Monday, September 2, 2019

Cayetano sorts out 'issues' over 2020 nat'l budget bill

By Filane Mikee Cervantes

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday said the issues among lawmakers over the proposed PHP4.1-trillion national budget for 2020 have been "sorted out".

Cayetano said the lawmakers threshed out any misunderstandings and confusion that have arisen during the budget deliberations following a meeting with House leaders and vice-chairs of the appropriations committee chaired by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab.

Cayetano committed to approve the 2020 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) before Congress goes on recess on the first week of October, assuring that its passage will be "transparent" and "pork-free."

"We assure the public that the budget will be scrutinized but will not be delayed and will be transparent. Pork and parking have no place in the 2020 budget, Cayetano said.

Earlier in the day, Ungab objected to House Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte's withdrawal of the GAB from the plenary last week, saying it would "derail" the approval of the 2020 national budget.

Ungab said it is "established procedure" to prepare the GAB immediately after submission by the executive department, noting that the printing of the bill at the APO Production Unit and the National Economic and Development Authority is “almost finished".

"Your proposal to withdraw and amend the General Appropriations Bill for FY 2020 will definitely derail the schedule and approval of the budget. The staff are now all busy preparing for the plenary and pre-plenary deliberations, gathering data and reports requested by members of the House related to the budget," Ungab said.

"To prepare another set of General Appropriations Bill will require enormous time, efforts and resources that will surely affect or delay the passage of the 2020 Budget," he added.

Ungab noted that the last day of the briefings of the proposed 2020 budget is on Sept. 6, and the preparation of the committee report will be on September 10.

Plenary deliberations are also scheduled to start on Sept. 12 until Oct. 4, which is the planned approval of the GAB on third and final reading.

"We prepared this schedule of activities in order to approve the 2020 budget on time before our break on October 5," he said.

Ungab said any alteration of the National Expenditure Program (NEP), which is the version of the revised GAB, will "surely raise doubts on our proceedings" and the House will be questioned on why it will alter the proposed budget prepared by the Executive Department.

"The GAB which is prepared by the Committee Secretariat is a faithful copy of the NEP," Ungab said.

In a statement on Sunday, Villafuerte said the move to withdraw HB 4228 was a "procedural matter" since budget deliberations have yet to be completed at the time when the bill was filed on first reading.

He said the "premature filing" of the budget bill goes against the commitment of the House leadership to tackle the 2020 GAB in timely fashion and full transparency from the committee to the plenary stages.

"Legislative process must not be done with undue haste or making a mockery of the House's constitutional power of the purse," Villafuerte said. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1079346

Phil ID System on track on registering Pinoys by mid-2022

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has assured the public that they are on the course of its strategic blueprint for the implementation of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).

PhilSys, the foundational identification system that aims to provide a valid proof of identity for all citizens and resident aliens as a means of simplifying public and private transactions, was signed into law by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on August 2018 in line with the government’s drive to curtail bureaucratic red tape.

“We are on track to have the system fully operational and to start the mass registration by mid-2020, and complete the enrollment of the population by mid-2022,” Undersecretary Dennis S. Mapa, National Statistician and Civil Registrar, said.

This year, the PSA has finished procuring the registration kits - one of the five (5) major procurement blocks of the program.

In the pipeline for PhilSys are the procurement of the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), System Integrator (SI), and registration centers. For card production, the PSA is in partnership with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Pilot test registration, mass registration

On September 2, the pilot test registration involving a small number of individuals from the National Capital Region (NCR) has started.

This includes select Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) beneficiaries and employees of PSA and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

“The PSA sees the utmost importance for the PhilSys to first undergo a series of pilot testing before finally launching it to the public. We want to ensure that the processes are efficient, the systems are fully functional, and all information within the system are secure,” Mapa added.

The pilot test registration will run from September 2019 until June 2020. The first part will involve biometric and demographic capturing processes.

Once the system is stable, operations will expand to cover select groups from nearby regions, Regions III and IV-A, based on different geographical typologies.

Set to begin on May 2020, the PSA will extend the pilot registration process to test the end-to-end system which essentially involves deduplication, generation of unique PhilSys Numbers (PSN), and card printing and issuance.

Registration will be scaled-up and open to the public by July 2020. Overseas Filipinos are targeted to be registered in 2021.

Data privacy, security

“We, at the PSA and our partners in PhilSys, take very seriously the responsibility to ensure the security and integrity of the personal data of Filipinos. Given that the PhilSys as a highly technical and complex program, we are pushing with multiple pilot testing to continuously improve the system and level up its security features before launching it to the public,” Mapa said.

The Data Privacy Act of 2012 and the PhilSys Act have strict controls over what circumstances the data in the PhilSys registry can be accessed and shared.

Furthermore, the Privacy-by-Design features ensure that PSN-holders have full control over the access and use of their personal data.

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) will also be conducted this year to identify potential exposures with the privacy of personal information to which data privacy and security frameworks and standards will be anchored. Part of this will be the Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) to test the integrity of the system.

The PhilSys Data Privacy Manual, as well as the Data Governance Framework, will further outline the privacy and data protection protocols and standards that will govern PhilSys operations.

Further, the PSA has designated Data Privacy Officers - one for the PSA and one solely for the PhilSys.

The National Privacy Commission (NPC) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), who have the mandate and capability to secure and protect the data of the Philippine Government, have oversight of the program as part of the PhilSys Policy and Coordination Council (PSPCC).

Benefits, uses

The aim of the PhilSys is to provide a valid proof of identity for all Filipinos and resident aliens, which will make access to government and private sector services simpler, quicker, and faster and eliminate the need to provide most other forms of identification when transacting.

This will support government initiatives in boosting social protection and financial inclusion and accelerating the Philippines’ shift towards an inclusive and trusted digital economy.

In particular, the PSA identified priority use case agencies whose existing systems will be synchronized to PhilSys.

Deemed as the use cases with the most significant impact in relation to social protection and financial inclusion, these agencies are DSWD, PhilHealth, Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), and BSP.

The PhilID, however, does not and will not replace existing government identification cards that serve a purpose beyond identity authentication, such as the driving license (for driving), passport (for travel), and UMID (for social security transactions), etc.

It will be used for application for eligibility, services, and access to (1) social welfare and benefits granted by the government; (2) passports, driver’s license, (3) tax-related transactions, (4) admission in schools and government hospitals, (5) opening of bank accounts, (6) registration and voting purposes, (7) transactions for employment purposes, (8) cardholder’s criminal records and clearances. (PR)

About Philippine ID System (PhilSys)

For the latest updates on PhilSys, visit psa.gov.ph/philsys and like and follow the official Facebook page at facebook.com/PSAPhilSysOfficial.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1079340

Popeyes Philippines: expansion outside Metro Manila


Popeyes will expand outside Metro Manila (inside malls), due to the introduction of 24-hours stand-alone stores with delivery and drive-thru services and self-ordering kiosks.





During opening of new branch, a freebie - Zesto Juice Drink (any variant, 200ml) or Yakult part of any meal.

They would expand more branches to:

  1. Ilocos Norte
  2. Ilocos Sur
  3. La Union
  4. Pangasinan
  5. Abra
  6. Apayao
  7. Baguio City
  8. Benguet
  9. Ifugao
  10. Kalinga
  11. Mountain Province
  12. Cagayan
  13. Isabela
  14. Nueva Vizcaya
  15. Quirino
  16. Angeles
  17. Aurora
  18. Bataan
  19. Bulacan
  20. Cabanatuan
  21. Mabalacat
  22. Malolos
  23. Meycauayan
  24. Nueva Ecija
  25. Olongapo
  26. Pampanga
  27. San Fernando
  28. San Jose del Monte
  29. Tarlac
  30. Tarlac City
  31. Zambales
  32. Antipolo
  33. Bacoor
  34. Batangas
  35. Batangas City
  36. Biñan
  37. Cabuyao
  38. Cainta
  39. Calamba
  40. Cavite
  41. Dasmariñas
  42. General Trias
  43. Imus
  44. Laguna
  45. Lipa
  46. Lucena
  47. Lucena City
  48. Quezon
  49. Rizal
  50. San Pablo
  51. San Pedro
  52. Santa Rosa
  53. Marinduque
  54. Occidental Mindoro
  55. Oriental Mindoro
  56. Palawan
  57. Romblon
  58. Albay
  59. Camarines Norte
  60. Camarines Sur
  61. Catanduanes
  62. Masbate
  63. Sorsogon
  64. Aklan
  65. Antique
  66. Bacolod City
  67. Capiz
  68. Guimaras
  69. Iloilo City
  70. Iloilo
  71. Negros Occidental
  72. Bohol
  73. Cebu City
  74. Cebu
  75. Lapu-Lapu City
  76. Mandaue City
  77. Negros Oriental
  78. Siquijor
  79. Biliran
  80. Eastern Samar
  81. Leyte
  82. Northern Samar
  83. Southern Leyte
  84. Samar
  85. Zamboanga City
  86. Zamboanga del Norte
  87. Zamboanga del Sur
  88. Zamboanga Sibugay
  89. Bukidnon
  90. Cagayan de Oro City
  91. Camiguin
  92. Misamis Occidental
  93. Misamis Oriental
  94. Iligan City
  95. Lanao del Norte
  96. Compostela Valley
  97. Davao City
  98. Davao del Norte
  99. Davao del Sur
  100. Davao Occidental
  101. Davao Oriental
  102. Cotabato City
  103. Cotabato
  104. General Santos City
  105. Sarangani
  106. South Cotabato
  107. Sultan Kudarat
  108. Agusan del Norte
  109. Agusan del Sur
  110. Butuan City
  111. Dinagat Islands
  112. Surigao del Norte
  113. Surigao del Sur
  114. Basilan
  115. Lanao del Sur
  116. Maguindanao
  117. Sulu
  118. Tawi-Tawi