CEBU CITY, Philippines — The late Samuel “Sammy” Darza, Cebu City’s traffic czar, will be posthumously recognized by the Cebu City government during the celebration of the city’s 82nd Charter Day on Sunday, February 24 at the Plaza Sugbo.
Catherine Ysa, secretary of the mayor, said that Darza would be given a posthumous award for his contributions to the development of Cebu City during Sunday’s celebration.
According to a 2016 Cebu Daily News report, Darza passed away on August 9, 2016, at the age of 72.
He was known to have worked pro bono with the Cebu City government for P1 a year in the 80s.
Darza was also known to have played a big role in establishing the traffic management system and the computerized traffic signal for Cebu City.
Aside from that, the Cebu City government will also recognize board topnotchers, individuals, youth, and outstanding organizations.
Justin Lei Ramos, this year’s Architecture board topnotcher of the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) , will be one of the topnotcher awardees to be recognized by the Cebu City government.
Ramos topped 1,120 Architecture Board Passers with a score of 83.80 percent.
Read more: Cebuana Architecture topnotcher shares secret to success: ‘Dream big’
Ysa said that there would be three outstanding individuals that would be recognized during the Charter Day celebration on Sunday.
Ysa said that the charter day celebrations would start with a flag raising ceremony to be led by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña followed by the awarding of outstanding employees and the board topnotchers at the Plaza Sugbo.
The Program on Awards and Incentives for Service Excellence (Praise) will also be recognizing several outstanding youth in service on Sunday morning.
The outstanding organizations and outstanding individuals will also be awarded for their contribution to Cebu City’s development and stakeholders in a testimonial dinner at the social hall in the evening.
The Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission (CHAC) also said that at least two organizations would receive the outstanding organization award.
Yso said that the celebration of the Charter Day has been a weeklong activity for the City Hall starting last with it’s launching on Monday, February 18, when a medical mission was held at the City Hall grounds.
On February 19, an Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) break-out activities were held at the Plaza Sugbo. A job fair was held on February 20 while a livelihood training was held on February 21.
On Friday morning, February 22, a farmer-market day was held in Plaza Sugbo while simultaneously, the Charter Day quiz bowl was also held at the Social Hall where 21 groups of students all over the city competed with their wits.
The Cebu City became a charter city on February 24, 1937 by virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 58 authored by Senator Vicente Rama who was then representative of Cebu’s 3rd district.
Cebu City was granted its own charter allowing the city to be governed by its own charter document rather by state, provincial, or regional law./dbs
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/218613/cebu-city-to-recognize-late-traffic-czar-darza-on-82nd-charter-day-celebration
Friday, February 22, 2019
GMA Network investing over P1B in second phase of digitization project
Media giant GMA Network Inc. said Friday it is investing over P1 billion to complete the second phase of its digitization project.
The second phase of the project encompasses the production, post-production, content management and distribution of GMA and GMA News TV’s programs, the network said in a statement.
This will start commissioning the Digital Terrestrial Transmitters that now provide superior digital TV signal reach, enabling the viewership of Kapuso programs through digital-enabled TV sets and set-top boxes in various areas in the country, including Mega Manila, North Central Luzon, Cebu, and Davao.
The media company is also slated to complete the upgrade of its Electronic Field Production capabilities to further improve its High Definition (HD) image capture to Full 2K/4K HD, elevating GMA Network’s output to true global standards.
In anticipation, the requisite enhancements to the Network’s Media Asset Management and Broadcast Automation Systems have already been completed, the company said.
Post Production is likewise implementing full equipment and software upgrades coupled with increased storage and color grading capabilities to optimally process high-end 2K and 4K HD formats.
GMA’s Field News Gathering capabilities are being similarly upgraded to enable the transmission and delivery of HD-captured remote live events to GMA Network’s Technical Operations Center as they happen.
Parallel to upgrading the media asset management system is the commissioning of a new News Automation System (NAS) designed to provide the country’s most trusted news organization with even greater speed and agility in bringing viewers up-to-date news and information through the network’s eight news programs—Unang Hirit, 24 Oras, 24 Oras Weekend, Saksi, News To Go, Balitanghali, Balita Pilipinas Ngayon, Quick Response Team, and State of the Nation with Jessica Soho.
“All these state-of-the-art upgrades are part of GMA Network’s ongoing digitization project to bring world class programming to our viewers here and abroad. We are excited to unveil more innovative offerings that will not only maintain our position as the country’s leading broadcast network but will also revolutionize TV viewing experience in the Philippines,” GMA Network Chairman and CEO Felipe L. Gozon said. —Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/companies/685860/gma-network-investing-over-p1b-in-second-phase-of-digitization-project/story/
Philippines launches tenders for Malolos – Clark line
THE Philippines Department of Transportation has issued a call for tender for a civil works contract for PNR Clark Phase 2 of the North-South Commuter Railway project, which will extend the line by 53km from Malolos to Clark.
The civil works contract for viaducts, structures, bridges and five stations is divided into three works packages, which need to be bid for separately, comprising sections which are around 17km, 16km and 12km long.
A pre-bid conference will be held on March 7 and the closing date for bids is May 10.
The Philippines Department of Finance has applied to the Asian Development Bank for a loan for Phase 2.
Work officially started on February 15 on PNR Clark Phase 1, a 38km elevated electrified line with 10 stations running from Tutuban in northern Manila north to Malolos. A third phase, PNR Los Banos, will involve building a 72km line from Manila to Los Banos, Laguna. When completed, the full network will be 146.6km long with 37 stations served by a fleet of 58 EMUs.
https://www.railjournal.com/news/philippines-launches-tenders/
The civil works contract for viaducts, structures, bridges and five stations is divided into three works packages, which need to be bid for separately, comprising sections which are around 17km, 16km and 12km long.
A pre-bid conference will be held on March 7 and the closing date for bids is May 10.
The Philippines Department of Finance has applied to the Asian Development Bank for a loan for Phase 2.
Work officially started on February 15 on PNR Clark Phase 1, a 38km elevated electrified line with 10 stations running from Tutuban in northern Manila north to Malolos. A third phase, PNR Los Banos, will involve building a 72km line from Manila to Los Banos, Laguna. When completed, the full network will be 146.6km long with 37 stations served by a fleet of 58 EMUs.
https://www.railjournal.com/news/philippines-launches-tenders/
Finally moving?
Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo delivered on President Duterte’s priorities as far as the House is concerned. No one could have expected the former Speaker, even if he is also from Davao, to deliver what Speaker Arroyo did.
On top of the list is the landmark reform of our rice industry. President Duterte deserves congratulations for showing real political will to embrace long needed change that will benefit rice farmers as well as rice consumers.
Despite resistance from his own agriculture secretary, the President signed the rice tariffication bill into law. He could have just allowed it to lapse and then pin responsibility on his economic managers and Congress. But he signed it to deliver a strong point that he wants a new system.
Starting March, NFA will no longer control rice importations. Instead, rice imports will be covered by new tariffs: 35 percent for rice imports sourced from ASEAN members; 40 percent for imports within the 350,000 metric ton minimum access volume (MAV) regardless of source country; and 180 percent for above-MAV imports from non-ASEAN country.
The tariffs are expected to raise between P7 billion to P11 billion in additional government revenues in its first year of implementation. Economic managers are also expecting a P7 per kilo drop in rice prices with the influx of imported rice and with it, result in a lower inflation rate.
Government will pass on the 35 percent tariff on imported rice to farmers to help them become more competitive. Under NFA trading restrictions, only 23 percent of the potential protection was passed on to farmers in 2017.
UP economist Ramon Clarete estimates that rice consumers in Metro Manila in 2017 paid on average 41 percent more than the landed price of rice imported freely from Vietnam or Thailand. But our rice farmers sold their rice at only nine percent above this free trade price. The difference, or 32 percent went to rice traders, millers, or were simply lost to market inefficiencies in the rice value chain.
By signing the rice tariffication bill into law, President Duterte kicks off the process of substantially reducing the inefficiencies and collusion in the rice market system. Clarete explained this old system made rice farmers poor over the last half century. Farmers will be better off as they capture more of the intended trade protection of the law from rice traders in collusion with corrupt NFA agents.
Indeed, Clarete pointed out, most of the rice farmers are also rice consumers during most part of the year. The new law benefits them, along with non-rice farmers in rural areas, fisherfolk, workers, and residents in urban areas.
The new law also opens the market to conglomerates like San Miguel whose experience and resources can provide the efficiencies that can bring down further the retail price of rice. It will also be easier to track import volumes and tax liabilities with San Miguel than it would be with Divisoria rice traders.
President Duterte also signed into law the Mobile Number Portability Act that allows cell phone users to switch networks without changing their numbers. This is in line with the President’s desire to have more competitiveness in the telco industry.
As the law itself pointed out in Section 3 (a), it wants “to promote consumer welfare as it fosters the freedom to choose and to respond to quality, price and other relevant considerations without the consumers having to change their mobile numbers whenever they change mobile service providers or subscription plans.”
Mobile number portability is the ability of a mobile postpaid or prepaid subscriber to retain an existing mobile number despite having moved from one mobile service provider to another, or to change subscription mode from postpaid to prepaid or vice versa. Under this law, telcos must act within 24 hours from the time a subscriber submits application.
I like this new law. NTC could have ordered this, but it had always been too scared or too much of a captive regulator of the telco industry to do so.
But then, we still have just two telcos to choose from. Many of us already have accounts in both, just to make sure. We still need the third, fourth, and possibly fifth telco to fully benefit from the law.
Still, it is a good start and the intentions of the Duterte administration in having this law is laudable.
But there could have been more laws delivered to promote our welfare as telecoms consumers… the Open Access bill for instance.
It is amazing how a single senator stood in the way of passing legislation that will speed up internet speed by introducing more competition through open access. That could have had more immediate effect on our lives than the third telco.
Then there is the law creating the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development. It consolidates the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB). Hopefully, this will give us a more comprehensive way of addressing the housing needs of people.
Good intentions, but with the same bureaucracy, we cannot expect much unless Duterte appoints a really good secretary. Will this mean we will have better planning and land use policies? I have my doubts, but hopeful.
Given the high rate of growth of our urban areas, we need better regulation and better regulators. The areas around Clark are booming and it will be a pity if the nearby towns end up like Metro Manila did.
Problems like congestion due to lack of planning and appropriate regulations can be observed in Angeles, Mabalacat, and San Fernando. Ayala is starting to develop virgin fields in Porac of 1,800 hectares and only 22 percent open space instead of the minimum 30 percent required by PD957. So much work to do for this new department.
There are many other new laws signed by the President in recent days. On the whole it is good to see some progress with these new laws. Interesting to see how the implementation side works out.
Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco
https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/02/22/1895625/finally-moving
On top of the list is the landmark reform of our rice industry. President Duterte deserves congratulations for showing real political will to embrace long needed change that will benefit rice farmers as well as rice consumers.
Despite resistance from his own agriculture secretary, the President signed the rice tariffication bill into law. He could have just allowed it to lapse and then pin responsibility on his economic managers and Congress. But he signed it to deliver a strong point that he wants a new system.
Starting March, NFA will no longer control rice importations. Instead, rice imports will be covered by new tariffs: 35 percent for rice imports sourced from ASEAN members; 40 percent for imports within the 350,000 metric ton minimum access volume (MAV) regardless of source country; and 180 percent for above-MAV imports from non-ASEAN country.
The tariffs are expected to raise between P7 billion to P11 billion in additional government revenues in its first year of implementation. Economic managers are also expecting a P7 per kilo drop in rice prices with the influx of imported rice and with it, result in a lower inflation rate.
Government will pass on the 35 percent tariff on imported rice to farmers to help them become more competitive. Under NFA trading restrictions, only 23 percent of the potential protection was passed on to farmers in 2017.
UP economist Ramon Clarete estimates that rice consumers in Metro Manila in 2017 paid on average 41 percent more than the landed price of rice imported freely from Vietnam or Thailand. But our rice farmers sold their rice at only nine percent above this free trade price. The difference, or 32 percent went to rice traders, millers, or were simply lost to market inefficiencies in the rice value chain.
By signing the rice tariffication bill into law, President Duterte kicks off the process of substantially reducing the inefficiencies and collusion in the rice market system. Clarete explained this old system made rice farmers poor over the last half century. Farmers will be better off as they capture more of the intended trade protection of the law from rice traders in collusion with corrupt NFA agents.
Indeed, Clarete pointed out, most of the rice farmers are also rice consumers during most part of the year. The new law benefits them, along with non-rice farmers in rural areas, fisherfolk, workers, and residents in urban areas.
The new law also opens the market to conglomerates like San Miguel whose experience and resources can provide the efficiencies that can bring down further the retail price of rice. It will also be easier to track import volumes and tax liabilities with San Miguel than it would be with Divisoria rice traders.
President Duterte also signed into law the Mobile Number Portability Act that allows cell phone users to switch networks without changing their numbers. This is in line with the President’s desire to have more competitiveness in the telco industry.
As the law itself pointed out in Section 3 (a), it wants “to promote consumer welfare as it fosters the freedom to choose and to respond to quality, price and other relevant considerations without the consumers having to change their mobile numbers whenever they change mobile service providers or subscription plans.”
Mobile number portability is the ability of a mobile postpaid or prepaid subscriber to retain an existing mobile number despite having moved from one mobile service provider to another, or to change subscription mode from postpaid to prepaid or vice versa. Under this law, telcos must act within 24 hours from the time a subscriber submits application.
I like this new law. NTC could have ordered this, but it had always been too scared or too much of a captive regulator of the telco industry to do so.
But then, we still have just two telcos to choose from. Many of us already have accounts in both, just to make sure. We still need the third, fourth, and possibly fifth telco to fully benefit from the law.
Still, it is a good start and the intentions of the Duterte administration in having this law is laudable.
But there could have been more laws delivered to promote our welfare as telecoms consumers… the Open Access bill for instance.
It is amazing how a single senator stood in the way of passing legislation that will speed up internet speed by introducing more competition through open access. That could have had more immediate effect on our lives than the third telco.
Then there is the law creating the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development. It consolidates the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB). Hopefully, this will give us a more comprehensive way of addressing the housing needs of people.
Good intentions, but with the same bureaucracy, we cannot expect much unless Duterte appoints a really good secretary. Will this mean we will have better planning and land use policies? I have my doubts, but hopeful.
Given the high rate of growth of our urban areas, we need better regulation and better regulators. The areas around Clark are booming and it will be a pity if the nearby towns end up like Metro Manila did.
Problems like congestion due to lack of planning and appropriate regulations can be observed in Angeles, Mabalacat, and San Fernando. Ayala is starting to develop virgin fields in Porac of 1,800 hectares and only 22 percent open space instead of the minimum 30 percent required by PD957. So much work to do for this new department.
There are many other new laws signed by the President in recent days. On the whole it is good to see some progress with these new laws. Interesting to see how the implementation side works out.
Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco
https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/02/22/1895625/finally-moving