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Tuesday, May 12, 2020
PowerLogic Modena X2200 Customize CPU and Samsung 27" LED Monitor with Super Slim Design
Senate panel eyes law to 'automatically extend' franchises pending in Congress
The Senate Committee on Public Services "will look" at the possibility of crafting a bill that would "automatically extend for a certain period" expired franchises provided that a renewal bid is still pending in Congress, the panel's chair Sen. Grace Poe said Tuesday.
Lawmakers have to solve a "gap in the law" to ensure that networks and their employees are not left in limbo should Congress fail to act on their franchise applications, Poe told reporters in an online press conference.
"Hindi naman natin puwede sabihin na open-ended forever. Baka ang mangyari kasi mawalan kami ng sense of urgency, kaming mga mambabatas," the senator said.
(We cannot leave it open-ended forever. If we do that, we lawmakers might lose our sense of urgency.)
"So kailangan natin ilagay sa isang batas ang kinakailangan na 'pag ang prangkisa mo ay mag-e-expire na, puwede kang automatically extended for a certain period," she said.
(So we have to put in place a law that will automatically extend your franchise for a certain period if it is about to expire.)
The proposed policy has yet to be drafted but it would likely contain "remedial measures" for companies with nearly-expired franchises, Poe said, noting that Congress cannot be compelled to prioritize tackling franchise bills.
The plan followed the shutdown of ABS-CBN Corp's broadcast operations after its franchise lapsed on May 4. Its bid for franchise renewal has been pending for years.
Sen. Lito Lapid filed a separate bill that would provide provisional licenses to radio stations with pending franchise renewal applications before Congress.
Under Lapid's Senate Bill No. 1522, the "validity of the provisional renewal shall be until the next adjournment of Congress."
"Malinaw na may pagkukulang o butas sa ating batas kaugnay sa pagrenew ng prangkisa ng isang kumpanya pero kaya naman itong remedyuhan ng isa ring batas," he said in a statement.
(It is clear that there is a loophole or gap in our law with regards to franchise renewals, but this can also be remedied by another law.)
Lapid did not explain why his bill was limited to radio stations.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevara first pointed out the legal loophole when Poe's committee tackled ABS-CBN's franchise issue in February.
"The DOJ stands by its position that there is sufficient equitable basis to allow broadcast entities to continue operating while the bills for the renewal of their franchise remain pending with Congress," Guevarra said.
In March, the House of Representatives and the Senate issued resolutions directing the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to issue a temporary permit for ABS-CBN, whose 25-year franchise renewal bid has languished in the House Legislative Franchises Committee since 2014.
The NTC did not heed Congress' directive and ordered the Philippines' largest media network off the air on May 5 without due process.
At least 13 senators have authored a bill seeking to allow ABS-CBN to operate until June 2022, while Congress is still deliberating on its renewal application.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/12/20/senate-panel-eyes-law-to-automatically-extend-franchises-pending-in-congress
Lawmakers have to solve a "gap in the law" to ensure that networks and their employees are not left in limbo should Congress fail to act on their franchise applications, Poe told reporters in an online press conference.
"Hindi naman natin puwede sabihin na open-ended forever. Baka ang mangyari kasi mawalan kami ng sense of urgency, kaming mga mambabatas," the senator said.
(We cannot leave it open-ended forever. If we do that, we lawmakers might lose our sense of urgency.)
"So kailangan natin ilagay sa isang batas ang kinakailangan na 'pag ang prangkisa mo ay mag-e-expire na, puwede kang automatically extended for a certain period," she said.
(So we have to put in place a law that will automatically extend your franchise for a certain period if it is about to expire.)
The proposed policy has yet to be drafted but it would likely contain "remedial measures" for companies with nearly-expired franchises, Poe said, noting that Congress cannot be compelled to prioritize tackling franchise bills.
The plan followed the shutdown of ABS-CBN Corp's broadcast operations after its franchise lapsed on May 4. Its bid for franchise renewal has been pending for years.
Sen. Lito Lapid filed a separate bill that would provide provisional licenses to radio stations with pending franchise renewal applications before Congress.
Under Lapid's Senate Bill No. 1522, the "validity of the provisional renewal shall be until the next adjournment of Congress."
"Malinaw na may pagkukulang o butas sa ating batas kaugnay sa pagrenew ng prangkisa ng isang kumpanya pero kaya naman itong remedyuhan ng isa ring batas," he said in a statement.
(It is clear that there is a loophole or gap in our law with regards to franchise renewals, but this can also be remedied by another law.)
Lapid did not explain why his bill was limited to radio stations.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevara first pointed out the legal loophole when Poe's committee tackled ABS-CBN's franchise issue in February.
"The DOJ stands by its position that there is sufficient equitable basis to allow broadcast entities to continue operating while the bills for the renewal of their franchise remain pending with Congress," Guevarra said.
In March, the House of Representatives and the Senate issued resolutions directing the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to issue a temporary permit for ABS-CBN, whose 25-year franchise renewal bid has languished in the House Legislative Franchises Committee since 2014.
The NTC did not heed Congress' directive and ordered the Philippines' largest media network off the air on May 5 without due process.
At least 13 senators have authored a bill seeking to allow ABS-CBN to operate until June 2022, while Congress is still deliberating on its renewal application.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/12/20/senate-panel-eyes-law-to-automatically-extend-franchises-pending-in-congress
Cayetano urged to 'immediately' conduct House hearings on ABS-CBN franchise
At least 14 lawmakers on Tuesday urged House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano to "immediately convene" the chamber's committee on legislative franchises to tackle ABS-CBN's bid for a fresh 25-year license to operate, a week after it was forced off air by the country's telecoms body.
Cayetano earlier said the committee would conduct hearings that are "fair, impartial, thorough, and comprehensive," but he did not say when.
The group of lawmakers said it was now the chamber's "primary duty and responsibility to put an end to the uncertainties and confusion" on the network's franchise.
"We understand that there are more important measures that the House leadership has to attend to in this extraordinary time. However, we believe too that resolving the ABS-CBN issue the soonest is equally important given the impact, economically and politically, of its continued shutdown in this time of crisis," they said in a letter to Cayetano.
ABS-CBN halted its broadcast operations last week after the National Telecommunications Commission went back on its commitment to allow the network to operate beyond its lapsed franchise.
The cease-and-desist order from the NTC came a few days after the Office of the Solicitor General warned the telecoms body against issuing a provisional authority to ABS-CBN.
"The Committee and the House are now being blamed and vilified for the shutdown of the network and for being off the air since then, as well as the displacement of thousands of its employees and workers," they said.
"That the citizenry also lost one of their main sources of credible and efficient news and information in this time of crisis brought by the COVID-10 pandemic was also largely blamed on our chamber."
Among lawmakers who signed the petition are:
Rodriguez last week filed a joint resolution that would grant ABS-CBN a temporary franchise until the end of the 18th Congress or June 30, 2022. At least 13 senators have filed a measure seeking the same.
ABS-CBN has asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order against the NTC's order.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/12/20/cayetano-urged-to-immediately-conduct-house-hearings-on-abs-cbn-franchise
Cayetano earlier said the committee would conduct hearings that are "fair, impartial, thorough, and comprehensive," but he did not say when.
The group of lawmakers said it was now the chamber's "primary duty and responsibility to put an end to the uncertainties and confusion" on the network's franchise.
"We understand that there are more important measures that the House leadership has to attend to in this extraordinary time. However, we believe too that resolving the ABS-CBN issue the soonest is equally important given the impact, economically and politically, of its continued shutdown in this time of crisis," they said in a letter to Cayetano.
ABS-CBN halted its broadcast operations last week after the National Telecommunications Commission went back on its commitment to allow the network to operate beyond its lapsed franchise.
The cease-and-desist order from the NTC came a few days after the Office of the Solicitor General warned the telecoms body against issuing a provisional authority to ABS-CBN.
In a joint statement, the lawmakers said they "take strong exceptions to NTC’s trickery and the Office of the Solicitor General’s interventionist action."READ: Letter to Speaker Cayetano and Joint Statement of Authors of ABS-CBN Franchise bills to register strong frustrations with the non-issuance of a provisional authority to the network by the National Telecommunications Commission pic.twitter.com/eNB1zcuO0J— RG Cruz (@R_G_Cruz888) May 12, 2020
"The Committee and the House are now being blamed and vilified for the shutdown of the network and for being off the air since then, as well as the displacement of thousands of its employees and workers," they said.
"That the citizenry also lost one of their main sources of credible and efficient news and information in this time of crisis brought by the COVID-10 pandemic was also largely blamed on our chamber."
Among lawmakers who signed the petition are:
- Pangasinan 3rd District Rep. Rose Marie Arenas
- Surigao Del Sur 2nd District Rep. Johnny Pimentel
- Batangas 6th District Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto
- Bayan Muna Partylist Representatives Carlos Zarate, Eufemia Cullamat, Ferdinand Gaite
- Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas
- ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro
- Laguna 3rd District Rep. Sol Aragones
- Cagayan De Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez
- Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Ramirez-Sato
- Paranaque 2nd District Rep. Joy Tambunting
- Kabataan Partylist Rep. Sarah Elago
- Nueva Ecija 2nd SItrict Rep. Micaela Violago
Rodriguez last week filed a joint resolution that would grant ABS-CBN a temporary franchise until the end of the 18th Congress or June 30, 2022. At least 13 senators have filed a measure seeking the same.
ABS-CBN has asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order against the NTC's order.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/12/20/cayetano-urged-to-immediately-conduct-house-hearings-on-abs-cbn-franchise
Ayala may take interest in ABS-CBN frequencies
Conglomerate Ayala Corp. may take interest in the frequencies of ABS-CBN Corp. that might be recalled by the government after the National Telecommunications Commission ordered the shutdown of the Lopez-led broadcast network over the lack of a congressional franchise, according to sources.
Sources said Broadcast Enterprises and Affiliated Media Inc., which is owned by Betlehem Holdings Inc., the holding company of Globe Telecom’s group retirement fund, may be used by the Ayala Group to bid for the frequencies of ABS-CBN Channel 2, DZMM 630 AM radio and MOR 101.9 FM radio.
BEAM is a broadcast company in the Philippines that operates free-to-air Channel 31. The company’s primary focus is on UHF broadcasting, but is upgrading its DTT for use in multimedia convergence.
BEAM has transmitter facilities in Davao, Cebu City, Zamboanga City, Baguio City, Naga City and Iloilo City.
Sources said the Ayala and Lopez groups have a history of partnership in telecom and broadcast industries, as Globe Telecom completed the acquisition of Bayan Telecommunications from the Lopez family in 2015. Globe also entered a network sharing agreement with ABS-CBN Corp. to offer ABS-CBN Mobile, but the mobile service was discontinued on Nov. 30, 2018.
Sources also said members of the Makati Business Club saw a deal between the Ayala and Lopez groups coming even before the closure of ABS-CBN. “In fact, they see this as a strategic move to save the Lopez company from its maturing P28-billion bank loans from BDO, BPI, PNB, UnionBank whose owners are all members of the MBC,” sources said.
BPI, the banking arm of the Ayala Group, has more than P10 billion in loan exposure to ABS-CBN, according to reports.
An executive of ABS-CBN denied any ongoing talks between the two parties. “It is not true,” the executive said.
Sought for comment, Yolanda Crisanto, spokesperson of Globe, also denied there were discussions between Globe and ABS-CBN. “We wish to clarify that there is no ongoing discussion between BEAM and ABS-CBN. Also Globe has no equity stake on ABS Convergence. What we had was an MVNO agreement.”
Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Finance, said such transaction “would be a surprise.”
“The Ayala Group has never been in the news that they are really interested [in broadcasting business]. After the tiff with the president regarding the water, would it boldly invest in another controversial investment at this time,” Del Castilo said.
“If indeed true the public, particularly the financial analysts would be excited to hear the side of Ayala on their business model and how it would add value to its businesses,” he said.
Sources said the rumors became more possible after Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy, chairman of Udenna Corp., issued a statement to deny that he wanted to acquire ABS-CBN. “Let me be clear once and for all and say that we in Udenna Corp. have no intention to acquire ABS-CBN. Being in the business of broadcasting is not part of our corporate direction,” Uy said.
Sources said that once the government auctions the frequencies of ABS-CBN, BEAM is in the best position to acquire them estimated to be worth billions because it is backed by the Ayala Group.
Sources said those who may join the bidding for ABS-CBN’s frequencies are Aliw Broadcasting Corp., Manila Broadcasting Corp., Radio Mindanao Network, Bombo Radyo Holdings Inc. and Sunshine Media Network of religious leader Apollo Quiboloy.
Sources believe that given the high valuation of the ABS-CBN frequencies, BEAM will have the upper hand in the auction.
https://manilastandard.net/business/it-telecom/323498/ayala-may-take-interest-in-abs-cbn-frequencies.html
Sources said Broadcast Enterprises and Affiliated Media Inc., which is owned by Betlehem Holdings Inc., the holding company of Globe Telecom’s group retirement fund, may be used by the Ayala Group to bid for the frequencies of ABS-CBN Channel 2, DZMM 630 AM radio and MOR 101.9 FM radio.
BEAM is a broadcast company in the Philippines that operates free-to-air Channel 31. The company’s primary focus is on UHF broadcasting, but is upgrading its DTT for use in multimedia convergence.
BEAM has transmitter facilities in Davao, Cebu City, Zamboanga City, Baguio City, Naga City and Iloilo City.
Sources said the Ayala and Lopez groups have a history of partnership in telecom and broadcast industries, as Globe Telecom completed the acquisition of Bayan Telecommunications from the Lopez family in 2015. Globe also entered a network sharing agreement with ABS-CBN Corp. to offer ABS-CBN Mobile, but the mobile service was discontinued on Nov. 30, 2018.
Sources also said members of the Makati Business Club saw a deal between the Ayala and Lopez groups coming even before the closure of ABS-CBN. “In fact, they see this as a strategic move to save the Lopez company from its maturing P28-billion bank loans from BDO, BPI, PNB, UnionBank whose owners are all members of the MBC,” sources said.
BPI, the banking arm of the Ayala Group, has more than P10 billion in loan exposure to ABS-CBN, according to reports.
An executive of ABS-CBN denied any ongoing talks between the two parties. “It is not true,” the executive said.
Sought for comment, Yolanda Crisanto, spokesperson of Globe, also denied there were discussions between Globe and ABS-CBN. “We wish to clarify that there is no ongoing discussion between BEAM and ABS-CBN. Also Globe has no equity stake on ABS Convergence. What we had was an MVNO agreement.”
Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Finance, said such transaction “would be a surprise.”
“The Ayala Group has never been in the news that they are really interested [in broadcasting business]. After the tiff with the president regarding the water, would it boldly invest in another controversial investment at this time,” Del Castilo said.
“If indeed true the public, particularly the financial analysts would be excited to hear the side of Ayala on their business model and how it would add value to its businesses,” he said.
Sources said the rumors became more possible after Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy, chairman of Udenna Corp., issued a statement to deny that he wanted to acquire ABS-CBN. “Let me be clear once and for all and say that we in Udenna Corp. have no intention to acquire ABS-CBN. Being in the business of broadcasting is not part of our corporate direction,” Uy said.
Sources said that once the government auctions the frequencies of ABS-CBN, BEAM is in the best position to acquire them estimated to be worth billions because it is backed by the Ayala Group.
Sources said those who may join the bidding for ABS-CBN’s frequencies are Aliw Broadcasting Corp., Manila Broadcasting Corp., Radio Mindanao Network, Bombo Radyo Holdings Inc. and Sunshine Media Network of religious leader Apollo Quiboloy.
Sources believe that given the high valuation of the ABS-CBN frequencies, BEAM will have the upper hand in the auction.
https://manilastandard.net/business/it-telecom/323498/ayala-may-take-interest-in-abs-cbn-frequencies.html
Pandemic lockdown gives Philippine province time to rethink planned split-up
The plebiscite, initially set for Monday, May 11, would have given nearly half a million voters in Palawan the choice of whether or not to accept Republic Act 11259, which would split the biggest province in the country into three smaller ones: Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental and Palawan del Sur
PALAWAN, Philippines — A landmark vote on dividing the biodiverse Philippine province of Palawan into three smaller provinces has been put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s given critics of the move a chance to press their case that splitting up the province could prove harmful to natural resources management and the welfare of indigenous groups.
The plebiscite, initially set for May 11, would have given nearly half a million voters in Palawan the choice of whether or not to accept Republic Act 11259, which would split the 1.5-million-hectare (3.7-million-acre) province — the biggest in the country — into three smaller ones: Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental and Palawan del Sur.
Proponents of the act, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in April 2019, say dividing the province will fast-track public access to government services and spark growth in this region of the country known for its rich biodiversity and model ecotourism practices.
Once ratified, the towns of Brooke’s Point, Roxas and Taytay would be upgraded into the respective capitals of the new provinces, and Puerto Princesa, the current capital, would be an independent city. Residents of Puerto Princesa would not be eligible to vote in the plebiscite or in any elections for provincial positions, according to Republic Act 11259.
Pushing through with the plebiscite as scheduled, however, is “impossible at the height of the spread of the COVID-19,” the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said in a memorandum dated April 7.
Coronavirus cases in the Philippines reached 10,794 with 719 deaths as of May 10. In Palawan, there have only been two confirmed cases as of April 26, but the entire province has been under lockdown, known as an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), since March 17.
Under the restrictions imposed by the lockdown, the deployment of personnel and election materials is “logistically impossible,” Comelec said, meaning the plebiscite is suspended indefinitely. As early as March 25, the commission had already suspended all preparatory activities leading up to the plebiscite, shelving the 80 million pesos ($1.6 million) allotted for the preparations.
Anti-division coalition One Palawan has welcomed the announcement to delay the vote. “The quarantine period can be useful for the Palawan people to contemplate on what is happening around them,” campaigner Cynthia Del Rosario told Mongabay. “Dividing the province has become irrelevant [at this time] as it could only spell another bureaucratic bloat and waste.”
One Palawan and other opponents of the partition say the plan was borne out of political maneuvering instead of popular demand. Proper public consultations and feasibility studies supporting it were not carried out, they say.
Critics say they are concerned that dividing the province would cement control of resources with oligarchic families and weaken environmental authorities’ ability to protect the natural ecosystems in the province. These sensitive areas could potentially be shared by different provinces, One Palawan says.
Palawan boasts 690,000 hectares (1.7 million acres) of natural-growth forest that is home to 422 species, 39 of them endemic. It also has the largest marine protected areas and critical habitats in the Philippines, and two UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The province’s keen attention to sustainable development has prompted the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to allow local authorities to manage key protected areas under the oversight of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).
The division plan isn’t clear on how these management schemes will be affected, anti-division groups say, as studies have not been publicized. Some civil society groups were not invited for public consultations, and online and offline debates between politicians and local environmentalists unfold against the backdrop of aggressive development. This fight that started on social media has since reached the nation’s highest court.
Micromanaging poverty, development
The province’s scale is the main reason for the division, says Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez. “We experience difficulty in managing our large province,” Alvarez said on the cable news show Rundown on April 13, 2019. “Today, the whole province [is] the biggest province in the whole country. We are doing what is best for the province. It’s not gerrymandering.”
The size makes it difficult for the provincial government to provide basic services like public health care, education and transportation to the most remote villages. These amenities are concentrated in the provincial capital Puerto Princesa, declared a highly urbanized city since 2007. With a population of more than 255,000, out of the total 1.3 million in Palawan, it’s also the province’s economic hub, home to more advanced health care facilities, international airport and seaport, national government agencies’ field offices, universities, and malls.
Access to social services is not the same for residents in other towns across the sprawling archipelago, many of whom must travel four to five hours by sea and another eight hours by land to experience these services.
“From our house atop a mountain, we would walk for more than three hours to the national road to catch a bus for another four- to five-hour trip to the city,” Beto Calman, a penglima (customary leader) of the Palaw’an indigenous group, told Mongabay. “But life’s difficult so that rarely happens here. Going to the city is already a luxury for us who don’t always have money and just subsist on forest resources to survive.”
The province is home to 100,000 indigenous families who rely largely on the region’s natural environment. The Palaw’ans live in the Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape (MMPL) in southern Palawan. The mountain is the province’s largest terrestrial protected area, spanning 120,457 hectares (297,656 acres) across five towns. It’s also been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Palawan isn’t lacking in either fiscal or natural resources. The province banks on its tourism prowess, which generated 83 billion pesos ($1.6 billion) in tourism services and investments in 2018 alone. The province’s revenue share from the national government — provincial allotment from earnings from large-scale industries — is 3.2 billion pesos ($63 million) this year. With total assets of more than 11.27 billion pesos ($223 million) as of 2018, Palawan is the ninth-richest province in the Philippines.
But the poverty incidence rate is 54%, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Local officials point at geography as the prime driver of poverty. Under a divided Palawan, new sets of local government officials can focus on the most vulnerable and abandoned sectors, Alvarez said.
Each political subdivision would downscale each provincial government’s constituents to around 400,000. According to Alvarez, this will give rise to new capitals with additional elective, appointive and support staff positions to fast-track the delivery of services to the remotest areas. The provinces will also receive higher revenue allotments from the national government of at least 1.5 billion to 2 billion pesos ($30 million to $40 million) every year, according to Alvarez.
“Having three provinces in more compact geographic areas with fewer constituents to serve and equally fewer municipalities to supervise will be better suited to pursue the general welfare than a single province,” he said in a press statement, adding that the move will allow the “micromanagement of poverty and development.”
Civil society groups, in doubt
Dividing Palawan is not a new idea; it was introduced in the 1960s by Monching Mitra, a Palawan congressional representative. Similar proposals were echoed in the early 1990s up to the late 2000s, with provincial lawmakers passing measures calling for the division. Each time they were thwarted by lack of support in both houses of Congress.
Alvarez mounted a strong push to revive the proposal in 2016. Reportedly the country’s richest governor in 2015, thanks to a logging business in neighboring Indonesia in the 1970s, Alvarez met with municipal mayors, barangay (ward) heads, and local business people to gather support for the bid. At the same time, three Palawan congressional representatives pushed for the division at the House of Representatives.
In December 2017, the provincial legislature passed a resolution in support of the move. The bill breezed through Congress, passed by the House in August 2018 and the Senate in November that same year. President Duterte signed the bill into law on April 13, 2019, setting into motion a rigorous debate among residents.
“There will always be a cost, it’s not just benefits,” environmental lawyer Grizelda Mayo-Anda, executive director of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center, told Mongabay. “Without these studies, how can you plausibly, logically state that the division of Palawan will ultimately result in the economic development of the three provinces? This is still wishful thinking.”
The Palawan NGO Network Inc. (PNNI), the province’s largest coalition of civil society groups, called the law “problematic” and said it would perpetuate nepotism and political dynasties.
PNNI and the provincial government have been at loggerheads for years over a string of environmental issues, in particular the latter’s support for high-impact projects: from palm oil and coconut investments in forested tribal lands, to building a coal-fired power plant near a protected area, to a six-lane highway for which trees had to be cut down.
“If the motive for this division is good, then its results will be sound,” PNNI executive director Robert Chan told Mongabay, “but if its intent is evil, then nothing good can come out of it.”
“What is the motive for dividing the province? Is it to provide better basic services? Or to prolong the dynasty of the incumbent?” Chan said. “Note that this is the governor’s last term. And to divide means he can run anew in any of the divided portions. And put his kin in the other two.” (Under Philippine law, elected officials can only serve a maximum of three consecutive terms in the same position.)
One of Alvarez’s daughter, Amy Alvarez, is the mayor of the Palawan municipality of San Vicente; another daughter, Pie Alvarez, was the previous mayor. The governor’s nephews also hold pivotal posts: Franz Alvarez is a congressman, while Juan Alvarez is a provincial board member.
Alvarez denied the allegation that he planned to use the division to run for another term. “I asked framers of the law to remove a provision which says after my third term I can still run as governor,” Alvarez said in the Rundown interview. “I said no. It’s not a matter of political convenience.”
Another of PNNI’s objections centers on public participation — or lack thereof — leading up to the passage of the division act. There was a series of “public consultations” in municipalities, but PNNI says these were “not much-publicized, massive and inclusive” to get the real pulse of the majority of locals.
“Why is civil society doubtful? Throughout the whole process, from its inception in the Provincial Board to deliberations in Congress, we have never been invited to present our side much less interpolate this legislation, despite PNNI’s board resolution opposing the same,” Chan said.
Critics: pandemic negates geography bottleneck
On June 26, 2019, One Palawan took its case to the Supreme Court, hoping a writ of prohibition would render Republic Act 11259 null and void.
The coalition alleges the law contains provisions that go against the Philippine Constitution and the Local Government Code, including amendments to the natural wealth-sharing agreement, non-consultation of the general public, and exclusion of Puerto Princesa residents in the consultation and in the plebiscite.
The court has yet to decide on the petition. One Palawan also launched an online petition nearly two years ago that has since gathered more than 48,000 signatures. On the ground, residents are split over whether to divide. But with the cancellation of the vote amid the pandemic, residents have more time to consider the move, groups say.
For the indigenous Palaw’an tribe, their decision rests on easy access to public goods and services, infrastructure and industry development, and a steady stream of cash income, among other benefits touted by pro-division groups. But what’s missing, they say, are the trade-offs.
“We want quick access to government services, but we fear that the division plan could negatively affect the way of life of marginalized locals, especially like us natives,” said tribe leader Calman, who is also the president of the Organization of Indigenous People for Action in Palawan. “If aggressive development creeps into this biodiverse mountain range where we live, that could result in the demise of our cultural traditions deeply rooted in the forest.”
The pandemic is also a good time to assess the efficiency of local governments in deploying services to villages in a time of crisis, One Palawan’s Del Rosario says. It also highlights the importance of having unified governance in the deployment of services at such a time, she says.
The pandemic has pushed public officials, from the provincial down to the barangay level, rushing to the aid of their constituents, including indigenous peoples. “Geography isn’t the challenge but political will,” Del Rosario said, adding that political will is what ensures goods and financial assistance can reach even the remotest sites in the province.
“The crisis also shows the people that the quality of leaders they put in office actually matters,” Del Rosario said. “Some local officials have excelled in delivering assistance to their communities while some were just a big disappointment. It also shows that the [current] system in delivering basic services is already in place, underscoring the barangays for being pivotal in the fight against COVID-19.”
Calman and other Palaw’an natives say they are wary that the division plan may open up their home — the “mother province” — to the rest of the world, an unwelcome development they regard as a threat to their culture and survival.
“Now that there’s this contagion, we impose our own lockdown to ensure all of us would survive,” Calman said. “When this is over, the plan might push through. And if it really happens, we expect to see more people, especially from foreign countries who may bring in diseases our body system cannot fight off. This may not be the last pandemic we would experience. What would our future be if there’d be another?” – Rappler.com
https://www.rappler.com/nation/260590-pandemic-lockdown-gives-philippine-province-time-rethink-planned-split-up
PALAWAN, Philippines — A landmark vote on dividing the biodiverse Philippine province of Palawan into three smaller provinces has been put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s given critics of the move a chance to press their case that splitting up the province could prove harmful to natural resources management and the welfare of indigenous groups.
The plebiscite, initially set for May 11, would have given nearly half a million voters in Palawan the choice of whether or not to accept Republic Act 11259, which would split the 1.5-million-hectare (3.7-million-acre) province — the biggest in the country — into three smaller ones: Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental and Palawan del Sur.
Proponents of the act, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in April 2019, say dividing the province will fast-track public access to government services and spark growth in this region of the country known for its rich biodiversity and model ecotourism practices.
Once ratified, the towns of Brooke’s Point, Roxas and Taytay would be upgraded into the respective capitals of the new provinces, and Puerto Princesa, the current capital, would be an independent city. Residents of Puerto Princesa would not be eligible to vote in the plebiscite or in any elections for provincial positions, according to Republic Act 11259.
Pushing through with the plebiscite as scheduled, however, is “impossible at the height of the spread of the COVID-19,” the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said in a memorandum dated April 7.
Coronavirus cases in the Philippines reached 10,794 with 719 deaths as of May 10. In Palawan, there have only been two confirmed cases as of April 26, but the entire province has been under lockdown, known as an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), since March 17.
Under the restrictions imposed by the lockdown, the deployment of personnel and election materials is “logistically impossible,” Comelec said, meaning the plebiscite is suspended indefinitely. As early as March 25, the commission had already suspended all preparatory activities leading up to the plebiscite, shelving the 80 million pesos ($1.6 million) allotted for the preparations.
Anti-division coalition One Palawan has welcomed the announcement to delay the vote. “The quarantine period can be useful for the Palawan people to contemplate on what is happening around them,” campaigner Cynthia Del Rosario told Mongabay. “Dividing the province has become irrelevant [at this time] as it could only spell another bureaucratic bloat and waste.”
One Palawan and other opponents of the partition say the plan was borne out of political maneuvering instead of popular demand. Proper public consultations and feasibility studies supporting it were not carried out, they say.
Critics say they are concerned that dividing the province would cement control of resources with oligarchic families and weaken environmental authorities’ ability to protect the natural ecosystems in the province. These sensitive areas could potentially be shared by different provinces, One Palawan says.
Palawan boasts 690,000 hectares (1.7 million acres) of natural-growth forest that is home to 422 species, 39 of them endemic. It also has the largest marine protected areas and critical habitats in the Philippines, and two UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The province’s keen attention to sustainable development has prompted the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to allow local authorities to manage key protected areas under the oversight of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).
The division plan isn’t clear on how these management schemes will be affected, anti-division groups say, as studies have not been publicized. Some civil society groups were not invited for public consultations, and online and offline debates between politicians and local environmentalists unfold against the backdrop of aggressive development. This fight that started on social media has since reached the nation’s highest court.
Micromanaging poverty, development
The province’s scale is the main reason for the division, says Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez. “We experience difficulty in managing our large province,” Alvarez said on the cable news show Rundown on April 13, 2019. “Today, the whole province [is] the biggest province in the whole country. We are doing what is best for the province. It’s not gerrymandering.”
The size makes it difficult for the provincial government to provide basic services like public health care, education and transportation to the most remote villages. These amenities are concentrated in the provincial capital Puerto Princesa, declared a highly urbanized city since 2007. With a population of more than 255,000, out of the total 1.3 million in Palawan, it’s also the province’s economic hub, home to more advanced health care facilities, international airport and seaport, national government agencies’ field offices, universities, and malls.
Access to social services is not the same for residents in other towns across the sprawling archipelago, many of whom must travel four to five hours by sea and another eight hours by land to experience these services.
“From our house atop a mountain, we would walk for more than three hours to the national road to catch a bus for another four- to five-hour trip to the city,” Beto Calman, a penglima (customary leader) of the Palaw’an indigenous group, told Mongabay. “But life’s difficult so that rarely happens here. Going to the city is already a luxury for us who don’t always have money and just subsist on forest resources to survive.”
The province is home to 100,000 indigenous families who rely largely on the region’s natural environment. The Palaw’ans live in the Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape (MMPL) in southern Palawan. The mountain is the province’s largest terrestrial protected area, spanning 120,457 hectares (297,656 acres) across five towns. It’s also been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Palawan isn’t lacking in either fiscal or natural resources. The province banks on its tourism prowess, which generated 83 billion pesos ($1.6 billion) in tourism services and investments in 2018 alone. The province’s revenue share from the national government — provincial allotment from earnings from large-scale industries — is 3.2 billion pesos ($63 million) this year. With total assets of more than 11.27 billion pesos ($223 million) as of 2018, Palawan is the ninth-richest province in the Philippines.
But the poverty incidence rate is 54%, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Local officials point at geography as the prime driver of poverty. Under a divided Palawan, new sets of local government officials can focus on the most vulnerable and abandoned sectors, Alvarez said.
Each political subdivision would downscale each provincial government’s constituents to around 400,000. According to Alvarez, this will give rise to new capitals with additional elective, appointive and support staff positions to fast-track the delivery of services to the remotest areas. The provinces will also receive higher revenue allotments from the national government of at least 1.5 billion to 2 billion pesos ($30 million to $40 million) every year, according to Alvarez.
“Having three provinces in more compact geographic areas with fewer constituents to serve and equally fewer municipalities to supervise will be better suited to pursue the general welfare than a single province,” he said in a press statement, adding that the move will allow the “micromanagement of poverty and development.”
Civil society groups, in doubt
Dividing Palawan is not a new idea; it was introduced in the 1960s by Monching Mitra, a Palawan congressional representative. Similar proposals were echoed in the early 1990s up to the late 2000s, with provincial lawmakers passing measures calling for the division. Each time they were thwarted by lack of support in both houses of Congress.
Alvarez mounted a strong push to revive the proposal in 2016. Reportedly the country’s richest governor in 2015, thanks to a logging business in neighboring Indonesia in the 1970s, Alvarez met with municipal mayors, barangay (ward) heads, and local business people to gather support for the bid. At the same time, three Palawan congressional representatives pushed for the division at the House of Representatives.
In December 2017, the provincial legislature passed a resolution in support of the move. The bill breezed through Congress, passed by the House in August 2018 and the Senate in November that same year. President Duterte signed the bill into law on April 13, 2019, setting into motion a rigorous debate among residents.
“There will always be a cost, it’s not just benefits,” environmental lawyer Grizelda Mayo-Anda, executive director of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center, told Mongabay. “Without these studies, how can you plausibly, logically state that the division of Palawan will ultimately result in the economic development of the three provinces? This is still wishful thinking.”
The Palawan NGO Network Inc. (PNNI), the province’s largest coalition of civil society groups, called the law “problematic” and said it would perpetuate nepotism and political dynasties.
PNNI and the provincial government have been at loggerheads for years over a string of environmental issues, in particular the latter’s support for high-impact projects: from palm oil and coconut investments in forested tribal lands, to building a coal-fired power plant near a protected area, to a six-lane highway for which trees had to be cut down.
“If the motive for this division is good, then its results will be sound,” PNNI executive director Robert Chan told Mongabay, “but if its intent is evil, then nothing good can come out of it.”
“What is the motive for dividing the province? Is it to provide better basic services? Or to prolong the dynasty of the incumbent?” Chan said. “Note that this is the governor’s last term. And to divide means he can run anew in any of the divided portions. And put his kin in the other two.” (Under Philippine law, elected officials can only serve a maximum of three consecutive terms in the same position.)
One of Alvarez’s daughter, Amy Alvarez, is the mayor of the Palawan municipality of San Vicente; another daughter, Pie Alvarez, was the previous mayor. The governor’s nephews also hold pivotal posts: Franz Alvarez is a congressman, while Juan Alvarez is a provincial board member.
Alvarez denied the allegation that he planned to use the division to run for another term. “I asked framers of the law to remove a provision which says after my third term I can still run as governor,” Alvarez said in the Rundown interview. “I said no. It’s not a matter of political convenience.”
Another of PNNI’s objections centers on public participation — or lack thereof — leading up to the passage of the division act. There was a series of “public consultations” in municipalities, but PNNI says these were “not much-publicized, massive and inclusive” to get the real pulse of the majority of locals.
“Why is civil society doubtful? Throughout the whole process, from its inception in the Provincial Board to deliberations in Congress, we have never been invited to present our side much less interpolate this legislation, despite PNNI’s board resolution opposing the same,” Chan said.
Critics: pandemic negates geography bottleneck
On June 26, 2019, One Palawan took its case to the Supreme Court, hoping a writ of prohibition would render Republic Act 11259 null and void.
The coalition alleges the law contains provisions that go against the Philippine Constitution and the Local Government Code, including amendments to the natural wealth-sharing agreement, non-consultation of the general public, and exclusion of Puerto Princesa residents in the consultation and in the plebiscite.
The court has yet to decide on the petition. One Palawan also launched an online petition nearly two years ago that has since gathered more than 48,000 signatures. On the ground, residents are split over whether to divide. But with the cancellation of the vote amid the pandemic, residents have more time to consider the move, groups say.
For the indigenous Palaw’an tribe, their decision rests on easy access to public goods and services, infrastructure and industry development, and a steady stream of cash income, among other benefits touted by pro-division groups. But what’s missing, they say, are the trade-offs.
“We want quick access to government services, but we fear that the division plan could negatively affect the way of life of marginalized locals, especially like us natives,” said tribe leader Calman, who is also the president of the Organization of Indigenous People for Action in Palawan. “If aggressive development creeps into this biodiverse mountain range where we live, that could result in the demise of our cultural traditions deeply rooted in the forest.”
The pandemic is also a good time to assess the efficiency of local governments in deploying services to villages in a time of crisis, One Palawan’s Del Rosario says. It also highlights the importance of having unified governance in the deployment of services at such a time, she says.
The pandemic has pushed public officials, from the provincial down to the barangay level, rushing to the aid of their constituents, including indigenous peoples. “Geography isn’t the challenge but political will,” Del Rosario said, adding that political will is what ensures goods and financial assistance can reach even the remotest sites in the province.
“The crisis also shows the people that the quality of leaders they put in office actually matters,” Del Rosario said. “Some local officials have excelled in delivering assistance to their communities while some were just a big disappointment. It also shows that the [current] system in delivering basic services is already in place, underscoring the barangays for being pivotal in the fight against COVID-19.”
Calman and other Palaw’an natives say they are wary that the division plan may open up their home — the “mother province” — to the rest of the world, an unwelcome development they regard as a threat to their culture and survival.
“Now that there’s this contagion, we impose our own lockdown to ensure all of us would survive,” Calman said. “When this is over, the plan might push through. And if it really happens, we expect to see more people, especially from foreign countries who may bring in diseases our body system cannot fight off. This may not be the last pandemic we would experience. What would our future be if there’d be another?” – Rappler.com
https://www.rappler.com/nation/260590-pandemic-lockdown-gives-philippine-province-time-rethink-planned-split-up
Senate reporters urge House to act immediately on ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal
By Richa Noriega
Journalists covering the Senate urged the House of Representatives on Monday to act immediately on the renewal of ABS-CBN Corporation’s franchise following its shutdown last week.
“Our congressmen led by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, and head of the committee of legislative franchises Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez, should immediately schedule this for a hearing,” the reporters said in a solidarity statement.
“To say that the House members in the past should be blamed for failing to act on the franchise only means that, all the more, sitting congressmen should immediately act on the application,” they added.
The Senate reporters said that “protecting press freedom, public access to timely and accurate information, and the right to a decent livelihood” must prevail over whatever agenda or interests of the congressman may have.
They appealed to the justices of the Supreme Court to “act expeditiously” on the petition filed by the media network.
The reporters also expressed dismay to the officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for violating the right of the network to due process.
The reporters underscored that the shutdown of network not only adversely affected its employees, but also those in allied industries amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“So, what are you waiting for? Set the date for the hearing. The public is waiting,” they added.
Last May 5, the NTC issued a cease and desist order against ABS-CBN after its legislative franchise expired on May 4.
The NTC directed ABS-CBN to stop operating its television and radio broadcasting stations nationwide, citing absence of a valid congressional franchise required for the network to continue operating.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/05/11/senate-reporters-urge-house-to-act-immediately-on-abs-cbns-franchise-renewal/
Journalists covering the Senate urged the House of Representatives on Monday to act immediately on the renewal of ABS-CBN Corporation’s franchise following its shutdown last week.
“Our congressmen led by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, and head of the committee of legislative franchises Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez, should immediately schedule this for a hearing,” the reporters said in a solidarity statement.
“To say that the House members in the past should be blamed for failing to act on the franchise only means that, all the more, sitting congressmen should immediately act on the application,” they added.
The Senate reporters said that “protecting press freedom, public access to timely and accurate information, and the right to a decent livelihood” must prevail over whatever agenda or interests of the congressman may have.
They appealed to the justices of the Supreme Court to “act expeditiously” on the petition filed by the media network.
The reporters also expressed dismay to the officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for violating the right of the network to due process.
The reporters underscored that the shutdown of network not only adversely affected its employees, but also those in allied industries amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“So, what are you waiting for? Set the date for the hearing. The public is waiting,” they added.
Last May 5, the NTC issued a cease and desist order against ABS-CBN after its legislative franchise expired on May 4.
The NTC directed ABS-CBN to stop operating its television and radio broadcasting stations nationwide, citing absence of a valid congressional franchise required for the network to continue operating.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/05/11/senate-reporters-urge-house-to-act-immediately-on-abs-cbns-franchise-renewal/