employment in related field (previous and current, notarized copies); attendance and/or level certificate for German language, if available; and copy of valid passport.Applicants should present original documents for authentication of written information before forwarding the resume to the employer.The deadline for submission of applications at the POEA Central Office and Cebu is on August 17, 2018. Applicants may also submit the required documents at other POEA Regional Offices until August 14, 2018.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/germany-needs-400-filipino-nurses-2/421255/
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DOLE order to ‘displace’ workers
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['William Depasupil']
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2017-03-31 21:55:14+00:00
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THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has admitted that its Department Order (DO) 174 on contracting and sub-contracting will result in job displacements and job losses to some workers even as it assured those affected that it will provide them training and seminars to reshape and improve their skills.“We believe that the new Department Order 174 can affect small and medium enterprises or businesses and some workers will be displaced. With this in mind, we have initially prepared to retool or reshape their skills if they are willing so that they may still earn income to support their families,” Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say said in a statement on Friday.According to Say, the DOLE, in partnership with other government agencies, is prepared to accept and train workers from various industries to upgrade their skills and be qualified for other employment opportunities.He said based on records and despite the displacement of workers, there are still larger manpower requirements in other sectors that need to be filled such as in the business process outsourcing, construction and infrastructure and health-care sectors.“We want to give them jobs and make them employable in other sectors. If there will be displaced workers, we have a workforce allocation intended for them. However, it will all depend on their willingness and eagerness to learn skills and knowledge that are beyond their expertise,” Say added.He advised the workers to be displaced to visit the nearest DOLE offices to avail themselves of the livelihood and skills training provided by the Labor department and by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.Say said the displaced workers can also work overseas because the department continues to partner with the Japanese government in drafting the Technical Internship Program, which is expected to generate at least 35,000 jobs.“The DOLE is in talks with the Japanese government. As of now, we are drafting the IRR [Implementing Rules and Regulations] and they are looking forward to the immediate commencement of the program. There are thousands of job orders from Japan and they want Filipinos to fill the said positions,” he added.Say said they are crafting a Memorandum of Understanding with Israel for the hiring of Filipino caregivers.“The Israeli government is expected to hire 200 Filipino caregivers per year and this number can increase through the years as their need arises. They also want Filipinos for their unique qualities, skills, hospitality and care,” he added.Meanwhile, the department warns the public against individuals and agencies who are offering overseas Filipino workers and interested Filipinos various jobs in Japan and Israel.“Avoid persons who assure you of a regular work in Japan and Israel. As of now, discussions are still ongoing. We suggest to Filipinos who are planning to work in the said countries to secure proper training and acquire certificates first so that they can immediately be qualified when recruitment commences,” Say said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/dole-order-displace-workers-2/320304/
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House panel OKs Natl Museum bill
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-11-04 00:06:36+00:00
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The House Committee on Ways and Means has approved a substitute bill that aims to strengthen the National Museum.The committee led by Nueva Ecija first district Rep. Estrellita Suansing made the approval after it amended the bill’s tax provisions including Section 21.Amendments to Section 21 include the exemption of the National Museum — which would be renamed “National Museum of the Philippines” (NMP) or alternatively in Filipino as the “Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas” — from the payment of taxes, fees and charges imposed by the national government.The substitute bill also exempts from the donor’s tax all donations to the NMP, and exempts from customs duties the importation of scientific, philosophical, historical and cultural books, supplies and materials to be used in its conservation or preservation work, a statement issued on Saturday said.The proposed “National Museum of the Philippines Act” substituted House Bill 1177 authored by Deputy Speaker Pia Cayetano, HB 1502 by Magdalo Party-list Rep. GaryAlejano, HB 1727 by Muntinlupa City Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon, HB 1813 by Quezon City fifth district Rep. Alfred Vargas, HB 3201 by Ilocos Sur first district Rep. Deogracias Victor Savellano, HB 3333 by AN WARAY Party-list Rep. Victoria Isabel Noel, and HB 3820 by Cavite second district Rep. Strike Revilla.“The bill declares it is the policy of the State to pursue and support the cultural development of the Filipino people through the preservation, enrichment and dynamic evolution of Filipino national culture, based on the principle of unity in diversity in a climate of free artistic and intellectual expression,” the statement said.The bill mandates the preservation of the Senate Halls of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the Old Legislative Building, as well as the “dedication of the NMP Complex to Dr. Jose Rizal.”The measure provides for the “development of a master plan for the NMP Complex” as well as the “maintenance of existing regional museums and satellite offices, and creation of new ones in administrative regions where there are presently none.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/house-panel-oks-natl-museum-bill/461843/
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Robredo decries P95-M budget cut
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['Mary Gleefer F. Jalea']
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2018-08-30 00:05:30+00:00
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The House of Representatives approved on Wednesday the proposed P447.6 million budget of the Office of the Vice President for 2019, P95 million less than the amount allotted for 2018 —P543.95 million.Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, who was present during the budget hearing, appealed to the Appropriations committee to restore this year’s budget, saying she would not be able to continue her office’s livelihood assistance projects with the huge budget cut.“We proposed P549 million for 2019. But what was recommended by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) was about P100 million less than our budget last year, which is P447.68 million,” Robredo said.She said the largest portion of the OVP budget is used as subsidy for the poor, including the communities under Angat Buhay, which is her flagship project.“We would not be able to continue with our livelihood assistance to our adopted local government units (LGUs). If you look at the records, all our adopted LGUs are the poorest, the farthest of the communities,” Robredo said.She appealed to the lawmakers to retain this year’s allocation, saying she needs funds for livelihood assistance.Rep. Karlo Nograles, Appropriations panel chairman, told the vice president the budgets of other government agencies were also slashed.“Most of the departments also experienced the same budget cuts, which is why we are trying to resolve all these things within our means as well. Don’t worry, we will find a solution to this problem,” Nograles said.Meanwhile, the panel approved the P6.773-billion proposed budget for the Office of the President. The amount is P742.9 million higher than this year’s budget of P6.031 billion. Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea cited the inflation, the implementation of the fourth tranche of the Salary Standardization Law (SSL), retrofitting of buildings and replacement of worn-out tools as reason for the budget increase.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/robredo-decries-p95-m-budget-cut/435952/
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AFP vows to CRUSH ‘destab’ attempts
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['Fernan Marasigan']
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2017-02-21 20:52:20+00:00
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CITING concern shown by President Rodrigo Duterte for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) especially its soldiers, a military official said destabilizers cannot convince anyone within the ranks of the military to join any move to topple the administration.Col. Edgard Arevalo, chief of the AFP Public Affairs Office, cited the President visiting military camps and talking with soldiers and providing government troops modern weapons stand in the way of supposed coup plotters against the government.Arevalo said that if indeed there are destabilization efforts by “crooks or individuals who will attempt to disrupt our democrratic process” to oust the President, the AFP is always ready to frustrate such attempts.But the official said they have not monitored any such moves.Earlier, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said recent revelations made by Senior Police Officer 3 Arturo Lascañas about the alleged existence of the so-called Davao Death Squad and that the President contracted police officers for vigilante killings when he was still the mayor of Davao City in southern Philippines are a part of the destabilization plot.When asked to comment on the disclosure of Andanar, Arevalo said, “We may not have in possession of any information yet where he [Andanar] might have access to but, in so far as the Armed Forces of the Philippines is concerned, we have asked competent staff information about it and they tell us that they have not monitored any supposed destabilization moves.”
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/afp-vows-crush-destab-attempts/313482/
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‘Leni’ camp unfazed by VP’s 7-point drop in trust rating
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-01-10 21:20:59+00:00
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Majority of Filipinos believe in the competence of Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo in spite of an organized effort to malign her in social media, her camp said on Tuesday.Georgina Hernandez, the spokesman for the Vice President, made the response in connection with the seven-point drop in Robredo’s trust rating in a Pulse Asia survey that stood at 58 percent in December 2016 from 65 percent in September 2016.“Pulse Asia results are just ones of the data that we are looking at in order for the Vice President to continue improving on her service. But we are glad that it still showed that majority of Filipinos believe in the Vice President’s competence,” Hernandez said in a radio interview.The Pulse Asia survey was released amid emergence of alleged leaked e-mails between the supporters of Vice President Robredo who are calling for President Rodrigo Duterte’s resignation for his failure to fulfill his campaign promise of eradicating crimes and illegal drugs in three to six months.“The Vice President is a victim of an organized smear campaign in social media, including these supposedly leaked e-mails. But we just laugh at it because this is just one of those lies that some people throw at the Vice President,” Hernandez pointed out.“There’s also that misinformation coming from the President that the Vice President attended an Oust Duterte rally or anti-Duterte protests, which she never attended in the first place. All of these things are part of that organized effort to malign her,” the spokesman added.Before 2016 ended, Duterte said he fired Robredo as a member of his Cabinet in December because the Vice President was attending protests calling for his ouster.The Vice President has repeatedly said she is not plotting to oust the President and that ousting him from office will bring more harm than good to the country.“The Vice President respects the mandate that our people gave the President, as well as the mandate that she was given as Vice President,” Hernandez said.Duterte and Robredo scored contrasting victories during the May 2016 polls.Then-Davao City Mayor Duterte won in an overwhelming fashion with 16 million votes or nine million votes more than eventual second placer, administration candidate Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd.Robredo, on the other hand, pulled off a stunning and close victory over early favorite and then-senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.Then a Camarines Sur representative, she beat Marcos by 263,473 votes.“The Vice President is not a part of any group calling for the President’s ouster. Those claiming otherwise are just malicious imputations and seek to mislead the people,” Hernandez said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/leni-camp-unfazed-vps-7-point-drop-trust-rating/306215/
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Mandaluyong police undergo anger mngt
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['Neil Alcober']
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2017-07-07 00:10:17+00:00
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THE Eastern Police District (EPD) on Thursday conducted an anger management seminar for personnel of the Mandaluyong City Police Station, days after two police officers were caught on video beating and pointing a gun at two men they arrested for violating a city ordinance banning drinking liquor in public.“This anger management seminar is organized to reiterate to the frontliners how to manage their anger especially with our constituents even if we are under stressful conditions. This seminar will benefit us all, not only for our career’s sake, but also our personal lives,” EPD Director Chief Supt. Romulo Sapitula said.Almost seventy commissioned and non-commissioned officers from the EPD District Personnel Management Unit and Mandaluyong City Police Station personnel who are at the frontline of public service such as beat patrollers, special reaction unit and tactical motorcycle riders, desk officers, and many others attended the seminar.Instructors from the National Capital Region Police Office Nuero-Psychiatric Division tackled the cause and effect of anger, as well as effective techniques in controlling and overcoming stress. Workshops and brainstorming techniques on how police officers should deal with a certain problem whether personal or work related were also done.The anger management seminar will also be held at the District Headquarters and City Police Stations of Pasig, Marikina and San Juan City Police Stations.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/mandaluyong-police-undergo-anger-mngt/336976/
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Police told to raid homes of persons firing guns
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['Anthony Vargas']
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2016-12-27 22:23:19+00:00
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Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday said it was aiming for zero casualties of indiscriminate firing in New Year revelry even as its commander announced that he has ordered policemen to barge into houses when they hear gunshots.The PNP, at the same time, warned that it will be unforgiving of policemen who will be caught indiscriminately firing their guns to greet 2017.As of Monday morning, at least seven persons had been arrested by the police for indiscriminate firing of their guns.Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, PNP chief, told a news conference in Camp Crame in Quezon City that he has authorized policemen to enter residences in search of those firing their guns indiscriminately.Dela Rosa invoked the principle and doctrine of hot pursuit.“We want zero casualties this coming New Year’s revelry… this is a fair warning to everyone if you want change, let’s change. Let’s show the whole world that the Filipinos are disciplined. We appeal to everyone,” he said.The PNP chief appealed to gun owners to think first about those who might be hit by stray bullets if they opted to fire their guns in welcoming the New Year.“If you hear a gunshot, respond and go to the house. Knock, but make sure that you are in proper uniform and using a patrol car. In the regular performance of your duty, you will really encounter conflicts. A [policeman] who is never sued is a [policeman] who does not do his job,” dela Rosa said in Filipino.The PNP, for the first time in recent years, will be breaking its annual tradition of sealing the muzzle of the service firearm of police personnel to prevent indiscriminate firing in greeting 2017.“To the policemen who will fire their guns, you have been warned. I will not forgive you if you are arrested,” Dela Rosa said during the news conference.He added that he will sack police chiefs or station commanders who will fail to arrest policemen behind indiscriminate firing in their areas within 24 hours of the incident.Dela Rosa said police personnel will not have any holiday break during the New Year celebration.These personnel, according to him, will patrol the streets together with village officials and watchmen from 5 p.m. of December 31, 2016 up to 5 a.m of January 1, 2017.“They have enough time to be with their families before 5 a.m. Forget your family and focus on your duty. Offerthose 12 hours to the country,” dela Rosa said.Meanwhile, the PNP chief on Tuesday noted that the country is not yet ready for a total ban on firecrackers.He said it might be too late for the government to impose a total ban on the selling of firecrackers because sellers and manufacturers have already bought their materials..”The Philippines might not be ready for this policy. We’ll see next year because this requires long information dissemination especially to those making firecrackers as they may have already purchased their components abroad,” dela Rosa added in Filipino.President Rodrigo Duterte last November said he was thinking of imposing a nationwide ban on the use and manufacture of firecrackers over an explosion at a fireworks factory in Bulacan that killed at least two children.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/police-told-raid-homes-persons-firing-guns/303957/
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China urges balance on environment, economy in Antarctica
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['Mr Askal']
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24/05/2017 0:00
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A Chinese leader on Tuesday urged international representatives to strike a “proper balance” between environmental and economic interests in Antarctica, as the frozen continent’s vulnerability to climate change raises worries that some nations could seek to exploit its natural resources.China is seeking to carve out a greater role in determining the continent’s future while hosting delegates from more than two dozen nations that have agreed to an Antarctic protection treaty.Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, who sits on the Communist Party’s all-powerful, seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, told participants that the fate of Antarctica’s fragile environment bears on human survival.“There needs to be a proper balance between the protection and utilization of Antarctica in order to keep the environment green and sustain economic growth and cultural stability for mankind,” Zhang said.His reference to economic interests fed into speculation that China and other nations are maneuvering to exploit mineral resources that could be exposed by a shrinking southern ice cap.United States delegate Kelly Falkner says that’s highly unlikely under international agreements. There also are practical concerns, given Antarctica’s remoteness and harsh weather for much of the year.Environmental protection protocols under the Antarctic treaty are due to come up for reconsideration in 2048. But Falkner said it would require consensus among the treaty nations to change an existing framework that includes a mining ban.A bigger worry for the US is that China could overtake it as the global leader in polar research, said Falkner, who heads the Office of Polar Programs for the National Science Foundation.China acceded to the Antarctic treaty in 1983 and has since established four research stations. It plans to start construction of an airfield later this year and a fifth research station as early as 2018. It also has a new icebreaker under construction to augment the Xue Long, a Ukrainian-built vessel currently used to service its Antarctic missions.Yet while China has publicly emphasized its scientific ambitions, it also appears to be hedging against possible future development opportunities, said Marc Lanteigne, a senior lecturer on China and the polar regions at New Zealand’s Massey University.Seven countries have made land claims in Antarctica. The United States and Russia have said they don’t recognize the claims but have reserved the right to make future claims of their own.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/05/24/china-urges-balance-on-environment-economy-in-antarctica/
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Soldier killed by Sayyaf awarded Gold Cross medal
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-04-17 20:25:16+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte has conferred a Gold Cross medal on the slain 2nd Lt. Estelito Saldua Jr. who was killed by the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf in a clash in Inabanga, Bohol six days ago.The President recognized Saldua’s sacrifice for the country upon his arrival from a weeklong state visit to the Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar.He conferred Saldua’s posthumous award in the latter’s residence in San Jose, Batangas.In a statement released by the Palace, the President is said to have comforted the bereaved parents (Gina and Estelito) of the 23-year-old Saldua and the slain soldier’s siblings.The President provided the Saldua family with financial assistance and a mobile phone through which the family could call him anytime about “problems” they may be facing.Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas granted scholarships up to the college level to the three siblings of the fallen Saldua.Saldua is a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Sinaglahi Class of 2015.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/soldier-killed-sayyaf-awarded-gold-cross-medal-2/322652/
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‘Houses for typhoon victims substandard’
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2018-08-01 00:10:47+00:00
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CONTRACTORS of government housing projects for victims of calamities engaged in subcontracting and used substandard construction materials, witnesses told senators on Tuesday.Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, chairman of the Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement, presented Cesar Baluarte and Camilo Salazar, owners of construction firms that were hired by contractors who won the housing contracts from the National Housing Authority (NHA).Ejercito’s committee conducted the hearing after learning about the substandard housing units.Senators learned that some of the relocation sites for the housing projects were prone to floods and landslides.In his sworn affidavit, Baluarte, owner of CQ Baluarte Construction, disclosed that 3R Metal Craft owned by Rogelio Relucio hired him to build housing units on December 8, 2016.3R Metal Craft handles several housing projects in Ormoc City. It also reportedly subcontracted the Bagong Pag-Asa Housing in Margen Ville Subdivision where 72 houses were built for a project cost of P10,440,000 at P145,000 per unit.Baluarte said he accepted the project from 3R Metal Craft but he was not paid after completing more than 60 percent of the project.“I decided to step forward after seeing the Senate hearing of Sen. JV Ejercito on television wherein contractors of the housing projects stated under oath that they do not have subcontractors,” Baluarte said.Meanwhile, Salazar said he was hired as a subcontractor by JC Tayag Builder in August 2016 for the construction of 40 housing units in Eastern Samar.Salazar claimed that JC Tayag failed to pay him enough. He added that the company used substandard materials in the housing units intended for calamity victims.In his affidavit, Salazar narrated that he was surprised when he saw the materials delivered in their construction site because they were not in accordance with the specifications.He cited as an example the use of 80mm steel bars, which were thinner than what was specified.“I am hoping that with the help of the Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement, victims of Yolanda will be able attain justice and the solution to the country’s housing problem,” the witness said.Ejercito said he felt sorry for those whose houses were wrecked by typhoons but were given unstable houses in dangerous locations.“Subcontracting is not allowed. This is the reason why many of the housing units were found substandard,” the senator said in an interview.The government, he said, spent more than P60 billion for the victims of typhoons Yolanda, Pablo and Sendong as well as those affected by the Zamboanga siege but less than half of the housing units had been awarded to beneficiaries.“Not only did the government waste precious funds, it also failed to resolve the housing backlog,” Ejercito said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/houses-for-typhoon-victims-substandard/425525/
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Duterte names new Coast Guard chief
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2018-01-08 21:48:25+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte has named Elson Hermogino as the new chief of the Philippine Coast Guard.Commandant Hermogino replaced Joel Garcia, who served as Coast Guard’s officer-in-charge for a year.Garcia’s predecessor, Rear Admiral William Melad, was charged with graft and multiple counts of violation of the Government Procurement law in July 2017 over the alleged irregular disbursement of P68 million in 2014.Hermogino’s appointment papers were dated January 4 but were released on Monday, January 8.Prior to his promotion, Hermogino served as Commander of the Maritime Safety Services Command. He was also a former commander of the coast guard District Southern Tagalog. He is a member of Philippine Military Academy Batch 1985.Hermogino’s appointment was welcomed by his comrades.“The Coast Guard will support Hermogino and thanks the President for the appointment of a regular Commandant,” Coast Guard spokesman Armand Balilo said in a statement.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-names-new-coast-guard-chief/373110/
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‘Duterte focused on governance, not politics’
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['T Party']
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6/3/2017 0:00
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President Duterte remains focused on governance and is not in any way keen on and involved in silencing Vice President Leni Robredo and other critics, Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella stressed Monday.Abella said the President recognizes the role of Robredo to fiscalize the administration and welcomes a “healthy opposition” under the country’s vibrant democracy.“On the question whether the Palace is involved in anti-Robredo efforts, the President and the members of his Cabinet have more pressing matters to attend to than engage in politicking,” Abella said.“Nobody is attempting to silence the Vice President to voice her opinion on issues close to her heart,” he added.Abella recognized that Robredo, as the highest elected official from the Liberal Party, has a duty “to fiscalize the administration in power.”“A healthy opposition plays an important role for the Philippines to be a vibrant bastion of democracy,” he added.Robredo earlier shrugged off the so-called “Naga Leaks,” an anonymous blog discrediting her and her family.The Vice President, however, vowed to continue to voice her stand on national issues even if it would contradict the Duterte government.“No matter what is done, it will not silence us. On our part, we are ready, we are not hiding anything. We did not sin against the country,” she said.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/03/06/duterte-focused-on-governance-not-politics/
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Health care workers prone to attacks – UN
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-05-06 00:03:35+00:00
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HEALTH care workers, specifically in war-torn areas, are prone to attacks despite the passage in 2016 of a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution promoting “respect for the sanctity” of health care.The International Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC) has recorded over 1,200 incidents of violence against healthcare facilities or personnel in 16 countries since May 2016.The UNSC on May 3, 2016 passed Resolution 2286 to serve as “a strong step by the international community to address violent attacks on health care, but commitments to prevent and mitigate this violence must be followed by action.”ICRC President Peter Maurer said the resolution, “passed with overwhelming support, was an indication that the world believes that people, especially in areas of conflict, must be able to safely seek medical care.”“Attacks against health facilities and personnel are a double tragedy. First, such attacks wound and maim people seeking and providing health care,” he said. “But they also deprive an uncountable number of people from receiving aid in the future, crippling the hopes of recovery for people in desperate need.”He said the destruction of health infrastructure and the disruption of health services have been “particularly disturbing in conflicts in the Middle East.”Maurer cited Syria, where more than half of its public hospitals and health-care centers are closed or only partially functioning. Some of them have been hit by multiple air strikes.The provision of medical supplies in certain areas of the country as well as the evacuation of the wounded and sick have been consistently obstructed.In Iraq, the destruction of civilian infrastructure in areas affected by the most recent hostilities has been massive. In Salah al-Din, more than a third of health centers were damaged or destroyed.In Yemen, only 45 percent of the country’s health infrastructure was functioning at the end of 2017, and most did not have enough medical supplies.“Even wars have rules. The wounded and sick must be protected in all circumstances,” Maurer said.“Violence that deprives them of access to health care violates international humanitarian law, and, ultimately, it makes us all a little less human,” he added.Last week, armed men stormed a hospital in the Central African Republic where an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) surgical team operates. They threatened patients, medical staff and Red Cross volunteers. They also stopped and harassed an ambulance in the street.In Afghanistan, attacks against health workers and the use or destruction of health care facilities by arms carriers has cut off thousands if not millions of people from medical care.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/health-care-workers-prone-to-attacks-un/397096/
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‘No firecrackers for safer New Year’
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-12-26 20:21:01+00:00
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Avoid the use of firecrackers and pyrotechnics in your merry-making to help reduce carbon emissions that cause the disastrous impacts of global warming and climate change, as well as curb the growing number of firecracker casualties every end of the year.This was the reminder of former senator and former Climate Change Secretary Heherson Alvarez to the public on Tuesday as the nation prepares to usher in the New Year.In June of this year, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) 28 regulating the use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices limiting “the use of firecrackers to community fireworks display authorized by local governments” to minimize the risk of injuries and casualties.“As we comply with EO 28, switching to healthier and safer forms of celebrating an incoming year is part of every Filipino’s rehabilitation mindset of finding ways to honor our commitment in reducing our carbon emissions,” Alvarez said in a statement.Earlier in March, Duterte also signed the Paris Agreement committing the Philippines in its pledge to reduce 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to help keep the Earth’s temperature below the dangerous 2 degrees Celsius and avoid the deadly impacts of climate change.“Every effort to cut carbon emissions to prevent extreme weather conditions like super typhoons and deadly droughts must deserve our commitment,” Alvarez said.“Our Oriental firecracker mentality, supposedly to ward off evil spirits, shows our utter disregard for the adverse environmental, public safety and health impacts of firecracker explosions,” he added.“This kind of merry-making dumbs our sensitivity in protecting our environment. We should not add to the devastation caused by super typhoons with the unrestrained carbon emission of flash gunpowder explosions and pyrotechnics’ colorful toxic chemical stars adding to our greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change,” Alvarez said.At the same time, the former senator, who used to head the Environment department, warned of the adverse effects of the chemical haze and air pollution caused by firecrackers and pyrotechnics to the health of revelers and innocent bystanders including infants, pregnant women, the elderly and even household pets.“Fireworks smoke contains toxic dust that can irritate the lungs that cause breathing problems. When fireworks explode they release very fine dust particles, which are rich in toxic metals such as nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide, along with small amounts of particulates, metal oxides and organic compounds, including minute amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins and furans. These particles can enter your lungs and aggravate the symptoms of those suffering from lung diseases,” he explained.“We must educate the public on the deleterious effects of firecrackers to the health and the environment to encourage new, happier and safer forms of celebrating an incoming year,” Alvarez said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/no-firecrackers-safer-new-year/370720/
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Pampanga to cull 600,000 chickens
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['Neil Alcober']
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2017-08-16 22:25:41+00:00
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Around 600,000 chickens in Pampanga province, north of Manila, will be culled to help prevent the spread of the H5 avian flu virus, Secretary Emmanuel Piñol of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Wednesday.“That is a welcome development to us [at the Department of Agriculture] because, according to our experts, if we also depopulate the farms in the seven-kilometer radius that would serve as a buffer zone at ground zero, which means if the periphery is clean, the chances of the virus spreading outside the area will be lessened,” Piñol told reporters in a news briefing.“As of [Tuesday], a total of 26 farms have been listed to be part of the depopulation process, and this will involve 600,000 fowl,” the Agriculture chief said.“They [poultry farmers] found it hard to go on with the business because they are not within the one-kilometer radius. They said they cannot sell their eggs and poultry products, and they also said that rather than continuously feed their chickens and earn nothing… they might as well surrender their farms to the government, and allow our quarantine personnel to depopulate their farms,” Piñol added.The Agriculture department earlier assured poultry farmers that they would be compensated for the culled chickens at P80 per head and will offer them recovery package.It put at P52.8 million the total compensation for the affected poultry farmers.Piñol said the Philippine Army will deploy hundreds of personnel in the town of San Luis, Pampanga, to help the DA in the culling of fowl affected by the H5 avian flu virus.He added that he asked the Army to help them depopulate the farms after more poultry farmers outside the one-kilometer radius controlled zone in San Luis opted to surrender their birds to the government for culling in order to tide them over and help in stopping an avian flu outbreak.Brigadier General Rodel Mario Alarcon of the Philippine Army confirmed to Piñol that he can send at least 300 personnel to help in the culling of some 600,000 chickens affected by the flu virus.“This [the process] is not so easy because we have to vaccinate the people first, we will vaccinate the soldiers and then we will give them vitamins before we deploy them to the area,” Piñol said.The Agriculture department has also asked Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald de la Rosa for more police personnel to man quarantine stations.Piñol said 20 personnel from the Bureau of Animal Industry will be deployed for surveillance within the controlled zone.He reported that, as of August 16, a total of 73,110 commercial and backyard chicken layers, ducks, fighting cocks and native chickens have been culled.Piñol said he had ordered the investigation of the chief quarantine officer of the Port of Batangas after they received reports that some 1,500 chicken eggs from Candaba town, also in Pampanga, and Batangas were seized in Caticlan port in Aklan province in the Visayas in violation of an earlier memorandum issued by the Agriculture department banning the shipment of poultry and poultry products from Luzon to other parts of the country.The bird flu outbreak in the country, according to the Agriculture chief, only has “minimal effect” on the economy.“Actually, it has more impact on the psychological side because many people now are not eating chicken and other poultry products, so the demand for chickens will decrease and certainly the poultry industry will suffer but we would be able to recover from this,” he said.“The recovery period will take beyond three months, but we will make sure that we provide enough support for the poultry farmers. I have talked to the mayor of San Luis and other towns on how we can help them even outside the poultry industry like what I’ve seen in San Luis, it has vast rice fields, and the only problem is that it has no water, so I talked to the NIA [National Irrigation Administration] today, Wednesday, that we have to provide water to San Luis so that the farmers can cultivate their rice fields there,” Piñol added.He urged poultry farmers from other parts of the country to intensify their production to make for any shortfall caused by the avian flu outbreak in Pampanga.In response to the recent bird flu outbreak in Pampanga, Philippine Red Cross Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Gordon has instructed all PRC chapters nationwide to monitor their respective communities against the virus.According to the Department of Health (DoH), avian influenza is a viral infection that spreads among birds but can infect humans as well.It said it can be transmitted to humans through inhalation or contamination with infected discharges of feces of sick birds such as chickens.To halt the spread of the virus, the PRC chapters all over the country immediately activated 143 volunteers to keep an eye on their areas and report possible bird flu outbreak to the PRC Operations Center.Through this, the PRC can immediately relay any information to the DA and DoH for proper verification and validation.Various areas are on high alert especially where there are poultry farms, public markets, cockpits and homes with fighting cocks, foul or pets.The common symptoms of bird flu on humans are fever, body weakness or muscle pain, cough, sore throat, sore eyes and diarrhea in some persons, as well as, difficulty of breathing in a week’s time from onset in severe cases.Moreover, the PRC continuously conducts public awareness campaign about the virus as part of a broad avian influenza pandemic prevention.It urges the public to take precautionary measures to avoid the risk of bird flu such as reporting unusual deaths of chicken or any birds, washing their hands with soap and water after handling live or dressed poultry products, cooking poultry products thoroughly, protecting one’s self by using masks, goggles and gloves while handling sick chickens/birds, isolating infected person and seeking immediate medical treatment if such symptoms are observed.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pampanga-cull-600000-chickens/344872/
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Four Makati policemen arrested for kidnapping
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['Nelson Badilla']
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2017-05-10 22:01:23+00:00
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Four Makati City police officers were arrested on Tuesday evening in Pasay City for kidnapping, robbery extortion and frustrated multiple murder.They were identified as Police Officer 1 Tim Santos, PO1 Jeffrey Cañete, PO2 Harley Garcera and PO2 Clarence Maynas.The four did not resist arrest during an entrapment conducted by the Counter-Intelligence Task Force (CITF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP).Senior Supt. Dionisio Bartolome, Makati police chief, and Chief Inspector Oscar Pagulayan, head of intelligence division of Makati police, who were the immediate superiors of the arrested policemen, were removed by Director General Ronald de la Rosa, citing “command responsibility.”The CITF was created by de la Rosa to go after rogue police.Senior Supt. Chiquito Malayo, CITF head, told the media that Garcera, Maynas, Santos and Cañete threatened to kill the entire family of their victims who had accused them of kidnapping and robbery extortion.A police report showed that the four had kidnapped two persons whose identities were not revealed.The four initially demanded P400,000 for the release of their victims, who said they could not afford it.The victims told their kidnappers that they could only give P250,000, which the suspects accepted.They, however, said they would first give P100,000 if the policemen freed them.The suspects agreed but angrily told the victims that they would kill their families if they failed to give the balance of P150,000.This led the victims to seek the help of the PNP.Malayo ordered the entrapment operation that resulted in the arrest of the four past 11 p.m. on Tuesday in Parañaque City.He said the CITF is running after three other members of the group.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/four-makati-policemen-arrested-kidnapping-2/326500/
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CA junks copyright suit vs Baguio firm
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-05-26 21:09:23+00:00
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THE Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed a verdict of a lower court junking a complaint filed by the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Inc. (Filscap) against a company in Baguio City.In an April 19 ruling penned by Associate Justice Ramon Garcia and concurred in by Associate Justices Leoncia Dimagiba and Henry Jean Paul Inting, the CA’s 14th Division denied Filscap’s appeal as it upheld the decision of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 6, Baguio City, dated April 15, 2015.In September 2009, Filscap, represented by its general manager Debra Ann Gaite, filed before the court a complaint for infringement of copyright against ANREY Inc., owner and operator of three restaurants in Baguio.According to Filscap, ANREY, represented by its president Miguel Anton, does not possess a license to publicly play or perform any musical works or the copyrighted songs, which are exclusively being licensed by the group in the Philippines.It sought the payment of compensatory damages of P18, 900, nominal damages of P300,000 and exemplary damages of P100,000, as well as attorney’s fees and litigation expenses.After several hearings, the court threw out the complaint as it held that ANREY cannot be said to have infringed upon the copyright law.It said the firm is not liable to Filscap for any public performance license since the customers of the restaurant pay only for the food and drinks and apparently not for listening to the music until the case reached the appellate court.In its decision, the CA held that the lower court was right when it handed down its ruling in favor of ANREY.“We find that appellee ANREY has not infringed upon the intellectual property rights of appellant Filscap, hence it is not liable for damages,” it said.JOMAR CANLAS
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ca-junks-copyright-suit-vs-baguio-firm/329470/
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Senate to continue budget hearings
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2018-08-13 00:01:47+00:00
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THE Senate will continue to discuss the proposed P3.7 trillion budget for 2019 even if the House of Representatives had suspended its budget briefings, Sen. Loren Legarda said Sunday.Legarda, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, issued the statement following the decision of the House to suspend its budget briefings after it rejected the proposed cash-based national budget.“The Senate Finance Committee will continue with the budget hearings as scheduled. When the House resumes hearings on the budget, we will be ready to receive the GAB (General Appropriations Bill),” Legarda said in a text message.The senator expressed confidence that the House would resolve its concerns on the proposed budget in due time.Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the House has the prerogative to suspend budget hearings but such a decision should not jeopardize the passing of a budget measure on time.Recto dismissed speculation that congress may end up approving a reenacted budget, saying lawmakers have four months to study, deliberate and approve the budget bill.The continuous budget hearings in the Senate would provide the chamber the opportunity to discover and inquire from agencies if their proposed budget for 2019 will allow them to fulfill their mandates, he said.“The 2019 budget is crucial as it is the expenditure program post-TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion). It must be reflective of the promised boost in social services and infrastructure spending on which TRAIN was premised,” the Senate president pro tempore said.The House had rejected the cash-based budgeting proposed by Malacañang and pushed for obligation-based budget.Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero said cash-based budgeting could affect the administration’s Build, Build, Build program. It may also have an impact on the ability of the government to act during calamities or address occurrences like typhoon and monsoon rains.No reenacted budgetRep. Karlo Nograles, chairman of the House appropriations committee, ruled out a re-enacted budget.“We don’t want a reenacted budget. Discussions on reenacted budget only happens when it is already December and the proposed national budget is yet to be signed into law or if there is a slim chance of it being signed into a law,” he said in a radio interview.“We re not discussing the possibility of a reenacted budget and nobody should do that. It is still manageable. The budget could still be signed by December, before Christmas,” he added.Nograles earlier gave assurances that the House would restore an obligations-based budget because under a cash-based budgeting, agencies have to spend the money or lose it at the end of the year.He lamented that the proposed budget slashed the budgets of “forefront” agencies such as the Department of Public Works and Highways (P95 billion); Department of Education, (P77 billion); and Department of Health, (P35 billion).“The massive budget cuts happened based on DBM’s (Department of Budget and Management) assumptions using a cash-based budget that these amounts are what the agency can spend in a year. The DBM must amend the budget by revising their assumptions based on obligations-based budget. This is where it will all start,” Nograles said.“The DBM assumed that the agencies cannot improve on utilization of their obligated funds and so they shock us with this cash-based system. The agencies should be given time to be better,” he added.House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. said the budget cuts were “so deep that it hit a major artery of government service.”He said the proposed 2019 budget allotted zero budget for the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP). This year, the program had a budget of P30.3 billion.“If it was about budget indigestion (lack of absorptive capacity of the agency), then we might buy their reasoning. But how about the other needs of the Health department such as medicine, equipment and other fast-moving expenditures? How about the funding for hospital beds? The assistance to patients in charity wards? Are they saying we can’t spend on these?” Andaya said in a statement.“The health system needs an infusion of funds, not a cutback,” he added.Rep. Raymond Villa2fuerte of Camarines Sur, House Appropriations panel vice chairman, warned that the cash-based system could doom the administration’s Build, Build, Build program.“The whole country is excited about the ‘Build, Build, Build.’ With the slash in budget, you can’t build enough,” he said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/senate-to-continue-budget-hearings/429632/
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Coast Guard gets 5th sea vessel from Japan
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['Reicelene Joy Ignacio']
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2017-08-08 00:39:44+00:00
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The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announced receiving on Monday its fifth multi-role response vessel (MRRV) Suluan from Japan as an addition to its fleet for search-and-rescue operations.The boat with assigned bow number 4406 is the fifth of the 10 MRRVs built and delivered by the Japan Marine United (JMU) Corporation Yokohama Shipyard.The name Suluan was derived from the Suluan Lighthouse located in Guiuan, Eastern Samar.Five more MRRVs will be built and delivered to the PCG and be named after primary lighthouses in the Philippines denoting their significance to aid maritime navigation, the PCG said.It added that MRRV Suluan will also be utilized to support ongoing fight against terrorism in southern Philippines.The ship was acquired through the Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project that was awarded by the Department of Transportation to JMU Corporation.The corporation won the contract by bidding 12,790,000,000 Japanese yen that includes supply of standard spare parts and tools, crew training and ocean transportation and marine insurance, according to the PCG.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/coast-guard-gets-5th-sea-vessel-japan/343133/
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China provides hybrid rice to typhoon-hit farmers
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['Michael Joe T. Delizo']
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2016-12-17 23:34:20+00:00
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THE Chinese government has donated 10 metric tons of hybrid rice seeds to about 600 farmers in Aurora province, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said.Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said the donation was Beijing’s way of sympathizing with Filipino farmers hit by typhoons.“Please stay assured, in such difficult times, a helping hand is all that the Chinese government and people have to render,” the diplomat said during the turnover ceremony.Aurora province, located in the eastern-most part of Central Luzon, was hit hard by typhoons “Karen” and “Lawin” with about 220,000 people affected. Damage in infrastructure and agriculture was pegged at P800 million.“We sincerely hope that this humble share of assistance would contribute to the farmers’ endeavor to recover from their losses,” Zhao said.Aurora Governor Gerardo Noveras said the donation arrived just in time since it is the season for sowing and planting.“It is really unexpected that the response from the Chinese Embassy to our request for seed donation was so rapid. I had the thought that it might take a year before we receive any assistance,” he said.The Chinese Embassy also provided technical assistance to the farmers.“If the production is ideal, the government of Aurora province will purchase more Longping hybrid rice seeds for our farmers to expand the plantation,” the governor said.After the ceremony, the rice experts from the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology (PhilSCAT) conducted a training course on LP205 and LP331 hybrid rice planting for the local farmers.The Chinese Embassy made a similar donation on Wednesday to 650 farmers in Ilocos Norte. This is the fourth time that the Chinese government donated rice seeds to Philippine farmers since 2014.P100M for livelihood programsAlso on Friday, Zhao signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo on cooperation programs related to livelihood projects in the Philippines.The Chinese Embassy committed to provide P100 million to the DSWD for poverty relief and disaster response to improve the living standard of Filipinos in poverty-stricken areas, especially Davao region.Taguiwalo said no conditions were attached to the assistance.“This stands testimony to the earnest amity of the Chinese government and people to the Philippine people, and the great friendship between China and the Philippines,” the Chinese Embassy said in a news release.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/china-provides-hybrid-rice-typhoon-hit-farmers-2/302335/
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NPO officials to testify on P74-M printing scam
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['Francis Earl Cueto']
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2017-04-01 23:55:18+00:00
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FORMER and current members of the bids and awards committee (BAC) of the National Printing Office (NPO) were asked to appear before the National Bureau of Investigation on Monday to shed light on the controversial printing jobs for the Social Security System (SSS) amounting to P74 million.Among those issued with a subpoena were former members of the NPO-BAC namely Sherwin Prose Castaneda. Ma. Cristina Morales, Michelle Japson, Benedict Sagun, Amado Valsorable; BAC Secretariat members Teres Tobias, Dina Badua, Winon Balmores, Wilma Delansig, Federico Israel Ramos III and Jennifer Tomas.The subpoena, signed by NBI Deputy Director for Intelligence Vicente de Guzman, also asked Engineer Rolando Calauag, officer in charge of the NPO, to attend the investigation.Earlier, de Guzman confirmed that they have started their investigation on how the P74 million contract was awarded to Best Forms Security Printer, Tri-Print Work at Metro Color Company.The contract was first awarded to Western Visayas Printing Corporation.The issue was investigated by the Presidential Communications Operations Office as directed by Secretary Martin Andanar.Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Enrique Tandan 3rd referred the matter to the NBI for further investigation and possible filing of criminal complaints.Malacañang’s investigation revealed that there is sufficient basis to believe that criminal and administrative offenses were committed by those involved.“The investigation uncovered several irregularities and violations of, among other, the Procurement Reform Act (Republic Act 9184) and the Anti-Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019),” said Tandan.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/npo-officials-testify-p74-m-printing-scam-2/320462/
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ChED chief De Vera faces raps
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['Neil Alcober']
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2018-09-14 00:04:48+00:00
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COMMISSION on Higher Education (CHED) officer-in-charge Prospero de Vera 3rd is facing charges of oppression, abuse of authority, neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the interest of service before the Office of the Ombudsman.Julito Vitriolo, a suspended executive director of the agency, filed the administrative and criminal complaints on August 28, 2018 against de Vera for refusing to comply with the Court of Appeals’ order reinstate him to his post.“In August 29, 2017 when I reassumed office in CHED as executive director in compliance with the Court of Appeals order immediately reinstating me with full backwages, benefits and emoluments, my assumption had been met with defiance of the court order, non- recognition, obstruction of my functions, withholding of my benefits and salaries, among others,” Vitriolo told The Manila Times.“All these acts of the previous chair [Patricia Licuanan] and now OIC chair De Vera and their minions, constitute oppression, harassment, disrespect of the rule of law as well as clear abuse of authority. Clearly, the CA order has not been restrained by a TRO [temporary restraining order] or Injunction till now,” he added.Vitriolo also sought de Vera’s preventive suspension.“For as long as he is the OIC, I will not receive fairness and he is in the position to obstruct justice and influence investigation and the production of witnesses, “ he said.“By filing these initial cases, I hope to impress that no one is above the law and one who aspires for leadership in the ChED must know how to respect the law and basic human rights,” he added.The Sandiganbayan recently dismissed the graft complaint filed against Vitriolo, who was suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman for grave misconduct over his failure to stop the diploma mill in a state college.The Times tried but failed to get a comment from De Vera.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ched-chief-de-vera-faces-raps/441172/
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DoJ chief slams Trillanes
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2017-08-18 22:53:59+00:00
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Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre 2nd on Friday accused Senator Antonio Trillanes 4th of setting the stage to clear trader Kenneth Dong, who was tagged in the P6.4 billion illegal drugs shipment into which the Bureau of Customs was dragged; Dong is also facing rape charges before the Parañaque City Regional Trial Court (RTC).“Amusing. I had a good laugh when I read it. We could all use the comic relief he provided,” Aguirre said in a statement reacting to Trillanes’ speculations.“Senator Trillanes is already writing the ending of a story that has yet to start. While it is true that I said there is a possibility for Mr. Dong to be a state witness, I also said that it will all depend on the determination of him not appearing to be the most guilty. Such a fact has yet to be established. The statement of Sen. Trillanes at this point is too premature, that it is laughable,” Aguirre added.The NBI served on Dong last Tuesday a warrant of arrest for rape that the Parañaque RTC issued on June 30.Aguirre said Trillanes has become a storyteller courting public attention.It was Trillanes who also presented Arturo Lascañas to the Senate to talk about President Duterte’s alleged involvement in the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS).“Since Senator Trillanes is into story writing nowadays, perhaps he should also tell all concerned and responsible media practitioners where he is hiding Lascañas, who admitted killing media man and radio anchor Jun Pala. Now that is a story worth telling,” he added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/doj-chief-slams-trillanes/345358/
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US Pacific Fleet commander in Manila
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-08-10 00:01:53+00:00
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Admiral John C. Aquilino, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, met with Philippine military and political leaders from August 7 to 9 to underscore the United States’ commitment to the Philippines and the Indo-Pacific region.Aquilino, who assumed command of the Pacific Fleet on May 17, 2018, met with US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Foreign Secretary Alan Cayetano, and Armed Forces chief Carlito Galvez.The Pacific Fleet is the world’s largest command, encompassing 100 million square miles from Antarctica to the Artic Circle and from the US West Coast to the Indian Ocean.The fleet consists of more than 200 ships and submarines, around 1,200 aircraft and more than 130,000 sailors and civilians.Aquilino’s visit aims to enhance the relationship between both countries’ navies.In his official Twitter account, Kim on Thursday said, “The U.S.-Philippine allegiance continues to benefit from a strong U.S. navy presence in the Indo-Pacific region.”The Philippine Navy participated in this year’s “Rim of the Pacific,” the world’s largest joint and combined naval exercises, in Hawaii from June 27 to August 2.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/us-pacific-fleet-commander-in-manila/428523/
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Gov’t institutions keep ‘good’ satisfaction ratings
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2017-07-19 21:54:39+00:00
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Key government institutions maintained “good” net satisfaction ratings in the second quarter of 2017, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released on Wednesday.The poll, conducted from June 23 to 26, showed 52 percent of Filipinos satisfied and 18 percent dissatisfied with the performance of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet.This yielded a net satisfaction rating of “good” +34, two percentage points higher than “good” +32 recorded in March.In a statement, Palace spokesman Ernesto Abella welcomed the poll results, saying the Cabinet “follows after the work ethic of the Chief Executive: proactive, hard-working and compassionate toward the disadvantaged and marginalized.”“The President’s rating continues to remain high, along with that of his Cabinet… Public satisfaction has been unwavering as [the President’s] official family has been rated good for four consecutive quarters,” Abella said.“This vote of confidence by the people of the administration motivates the executive branch to work harder in bringing prosperity, law and order and peace to achieve our shared goal of a comfortable life for all Filipinos,” he added.The SWS survey, which was first published by newspaper BusinessWorld, was conducted via face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide. It used sampling error margins of ±3 percentage points for national percentages and ±6 percentage points each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.The survey also found 64 percent satisfied and 15 dissatisfied wth the performance of the Senate, registering a “good” +49 net satisfaction score, one grade down and three percentage points below “very good” +52 in March.Meanwhile, 53 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied with the performance of the House of Representatives while 20 percent were dissatisfied, giving it a +34 net satisfaction rating, down by five percentage points from March’s “good” +39.The Supreme Court also gained a “good” net satisfaction rating of +38, with 55 percent of respondents saying they were satisfied while 17 percent said they were dissatisfied.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/govt-institutions-keep-good-satisfaction-ratings/339318/
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Medical marijuana to ‘save lives’ okay
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['Jefferson Antiporda']
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2017-11-01 22:50:04+00:00
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THE chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography on Wednesday expressed openness to a proposal to allow the use of cannabis (marijuana) for select medical conditions.“If it will help in saving lives, why not?” Sen. Victor “JV” Ejercito said.The use of marijuana for patients with debilitating medical condition is acceptable, he added, provided that security measures are in place to prevent abuse.Ejercito was reacting to an earlier statement of newly appointed Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd expressing support to the use of cannabis for medical purposes.The House Committee on Health already passed House Bill (HB) 180 or the Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Bill authored by Rep. Rodolfo Albano 3rd in September.The bill seeks to legalize and regulate the medical use of marijuana, which, according to various studies, helps control epileptic seizures, manage arthritic pain, treat HIV-AIDS symptoms and even prevent the spread of cancer cells in the body.Under the bill, centers authorized by the Health department will be established in hospitals where the sale and use of cannabis will be undertaken.The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency will regulate the use of medical marijuana in these centers.Identification cards will be issued to patients who are certified by physicians to undergo marijuana-based treatment.The intention of HB 180 is to invoke the right of the patient to choose treatment and the duty of the physician to honor the patient’s decision.“There is proof it can really relieve pain for cancer patients and is effective in treatment of epilepsy and other cerebral conditions,” Ejercito said in a text massage.The senator noted that substance abuse remains a concern but putting safeguards in place could help prevent it.Ejercito said he expects the proposal to encounter strong opposition the moment it reaches the chamber, especially from Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto 3rd, who has been opposing the idea.Sotto had warned that legalizing the use of marijuana even in select medical cases could spell national disaster and would only benefit drug syndicates that are already making a killing from the sale of cannabis.He said if marijuana was legalized, the government in effect would be promoting its use, creating a notion especially among the youth that smoking pot is acceptable.Ejercito added that defending such kind of proposal would not be easy but he is ready to consider it if it would help prolong lives of people who are sick.At present there has been no counterpart bill pending before the Senate and it is likely that the chamber would just wait for the House to pass its version.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/medical-marijuana-save-lives-okay/360094/
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Fish experts push for advanced propagation of high-value wild fish
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['Ramon O']
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29/08/2017 0:00
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Fish experts from the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC), an office under the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), wants to elevate the production of high-value fish species to new heights.Dr. Westly Rosario, NIFTDC chief, said it is high time to modernize the techniques in propagating high-value fish like the “pigek” as known in Mindanao (or “bulidao” in Ilocano), which come very expensive in the market because of its rarity and incomparable taste.Locals say the Bulidao, scientific name “Mesopristes cancellatus,” are so rare that they have to be pre-ordered. This means a fisherman’s catch for the day is already considered sold.The latest market price is about P700 per kilogram at the local market in Ilocos Norte and this price triples as it reaches Metro Manila. That’s about P2,000 per kilo.“This species are present and can be only caught along the river system of Rio Grande in Mindanao and the Abra River in Northern Luzon,” said Rosario.Asked why this is so, he said: “The reasons for this are still unknown to experts.”Elusive ‘bulidao’Hatchery Technician Francisco Reyes Jr., a native of Santa, Ilocos Sur, said studies show how rare it is to catch the bulidao.“The bulidao lives at ‘lingep’ or caves at the upstream of Abra River and during the typhoon season (July-September) they go along the fast and cold downstream of rainwater to the mouth of the River to spawn. It is only the time one can catch a bulidao,” said Reyes.Rosario said this species is called “Catadronous.” “They live at the upstream of the river and swim downstream with the fast current during rainy season to spawn and eventually will swim back again upstream,” he said.Bulidao under studyRecently, the NIFTDC has managed to capture seven pieces of bulidao from along the Abra River system in Santa and took them to the center alive.Fish technicians have high hopes to learn how to keep the species alive and study how to propagate it. But, all efforts were lost when all the fish samples died within a few days.“Keeping them alive for a few days was already a breakthrough,” said Rosario. “It is very hard to be able to bring them alive here at the center from Ilocos Sur. We haven’t been able to keep live species here. Actually nobody has done it yet,” he said.Aquaculture interventionRosario said, “This kind of fish is very hard to grow in traditional or enclosed method.”So, he suggests that a program on “aquaculture intervention on wild fisheries” should be done to properly study and eventually propagate the bulidao and other high-value fish species.This method is similar to how salmon is propagated. Propagation should be done according to their natural pattern or life cycle, explained Rosario.“The research and development of this method will lead to many things; one is the advancement of our aquaculture and enrichment of wild fisheries.”For bulidao host-towns like Santa, this will also be beneficial to its community and a boost to its ecotourism.“What is important is we learn how to reproduce this high-value fish species in enclosed condition, but must maintain its natural migration pattern, if it has to go upstream Abra River, then let’s make sure it can suitably do,” he said.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/08/29/fish-experts-push-for-advanced-propagation-of-high-value-wild-fish/
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Marcos protest: SC resets vote recount
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['Jomar Canlas']
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2018-03-15 00:06:27+00:00
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The Supreme Court (SC), sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), has set a new schedule for a recount of votes in connection with an electoral protest filed by former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. against Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo.The recount will start on April 2, from the original March 19.In a statement from the Marcos camp, spokesman Vic Rodriguez said the electoral tribunal had cited lack of revisors for the new schedule.“Reason of [the tribunal] is only 42 of the 50 revisors have qualifed/passed the psychological exam. According to them, whether or not they can fill the remaining 8, manual recount will proceed on April 2,” Rodriguez added.“In the interest of transparency, we would like to inform our supporters, especially those who have long been anticipating the revision/recounting of votes in the election protest of former senator [Marcos] at the SupremeCourt, that the scheduled revision/recount has been moved from March 19, 2018 to April 2, 2018 due to the incomplete staffing requirements of the [electoral tribunal],” he said.The Presidential Electoral Tribunal has ordered decryption of ballots despite objections from the Robredo camp.The decryption and printing of ballot images will be from three pilot provinces: Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.Marcos lost to Robredo by 263,473 votes in the race for Vice President in the 2016 elections.He has since accused her of “massive electoral fraud, anomalies and irregularities such as pre-shading of ballots, pre-loading of Secure Digital cards, misreading of ballots, malfunctioning VCMs [vote counting machines] and an “abnormally high” unaccounted votes/undervotes for the position of Vice President.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/marcos-protest-sc-resets-vote-recount/386216/
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Lawmaker: Justice for Demafelis doubtful
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-04-05 00:03:37+00:00
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Despite a Kuwait court’s verdict sentencing to death a Lebanese and his Syrian wife who had been found guilty of killing Filipino household service worker Joanna Demafelis, a member of the Philippine Congress does not see President Rodrigo Duterte lifting the total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to the tiny oil-rich emirate.Meanwhile, ACTS-OFW Rep. Aniceto Bertiz 3rd on Wednesday said he does not expect the punishment meted out to Nader Essam Assaf and his wife, Mona, to be carried out, simply because the Kuwaiti government is not in a position to enforce the judgment.“The Kuwaiti government does not have custody of the convicts, so they cannot carry out the penalty,” Bertiz noted in a news conference.“The husband is Lebanese and is in Lebanon, while the wife is Syrian and is in Syria. Both Lebanon and Syria are separate states from Kuwait. No sovereign state will send its own citizens to another country just to be executed,” he said.“We are not even sure if the husband is in fact in custody in Lebanon,” Bertiz added.“As to the wife, she is at-large in Syria, which is beset by civil war and has porous borders. There’s no telling where is she now. And the authorities there will not bother looking for her, considering the chaos there,” the lawmaker said.More than a year after she was reported missing, Demafelis’ body bore torture marks and was found stashed in a freezer in the apartment of the Lebanese man and his Syrian wife.“We totally support the President [Rodrigo Duterte], who has made it very clear that he wants justice for Joanna, and he wants justice for all Filipino household service workers in Kuwait,” Bertiz said.“The President wants the Kuwaiti government and [Kuwaiti] employers to respect the basic rights of Filipino household service workers to regular work hours and adequate rest and sleeping hours, regular days off work, and to have physical possession of their own passports,” he added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/lawmaker-justice-for-demafelis-doubtful/390454/
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AÑO UNFAZED BY ATTACKS FROM LEFT
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['Fernan Marasigan']
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2016-12-09 23:08:31+00:00
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OLD and recycled issues.This was how newly-installed Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año described the alleged human rights violations hurled against him by several leftist groups opposing his appointment to the top military post.“Those are recycled issues. They were resolved in 2012 and I just want to move on and work silently so I can give the best service to the Armed Forces and to our people,” the AFP chief said on Friday.Leftist groups have asked President Rodrigo Duterte to take a second look at Año’s alleged long record of human rights violations and reconsider the appointment.“The Army under Año’s command was responsible for various human rights violations, including the Paquibato massacre in June 2014 which killed three indigenous peoples and the pouring in of battalions into Mindanao which caused widespread displacement of IPs. When he signed Año’s appointment papers, the President might as well have signed the death warrant for the search for justice and accountability for these human rights violations,” party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio of ACT said.Año is also linked to the forced disappearance of farmer-activist Jonas Burgos, son of the late press freedom icon Joe Burgos who was taken by armed men under his command, among them then-Army Lt. Harry Baliaga.Año was exonerated from the charges filed in connection with the disappearance of Burgos, which Karapatan believed is “a form of whitewash” of the case.Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate also urged Duterte to reconsider his decision to stop Año and the military “from further wreaking havoc in the countryside.”“The continued violation of our people’s human rights will certainly jeopardize the progress of the peaceprocess,” he said.A seasoned combat and intelligence officer, Año is a known “rebel hunter.”He was credited with the neutralization of top communist leaders notably the capture of Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma and Andrea Rosal, alleged New People’s Army commander and daughter of the late NPA spokesman Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal.Año was also responsible for the killing of Leonardo Pitao, a top NPA leader who used the nom de guerre Kumander Parago, during an armed clash with government forces in Davao City in June 2015.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/ano-unfazed-attacks-left/300921/
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Valenzuela City gets 4 awards in July
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['Jing Villamente']
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2017-08-07 00:53:32+00:00
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THE city government of Valenzuela received four awards in July from the Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and the Office of the Civil Defense–National Capital Region with Gawad Kalasag 2017 NCR for Best Government Emergency Management Service in NCR for their immediate response during the Mabini, Batangas quake. Gawad Kalasag (KAlamidad at Sakuna LAbanan, SAriling Galing ang Kaligtasan) is the country’s premier search for excellence in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and Humanitarian Assistance that the city received for two consecutive years. Valenzuela’s Public Employment Service Office (PESO), on the other hand, has been in the ranks of the best PESOs in NCR and the Department of Labor and Employment again recognized the office for an overall rating of 97 percent, making it the Best PESO in NCR for 2017. It also got Local Government Unit eReadiness Leadership Award during the Electronic Business Permits and Licensing Summit and the Seal of Child Friendly Local Governance for consistently excelling in the Child Friendly Local Governance Audit since its implementation in 2014. This was the second time that the city and Mayor Rex Gatchalian received the LGU e-Readiness Award since 2014.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/valenzuela-city-gets-4-awards-july/342898/
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Makati court tackles Trillanes case
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['Neil Jayson Servallos']
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2018-10-12 00:15:11+00:00
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THE Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 will hear on Friday, October 12, Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th’s pleading to reconsider the court’s order granting the plea of the Department of Justice (DoJ) to issue an arrest warrant and travel ban against him.Trillanes filed an omnibus motion for reconsideration by way of special appearance through his counsel Reynaldo Robles on October 1.In his 19-page motion, Trillanes asked Judge Elmo Alameda to void the September 25 order to arrest the senator as it lacked “legal and factual basis.”He said Branch 150 made a “grave” mistake in issuing an arrest order based on President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation 572 that voided Trillanes’ amnesty ab initio (from the beginning).“This honorable court clearly and grossly and gravely erred in holding that [Proclamation 572] effectively voided [Proclamation 75] as well as its own final and executory order in September 7, 2011 dismissing the instant case nearly seven years ago,” Trillanes’ appeal read.Trillanes and 277 others were granted amnesty by former president Benigno Aquino 3rd through his Proclamation 75, which prompted Branch 150 to dismiss his rebellion case.Aquino’s order also resulted in the dismissal of the senator’s coup d’etat case under Branch 148.Alameda ordered Trillanes’ arrest on September 25 because the former navy lieutenant failed to present a copy of his application for amnesty. The document, the judge said, was “the best proof he applied for amnesty.”The Department of National Defense (DND) had said the amnesty application of Trillanes and several others were missing.Robles argued that the court’s “best evidence” rule can only apply to cases where the contents of a document are being contested, which he said does not apply in his client’s case.“Since what is involved here are factual matters and not what the application for amnesty purportedly contains, it is very clear that the best evidence rule does not apply to the case,” he said.Under the Rules of Court, the best evidence rule states that original documents must be produced when the subject of inquiry is the content of a document, therefore making other evidence inadmissible.Trillanes’ camp presented other evidence such as the sworn affidavit of Col. Josefa Berbigal who oversaw Trillanes’ oath-taking, his official copy of certificate for amnesty and official DND Amnesty Secretariat documents.The court set a hearing for presentation of evidence on November 21.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/makati-court-tackles-trillanes-case/451002/
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Gasoline prices up, kerosene down
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['Jordeene Sheex Lagare']
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2018-08-21 00:01:37+00:00
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OIL companies increased the price of gasoline by 30 centavos per liter but slashed the cost of kerosene by 20 centavos per liter on Tuesday.No adjustment was made for the price of diesel.Caltex, Eastern Petroleum, Flying V, Jetti Petroleum, Petro Gazz, Phoenix Petroleum, Pilipinas Shell, PTT Philippines and Seaoil adjusted their pump prices at 6 a.m.Last week, oil firms increased the price of diesel and gasoline by 25 centavos per liter and 15 centavos per liter, respectively.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/gasoline-kerosene-prices-up/432829/
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Duterte OKs P25M medicine budget for police
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['Catherine S. Valente']
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2018-08-09 00:02:37+00:00
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President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the allocation of P25-million medicine budget for the Philippine National Police as part of the Chief Executive’s commitment to improve the health services for policemen, Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go said.Go said Duterte gave his approval during the joint command conference of the Armed Force of the Philippines and PNP in Malacañang on Tuesday.“Kagabi sabi niya masbibigay siya ng P25 million na budget a month. Ibig sabihin nito pambili ng mga gamot ng kapulisan. Replenishable na budget na pag kanaubos dadagdagan ulit ng panibagong P25 million (Last night, the President said he will provide P25 million a month budget to purchase medicines for policemen. It is a replenishable budget, if it runs out, another P25 million will be added),” Go said in a radio interview.He added that the President wanted to ensure that policemen would get better medical services and assistance.Go said the Duterte administration has given priority to the military and police because the President puts huge importance on the maintenance of peace and order.Duterte fulfilled his promise to increase the base pay of the police.“Sabi ng pangulo kung ano ang naibigay niya sa AFP, ‘yung sa V. Luna, ito rin ang ibibigay niya sa pag modernize ng mga PNP hospitals (The President said whatever he has given to the AFP, like the improvement of the V. Luna Hospital, it will also be done to the PNP hospitals),” he said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/duterte-oks-p25m-medicine-budget-for-police/428131/
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New DILG assistance different from BuB
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['Jing Villamente']
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2016-11-19 21:07:25+00:00
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Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno said over the weekend that the DILG’s new Assistance to Disadvantaged Municipalities (ADM) program is ‘different’ from the previous administration’s Bottom-Up Budgeting (BuB) program.Sueno said ADM is distinct in terms of its objectives, type of projects, eligibility for funding, projects identification scheme, and budget allocation per local government unit (LGU).He said that unlike BuB whose main objective is citizen engagement and participation, ADM is designed to help LGUs strengthen their ability to deliver basic services.“The ADM is anchored on the need to somehow provide fiscal space to municipalities, to allow them not to become too dependent on their Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) and to help LGUs utilize their local resources for other programs and projects,” he said.Sueno said that under the new program, the local chief executive has to submit a project list culled from any of the municipality’s existing plans, unlike in the BuB wherein civil society organizations are included in project identification.“The main trajectory of BuB then was people participation. In ADM, we are more concerned with helping the towns address the essential needs of their constituents,” he said.Sueno added that the projects eligible for ADM assistance include the five basic infrastructures that are most needed in municipalities namely: access roads, potable water, evacuation centers, sanitation facilities, and small water impounding.The DILG Secretary also said that the ADM, similar to the BuB, also imposes a requirement wherein municipal governments have to meet good governance standards prior to the release of funds to them. These standards include passing the good financial housekeeping component of the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) and completion of the assessment of its Public Financial Management System.He said that although not all of the 1,373 out of the total 1,489 municipalities in the country that are covered under the program may be considered “disadvantaged,” the ADM looks at the magnitude of poverty in the area and not just at the municipalities’ baseline income.The DILG chief also stressed that there is no duplication or repetition of projects under the ADM program with other national government agencies, noting that the P19.4 billion budget being proposed for ADM is for projects that are within the scope of implementation by the DILG.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/new-dilg-assistance-different-bub/297347/
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INC outreach program reaches 160,000 indigents
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['Mary Gleefer F. Jalea']
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2018-07-18 00:01:13+00:00
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The Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) extended help to 16,000 people when it held its massive “Lingap sa Mamamayan” (Lingap) outreach program in Manila on Sunday.The INC said those who trooped to the Quirino Grandstand were given food parcels, and availed themselves of free medical and dental services, free laboratory tests such as complete blood count, random blood sugar testing, blood typing, urinalysis, and pregnancy testing.“The church has always been guided by its desire to use its resources in a way that benefits our communities,” said INC General Auditor Glicerio Santos Jr.He said the program’s success was a testament to the vision of Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo, who had directed the church to take an active role in combating poverty here and abroad.“We believe it is the right thing to do, because no matter where we are from and what we believe in, we should remember that we are our brother’s keeper,” Santos added.The group also offered specialized medical services dealing with internal medicine, pediatrics, and OB-gynecology. The INC deployed diagnostic equipment such as mobile x-rays, 2D echo, ultrasound, and electrocardiogram (ECG) machines. Two mini-hospitals, each equipped with an operating room, were also set up for minor surgical procedures such as warts and cysts removal, and circumcision.Reading glasses were also distributed for free, as well as medicines for hypertension, diabetes, cough and colds, fever, and antibiotics. Wheelchairs and quad canes were also given to those who needed them.The INC staged Lingap sa Mamamayan activities in the United States, Canada, Northern and Southern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and key areas in the Middle East including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.In May this year, the INC conducted a series of Lingap activities in Africa, distributing food parcels in Kibera and Kawangware in Nairobi, Kenya. It also held similar projects in Blantyre and Samama Village Mangochi in Malawi, wherein an estimated 33,000 people received assistance, according to church officials.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/inc-outreach-program-reaches-160000-indigents/420599/
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Palace, AFP deny Duterte stopped sea patrols
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['Roy Narra']
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2018-06-09 23:45:00+00:00
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Malacañang and the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Saturday denied claims that President Rodrigo Duterte ordered government troops to stop patrols in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).In a text message, Palace spokesman Harry Roque disputed Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano’s claim that Duterte stopped the patrols.“That’s impossible,” Roque said when asked about the alleged directive of Duterte halting military patrols in the disputed waters.Alejano, citing “sources,” on Saturday claimed that “some months ago Malacañang ordered the AFP to desist (from) conducting patrols in (West Philippine Sea.)”“This was protested by the AFP because that is contrary to their mandate as the protector of the people and the State and its goal of securing the sovereignty of the State and the integrity of the national territory,” the lawmaker said. “The military had to compromise with the Palace to limit patrols in the West Philippine Sea to once a month instead of completely halting it.”The military on Saturday also denied Alejano’s allegationsIn a statement released hours after the opposition lawmaker mae such claims, Col. Edgard Arevalo, AFP spokesman, said that there is no such order coming from Duterte.“I do not know where Cong. Alejano got that supposed instruction from the Commander-in-Chief. Malamang kuryenteng balita yan (He must have been given wrong information) if not yet another malicious imputation on the President dragging the AFP in,” Col. Edgard Arevalo, AFP spokesman, said.“For the record, there is no such order coming from the Commander-in-Chief. As a matter of fact, our maritime and aerial patrols continue [to patrol the West Philippine Sea]—contrary to such information allegedly received by the Partlylist Congressman,” Arevalo added.Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also slammed Alejano’s claims.“Wrong! There is no such order,” he said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/palace-afp-deny-duterte-stopped-sea-patrols/406551/
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Police-killers’ reinstatement earns expletive from Lacson
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['Bernadette E. Tamayo']
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2017-07-13 21:13:46+00:00
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Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Thursday dropped an expletive-laden bombshell on the reinstatement of Supt. Marvin Marcos and 18 other policemen involved in the killing of former Albuera (Leyte) mayor Rolando Espinosa in November 2015.“The [18 other policemen] were given demotions and six-month suspensions. This [punishment] effectively disregarded the conspiracy angle. In sum, there is a phrase to describe this whole damn thing: P*******a!” Lacson said, using the shortened vernacular for “Your mother is a whore.”What irked the senator was the administrative penalty imposed on Marcos by the Internal Affairs Service of the Philippine National Police and subsequently approved by PNP chief Ronald de la Rosa.“It is not even a reinstatement. Rather, it was back-to-duty status after serving his four-month suspension order. According to the decision, Marcos was not physically present when the raiding team killed Espinosa and Raul Yap, but [he was] outside supervising the operation,” he said.Yap, a drug suspect, was occupying the same detention cell in Baybay, also in Leyte, when he and the former mayor–also a drug suspect–were killed.Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th said President Rodrigo Duterte “not only set the murderers free, he now gave back their badges and guns so they could murder again with impunity.”“Why? Because Duterte fears that these policemen might rat out on him for what they know about his involvement in the Espinosa murder,” Trillanes added.Espinosa and Yap died in an alleged shootout with a team of policemen from the CIDG (Criminal Investigation Detection Group) Region 8 on November 5, 2016 who were out to serve them search warrants for guns and drugs.Sen. Grace Poe said Marcos’ reinstatement to active duty “may further tarnish” the PNP as an institution that should value and uphold the rule of law in the performance of duty.“Such reinstatement may just encourage a culture of impunity among the ranks. The PNP could very well carry out its duties in protecting our people without somebody like Marcos and his cohorts,” Poe added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/police-killers-reinstatement-earns-expletive-lacson/338153/
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Govt will protect PH territory –Cayetano
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['Benjie Vergara']
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2018-08-01 00:01:53+00:00
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Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano reiterated the Duterte administration’s commitment to protect the country’s territory and economic rights in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).“We are very serious about protection and enjoyment of our sovereign rights. And territorial rights or property rights is not debatable. Property rights are economic rights,” he said.Cayetano, who will be attending the 51st Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) in Singapore, said “the concept of joint exploration and development is one of mechanism of cooperation.”He said Asean leaders will discuss the code of conduct during the ministerial meeting in Singapore.“The only way to have peace and stability in the South China Sea is to have claimants and non-claimants in the region to come together,” Cayetano said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/govt-will-protect-ph-territory-cayetano/425510/
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Robredo: Stand your ground
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-02-09 21:25:18+00:00
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Leaders of the House of Representatives who oppose the proposed death penalty should stand their ground even at the risk of losing their post, Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo said on Thursday.Robredo made the call a day after Speaker Panteleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte vowed to purge House leadership of anti-death penalty lawmakers by replacing deputy speakers who are against the restoration of capital punishment such as former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Rep. Rolando Andaya of Camarines Sur.“What the speaker said is both a threat, arm-twisting and so much more. I don’t agree with this strategy, but this is also a defining moment for the House members, especially for those holding leadership positions. This is their chance to show what is more important: To hold on to House positions or stand on their principles?” the Camarines Sur representative during the 16th Congress told reporters.“Leaders are born this way, being ready to defy the higher ups for their principles. Speaker Alvarez said that this [ouster of anti-death penalty Deputy Speakers] is a leadership measure. It won’t be easy, but this is a privilege for our lawmakers to show what really matters to them,” Robredo said.The House has already amended the proposed death penalty bill by providing lifetime imprisonment or death penalty for eight heinous crimes but the vice president has remained an opponent of the death penalty.“We’ll be watching how they are going to deal with this dilemma. It doesn’t come very often that a legislator is being made to choose what matters more, and their action is equally important to us spectators because their actions will reveal their true colors,” Robredo pointed out.She recalled that such threat of losing House leadership posts was not made at the time that the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill was being pushed during the presidency of then-Liberal Party (LP) chairman Benigno Aquino 3rd.The LP had a party stand in favor of the RH bill but the debates took at least a year long before the LP mustered enough members in favor of the RH bill passage.A few LP members who were not in favor of the RH measure were told not to attend the voting.Robredo, now the interim LP chairman, conceded that the LP is yet to decide on whether it will take a party stand against or in favor the death penalty bill. |“What we agreed upon in the party is that we will get a consensus and the stand of the majority, either for or against [death penalty], that will be the party stand. But if the party members are equally divided, we will go for the conscience vote, and from what I know, many members of the House from the LP are pushing for a conscience vote,” she said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/robredo-stand-ground-2/311348/
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Watchdog decries New Year ‘holitrash’
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['Nelson Badilla']
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2017-01-01 20:41:30+00:00
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Filipinos left “mountains of holitrash [short for "holiday” and "trash”] that again sullied the parks, streets and sidewalks of [Met[Metro Manila]er the lively celebrations” of the New Year.In a statement on Sunday, Eileen Sison, president of EcoWaste Coalition, said the revelry on Sunday should not be an excuse for the Filipinos to leave mountains of trash in the streets.“Ironically, today is also the start of the Zero Waste Month that is meant to promote waste prevention and reduction for a cleaner and greener Philippines,” she noted.On New Year’s Day, EcoWaste went to Divisoria only to discover the mountains of trashes in the streets.Armed with rakes and shovels, it showed to the public a placard that says, “Ganito tayo noon, ganito pa din ba tayo ngayon? Basura everywhere!” and a banner with a clear message that sums up what should be done instead: “Go Zero Waste: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Huwag Mag-aksaya, Magtambak at Magsunog ng Basura.”“The unchecked dumping of all types of trash on the streets is not only appalling and irresponsible but outrightly illegal,” Sison said.“Littering, throwing, dumping of waste matters in public places such as roads, sidewalks, canals, esteros or parks and establishments, or causing or permitting the same,” are prohibited and punishable under Section 48 of Republic Act 2003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.“We must also point out that what we find being dumped on the streets are mixed discards, including recyclable items that should have been returned to factories and compostable materials that should have been returned to Mother Earth through composting,” Sison said.Discarded food containers, especially those made from polystyrene plastic, food leftovers, plastic and paper packaging, firecracker residues and other residuals are among the typical waste materials spotted.“The plastics in garbage heaps are most conspicuous even in cities like Manila that supposedly passed a plastic use reduction ordinance way back in 2012,” Sison said.With the onset of 2017, the EcoWaste Coalition reiterated its commitment to work with the government and the citizens in pursuing socially just and sustainable solutions to the nation’s garbage and toxic woes.In particular, the group pledged to continue with its drive to push for the genuine enforcement of Republic Act 9003, as well as RA 8749, or the Clean Air Act and other related environmental laws.“As we commemorate the Zero Waste Month, we would like to assure the public of our steadfast conviction to pursue real solutions to our waste and toxic problems in an environmentally-sound way that will apply the principles of precaution, prevention and public participation,” the group said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/watchdog-decries-new-year-holitrash/304633/
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Court to try former PhilPost chief
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2017-02-11 23:28:57+00:00
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The Sandiganbayan’s Seventh Division has found basis to try former Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) Postmaster General Josefina dela Cruz for her alleged failure to remit to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) the loan amortizations of a former employee.Earlier this year, the Office of the Ombudsman filed 15 counts of violation of Section 52(g) of Republic Act No. 8291 or the GSIS Act against Dela Cruz, former PhilPost Postal Area IX Director Bernardito Gonzales (now Eastern Mindanao area director), and former Accountant V Arlene Bendanillo.“Accused dela Cruz’s insistence that the failure to remit loan payments to GSIS was due to circumstances beyond her control, as PPC suffered financial setbacks that rendered it unable to effect such remittances is a matter of defense that is best left for the Court to resolve after a full-blown trial on the merits,” the court said.It denied for lack of merit dela Cruz’s motion for reinvestigation, saying that it “finds no reason to direct the Ombudsman to conduct a reinvestigation.”Also, the court held that the case falls within its jurisdiction.Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo, who leads the court’s Seventh Division, as well as Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta and Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses signed the ruling.On Thursday, dela Cruz posted P360,000 bail for her provisional liberty.Gonzales also posted a P75,000 bail.According to the charge sheets, the respondents failed to remit to the GSIS the employee’s loan amortizations from October 2011 to December 2012 totaling P35,178.45 “within thirty (30) days from the time it became due and demandable…”Under Section 52(g) of the GSIS Act, heads and personnel of government offices who are involved in the collection of premium contributions, loan amortization and other accounts due the GSIS who fail to remit the same within 30 days from the time these were due and demandable face imprisonment upon conviction by final judgment.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/court-try-former-philpost-chief/311736/
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Philhealth chief denies graft allegations
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-11-09 00:02:03+00:00
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Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) acting president and Chief Executive Officer Roy Ferrer denied the graft accusations filed against him in relation to the agency’s P4.7-billion net loss in 2017.“These charges are fueled by misguided retribution because of the organizational reforms I have initiated to improve PhilHealth’s overall performance. Unfortunately, these reforms did not sit well with a few who resist change,” Ferrer said in a statement.Twelve employees from the PhilHealth Office in Davao and Caraga regions have filed before the Office of the Ombudsman in Mindanao a complaint against Ferrer, linking the alleged P4.7-billion loss in 2017 to his performance as chief of the state agency. Ferrer was appointed on June 5, 2018.The complainants alleged that after his appointment as PhilHealth chief, Ferrer continued to claim professional fees amounting to at least P604,080 on top of his salaries and allowances worth P1.5 million in 2017 alone.Ferrer has yet to receive the complaint.The PhilHealth chief said officials have finished reconciling claims paid in 2018 but incurred in 2017, and the results show a gain of P500 million instead of a loss.“We already submitted this matter to the Commission on Audit and Bureau of Treasury for validation and concurrence,” he added.Ferrer said records show that his last claim for services rendered was for a patient admitted on June 3, 2018, two days prior to his assumption as acting president and CEO.He said that he even received compensation just recently for a claim that he filed as far back as September 2016.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/philhealth-chief-denies-graft-allegations/464567/
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PCSO remits P2.5B in dividends to govt
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['The Manila Times']
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2018-08-18 00:04:33+00:00
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The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) was listed in the “billionaires row” of the Department of Finance (DoF) as one of the best performing government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) in 2017 for remitting P2.5 billion to the National Treasury.President Rodrigo Duterte, House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd led the awarding of the Certificate of Acknowledgement of Dividend Remittances to the top performing GOCCs last Wednesday in Malacañang.“This is a remarkable financial achievement. The same top contributors I mentioned earlier including now, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, made this feat possible,” Dominguez said.The PCSO was fifth among seven GOCCs that remitted at least P1 billion, representing 69 percent of total remittances or P22.052 billion, PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan said.“Our agency is going stronger than ever with its multi-billion lottery industry with P55 billion to P60 billion projected revenues this year,” he added.“We are very proud. We were seated at the front row they called, ‘The Billionaires Row’ from among all the GOCCs. Actually, [the dividends] are a huge help in nation building, especially for utilities (e.g. electricity, water), and other infrastructures to beef up the economy,” he added.According to Dominguez, out of 125 GOCCs, 54 remitted a total of P32.03 billion to the National Treasury from January to July 2018.The top contributors include the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines with P6.225 billion, followed by the Philippine Ports Authority with P3.103 billion, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. with P2.844 billion, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. with P2.593 billion, the PCSO at P2.535 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas with P2.5 billion, and the Manila International Airport Authority with P2.251 billion.Pursuant to Section 3 of Republic Act 7656, all GOCCs are required to declare and remit at least 50 percent of their annual net earnings as cash, stock, or property dividends to the national government.The total dividend collections in the first seven months of this year already exceeded the full-year total of P27.73 billion dividends contributed by GOCCs in 2016 and P30.46 billion in 2017.Last year, dividends remitted by GOCCs to the National Treasury amounted to P30.45 billion, representing a 9.8 percent increase from the previous year’s collections of P27.73 billion.The 2017 dividend collections exceeded the P27.73 billion remittances in 2016 even if Land Bank of the Philippines’ P6 billion dividends in 2017 were not included to allow the institution to recapitalize and better serve the increasing development needs of the country. Had these dividends been included, the total GOCC remittances would have reached P36.45 billion in 2017.The dividend collections last year came from 53 GOCCs based on the DOF website.“The dividends will help offset the subsidies we need to pay out to the GOCCs performing crucial social missions.They will go a long way in helping us hold down deficits and continue funding the infrastructures and social program of President Duterte,” said Dominguez in his opening remarks.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/pcso-remits-p2-5b-in-dividends-to-govt/431579/
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Addict stabs cop’s boy to death
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['Rain X', 'Halili N Mark Flores']
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31/03/2017 0:00
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A self-confessed drug addict has admitted to killing a four-year-old son of a policeman, in Barangay Duljo-Fatima, this city, last Thursday.Danilo Remulta, a balut vendor, said he stabbed Emmanuel Martinez Jr because the boy had been teasing him.According to the Mambaling police station chief, Senior Inspector Eduard Sanchez, Remulta approached the boy and stabbed him in the back. The knife hit the boy’s heart, Sanchez said.“The boy was shouting bad words at me. There were also voices that told me to stab him,” Remulta told reporters.The boy’s father, PO1 Emmanuel Martinez, who is assigned at the San Nicolas Police Station, was off duty when the stabbing happened. He said he was not carrying his gun when he responded to the incident.Witnesses said the boy was able to run to his father before he collapsed.Remulta admitted to investigators he was drunk and high on drugs when he committed the crime. He sustained severe bruises and contusions on his face after he was mauled by bystanders.Police charged Remulta with murder.
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Manila Bulletin
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https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/03/31/addict-stabs-cops-boy-to-death/
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Robredo wants acceptable houses for soldiers, police
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2016-11-23 21:31:23+00:00
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There is a need to fill gaps in the government’s housing program for soldiers and police, according to Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo.Officials of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), National Housing Authority (NHA), and Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine National Police (AFP-PNP) Housing Board have met to identify and resolve the gaps in the program on Tuesday.“While a few housing projects have been successful, the conditions of most of the houses in the sites I visited simply weren’t acceptable for the families of our soldiers and police,” Robredo said in a statement issued by the HUDCC on Wednesday.The Vice President convened an inter-agency technical working group (TWG) composed of the HUDCC, NHA, AFP-PNP Housing Board, Department of Budget and Management and Department of the Interior and Local Government to further review proposals in order to make unoccupied units livable homes as originally intended.“We need to fill the gaps and fulfill the original objective of providing our soldiers and police with decent and affordable homes for their families,” Robredo, who heads the HUDCC, said.The program, which began in 2011 with a budget of P20.78 billion, aimed to provide homes across the country for soldiers and police who receive relatively low salaries as well as for their families.While over 60,738 houses have been built, only 8,397 were occupied as of September 30, 2016, according to the HUDCC’s statement, which cited a report of NHA architect Susan Nonato.Commander Elpidio Trinidad Jr., who leads the AFP Housing Board, “said many soldiers were not satisfied with the design of the houses consisting of 22 square meter row houses on 40 sq m lots,” the statement said.The location of the houses also failed to match the needs of the police, according to Police Senior Supt. Wilfredo Cayat.There were sites that lack applicants and there were sites where applicants outnumber the houses, according to the statement.It said there had been concerns on the acceptability of the units’ size but the Aquino administration pushed through with the design because soldiers and police still expressed interest, considering the units’ affordability.“Many of the unoccupied units have become dilapidated over time due to non-use as many soldiers and police were not amenable with the design but acquired the units as an investment or for retirement purposes,” the statement said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/robredo-wants-acceptable-houses-soldiers-police/298015/
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DoJ to file war crimes raps vs Maute members
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['Llanesca T. Panti']
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2017-11-22 22:47:47+00:00
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The Department of Justice is considering filing war crimes charges against 37 members of the Maute terror group and their co-conspirators who held Marawi City under siege for 154 days, according to Palace spokesman Harry Roque.“Thirty-seven cases of rebellion have been filed in court against members of the Maute and the people in conspiracy with them. A special panel of investigators are looking on [filing] cases in violation of the international humanitarian law perpetrated by the Mautes,” Roque said.The United Nations defines crimes against humanity as any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population and with knowledge of the attack: murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation or forcible transfer of population, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity, persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, among others.“In this instance, these include taking hostages, wanton killing, kidnap for ransom, cruel and inhumane treatment of hostages, beheading, and recruiting of children as combatants,” said Roque, a former professor of International law at the University of the Philippines College of Law.The Palace official at the same time gave assurances that the rehabilitation of Marawi City will be completed within President Rodrigo Duterte’s term which ends on June 30, 2022.The main battle area, which covers 24 barangays, will be flattened so that the government can build bigger roads, install underground electricity cables and turn the area surrounding the river into a tourist attraction.More than 7,000 permanent housing units will be built by the government and the private sector for the residents of Marawi.“The goal is to complete the rehabilitation of Marawi during the term of President Duterte,” Roque said.Roque, however, said that the final amount needed for the rehabilitation of Marawi City will be determined by March 2018 when the Post Conflict Needs Assessment (PCNA) is finished.Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier estimated that the cost of rehabilitation could reach as much as P100 billion.President Rodrigo Duterte declared Marawi City liberated from terrorists on October 17, a day after Maute leaders Omar Maute and Isnilon Hapilon were killed by government forces.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/doj-file-war-crimes-raps-vs-maute-members/364434/
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Teachers to get P3K anniversary bonus
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['Neil Alcober']
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2018-10-28 00:04:00+00:00
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THE Department of Education (DepEd) on Saturday said public school teachers and non-teaching personnel nationwide will receive a P3,000 anniversary bonus in December.Education Secretary Leonor Briones made the announcement during the World Teachers’ Day celebration in Ormoc City on October 5, and was reaffirmed in a meeting between the members of the DepEd’s ExecutiveCommittee and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)-Philippines at SEAMEO INNOTECH, Quezon City on October 26.“We’re working on it, and preparing for it. Before December, we’ll make sure that it is already downloaded and available on or before the DepEd’s anniversary,” Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla said.Based on the recommendation of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the DepEd adopted Dec. 20, 1863 as its foundation date considering its predecessors, the oldest of which being the Comision Superior de Instruccion Primaria.The DepEd also restated its commitment to increase the teachers’ chalk allowance, and to lobby the Department of Budget and Management and the Civil Service Commission for the creation of non-teaching positions that will handle ancillary tasks in response to the issue on teachers’ workload.The Education department also said it would ask the Government Service Insurance System to reconsider the deadline set for member-borrowers with past due loans to update their accounts, with automatic waiver of penalties and surcharges.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/teachers-to-get-p3k-anniversary-bonus/458329/
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Court of appeals junks IBC 13 plea on labor suit
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['The Manila Times']
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2017-01-15 21:08:42+00:00
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THE Court of Appeals (CA) has junked Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp.’s (IBC) appeal in connection with a labor case filed by employees of the state television network.In a resolution penned by Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando and concurred in by Associate Justices Francisco Acosta and Stephen Cruz, the CA’s Special Fifth Division held that there is nothing more for them to resolve as the main issue on the controversy in IBC’s petition for review on certiorari dated January 11,2010 has been finally settled by the Supreme Court (SC) in its resolutions dated February 12, 2014 and June 9, 2014 affirming the appellate tribunal’s decision dated July 31, 2008.The IBC is one of the several corporations sequestered by the government together with Radio Philippines Network (RPN) and Banahaw Broadcasting Corp. (BBC).The three were previously owned by Ambassador Roberto Benedicto, who turned the three firms into a consortium, known as Broadcast City, sometime in 1976.The manpower resources of each company were pooled to serve the needs of the consortium, in that, the employees hired by one company were transferred or assigned to the other companies. In effect, all the employees of the three companies were considered as one. Thereafter, the three companies were sequestered by the government after the February 1986 peaceful people’s uprising.Gerry Novencido, Rodolfo Yabut, Avelino dela Torre, Armando Fontelera, Rodolfo Consunji, Orlando Matubis and Emmanuel Dones, represented by their labor organizations, filed and submitted to the Office of the Voluntary Arbiter (OVA) the issue on whether the assignment of the individual complainants with the other members of the consortium should be credited as part of their employment with the IBC for purposes of computation and payment of their retirement or separation pay and other benefits.While it was pending, the CA rendered a decision in the case of Rogelio Plata, et al. until the OVA adopted the same in its ruling.In February 2014, the SC issued a resolution denying IBC’s petition and affirmed the CA’s verdict.In its November 25, 2016 ruling that was released to the media just recently, the CA dismissed the petition of the broadcast firm for being moot and academic.“The issue on whether petitioner is a separate and distinct entity from RPN and BBC so that it cannot be held liable for the monetary claim of individual complainants has already been resolved [previously] in the CA’s decision…” it said.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/court-appeals-junks-ibc-13-plea-labor-suit/307107/
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72 caught violating revised Anti-Distracted Driving Act
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['Reicelene Joy Ignacio']
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2017-07-06 23:44:45+00:00
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The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) apprehended 72 drivers on Thursday, the first day of implementation of the revised Republic Act (RA) 10913 or the Anti-Distracted Driving Act (ADDA).The revised ADDA prohibits drivers from using their mobile gadgets while driving or even at momentary stops in intersections or before traffic lights.Violators will be penalized P5,000 for the first offense; P10,000 for the second offense; P15,000 and suspension of the driver’s license for three months for the third offense; and P20,000 and revocation of driver’s license for the fourth and succeeding offenses.Using a hands-free phone for communication is not considered a violation, the Department of Transportation clarified.This ADDA, however, allows objects like mobile phones in a “safe zone,” which is four inches from the dashboard.Any point beyond that distance is considered part of the “line of sight” and placing objects there is prohibited.Other prohibited acts are holding the device to make or receive calls; composing, sending or reading text messages; performing calculations; playing games; watching videos; and browsing the Internet.On May 23, the implementation of ADDA was suspended after lawmakers called for its deferment.Lawyer Victor Nuñez, MMDA liaison officer, said the ADDA is implemented through a no-contact apprehension policy using closed-circuit television (CCTV).But he added that motorists could be flagged down by enforcers if they are caught obviously using their mobile devices and other gadgets.Nuñez said a citation ticket for violating the ADDA issued in a certain city would not guarantee the motorist an exemption from apprehension within the day if again caught for the same violation in another city.In the provinces, enforcers from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, the Land Transportation Office and the local traffic bureaus would be assigned to apprehend erring motorists.According to Nuñez, violators can expect a notice within three days from the agency of the violation.A final notice will be sent if the motorist fails to settle within seven days of his violation, according to Ronnie Rivera, No-Contact Apprehension Policy head.with JOVILAND RITA
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/72-caught-violating-revised-anti-distracted-driving-act/336966/
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CoA bares housing loans irregularities
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['Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino']
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2018-09-16 00:20:24+00:00
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Loans totaling P2.3 billion financed by the National Housing Authority (NHA) for the military, police, and informal settler families living in danger areas were not supported by Individual Loan Agreement (ILA), according to state auditors.The observation was made in the Commission on Audit’s (CoA) Annual Audit Report on the NHA for 2016 and 2017.“Loans in the total amount of P2.358 billion were not supported by [ILA] contrary to Section 4.6 of PD 1445, Section 7.6 of the TOR for Armed Forces of the Philippines/Philippine National Police (AFP/PNP) Housing Program, Section 5.4 of Memorandum Circulars (MCs) 2518 and 2518-A for Informal Settler Families (ISFs) Living in Danger Areas, and Sections 2.1 and 2.3, Article II of the tripartite MOA [memorandum of agreement],” CoA said.An ILA serves as the identified beneficiaries’ commitment to pay the NHA in return for financing the acquisition of house and lot packages.The audit agency said as of December 31, 2017, the total recorded loan receivables subsidized by NHA amounted to P4.6 billion for 20 housing projects for the AFP, PNP and Informal Settler Families (ISFs). However, 51 percent of the amount were not supported by ILA.State auditors recommended that developers be required to strictly comply with the requirement on the submission of ILA.The audit report said the police and military were given until June 30, 2017 to submit the revised list of the names of the beneficiaries. However, the list had not yet been finalized by the Housing Board as of February 2018.The same audit report also showed that the technical and financial capacity of developers to undertake 28 projects costing P10.62 billion was not adequately evaluated.“Verification of the documents of selected developers who were awarded the contracts for the provision of house and lot packages for various housing projects showed that the developers are not technically and financially capable to undertake the housing projects. These are manifested by the deficiencies in the documents submitted and non-compliance to some requirements by the Developers on the evaluation of the financial capacity as follows,” CoA said.It cited a number of irregularities, including non-disclosure of contract cost and client/owner on the list of ongoing projects, awarding projects to certain developers that exceeded their license, and non-evaluation of developers financial capacity.“Hence, there are no basis for the assessment of the financial capacity of the Developer to undertake individual or multiple housing projects that involve substantial amounts for the same contract period to a single Developer,” auditors said.“The inadequate evaluation of the Developers’ capacity to undertake the project were later on manifested in the delayed completion of the housing projects,” they added.
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Manila Times
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https://www.manilatimes.net/coa-bares-housing-loans-irregularities/441962/
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