Will President Duterte approve or veto the bill renewing ABS-CBN’s franchise once it reaches his desk?
Duterte previously vowed to block the renewal of the franchise of the Lopez-led network, which he accused of coming up with “garbage” reports about him.
The President has also accused ABS-CBN chairman emeritus Gabby Lopez of being a swindler for allegedly not returning his money even if his campaign advertisements did not air. He has also threatened to file criminal charges against the Lopezes for supposedly failing to pay billions it owed the state-run Development Bank of the Philippines.
But Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar claimed the bill renewing the television network’s franchise would be “OK” once it hurdles Congress.
“Sa palagay ko naman, kapag pumasa na sa Kongreso, OK na (I think, once it is passed by Congress, it will be OK),” Andanar told radio station dzBB yesterday.
“It’s up to Congress. The ball is with them,” he added.
Andanar said Duterte does not meddle with the affairs of the legislature, a co-equal branch of government. He noted that Duterte had allowed the bill renewing the franchise of TV5 to lapse into law.
“He did not interfere because this is really the turf of Congress,” the presidential communications chief said.
ABS-CBN’s franchise, which languished at the committee level at the House of Representatives, will expire next year. The bill will have to be refiled in the 18th Congress.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/07/23/1937181/abs-cbn-franchise-will-be-ok-if-it-hurdles-congress
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Bill on foreign investments among Senate priorities
SENATOR VICENTE C. Sotto III on Monday maintained his post as Senate president for the 18th Congress.
The Senate, via voice vote, reelected Mr. Sotto, after his nomination by Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri was seconded by Senators Panfilo M. Lacson and Pia S. Cayetano.
Of the twenty-four senators, two were unable to attend the opening of session on Monday — detained Senator Leila M. De Lima and Senator Emmanuel D. Pacquiao, who was advised against traveling back to the Philippines after his fight with Keith Thurman on Sunday.
Senator Franklin M. Drilon noted during the plenary session that Senators Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel and Francis N. Pangilinan abstained from voting.
The chamber also reelected Senator Ralph G. Recto as Senate president pro tempore while Messrs. Zubiri and Drilon are the majority and minority leader, respectively. Mr. Sotto said among the priority measures they discussed were the proposed amendments to Republic Act No. 9372 (Human Security Act of 2007), Commonwealth Act No. 146 (Public Service Act) and RA 7042 (Foreign Investments Act of 1991).
“These were some of the bills that I know were left from the 17th Congress that we wanted to prioritize, but for lack of time,” Mr. Sotto told reporters in a chance interview ahead of the plenary session.
Sought for comment, University of Santo Tomas political science professor Marlon M. Villarin said he sees the new composition of the 18th Congress is more “collaborative” rather than confrontative.
“The re-election of Senator Tito Sotto as Senate President is a testament that the majority members of senate choose to be collaborative than confrontative in their legislative relationship with the executive department, but of course anytime depending on the political atmosphere especially 2022 presidential election is fast approaching, changes in the leadership is inevitable,” Mr. Villarin said over mobile phone message on Monday.
“The present set up of congressional leadership gives President Duterte a kind of legislative assurance that will sustain its programs and activity he promised to the Filipino people.” — Charmaine A. Tadalan
https://www.bworldonline.com/bill-on-foreign-investments-among-senate-priorities/
The Senate, via voice vote, reelected Mr. Sotto, after his nomination by Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri was seconded by Senators Panfilo M. Lacson and Pia S. Cayetano.
Of the twenty-four senators, two were unable to attend the opening of session on Monday — detained Senator Leila M. De Lima and Senator Emmanuel D. Pacquiao, who was advised against traveling back to the Philippines after his fight with Keith Thurman on Sunday.
Senator Franklin M. Drilon noted during the plenary session that Senators Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel and Francis N. Pangilinan abstained from voting.
The chamber also reelected Senator Ralph G. Recto as Senate president pro tempore while Messrs. Zubiri and Drilon are the majority and minority leader, respectively. Mr. Sotto said among the priority measures they discussed were the proposed amendments to Republic Act No. 9372 (Human Security Act of 2007), Commonwealth Act No. 146 (Public Service Act) and RA 7042 (Foreign Investments Act of 1991).
“These were some of the bills that I know were left from the 17th Congress that we wanted to prioritize, but for lack of time,” Mr. Sotto told reporters in a chance interview ahead of the plenary session.
Sought for comment, University of Santo Tomas political science professor Marlon M. Villarin said he sees the new composition of the 18th Congress is more “collaborative” rather than confrontative.
“The re-election of Senator Tito Sotto as Senate President is a testament that the majority members of senate choose to be collaborative than confrontative in their legislative relationship with the executive department, but of course anytime depending on the political atmosphere especially 2022 presidential election is fast approaching, changes in the leadership is inevitable,” Mr. Villarin said over mobile phone message on Monday.
“The present set up of congressional leadership gives President Duterte a kind of legislative assurance that will sustain its programs and activity he promised to the Filipino people.” — Charmaine A. Tadalan
https://www.bworldonline.com/bill-on-foreign-investments-among-senate-priorities/
Sotto, key Senate leaders keep their posts
IN contrast to the long-drawn drama that characterized the choice of House Speaker, the 24-man Senate quickly picked its leader as the 18th Congress opened on Monday (July 22) hours before the President’s State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Sen. Vicente C. Sotto III was elected Senate President anew after he was nominated for the post by Sen. Ralph Recto, who also kept his post as Senate President Pro Tempore. Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also kept their posts.
Twenty-two of the 24 senators were present as the 18th Senate opened. The absentees were Sen. Leila de Lima, who is detained on various charges; and Sen. Manny Pacquiao, who was prevented by doctors from taking a flight back to Manila so soon after a bruising fight with Keith Thurman in Las Vegas.
In a brief interview, Sotto listed three bills on top of their priority list including the proposed Anti-Terrorism law, and bills updating the Public Service Act and the Foreign Investment Act.
At the same time Sotto, acknowledged “the trust and confidence of our countrymen that were given to the 17th Congress and the Senate, and so we would like to continue that legacy.”
The Senate leader listed amendments to update the Human Security Act “which will eventually [be] called the Anti-Terrorism Act, and then the amendments also to to the Public Service Act and the Foreign Investment Act.”
“Those are some of the bills that I know were left from the 17th Congress that we wanted to prioritize, but for lack of time,” he added.
Asked about the senators’ expectations when President Duterte delivers his State of the Nation address, the Senate leader replied: “We expect him to ask Congress to pass some of the bills that were not taken up during the last Congress, and that he will seek the support of Congress again so that programs, particularly the ‘Build,Build,Build’ program, will continue and that the other programs will be supported.”
Sotto, however, was unsure if the death penalty will be listed as a priority bill. “I really can’t tell. Perhaps, it is a priority to debate on it. I would rather say that instead of saying that it is a priority measure, [because] it is one issue that is very divisive.”
Nonetheless, he indicated that senators are also keen to tackle the bill. “So we’d like to, perhaps, start debate on it. I filed a bill on that, particularly high-level drug trafficking, but we have two new senators who have filed a bill encompassing all heinous crimes, so I hope it will be a healthy debate.”
Sotto, however, could not say for sure it will be promptly frontloaded as soon as Congress convenes session, saying it will depend on the committee chairmen who have yet to be nominated and confirmed by the Senate.
In the same interview, Sotto indicated that the bill would have a “better chance” of getting passed by the lawmakers, saying: “You are asking for my personal opinion; I am not speaking for the Senate in this case. If it will be confined to high-level drug trafficking, it stands a better chance of passage.”
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/07/23/sotto-key-senate-leaders-keep-their-posts/
Sen. Vicente C. Sotto III was elected Senate President anew after he was nominated for the post by Sen. Ralph Recto, who also kept his post as Senate President Pro Tempore. Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also kept their posts.
Twenty-two of the 24 senators were present as the 18th Senate opened. The absentees were Sen. Leila de Lima, who is detained on various charges; and Sen. Manny Pacquiao, who was prevented by doctors from taking a flight back to Manila so soon after a bruising fight with Keith Thurman in Las Vegas.
In a brief interview, Sotto listed three bills on top of their priority list including the proposed Anti-Terrorism law, and bills updating the Public Service Act and the Foreign Investment Act.
At the same time Sotto, acknowledged “the trust and confidence of our countrymen that were given to the 17th Congress and the Senate, and so we would like to continue that legacy.”
The Senate leader listed amendments to update the Human Security Act “which will eventually [be] called the Anti-Terrorism Act, and then the amendments also to to the Public Service Act and the Foreign Investment Act.”
“Those are some of the bills that I know were left from the 17th Congress that we wanted to prioritize, but for lack of time,” he added.
Asked about the senators’ expectations when President Duterte delivers his State of the Nation address, the Senate leader replied: “We expect him to ask Congress to pass some of the bills that were not taken up during the last Congress, and that he will seek the support of Congress again so that programs, particularly the ‘Build,Build,Build’ program, will continue and that the other programs will be supported.”
Sotto, however, was unsure if the death penalty will be listed as a priority bill. “I really can’t tell. Perhaps, it is a priority to debate on it. I would rather say that instead of saying that it is a priority measure, [because] it is one issue that is very divisive.”
Nonetheless, he indicated that senators are also keen to tackle the bill. “So we’d like to, perhaps, start debate on it. I filed a bill on that, particularly high-level drug trafficking, but we have two new senators who have filed a bill encompassing all heinous crimes, so I hope it will be a healthy debate.”
Sotto, however, could not say for sure it will be promptly frontloaded as soon as Congress convenes session, saying it will depend on the committee chairmen who have yet to be nominated and confirmed by the Senate.
In the same interview, Sotto indicated that the bill would have a “better chance” of getting passed by the lawmakers, saying: “You are asking for my personal opinion; I am not speaking for the Senate in this case. If it will be confined to high-level drug trafficking, it stands a better chance of passage.”
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/07/23/sotto-key-senate-leaders-keep-their-posts/
Duterte asks Congress to approve 18 Sona bills
WITH the goal of providing a comfortable life for every Filipino, the President on Monday defined the agenda of his administration for the next three years and asked Congress to pass at least 18 measures, topped by a number of economic bills to raise revenues and improve the business environment.
In his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona), which lasted one hour and 33 minutes, President Duterte talked at length about corruption, efforts to improve the business climate and the Philippine economy in general.
He also addressed some of the issues being thrown at him such as his preference for military men in his Cabinet, as well as the country’s concerns when it came to the West Philippine Sea, which he said his administration will “definitely” address before he steps down from office.
“We are now entering a period of consequences. The consequences of what we did and did not do but should have done during [the] first half of my term. I assume full responsibility. As President I cannot pass the blame to anybody, so it’s on me. Though we cannot change the past, we will not squander the future,” Duterte said.
“I will push harder in the pursuit of programs that we have started but always with the parameters of the law. I will not merely coast along or while away my time during the remaining years of my administration. It ain’t my style. But I will not stop until I reach the finish line. Then and only then shall I call it a day. My goal for the next three years is clear —a comfortable life for everybody, all Filipinos,” he added.
Wish list
The President also laid out his legislative wish list to both houses of Congress, comprising at least 18 measures he wants passed.
He remained tentative, however, on one key bill that he had asked the 17th Congress to pass, but which has remained pending at his office since then: the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill, or alternately referred to as the “end to Endo” measure, targeted at all forms of illegal contractualization.
Business groups, foreign and local, have warned that the SOT bill as crafted will kill many small businesses and lay off workers instead of ensuring job security. They asked Duterte to veto it.
Duterte indicated he is still undecided whether to sign or veto the SOT bill as he still wants to consult the stakeholders concerned.
The President is also not closing any doors on letting the bill lapse into law by July 27.
In an interview with Palace reporters right after his Sona, the President said: “Pinag-aralan na namin mismo [We have studied it], I have to confer with a lot of people affected, you know this is two to tango. It will also affect the employers and of course it would also greatly favor the workers. It’s too catchy for me.”
Meanwhile, his wish list for the 18th Congress contained bills led by the reinstatement of the death penalty for heinous crimes such as drugs and plunder; the creation of the National Academy of Sports for high school students; postponement of the May 2020 barangay elections to October 2022; and enactment of the Magna Carta for Barangays.
It can be noted that a bill in the 17th Congress was filed by Hon. Mark Aeron H. Sambal to create the Philippine Sports Academy as an attached agency of the Philippine SPorts Commission.
Another bill was filed by Senator Sonny Angara last Congress which pushed for the establishment of Philippine High School for Sports to serve as breeding ground for future world-class Pinoy athletes.
On the postponement of the Magna Carta for Barangays, Senator Koko Pimentel filed a bill in the 17th Congress to declare barangay officials as regular government employees.
The proposed measure will help guarantee mandatory share of barangays in taxes, fees and other charges collected from residents or entities operating within the area.
Meanwhile, the President also threw his support behind the establishment of the Department of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and the passage of the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and Higher-quality Opportunities (Trabaho) Bill, which economic zone locators oppose, as well as the rest of the tax reform packages in the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP).
Neophyte Senator Bong Go has already filed the bill establishing Department of OFW which he said will be certified as urgent by Duterte inthis 18th Congress.
In terms of the CTRP, Albay Representative Joey Salceda is sponsoring the Trabaho bill in the current Congress.
Further, the President requested that both houses of Congress pass the right-sizing bill; create the Department of Disaster Resilience; and pass the bill on the Fire Protection Modernization program.
Reports showed that a bill was passed by the House of Representatives in Congress that would right-size the national government to improve public service delivery.
On the creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience, Salceda also filed this bill in the current Congress and pointed out that it was one of the priority bills of the administration.
Senator Go also filed Senate Bill No. 204 which is known as the “Fire Protection Modernization Act of 2019,” which includes a modernization program for the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) with the DILG.
The modernization program also entails the establishment of a Fire Protection Service in all LGUs with no existing fire protection services.
Meanwhile, the President again urged Congress to pass the National Land Use Act (NLUA), a request that he has made since his first Sona in 2016. Mr. Duterte, in his Sona on Monday, requested Senator Cynthia Villar to pass the NLUA.
He also pushed for the passage of the Coconut Trust Fund bill according to the version supported by the administration. The President earlier vetoed the bill, saying it lacked “vital safeguards to avoid the repetition of painful mistakes committed in the past.”
In addition, the President urged Congress to pass the uniformed personnel pension reform bill proposed by the Department of National Defense.
The bill raises the compulsory retirement age to 60 years old from 56, with at least 20 years of satisfactory active service.
The President complemented this with the passage of mandatory ROTC in Grades 11 and 12 to train young Filipinos. He lamented that should a war occur, Filipinos do not have sufficient training to defend even their families.
He also pushed for the creation of the Department of Water Resources to avert a water crises in the country in the future. The bill was pushed by former Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the last Congress.
Corruption
The President opened his Sona with efforts to improve good governance in his administration by requesting the reinstatement of the death penalty for Filipinos involved in the illegal drug trade and public officials found guilty of plunder.
Duterte said this is part of the administration’s efforts to boost anti-corruption measures during his term.
The President said these efforts have already helped boost government revenues. As of July 9, 2019, the government collected P61 billion from Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs).
Duterte said about 32 percent or P16 billion of the collections came from Pagcor. This is more than the P36 billion collected in 2017.
He added that the Bureau of Customs, though corruption-ridden, collected P585 billion in 2018. He said this could have been higher “if the BOC had been cleaned or less corrupt.”
5 agencies
The President also directed the Land Transportation Office (LTO), Social Security System (SSS), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Land Registration Authority (LRA) and Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) to reform their services and simplify their processes.
He reminded them he signed the landmark Ease of Doing Business Law (EODB) law last year to make more efficient the delivery of state services, and all government agencies must abide by this.
The Chief Executive asked national state agencies and instrumentalities, as well as local governments and government corporations, to simplify their processes. He demanded that they adopt a zero contact policy and make their transactions electronic.
With a report by Bernadette D. Nicolas
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/07/23/duterte-asks-congress-to-approve-18-sona-bills/
In his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona), which lasted one hour and 33 minutes, President Duterte talked at length about corruption, efforts to improve the business climate and the Philippine economy in general.
He also addressed some of the issues being thrown at him such as his preference for military men in his Cabinet, as well as the country’s concerns when it came to the West Philippine Sea, which he said his administration will “definitely” address before he steps down from office.
“We are now entering a period of consequences. The consequences of what we did and did not do but should have done during [the] first half of my term. I assume full responsibility. As President I cannot pass the blame to anybody, so it’s on me. Though we cannot change the past, we will not squander the future,” Duterte said.
“I will push harder in the pursuit of programs that we have started but always with the parameters of the law. I will not merely coast along or while away my time during the remaining years of my administration. It ain’t my style. But I will not stop until I reach the finish line. Then and only then shall I call it a day. My goal for the next three years is clear —a comfortable life for everybody, all Filipinos,” he added.
Wish list
The President also laid out his legislative wish list to both houses of Congress, comprising at least 18 measures he wants passed.
He remained tentative, however, on one key bill that he had asked the 17th Congress to pass, but which has remained pending at his office since then: the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill, or alternately referred to as the “end to Endo” measure, targeted at all forms of illegal contractualization.
Business groups, foreign and local, have warned that the SOT bill as crafted will kill many small businesses and lay off workers instead of ensuring job security. They asked Duterte to veto it.
Duterte indicated he is still undecided whether to sign or veto the SOT bill as he still wants to consult the stakeholders concerned.
The President is also not closing any doors on letting the bill lapse into law by July 27.
In an interview with Palace reporters right after his Sona, the President said: “Pinag-aralan na namin mismo [We have studied it], I have to confer with a lot of people affected, you know this is two to tango. It will also affect the employers and of course it would also greatly favor the workers. It’s too catchy for me.”
Meanwhile, his wish list for the 18th Congress contained bills led by the reinstatement of the death penalty for heinous crimes such as drugs and plunder; the creation of the National Academy of Sports for high school students; postponement of the May 2020 barangay elections to October 2022; and enactment of the Magna Carta for Barangays.
It can be noted that a bill in the 17th Congress was filed by Hon. Mark Aeron H. Sambal to create the Philippine Sports Academy as an attached agency of the Philippine SPorts Commission.
Another bill was filed by Senator Sonny Angara last Congress which pushed for the establishment of Philippine High School for Sports to serve as breeding ground for future world-class Pinoy athletes.
On the postponement of the Magna Carta for Barangays, Senator Koko Pimentel filed a bill in the 17th Congress to declare barangay officials as regular government employees.
The proposed measure will help guarantee mandatory share of barangays in taxes, fees and other charges collected from residents or entities operating within the area.
Meanwhile, the President also threw his support behind the establishment of the Department of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and the passage of the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and Higher-quality Opportunities (Trabaho) Bill, which economic zone locators oppose, as well as the rest of the tax reform packages in the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP).
Neophyte Senator Bong Go has already filed the bill establishing Department of OFW which he said will be certified as urgent by Duterte inthis 18th Congress.
In terms of the CTRP, Albay Representative Joey Salceda is sponsoring the Trabaho bill in the current Congress.
Further, the President requested that both houses of Congress pass the right-sizing bill; create the Department of Disaster Resilience; and pass the bill on the Fire Protection Modernization program.
Reports showed that a bill was passed by the House of Representatives in Congress that would right-size the national government to improve public service delivery.
On the creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience, Salceda also filed this bill in the current Congress and pointed out that it was one of the priority bills of the administration.
Senator Go also filed Senate Bill No. 204 which is known as the “Fire Protection Modernization Act of 2019,” which includes a modernization program for the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) with the DILG.
The modernization program also entails the establishment of a Fire Protection Service in all LGUs with no existing fire protection services.
Meanwhile, the President again urged Congress to pass the National Land Use Act (NLUA), a request that he has made since his first Sona in 2016. Mr. Duterte, in his Sona on Monday, requested Senator Cynthia Villar to pass the NLUA.
He also pushed for the passage of the Coconut Trust Fund bill according to the version supported by the administration. The President earlier vetoed the bill, saying it lacked “vital safeguards to avoid the repetition of painful mistakes committed in the past.”
In addition, the President urged Congress to pass the uniformed personnel pension reform bill proposed by the Department of National Defense.
The bill raises the compulsory retirement age to 60 years old from 56, with at least 20 years of satisfactory active service.
The President complemented this with the passage of mandatory ROTC in Grades 11 and 12 to train young Filipinos. He lamented that should a war occur, Filipinos do not have sufficient training to defend even their families.
He also pushed for the creation of the Department of Water Resources to avert a water crises in the country in the future. The bill was pushed by former Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the last Congress.
Corruption
The President opened his Sona with efforts to improve good governance in his administration by requesting the reinstatement of the death penalty for Filipinos involved in the illegal drug trade and public officials found guilty of plunder.
Duterte said this is part of the administration’s efforts to boost anti-corruption measures during his term.
The President said these efforts have already helped boost government revenues. As of July 9, 2019, the government collected P61 billion from Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs).
Duterte said about 32 percent or P16 billion of the collections came from Pagcor. This is more than the P36 billion collected in 2017.
He added that the Bureau of Customs, though corruption-ridden, collected P585 billion in 2018. He said this could have been higher “if the BOC had been cleaned or less corrupt.”
5 agencies
The President also directed the Land Transportation Office (LTO), Social Security System (SSS), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Land Registration Authority (LRA) and Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) to reform their services and simplify their processes.
He reminded them he signed the landmark Ease of Doing Business Law (EODB) law last year to make more efficient the delivery of state services, and all government agencies must abide by this.
The Chief Executive asked national state agencies and instrumentalities, as well as local governments and government corporations, to simplify their processes. He demanded that they adopt a zero contact policy and make their transactions electronic.
With a report by Bernadette D. Nicolas
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/07/23/duterte-asks-congress-to-approve-18-sona-bills/
Monday, July 22, 2019
Panelo: ABS-CBN franchise renewal depends on Congress, not President Duterte
Halos walong buwan na lang ang nalalabi bago mapaso ang franchise to broadcast ng ABS-CBN, pero wala pang kasiguraduhan kung mari-renew ba ito o hindi.
Sa March 20, 2020 mag-e-expire ang 25-year legislative franchise ng broadcast giant.
Sa kanyang regular press briefing sa MalacaƱang ngayong araw, July 18, natanong tungkol dito si Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo.
Nataon kasing ngayong araw ay nag-lapse into law ang 25-year franchise renewal ng TV5.
Hindi napirmahan ng Pangulo ang nasabing panukala na aprubado na ng Kongreso kaya automatic na itong batas at makapagpapatuloy pa ang TV5 sa kanilang broadcast.
Kasabay ring nag-lapse into law ang bill na nagpapalawig sa franchise ng Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines o CBCP.
Sagot ni Panelo sa tanong tungkol sa franchise renewal ng ABS-CBN, “Ang ABS-CBN, ang expiration niyan ay sa ano pa, di ba, next year pa.
“'Tsaka Congress naman ang… Nasa Kongreso ang bola niyan, hindi naman kay Presidente.”
Hindi umusad sa nakaraang 17th Congress ang House Bill 4349 na naglalayong muling mabigyan ng prangkisa ang TV at radio giant sa susunod na 25 taon.
Hindi raw maaksiyunan ng Committee on Legislative Franchises ang bill na naipasa pa noong November 2016 dahil sa sigalot ng ABS-CBN at ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.
Nagbanta ang Presidente na haharangin niya ang franchise renewal dahil nagantso diumano siya ng istasyon matapos hindi iere ang kanyang political ad noong 2016 Presidential Elections kahit bayad na ito.
Kailangang may mag-file ng bagong bill o mag-refile ng dating bill sa 18th Congress na magbubukas sa July 22, upang muling matalakay ang tungkol sa franchise renewal ng ABS-CBN.
Ang rival network ng ABS-CBN na GMA Network ay naaprubahan na ang franchise renewal na tatagal sa susunod na 25 taon noon pang April 2017.
https://www.pep.ph/news/144672/panelo-abs-cbn-franchise-renewal-congress-duterte-a718-20190718
Sa March 20, 2020 mag-e-expire ang 25-year legislative franchise ng broadcast giant.
Sa kanyang regular press briefing sa MalacaƱang ngayong araw, July 18, natanong tungkol dito si Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo.
Nataon kasing ngayong araw ay nag-lapse into law ang 25-year franchise renewal ng TV5.
Hindi napirmahan ng Pangulo ang nasabing panukala na aprubado na ng Kongreso kaya automatic na itong batas at makapagpapatuloy pa ang TV5 sa kanilang broadcast.
Kasabay ring nag-lapse into law ang bill na nagpapalawig sa franchise ng Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines o CBCP.
Sagot ni Panelo sa tanong tungkol sa franchise renewal ng ABS-CBN, “Ang ABS-CBN, ang expiration niyan ay sa ano pa, di ba, next year pa.
“'Tsaka Congress naman ang… Nasa Kongreso ang bola niyan, hindi naman kay Presidente.”
Hindi umusad sa nakaraang 17th Congress ang House Bill 4349 na naglalayong muling mabigyan ng prangkisa ang TV at radio giant sa susunod na 25 taon.
Hindi raw maaksiyunan ng Committee on Legislative Franchises ang bill na naipasa pa noong November 2016 dahil sa sigalot ng ABS-CBN at ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.
Nagbanta ang Presidente na haharangin niya ang franchise renewal dahil nagantso diumano siya ng istasyon matapos hindi iere ang kanyang political ad noong 2016 Presidential Elections kahit bayad na ito.
Kailangang may mag-file ng bagong bill o mag-refile ng dating bill sa 18th Congress na magbubukas sa July 22, upang muling matalakay ang tungkol sa franchise renewal ng ABS-CBN.
Ang rival network ng ABS-CBN na GMA Network ay naaprubahan na ang franchise renewal na tatagal sa susunod na 25 taon noon pang April 2017.
https://www.pep.ph/news/144672/panelo-abs-cbn-franchise-renewal-congress-duterte-a718-20190718
Andanar: Duterte won’t veto ABS-CBN new franchise if it hurdles Congress
President Rodrigo Duterte will not veto the franchise renewal of television network ABS-CBN once it hurdles past Congress, a Palace official said Monday.
“Sa palagay ko naman kapag pumasa na sa Kongreso, okay na. Kapag pumasa sa Kongreso, kasi nasa Kongreso pa eh nasa kanila ang bola sa ngayon. ‘Yun ang palagay ko,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in an interview over dzBB.
Andanar also claimed that he has never heard Duterte “categorically stated” that he will block the franchise extension of ABS-CBN.
“Never ko pa narinig kay Presidente na sinabi niya categorically na ‘ieextend ng franchise.’ Alam ko sinasabi niya lang ‘yung sama ng loob niya during 2016 elections, na naglagay siya ng pera hindi lumabas yung advertisements. Doon siya nagagalit,” he said.
Duterte has publicly announced that he will veto the franchise extension of the television giant after accusing the network of not airing his campaign advertisement that was already paid during the 2016 presidential elections.
He has also repeatedly criticized ABS-CBN for the network’s alleged biased reporting, including his supposed ill-gotten wealth and his controversial war on illegal drugs.
ABS-CBN’s franchise will expire on March 30, 2020, and its renewal remains pending in Congress.
Amid the President’s threat, ABS-CBN accelerated spending across a range of digital initiatives. /jpv
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1144555/andanar-duterte-wont-veto-abs-cbn-new-franchise-if-it-hurdles-congress
“Sa palagay ko naman kapag pumasa na sa Kongreso, okay na. Kapag pumasa sa Kongreso, kasi nasa Kongreso pa eh nasa kanila ang bola sa ngayon. ‘Yun ang palagay ko,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in an interview over dzBB.
Andanar also claimed that he has never heard Duterte “categorically stated” that he will block the franchise extension of ABS-CBN.
“Never ko pa narinig kay Presidente na sinabi niya categorically na ‘ieextend ng franchise.’ Alam ko sinasabi niya lang ‘yung sama ng loob niya during 2016 elections, na naglagay siya ng pera hindi lumabas yung advertisements. Doon siya nagagalit,” he said.
Duterte has publicly announced that he will veto the franchise extension of the television giant after accusing the network of not airing his campaign advertisement that was already paid during the 2016 presidential elections.
He has also repeatedly criticized ABS-CBN for the network’s alleged biased reporting, including his supposed ill-gotten wealth and his controversial war on illegal drugs.
ABS-CBN’s franchise will expire on March 30, 2020, and its renewal remains pending in Congress.
Amid the President’s threat, ABS-CBN accelerated spending across a range of digital initiatives. /jpv
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1144555/andanar-duterte-wont-veto-abs-cbn-new-franchise-if-it-hurdles-congress
IRR signed for law on Dept of Human Settlements
THE country’s worsening problem of homelessness and lack of access to shelter opportunities is envisioned to soon be addressed by the government, with the signing on Friday of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for Republic Act (RA) 11201, or the “Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Act.”
At a news conference on the sidelines of the signing, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Eduardo D. del Rosario said the measure will enable the estimated 81 percent of Filipinos —especially the unserved and underprivileged citizens—to be provided housing opportunities.
“This [the Act] was signed on February 14, the day of the heart, because of President Duterte’s love for the Filipino family. This is the President’s whole-hearted gift to 81 percent of Filipino families who wish to have a dream house of their own,” del Rosario said.
The IRR consolidates the functions of the HUDCC with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) under the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), which was created by RA 11201 to manage housing, human settlements, as well as urban developments in the country.
“Since 1986, HUDCC and key shelter agencies, through the government’s shelter delivery system under Executive Order 19 fell short in addressing the country’s housing needs that is estimated to reach 6.57 million by 2022. And if not appropriately addressed, [it] will balloon to 22.6 million by 2040,” he added.
The IRR takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in two newspapers of general circulation, with the full implementation slated on January 1, 2020, following a transition period of about five months from the effectivity of the IRR.
“But HUDCC and the shelter agencies may not solely be blamed for the mounting housing needs and urban development problems,” del Rosario said. “Year in and year out the housing sector clamored for a bigger housing budget but unfortunately the housing sector technically received an average of only less than 1 percent of the country’s annual budget. But today, recognizing the need for structural changes and additional mandates, the country’s housing and urban landscape is up to a major transformation,” he said.
The transition period will allow the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to approve new organizational structures and positions, and provide time for the transfer of personnel and assets, closing and opening of accounts, and the establishment of regional offices.
The new organizational structures is being eyed to be completed in September this year, according to del Rosario.
RA 11201 was passed in Congress on November 12, 2018, and signed into law by President Duterte on February 14 this year. The functions of the DHSUD involve policy-making, regulatory, as well as monitoring of the environmental land use, and urban planning and development; housing and real-estate development; and homeowners associations and community development.
The newly created government agency is tasked to identify government lands suitable for housing, as well as urban and rural development projects. The identification of government lands is to be undertaken jointly with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), as well as the Land Registration Authority (LRA).
The law also reconstitutes HLURB into an independent quasi-judicial body called the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission, with the HSAC performing the HLURB’s adjudicatory functions over controversies involving real-estate development and sales to expedite the resolution of these cases.
The law also provides for a National Human Settlements Board (NHSB) to exercise policy-making powers over corporations attached to the DHSUD.
The regional offices set up by the DHSUD shall be a regional housing one-stop processing center that aims to streamline the processing of housing-related permits, clearances and licenses.
The DHSUD is also instructed to manage and oversee emergency post-disaster and shelter recovery, as well as climate- change adaptation and mitigation risk reduction interventions.
The IRR was signed by HUDCC Chairman Del Rosario, HLURB CEO Lloyd Christopher Lao, CSC Chairman Alicia dela Rosa-Bala, and DBM OIC Acting Secretary Janet B. Abuel. According to the IRR, the HUDCC chairman shall oversee the operations of the DHSUD until a department secretary is appointed by President Duterte and has assumed office.
Sen. Christopher Lawrence T. Go said in his opening remarks that he has already submitted the National Housing Development, Production and Financing bill in the Senate as one of his top bills, to make the dream of housing for every Filipino come true. He noted a 7-million housing backlog in the Philippines.
“I shall work hard to ensure that all initiatives, policies and plans of the President related to planning will have the optimum support of the Senate especially when it comes to the budget…. Naniniwala ako na dapat wala nang squatter dito sa ating bayan at wala nang pamilyang walang bahay [I believe there should be no squatter in our land, and no family should be homeless],” Go said.
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/07/22/irr-signed-for-law-on-dept-of-human-settlements/
At a news conference on the sidelines of the signing, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Eduardo D. del Rosario said the measure will enable the estimated 81 percent of Filipinos —especially the unserved and underprivileged citizens—to be provided housing opportunities.
“This [the Act] was signed on February 14, the day of the heart, because of President Duterte’s love for the Filipino family. This is the President’s whole-hearted gift to 81 percent of Filipino families who wish to have a dream house of their own,” del Rosario said.
The IRR consolidates the functions of the HUDCC with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) under the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), which was created by RA 11201 to manage housing, human settlements, as well as urban developments in the country.
“Since 1986, HUDCC and key shelter agencies, through the government’s shelter delivery system under Executive Order 19 fell short in addressing the country’s housing needs that is estimated to reach 6.57 million by 2022. And if not appropriately addressed, [it] will balloon to 22.6 million by 2040,” he added.
The IRR takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in two newspapers of general circulation, with the full implementation slated on January 1, 2020, following a transition period of about five months from the effectivity of the IRR.
“But HUDCC and the shelter agencies may not solely be blamed for the mounting housing needs and urban development problems,” del Rosario said. “Year in and year out the housing sector clamored for a bigger housing budget but unfortunately the housing sector technically received an average of only less than 1 percent of the country’s annual budget. But today, recognizing the need for structural changes and additional mandates, the country’s housing and urban landscape is up to a major transformation,” he said.
The transition period will allow the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to approve new organizational structures and positions, and provide time for the transfer of personnel and assets, closing and opening of accounts, and the establishment of regional offices.
The new organizational structures is being eyed to be completed in September this year, according to del Rosario.
RA 11201 was passed in Congress on November 12, 2018, and signed into law by President Duterte on February 14 this year. The functions of the DHSUD involve policy-making, regulatory, as well as monitoring of the environmental land use, and urban planning and development; housing and real-estate development; and homeowners associations and community development.
The newly created government agency is tasked to identify government lands suitable for housing, as well as urban and rural development projects. The identification of government lands is to be undertaken jointly with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), as well as the Land Registration Authority (LRA).
The law also reconstitutes HLURB into an independent quasi-judicial body called the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission, with the HSAC performing the HLURB’s adjudicatory functions over controversies involving real-estate development and sales to expedite the resolution of these cases.
The law also provides for a National Human Settlements Board (NHSB) to exercise policy-making powers over corporations attached to the DHSUD.
The regional offices set up by the DHSUD shall be a regional housing one-stop processing center that aims to streamline the processing of housing-related permits, clearances and licenses.
The DHSUD is also instructed to manage and oversee emergency post-disaster and shelter recovery, as well as climate- change adaptation and mitigation risk reduction interventions.
The IRR was signed by HUDCC Chairman Del Rosario, HLURB CEO Lloyd Christopher Lao, CSC Chairman Alicia dela Rosa-Bala, and DBM OIC Acting Secretary Janet B. Abuel. According to the IRR, the HUDCC chairman shall oversee the operations of the DHSUD until a department secretary is appointed by President Duterte and has assumed office.
Sen. Christopher Lawrence T. Go said in his opening remarks that he has already submitted the National Housing Development, Production and Financing bill in the Senate as one of his top bills, to make the dream of housing for every Filipino come true. He noted a 7-million housing backlog in the Philippines.
“I shall work hard to ensure that all initiatives, policies and plans of the President related to planning will have the optimum support of the Senate especially when it comes to the budget…. Naniniwala ako na dapat wala nang squatter dito sa ating bayan at wala nang pamilyang walang bahay [I believe there should be no squatter in our land, and no family should be homeless],” Go said.
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/07/22/irr-signed-for-law-on-dept-of-human-settlements/
Sunday, July 21, 2019
House of Representatives ready for SONA 2019
The House of Representatives is all set for the two big events on Monday – the fourth State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte (SONA) and the Opening of the First Regular Session of the 18th Congress.
As early as February 20, 2019, former President and Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, through Memorandum No. 17-200, created a Task Force to assist in the preparation for the Opening of the First Regular Session of the 18th Congress and the Joint Session of Congress to hear the SONA of President Duterte.
Then Speaker Arroyo named House Acting Secretary-General Dante Roberto Maling as Chairperson of the Steering Committee of Task Force SONA 2019 and the chairpersons of the various Working Committees.
Maling said the House is fully ready for its hosting job for SONA 2019, after spending months preparing and implementing all the necessary details to ensure a safe, orderly and peaceful SONA this year.
“The House is fully ready for SONA 2019. We have ensured that all details for the Opening of the First Regular Session of the 18th Congress in the morning and the President’s SONA in the afternoon have been considered and well taken care of for the safe, peaceful and orderly holding of these big events. These include the necessary internal and external security measures and requirements, protocol arrangements, parking restrictions, media coverage, other physical arrangements, prescribed and required attire, and final reminders to guests particularly with regard to their invitations, seat cards and car passes, among others” said Maling.
In his latest Advisory, Maling laid down the guidelines to ensure the safe and orderly conduct of Monday’s events.
For the entry and exit from the House Complex, the “No Car Pass, No Entry” policy shall be in effect from 4am on SONA Day. The Main/South Gate is for the exclusive entrance of vehicles of House Members, Senators, Congressional Spouses and their back-up, VIP guests, and House and Senate Secretariat officials.
The North Gate shall serve as the entrance gate of vehicles of invited guests, OB vans and generator sets, emergency vehicles (i.e. fire trucks, ambulances and military vehicles), House shuttle buses and vehicles with “Drop-Off” passes.
Only accredited members of media institutions wearing the official SONA 2019 Media IDs, together with their agency IDs, will be allowed entry to the House Complex.
The Main Gate, North Gate or Gate 2, which is beside the President Corazon C. Aquino Elementary Schools, will be closed at 4pm. These will be used as exit gates of vehicles after the SONA.
Motorcycles, taxicabs and Transport Network Vehicle Services (TNVS) are barred from entry to the House Complex.
All parking spaces within the House Complex will be strictly for vehicles bearing color-coded car passes on a “First Come, First Serve” basis based on the parking plan.
Secretariat employees and congressional staff who wish to bring their vehicles may avail of the parking spaces at the Civil Service Commission and the Batasan National High School.
The following guidelines apply for access to House buildings: 1) the “No SONA 2019 ID, No Entry” policy will be enforced; 2) upon entry, everyone is required to undergo body search; 3) all personal belongings need to pass through the X-ray machine; 4) authorized personnel reporting for work on SONA Day are required to wear their color-coded SONA 2019 IDs at all times; 5) firearms are not allowed within the premises except those of authorized security personnel; 5) the Main building entrances will be closed at 1pm and will be opened after the SONA for the exit of guests.
In the morning of SONA Day, countersigns (special stickers) will be issued to the following for access to restricted areas: House officials, employees, congressional staff, usherettes assigned at restricted areas, and close- in photographers of the President, Senate President and House Speaker.
Live coverage, interviews and photo shoots by media personnel are allowed at the North and South Wing lobbies up to 3pm only.
For the Joint Session of Congress in the afternoon, the Advisory highlights that there will be a one-kilometer “No Fly Zone” over the area of the House Complex from 1pm to 6pm.
At 1pm, the South Wing Lobby will be closed to all Secretariat employees, Congressional staff and visitors, Only Protocol Officers, in-House media personnel, authorized media and security personnel deployed at the lobby will be allowed to stay to welcome guests.
Arriving House Members, Senators, Congressional Spouses, VIPs and members of the Diplomatic Corps shall enter through the South Wing lobby or the North Wing lobby. All other guests, media personnel and visitors shall pass through the North Wing lobby.
Entry to the Plenary Hall will be strictly prohibited from 12 noon to 1pm for final security inspection and clearing, except for RTVM personnel who will install the teleprompters and florists who will do the flower arrangements after the end of the Opening of the First Regular Session.
The Plenary Hall will be opened to guests/visitors of the Joint Session at 2pm. The sliding doors at the Main Entrance of the Plenary Hall will be closed 15 minutes before the President and his party enter the session hall.
Entrance doors at all three galleries will be closed at 3:30 pm. Everyone in the Plenary Hall must be seated at 3:30 pm.
Senators, House Members, and guests arriving after the President has begun his SONA will be escorted to the North Lounge where they shall be attended to.
The “No Invitation/No Seat Pass/No Entry” policy shall be enforced. Reserved seating shall be strictly observed at the Middle, first and second galleries of the Plenary Hall. “Free Seating” is allowed only at the third gallery of the Plenary Hall.
Cellphones, radio transceivers and other similar gadgets must be turned off while inside the Plenary Hall.
Meanwhile, the “No Cocktail Pass, No Entry” policy will be strictly enforced at the South Wing lobby where the cocktail reception will be held.
The Working Committees of Task Force SONA 2019 are the following: Committee on Program Scenario and Plenary Support chaired by Deputy Secretary-General for Operations Atty. David Robert Amorin; Committee on Nation’s Prayer chaired by Deputy Secretary-General for Committee Affairs Atty. Arlene Dada-Arnaldo; Committee on Invitations, Reception and Protocol chaired by Executive Director Edith Cardenas of the Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Special Affairs Bureau; Committee on Media chaired by Executive Director Ma. Bernadette dela Cuesta of the Press and Public Affairs Bureau; Committee on Presidential Honors and Security chaired by Sergeant-at-Arms MGen. Romeo Prestoza, AFP (Ret.); Committee on Administrative Concerns chaired by Deputy Secretary-General for Administration Dr. Ramon Ricardo Roque; Committee on Finance chaired by Acting Secretary General Dante Roberto Maling; Committee on Physical Arrangements chaired by Deputy Secretary General for Engineering and Physical Facilities Engr. Floro Banaybanay; Executive Director Thelma Marie Inton of the Knowledge Management Systems Bureau as the Task Force Secretary; and Executive Director of the Legislative Security Bureau Lt. Col. Isabelito Flores as head of the Joint Coordinating Center. / Rowena B. Bundang, News and Documentation Section/ House of Representatives of the Philippines
http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=11619
As early as February 20, 2019, former President and Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, through Memorandum No. 17-200, created a Task Force to assist in the preparation for the Opening of the First Regular Session of the 18th Congress and the Joint Session of Congress to hear the SONA of President Duterte.
Then Speaker Arroyo named House Acting Secretary-General Dante Roberto Maling as Chairperson of the Steering Committee of Task Force SONA 2019 and the chairpersons of the various Working Committees.
Maling said the House is fully ready for its hosting job for SONA 2019, after spending months preparing and implementing all the necessary details to ensure a safe, orderly and peaceful SONA this year.
“The House is fully ready for SONA 2019. We have ensured that all details for the Opening of the First Regular Session of the 18th Congress in the morning and the President’s SONA in the afternoon have been considered and well taken care of for the safe, peaceful and orderly holding of these big events. These include the necessary internal and external security measures and requirements, protocol arrangements, parking restrictions, media coverage, other physical arrangements, prescribed and required attire, and final reminders to guests particularly with regard to their invitations, seat cards and car passes, among others” said Maling.
In his latest Advisory, Maling laid down the guidelines to ensure the safe and orderly conduct of Monday’s events.
For the entry and exit from the House Complex, the “No Car Pass, No Entry” policy shall be in effect from 4am on SONA Day. The Main/South Gate is for the exclusive entrance of vehicles of House Members, Senators, Congressional Spouses and their back-up, VIP guests, and House and Senate Secretariat officials.
The North Gate shall serve as the entrance gate of vehicles of invited guests, OB vans and generator sets, emergency vehicles (i.e. fire trucks, ambulances and military vehicles), House shuttle buses and vehicles with “Drop-Off” passes.
Only accredited members of media institutions wearing the official SONA 2019 Media IDs, together with their agency IDs, will be allowed entry to the House Complex.
The Main Gate, North Gate or Gate 2, which is beside the President Corazon C. Aquino Elementary Schools, will be closed at 4pm. These will be used as exit gates of vehicles after the SONA.
Motorcycles, taxicabs and Transport Network Vehicle Services (TNVS) are barred from entry to the House Complex.
All parking spaces within the House Complex will be strictly for vehicles bearing color-coded car passes on a “First Come, First Serve” basis based on the parking plan.
Secretariat employees and congressional staff who wish to bring their vehicles may avail of the parking spaces at the Civil Service Commission and the Batasan National High School.
The following guidelines apply for access to House buildings: 1) the “No SONA 2019 ID, No Entry” policy will be enforced; 2) upon entry, everyone is required to undergo body search; 3) all personal belongings need to pass through the X-ray machine; 4) authorized personnel reporting for work on SONA Day are required to wear their color-coded SONA 2019 IDs at all times; 5) firearms are not allowed within the premises except those of authorized security personnel; 5) the Main building entrances will be closed at 1pm and will be opened after the SONA for the exit of guests.
In the morning of SONA Day, countersigns (special stickers) will be issued to the following for access to restricted areas: House officials, employees, congressional staff, usherettes assigned at restricted areas, and close- in photographers of the President, Senate President and House Speaker.
Live coverage, interviews and photo shoots by media personnel are allowed at the North and South Wing lobbies up to 3pm only.
For the Joint Session of Congress in the afternoon, the Advisory highlights that there will be a one-kilometer “No Fly Zone” over the area of the House Complex from 1pm to 6pm.
At 1pm, the South Wing Lobby will be closed to all Secretariat employees, Congressional staff and visitors, Only Protocol Officers, in-House media personnel, authorized media and security personnel deployed at the lobby will be allowed to stay to welcome guests.
Arriving House Members, Senators, Congressional Spouses, VIPs and members of the Diplomatic Corps shall enter through the South Wing lobby or the North Wing lobby. All other guests, media personnel and visitors shall pass through the North Wing lobby.
Entry to the Plenary Hall will be strictly prohibited from 12 noon to 1pm for final security inspection and clearing, except for RTVM personnel who will install the teleprompters and florists who will do the flower arrangements after the end of the Opening of the First Regular Session.
The Plenary Hall will be opened to guests/visitors of the Joint Session at 2pm. The sliding doors at the Main Entrance of the Plenary Hall will be closed 15 minutes before the President and his party enter the session hall.
Entrance doors at all three galleries will be closed at 3:30 pm. Everyone in the Plenary Hall must be seated at 3:30 pm.
Senators, House Members, and guests arriving after the President has begun his SONA will be escorted to the North Lounge where they shall be attended to.
The “No Invitation/No Seat Pass/No Entry” policy shall be enforced. Reserved seating shall be strictly observed at the Middle, first and second galleries of the Plenary Hall. “Free Seating” is allowed only at the third gallery of the Plenary Hall.
Cellphones, radio transceivers and other similar gadgets must be turned off while inside the Plenary Hall.
Meanwhile, the “No Cocktail Pass, No Entry” policy will be strictly enforced at the South Wing lobby where the cocktail reception will be held.
The Working Committees of Task Force SONA 2019 are the following: Committee on Program Scenario and Plenary Support chaired by Deputy Secretary-General for Operations Atty. David Robert Amorin; Committee on Nation’s Prayer chaired by Deputy Secretary-General for Committee Affairs Atty. Arlene Dada-Arnaldo; Committee on Invitations, Reception and Protocol chaired by Executive Director Edith Cardenas of the Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Special Affairs Bureau; Committee on Media chaired by Executive Director Ma. Bernadette dela Cuesta of the Press and Public Affairs Bureau; Committee on Presidential Honors and Security chaired by Sergeant-at-Arms MGen. Romeo Prestoza, AFP (Ret.); Committee on Administrative Concerns chaired by Deputy Secretary-General for Administration Dr. Ramon Ricardo Roque; Committee on Finance chaired by Acting Secretary General Dante Roberto Maling; Committee on Physical Arrangements chaired by Deputy Secretary General for Engineering and Physical Facilities Engr. Floro Banaybanay; Executive Director Thelma Marie Inton of the Knowledge Management Systems Bureau as the Task Force Secretary; and Executive Director of the Legislative Security Bureau Lt. Col. Isabelito Flores as head of the Joint Coordinating Center. / Rowena B. Bundang, News and Documentation Section/ House of Representatives of the Philippines
http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=11619
House Members convene Monday morning for opening of 18th Congress
Members of the House of Representatives will convene on Monday for the Opening of the First Regular Session of the 18th Congress at 10am, with the election of the new Speaker expected to highlight the event.
As provided for in Article VI, Sections 15 and 16 of the 1987 Constitution, the Congress shall convene once every year on the fourth Monday of July for its regular session and the Senate shall elect its President and the House of Representatives its Speaker, by a majority vote of all its respective Members. Each House shall choose such other officers as it may deem necessary.
During the past 17th Congress, the Rules of the House provided that in the first Meeting and organization of the House, the Members shall meet and proceed to the organization of the House on the fourth Monday of July immediately following their election at the place designated for the holding of their sessions.
The Rules further provided that the Secretary General of the immediately preceding Congress shall preside over the inaugural session of the House until the election of a new Speaker. As presiding officer, the Secretary General shall call the session to order, call the roll of Members by provinces, cities and municipalities comprising districts, and by party-lists in alphabetical order, designate an acting Floor Leader, and preserve order and decorum.
The Rules also provided that after the designation of an acting Floor Leader, the body shall proceed to the election of the Speaker. The Speaker shall be elected by a majority vote of all the Members through a roll call vote with Members casting their vote without explanation. After the oath-taking of the newly-elected Speaker, the body shall proceed to the adoption of the rules of the immediately preceding Congress to govern its proceedings until the approval and adoption of the rules of the current Congress.
In tomorrow’s opening session, the elected Speaker is expected to give his traditional Acceptance Speech to thank his colleagues and bare his legislative priorities in the 18th Congress.
House Members are also expected to pass a resolution informing President Rodrigo Duterte that the House has convened and organized, and is ready to receive the President and hear the SONA.
In the afternoon, the Senate and the House will convene in a Joint Session to hear the President’s SONA at 4pm.
In his latest SONA Advisory for the Honorable Members, and House officials and employees, House Acting Secretary General Dante Roberto Maling said all House Members are requested to attend the Opening of the First Regular Session of the 18th Congress which will start promptly at 10am.
The prescribed attire inside the Plenary Hall for House Members shall be business attire (for ladies and gentlemen) or Filipiniana dress (for ladies) and Barong Filipino (for gentlemen).
Secretariat employees and congressional staff who are assigned inside the Plenary Hall are required to wear Barong Filipino or business attire for the gentlemen( long sleeves polo shirt) and for the ladies, business attire/ blouse and skirt or dress with sleeves (with blazer).
Filipino tenor and Broadway singer Arman Ferrer is expected to sing the Philippine National Anthem “Lupang Hinirang” both at the opening of the session in the morning and the Joint Session for the SONA in the afternoon.
The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), the country's leading orchestra and one of the top musical ensembles in the Asia-Pacific region, is set to play several original Pilipino music (OPM) and provide the accompaniment to Ferrer in the Joint Session.
For the second time, Malacanang tapped award-winning film and television director Joyce Bernal to direct this year’s SONA. Bernal hopes that this year’s SONA will be hopeful, lively and grand./ Rowena B. Bundang, News and Document Section-Press and Public Affairs Bureau/ House of Representatives of the Philippines
http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=11618
As provided for in Article VI, Sections 15 and 16 of the 1987 Constitution, the Congress shall convene once every year on the fourth Monday of July for its regular session and the Senate shall elect its President and the House of Representatives its Speaker, by a majority vote of all its respective Members. Each House shall choose such other officers as it may deem necessary.
During the past 17th Congress, the Rules of the House provided that in the first Meeting and organization of the House, the Members shall meet and proceed to the organization of the House on the fourth Monday of July immediately following their election at the place designated for the holding of their sessions.
The Rules further provided that the Secretary General of the immediately preceding Congress shall preside over the inaugural session of the House until the election of a new Speaker. As presiding officer, the Secretary General shall call the session to order, call the roll of Members by provinces, cities and municipalities comprising districts, and by party-lists in alphabetical order, designate an acting Floor Leader, and preserve order and decorum.
The Rules also provided that after the designation of an acting Floor Leader, the body shall proceed to the election of the Speaker. The Speaker shall be elected by a majority vote of all the Members through a roll call vote with Members casting their vote without explanation. After the oath-taking of the newly-elected Speaker, the body shall proceed to the adoption of the rules of the immediately preceding Congress to govern its proceedings until the approval and adoption of the rules of the current Congress.
In tomorrow’s opening session, the elected Speaker is expected to give his traditional Acceptance Speech to thank his colleagues and bare his legislative priorities in the 18th Congress.
House Members are also expected to pass a resolution informing President Rodrigo Duterte that the House has convened and organized, and is ready to receive the President and hear the SONA.
In the afternoon, the Senate and the House will convene in a Joint Session to hear the President’s SONA at 4pm.
In his latest SONA Advisory for the Honorable Members, and House officials and employees, House Acting Secretary General Dante Roberto Maling said all House Members are requested to attend the Opening of the First Regular Session of the 18th Congress which will start promptly at 10am.
The prescribed attire inside the Plenary Hall for House Members shall be business attire (for ladies and gentlemen) or Filipiniana dress (for ladies) and Barong Filipino (for gentlemen).
Secretariat employees and congressional staff who are assigned inside the Plenary Hall are required to wear Barong Filipino or business attire for the gentlemen( long sleeves polo shirt) and for the ladies, business attire/ blouse and skirt or dress with sleeves (with blazer).
Filipino tenor and Broadway singer Arman Ferrer is expected to sing the Philippine National Anthem “Lupang Hinirang” both at the opening of the session in the morning and the Joint Session for the SONA in the afternoon.
The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), the country's leading orchestra and one of the top musical ensembles in the Asia-Pacific region, is set to play several original Pilipino music (OPM) and provide the accompaniment to Ferrer in the Joint Session.
For the second time, Malacanang tapped award-winning film and television director Joyce Bernal to direct this year’s SONA. Bernal hopes that this year’s SONA will be hopeful, lively and grand./ Rowena B. Bundang, News and Document Section-Press and Public Affairs Bureau/ House of Representatives of the Philippines
http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=11618
Estrada to run again for Manila mayor
Former president and Manila mayor Joseph Estrada wants to regain power in 2022.
In a telephone interview with The STAR, Estrada confirmed that he will run again for mayor of Manila in the 2022 elections.
“I was hocused-PCOS. I lead all the surveys, but I was defeated by the machines,” Estrada said, referring to the precinct count optical scanners used to read ballots.
Late last month, Estrada declared he was signing off on 50 years of public service during his farewell party with relatives, friends and former Cabinet members.
He said he will run again for mayor because he “does not like the way” his successor, Mayor Isko Moreno, handled the vendors in clearing the city’s streets.
“He should not have rushed in removing the vendors. He should have given them time to look for an alternative place where they can sell their products. Many poor people lost their incomes and they, along with their families, are going hungry,” Estrada said.
Estrada said he cannot take the vendors’ plight sitting down.
“I owe everything to them (poor). Erap will not be in his place right now had it not been for the poor. I cannot repay the poor in life or in death. As the Lord said what you do to the least of my brethren, you also do it unto me,” Estrada said.
https://www.philstar.com/nation/2019/07/21/1936396/erap-estrada-run-again-manila-mayor
In a telephone interview with The STAR, Estrada confirmed that he will run again for mayor of Manila in the 2022 elections.
“I was hocused-PCOS. I lead all the surveys, but I was defeated by the machines,” Estrada said, referring to the precinct count optical scanners used to read ballots.
Late last month, Estrada declared he was signing off on 50 years of public service during his farewell party with relatives, friends and former Cabinet members.
He said he will run again for mayor because he “does not like the way” his successor, Mayor Isko Moreno, handled the vendors in clearing the city’s streets.
“He should not have rushed in removing the vendors. He should have given them time to look for an alternative place where they can sell their products. Many poor people lost their incomes and they, along with their families, are going hungry,” Estrada said.
Estrada said he cannot take the vendors’ plight sitting down.
“I owe everything to them (poor). Erap will not be in his place right now had it not been for the poor. I cannot repay the poor in life or in death. As the Lord said what you do to the least of my brethren, you also do it unto me,” Estrada said.
https://www.philstar.com/nation/2019/07/21/1936396/erap-estrada-run-again-manila-mayor
Friday, July 19, 2019
FALSE: ABS-CBN is 'confirmed' to close down
ABS-CBN's existing franchise, approved in March 1995, expires on March 30, 2020 yet. A franchise bill has to be refiled when the 18th Congress opens on July 22, 2019.
Claim: It's confirmed that ABS-CBN Corporation will close down.
YouTube channel JoParDy claimed this in its video, which bore the title: “Confirmed!!! ABS-CBN magsasarado na!” (Confirmed!!! ABS-CBN will already close down!)
The 11-minute video, uploaded on June 22, showed various clips of Duterte warning ABS-CBN that its franchise, which is due to expire next year, will not be renewed because of the media company's supposed refusal to run his political ads during the 2016 presidential campaign.
It also included a clip of Ben Tulfo from Bitag Multimedia Network talking about the same issue.
As of writing, the video has garnered around 62,000 views and 172 comments. It has also been shared in Facebook groups Duterte Watch Tower & Phils. Travel and Duterte One Nation, with a combined 609 reactions, 109 comments, and 3,262 shares.
Rappler spotted the video via Facebook Claim Check, a tool that flags potential hoaxes and dubious content for fact checkers’ review.
Rating: FALSE
The facts: President Rodrigo Duterte has been consistent in expressing his opposition to ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal bill. House Bill No. 4349, which seeks to renew ABS-CBN's franchise for another 25 years, was not acted upon before the 17th Congress adjourned in June 2019.
The franchise bill has to be refiled when the 18th Congress opens on July 22. Its current franchise was approved via Republic Act No. 7966 on March 30, 1995 and is set to expire on March 30, 2020.
In April 2017, Duterte first warned the network that he would block its franchise renewal. He accused the network of "swindling" him for not airing his paid political advertisements in 2016. He first publicly threatened ABS-CBN days after he signed into law the franchise renewal of the network's rival, GMA Network.
He repeated his threat to block the renewal of ABS-CBN's franchise in August 2018.
ABS-CBN said it is unable to comment on or clarify a report by Philippine Star on June 19 about the "freezing" of its franchise bill, when the Philippine Stock Exchange asked for confirmation about the article.
The YouTube channel JoParDy was created in August 2017, with around 2 million views as of writing. The channel claims it "is about the best tips for IT Programming, Laptop/Computer Troubleshooting, HTML, CSS, and Photoshop." Aside from technology, the channel also tackles pop culture. – Addie Pobre
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/235655-abs-cbn-confirmed-to-close-down
Claim: It's confirmed that ABS-CBN Corporation will close down.
YouTube channel JoParDy claimed this in its video, which bore the title: “Confirmed!!! ABS-CBN magsasarado na!” (Confirmed!!! ABS-CBN will already close down!)
The 11-minute video, uploaded on June 22, showed various clips of Duterte warning ABS-CBN that its franchise, which is due to expire next year, will not be renewed because of the media company's supposed refusal to run his political ads during the 2016 presidential campaign.
It also included a clip of Ben Tulfo from Bitag Multimedia Network talking about the same issue.
As of writing, the video has garnered around 62,000 views and 172 comments. It has also been shared in Facebook groups Duterte Watch Tower & Phils. Travel and Duterte One Nation, with a combined 609 reactions, 109 comments, and 3,262 shares.
Rappler spotted the video via Facebook Claim Check, a tool that flags potential hoaxes and dubious content for fact checkers’ review.
Rating: FALSE
The facts: President Rodrigo Duterte has been consistent in expressing his opposition to ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal bill. House Bill No. 4349, which seeks to renew ABS-CBN's franchise for another 25 years, was not acted upon before the 17th Congress adjourned in June 2019.
The franchise bill has to be refiled when the 18th Congress opens on July 22. Its current franchise was approved via Republic Act No. 7966 on March 30, 1995 and is set to expire on March 30, 2020.
In April 2017, Duterte first warned the network that he would block its franchise renewal. He accused the network of "swindling" him for not airing his paid political advertisements in 2016. He first publicly threatened ABS-CBN days after he signed into law the franchise renewal of the network's rival, GMA Network.
He repeated his threat to block the renewal of ABS-CBN's franchise in August 2018.
ABS-CBN said it is unable to comment on or clarify a report by Philippine Star on June 19 about the "freezing" of its franchise bill, when the Philippine Stock Exchange asked for confirmation about the article.
The YouTube channel JoParDy was created in August 2017, with around 2 million views as of writing. The channel claims it "is about the best tips for IT Programming, Laptop/Computer Troubleshooting, HTML, CSS, and Photoshop." Aside from technology, the channel also tackles pop culture. – Addie Pobre
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/235655-abs-cbn-confirmed-to-close-down
Robinsons Land opens Galleria mall in Laguna
ROBINSONS Land Corp. (RLC) is opening its 52nd shopping mall in the country — the Robinsons Galleria South Mall in San Pedro, Laguna.
In a statement, the Gokongwei-led real estate company said Robinsons Galleria South is the third Galleria mall, after the malls in Ortigas Center and General Maxilom, Cebu City.
“We are excited to open Robinsons Galleria South, which will be of great service and convenience to the residents of Laguna and Southern Metro Manila,” RLC President Frederick D. Go said in a statement.
This is also the company’s 10th mall in the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon (Calabarzon) region.
Located along the Old National Highway, Robinsons Galleria South is a four-level lifestyle mall on a 3.8-hectare lot. It has a gross leasable area of 48,000 square meters.
The mall features a food court called Eat Street with a variety of establishments such as Ta Ke Ho Me Sushi, Shou Noodles, Seafoods and Steak, Hot Chicks Fried chicken, Fire Pit, Slice N Dice, Potato Corner, G-Spot Burger Bar, Super Bagnet, Una Gansig, Ilocos Empanada, and Zawrap Shawarma.
Robinsons Galleria South has an area devoted to Japanese and Korean brands called JK Town, as well as a digital playground called PlayLab.
It also has six cinemas, including the first VIP Robinsons Movieworld, and the St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta chapel.
The mall also has a Robinsons Supermarket, Robinsons Department Store, Robinsons Appliances, Handyman, South Star Drug, Robinsons Bank, Daiso Japan, and Arcova. It also has a satellite offices of Social Security System, PhilHealth and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
Shares in RLC added 2.27% or 60 centavos to close at P27 each at the stock exchange on Thursday. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang
https://www.bworldonline.com/robinsons-land-opens-galleria-mall-in-laguna/
In a statement, the Gokongwei-led real estate company said Robinsons Galleria South is the third Galleria mall, after the malls in Ortigas Center and General Maxilom, Cebu City.
“We are excited to open Robinsons Galleria South, which will be of great service and convenience to the residents of Laguna and Southern Metro Manila,” RLC President Frederick D. Go said in a statement.
This is also the company’s 10th mall in the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon (Calabarzon) region.
Located along the Old National Highway, Robinsons Galleria South is a four-level lifestyle mall on a 3.8-hectare lot. It has a gross leasable area of 48,000 square meters.
The mall features a food court called Eat Street with a variety of establishments such as Ta Ke Ho Me Sushi, Shou Noodles, Seafoods and Steak, Hot Chicks Fried chicken, Fire Pit, Slice N Dice, Potato Corner, G-Spot Burger Bar, Super Bagnet, Una Gansig, Ilocos Empanada, and Zawrap Shawarma.
Robinsons Galleria South has an area devoted to Japanese and Korean brands called JK Town, as well as a digital playground called PlayLab.
It also has six cinemas, including the first VIP Robinsons Movieworld, and the St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta chapel.
The mall also has a Robinsons Supermarket, Robinsons Department Store, Robinsons Appliances, Handyman, South Star Drug, Robinsons Bank, Daiso Japan, and Arcova. It also has a satellite offices of Social Security System, PhilHealth and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
Shares in RLC added 2.27% or 60 centavos to close at P27 each at the stock exchange on Thursday. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang
https://www.bworldonline.com/robinsons-land-opens-galleria-mall-in-laguna/
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Villar’s AllHome prepares P20.7-b IPO in September
AllHome Corp., a retail chain of home furnishing and construction supplies owned by the country’s richest man, Manuel Villar, is raising up to P20.7 billion from an initial public offering in September this year.
AllHome said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission it planned to offer up to 1.12 billion primary and secondary shares with an over-allotment option for another 168.750 million shares at a price of P16 apiece.
The company plans to hold the maiden share offering in September.
Net proceeds from the offering will be used for capital expenditures and initial working capital to fund store expansion and debt repayment.
The company had 25 stores with a net selling space of 196,327 square meters across 20 cities and municipalities as of end-June 2019.
Its product offering spans seven key categories from more than 800 local and international brands, including 18 in-house brands. These product categories are furniture, hardware, appliances, tiles and sanitary wares, homewares, linens and construction materials.
AllHome plans to open 19 new stores in the second half of the year and another 19 stores in 2020.
It is also expanding its Alabang branch to increase its net selling space from 5,845 sqm to 12,340 sqm.
The company tapped UBS, CLSA and Credit Suisse as the joint book-runners and PNB Capital and Investments Corp. and China Bank Capital Corp. as local underwriters for the offering.
All Home saw its net income expand by 354.2 percent in 2018 to P511.4 million from P112.6 million in 2017 as revenues jumped 46.9 percent to 7.19 billion from P4.89 billion.
The company also booked a net income of P207.1 million in the first quarter of 2019, up 375 percent from P43.6 million recorded in the same period last year.
First-quarter revenues surged 67.8 percent to P2.38 billion from P1.42 billion in 2018 following the opening of six new stores.
All Home will be the fourth listed company of the Villar group which also owns Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., Golden Bria Holdings Inc. and Star Malls Inc.
Villar, a former senate president and presidential candidate, was named as the country’s richest man by Forbes in March for having a net worth of $5.5 billion.
All Home is also the second company to file for an IPO this year. In June, Axelum Resources Corp., an export-oriented manufacturer of premium coconut products, filed its IPO application with the SEC with an intention to raise up to P7.7 billion.
http://www.manilastandard.net/index.php/business/business-stocks/300151/villar-s-allhome-prepares-p20-7-b-ipo-in-september.html
AllHome said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission it planned to offer up to 1.12 billion primary and secondary shares with an over-allotment option for another 168.750 million shares at a price of P16 apiece.
The company plans to hold the maiden share offering in September.
Net proceeds from the offering will be used for capital expenditures and initial working capital to fund store expansion and debt repayment.
The company had 25 stores with a net selling space of 196,327 square meters across 20 cities and municipalities as of end-June 2019.
Its product offering spans seven key categories from more than 800 local and international brands, including 18 in-house brands. These product categories are furniture, hardware, appliances, tiles and sanitary wares, homewares, linens and construction materials.
AllHome plans to open 19 new stores in the second half of the year and another 19 stores in 2020.
It is also expanding its Alabang branch to increase its net selling space from 5,845 sqm to 12,340 sqm.
The company tapped UBS, CLSA and Credit Suisse as the joint book-runners and PNB Capital and Investments Corp. and China Bank Capital Corp. as local underwriters for the offering.
All Home saw its net income expand by 354.2 percent in 2018 to P511.4 million from P112.6 million in 2017 as revenues jumped 46.9 percent to 7.19 billion from P4.89 billion.
The company also booked a net income of P207.1 million in the first quarter of 2019, up 375 percent from P43.6 million recorded in the same period last year.
First-quarter revenues surged 67.8 percent to P2.38 billion from P1.42 billion in 2018 following the opening of six new stores.
All Home will be the fourth listed company of the Villar group which also owns Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., Golden Bria Holdings Inc. and Star Malls Inc.
Villar, a former senate president and presidential candidate, was named as the country’s richest man by Forbes in March for having a net worth of $5.5 billion.
All Home is also the second company to file for an IPO this year. In June, Axelum Resources Corp., an export-oriented manufacturer of premium coconut products, filed its IPO application with the SEC with an intention to raise up to P7.7 billion.
http://www.manilastandard.net/index.php/business/business-stocks/300151/villar-s-allhome-prepares-p20-7-b-ipo-in-september.html
[ANALYSIS] The poor quality of economic growth under Duterte
It's been a jobless, ruthless, voiceless, rootless, and futureless growth
One of the high points of my college days was taking a course under “Mareng Winnie” Monsod called Development Economics. I learned there that economic growth is not the be-all and end-all of development. Growth is but a means to an end, not an end in itself.
After all, growth can be antithetical to development in so many ways. The 1996 Human Development Report warned that growth can also be jobless, ruthless, voiceless, rootless, and futureless.
More than a decade later, this lesson has stuck with me, and it could not be a more appropriate lens through which we can (and should) assess the current state of the Philippine economy under Duterte, especially now that we’re past his midterm.
In this article we show that not only has the economy weakened in the past 3 years, but – more importantly – it’s also of poor quality.
Weaker growth
In the pre-SONA event organized by the government's economic managers, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III trumpeted that the growth of the nation’s income – as measured by GDP or gross domestic product – clocked in at an “impressive” and “robust” 6.5% for the first 11 quarters of the Duterte administration.
But a closer look shows that growth has weakened.
From 7.1% when Duterte came into office, growth has foundered to a dismal 5.6% in the first quarter of 2019, the lowest in 4 years (Figure 1). It’s also below the government’s target of 6% to 7%.
Government economists blame Congress’s failure to pass the 2019 budget on time, which set back many government infrastructure projects for the first third of 2019. In a way, Congress derailed Duterte’s own infrastructure project called Build, Build, Build.
Note that 2019 is also an election year, and growth should be higher than normal. I shudder to think how much lower growth would’ve been last quarter had it not been for the elections.
Threats to future growth also lurk nearby.
For instance, we might soon feel the effects of the escalating trade tensions between the US and China.
Investors are also reportedly holding off their expansion in the Philippines – or flocking to more competitive counties like Vietnam – at least until the cloud of uncertainty surrounding the Trabaho bill is dispelled.
Poor-quality growth
Even more disturbing than its downtrend, economic growth has also been of poor quality. It’s been jobless, ruthless, voiceless, rootless, and futureless.
1) Jobless growth
Job creation in the past 3 years has been deplorable.
Official data show that between 2016 and 2018 the Duterte administration saw only 81,000 new jobs each year. Since 2017, annual job growth averaged at just 0.2% (Figure 2).
The Palace dismissed this as a “mathematical impossibility” concocted by the economic think tank IBON Foundation. But the data in fact came from the Philippine Statistics Authority itself.
2) Ruthless growth
Growth has also been ruthless since many of Duterte’s policies are anti-poor.
Luckily for the administration, the country’s poverty rate has gone down from a fourth to a fifth of the population – from the first half of 2015 to the same period in 2018.
But runaway inflation last year (Figure 3), caused in part by the government’s rice mismanagement and the TRAIN law, also impoverished Filipinos by reducing the amount of goods and services they could buy with their incomes.
Duterte’s pet project – the war on drugs – has also killed tens of thousands of Filipinos, almost exclusively among the ranks of the poor. Is this government eradicating poverty by eradicating the poor?
It seems that the government is turning its back on the very idea of “inclusive growth.” In the recent pre-SONA forum, one slide said tellingly, “Our ultimate goal is to bring down poverty rates and create more opportunities for all law-abiding Filipinos” (emphasis mine).
This is hypocritical on two counts. First, inclusive growth is clearly stated as a goal in the Philippine Development Plan. Second, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia himself coined the term “inclusive growth” in a paper published in 2000.
3) Voiceless growth
Even if the economy continues to grow, the Filipino people’s ability to speak out and air their grievances has palpably shrunk.
A large part of it is due to the climate of fear spawned by Duterte’s war on drugs.
The situation is so bad that the United Nations Human Rights Commission is now calling for a probe on the war on drugs, concurrent with the “preliminary examination” of the International Criminal Court.
Checks and balances in government are all but gone. Duterte enjoys tremendous influence in the executive, legislative, and judiciary, which are supposed to check on one another. Duterte is also attacking independent constitutional agencies left and right, such as the Commission on Human Rights and the Ombudsman.
And then, of course, we’re all familiar with how the government is stifling independent media, with Rappler currently facing numerous legal battles and ABS-CBN risking the non-renewal of its franchise next year.
4) Rootless growth
When growth impinges on minority groups or cultural identities, you might call it rootless growth.
For instance, more than two years since the Marawi siege, many Maranao evacuees still live in tent cities and cannot return to their homes. Rehabilitation was stalled largely because Chinese firms were vying to build a new Marawi, even without the consent of the Maranaos.
Meanwhile, the lives and communities of the Dumagats are now under threat from the Chinese-funded Kaliwa Dam project in Quezon.
Although the dam is touted to be a major solution to Metro Manila’s water woes, the Dumagats were also not consulted even if their communities face inundation. Local government leaders were also “totally unaware” of the project until after the signing of the loan agreement with China.
5) Futureless growth
Finally, growth is unsustainable (or futureless) if pursued at the expense of the environment.
Perhaps the most glaring instance of this would be China’s aggressive expansion in the West Philippine Sea. Several reports repeatedly show their overfishing, their destruction of coral reefs, and their reclamation of new islands.
Yet even with such environmental atrocities, Duterte refrains from invoking (even mentioning) our victory in the arbitral tribunal in 2016. In the wake of the recent boat ramming incident, Duterte also did not come to the defense of the Filipino fishermen, and even seems to be lawyering for the Chinese government.
Where on earth is his famed “tapang at malasakit” (courage and compassion)?
It’s alarming enough that economic growth in the first 3 years of the Duterte administration has been trending down. Yet, at the same time, growth has been jobless, ruthless, voiceless, rootless, and futureless.
In other words, economic growth under Duterte bears all the hallmarks of bad growth.
Disturbingly, it did not figure in the recent midterm and local elections, which were dominated by Duterte's candidates. Why?
Remember we’re just halfway through the Duterte administration. How much worse could things get?
The author is a PhD candidate at the UP School of Economics. His views are independent of the views of his affiliations. Follow JC on Twitter (@jcpunongbayan) and Usapang Econ (usapangecon.com).
https://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/235696-analysis-poor-quality-economic-growth-under-duterte
One of the high points of my college days was taking a course under “Mareng Winnie” Monsod called Development Economics. I learned there that economic growth is not the be-all and end-all of development. Growth is but a means to an end, not an end in itself.
After all, growth can be antithetical to development in so many ways. The 1996 Human Development Report warned that growth can also be jobless, ruthless, voiceless, rootless, and futureless.
More than a decade later, this lesson has stuck with me, and it could not be a more appropriate lens through which we can (and should) assess the current state of the Philippine economy under Duterte, especially now that we’re past his midterm.
In this article we show that not only has the economy weakened in the past 3 years, but – more importantly – it’s also of poor quality.
Weaker growth
In the pre-SONA event organized by the government's economic managers, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III trumpeted that the growth of the nation’s income – as measured by GDP or gross domestic product – clocked in at an “impressive” and “robust” 6.5% for the first 11 quarters of the Duterte administration.
But a closer look shows that growth has weakened.
From 7.1% when Duterte came into office, growth has foundered to a dismal 5.6% in the first quarter of 2019, the lowest in 4 years (Figure 1). It’s also below the government’s target of 6% to 7%.
Government economists blame Congress’s failure to pass the 2019 budget on time, which set back many government infrastructure projects for the first third of 2019. In a way, Congress derailed Duterte’s own infrastructure project called Build, Build, Build.
Note that 2019 is also an election year, and growth should be higher than normal. I shudder to think how much lower growth would’ve been last quarter had it not been for the elections.
Threats to future growth also lurk nearby.
For instance, we might soon feel the effects of the escalating trade tensions between the US and China.
Investors are also reportedly holding off their expansion in the Philippines – or flocking to more competitive counties like Vietnam – at least until the cloud of uncertainty surrounding the Trabaho bill is dispelled.
Poor-quality growth
Even more disturbing than its downtrend, economic growth has also been of poor quality. It’s been jobless, ruthless, voiceless, rootless, and futureless.
1) Jobless growth
Job creation in the past 3 years has been deplorable.
Official data show that between 2016 and 2018 the Duterte administration saw only 81,000 new jobs each year. Since 2017, annual job growth averaged at just 0.2% (Figure 2).
The Palace dismissed this as a “mathematical impossibility” concocted by the economic think tank IBON Foundation. But the data in fact came from the Philippine Statistics Authority itself.
2) Ruthless growth
Growth has also been ruthless since many of Duterte’s policies are anti-poor.
Luckily for the administration, the country’s poverty rate has gone down from a fourth to a fifth of the population – from the first half of 2015 to the same period in 2018.
But runaway inflation last year (Figure 3), caused in part by the government’s rice mismanagement and the TRAIN law, also impoverished Filipinos by reducing the amount of goods and services they could buy with their incomes.
Duterte’s pet project – the war on drugs – has also killed tens of thousands of Filipinos, almost exclusively among the ranks of the poor. Is this government eradicating poverty by eradicating the poor?
It seems that the government is turning its back on the very idea of “inclusive growth.” In the recent pre-SONA forum, one slide said tellingly, “Our ultimate goal is to bring down poverty rates and create more opportunities for all law-abiding Filipinos” (emphasis mine).
This is hypocritical on two counts. First, inclusive growth is clearly stated as a goal in the Philippine Development Plan. Second, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia himself coined the term “inclusive growth” in a paper published in 2000.
3) Voiceless growth
Even if the economy continues to grow, the Filipino people’s ability to speak out and air their grievances has palpably shrunk.
A large part of it is due to the climate of fear spawned by Duterte’s war on drugs.
The situation is so bad that the United Nations Human Rights Commission is now calling for a probe on the war on drugs, concurrent with the “preliminary examination” of the International Criminal Court.
Checks and balances in government are all but gone. Duterte enjoys tremendous influence in the executive, legislative, and judiciary, which are supposed to check on one another. Duterte is also attacking independent constitutional agencies left and right, such as the Commission on Human Rights and the Ombudsman.
And then, of course, we’re all familiar with how the government is stifling independent media, with Rappler currently facing numerous legal battles and ABS-CBN risking the non-renewal of its franchise next year.
4) Rootless growth
When growth impinges on minority groups or cultural identities, you might call it rootless growth.
For instance, more than two years since the Marawi siege, many Maranao evacuees still live in tent cities and cannot return to their homes. Rehabilitation was stalled largely because Chinese firms were vying to build a new Marawi, even without the consent of the Maranaos.
Meanwhile, the lives and communities of the Dumagats are now under threat from the Chinese-funded Kaliwa Dam project in Quezon.
Although the dam is touted to be a major solution to Metro Manila’s water woes, the Dumagats were also not consulted even if their communities face inundation. Local government leaders were also “totally unaware” of the project until after the signing of the loan agreement with China.
5) Futureless growth
Finally, growth is unsustainable (or futureless) if pursued at the expense of the environment.
Perhaps the most glaring instance of this would be China’s aggressive expansion in the West Philippine Sea. Several reports repeatedly show their overfishing, their destruction of coral reefs, and their reclamation of new islands.
Yet even with such environmental atrocities, Duterte refrains from invoking (even mentioning) our victory in the arbitral tribunal in 2016. In the wake of the recent boat ramming incident, Duterte also did not come to the defense of the Filipino fishermen, and even seems to be lawyering for the Chinese government.
Where on earth is his famed “tapang at malasakit” (courage and compassion)?
It’s alarming enough that economic growth in the first 3 years of the Duterte administration has been trending down. Yet, at the same time, growth has been jobless, ruthless, voiceless, rootless, and futureless.
In other words, economic growth under Duterte bears all the hallmarks of bad growth.
Disturbingly, it did not figure in the recent midterm and local elections, which were dominated by Duterte's candidates. Why?
Remember we’re just halfway through the Duterte administration. How much worse could things get?
The author is a PhD candidate at the UP School of Economics. His views are independent of the views of his affiliations. Follow JC on Twitter (@jcpunongbayan) and Usapang Econ (usapangecon.com).
https://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/235696-analysis-poor-quality-economic-growth-under-duterte
ABS-CBN franchise renewal up to Congress, not Duterte: Palace
The renewal of ABS-CBN Corporation's franchise will be up Congress, not President Rodrigo Duterte, his spokesman said Thursday.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo made the remark when asked about the case of rival broadcaster TV5, whose franchise lapsed into law. A bill granting a fresh franchise to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines also lapsed into law without the President's signature.
"But ABS-CBN ang expiration next year pa eh, tsaka Congress naman. Nasa Kongreso ang bola niyan, hindi naman kay Presidente."
(ABS-CBN's franchise will expire next year and that will depend on Congress not the President.)
Duterte has criticized ABS-CBN for allegedly not airing a 2016 campaign that he paid for and instead showing a TV spot that was critical of him and was paid by his critic, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
The franchise of the Lopez-led network will expire in March 2020.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/07/18/19/abs-cbn-franchise-renewal-up-to-congress-not-duterte-palace
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo made the remark when asked about the case of rival broadcaster TV5, whose franchise lapsed into law. A bill granting a fresh franchise to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines also lapsed into law without the President's signature.
"But ABS-CBN ang expiration next year pa eh, tsaka Congress naman. Nasa Kongreso ang bola niyan, hindi naman kay Presidente."
(ABS-CBN's franchise will expire next year and that will depend on Congress not the President.)
Duterte has criticized ABS-CBN for allegedly not airing a 2016 campaign that he paid for and instead showing a TV spot that was critical of him and was paid by his critic, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
The franchise of the Lopez-led network will expire in March 2020.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/07/18/19/abs-cbn-franchise-renewal-up-to-congress-not-duterte-palace
TV5 Network’s franchise renewed for another 25 years
A bill extending the franchise granted to ABC Development Corp. — presently known as TV5 Network, Inc. — has lapsed into law after President Rodrigo Duterte failed to act on the measure.
Republic Act 11320 renewed TV5’s franchise for another 25 years.
According to a copy of the law released by MalacaƱang Thursday, the bill lapsed into law on April 22, 2019.
Under the Constitution, bills sent to MalacaƱang will lapse into law if the president does not approve or veto them 30 days after transmittal.
The extension of TV5’s franchise came amid Duterte’s threats to block the franchise renewal of media and entertainment giant ABS-CBN Corp.
ABS-CBN’s franchise expires on March 30, 2020.
Duterte first expressed his opposition to the extension of ABS-CBN’s franchise on April 27, 2017, which came days after he signed a law extending the franchise of rival GMA Network Inc.
In 2017, Duterte hit ABS-CBN and newspaper The Philippine Daily Inquirer for their supposed “unfair” and “slanted” reporting of his administration. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral
https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/07/18/1935786/tv5-networks-franchise-renewed-another-25-years
Republic Act 11320 renewed TV5’s franchise for another 25 years.
According to a copy of the law released by MalacaƱang Thursday, the bill lapsed into law on April 22, 2019.
Under the Constitution, bills sent to MalacaƱang will lapse into law if the president does not approve or veto them 30 days after transmittal.
The extension of TV5’s franchise came amid Duterte’s threats to block the franchise renewal of media and entertainment giant ABS-CBN Corp.
ABS-CBN’s franchise expires on March 30, 2020.
Duterte first expressed his opposition to the extension of ABS-CBN’s franchise on April 27, 2017, which came days after he signed a law extending the franchise of rival GMA Network Inc.
In 2017, Duterte hit ABS-CBN and newspaper The Philippine Daily Inquirer for their supposed “unfair” and “slanted” reporting of his administration. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral
https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/07/18/1935786/tv5-networks-franchise-renewed-another-25-years
CBCP broadcast franchise renewal, 13 other bills lapse into law
AT LEAST 14 proposed measures, including a bill granting 25-year extension for the congressional franchise of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), have lapsed into law.
Even sans the President's signature, a bill automatically becomes a law if left unsigned 30 days after being received by the Office of the President.
Republic Act (RA) 11319, which extends CBCP's broadcast franchise for another 25 years, lapsed into law on April 22.
The last franchise of CBCP, a religious body that remains at odds with President Rodrigo Duterte, was granted in August 2017.
RA 11319 allows CBCP to continue operating and maintaining its radio and television broadcasting facilities "for religious, education, cultural, and commercial purposes."
Other bills that lapsed into law are RAs 11252, 11253, 11316, 11317, 11318, 11320, 11339, 11340, 11341, and 11342.
The said laws respectively extend the franchises of RMC Broadcasting Corporation, Advanced Media Broadcasting System Inc., PBN Broadcasting Network Inc., Andres Bonifacio College Broadcasting System Inc., Insular Broadcasting System Inc., TV5 Network Inc., Cebu Broadcasting Company, Radio Marine Network Inc., First Love Broadcasting Network Inc., and Tirad Pass Radio TV Broadcasting Network Inc. for another 25 years.
RAs 11252 and 11253 lapsed into law on March 30, while RAs 11316, 11317, 11318, and 11320 lapsed into law on April 22.
Meantime, RAs 11339, 11340, 11341, and 11342 lapsed into law on April 27.
It is no secret that Duterte has been attacking the media for their supposed "biased" and "false" reporting.
RA 11329, which establishes a campus of the Bulacan State University in San Rafael, Bulacan, lapsed into law on April 22.
Bulacan State University-San Rafael Campus is mandated to offer graduate, undergraduate, and short-term technical-vocational courses to students, according to RA 11329.
A bill that also lapsed into law is RA 11309, which rectified the period to constitute the search committee for the presidency of the Palompon Institute of Technology and extends the deadline for its compliance with the requirements of the Commission on Higher education for conversion into a state university.
RA 11309 lapsed into law on April 20.
RA 11338, which seeks to create the position of assistant city administrator, emphasize the prohibition on illegal gambling, and establishes the city registry of deeds, is the other proposed measure that lapsed into law on April 27.
The copies of all the 14 laws were made public just on Thursday, July 18.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the President is not opposed to bills that lapsed into law.
"Ibig sabihin, kung pina-lapse niya, ibig sabihin, okay sa kanya (It means that he is okay with the measures, if all of those lapsed into law)," the Palace official said, when sought for reaction on the President's failure to sign the proposed measures.
"That means, effectively, parang pinirmahan niya rin 'yun. Ganoon naman 'yun. Kasi when a President, who is supposed to sign, will let a law pass, ibig sabihin, okay lang sa kanya 'yun (That means, effectively, he also signed that. That's how it works. Because when a President, who is supposed to sign, will let a law pass, it means he has no problem with that)," he added. (SunStar Philippines)
Even sans the President's signature, a bill automatically becomes a law if left unsigned 30 days after being received by the Office of the President.
Republic Act (RA) 11319, which extends CBCP's broadcast franchise for another 25 years, lapsed into law on April 22.
The last franchise of CBCP, a religious body that remains at odds with President Rodrigo Duterte, was granted in August 2017.
RA 11319 allows CBCP to continue operating and maintaining its radio and television broadcasting facilities "for religious, education, cultural, and commercial purposes."
Other bills that lapsed into law are RAs 11252, 11253, 11316, 11317, 11318, 11320, 11339, 11340, 11341, and 11342.
The said laws respectively extend the franchises of RMC Broadcasting Corporation, Advanced Media Broadcasting System Inc., PBN Broadcasting Network Inc., Andres Bonifacio College Broadcasting System Inc., Insular Broadcasting System Inc., TV5 Network Inc., Cebu Broadcasting Company, Radio Marine Network Inc., First Love Broadcasting Network Inc., and Tirad Pass Radio TV Broadcasting Network Inc. for another 25 years.
RAs 11252 and 11253 lapsed into law on March 30, while RAs 11316, 11317, 11318, and 11320 lapsed into law on April 22.
Meantime, RAs 11339, 11340, 11341, and 11342 lapsed into law on April 27.
It is no secret that Duterte has been attacking the media for their supposed "biased" and "false" reporting.
RA 11329, which establishes a campus of the Bulacan State University in San Rafael, Bulacan, lapsed into law on April 22.
Bulacan State University-San Rafael Campus is mandated to offer graduate, undergraduate, and short-term technical-vocational courses to students, according to RA 11329.
A bill that also lapsed into law is RA 11309, which rectified the period to constitute the search committee for the presidency of the Palompon Institute of Technology and extends the deadline for its compliance with the requirements of the Commission on Higher education for conversion into a state university.
RA 11309 lapsed into law on April 20.
RA 11338, which seeks to create the position of assistant city administrator, emphasize the prohibition on illegal gambling, and establishes the city registry of deeds, is the other proposed measure that lapsed into law on April 27.
The copies of all the 14 laws were made public just on Thursday, July 18.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the President is not opposed to bills that lapsed into law.
"Ibig sabihin, kung pina-lapse niya, ibig sabihin, okay sa kanya (It means that he is okay with the measures, if all of those lapsed into law)," the Palace official said, when sought for reaction on the President's failure to sign the proposed measures.
"That means, effectively, parang pinirmahan niya rin 'yun. Ganoon naman 'yun. Kasi when a President, who is supposed to sign, will let a law pass, ibig sabihin, okay lang sa kanya 'yun (That means, effectively, he also signed that. That's how it works. Because when a President, who is supposed to sign, will let a law pass, it means he has no problem with that)," he added. (SunStar Philippines)
TV5, CBCP franchise extension bills lapse into law —MalacaƱang
The bills renewing the broadcast franchise of TV5 Network and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines have lapsed into law as President Rodrigo Duterte did not act on them within the period set by the Constitution.
Republic Act 11319 extends for another 25 years the congressional franchise of CBCP to construct, install, establish, operate and maintain radio and or television broadcasting stations in the Philippines for religious, cultural and commercial purposes.
TV5 also got a 25-year franchise extension under Republic Act 11320.
MalacaƱang said the proposed measures actually lapsed into law on April 22.
Under the Constitution, any bill that is neither signed nor vetoed by the President will automatically lapse into law 30 days after it was forwarded by Congress.
Other bills pertaining to the franchise extension of the following entities have also lapsed into law:
Duterte has repeatedly lambasted the Catholic Church even though he considers CBCP president and Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles as his riend.
He even brought up the supposed misdeeds of clergymen and claimed to have been molested by a priest when he was a young student.
Last year, Duterte drew flak from religious groups and politicians after he remarked that God is “stupid.”
However, Duterte said the clergy should not use the pulpit to attack him and his policies, particularly the war on drugs.
Born and raised a Catholic, Duterte said on Wednesday that he is a “deeply religious person” who uses the Bible as guide in his daily life. —VDS, GMA News
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/companies/701457/tv5-cbcp-franchise-extension-bills-lapse-into-law-malacanang/story/
Republic Act 11319 extends for another 25 years the congressional franchise of CBCP to construct, install, establish, operate and maintain radio and or television broadcasting stations in the Philippines for religious, cultural and commercial purposes.
TV5 also got a 25-year franchise extension under Republic Act 11320.
MalacaƱang said the proposed measures actually lapsed into law on April 22.
Under the Constitution, any bill that is neither signed nor vetoed by the President will automatically lapse into law 30 days after it was forwarded by Congress.
Other bills pertaining to the franchise extension of the following entities have also lapsed into law:
- Rizal Memorial Colleges Broadcasting Corporation (RA 11252)
- Advanced Media Broadcasting System, Inc. (RA 11253)
- PBN Broadcasting Network, Inc. (RA 11316)
- Andres Bonifacio College Broadcasting System, Inc. (RA 11317)
- Insular Broadcasting System, Inc. (RA 11318)
- Cebu Broadcasting Company (RA 11339)
- Radio Marine Network, Inc. (RA 11340)
- First Love Broadcasting Network, Inc. (RA 11341)
- Tirad Pass Radio TV Broadcasting Network, Inc. (RA 11342)
Duterte has repeatedly lambasted the Catholic Church even though he considers CBCP president and Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles as his riend.
He even brought up the supposed misdeeds of clergymen and claimed to have been molested by a priest when he was a young student.
Last year, Duterte drew flak from religious groups and politicians after he remarked that God is “stupid.”
However, Duterte said the clergy should not use the pulpit to attack him and his policies, particularly the war on drugs.
Born and raised a Catholic, Duterte said on Wednesday that he is a “deeply religious person” who uses the Bible as guide in his daily life. —VDS, GMA News
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/companies/701457/tv5-cbcp-franchise-extension-bills-lapse-into-law-malacanang/story/
Bills renewing TV5, CBCP franchises lapse into law
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo cannot explain why Duterte did not sign the bill instead
The bills renewing the franchises of TV5 Network Incorporated and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) lapsed into law on April 22, according to copies of the laws from MalacaƱang.
The Palace sent media copies of the laws 3 months after, on Thursday, July 18.
The laws lack President Rodrigo Duterte's signature and bears a stamp stating that they had lapsed into law on April 22.
This meas TV5 Network, which operates the TV5 television station and Radyo Singko, gets to operate for another 25 years. CBCP can also operate radio or television stations throughout the country for another 25 years.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo could not explain why Duterte did not sign the bill. He said in the Thursday press conference that Duterte probably did not object to TV5's franchise renewal, hence he allowed it to lapse into law.
Meanwhile, the CBCP is led by Duterte's friend, Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles even as it includes among its officers priests who have been highly critical of the President. This includes Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, who himself has been a subject of Duterte's rants and threats.
Last January, the CBCP issued a statement that appeared to decry Duterte's slurs against teachings of the Catholic Church.
A president can either sign a law, veto it entirely or in part, or not act on it until it lapses into law.
Observers are closely watching the government's moves on the franchise renewal of network ABS-CBN, which Duterte has frequently railed against for supposedly "biased" reporting and for supposedly not airing his political advertisements as 2016 presidential candidate when his campaign team had paid for them.
Duterte has threatened to block ABS-CBN's franchise renewal. The network's franchise expires in 2020.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/235701-bills-renewing-tv5-cbcp-franchises-lapse-into-law
The bills renewing the franchises of TV5 Network Incorporated and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) lapsed into law on April 22, according to copies of the laws from MalacaƱang.
The Palace sent media copies of the laws 3 months after, on Thursday, July 18.
The laws lack President Rodrigo Duterte's signature and bears a stamp stating that they had lapsed into law on April 22.
Bill renewing franchise of TV5 lapses into law. See last page of law lacking President Rodrigo Duterte's signature. @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/3u36uPFOHc— Pia Ranada (@piaranada) July 18, 2019
President Duterte also lets bill renewing CBCP franchise lapse into law. @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/jawfP6P2ya— Pia Ranada (@piaranada) July 18, 2019
This meas TV5 Network, which operates the TV5 television station and Radyo Singko, gets to operate for another 25 years. CBCP can also operate radio or television stations throughout the country for another 25 years.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo could not explain why Duterte did not sign the bill. He said in the Thursday press conference that Duterte probably did not object to TV5's franchise renewal, hence he allowed it to lapse into law.
Meanwhile, the CBCP is led by Duterte's friend, Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles even as it includes among its officers priests who have been highly critical of the President. This includes Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, who himself has been a subject of Duterte's rants and threats.
Last January, the CBCP issued a statement that appeared to decry Duterte's slurs against teachings of the Catholic Church.
A president can either sign a law, veto it entirely or in part, or not act on it until it lapses into law.
Observers are closely watching the government's moves on the franchise renewal of network ABS-CBN, which Duterte has frequently railed against for supposedly "biased" reporting and for supposedly not airing his political advertisements as 2016 presidential candidate when his campaign team had paid for them.
Duterte has threatened to block ABS-CBN's franchise renewal. The network's franchise expires in 2020.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/235701-bills-renewing-tv5-cbcp-franchises-lapse-into-law
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
BARMM local government code being drafted by BTA
By Noynoy Lacson
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Ministry of Interior and Local Government in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is spearheading the drafting of the Bangsamoro local government code, one of the priority legislations entrusted to the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.
BARMM Chief Minister Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim said that the Bangsamoro Local Government Code is one of the important codes that should be crafted and passed by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) as it “will clearly define the relationship between the LGUs and the Bangsamoro government.
“The only way to realize the aspiration of the decade-struggle of the Bangsamoro people is to be able to achieve the changes we want in the governance,” he added.
He also recognized the importance of LGUs as they are the real face of governance to which constituents can easily relay their concerns.
Ebrahim recently issued a memorandum directing the BARMM agencies to align their plans, projects, and programs to the 12-point agenda of the Bangsamoro government.
The 12-point agenda of the BARMM published by the Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority include the enactment of priority bills; integration of development plans; establishment of appropriate bureaucracy; continuity of existing government services; special programs for transitioning combatants; supporting the on-going Marawi rehabilitation; development of enabling policy environment; activation of job-generating industries; enhancement of security; maximizing synergistic partnerships; ensure environmental compliance; and exploration of Bangsamoro’s economic potentials.
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, minister of interior and local government (MILG), emphasized the importance of the local government code as it will outline and define the mandate of the Bangsamoro government in its relations with the different local government units.
He said that, in 2022, the local government code will be enacted.
“Let us attempt to create a system that will allow us for the first time not just in the region but in the country to integrate service delivery and programming to the different LGUs,” he said, adding that the three-year opportunity given to the Bangsamoro should not be missed.
During the initial round of the drafting of the code, participants did a comparative analysis of the Muslim Mindanao Act No. 25 Local Government Code of ARMM and Republic Act No. 7160 Local Government Code of the Philippines, as well as challenges and opportunities on local planning and service delivery, local revenue generation, and local autonomy and innovations.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/17/barmm-local-government-code-being-drafted-by-bta/
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Ministry of Interior and Local Government in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is spearheading the drafting of the Bangsamoro local government code, one of the priority legislations entrusted to the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.
BARMM Chief Minister Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim said that the Bangsamoro Local Government Code is one of the important codes that should be crafted and passed by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) as it “will clearly define the relationship between the LGUs and the Bangsamoro government.
“The only way to realize the aspiration of the decade-struggle of the Bangsamoro people is to be able to achieve the changes we want in the governance,” he added.
He also recognized the importance of LGUs as they are the real face of governance to which constituents can easily relay their concerns.
Ebrahim recently issued a memorandum directing the BARMM agencies to align their plans, projects, and programs to the 12-point agenda of the Bangsamoro government.
The 12-point agenda of the BARMM published by the Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority include the enactment of priority bills; integration of development plans; establishment of appropriate bureaucracy; continuity of existing government services; special programs for transitioning combatants; supporting the on-going Marawi rehabilitation; development of enabling policy environment; activation of job-generating industries; enhancement of security; maximizing synergistic partnerships; ensure environmental compliance; and exploration of Bangsamoro’s economic potentials.
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, minister of interior and local government (MILG), emphasized the importance of the local government code as it will outline and define the mandate of the Bangsamoro government in its relations with the different local government units.
He said that, in 2022, the local government code will be enacted.
“Let us attempt to create a system that will allow us for the first time not just in the region but in the country to integrate service delivery and programming to the different LGUs,” he said, adding that the three-year opportunity given to the Bangsamoro should not be missed.
During the initial round of the drafting of the code, participants did a comparative analysis of the Muslim Mindanao Act No. 25 Local Government Code of ARMM and Republic Act No. 7160 Local Government Code of the Philippines, as well as challenges and opportunities on local planning and service delivery, local revenue generation, and local autonomy and innovations.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/17/barmm-local-government-code-being-drafted-by-bta/
SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. to open Lanson Place Hotel & Serviced Suites in MOA
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| Shown from left at the signing of the management agreement are: Lanson Place Hospitality Management Limited CEO Michael Hobson, Wing Tai Properties Limited Director for Corporate Development, Karen Li, SM Hotels and Conventions Corp President Elizabeth Sy and SM Prime Holdings Inc. Executive Committee Chairman Hans Sy. |
SM Hotels and Conventions Corp (SMHCC) and Lanson Place Hospitality Management Limited (LPHM) of Hong Kong signed a management agreement heralding the introduction of the Lanson Place brand in the Philippines.
The first Lanson Place in the Philippines will be located at the heart of SM Mall of Asia providing guests with direct access to extensive retail, F&B and entertainment facilities. The property which will feature a 250-room hotel and a 150-room serviced suites will also be within close proximity to the flagship SMX Convention Center Manila as well as the iconic eCom office buildings, making it ideal for business travelers and MICE delegates.
“We are delighted to be able to introduce Lanson Place’s contemporary lifestyle into The Philippines. This is an important milestone for our Group, as we establish our first foothold in the Philippines. Lanson Place Hotel and Serviced Suites will serve as an ideal setting for guests looking for quality accommodation and attentive service, whether for a short or long-term stay. We are very excited to be collaborating with SMHCC on this project and we can’t wait to receive our first guests,” says Lanson Place Hospitality Management CEO Michael Hobson.
“Lanson Place Hotel and Serviced Suites Mall of Asia will be an outstanding addition to the SM Hotels and Conventions Corp (SMHCC) portfolio. Its anticipated opening of the property underscores the expanding footprint of SMHCC and will be an added boost in the booming Philippine hospitality industry,” adds SMHCC President Elizabeth Sy.
Within 15 minutes away from the capital’s two international airports, Lanson Place Hotel and Serviced Suites Mall of Asia is strategically located near the city’s main commercial and entertainment districts as well as tourist attractions such as museums and historical landmarks. The hotel rooms as well as the well-appointed serviced apartments are designed in sleek, contemporary style. Facilities include an all-day dining restaurant, a fitness center and a rooftop swimming pool offering a full view of the picturesque Manila Bay.
It is also poised to be a choice venue for meetings and social events. Its ballroom can accommodate a maximum of 800 guests which makes it ideal for mid-sized events. An al fresco facility on the podium caters to relaxing intimate events.
Lanson Place Hotel and Serviced Suites Mall of Asia is slated to open in 2022.
Lanson Place is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wing Tai Properties Limited (Wing Tai), a publicly listed company in Hong Kong.
https://business.mb.com.ph/2019/07/16/sm-hotels-and-conventions-corp-to-open-lanson-place-hotel-serviced-suites-in-moa/
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Palace says Duterte’s fourth SONA to be ‘short’
By Genalyn Kabiling
The upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Duterte will just be “short” after his Cabinet members have already highlighted the government’s achievements in pre-SONA events, MalacaƱang said Tuesday.
“Because I asked him about the SONA this morning. He said, ‘Oh, it will be short,’” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said during a Palace press briefing.
“Ordinarily, the President will be discussing achievements of his administration on a particular year, and since the pre-SONAs are already doing that, so I do not think the President will have to repeat that,” he added.
The President is expected to deliver his fourth SONA before a joint session of Congress on July 29, Monday. The annual address is a venue for the President to highlight his accomplishments for the past year and present his plans for the coming year.
Prior to the SONA, concerned cabinet members conducted two public forums presenting achievements on the economy, infrastructure development, poverty alleviation, and other social protection programs. The third and last pre-SONA event focused on the government’s environmental protection and peace and order efforts will be held in Davao City on Tuesday.
Last year, the President’s SONA lasted for 48 minutes, considered his shortest so far. Duterte, known for his long impromptu speeches, opted to read an expletive-free speech after a House leadership scuffle delayed the SONA activity.
His 2016 SONA lasted for one and a half hour, while his 2017 speech went on for two hours.
According to Panelo, the President may tackle the West Philippine Sea issue in his forthcoming public address this Monday.
“He will ‘educate’ those critics that say that he’s violating the Constitution,” Panelo said.
Duterte earlier drew criticisms after supposedly allowing China to fish in the country’s territorial waters following a mutual pact with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The verbal deal, forged in 2016, included China’s commitment not to block Filipino fishermen sailing in Panatag Shoal.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/16/palace-says-dutertes-fourth-sona-to-be-short/
The upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Duterte will just be “short” after his Cabinet members have already highlighted the government’s achievements in pre-SONA events, MalacaƱang said Tuesday.
“Because I asked him about the SONA this morning. He said, ‘Oh, it will be short,’” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said during a Palace press briefing.
“Ordinarily, the President will be discussing achievements of his administration on a particular year, and since the pre-SONAs are already doing that, so I do not think the President will have to repeat that,” he added.
The President is expected to deliver his fourth SONA before a joint session of Congress on July 29, Monday. The annual address is a venue for the President to highlight his accomplishments for the past year and present his plans for the coming year.
Prior to the SONA, concerned cabinet members conducted two public forums presenting achievements on the economy, infrastructure development, poverty alleviation, and other social protection programs. The third and last pre-SONA event focused on the government’s environmental protection and peace and order efforts will be held in Davao City on Tuesday.
Last year, the President’s SONA lasted for 48 minutes, considered his shortest so far. Duterte, known for his long impromptu speeches, opted to read an expletive-free speech after a House leadership scuffle delayed the SONA activity.
His 2016 SONA lasted for one and a half hour, while his 2017 speech went on for two hours.
According to Panelo, the President may tackle the West Philippine Sea issue in his forthcoming public address this Monday.
“He will ‘educate’ those critics that say that he’s violating the Constitution,” Panelo said.
Duterte earlier drew criticisms after supposedly allowing China to fish in the country’s territorial waters following a mutual pact with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The verbal deal, forged in 2016, included China’s commitment not to block Filipino fishermen sailing in Panatag Shoal.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/16/palace-says-dutertes-fourth-sona-to-be-short/
Duterte signs law institutionalizing Seal of Good Local Governance
A law establishing an incentive program that recognizes local government units (LGUs) engaged in good local governance has been signed into law by President Duterte.
Republic Act No. 11292, signed by the President last April 12, institutionalizes the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) for local government units in a bid to promote quality governance and delivery of public services. A copy of the law was posted on the government website Tuesday.
“It is hereby declared the policy of the State to recognize the good performance of local government units in transparency and accountability in the use of public funds, preparedness for challenges posed by disasters, sensitivity to the needs of vulnerable and marginalized sectors of society, implementation of health programs, investment and employment promotion, protection of constituency from threats to life and damage to property, and safeguarding the integrity of the environment,” the law read.
“In such recognition, the State hopes to encourage all LGUs to take on greater challenges, encourage outcome-based performance and to reward local governments for their effort in pursuing the general welfare of their constituency and in enforcing existing laws,” it added.
Under the law, the SGLC is now considered an award, incentive, honor and recognition-based program for all LGUs, as well as a continuing commitment for LGUs to continually progress and improve their performance.
The performance of LGUs will be reviewed in the areas of good fiscal administration, disaster preparedness, social protection and sensitivity programs, health compliance and responsiveness, education programs, business friendliness and competitiveness, public safety, environmental management, tourism and heritage development, and youth development.
A local government that qualifies and passes all assessment criteria will be conferred and awarded the SGLG and granted the corresponding incentive. The SGLG Incentive Fund has also been created under the annual national budget to bankroll the incentives wanted to winning lgus. It will be managed and administered by the Department of Interior and Local Government, the implementing agency of the law.
The new law has also created the Council of Good Local Governance that will serve as policy-making and advisory body to ensure the proper implementation of the SGLG. The council will be chaired by the DILG Secretary.
The members include the Department of Budget and Management, Department of Finance, Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Education, Department of Tourism, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, National Economic and Development Authority, Office of Civil Defense.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/16/duterte-signs-law-institutionalizing-seal-of-good-local-governance/
Republic Act No. 11292, signed by the President last April 12, institutionalizes the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) for local government units in a bid to promote quality governance and delivery of public services. A copy of the law was posted on the government website Tuesday.
“It is hereby declared the policy of the State to recognize the good performance of local government units in transparency and accountability in the use of public funds, preparedness for challenges posed by disasters, sensitivity to the needs of vulnerable and marginalized sectors of society, implementation of health programs, investment and employment promotion, protection of constituency from threats to life and damage to property, and safeguarding the integrity of the environment,” the law read.
“In such recognition, the State hopes to encourage all LGUs to take on greater challenges, encourage outcome-based performance and to reward local governments for their effort in pursuing the general welfare of their constituency and in enforcing existing laws,” it added.
Under the law, the SGLC is now considered an award, incentive, honor and recognition-based program for all LGUs, as well as a continuing commitment for LGUs to continually progress and improve their performance.
The performance of LGUs will be reviewed in the areas of good fiscal administration, disaster preparedness, social protection and sensitivity programs, health compliance and responsiveness, education programs, business friendliness and competitiveness, public safety, environmental management, tourism and heritage development, and youth development.
A local government that qualifies and passes all assessment criteria will be conferred and awarded the SGLG and granted the corresponding incentive. The SGLG Incentive Fund has also been created under the annual national budget to bankroll the incentives wanted to winning lgus. It will be managed and administered by the Department of Interior and Local Government, the implementing agency of the law.
The new law has also created the Council of Good Local Governance that will serve as policy-making and advisory body to ensure the proper implementation of the SGLG. The council will be chaired by the DILG Secretary.
The members include the Department of Budget and Management, Department of Finance, Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Education, Department of Tourism, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, National Economic and Development Authority, Office of Civil Defense.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/16/duterte-signs-law-institutionalizing-seal-of-good-local-governance/
Explanatory Note on Multiply
Multiply Inc. was founded in 2004 by Peter Pezaris, Michael Gersh, and David Hersh. With headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, United States, Multiply is the second largest social network in Southeast Asia, with millions of users in the US, Brazil, India and more. Multiply initially carried out the main function as a social network where users shared photos, blogs, videos, and others. In its development, Multiply changed its function to become an electronic trading site. On September 20, 2010, most of Multiply.com's shares were acquired by Naspers Limited (NPSN-JSE), an electronic trading expert company in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Multiply Indonesia
PT Multiply Indonesia, also known as MulpID, was established on December 15, 2010. The Multiply office in Jakarta has become the largest Multiply office. In 2012, Multiply in Indonesia has 90,000 sellers (with 2,000 new sellers each month). At the end of the social networking era, Multiply had 2.3 million registered accounts and 7 million unique visits each month.
Since its establishment, Multiply Indonesia aims to establish strategic and comprehensive business cooperation to educate the Indonesian market regarding electronic commerce activities while strengthening the network of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia. Multiply Indonesia is led by Country Manager Daniel Tumiwa.
Multiply Philippines
Multiply Philippines is based in Manila, led by Country Manager Jack Madrid. In 2012, Multiply Philippines had as many as 102,000 members.
Multiply social network
Multiply is a social networking site, where people share photos, writing, videos and even music. However, the exchange of music in recent years has been increasingly tightened due to encouragement from those who care about copyright.
Feature
On the Multiply social network, relationships with contacts are not only described as "friends", but users can choose a more suitable relationship, such as relatives, father, child, wife / husband, niece, professional contacts, online friends, and so on. Users can set content designation that is loaded on Multiply for certain contact groups. The contact group provided for the lowest authority is online buddy. Online buddy classification is usually applied to people who are just known online, so they cannot know each other too personally.
Some of the features available on the Multiply social network are:
Blog
Multiply provides word processing to compile a blog content in the WYSIWYG format. When sending blog entries to Multiply, users can automatically cross-post to Blogspot, Twitter, and or Facebook.
Photo
Multiply provides a means to share truly unlimited photos, both from the size of photos (in megapixels) and the size of photo files (in megabytes). There is no difference in quota in uploading photos whether users pay or not.
To facilitate photo uploading, Multiply also provides AutoUploader software. The photos uploaded via Multiply AutoUploader are stored in a place called Media Locker. Users who don't pay are given thirty days of saving photos in Media Locker. If the photo is not processed into a photo album shipment, the photos in Media Locker will be deleted automatically. While premium users can enjoy Media Locker without having to make a photo album while the premium membership period is valid.
Video
Users can directly upload videos to Multiply or retrieve from YouTube, Photobucket, Google Video, or Metacafe. Free users can upload up to 10 minutes of video or 100 megabytes. While premium users have a limit of 20 minutes or 200 megabytes.
Music
At first, Multiply allows users to upload music for up to ten song files in one upload. This ease increases Multiply's popularity. Many people are interested in using Multiply just to share music files.
As popularity increases, Multiply increasingly receives protests from parties who care about copyright. To counter the circulation of pirated music, Multiply then reduced the maximum upload limit to one in five, then reduced it to three. Multiply also revoked the ease of downloading, so music can only be played on the Multiply site. In the last year of the Multiply social network, uploading music was no longer possible by new users joining or in the newly formed group.
Development
In September 2005, or within 1 year and 5 months of its launch, Multiply gathered one million users worldwide.
In June 2007, Multiply staff through its blog stated that the number of users reached five million users.
In October 2008, Multiply was used by ten million members worldwide.
Based on the Alexa site record in December 2008, the majority of users of the Multiply site came from Indonesia, which was 21.7%. While the United States itself, where Multiply's head office is located, contributes 20% to Multiply's users.
On August 7, 2012, Multiply's CEO Stefan Magdalinski announced that Multiply's social network would be stopped, including hosting blogs, videos, photos and music, in order to focus solely on e-commerce.
Closing blog services and sharing files reaping protests from Multiply users. Users feel betrayed, mainly because Multiply's previous management guaranteed that these services will not be eliminated despite the changing focus on e-commerce.
Multiply at a glance (March 2013): 23 million members, 16 million photos and 33,000 videos
In March 2013, the Multiply International site was completely closed and inaccessible, after Multiply had previously only blocked access to Multiply.com from Indonesia's IP address. The promise of Multiply to repay Premium account holders was never fulfilled.
Many people see this decision as a big blunder, because Multiply's ability as an e-commerce site is still very doubtful. Users in Indonesia, for example, tend to prefer shopping on sites that provide a sense of familiarity between buyers and sellers, such as Kaskus for example. The beginning of the emergence of sellers on Multiply also originated from online friendships, and its main attraction was human interaction between buyers and sellers. This seems to be difficult for Multiply to understand. The security guarantee still looks weak on Multiply.
On the Multiply Indonesia Facebook account, this criticism was also conveyed. Many new buyers at Multiply do not understand what is a "Trusted Seller" and not. This happened because Multiply had been guerrilla on the social media outside Multiply without providing a complete explanation, so that many lay people were interested in shopping at Multiply. With secure shopping slogans on Multiply, laymen Multiply only knows shopping on Multiply without paying attention to the T (Trusted Seller) logo. While people who are accustomed to Multiply and understand the system, many even starts leaving Multiply because of various unilateral policies and making them disappointed.
Some "Trusted Sellers" who try to be able to understand Multiply and turn on sales at Multiply provide education to their buyers, something Multiply does not do themselves.
Indeed, many discount programs make many people interested and try to make a secure online shopping system, but not everyone understands how. Some parties suggest that Multiply does not need to provide opportunities to sellers who are not yet "Trusted Sellers" to make transactions if there is no guarantee of security. So, if indeed Multiply intends to become pure e-commerce, all sellers and buyers at Multiply should receive security guarantees without any distinctions on the T logo or not.
Facing these questions and complaints, Multiply can only delete comments or prevent people from sending comments through their Facebook page.
Beginning in April 2013, a group of ex-Multiply users in Indonesia created a like page on Facebook called AntiNewMultiplyMultilieIndonesia to accommodate the many complaints from users (both sellers and buyers) who felt aggrieved by Multiply.
On April 26, 2013, Multiply announced it will close Multiply Indonesia and Multiply International website as of May 6, 2013.
All business activities of Multiply will be terminated on May 31, 2013 at 11:59 p.m.
The cause of the closing of the Multiply site is because Multiply is expected to fail to reach the leading position in the e-commerce industry with a sustainable business model. Multiply CEO Stefan Magdalinski acknowledged that the total change of the Multiply business model from social networking to e-commerce sites was unsuccessful. That website no longer exists as a __________ in the _______.
It filed a petition to wind up the company to recoup his losses, told the court he was in discussions with an unnamed potential investor.
The hearing on the petition was adjourned until June 17, 2013 pending further discussion among the parties.
Multiply Investor Secretary Rong Rongbin pledged shares of Star Platinum Corporation, which holds 99% of its shares, to borrow HK$300 million from Xiesheng Xiefeng to save the Multiply website but did not repay on time; therefore, Xiesheng Xiefeng in July 2013, it acquired the full equity of Star Platinum. It was also reported that about HK$35 million in unpaid wages of 640 former employees and HK$18 million of Insolvency Fund were also paid after the company has acquired its majority stake.
Following years of closure and the announcement of the intent – which eventually fell through, Multiply's stock plummeted and its more than $11 billion in debt caused it to face bankruptcy in April 2016.
It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 21, 2016.
To continue its operations and pay staff, the company received $500 million in bankruptcy debt financing.
It will continue operations during bankruptcy.
The debt financing money came from first-lien and second-lien lenders. The bankruptcy court must approve the money.
The site will be fully reopened their operations 100 days after United States President Obama stepping down in the office on January 20, 2017 at 12 noon (EST) and keeping Facebook as the sole social networking site.
On April 30, 2017, the Indonesian Parliament approved the draft of re-opening Multiply.com, as well their operations, the international unit Multiply International and the social networking portion including 55 million users with hosted blogs, videos, photos and messaging would recover and also voted and approved the draft of re-opening this website.
It was set to be close down by the order of Securities and Exchange Commission.
It then began the arduous task of resuming their operations, when Stefan Magdalinski stays as owner and CEO of the website, and Jack Madrid is the country manager.
Many of former users who called for the website to reopen.
In January 2018, MediaQuest Holdings President and CEO Atty. Ray C. Espinosa stated in an interview that he would be willing to buy the old Multiply from Naspers and turned to became a independent, separate entity.
"Hi! Everyone we will announce soon the launching of the new Multiply! ššš" it said earlier, that the Multiply website will revert to it's original form as a social networking service and start to recover all hosted blogs, videos, photos and messaging.
"Sana nga maibalik sa orihinal na estado ang Multiply. Marami kaming naghihintay na bumalik ulit ang dating ganda ng Multiply."
Multiply inaugurated its Philippine office in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City in 2028 and began test launch by the end of 2029, officially returning their operations.
Naspers will conduct a partial reopening of Multiply to former users by January 2029.
It said the dry run, scheduled from January 6 to 16, will allow the parent company to assess what else needs to be done before the website will be reopened to users on July 1, 2029 at midnight Manila time.
Remember that House Bill has to be signed into Law.
And it has to go through the Senate first (first reading, committee approval, 2nd reading and 3rd reading) before being signed into law.
Bicam pa.
Seems the two Great Houses of the Congress are fast these days. Let us see how fast they will approve this.
You missed a step, Committee Hearings on either Houses of Congress.
The company obtained its congressional franchise in April 2029 and was granted a provisional authority to operate a social networking service in May 2029.
How to Reopen a Dissolved Company
A business has its own life cycle, starting from the infancy of a budding, new idea to the day when it must close its doors. Some businesses have longer life cycles than others, while some may find new life after dissolving. You might decide to reopen a business after dissolution based on opportunities and the experiences you had when the business was open. Perhaps the business never quite got off the ground because it was established before consumers were ready. Reopening the business may require reestablishing the existing information or reforming a new entity under the old name.
1. Review your original bylaws, business plan and marketing program to find what worked and what did not within the business. Adjust all documents, as needed, to help the business reopen and succeed.
2. Call the Secretary of State in the state where the business was originally established. Look up the business by name to confirm that it was officially dissolved.
3. Ask what is required to reestablish the company in the state. Most states require that the business be in good standing, with updated officer's listings, franchise tax fees and recent board meeting minutes. If the business was dissolved because it was suspended for filing or fee issues, these must be rectified prior to reestablishing the business.
4. Call the Department of Revenue in your state and confirm that your state tax identification number is valid and in good standing.
5. Check with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to update and activate your old Employer Identification Number (EIN) by calling 800-829-4933. Even after a company is dissolved, the EIN remains assigned to the original entity, just as a Social Security number is still the number assigned to a deceased individual.
6. Open a new business entity under the same name if you are unable to reestablish old tax identification numbers or activate your company profile through the Secretary of State. This will require new bylaws and tax identification numbers, but you should be able to get the same name since your business was closed.
7. Open your doors once all legalities are done. Secure work location leases, hire employees and market products and services to your target audience.
Things Needed:
Short-Term, Medium-Term & Long-Term Planning in Business
Business owners develop plans to reach their overall goals, and they usually find it useful to separate planning into phases. This allows you to track immediate improvements while evaluating progress toward eventual goals and targets. The different time frames of the planning process place the focus on time-sensitive aspects of the company's structure and environment. You can differentiate planning based on the time frames of the inputs and expected outcomes.
Strategic Planning Characteristics
Many businesses develop strategic planning within a short-term, medium-term and long-term framework. Short-term usually involves processes that show results within a year. Companies aim medium-term plans at results that take several years to achieve. Long-term plans include the overall goals of the company set four or five years in the future and usually are based on reaching the medium-term targets. Planning in this way helps you complete short-term tasks while keeping longer-term goals in mind.
Short-Term Planning
Short-term planning looks at the characteristics of the company in the present and develops strategies for improving them. Examples are the skills of the employees and their attitudes. The condition of production equipment or product quality problems are also short-term concerns.
To address these issues, you put in place short-term solutions to address problems. Employee training courses, equipment servicing and quality fixes are short-term solutions. These solutions set the stage for addressing problems more comprehensively in the longer term.
Medium-Term Planning
Medium-term planning applies more permanent solutions to short-term problems. If training courses for employees solved problems in the short term, companies schedule training programs for the medium term. If there are quality issues, the medium-term response is to revise and strengthen the company's quality control program.
Where a short-term response to equipment failure is to repair the machine, a medium-term solution is to arrange for a service contract. Medium-term planning implements policies and procedures to ensure that short-term problems don't recur.
Long-Term Planning
In the long term, companies want to solve problems permanently and to reach their overall targets. Long-term planning reacts to the competitive situation of the company in its social, economic and political environment and develops strategies for adapting and influencing its position to achieve long-term goals. It examines major capital expenditures such as purchasing equipment and facilities, and implements policies and procedures that shape the company's profile to match top management's ideas.
When short-term and medium-term planning is successful, long-term planning builds on those achievements to preserve accomplishments and ensure continued progress.
Multiply Indonesia
PT Multiply Indonesia, also known as MulpID, was established on December 15, 2010. The Multiply office in Jakarta has become the largest Multiply office. In 2012, Multiply in Indonesia has 90,000 sellers (with 2,000 new sellers each month). At the end of the social networking era, Multiply had 2.3 million registered accounts and 7 million unique visits each month.
Since its establishment, Multiply Indonesia aims to establish strategic and comprehensive business cooperation to educate the Indonesian market regarding electronic commerce activities while strengthening the network of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia. Multiply Indonesia is led by Country Manager Daniel Tumiwa.
Multiply Philippines
Multiply Philippines is based in Manila, led by Country Manager Jack Madrid. In 2012, Multiply Philippines had as many as 102,000 members.
Multiply social network
Multiply is a social networking site, where people share photos, writing, videos and even music. However, the exchange of music in recent years has been increasingly tightened due to encouragement from those who care about copyright.
Feature
On the Multiply social network, relationships with contacts are not only described as "friends", but users can choose a more suitable relationship, such as relatives, father, child, wife / husband, niece, professional contacts, online friends, and so on. Users can set content designation that is loaded on Multiply for certain contact groups. The contact group provided for the lowest authority is online buddy. Online buddy classification is usually applied to people who are just known online, so they cannot know each other too personally.
Some of the features available on the Multiply social network are:
Blog
Multiply provides word processing to compile a blog content in the WYSIWYG format. When sending blog entries to Multiply, users can automatically cross-post to Blogspot, Twitter, and or Facebook.
Photo
Multiply provides a means to share truly unlimited photos, both from the size of photos (in megapixels) and the size of photo files (in megabytes). There is no difference in quota in uploading photos whether users pay or not.
To facilitate photo uploading, Multiply also provides AutoUploader software. The photos uploaded via Multiply AutoUploader are stored in a place called Media Locker. Users who don't pay are given thirty days of saving photos in Media Locker. If the photo is not processed into a photo album shipment, the photos in Media Locker will be deleted automatically. While premium users can enjoy Media Locker without having to make a photo album while the premium membership period is valid.
Video
Users can directly upload videos to Multiply or retrieve from YouTube, Photobucket, Google Video, or Metacafe. Free users can upload up to 10 minutes of video or 100 megabytes. While premium users have a limit of 20 minutes or 200 megabytes.
Music
At first, Multiply allows users to upload music for up to ten song files in one upload. This ease increases Multiply's popularity. Many people are interested in using Multiply just to share music files.
As popularity increases, Multiply increasingly receives protests from parties who care about copyright. To counter the circulation of pirated music, Multiply then reduced the maximum upload limit to one in five, then reduced it to three. Multiply also revoked the ease of downloading, so music can only be played on the Multiply site. In the last year of the Multiply social network, uploading music was no longer possible by new users joining or in the newly formed group.
Development
In September 2005, or within 1 year and 5 months of its launch, Multiply gathered one million users worldwide.
In June 2007, Multiply staff through its blog stated that the number of users reached five million users.
In October 2008, Multiply was used by ten million members worldwide.
Based on the Alexa site record in December 2008, the majority of users of the Multiply site came from Indonesia, which was 21.7%. While the United States itself, where Multiply's head office is located, contributes 20% to Multiply's users.
On August 7, 2012, Multiply's CEO Stefan Magdalinski announced that Multiply's social network would be stopped, including hosting blogs, videos, photos and music, in order to focus solely on e-commerce.
Closing blog services and sharing files reaping protests from Multiply users. Users feel betrayed, mainly because Multiply's previous management guaranteed that these services will not be eliminated despite the changing focus on e-commerce.
Multiply at a glance (March 2013): 23 million members, 16 million photos and 33,000 videos
In March 2013, the Multiply International site was completely closed and inaccessible, after Multiply had previously only blocked access to Multiply.com from Indonesia's IP address. The promise of Multiply to repay Premium account holders was never fulfilled.
Many people see this decision as a big blunder, because Multiply's ability as an e-commerce site is still very doubtful. Users in Indonesia, for example, tend to prefer shopping on sites that provide a sense of familiarity between buyers and sellers, such as Kaskus for example. The beginning of the emergence of sellers on Multiply also originated from online friendships, and its main attraction was human interaction between buyers and sellers. This seems to be difficult for Multiply to understand. The security guarantee still looks weak on Multiply.
On the Multiply Indonesia Facebook account, this criticism was also conveyed. Many new buyers at Multiply do not understand what is a "Trusted Seller" and not. This happened because Multiply had been guerrilla on the social media outside Multiply without providing a complete explanation, so that many lay people were interested in shopping at Multiply. With secure shopping slogans on Multiply, laymen Multiply only knows shopping on Multiply without paying attention to the T (Trusted Seller) logo. While people who are accustomed to Multiply and understand the system, many even starts leaving Multiply because of various unilateral policies and making them disappointed.
Some "Trusted Sellers" who try to be able to understand Multiply and turn on sales at Multiply provide education to their buyers, something Multiply does not do themselves.
Indeed, many discount programs make many people interested and try to make a secure online shopping system, but not everyone understands how. Some parties suggest that Multiply does not need to provide opportunities to sellers who are not yet "Trusted Sellers" to make transactions if there is no guarantee of security. So, if indeed Multiply intends to become pure e-commerce, all sellers and buyers at Multiply should receive security guarantees without any distinctions on the T logo or not.
Facing these questions and complaints, Multiply can only delete comments or prevent people from sending comments through their Facebook page.
Beginning in April 2013, a group of ex-Multiply users in Indonesia created a like page on Facebook called AntiNewMultiplyMultilieIndonesia to accommodate the many complaints from users (both sellers and buyers) who felt aggrieved by Multiply.
On April 26, 2013, Multiply announced it will close Multiply Indonesia and Multiply International website as of May 6, 2013.
All business activities of Multiply will be terminated on May 31, 2013 at 11:59 p.m.
The cause of the closing of the Multiply site is because Multiply is expected to fail to reach the leading position in the e-commerce industry with a sustainable business model. Multiply CEO Stefan Magdalinski acknowledged that the total change of the Multiply business model from social networking to e-commerce sites was unsuccessful. That website no longer exists as a __________ in the _______.
It filed a petition to wind up the company to recoup his losses, told the court he was in discussions with an unnamed potential investor.
The hearing on the petition was adjourned until June 17, 2013 pending further discussion among the parties.
Multiply Investor Secretary Rong Rongbin pledged shares of Star Platinum Corporation, which holds 99% of its shares, to borrow HK$300 million from Xiesheng Xiefeng to save the Multiply website but did not repay on time; therefore, Xiesheng Xiefeng in July 2013, it acquired the full equity of Star Platinum. It was also reported that about HK$35 million in unpaid wages of 640 former employees and HK$18 million of Insolvency Fund were also paid after the company has acquired its majority stake.
Following years of closure and the announcement of the intent – which eventually fell through, Multiply's stock plummeted and its more than $11 billion in debt caused it to face bankruptcy in April 2016.
It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 21, 2016.
To continue its operations and pay staff, the company received $500 million in bankruptcy debt financing.
It will continue operations during bankruptcy.
The debt financing money came from first-lien and second-lien lenders. The bankruptcy court must approve the money.
On April 30, 2017, the Indonesian Parliament approved the draft of re-opening Multiply.com, as well their operations, the international unit Multiply International and the social networking portion including 55 million users with hosted blogs, videos, photos and messaging would recover and also voted and approved the draft of re-opening this website.
It was set to be close down by the order of Securities and Exchange Commission.
It then began the arduous task of resuming their operations, when Stefan Magdalinski stays as owner and CEO of the website, and Jack Madrid is the country manager.
Many of former users who called for the website to reopen.
In January 2018, MediaQuest Holdings President and CEO Atty. Ray C. Espinosa stated in an interview that he would be willing to buy the old Multiply from Naspers and turned to became a independent, separate entity.
"Hi! Everyone we will announce soon the launching of the new Multiply! ššš" it said earlier, that the Multiply website will revert to it's original form as a social networking service and start to recover all hosted blogs, videos, photos and messaging.
"Sana nga maibalik sa orihinal na estado ang Multiply. Marami kaming naghihintay na bumalik ulit ang dating ganda ng Multiply."
Multiply inaugurated its Philippine office in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City in 2028 and began test launch by the end of 2029, officially returning their operations.
Naspers will conduct a partial reopening of Multiply to former users by January 2029.
It said the dry run, scheduled from January 6 to 16, will allow the parent company to assess what else needs to be done before the website will be reopened to users on July 1, 2029 at midnight Manila time.
Remember that House Bill has to be signed into Law.
And it has to go through the Senate first (first reading, committee approval, 2nd reading and 3rd reading) before being signed into law.
Bicam pa.
Seems the two Great Houses of the Congress are fast these days. Let us see how fast they will approve this.
You missed a step, Committee Hearings on either Houses of Congress.
The company obtained its congressional franchise in April 2029 and was granted a provisional authority to operate a social networking service in May 2029.
How to Reopen a Dissolved Company
A business has its own life cycle, starting from the infancy of a budding, new idea to the day when it must close its doors. Some businesses have longer life cycles than others, while some may find new life after dissolving. You might decide to reopen a business after dissolution based on opportunities and the experiences you had when the business was open. Perhaps the business never quite got off the ground because it was established before consumers were ready. Reopening the business may require reestablishing the existing information or reforming a new entity under the old name.
1. Review your original bylaws, business plan and marketing program to find what worked and what did not within the business. Adjust all documents, as needed, to help the business reopen and succeed.
2. Call the Secretary of State in the state where the business was originally established. Look up the business by name to confirm that it was officially dissolved.
3. Ask what is required to reestablish the company in the state. Most states require that the business be in good standing, with updated officer's listings, franchise tax fees and recent board meeting minutes. If the business was dissolved because it was suspended for filing or fee issues, these must be rectified prior to reestablishing the business.
4. Call the Department of Revenue in your state and confirm that your state tax identification number is valid and in good standing.
5. Check with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to update and activate your old Employer Identification Number (EIN) by calling 800-829-4933. Even after a company is dissolved, the EIN remains assigned to the original entity, just as a Social Security number is still the number assigned to a deceased individual.
6. Open a new business entity under the same name if you are unable to reestablish old tax identification numbers or activate your company profile through the Secretary of State. This will require new bylaws and tax identification numbers, but you should be able to get the same name since your business was closed.
7. Open your doors once all legalities are done. Secure work location leases, hire employees and market products and services to your target audience.
Things Needed:
- Old bylaws
- Employer Identification Number
Short-Term, Medium-Term & Long-Term Planning in Business
Business owners develop plans to reach their overall goals, and they usually find it useful to separate planning into phases. This allows you to track immediate improvements while evaluating progress toward eventual goals and targets. The different time frames of the planning process place the focus on time-sensitive aspects of the company's structure and environment. You can differentiate planning based on the time frames of the inputs and expected outcomes.
Strategic Planning Characteristics
Many businesses develop strategic planning within a short-term, medium-term and long-term framework. Short-term usually involves processes that show results within a year. Companies aim medium-term plans at results that take several years to achieve. Long-term plans include the overall goals of the company set four or five years in the future and usually are based on reaching the medium-term targets. Planning in this way helps you complete short-term tasks while keeping longer-term goals in mind.
Short-Term Planning
Short-term planning looks at the characteristics of the company in the present and develops strategies for improving them. Examples are the skills of the employees and their attitudes. The condition of production equipment or product quality problems are also short-term concerns.
To address these issues, you put in place short-term solutions to address problems. Employee training courses, equipment servicing and quality fixes are short-term solutions. These solutions set the stage for addressing problems more comprehensively in the longer term.
Medium-Term Planning
Medium-term planning applies more permanent solutions to short-term problems. If training courses for employees solved problems in the short term, companies schedule training programs for the medium term. If there are quality issues, the medium-term response is to revise and strengthen the company's quality control program.
Where a short-term response to equipment failure is to repair the machine, a medium-term solution is to arrange for a service contract. Medium-term planning implements policies and procedures to ensure that short-term problems don't recur.
Long-Term Planning
In the long term, companies want to solve problems permanently and to reach their overall targets. Long-term planning reacts to the competitive situation of the company in its social, economic and political environment and develops strategies for adapting and influencing its position to achieve long-term goals. It examines major capital expenditures such as purchasing equipment and facilities, and implements policies and procedures that shape the company's profile to match top management's ideas.
When short-term and medium-term planning is successful, long-term planning builds on those achievements to preserve accomplishments and ensure continued progress.
Noynoy to skip Duterte's SONA anew
Former President Benigno Aquino III has not confirmed his attendance to President Rodrigo Duterte's fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) this July 22.
This was relayed to GMA News Online by the House of Representatives Task Force SONA 2019 - Committee on Invitations, Reception and Protocol.
The House has traditionally been sending out invitations to former Presidents and other government officials to attend the incumbent chief executive's SONA.
However, it is not the first time that Aquino would not be attending Duterte's SONA, as he also skipped the previous three.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Vice President has confirmed that Vice President Leni Robredo will attend Duterte's SONA this year.
Members of the two houses of Congress, as well as officials from the executive, judiciary and even local government units, are set to converge at the House of Representatives on Monday to hear the President's report to the nation. —KG, GMA News
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/701158/noynoy-to-skip-duterte-s-sona-anew/story/
This was relayed to GMA News Online by the House of Representatives Task Force SONA 2019 - Committee on Invitations, Reception and Protocol.
The House has traditionally been sending out invitations to former Presidents and other government officials to attend the incumbent chief executive's SONA.
However, it is not the first time that Aquino would not be attending Duterte's SONA, as he also skipped the previous three.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Vice President has confirmed that Vice President Leni Robredo will attend Duterte's SONA this year.
Members of the two houses of Congress, as well as officials from the executive, judiciary and even local government units, are set to converge at the House of Representatives on Monday to hear the President's report to the nation. —KG, GMA News
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/701158/noynoy-to-skip-duterte-s-sona-anew/story/
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