Senate approves bill converting LTO extension offices in Lapu-Lapu City into regular centers

By Hannah Torregoza

The Senate has approved on third and final reading the measure that seeks to convert the Land Transportation Office (LTO) extension office in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu into a regular district office.

Sen. Grace Poe, who sponsored House Bill No. 6155, said the conversion of the LTO extension office into a regular district office would help speed up the issuance of the new driver’s licenses under Republic Act No. 10930.

The bill was approved with 17 affirmative votes, zero negative vote and no abstention.

Poe said the latest data from the LTO showed that there were at least 6.67 million registered private vehicles in the country “all of which would need their papers and licenses renewed at some point.”

The senator said this, is in addition to the 192,000 vehicles sold as of June 2018.

Soon, Poe said residents in the area would not have to travel long distances to get their drivers’ licenses.

“The issue of lack of personnel would also be resolved once the extension office would be converted into a regular district office,” she said.

The bill mandates the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to include the funding of the conversion in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA).

It also directs the DOTr Secretary to issue the necessary implementing rules and regulations within 90 days from the effectivity of the Act.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/09/03/senate-approves-bill-converting-lto-extension-offices-in-lapu-lapu-city-into-regular-centers/

Senate OKs new legislative districts for General Santos City, Southern Leyte and Isabela

More congressmen will grace the halls of the House of Representatives after the Senate approved on third and final reading a set of bills on the creation of new legislative districts for General Santos City, Southern Leyte and Isabela.

At present, the Upper House has 299 members and this number is expected to increase once these bills are signed into law by President Duterte and after the mid-term 2019 national and local elections.

The House membership includes party-list representatives.

House Bills (HB). 5162, 6331 and 7778 were authored and sponsored by Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government. HB 5162 and 7778 were approved with 17 affirmative votes and zero negative vote and abstention, while HB 6331 was approved with 18 affirmative votes and zero negative vote and abstention.

HB 5162 sought to separate General Santos City from the first legislative district of South Cotabato to constitute the lone legislative district of General Santos City.

“Now that more opportunities in tourism and agriculture are opening in this city, it was important for GenSan (General Santos) to have a strong voice in the national government, as well as a new and separate representative who would serve the city’s interests,” Angara said.

HB 5162 was also co-sponsored by Senator Emmanuel D. Pacquiao.

Pacquiao said that it was “high time to create a legislative district for General Santos City and grant the sole highly-urbanized city in SOCCSKSARGEN with a voice in the Philippine Congress.”

HB 6331, in turn, sought to reapportion the Southern Leyte, which currently has a lone legislative district, into two legislative districts.

Under the bill, the first legislative district for Southern Leyte would be composed of Maasin City and the municipalities of Macrohon, Padre Burgos, Limasawa, Malitbog, Tomas Oppus and Bontoc.

The second legislative district would be composed of the municipalities of Sogod, Libagon, Liloan, San Francisco, Pintuyan, San Ricardo, Saint Bernard, Anahawan, San Juan, Hinundayan, Hinunangan and Silago.

“In consideration of the size of the province, it was only right that Southern Leyte has proper representation in Congress which would focus on its constituents’ concerns and relay these to the national government,” Angara said.

Likewise, HB 7778 sought to reapportion Isabela – the largest province in Luzon – into six legislative districts from the existing four.

Angara said that under the bill, the province would be divided into the first legislative district (Ilagan City and municipalities of Cabagan, Delfin Albano, Divilacan, Maconacon, Tumauini, San Pablo, Santa Maria, Sto. Tomas), the second legislative district (the municipalities of Benito Soliven, Palanan, Naguilian, Reina Mercedes, San Mariano, Gamu), the third legislative district (municipalities of Alicia, Cabatuan, San Mateo, Ramon and Angadanan), the fourth legislative district (Santiago City and municipalities of Cordon, Dinapiguie, San Agustin and Jones), the fifth legislative district (municipalities of Aurora, Burgos, Luna, Mallig, Quezon, Quirino, Roxas and San Manuel) and the sixth district (Cauayan City and municipalities of Echague, San Guillermo and San Isidro).

“By increasing the number of legislative districts in the province, the people of Isabela would be given more opportunities to participate and be heard in issues of public importance,” he said.

Angara noted that according to Article VI, Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution, “Each city with a population of at least 250,000 shall have at least one representative.”

Citing the 2015 census, Angara said that General Santos City has a population of 594,446 while Isabela province has a total population of 1,593,566. He added that Southern Leyte’s population too has doubled “in the intervening years.”

“It is clear that the aforementioned had met the constitutional requirements to have their own representation in Congress,” he said.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/09/03/senate-oks-new-legislative-districts-for-general-santos-city-southern-leyte-and-isabela/

Despite Duterte's distaste, Gatchalian set to rebuild Pavilion with new casino

Hotel magnate William Gatchalian is taking advantage of the fire that gutted his Manila Pavilion to rebuild the landmark hotel and reopen its shuttered casino, despite President Duterte's pronouncement last month that "there will be no (new) casinos" under his administration.

"We have been working tirelessly towards resuming our Manila operations and are on the path to not merely rebuilding but transforming it into an even better property," Gatchalian son, Kenneth, said in a report to Pavilion shareholders ahead of next month's annual meeting.

The redevelopment of the 50-year-old hotel includes a "fully modernized swimming pool and recreation floor, and exciting new dining outlets within a fully-redesigned casino area," the young Gatchalian said.

Pavilion's casino license expired last year, losing it to the neighboring Rizal Park Hotel, amid a pronouncement by Pagcor chairman Andrea Domingo that the gaming regulator will not issue any more casino licenses in Metro Manila for five years amid oversupply concerns.

The loss of the casino business hit the Pavilion hard.

Its occupancy rate shrank last year to 50 percent, and the hotel -- the country's first five-star establishment when the original owners, the Delgado family, opened it in 1968 -- ended 2017 with P44 million in the red.

Even before the March 2018 fire that damaged the lower floors and the casino podium, the hotel management had already budgeted P350 million to renovate the building.

"Now that there is a chance to start from a completely new blueprint, we are taking the opportunity to rebuild in a revolutionary way," said Kenneth Gatchalian, who has an architectural degree from the University of Texas.

The 22-story-building itself was mortgaged in favor of the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company, as trustee for the Singapore branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, to secure a $15 million loan, which the Gatchalian son said had been fully paid in March 2016.

The hotel also had managed to overturn the P45.58 million in deficiency business tax liabilities covering 2004 up to 2006, a collection case filed by then Mayor Alfredo Lim and which the Pavilion lost before the Court of Tax Appeals.

But a pre-Christmas 2015 compromise with now Mayor Joseph Estrada drastically reduced Pavilion's liability to only P5.84 million, an out-of-court settlement that the Manila City Council subsequently approved.

With the continued tourist influx and even domestic travel on the rise, the elder Gatchalian was emboldened to borrow P1.7 billion from Lucio Co's Philippine Bank of Communications late last year to fund the simultaneous renovations of his Cebu and Davao Waterfront hotels.