Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Proposed Bangsamoro law ratified, awaits President Duterte’s signature

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P909.7-B allotted for 'Build, Build, Build' program in 2019

A total of PHP909.7 billion out of the proposed PHP3.757 trillion national budget for 2019 will be allotted for the construction of the flagship projects under the "Build, Build, Build" program.

According to President Rodrigo Duterte’s budget message recently submitted to Congress, the PHP909.7 billion for infrastructure projects represents 24.2 percent of the cash budget for 2019 or 4.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

“Investments in sufficient and quality infrastructure will increase economic activity through improved mobility, connectivity and sustainability across the country,” Duterte emphasized.

He said the public infrastructure spending in 2019 is estimated to generate 1.1 million jobs “something we desperately need”.

The Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) will get the bulk of the 2019 infrastructure budget amounting to PHP555.7 billion while the Department of Transportation (DOTr) will take PHP76.1 billion.

Duterte said the two departments will use the amount to provide connectivity for all Filipinos and to implement major infrastructure projects.

Of the DPWH budget, PHP113.29 billion will be used for the network development including widening of 778.822-kilometer roads with PHP35.93 billion budget and construction of by-pass and diversion roads/missing links/new roads with PHP63.77 billion.

The DPWH has also PHP29.66 billion for the widening, replacement, retrofitting, repair/rehabilitation and construction of new bridges next year.

“Bridges remain an important backbone of our infrastructure investments,” Duterte said.

A total of PHP56.65 billion is allocated for asset preservation program to keep the roads in good condition while PHP101.91 billion will be spent for flood management program including the PHP72.74-billion drainage systems.

Since Metro Manila contributes at least 35 percent to the Philippine economy, DPWH has allotted PHP25.2 billion for the construction of 35-km Metro Manila subway project while PHP2 billion will be used to build 17 more stations of Pasig River Ferry Convergence Program.

Duterte also emphasized the need to build more infrastructure projects outside Metro Manila to spur economic activities in the rural areas.

For Luzon area, the projects include the 72-km PHP4.6-billion Philippine National Railways (PNR) South Commuter project from Solis, Tondo to Los Baños in Laguna; the 38-km PHP14.04-billion PNR North 1 Project that will have 10 stations from Tutuban in Manila to Malolos, Bulacan; the PHP17-billion Chico River Pump Irrigation System; PHP875-million Lower Agno River Irrigation System Extension Project in Pangasinan; and PHP311-million Bongabong River Irrigation Project in Oriental Mindoro.

The listed projects for Visayas, on the other hand, are the PHP754 million will go to New Bohol (Panglao) International Airport; PHP450 million for Catbalogan airport in Samar; PHP50 million for Tacloban airport in Leyte; PHP282 million for New Cebu International Container Port Project; PHP75 million for rehabilitation and improvement of various ports and wharves.

Mindanao also stands to receive PHP2.9 billion for construction of Mindanao Railway Project; PHP500 million for the Siargao Airport; PHP315 million for the Davao International Airport; PHP400 million for Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project Phase II in North Cotabato; PHP300 million Sapalan River Irrigation Project in Maguindanao; and, PHP92 million for the Central Mindanao (M’lang) airport.

On the other hand, the bulk of the allocation for the DOTr, PHP24.6 billion, will fund its various railway projects.

DOTr has also allotted PHP2.2 billion for improvement of airports and PHP627 million for sea transport primarily for implementation of Phase 2 of the PHP330-million Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project.

In a bid to make 145 cities throughout the country livable, sustainable and inclusive, Duterte said his administration will continue investing in the infrastructure development outside Metro Manila.

He said some PHP11.7 billion will be provided for the Assistance to Municipalities, basically to fund local access roads, local bridges, sanitation and health facilities, and potable water system projects, among others.

Likewise, some PHP8.2 billion will be set aside for Conditional Matching Grant to Provinces (CMGP) to pave, repair, and improve around 500km of provincial roads.

With number of Filipino internet users to hit 70 million in 2018, the Duterte administration also continued to investment in information technology (IT) infrastructure projects.

A total of PHP1.2 billion and PHP280 million has been allotted for free internet wife access in public places and state universities and colleagues, respectively, while PHP177 million for National Government Data Center and PHP43 million for National Broadband Plan in 2019. (PNA)

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1042562

Arroyo-led House ratifies draft Bangsamoro law

The House of Representatives on Tuesday ratified the proposed Bangsamoro Organic Law, one day after a dramatic leadership change that saw the former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo wrest control from Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez.

A maneuver by the Alvarez camp to forestall his ouster also delayed the BOL’s scheduled passage on Monday.

On Tuesday, the House created a five-man transition committee intended to smoothen things out with Alvarez.

The transition team was composed of Representatives Raneo Abu of Batangas, Fred Castro of Capiz, Arthur Defensor of Iloilo, Miro Quimbo of Marikina City and Arthur Yap of Bohol.

The session adjourned at past 5 p.m. Tuesday, without having elected new sets of leaders under Arroyo.

After her election as Speaker in the afternoon session Monday, Arroyo vowed to have the BOL ratified as her first act as the leader of the House.

“As I intend to carry out the legislative agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte, we will ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law today,” said Arroyo.

In his Sona, the President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to sign the BOL into law in “48 hours” after reviewing the final.

‘Life begins @40’ para sa lahat ng Dabarkads: Ang vision namin ay maging 24/7 na ang Eat Bulaga!

“LIFE begins @40!” Iyan ang feeling ng lahat ng Dabarkads at ng mga taong bumubuo sa longest-running noontime show sa bansa, ang Eat Bulaga! Yes, 40 years na nga ang award-winning at laging trending na variety show ng GMA.

Nagsimula na nga ang year-long preparation para sa bonggang 40th anniversary ng EB. Ngayong Hulyo muling magbabalik-tanaw ang mga Dabarkads sa 39 taon pagbibigay-saya at pag-asa sa milyun-milyong Pilipino saan man sa mundo.

Ayon kay Jeny Ferre, SVP for Creatives and Operations ng EB, magiging simple, nostalgic at heartwarming ang kanilang selebrasyon para sa nalalapit nilang 40th anniversary.

“Gabay namin sa journey na ito ang makulay at historic na kwento ng Eat Bulaga! Nais naming magbalik-tanaw ngunit kami din ay excited sa mga mangyayari sa mga susunod na araw. Lagi nating sinasabi na ‘life begins at 40,’ ganoon din ang pakiramdam namin. Kami ay excited na i-present ang ‘forty-fied’ version ng EB,” pahayag ni Jeny.

Unang umere sa telebisyon ang Eat Bulaga! noong Hulyo 23, 1979 na pinangunahan nina Joey de Leon, Tito at Vic Sotto. Personal na pinili ang tatlo ni Television and Production Exponents, Incorporated (TAPE) boss Antonio Tuviera para ipangtapat sa noon ay number one show na Student Canteen.

Sa loob ng apat na dekada, tinupad ng TVJ at ng kanilang mga co-hosts kabilang na ang JoWaPao (Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola at Paolo Ballesteros) ang pangakong pagbibigay ng “isang libo’t isang tuwa” sa mga manonood sa pamamagitan ng mahigit 300 segments na umera sa loob ng 40 taon. Kabilang na ang mga well-loved segments na “Pinoy Henyo,” “Super Sireyna,” “Bulagaan” at “Juan for All, All for Juan”.

Ayon pa kay Jeny na mahigit 20 taon nang bahagi ng programa, walang pattern or secret formula ang EB. Para sa kanya, ang success ay nagmumula sa pagmamahal sa trabaho at ang patuloy na pag-evolve ng grupo.

Dagdag pa niya nagiging madali ang trabaho sa EB dahil para na silang isang pamilya, “Maliit lang ang grupo namin pero nandoon ang respeto sa isa’t isa. Nakikita namin ang Eat Bulaga bilang extension ng mga bahay namin. Katulad ng isang pamilya, dumadaan din sa mga pagsubok pero isa kaming lalaban, ‘yan ang kultura namin dito.”

“We don’t rest on our laurels. Advantage namin ang experience at ang mga challenges na nalampasan na namin sa loob ng maraming taon. Pero kailangan pa rin naming maging attuned sa panahon, maka-keep up sa pagbabago, mas maging flexible. Kailangan namin mag-innovate para maipagpatuloy ang pagiging trendsetter,” saad ni Jeny.

Maliban sa pagiging leader sa nasabing format at timeslot, unti-unti na ring pinasok ng Eat Bulaga ang mundo ng internet. Sa ngayon ay maa-access na ng netizens ang mga episode sa EB official YouTube channel at mapapanood na rin ng mga overseas viewers ang programa via live streaming.

Nagsimula na rin silang mag-produce ng content na exclusive para sa kanilang online platforms. Isa na nga rito ang “Eat Bulaga! Behind The Scenes” kung saan gaganap na parte ng production team ang isa sa mga host ng programa.

“Unti-unti na naming ini-extend ang Eat Bulaga! sa interwebs. Pareho pa rin ng kasayahan at entertainment ngunit hindi na lamang ito hanggang 2:30 ng hapon. Ang aming vision ay maging 24/7 ang Eat Bulaga! online. Maaari mong i-check ang videos at manood ng episodes saan man or kailanman mo naisin,” sey pa ng EB executive.

Para naman sa kanilang nalalapit na 40th anniversary, siguradong four times ang fun, laughter at entertainment para sa loyal Dabarkads. Ipagpapatuloy din nila ang pagbibigay serbisyo sa bawat Pilipino.

“Para sa akin, parang nagsisimula ulit kami dahil may bago na namang challenges. Nandoon pa rin yung attitude ng lahat nang magsimula ang Eat Bulaga! 39 years ago.

“Lahat ng kaalaman at experience namin sa apat na dekada ay pagsasama-samahin namin upang makagawa ng mas malaki at mas magandang programa,” paniniguro pa ni Jeny.

Patuloy na subaybayan ang year-long celebration ng Eat Bulaga, kabilang na riyan ang directorial debut ni Jose Manalo sa horror telemovie na “Pamana,” ngayong Hulyo 28, Sabado, alas-11:30 ng umaga sa GMA 7.

Read more: http://bandera.inquirer.net/191316/life-begins-40-para-sa-lahat-ng-dabarkads-ang-vision-namin-ay-maging-24-7-na-ang-eat-bulaga#ixzz5MGEl4M8w
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Proposed GMA-7 Schedule

Weekdays


  • 3:55 am - Guidelines for Living
  • 4 am - Umaga Na, Balita Na!
  • 5 am - Unang Hirit!
  • 8:30 am - Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko
  • 9 am - Cartoons
  • 9:30 am - Cartoons
  • 10 am - Foreign Telenovela
  • 10:30 am - GMA News Live
  • 10:35 am - Sis
  • 11:30 am - Drama
  • 12 nn - Eat Bulaga!
  • 1:30 pm - GMA News Live
  • 1:35 pm - Chika Minute
  • 2 pm - T.A.P.E. Drama
  • 2:30 pm - Nagmamahal, Manay Gina
  • 3 pm - Maynila
  • 3:30 pm - Foreign Telenovela
  • 4 pm - Anime
  • 4:30 pm - That's Entertainment
  • 5:30 pm - Extra, Extra!
  • 6 pm - Saksi: GMA Headline Balita
  • 7 pm - Drama
  • 7:30 pm - Drama
  • 8 pm - Drama
  • 8:30 pm - Foreign Drama
Monday
  • 9 pm - Pinoy Blockbusters
  • 10:30 pm - 
Tuesday
  • 9 pm -
  • 10:30 pm - 
Wednesday
  • 9 pm - 
  • 10:30 pm - 
Thursday
  • 9 pm - Tadhana
  • 10 pm - Magpakailanman
Friday
  • 9 pm - Bubble Gang
  • 10:30 pm - GMA Love Stories
  • 11:30 pm - GMA Network News
  • 12 mn - 
    • I-Witness
    • The Probe Team
    • Tunay na Buhay
    • Emergency
    • Bestmen

House OKs Bangsamoro Law

THE House of Representatives ratified the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) on Tuesday, a day after a power struggle for the speakership stalled its approval.

The BOL abolishes the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and replaces it with the Bangsamoro Region, which will enjoy fiscal autonomy under a duly elected Bangsamoro Parliament.

Ghazali Jaafar, chairman of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), welcomed the House move, which would pave the way for President Rodrigo Duterte to sign the measure into law.

“Of course, we are happy because the President will surely sign this into law. The President has been pushing for this. He promised to shepherd this to passage,” Jaafar said.


“The Bangsamoro government will usher in a just and dignified peace in our place,” Jaafar said.

Also provided under the BOL is the inclusion of the six Lanao del Norte municipalities and 39 barangay (villages) of North Cotabato in the Bangsamoro Region, which will only happen if their mother provinces approve via plebiscite.

Malacañan Palace was optimistic the law would be signed by President Duterte anytime this week.

In a news briefing, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the House of Representatives’ ratification of the BOL was the only thing that stood in the way of its enactment into law.

“I think it deserves a ceremony of sorts because this is a milestone…This is the first time that [the law]was enacted after MOA-AD was declared unconstitutional,” Roque added.

MOA-AD is a draft ancestral domain pact between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), declared by the Supreme Court as “unconstitutional” on October 14, 2008.

“I think the fact that it was finally passed by Congress is evidence of the political will of the President himself,” Roque said.

All signs pointed to Duterte signing the measure into law before his third State of the Nation Address, but the plan fell through after the House majority decided to replace House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez with Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

“Despite all that has been said against the BOL by all sectoral groups, I make this solid commitment that this administration will never deny our Muslim brothers and sisters the basic legal tools to chart their own destiny within their constitutional framework of our country,” Duterte said on Monday.

“When the approved version is transmitted and received by my office, give me 48 hours to sign it and ratify that. I will read it first before signing, maybe [you lawmakers]put a provision there that will not be beneficial to some people,” Duterte added.

Duterte quipped that he would break the notion of Mindanao as a land of “promise,” since broken promises were all that Mindanaoans had received from the government.

“In the end of my term I hope to see the promise to Mindanao fulfilled. Or at least in the very least approaching fulfillment. Be that as it may, Mindanao is at a crossroads of history. One road leads to harmony and peace, the other to war and human suffering,” he added.

WITH RALPH EDWIN U. VILLANUEVA

Reyes: TV5 to meet 2018 revenue target

TV5 Network Inc. said it expects to meet its revenue target for the year as it launched the first-ever e-sports franchise model league in the Philippines.

“We’re right on target. We’re hitting our numbers. We’re very hopeful that the rest of the year will be okay. But right now, our first half was pretty good. We have some challenges, but by enlarge we are right at our numbers,” TV5 president Vincent Reyes told reporters on sidelines of an event.

Reyes said the network was on track to break even by 2019. “The expectation is towards the end of 2019,” he said.

Reyes also said the network expects to generate additional revenues with the launch the Road to the Nationals, a search for e-sports professional athletes  in the country

“It’s going to be a valuable content for the Media Quest group. For TV5, for Cignal, for ESPN5, that’s going to be valuable content for us that will be attractive to different demographics, a younger audience, a digital audience, that is very different from the traditional television audience,” he said.

http://manilastandard.net/business/corporate/271262/reyes-tv5-to-meet-2018-revenue-target.html

House ratifies bicam report on Bangsamoro Organic Law

The House of Representatives ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) before the afternoon session on Tuesday was suspended.

No objections were heard from the members of the House who were present in the session.

In an ambush interview before the session, newly elected Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo vowed that the BOL would be ratified within the day.

The ratification of the BOL was supposedly scheduled on Monday, before the State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Rodrigo Duterte, but internal leadership issues within the House delayed the process.

In his State of the Nation Address (Sona), Duterte made a commitment to sign the BOL within 48-hours after a copy is transmitted to his office for his signature.

“I make the solemn commitment that this administration will never deny our Muslim brothers and sisters the basic legal tools to chart their own destiny within the constitutional framework of our country,” Duterte had said during his Sona.



Read more: http://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/186048/house-ratifies-bicam-report-bangsamoro-organic-law#ixzz5MFbY5ZyU
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