Senate Oks 12 bills on public schools, SUCs on final reading

The Senate on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a total of 12 bills seeking to establish, convert, and rename public elementary and secondary schools, state universities and colleges (SUCs) nationwide.

Approved were measures establishing the Silverio Elementary School (HBN 7241), the Tambo National High School (HBN 7178) in Parañaque City, and the Veinte Reales National High School in Valenzuela City (HBN 7240).

Also approved were House Bills separating and converting the Alameda National High School in Igbaras, Iloilo (HBN 7175); the San Pablo National High School in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat (HBN 7176); the Malanday National High School in Valenzuela City (HBN 7177); the Sta. Ana National High School in San Joaquin, Iloilo (HBN 7242) and the Upper Katungal National High School in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat (HBN 7243).

The bills were sponsored by Senator Francis Escudero, chairperson of the Committee on Education, Arts and Culture.

Escudero said the establishment and conversion of these elementary and secondary schools would help solve the problem on classroom-to-teacher-to-student shortage ratio in those areas.

He added that the bills would guarantee budgetary appropriations for these schools to help provide their students a “better quality and accessible education for their constituencies.”

Meanwhile, bills seeking to rename Naval State University into the Biliran Province State University (HBN 6065), and convert the Southern Philippines Agriculture, Business Marine and Aquatic School of Technology–Digos City campus into the Davao Del Sur State University (HBN 6715), the Zamboanga City State Polytechnic College into the Zamboanga Peninsula Polytechnic State University (HBN 6741) and the Camarines Sur Institute of Fisheries and Marine Sciences-Ragay Campus into the Ragay Polytechnic Skills Institute (HBN 6995) were also approved on final reading. /ee

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1021326/senate-oks-12-bills-on-public-schools-sucs-on-final-reading

Duterte is not Arroyo; Lacson ‘pork’ warning misplaced

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno talks about the 2019 national budget, federalism and government disbursement during the Meet Inquirer Multimedia Forum at the Inquirer headquarters in Makati City. INQUIRER.net / NESTOR CORRALES

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Tuesday said Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s fear of the “pork barrel” system coming back was “misplaced,” after House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said no congressman would receive a zero budget.

Diokno said President Rodrigo Duterte has a “strong” anti-corruption drive and assured the public that the cash-based P3.757-trillon national budget for 2019 was “pork-free.”

Arroyo, who is barely a month into being the new Speaker, earlier said all House members would receive allocations despite their political affiliation.

Lacson raised fears that this move would signal the return of the pork barrel system or the Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel, which the Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional.

But Diokno allayed the fear of the senator.

“President Duterte is not GMA. Okay? And he is very strong in [his] anti-corruption [campaign]. So the fear of Senator Lacson is misplaced,” the budget chief said during the Meet Inquirer Multimedia forum at the Philippine Daily Inquirer Headquarters in Makati City.

Diokno said “the President has instructed us not to have zero allocation.”

“So there will be no zero allocation,” he said.

Asked if these could be considered as “hidden pork,” he answered, “No, these are projects that are supposed to benefit residents of those districts. They are not pork. They are not pork. Call it any other name but not pork.”

He said the national budget of the Duterte administration has been “consistent with the Supreme Court decisions on Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).”

The Supreme Court in 2015 affirmed the unconstitutionality of DAP. /je

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1021129/duterte-is-not-arroyo-lacson-pork-warning-misplaced-diokno

PAL hosts Kadayawan concert in Davao

As one of the Platinum sponsors of Davao City’s 33rd Kadayawan Festival, Philippine Airlines (PAL) is flying in a couple of crowd-drawing entertainers to perform at a free concert during the culmination of the weeklong celebration.

A PAL Night to be held at the city’s Kadayawan Square on Aug. 19 will feature the multi-awarded Filipino band UDD (Up Dharma Down) and GMA Network’s popular actress-dancer Andrea Torres. A local band will be joining them on stage.

Dozens of unique giveaways and game prizes from PAL and affiliate companies will surprise attendees of the concert that starts 6 p.m.

In the morning of Aug. 19, an eagle and airplane-shaped float will represent the flag carrier in the float parade around the city’s main streets.

The eagle in the float symbolizes “Sinag”, a two-year-old Philippine eagle – currently cared for by the Philippine Eagle Foundation – that was adopted by PAL through the PAL Foundation.

PAL also participated at the recent Hiyas ng Kadayawan beauty pageant by awarding two Business Class tickets (Davao to Kuala Lumpur via Manila) to two winners – Hiyas ng Maranao (who was picked as Miss Philippine Airlines) and Hiyas ng Kadayawan. One of the pageant judges, Pinky Pineda, is a PAL Davao sales manager.

PAL has established Davao International Airport as a domestic hub and has stepped up promotions of Davao as a prime tourism destination. PAL operates six domestic flights out of the PAL Davao hub – to Manila, Cebu, Clark, Tagbilaran, Siargao and Zamboanga.

Accordingly, PAL will make its presence felt at the Tourism Promotions Board Philippines’ 2nd Regional Travel Fair to be held Aug. 17-18 at SM Lanang, Davao, which coincides with the Kadayawan festivities./asu

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1021092/pal-hosts-kadayawan-concert-in-davao#ixzz5OFdXTX5J
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‘Bakwit Boys,’ graded ‘A’ by CEB

“Bakwit Boys,” latest film offering of T-Rex Entertainment, has been given an “A” grade by the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB). It’s just one of the seven films produced by T-Rex graded “A” and “B,” the others being “Deadma Walking” and “Patay Na Si Hesus.”

Director Jason Paul Laxamana (center) and the cast of ‘Bakwit Boys’

An entry to the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP) 2018 which runs from Aug. 15 to 21, “Bakwit Boys” is directed by Jason Paul Laxamana, who also made the blockbuster “100 Tula Para Kay Stella.”

The inspiring movie brings together the break-out artists in showbiz: Rising actress Devon Seron, stage heartthrob Vance Larena, noontime TV idols Ryle Santiago and Nikko Natividad and singing champion Mackie Empuerto. The movie is about four brothers and the one dreamer who motivates them.

Direk Jason said “‘Bakwit Boys” is about family, it is about the underdogs and about dreamers. We hope that the movie will have viewers singing – and crying tears of joy – until the credits roll and until they step out of the cinema.”

Featured in the movie are six original songs by Jhaye Cura: “Ligtas Ka Na,” “Fiona,” “High In You,” “Patibong,” “Tayong Dalawa” and “Kung Di Ikaw.”

Also in the cast of “Bakwit Boys” are Alma Concepcion, Nanding Josef, Jeric Raval, Michael “Eagle” Riggs, with special appearances by Sebastian Castro, Cai Cortez, Kiray Celis, and Albie Casiño.

• • •

Nora’s last of siblings passed away in US

When we consoled with the superstar Nora Aunor on the recent death of her sister Tita, she sounded really sad when she said, “Nag-iisa na lang ako Mare, iniwan na nila ako lahat, mga magulang ko’t mga kapatid. (I’m all alone now, Mare, all of them had left me, my parents, my siblings.)”

Nora Aunor

Her sister died in San Diego, California and the more that Nora felt devastated because she couldn’t go and say goodbye to her. She has work to do, especially her current drama series “Onanay” which started airing last Aug. 6. This is another project which will showcase once more Nora’s dramatic prowess.

Playing the title role is Jo Berry and Nora plays her mother. Also in the cast are Cherie Gil, Mikee Quintos, Kate Valdez, Gardo Verzosa, Wendel Ramos, Rochelle Pangilinan, Vaness del Moral, Enrico Cuenca, and Adrian Alandy, among others. Director is Gina Alajar.

• • •

Tidbits: Happy b-day greetings today, Aug. 14, go to Mayor Charles Pizarro, Ligaya Salonga, former Caloocan Vice Mayor Nancy Quimpo, Auggie Cordero, Nolie Hans, Herbert de Joya, Vicky de Leon Mojica, Letty Tumangan, Zeny Salgado, Gigi Buhay, Jun Yamzon, Lyle Escano Bodomo, Ailadezza Daz, Carlo Gonzalez and Kim Rodriguez…Belated happy birthday to Steven Young, Tiny Corpuz and Riza Moises (Aug 12)… Aug. 15: Pinky de Leon, Floro Mercene, Philip de Belen, Cogie Domingo, Peter Stevens, Arturo Go, Susan Magalona, Atty. Mario Garcia, Marvin Agustin’s twins Sebastian and Santiago, Ed JP Yap, Jennylei Caberte, Redj Francisco, Lynn Sherman, Samantha Nicole Bautista turns 9 and PAO Chief Persida Acosta…Aug. 16: Lani Golosia, Jing Cabanig, Atty. Noel del Prado, Bong Aquino, Juana Esteban, Flora Manipi, Mark Joseph Tumarag, Renz Santos Caparas, Kimberly Pineda, Lemeul Gem Almanza of Davao City, greetings from Jovy Hernandez-Alimon, Katherine Galanida and Allaijah Mae Aranda of Makati City, greetings from Robert Ignacio…

‘Pederalismo’

At last Friday’s Nanka Forum, a weekly media kapihan at the Nanka restaurant in QC that I’m privileged to co-host, one of our guests was electoral reform activist Glenn Chong, a high-school amateur programmer, CPA-lawyer, and former congressman—in short, a man of substance.

Glenn regaled us with blood-curdling stories of Smartmatic servers transmitting 2016 poll results even if they were incontrovertibly shut down—perhaps the Comelec’s equivalent of “ghosts in the machine.” In his small province of Biliran alone, the discrepancy totaled over 200,000 votes, which also happens to be the margin of victory of VP Leni Robredo nationwide.

Could any of this have compromised Duterte’s electoral mandate? As a matter of fact, it’s the other way around, because Glenn doesn’t dismiss the widespread rumor that Duterte was actually cheated of five million to six-million votes, at a time when current fugitive Andy Bautista was running Comelec and Mar Roxas was putting to good use a multi-billion-peso LP war chest accumulated over six years under PNoy.

Another kapihan guest was MMDA general manager Jojo Garcia, who gruffly informed us that his agency was ready to implement a resolution by the Metro Manila Council to ban driver-only private vehicles from Edsa during rush hours.

Such vehicles account for up to 70 percent of Edsa traffic, so the ban makes sense if only as a stop-gap measure while longer-term fixes are devised. We hope MMDA does not overlook the proper workarounds, such as clearing away sidewalk vendors and other obstructions along the alternative side streets that banned vehicles will have to use, or managing the crowd of “ride-sharers for pay” who’ll sprout up at both ends of Edsa.

***

Our third kapihan guest was Con-Com member professor Eddie Alih, formerly chancellor of the University of Mindanao in Tawi-Tawi, who gamely took on the predictable media questions about uber-blogger Mocha Uson’s “pepe-dede-ralismo” video.

I’ve long believed that the risqué Miss Uson, who’s followed by millions of Duterte diehards, is better left to herself as a digital free spirit rather than being weighed down by the burden of an Assistant Secretary title. Unburdened, that raunchy video would have achieved its objective of putting “pederalismo” on the radar screen of her followers without stirring up all that harrumphing from the prim-and-proper crowd.

In any case, that little dust-up was quickly upstaged by another face-off over federalism, this time involving the President’s economic team, who declared themselves opposed to the whole idea of federalism (although they later narrowed down their criticism to only the Con-Com’s draft version of it).

Among the questions and claims brought up by economic managers Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Neda’s Secretary Ernesto Pernia, together with my attempted answers based solely on newspaper accounts:
Transition to federalism will cost P131 billion in the first year alone. I suspect that nearly half of this estimate from Secretary Pernia actually comprises outlays unrelated to federalism (e.g. establishing a lot more courts of law in order to unclog the notoriously backed-up judicial dockets) or that involve avoidable duplication of functions (e.g. the costs of regional administration can be reduced by combining or consolidating provincial governorships, assemblies and administrations).

Up to 95 percent of government employees will be laid off. This wild number from Secretary Dominguez misses the obvious: A lot of government employees will be laid off from the federal payroll because they’ll be transferred to regional payrolls, as their offices, functions, and budgets are downloaded to the regions.

Ambiguity about revenue sources and expenditure assignments between federal and regional levels. This is a Dominguez concern perhaps caused by the Con-Com formulation that “at least 50 percent” of government revenues will be reallocated to the regions. But as a practical matter, what’s likely to happen is for the federal gov’t to first cover all its expenses—especially debt service—before the regions get their revenue shares as a residual. If the federal share is still more than half, then it’ll have to shed off some more functions, otherwise the system still ain’t federalism.

Clearly, the economic team should have gotten more involved in the earlier days of the federalist discussions. But it still isn’t too late to bring them up to speed, provided they drop their dismissive attitude and get with the program that the President himself has put on the table.

Right now, LP Senator Kiko Pangilinan has been saying “it’s possible” that his Senate committee on constitutional change may vote against charter change, citing as one reason the apprehensions raised by Duterte’s economic team. This is why it’s always a good idea, whenever you’re quarreling among yourselves, to keep it inside and shut up when outside.

***

On the infrastructure front, right-of-way issues—the traditional bane of construction projects in this country—are predictably now emerging as serious, perhaps even existential, threats to Duterte’s ambitious Build Build Build program.

Completion of the P67-billion MRT Line 7 project is being held up by a ruling from the Malolos regional trial court that would force government to pay a prohibitively high price to acquire property for a planned train depot site.
As well, Metro Pacific’s plans to start construction of the NLEX-SLEX connector road have been stymied by delays in acquiring right of way, only half of which has to date been acquired by government.

It’s well known that most of government’s institutional experience in ROW is really lodged in the engineers and other specialists of DPWH, who’re out there building roads and bridges every day. This was supposed to be leveraged by the creation of a DPWH-led inter-agency task force to fast-track ROW solutions. What’s happened with that?

And on the political front, internal dissension continues to tear up the ruling PDP-Laban party in a stubborn face-off between Senator Koko Pimentel and Mindanao lawyer Rogelio Garcia. The party chairman, Duterte himself, has already thrown up his hands in exasperation and told his party-mates to stop adding to the problems on his plate.

Meanwhile, the newly minted Hugpong ng Pagbabago, nominally a regional party in Mindanao, has jumped to the other end of the country and recruited the Solid North through its latest member, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos. She joins a growing list of new members: Senator JV Ejercito, former PNP chief Bato de la Rosa, Maguindanao’s Sajid Mangudadatu.

Lately, Hugpong has even volunteered to help PDP-Laban with its “internal problems”. At the rate these regional alliances are being put together, it won’t be long—perhaps by 2022?—before this regional party, under its millennial leader Mayor Sara Duterte, becomes a national party to reckon with.

http://www.thestandard.com.ph/opinion/columns/formation-by-gary-olivar/272961/-pederalismo-.html

Duterte appoints Andanar’s dad as envoy to Malaysia

President Rodrigo Duterte has tapped Wencelito Andanar as special envoy to Malaysia, Malacañang said.

Andanar, father of Palace communications secretary Martin Andanar, had served as interior undersecretary in the administration of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Andanar will serve for 6 months, according to his appointment letter dated August 9 and released by the Palace on Monday.

Aside from Andanar, Duterte also tapped Jeffrey Ian Cardano Dy as Customs deputy commissioner, replacing Noel Patrick Prudente.

Duterte has also promoted Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) spokesperson Pircelyn Burce Pialago as assistant secretary, and named Rhea Baladjay Peñaflor as assistant secretary at the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Enrique Manalo, meanwhile, was appointed Ambassador to Germany, replacing Melita Sta. Maria-Thomeczek.

Victor Atok Del Rosario, meanwhile, was named National Youth Commission commissioner for the Visayas.

The President also appointed Julia Cecily Coching Sosito as presiding commissioner of the National Labor Relations Commission’s second division.

C-5 MANSIONS' Ridgewood Towers Premier

DBM studies prospect of reenacted 2019 budget

By Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
Reporter

THE DEPARTMENT of Budget and Management (DBM) has raised the possibility of having a reenacted budget for 2019 in order to break the impasse with lawmakers on a new spending plan that will allocate funds only for projects or tasks that can be completed within next year.

Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said that the government cannot submit another version of the 2019 budget that is “obligation-based” — or with funding good for more than a year — which has been the practice to this year.

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“We have already submitted (the budget). So they have two options: to not to pass the budget or pass with amendments. We cannot change it,” Mr. Diokno said in a phone interview on Sunday when asked whether his department can go back to square one.

The following year’s budget has always been a priority piece of legislation for any administration. The proposed P3.757-trillion 2019 “cash-based” budget — which takes into consideration implementing departments’ and agencies’ limited capacity to spend — is slightly less than the P3.767-trillion obligation-based budget for 2018.

The government of President Rodrigo R. Duterte has been clearing bottlenecks and cracking the whip on implementing offices to spend, resulting lately in the state finally hitting expenditure targets. Underspending had been a key weakness of the past administration, which had focused on improving revenues while checking spending, earning investment-grade credit rating for the Philippines.

“This week, we’ll explore our options. One option is a reenacted budget,” Mr. Diokno said, referring to a rollover of 2018’s amount.

Critics have blamed budget reenactment in the past for irregularities, since — among others — such measures provide funding even for projects that have been completed.

“We’re looking at the implications, kasi kung marami pa naman disbursed or unimplemented projects na obligated but unimplemented… baka naman hindi mag-suffer ‘yung budget (because if there are still many unimplemented projects or projects whose budgets have not yet been disbursed… spending may not suffer),” Mr. Diokno explained.

“I’m looking at the flexibility of the reenacted projects,” he added.

“To me, ang gut feel ko walang (there is no) change, kasi nga marami pang undisbursed ‘yung 2017 and 2018 (precisely because there are funds that had not been disbursed in 2017 and 2018). So we will study to really digest.”

Lawmakers of both chambers, however, downplayed the possibility of a reenacted 2019 budget, saying the yearend target for enactment of a new budget should be met and that the DBM — and the Development Budget Coordinating Committee which it forms with the Finance department, the National Economic and Development Authority, the Office of the President and the central bank — has enough time to make adjustments.

Due to budget cuts for the Health, Education and Public Works departments under the proposed cash-based system, the House of Representatives Appropriations committee, chaired by Rep. Karlo Alexei B. Nograles of the first district of Davao City — Mr. Duterte’s hometown — has suspended budget hearings for now.

It has also circulated a resolution among House members to recall House Bill No. 7302 from the Senate which adopts the cash-based system and was authored by Mr. Nograles and House Majority Leader Rolando G. Andaya, Jr., among others. The House approved it in March.

Mr. Nograles sought to downplay the possibility of a reenacted budget for next year, saying there is still time to overhaul the 2019 proposal.

“When we crafted this budget schedule, we were under the assumption that we would be able to pass a 2019 General Appropriations Act by Nov. 30… (but) with this adjustment, okay lang, it’s still manageable,” Mr. Nograles said in an interview over radio station DzBB on Sunday.

“It will still be signed before December, before Christmas,” he added.

“I don’t think anybody should even discuss or think about the reenacted budget. Wala pa naman tayo d’yan (We’re not at that point yet).”

He told reporters in a mobile phone message on Saturday that “to be consistent with the position of the House to oppose cash-based budgeting, and since we will revert to obligation-based budgeting, we will give time to DBCC to make the necessary changes.”

Mr. Nograles said he was not opposed to a cash-based system per se.

“I’m saying cash-based is good; cash-based as a concept is fine…but maybe it is not the right time,” he said, noting that the new system imposes “fiscal discipline” across state offices.

“What we’re saying is baka we’re doing too many reforms too soon, hindi naka-adjust ang sistema.”

Senate finance committee chairman Senator Loren B. Legarda told reporters via text that the Senate “will continue with the budget hearings as scheduled”.

“I am confident that the House will resolve these concerns in due time.”

For Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto, “It is the prerogative of the House to suspend hearings on the 2019 national budget.”

“We can only hope that after this pause, they can fast-forward their review so that the budget will arrive in the Senate as scheduled and will not jeopardize the traditional timetable of an enacted budget by the end of the year…,” Mr. Recto said.

“The Senate must continue with its parallel hearings on the 2019 budget.” — with Camille A. Aguinaldo and Charmaine A. Tadalan

http://www.bworldonline.com/dbm-studies-prospect-of-reenacted-2019-budget/

Max’s Group to continue expanding in provinces

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter

MAX’S GROUP, Inc. (MGI) is following the expansion of mall operators in the provinces to further grow its brands, citing the potential to enter untapped markets in the regions.

“There’s a lot of competition in Metro Manila, and there’s a lot of untapped markets in Visayas and Mindanao and wala pa kami dun. That’s why the more we try to drive our business to regions so that they can feel our presence already,” MGI President and Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Trota told reporters at the sidelines of the 25th National Retailers’ Conference in Pasay City last Thursday.

“A lot of the retailers are also going there,” Mr. Trota added, referring to the SM and Ayala groups which have mapped out their expansion to the provinces.

The listed casual dining restaurant operator has scheduled to open 50 more stores before the end of the year, located mostly in Luzon and Visayas, with two in Mindanao.

Overseas, MGI will open around six to eight stores in the Middle East and the United States.

The new stores will carry different brands under MGI such as Max’s Restaurant, Pancake House, Yellow Cab Pizza, Krispy Kreme, Jamba Juice, Teriyaki Boy, and Dencio’s.

MGI has already opened 21 new stores in the first six months of 2018, bringing its total store count to 678 branches by end-June. Of this, 54 are located across several sites in North America, the Middle East, and Asia.

The company committed to spend P500 million in capital expenditures this year, less than half of which has already been used during the first semester.

“Most of it (the store openings) will happen on third and fourth quarter,” Mr. Trota said.

MGI grew its net income by 34% to P208.3 million in the second quarter of 2018, on the back of an 11% increase in systemwide sales to P4.9 billion during the period.

On a six-month basis, MGI’s net income was flat at P332 million, due to rising costs of raw materials. Systemwide sales meanwhile expanded by 12% to P9.3 billion for the January to June period.

The company has been implementing initiatives to have more efficient operations during the last semester through the consolidation of some subsidiaries. Mr. Trota said they have now completed the program.

“We’re done for the year, that’s just part of streamlining our operations, that’s where we get additional savings,” he explained.

http://www.bworldonline.com/maxs-group-to-continue-expanding-in-provinces/

OPAPP, senators back autonomy in Cordillera

Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza urged the people of the Cordilleras to “continue to make noise” in order to get the attention they need for the creation of the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera (ARC).

Speaking at a forum in Manila with members of the Senate as well as leaders of the Cordilleras last Friday, Dureza said the recent passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) can help accelerate the fulfillment of the aspirations of the Cordillerans.

“Let your presence be known and I am sure you will not be ignored because it is your right under the Constitution to have your own Autonomous Region of the Cordilleras,” he said.

The forum was organized to drumbeat national awareness and fast-track the passage of House Bill 5343 and Senate Bill 1678 which seek to establish the ARC.

Speaking to the group, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said the people of the Cordilleras should “anticipate that the bill will be passed.”

“Let us really work on this and in the meantime, let’s conduct a political action at ihanda na natin yung (and let us get ready with the) support mechanism on the ground,” he said.

For his part, Senator JV Ejercito gave assurance that the Senate supports the passage of the law giving autonomy to the Cordilleras.

“Rest assured that our support in the Senate is with the Cordillerans on the passage of its autonomy,” he said.

In a video message played during the forum, Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, who chairs the Senate Committee on Local Government, said since the ARC is constitutional, “we will therefore fully support it.”

Initiated by the six Cordillera representatives, House Bill 5343 or the Organic Act establishing the ARC was brought to the House Committee on Local Government in March last year.

A counterpart of this bill, Senate Bill 1678, was authored by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri in February 2018, while the related Senate Bill 1923 authored by Senator Ejercito was submitted recently.

Dubbed as the “Cordillera Autonomy Leaders’ Forum with the Senators,” the gathering informed the Senators of the unity of the Cordilleran people in their quest for self-determination as well as the pressing need for autonomy in the region.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/08/12/opapp-senators-back-autonomy-in-cordillera/

Arroyo files bill proposing water, irrigation dep’t

SPEAKER Gloria M. Arroyo has filed a bill creating a new government office to rationalize the country’s water, irrigation, sewage and sanitation systems.

House Bill (HB) 8068, or the “Department of Water, Irrigation, Sewage and Sanitation Resource Management Act of 2018,” seeks to consolidate the functions carried out by the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

The government agencies are controlled by three separate offices — the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the Office of the President.

This present set-up resulted in a “poorly coordinated or even conflicting implementation of national policies and plans… thereby resulting in backlogs in the provision of water supply and sanitation services,” Ms. Arroyo said in the explanatory note.

If passed into law, the department will be mandated to develop policies to provide universal access to safe, adequate, affordable and sustainable water supply, irrigation, sewage and sanitation services.

The Department will also be in charge of protecting and conserving water resources and managing its ownership, appropriation, utilization, exploitation, and development.

It will also assume all obligations of the relevant parts of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Metro Manila Development Authority, NIA, NWRB, and the DPWH, through its attached agencies, LWUA and MWSS.

The office will be led by a Secretary and five undersecretaries to handle finance, administration, planning and engineering, regulatory and financial assistance programs, as well as operations.

At present, there are two similar bills filed in the chamber — HBs 2457 and 4995, authored by Representatives Arthur C. Yap and Estrellita B. Suansing, respectively.

Senators Ralph G. Recto and Grace S. Poe-Llamanzares, have each filed Senate Bill 933 and 1217, proposing to create instead the Water Regulatory Commission. Both the earlier House bills and the Senate bills mentioned remain pending at the committee level. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

http://www.bworldonline.com/arroyo-files-bill-proposing-water-irrigation-dept/

The proposed Department of Disaster Management

President Duterte called for the creation of a Department of Disaster Management (DDM) in his State of the Nation Address on July 23. Less than three weeks later, Metro Manila experienced widespread flooding. Is Mother Nature trying to tell us something?

The President said: “I am calling [on] both houses of Congress to expeditiously craft a law establishing a new authority or department that is responsive to the prevailing 21st-century conditions and empowered to best deliver [an] enhanced disaster resiliency and quick disaster response.”

That idea seems straightforward. The country faces a variety of natural disasters every year that require close coordination between the national and local governments, a variety of different responses based on particular needs, and a comprehensive and holistic planning approach. Preparations and plans must be made for what should be accomplished before, during and after a major event like what the Supertyphoon Yolanda experience taught us.

While the details are still being discussed, the proposed DDM should obviously have Cabinet level status. “Disaster management” directly affects the lives of all Filipinos.

Currently, efforts to minimize risks against disasters are handled by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), an agency enacted into law in 2010. It “is a working group of various government, non-government, civil sector and private sector organizations, administered by the Office of Civil Defense under the Department of National Defense.” The functions of the NDRRMC are: “to plan and lead the guiding activities in the field of communication, warning signals, emergency, transportation, evacuation, rescue, engineering, health and rehabilitation, public education and auxiliary services such as fire fighting and the police in the country.”

However, if you look at the organizational structure of the NDRRMC, it is amazing it gets anything done at all. The chairman is the defense secretary, with the secretaries of Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Science and Technology, and the director general of the National Economic and Development Authority as vice chairmen.

Further, there are 40 members of the NDRRMC from the president of the Social Security System to the secretary of the Department of Tourism. All of them may have important inputs, but remember the old saying that “a camel is a horse designed by a committee.”

The past performance of the current NDRRMC is not the issue. It is a matter of improving the government response from the highest to the local level. The NDRRMC is not an independent organization as it ultimately answers to the Department of National Defense. Since its establishment, the NDRRMC has laid a good foundation for the government’s disaster response, and now the next step must be taken by elevating and broadening its authority.

The Department of Disaster Management needs to be a top priority for Congress and the usual political bickering over who gets the credit should be put aside. The people deserve better services from their elected officials.

Of course, the issues raised by the critics of the proposed DDM are worth considering, especially those coming from Sen. Richard J. Gordon, who is not only Red Cross chairman but a veteran action man in many disasters and crises in the nation’s life. Gordon said the proposed department requires more taxpayers’ money, and the focus on “disaster management” alone is “defensive.”  The thrust must be  “disaster risk reduction,” like what the agencies comprising NDRRMC are tasked to do.

Congress must also carefully weigh the consequences of transferring the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) to the proposed DDM from the Department of Science and Technology. The DOST, for all its meager resources, has in the past several years built up these two vital agencies into well-functioning, indispensable units in the overall disaster risk reduction and management system.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/the-proposed-department-of-disaster-management/

Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide ‎

Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide (JILCW), commonly known as Jesus Is Lord Church and abbreviated as JIL, is a Charismatic Christian Prayer Renewal Movement. It was founded and headed by Bishop Bro. Eddie Villanueva, a former activist and professor, who started JIL with his 15 college students who were members of his bible study group at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and formally registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC on October 5, 1978 and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines serves as its spiritual director. At present, JIL has grown to over 4 million members and has planted churches all over the Philippines and in 55 other countries.

Its main office is located at the Third Floor, St. Francis Square Mall, Julia Vargas Avenue corner Bank Drive, Barangay Wack-Wack Greenhills, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

The corporate name was registered by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Department of Finance, Republic of the Philippines as Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide - DZRV Radyo Veritas (846 kHz) Prayer Partners Foundation, Inc., a non-stock, non-profit charitable religious organization based on SEC regulatory filing and named after the Church's official broadcast radio arm DZRV Radyo Veritas (846 kHz), a commercial Roman Catholic AM radio broadcast station owned and operated by the Global Broadcasting System, Inc., a member of the Catholic Media Network and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, based in Quezon City.

The Church designated Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, Saint Pedro Calungsod, Saint John Paul II and Saint Teresa of Calcutta as the patron saints of the movement.

Local and International Chapters

The movement has the following chapters nationally and internationally:

Philippines

• Manila
• Quezon City
• Caloocan City
• Las Piñas City
• Makati City
• Malabon City
• Mandaluyong City
• Marikina City
• Meycauayan City
• Muntinlupa City
• Navotas City
• Parañaque City
• Pasay City
• Pasig City
• San Juan City
• San Pedro City
• Taguig City
• Valenzuela City
• Obando
• Pateros
• Dagupan City
• Ilocos Norte
• Ilocos Sur
• La Union
• Pangasinan
• Abra
• Baguio City
• Benguet
• Kalinga
• Apayao
• Mountain Province
• Ifugao
• Batanes
• Cagayan
• Santiago City
• Isabela
• Quirino
• Nueva Vizcaya
• Angeles City
• Mabalacat City
• City of San Fernando
• Pampanga
• Tarlac City
• Tarlac
• Olongapo City
• Zambales
• Balanga City
• Bataan
• Malolos City
• City of San Jose Del Monte
• Bulacan
• Cabanatuan City
• Nueva Ecija
• Aurora
• Antipolo City
• Rizal
• Bacoor City
• Imus City
• Dasmariñas City
• General Trias City
• Cavite
• Biñan City
• Santa Rosa City
• Cabuyao City
• Calamba City
• San Pablo City
• Laguna
• Batangas City
• Lipa City
• Tanauan City
• Batangas
• Lucena City
• Quezon
• Puerto Princesa City
• Palawan
• Occidental Mindoro
• Oriental Mindoro
• Marinduque
• Romblon
• Naga City
• Camarines Norte
• Camarines Sur
• Albay
• Catanduanes
• Sorsogon
• Masbate
• Aklan
• Antique
• Capiz
• Iloilo City
• Iloilo
• Guimaras
• Bacolod City
• Negros Occidental
• Cebu City
• Lapu-lapu City
• Mandaue City
• Cebu
• Bohol
• Negros Oriental
• Siquijor
• Biliran
• Ormoc City
• Tacloban City
• Leyte
• Southern Leyte
• Northern Samar
• Eastern Samar
• Western Samar
• Isabela City
• Zamboanga City
• Zamboanga del Norte
• Zamboanga del Sur
• Zamboanga Sibugay
• Bukidnon
• Cagayan de Oro City
• Camiguin
• Misamis Occidental
• Misamis Oriental
• Iligan City
• Lanao del Norte
• Malaybalay City
• Compostela Valley
• Davao City
• Davao del Norte
• Davao del Sur
• Davao Occidental
• Davao Oriental
• Tagum City
• Cotabato City
• Cotabato
• General Santos City
• Sarangani
• South Cotabato
• Sultan Kudarat
• Butuan City
• Agusan del Norte
• Agusan del Sur
• Dinagat Islands
• Surigao del Norte
• Surigao del Sur
• Basilan
• Lanao del Sur
• Maguindanao
• Shariff Kabunsuan
• Sulu
• Tawi-Tawi

China

• Beijing
• Tianjin 
• Hebei
• Shanxi
• Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
• Liaoning
• Jilin
• Heilongjiang
• Shanghai
• Jiangsu
• Zhejiang
• Anhui
• Fujian Province
• Jiangxi Province
• Shandong Province
• Henan
• Hubei
• Hunan
• Guangdong
• Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
• Hainan
• Chongqing
• Sichuan
• Guizhou
• Yunnan
• Tibet Autonomous Region
• Shaanxi
• Gansu
• Qinghai
• Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
• Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

East Timor

• Oecusse
• Liquiçá
• Dili
• Manatuto
• Baucau
• Lautém
• Bobonaro
• Ermera
• Aileu
• Viqueque
• Cova Lima
• Ainaro
• Manufahi

Hong Kong

• Hong Kong Island
• Central and Western
• Eastern
• Southern
• Wan Chai
• Kowloon and New Kowloon
• Kowloon City
• Kwun Tong
• Sham Shui Po
• Wong Tai Sin
• Yau Tsim Mong
• New Territories (excluding New Kowloon)
• Islands
• Kwai Tsing
• North
• Sai Kung
• Sha Tin
• Tai Po
• Tsuen Wan
• Tuen Mun
• Yuen Long

India

• Jammu and Kashmir
• Himachal Pradesh
• Punjab
• Chandigarh
• Uttarakhand
• Haryana
• Delhi
• Uttar Pradesh
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Assam
• Manipur
• Meghalaya
• Mizoram
• Nagaland
• Sikkim
• Tripura
• Bihar
• Jharkhand
• Odisha
• West Bengal
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands
• Andhra Pradesh
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Tamil Nadu
• Telangana
• Gujarat
• Maharashtra
• Goa
• Daman and Diu
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli

Indonesia

• Aceh
• Bangka–Belitung Islands
• Bengkulu
• Jambi
• Lampung
• North Sumatra
• Riau
• Riau Islands
• South Sumatra
• West Sumatra
• Banten
• Central Java
• East Java
• Jakarta
• West Java
• Yogyakarta
• Central Kalimantan
• East Kalimantan
• North Kalimantan
• South Kalimantan
• West Kalimantan
• Bali
• East Nusa Tenggara
• West Nusa Tenggara
• Central Sulawesi
• Gorontalo
• North Sulawesi
• Southeast Sulawesi
• South Sulawesi
• West Sulawesi
• Maluku
• North Maluku
• Western New Guinea
• Papua
• West Papua

Japan

• Hokkaido
• Tōhoku
• Aomori
• Iwate
• Miyagi
• Akita
• Yamagata
• Fukushima
• Kantō
• Ibaraki
• Tochigi
• Gunma
• Saitama
• Chiba
• Tokyo
• Kanagawa
• Niigata
• Toyama
• Ishikawa
• Fukui
• Yamanashi
• Nagano
• Gifu
• Shizuoka
• Aichi
• Mie
• Shiga
• Kyoto
• Osaka
• Hyōgo
• Nara
• Wakayama
• Tottori
• Shimane
• Okayama
• Hiroshima
• Yamaguchi
• Tokushima
• Kagawa
• Ehime
• Kōchi
• Fukuoka
• Saga
• Nagasaki
• Kumamoto
• Ōita
• Miyazaki
• Kagoshima
• Okinawa

Jordan

• North Region
• Ajloun
• Irbid
• Jerash
• Mafraq
• Central Region
• Amman
• Balqa
• Madaba
• Zarqa
• South Region
• Aqaba
• Karak
• Ma'an
• Tafilah

Kazakhstan

• Akmola
• Aktobe
• Almaty
• Atyrau
• East Kazakhstan
• Karaganda
• Kostanay
• Kyzylorda
• Jambyl
• Mangystau
• North Kazakhstan
• Pavlodar
• South Kazakhstan
• West Kazakhstan

Kuwait

• Capital (Asima)
• Hawalli
• Farwaniya
• Ahmadi
• Jahra
• Mubarak Al-Kabeer

Kyrgyzstan

• Batken
• Bishkek (city)
• Chuy
• Issyk-Kul
• Jalal-Abad
• Naryn
• Osh
• Osh (city)
• Talas

Laos

• Attapeu
• Bokeo
• Bolikhamxai
• Champasak
• Houaphan
• Khammouan
• Luang Namtha
• Louangphabang
• Oudomxai
• Phongsali
• Sainyabuli
• Salavan
• Savannakhet
• Sekong
• Vientiane (Viengchan)
• Vientiane
• Xiangkhoang

Lebanon

• Beirut
• Beqaa
• Mount Lebanon
• Nabatieh
• North
• South

Macau

• Macau Peninsula
• N. Sra. de Fátima
• Sto. António
• S. Lázaro
• Sé
• S. Lourenço
• Taipa and Coloane
• N. Sra. do Carmo
• S. Francisco Xavier

Malaysia

• Peninsular Malaysia
• Northern Region
• Perlis
• Kedah
• Penang
• Perak
• East Coast Region
• Kelantan
• Terengganu
• Pahang
• Central Region
• Selangor
• Kuala Lumpur
• Putrajaya
• Southern Region
• Negeri Sembilan
• Malacca
• Johor
• East Malaysia
• Sabah
• Sarawak
• Federal Territory of Labuan

Maldives

• Haa Alif
• Haa Dhaalu
• Shaviyani
• Noonu
• Raa
• Baa
• Lhaviyani
• Kaafu
• Alif Alif
• Alif Dhaal
• Vaavu
• Meemu
• Faafu
• Dhaalu
• Thaa
• Laamu
• Gaafu Alif
• Gaafu Dhaalu
• Gnaviyani
• Malé
• Addu

Mongolia

• Arkhangai
• Bayankhongor
• Bayan-Ölgii
• Bulgan
• Darkhan-Uul
• Dornod
• Dornogovi
• Dundgovi
• Govi-Altai
• Govisümber
• Khentii
• Khovd
• Khövsgöl
• Ömnögovi
• Orkhon
• Övörkhangai
• Selenge
• Sükhbaatar
• Töv
• Ulaanbaatar
• Uvs
• Zavkhan

Nepal

• Province No. 1
• Province No. 2
• Province No. 3
• Province No. 4
• Province No. 5
• Province No. 6
• Province No. 7

North Korea

• North Hwanghae
• South Hwanghae
• North Hamgyong
• Kangwon
• South Hamgyong
• Ryanggang
• Chagang
• North Pyongan
• South Pyongan

Oman

• Ad Dakhiliyah
• Ad Dhahirah
• Al Batinah North
• Al Batinah South
• Al Buraimi
• Al Wusta
• Ash Sharqiyah North
• Ash Sharqiyah South
• Dhofar
• Masqat
• Musandam

Pakistan

• Balochistan
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• Punjab
• Sindh
• Islamabad Capital Territory
• Federally Administered Tribal Areas
• Azad Jammu and Kashmir
• Gilgit-Baltistan

Palestinian territories

• West Bank
• Jerusalem (al-Quds)
• Bethlehem
• Hebron
• Jenin
• Jericho
• Nablus
• Qalqilya
• Ramallah and al-Bireh
• Salfit
• Tubas
• Tulkarm
• Gaza Strip
• Deir al-Balah
• Gaza
• Khan Yunis
• North Gaza
• Rafah

Qatar

• Al Daayen
• Ad Dawhah
• Al Khor
• Al Wakrah
• Al Rayyan
• Madinat ash Shamal
• Umm Salal

Saudi Arabia

• Al Bahah
• Northern Borders
• Al Jawf
• Al Madinah
• Al Qasim
• Riyadh
• Eastern Province
• 'Asir
• Ha'il
• Jizan
• Makkah
• Najran
• Tabuk

Singapore

• Aljunied
• Ang Mo Kio
• Cheng San
• Chong Boon
• Kebun Baru
• Teck Ghee
• Anson Road
• Ayer Rajah
• Balestier Road
• Bartley
• Bedok
• Bedok Reservoir
• Bedok Town Park
• Shunfu Estate
• Sin Ming
• Boon Keng
• Bugis-Kampong Glam
• Bencoolen
• Rochor
• Sungei Road
• Bukit Batok
• Bukit Gombak
• Hillview
• Hume Estate
• Bukit Panjang
• Bukit Timah
• Dunearn
• Toh Tuck
• Watten
• Buona Vista
• Ghim Moh
• Holland Drive
• Holland Village
• one-North
• Chinatown
• Clarke Quay
• Choa Chu Kang
• Yew Tee
• Clementi
• Dover
• Pandan Valley
• West Coast
• Geylang
• Geylang East
• Geylang Serai
• Geylang West
• Hougang
• Buangkok
• Jalan Kayu-Seletar
• Jurong Residential
• Boon Lay
• Gek Poh Ville
• Jurong Central
• Jurong Green
• Jurong Spring
• Nanyang
• Pioneer
• Yuhua
• Jurong Industrial
• Chin Bee
• Joo Koon
• Lok Yang
• Pioneer Sector
• Jurong Island
• Ten mile Junction
• Kallang
• Kallang Bahru
• Kallang Basin
• Lavender
• Kembangan
• Fidelio Estate
• Frankel Estate
• Kent Ridge
• Labrador Park
• Little India
• Boon Keng
• Farrer Park
• MacPherson
• Mattar
• Mandai
• Marina Bay
• Esplanade
• Marina Centre
• Marina East
• Marina South
• Marine Parade
• North-Eastern Islands
• Pulau Tekong
• Pulau Ubin
• Novena
• Orchard Road
• Cairnhill
• Dhoby Ghaut
• Emerald Hill
• Somerset-Killiney
• Tanglin
• Pasir Panjang
• Pasir Ris
• Elias
• Lorong Halus
• Loyang
• Paya Lebar
• Potong Pasir
• Bidadari
• Mount Vernon
• Punggol
• Queenstown
• Commonwealth
• St Michael's
• Seletar
• Sengkang
• Sennett Estate
• Serangoon
• Serangoon Gardens
• Serangoon North
• Simpang
• Singapore City
• Somapah
• Tai Seng
• Tampines
• Simei
• Tanjong Pagar
• Teban Gardens
• Telok Blangah
• Bukit Chandu
• Bukit Purmei
• HarbourFront
• Radin Mas
• Tengah
• Tiong Bahru
• Bukit Ho Swee
• Bukit Merah
• Toa Payoh
• Bukit Brown
• Caldecott Hill
• Mount Pleasant
• Thomson
• Tuas
• Tuas Crescent
• Tuas Link
• Tuas South
• Tuas West
• Western Water Catchment
• Lim Chu Kang
• Murai
• Pasir Laba
• Sarimbun
• Sungei Gedong
• Wrexham
• Woodlands
• Admiralty
• Innova
• Marsiling
• Woodgrove
• Yishun
• Chong Pang
• Yew Tee

Sri Lanka

• Central
• Eastern
• North Central
• Northern
• North Western
• Sabaragamuwa
• Southern
• Uva
• Western

Syria

• Aleppo
• Damascus
• Daraa
• Deir ez-Zor
• Hama
• Al-Hasakah
• Homs
• Idlib
• Latakia
• Quneitra
• Ar-Raqqah
• Rif Dimashq
• As-Suwayda
• Tartus

Tajikistan

• Sughd Region
• Khatlon Region
• Districts of Republican Subordination
• Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region

Taiwan

• Changhua County
• Chiayi City
• Chiayi County
• Hsinchu City
• Hsinchu County
• Hualien County
• Kaohsiung City
• Keelung City
• Kinmen County
• Lienchiang County
• Miaoli County
• Nantou County
• New Taipei City
• Penghu County
• Pingtung County
• Taichung City
• Tainan City
• Taipei City
• Taitung County
• Taoyuan City
• Yilan County
• Yunlin County

Thailand
Northern Thailand
Chiang Mai
Chiang Rai
Lampang
Lamphun
Mae Hong Son
Nan
Phayao
Phrae
Uttaradit
Northeastern Thailand
Amnat Charoen
Bueng Kan
Buriram
Chaiyaphum
Kalasin
Khon Kaen
Loei
Maha Sarakham
Mukdahan
Nakhon Phanom
Nakhon Ratchasima
Nong Bua Lamphu
Nong Khai
Roi Et
Sakon Nakhon
Sisaket
Surin
Ubon Ratchathani
Udon Thani
Yasothon
Western Thailand
Kanchanaburi
Phetchaburi
Prachuap Khiri Khan
Ratchaburi
Tak
Central Thailand
Ang Thong
Chai Nat
Kamphaeng Phet
Lopburi
Nakhon Nayok
Nakhon Sawan
Phetchabun
Phichit
Phitsanulok
Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya
Samut Songkhram
Saraburi
Sing Buri
Sukhothai
Suphan Buri
Uthai Thani
Eastern Thailand
Chachoengsao
Chanthaburi
Chonburi
Prachinburi
Rayong
Sa Kaeo
Trat
Southern Thailand
Chumphon
Krabi
Nakhon Si Thammarat
Narathiwat
Pattani
Phang Nga
Phatthalung
Phuket
Ranong
Satun
Songkhla
Surat Thani
Trang
Yala
Vietnam
Northwest
Điện Biên
Hòa Bình
Lai Châu
Sơn La
Lào Cai
Northeast
Bắc Giang
Bắc Kạn
Cao Bằng
Hà Giang
Lạng Sơn
Phú Thọ
Quảng Ninh
Thái Nguyên
Tuyên Quang
Red River Delta
Bắc Ninh
Hà Nam
Hải Dương
Hưng Yên
Nam Định
Ninh Bình
Thái Bình
Vĩnh Phúc
Ha Noi (municipality)
Hai Phong (municipality)
North Central Coast
Hà Tĩnh
Nghệ An
Quảng Bình
Quảng Trị
Thanh Hóa
Thừa Thiên–Huế
South Central Coast
Đà Nẵng
Quảng Nam
Quảng Ngãi
Bình Định
Phú Yên
Khánh Hòa
Ninh Thuận
Bình Thuận
Central Highlands
Đắk Lắk
Đắk Nông
Gia Lai
Kon Tum
Lâm Đồng
Southeast
Ho Chi Minh City
Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province
Bình Dương Province
Bình Phước Province
Đồng Nai Province
Tây Ninh Province
Mekong Delta
Cần Thơ (Municipality)
An Giang
Bạc Liêu
Bến Tre
Cà Mau
Đồng Tháp
Hậu Giang
Kiên Giang
Long An
Sóc Trăng
Tiền Giang
Trà Vinh
Vĩnh Long
Asia

• Abkhazia
• Afghanistan
• Akrotiri and Dhekelia
• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• British Indian Ocean Territory
• Brunei
• Cambodia
• China
• Christmas Island
• Cocos (Keeling) Islands
• Cyprus
• East Timor (Timor-Leste)
• Egypt
• Georgia
• Hong Kong
• India
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Israel
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Lebanon
• Macau
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mongolia
• Myanmar
• Nagorno-Karabakh
• Nepal
• North Korea
• Northern Cyprus
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Palestine
• Qatar
• Russia
• Saudi Arabia
• South Korea
• South Ossetia
• Sri Lanka
• Syria
• Taiwan
• Tajikistan
• Turkey
• Turkmenistan
• United Arab Emirates
• Uzbekistan
• Yemen

Oceania

• American Samoa
• Ashmore and Cartier Islands
• Australia
• Baker Island
• Christmas Island
• Cocos (Keeling) Islands
• Cook Islands
• Coral Sea Islands
• Federated States of Micronesia
• Fiji
• French Polynesia
• Guam
• Howland Island
• Jarvis Island
• Johnston Atoll
• Kingman Reef
• Kiribati
• Marshall Islands
• Midway Atoll
• Nauru
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand
• Niue
• Norfolk Island
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
• Pitcairn Islands
• Samoa
• Solomon Islands
• Tokelau
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu
• Wake Island
• Wallis and Futuna

North America

• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Aruba
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bermuda
• British Virgin Islands
• Canada
• Cayman Islands
• Clipperton Island
• St. Martin
• Costa Rica
• Cuba
• Curaçao
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• El Salvador
• Greenland
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Montserrat
• Navassa Island
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Puerto Rico
• St. Barthélemy
• St. Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• St. Pierre and Miquelon
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Sint Maarten
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• United States Virgin Islands
• United States

United States

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• Washington, D.C.
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Mexico

• Baja California
• Baja California Sur
• Chihuahua
• Durango
• Sinaloa
• Sonora
• Coahuila
• Nuevo León
• Tamaulipas
• Aguascalientes
• Guanajuato
• Querétaro
• San Luis Potosí
• Zacatecas
• México
• Mexico City
• Morelos
• Colima
• Jalisco
• Michoacán
• Nayarit
• Hidalgo
• Puebla
• Tlaxcala
• Veracruz
• Campeche
• Quintana Roo
• Tabasco
• Yucatán
• Chiapas
• Guerrero
• Oaxaca

Panama

• Bocas del Toro
• Chiriquí
• Coclé
• Colón
• Darién
• Herrera
• Los Santos
• Panamá
• Panamá Oeste
• Veraguas
• Emberá
• Guna Yala
• Ngäbe-Buglé
• Kuna de Madugandí
• Kuna de Wargandí

South America

• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Chile
• Colombia
• Ecuador
• Guyana
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Suriname
• Uruguay
• Venezuela

Argentina

• Buenos Aires City
• Buenos Aires
• Catamarca
• Chaco
• Chubut
• Córdoba
• Corrientes
• Entre Ríos
• Formosa
• Jujuy
• La Pampa
• La Rioja
• Mendoza
• Misiones
• Neuquén
• Río Negro
• Salta
• San Juan
• San Luis
• Santa Cruz
• Santa Fe
• Santiago del Estero
• Tierra del Fuego
• Tucumán

Bolivia

• Beni
• Chuquisaca
• Cochabamba
• La Paz
• Oruro
• Pando
• Potosí
• Santa Cruz
• Tarija

Brazil

• Acre
• Amapá
• Amazonas
• Pará
• Rondônia
• Roraima
• Tocantins
• Alagoas
• Bahia
• Ceará
• Maranhão
• Paraíba
• Pernambuco
• Piauí
• Rio Grande do Norte
• Sergipe
• Distrito Federal
• Goiás
• Mato Grosso
• Mato Grosso do Sul
• Espírito Santo
• Minas Gerais
• Rio de Janeiro
• São Paulo
• Paraná
• Rio Grande do Sul
• Santa Catarina
• Fernando de Noronha
• Rocas Atoll
• Saint Peter and Saint Paul
• Trindade and Martim Vaz

Chile

• Aysén
• Antártica Chilena
• Antofagasta
• Arauco
• Arica
• Bío Bío
• Cachapoal
• Capitán Prat
• Cardenal Caro
• Cauquenes
• Cautín
• Chacabuco
• Chañaral
• Chiloé
• Choapa
• Coyhaique
• Colchagua
• Concepción
• Copiapó
• Cordillera
• Curicó
• El Loa
• Elqui
• General Carrera
• Huasco
• Iquique
• Isla de Pascua
• Limarí
• Linares
• Llanquihue
• Los Andes
• Magallanes
• Maipo
• Malleco
• Marga Marga
• Melipilla
• Ñuble
• Osorno
• Palena
• Parinacota
• Petorca
• Quillota
• Ranco
• San Antonio
• San Felipe de Aconcagua
• Santiago
• Talagante
• Talca
• Tamarugal
• Tierra del Fuego
• Tocopilla
• Última Esperanza
• Valdivia
• Valparaíso

Colombia

• Amazonas
• Antioquia
• Arauca
• Atlántico
• Bogotá
• Bolívar
• Boyacá
• Caldas
• Caquetá
• Casanare
• Cauca
• Cesar
• Chocó
• Córdoba
• Cundinamarca
• Guainía
• Guaviare
• Huila
• La Guajira
• Magdalena
• Meta
• Nariño
• N. Santander
• Putumayo
• Quindío
• Risaralda
• San Andrés
• Santander
• Sucre
• Tolima
• Valle del Cauca
• Vaupés
• Vichada

Ecuador

• Azuay
• Bolívar
• Cañar
• Carchi
• Chimborazo
• Cotopaxi
• El Oro
• Esmeraldas
• Galápagos
• Guayas
• Imbabura
• Loja
• Los Ríos
• Manabí
• Morona-Santiago
• Napo
• Orellana
• Pastaza
• Pichincha
• Santa Elena
• Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas
• Sucumbíos
• Tungurahua
• Zamora-Chinchipe

Guyana

• Barima-Waini
• Pomeroon-Supenaam
• Essequibo Islands-West Demerara
• Demerara-Mahaica
• Mahaica-Berbice
• East Berbice-Corentyne
• Cuyuni-Mazaruni
• Potaro-Siparuni
• Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo
• Upper Demerara-Berbice

Paraguay

• Alto Paraguay
• Alto Paraná
• Amambay
• Asunción (Capital District)
• Boquerón
• Caaguazú
• Caazapá
• Canindeyú
• Central
• Concepción
• Cordillera
• Guairá
• Itapúa
• Misiones
• Ñeembucú
• Paraguarí
• Presidente Hayes
• San Pedro

Peru

• Amazonas
• Ancash
• Apurímac
• Arequipa
• Ayacucho
• Cajamarca
• Callao
• Cusco
• Huancavelica
• Huánuco
• Ica
• Junín
• La Libertad
• Lambayeque
• Lima
• Loreto
• Madre de Dios
• Moquegua
• Pasco
• Piura
• Puno
• San Martín
• Tacna
• Tumbes
• Ucayali

Suriname

• Brokopondo District
• Commewijne District
• Coronie District
• Marowijne District
• Nickerie District
• Para District
• Paramaribo District
• Saramacca District
• Sipaliwini District
• Wanica District

Uruguay

• Artigas
• Canelones
• Cerro Largo
• Colonia
• Durazno
• Flores
• Florida
• Lavalleja
• Maldonado
• Montevideo
• Paysandú
• Río Negro
• Rivera
• Rocha
• Salto
• San José
• Soriano
• Tacuarembó
• Treinta y Tres

Europe

• Åland Islands
• Albania
• Andorra
• Austria
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Faroe Islands
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Gibraltar
• Greece
• Guernsey
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Isle of Man
• Italy
• Jan Mayen
• Jersey
• Kosovo
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macedonia
• Malta
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Montenegro
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Svalbard
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Transnistria
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom
• Vatican City

Africa

• Algeria
• Angola
• Benin
• Botswana
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Cape Verde
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Comoros
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Republic of the Congo
• Djibouti
• Egypt
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Gabon
• The Gambia
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Libya
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Mali
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Rwanda
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Senegal
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Somalia
• South Africa
• South Sudan
• Sudan
• Swaziland
• Tanzania
• Togo
• Tunisia
• Uganda
• Western Sahara
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

My Story, My SM: Ben Chan

BEN CHAN
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, BENCH
FOUNDER, SUYEN CORPORATION

In 1987, Ben Chan started a small t-shirt shop at the SM Department Store in Makati.

At that time, “the retail landscape was completely different from what it is today. It was more local, more intimate, less competitive, and everybody pretty much shopped in the same place. Filipinos in general were conservative and formal in their fashion sense.”

His casual and sporty approach to clothing, which was ahead of its time, was almost immediately a hit. It would eventually become the beginnings of Bench, the fashion clothing line, under the family-owned Suyen Corporation.

Ben comes from a family of serial entrepreneurs.  He is the son of Chan Lib and See Ying, who established Liwayway Marketing Company, which soon became the country’s leading starch supplier due to its famous flagship product Liwayway Gawgaw (laundry starch).

With his world-class fashion style and hardworking ethic, Bench has become a leading lifestyle and fashion chain in the Philippines. The t-shirt offerings expanded into a whole lifestyle store, and into other brands – Human for streetwear, Kashieca for ladies, Dimensione for furniture, PCX — a cosmetics and beauty shop; as well as Bench Skin Expert, Bench Fix Salon, and Bench Barbers.

Suyen Corporation is also the local distributor of global fashion brands like Cotton On from Australia, Vero Moda from Denmark, Under Armour, Aldo, and Cath Kidston; as well as fragrance and cosmetics lines like Jo Malone, Bobbi Brown, Kiehl’s, and Estee Lauder.

Bench, which now has a Bench Café in partnership with FooDee Global Concepts, has also brought exciting global food concepts to the Philippines like Paul Boulangerie, Maisen, St. Marc Café, Patchi Chocolates, Pablo Desserts.

By 2007, Bench was on its way to global retailing, with established stores in Los Angeles, Riyadh, Bahrain, Guangzhou, Xian, and Dubai. China remains its primary focus with more than 27 company stores and 19 franchises.

Looking back, Ben says that, “the Bench story began with SM.  Without our first big break from SM, there would be no Bench.”

“The best thing about having a 30-year business relationship with SM is that we have grown together in parallel,” he adds. “Together we not only witnessed, but spearheaded vast changes in the Philippine retail landscape.”

SM and Bench also have a shared vision “of giving Filipino customers a world-class shopping experience, of constantly elevating the retail game. SM has always been an innovator in the field, constantly introducing the local market to the latest trends from around the world.”

Ben’s favorite thing about SM “is their decades-old tagline, ‘We’ve got it all for you.’ Simple, brilliant, timeless, and they have stayed true to these words to this day. That’s why SM has become something Filipinos cannot live without.”

Classified Ads: GMA Network, Inc. Manila - Head Office AM Transmitter Engineer

Position Responsibilities: Ensures that the AM transmitting equipment and accessories are operating according to National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) established standards with a strong signal and optimum quality 100% of the time to contribute for higher ratings and revenue.

Job Requirements:
a.) Graduate of Electronics Engineering (ECE) or related technical/electronic course; with ECE license/1st class RTO ;
b.) 2 years of experience in the operation and maintenance of high power RF transmitters ;
c.) Knowledge of basic electronic theory ;
d.) Able to read and understand schematic diagrams ;
e.) Able to troubleshoot and repair electronic equipment ;
f.) Knowledge in the use and understand basic test instruments ;
g.) Able to work under extended and flexible hours when required, able to work under inclement weather conditions ;
h.) Good interpersonal skills, team player
i.) Ability to act on initiative and without close supervision

Other Information:
a.) Computer skills and literacy;
b.) Able to effectively communicate both in oral and written;
c.) Knowledgeable and able to comply with NTC rules and regulations

Required Years of Work Experience: 2 to 3 years
Employment Type: Regular, Full Time
No. of Vacancies: 1
Job Specialization: Engineering - Electronics and Communications

“Say ‘Hi!,’Get HIGH and Never Say ‘Hayyy!’ To BUHAY!”

Well, Thank God It’s Forty… almost… ang Eat Bulaga!

Sa APAT NA DEKADA tumatakbo na nga!

Kahit patagilid pang animo’y talangka!

Hanggang sa may lumot tuloy lamang ang nguya!



Kung mahal mo ang buhay at kanyang biyaya,

Sige la’t ‘wag titigil at baka manghina!

Pag nagretiro ka alam n’yo bang ang sagwa?!

Pagkat ang DAY OFF mo ay mawawala!



Kaya tuloy lang ang buhay at ginagawa

Lahat din naman tayo’y hihina’t tatanda!

Lakas at gana natin tuluyang bababa,

Tanong n’yo ngayon ­— ano ang ubrang magawa?



Magandang tanong ya’t isa lang ang payo ko

Kung pag-iisip na lang malinaw sa inyo —

Na sa pupuntahan naman naroon mga gusto —

Elvis, John Lennon makakasalamuha n’yo!



Pati si Michael Jackson at kung sino-sino!

Malamang “sa dako pa roon” same pareho!

Pantay-pantay PATI PAA lahat ng tao!

Not sure lang if there’s selfie… o HELFIE punta mo!



Ngek! But wait there’s more… to life! Matagal pa ito!

‘Yun bang nausong listahan meron na kayo?

Bucket list for the rich, ang poor BAKIT ‘yung inyo!

“Bakit mahirap ako? Oh bakit ganito?”



YOLO sa mayaman kaya gagawin gusto,

You Only Live Once kaya sige todo luho!

YOYOY naman sa mahirap at ano ito?

Eh di “Why oh why oh why?” Bakit I’m poor? Oh no!



Well, biru-biruan man ito o totoo,

Sa meron o wala pare-pareho … YOLO!

Sa buhay tig-iisa lamang lahat tayo!

Tama na isa pag nagawang TAMA ito!



Sa haba’t tagal lang nagkakaiba medyo,

Kadalasan ‘yay depende na rin sa tao,

Basta pinakamagandang pagtanggap dito —

Say “Hi!”, get HIGH and never say “Hayyy!” sa BUHAY mo!



At kung sa “dukha” ka napunta sa tingin mo,

Pananalig sa Diyos pagyamanin ito!

Alisin ang inggit sa puso mo at ulo

At ilabas ang galit sa pagtratrabaho!



‘Wag nabubuhay ka lamang dito sa mundo,

Lagyang buhay ang buhay nang may pagbabago!

Kung ano meron ka ikaw ay makuntento,

Pumikit at ngumiti at makikita mo!



At kung nasasaktan ka sa pakiramdam mo;

May hapdi at kirot ‘di malaman kung ano,

Kung walang dugo’t sugat ‘wag pansinin ito!

Ang ibig sabihin laman lang ‘yan ng ulo!



Buhay upang humaba dapat ikatuwa!

Magtatagal pag masaya sa ginagawa!

Dahil haba at buhay din lang ating paksa,

‘Di na nakakabulaga… ganyan BULAGA!



Matarik at mahirap ang aming simula,

Mabigat at malaki aming binabangga!

Basta buhay lang namin inaalintana,

Lagi lang may tuwa sa hirap o ginhawa!



Umabot sa ngayon ‘di namin inakala,

Araw-araw paggising isang gantimpala!

Basta lang kay BATMAN lahat pinaubaya …

BATHALANG MANANAKOP… BATMAN na bahala!



Sinulat ko last week natatandaan n’yo ba?

‘Yung tungkol sa unang tee shirt pinaimprenta?

Nung Eat Bulaga nag-Anibersaryong Una —

“NINETY-NINE YEARS TO GO!” doon ang nakaletra!



Now back to ONE HUNDRED, nung August 3 nga pala,

Naging CENTURY OF ATTRACTION aking Papa!

Pagkat BIRTHDAY n’ya at ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD na s’ya!

‘Di lang pwedeng mag-blow at wala nang hininga!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA PEPE! I LOVE YOU!

House cool to Sotto bill on 14th month pay

At least two congressmen on Saturday said Senate President Vicente Sotto III’s bill granting 14th month pay to employees in the private sector may have a hard time passing in Congress.

Reps. Gus Tambunting of Parañaque City and Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar said Sotto’s Senate Bill 2 would meet a cold shoulder from congressmen.

Tambunting said legislated wage increases or mandatory benefits and bonuses need to be studied carefully.

“There is a need to balance the interests of workers and employers, as well as the broader economy. We need to remember that the Philippines is primarily a ‘service economy,’” said Tambunting, chairman of the House committee on games and amusements.

Evardone said a lot of factors need to be considered to enable private sector employers to give their rank and file employees the 14th month pay every year.

Other employees, such as those in government, should also get a fair share of pay increases, added the Eastern Samar solon.

“I will support it provided it covers all employees,” said Evardone, chairman of the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries.

Malacañang earlier said the President would still need to consult with his economic managers to study whether or not to support Sotto’s bill.

SB 2 proposes that 13th-month pay shall be given to employees in the private sector not later than June 14, while the 14th-month pay shall be given before Dec. 24 of every year.

State workers are already entitled to a 14th-month pay through a 2017 Budget Circular.

Meanwhile, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte urged national government agencies to get their act together in implementing infrastructure projects in support of President Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” program.
Villafuerte, vice chairman of the House committee on appropriations, lamented the low absorptive capacity of certain national government agencies in implementing projects, as conceded by Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, has affected the allocation for infrastructure projects at the local government level.

Under the new cash-based budgeting system, Malacañang submitted a proposed P3.757-trillion budget for 2019, which is slightly lower than this year’s P3.767 trillion.

At a recent budget hearing of the House committee on appropriations, chaired by Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, Diokno said Malacañang’s proposed 2019 cash-based national budget is slightly lower than the previous year’s because it is based on each agency’s absorptive capacity and the readiness of the projects and programs for implementation.

Under the proposed cash-based national budget, all payouts are valid within the fiscal year and three months the following year, or only until March 2020.

Villafuerte, also vice chairman of the House committee on local government, proposed at the House hearing that to improve absorptive capacity, particularly of the Department of Public Works and Highways, that the implementation of many local road projects be done by the DPWH.

“My humble suggestion is if these funds are allotted to local roads, the absorptive capacity [will improve], the money not spent, will [then] be spent,” Villafuerte told Diokno during a recent briefing held by Cabinet members belonging to the Development Budget Coordination Committee.

http://www.manilastandard.net/news/top-stories/272810/house-cool-to-sotto-bill-on-14th-month-pay.html

De Lima files bill on incentivizing use of solar energy in households

As a way to lower energy costs and reduce carbon footprint in the country, Senator Leila de Lima has filed a measure seeking to incentivize and promote the use of solar energy in households.

In a statement, the senator said she filed Senate Bill (SB) No. 1904 which seeks to promote the use of renewable energy providing incentives and credit facilities for households utilizing solar power systems.

“This bill seeks to institutionalize the provision of adequate incentive mechanisms for small households in order to help ease and expedite their transition to renewable energy sources and thus contribute to the nation’s pursuit towards reducing its overall carbon footprint,” de Lima said.

Under her proposed measure, the Department of Finance (DOF) and concerned agencies shall draw up appropriate mechanisms for the grant of subsidies, establishment of guarantee funds, tax credits, and rebates on the purchase and installation of small solar power system for residential use.

"These incentive mechanisms shall be implemented in tranches beginning from a subsidy of 75 percent of the basic cost for the installation of small solar power systems in the first three years of this Act’s implementation, 50 percent on the next three years, and 25 percent on the seventh year onward," the senator said.

“The installation of small solar power systems shall be granted expedited plan checks and shall be exempt from the payment of building permit fees. The total cost of the solar power system shall further be excluded from the computation and payment of real property taxes,” she added.

The DOF, in coordination with Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Renewable Energy Board shall issue the necessary rules and regulations for the implementation of the proposed measure to be known as the “Small Solar Power System Incentives Act of 2018.”

In 2016, the DOE reported that approximately 24 percent of power generated nationwide came from Renewable Energy (RE)–based generation facilities.

Upon closer inspection, de Lima said the data revealed that only 1 percent of all renewable energy in 2016 was generated from solar photovoltaic systems.

De Lima said utilizing solar energy is an endeavor that should be considered by the government because “generating electricity by way of harvesting solar energy is becoming cheaper as the years go by.”

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the cost of power generation from solar photovoltaic systems has fallen by 73 percent since 2010 and is projected to be further cut by half in the year 2020.

De Lima also said that solar panels are relatively easy to acquire, transport, and install, noting that it only takes a few hours to a few days for larger arrays.

“This ease of access is what makes solar panels unique from other energy sources—renewable or otherwise,” she said.

“The sooner the nation adopts policies promoting renewable energy sources, the closer it is to achieving energy independence,” she added. —Ted Cordero/KG, GMA News

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/economy/663773/de-lima-files-bill-on-incentivizing-use-of-solar-energy-in-households/story/

The Bangsamoro should defy the NFA

The simplest and least expensive move for fighting poverty is to let any Filipino be free to buy cheaper rice from abroad. The great enemy of this move is the National Food Authority (see “End the NFA monopoly!” Opinion, 4/22/17).

Rice costs only half as much in Thailand. The wholesale price of rice in the Bangkok metropolis in June 2018 (latest available month) was 12,360 baht per metric ton, for 5 percent broken rice, which is high quality. This is only 19.78 pesos per kg at the exchange rate of 1.60 Philippine pesos per Thai baht (price data from the Bank of Thailand: http://www2/bot.or.th/statistics/ReportPage.aspx?reportID=898&language=eng).

On the other hand, the wholesale price per kg of well-milled rice was42.30 pesos in the Philippines as a whole, and 40.40 pesos in Metro Manila in particular, as of the third week of July (source, Philippine Statistics Authority: https://psa.gov.ph/content/updates-palay-rice-and-corn-prices-0).

The government is failing on its promise to remove controls over rice imports. Sadly, there is no reduction in the NFA’s rice import monopoly in House Bill No. 7735, “An act replacing the quantitative import restrictions on rice with tariffs and creating the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.” The bill lets the NFA retain “sole authority to undertake the direct importation of rice, of ensuring food security and maintaining sufficient national buffer stocks.”

Then it authorizes the NFA “to allocate import permits among certified and licensed importers for importation other than maintaining buffer stocks.” This only solidifies the NFA’s present powers to decide the rice importation details of how much, when and (most of all) who.

HB 7735 also provides that “for imported rice originating from ASEAN Member States, the import duty rate commitments of the Philippines in the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) shall be adopted.”

The import duty for rice was already reduced to 35 percent in 2015, by Executive Order No. 894 (6/18/2010). To me, that is at least 30 percent too high, since ATIGA sets 0-5 percent as the normal tariff for the area. I think the ideal tariff is zero.

The Bangsamoro has a way to defy the NFA, however. The new Bangsamoro Organic Law, RA No. 11054, states in Art. XIII, Sec. 28, “Economic Zones, Industrial Estates, and Free Ports,” that the Bangsamoro Government may establish a Bangsamoro Economic Zone Authority (BEZA), with similar powers as those of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. Its Parliament may provide such additional powers and functions to the BEZA as may be necessary to meet the special circumstances of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.

There is a proviso that “for goods consumed and services rendered outside the established economic zones, industrial estates, and free ports in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, all relevant national taxes shall be imposed.” But the section also states: “The area of coverage of a free port may be so much as may be necessary of that portion of the constituent local government units of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, subject to such criteria as the Parliament may provide in a law for that purpose.”

This suggests that the economy of the entire region could be organized to be as free as that of Hong Kong.

I hope the Bangsamoro people will work rapidly to set up their government, and take full advantage of all the economic freedom that seems available in their new organic law. Their looming prosperity will make them the envy of Filipinos everywhere.

Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/115289/bangsamoro-defy-nfa#ixzz5NzJZ95hU
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

Entertaining show at The Theatre

We had the chance to watch “Music And Laughter” last July 27 at The Theatre of Solaire Resort & Casino, and we had a wonderful time listening to Willie Nepomuceno as he cracked jokes between his songs and Nonoy Zuñiga’s rendition of romantic songs he popularized in the past.

Wille Nepomuceno and Nonoy Zuñiga

Among Nonoy’s trademark songs which he rendered were “Never Ever Say Goodbye,” “Kumusta Ka?,” “Love Without Time” and “Fragments Of Forever.”

It was a very entertaining show. Willie Nep did not do much impersonation, but he impressed us with his act on former Pres. Erap Estrada now Mayor of Manila. We also enjoyed his Sammy Davis Jr, Frank Sinatra and Celine Dion numbers.

Grand Leisure Corporation was the producer of “Music And Laughter,” in cooperation with Solaire Resort & Casino while co-presenter was Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines.

• • •

Mr. & Ms. Travel Ambassadors

The Search for Mr. and Ms Travel Ambassadors – Philippines 2018 is ongoing. This is a project of the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies – Philippines, Inc. (NAITAS) NCR-North Chapter in collaboration with Quezon City Tourism Council (QCTC) and in partnership with Eastwood Mall (Megaworld Corporation).

In photo are Michael Reyes, Chapter president NAITAS (right) and Richard Hiñola, PR and marketing consultant for Mr. and Ms. Travel Ambassador Philippines 2018

Grand coronation night will be on Oct. 14, 8 p.m. at Citywalk Plaza, Eastwood City. The winner will receive R50,000 cash and trip To Hong Kong, Runners Up will also receive cash and a chance to travel to Palawan, Boracay and Siargao.

Screening of candidates is on Aug. 10-11, 3:30-6:30 p.m. in Quezon City.

• • •

Tidbits: Happy b-day greetings today, Aug. 11, go to John Gokongwei, Cory Quirino, Dr. Francis Agcaoili, Susan del Rosario, Marion Borja, Claire Isidro, Chat Sacay, Alex Ilagan, Menchie Du-lay, Lydia Hao, Susan Claire Agbayani, Jo Fandino, Prosy dela Cruz, Jojo Aguas, Billy Pascua, baby Alexa Deriquito and Jim Pebanco…Aug. 12: Aga Muhlach, Gloria Ignacio, Tessie Rosales, Roberto Za Gaw, Pinky David, Yolanda Federigan, Duds Santiago, Gigi Matibag-Evia, Atty. Jowee Ann Marquez, Ernie Garcia, Steven Young, Tiny Corpuz, Riza Moizes,  Iza Calzado and Marian Rivera…Aug. 13: Gabby Lopez, Gen. Vidal Querol, Ambeth Ocampo, Ace Palabrica, Sunny dela Luna, Prof. Reynaldo Tamayo, Daisy Vergara, Cedric Ranada, Josephine Zarate, Joel Garcia, Nellie Damson, Joa-quin Anton Co-Unjieng, Rysa Rigos, Mon Cualoping and Thea Tolentino…Aug. 14: Auggie Cordero, Nolie Hans, Hubert de Joya, Zeny Salgado, Letty Tumangan, Nancy Quimpo, Gigi Buhay, Lyle Marie Escano Bodomo, Carlo Gonzalez, Mayor Charlie Pizarro, Ligaya Salonga and Kim Rodriguez…

https://entertainment.mb.com.ph/2018/08/10/entertaining-show-at-the-theatre/