Kupit sa kapamilya: Duterte accuses ABS-CBN employees of stealing donated goods

President Rodrigo Duterte has accused employees of ABS-CBN Network of stealing goods donated for calamity victims.

Duterte said he was a “living witness” to the pilferage allegedly committed by the network’s employees at its Davao City station when he was mayor.

“Ako na mismo nagsasabi sa inyo. Nakikita ko eh. Kasi may program ako noon every Sunday. So ‘yung lahat ng donations nandoon. Nandoon yung mga matatandang empleyado na sorting out. Mga basta ‘yung ganoon na pilferage,” he said during the situation briefing on Typhoon Ompong in Isabela Tuesday (September 17).

While Duterte did not name the network, his weekly show, “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” aired on ABS-CBN Davao.

The President harbors a grudge against ABS-CBN over its alleged failure to air the commercials he paid for during the campaign period for the 2016 elections. He has hinted that the network may have a hard time renewing its franchise, which is set to expire on March 30, 2020.

http://politics.com.ph/kupit-sa-kapamilya-duterte-accuses-abs-cbn-employees-of-stealing-donated-goods/

Should the PH flag have a 9th ray?

Senators on Tuesday discussed the possibility of adding a ninth ray in the Philippine flag’s sun.

Senator Richard Gordon, sponsor of Senate Bill 102 which seeks to add a ninth ray in the flag's sun, argued that there is a need to increase the rays of the sun to represent Filipino Muslims who fought against the Spaniards.

“I think inclusion should be the policy. To include our brother Muslims,” Gordon said during the interpellation period.

Senator Franklin Drilon asked Gordon if a 10th ray should also be added for the people of the Cordilleras. Gordon replied that the ninth ray could represent all groups excluded in the eight rays.

“The more important thing is when we replace the rays of the sun there will be discussions in our country’s schools…reminding our people that we have a rich past,” Gordon said.

However, hostorian Xiao Chua earlier said adding a ninth ray in the Philippine flag would "destroy" the historical context behind the symbolism.

Most Filipinos think of the rays as a representation of the first eight provinces - Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Manila, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Tarlac - that joined the revolt for the country's independence during the Spanish occupation.

But Chua said this was not so.

"These were just the 8 provinces in which the Spaniards suspected that there are members of the Katipunan," he told ANC's "Beyond Politics" in reference to the revolutionary movement.

"To add the ninth ray to it would destroy the historical context. It is something that is not correct should we say it," he added.

NATIONAL ANTHEM

Before suspending the consideration of the bill, Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III commented that they might also consider changing the lyrics of the National Anthem by amending the same law.

"Some people mostly composers have told me the last two lines of the Philippine anthem sounds...defeatist,” he said during the interpellation.

Sotto suggests using, "Aming ligaya na pag may nang-aapi, ang ipaglaban kalayaan mo” as the last line of the song instead of “Aming ligaya, na pag may mang-aapi, ang mamatay nang dahil sa iyo.”

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/19/18/should-the-ph-flag-have-a-9th-ray

Lawmaker bats for passage of bill creating DDR after ‘Ompong’

A pro-administration legislator on Tuesday pushed for the enactment of the measure creating a Cabinet-level department that will deal with the year-round onslaught of natural disasters which have been worse by climate change.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte was referring to the bill creating a Department of Disaster Resilience that was principally authored by Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez.

The consolidated House Bill 8165 is now in the period of sponsorship and debate in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, several bills are pending seeking to create a similar department.

Villafuerte said creating a Cabinet-level department would enable the government to institutionalize disaster preparation, risk reduction and relief and rehabilitation efforts, rather than tackling these on an adhoc basis, which has now become untenable with climate change.

“In relation to this, I am supporting the President’s directive to build permanent evacuation centers to replace the usual practice of converting public schools as temporary shelters for calamity victims. This should be the first order of business for the would-be department,” Villafuerte, vice chairman of the House committee on appropriations, and local government, said.

Villafuerte said with permanent evacuation centers, “the government can better achieve its zero-casualty goals as the would-be department could go full-blast on preemptive evacuation, especially of people in coastal and mountainous villages.”

Typhoon Ompong, the strongest typhoon to strike the country so far this year, has killed at least 65 people, triggered landslides and power outages, and caused over P14.2 billion-worth of agricultural damage in over 500,000 hectares of cropland. As of last weekend, over 133,000 people were still in evacuation centers and another 100 people were believed buried in a mining shelter in Benguet.

A co-author of this measure, Villafuerte has proposed the consolidation of five government agencies concerned with disaster risk reduction efforts under one roof to oversee all programs and activities to reduce the country’s vulnerability to natural calamities and climate change.

These five state agencies are the Climate Change Commission (CCC), National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, People’s Survival Fund (PSF), Yolanda Recovery and Rehabilitation Efforts, and the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR).

Under HB 6131, Villafuerte has proposed a single specialized government agency that would function not only after the occurrence of disaster, but would work all-year-round to build the country’s capacity and management of climate change; strengthen the planning, execution and financing framework for climate change; enhance leadership and accountability through monitoring, evaluation and review of climate change policies and activities; and ensure effective mechanisms even before disaster strikes.

Villafuerte noted that climate change is now considered a national security risk because it endangers public safety and threatens the sustainability of the country’s food supply and economic stability.

http://manilastandard.net/news/national/275870/lawmaker-bats-for-passage-of-bill-creating-ddr-after-ompong-.html

House passes bill creating Dep’t of Disaster Resilience on 2nd reading

By Philippine News Agency

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on second reading a measure creating the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR), a legislative priority of the Duterte administration.

The lower chamber passed via voice vote House Bill 8165 titled the “Department of Disaster Resilience Act.”

Under the bill, the DDR will be the national government agency primarily responsible for disaster preparedness, prevention, mitigation, response, recovery, and rehabilitation.
“The Department shall be the primary government agency responsible for leading, organizing and managing the national effort to reduce disaster risk, prepare for, and respond to disasters, recover and rehabilitate, and build forward better after the occurrence of disasters,” the bill read.

The bill also seeks to create a National Disaster Resilience Council (NDRC), which shall serve as the policy advisory body to the Department on disaster risk reduction and management and climate change adaptation.

Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez, a principal author of the bill, said its passage could prevent a repeat of the tragedy in Leyte in 2013 as a result of the ill-preparedness in dealing with super typhoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan).

Romualdez said it is high time to create a Department of Disaster Resilience that will effectively reduce the country’s vulnerability to natural hazards and bolster the country’s resilience to the impact of national disasters and climate change.

“With the creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience, we can look forward to the future with hope, knowing that the government is ready, better equipped and committed to exert its best effort to reduce the risks that come with natural disasters, to empower local communities to rise above the different vulnerabilities that surround them and to ensure that in the years to come, such a tragedy will never happen again,” Romualdez said.

Romualdez described Yolanda as an “unspeakable tragedy that we do not want to happen again.”

“Until now, five years after Haiyan had passed, the pain caused by the strongest typhoon in recent history remains fresh in the hearts and minds of our constituents. Haiyan not only took our properties, our livelihood and local businesses, but also the lives of our brothers and sisters, our mothers, fathers, grandparents, and even our friends,” Romualdez said.

“We all lost something on that day. Some lost someone they loved,” she added.

Camiguin Rep. Xavier Jesus Romualdo, sponsor of the measure, stressed the need to create an “able, fully equipped and responsive department” that will prepare and lead the nation to cope with both rapid- and slow-onset catastrophic events.

“The bill at hand is a concrete step towards transforming what was once an ad hoc, coordinative, and reactive response to disaster risk management, to one that anchors climate and disaster resilience to the very foundations of sustainable development,” Romualdo said.

“The bill creates a Cabinet-level agency that builds a culture of resilience, organizes and strengthens the nation to face catastrophic events, and reduces the complexity of responding to the threats of current and future climate and disaster risks,” Romualdo added.

Romualdo said the bill highlights the “whole-of-government, whole-of-nation, and whole-of-society approach” to disaster resiliency efforts through convergence of efforts by the government and stakeholders.

“The holistic approach to disasters ought not to be the sole responsibility of government. It needs a multi-stakeholder approach and strong partnership so we can achieve a disaster-resilient culture,” Romualdo said.

The proposed department shall ensure seamless synergy and coordination with stakeholders – including civil society organizations (CSOs), academe, and the private sector – in relation to disaster resilience programs and projects and the development and promotion of research, education, and training mechanisms with relevant stakeholders.

A multi-stakeholders convergence unit shall also be established to align the disaster resilience efforts of the private sector, CSOs, academe, and other stakeholders with the department, by assisting, coordinating or providing services that strengthen public-private cooperation and coordination in disaster resilience.

The bill also seeks the establishment of a Climate and Disaster Research, Education and Training Institute, which shall serve as a world-class center of excellence for learning and research in the field of disaster risk and vulnerability reduction and management and climate change adaptation.