Tag Archives: In the News

[In the news] ‘DND misused relief fund’ -INQUIRER.net

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‘DND misused relief fund’.

COA: Huge part spent for AFP oil, repairs, etc.
Marlon Ramos, Philippine Daily Inquirer
January 3, 2015

MANILA, Philippines–A “huge portion” of the P352.5 million in emergency funding of the Department of National Defense in 2013 had been misused by the military, which spent money meant to help victims of natural disasters to pay for its fuel consumption and repairs of its offices, state auditors have discovered.

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According to the Commission on Audit (COA), P843.5 million in Quick Response Fund (QRF) of the DND had also remained unliquidated since 2012.

Answering the findings of the COA, the defense department maintained that the emergency fund was “utilized for the purpose it was released to DND.”

In its periodic audit, the COA found out that a number of projects under the DND’s emergency fund had yet to be completed by its attached units despite the release of the budget.

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[In the news] PCGG eyes full accounting of P168-B recovered Marcos ill-gotten wealth -GMAnews

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PCGG eyes full accounting of P168-B recovered Marcos ill-gotten wealth.

The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) wants to have a full accounting of the P168-billion ill-gotten wealth recovered from the Marcoses to determine how the money were used.

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“Since the PCGG’s creation in 1986, umaabot na sa P168 billion ang naire-remit namin sa Bureau of Treasury. We want to know where the money were used and how they were used,” PCGG chairman Andres Bautista told GMA News Online in a phone interview Friday.

Included in the P168 billion is the P70 billion recovered by the PCGG from the coco levy fund.

Bautista said the agency is willing to work with the Commission on Audit (COA) in doing the accounting. He also said the COA may conduct an independent audit.

“We in the PCGG have our own records kung saan-saan nagamit yung recovered wealth, but our record is not that comprehensive. Ang gusto naming malaman ay yung specific projects talaga, anu-anong agrarian-related projects ang naumpisahan na gamit itong recovered wealth na ito,” he said.

Read full article @www.gmanetwork.com

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[In the news] Labor group slams LRT, MRT fare hike -PhilStar

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Labor group slams LRT, MRT fare hike
By Sheila Crisostomo, The Philippine Star
January 3, 2015

MANILA, Philippines – The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) slammed the impending hike in the fares of Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT), pointing out the government subsidy for the travel budget of public officials is also increasing.

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PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza said the travel budget of public officials has increased by at least P1.5 billion yearly since 2011.

“Clearly, there is a tale of inequality in this issue. First, the fare hike as admitted by Secretary Abaya himself is meant not for service upgrade but mainly for debt payments to an onerous contract with a private concessionaire,” Fortaleza said, referring to Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya.

Read full article @www.philstar.com

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[In the news] Aquino, Abaya lying about fare hikes -Manila Standard Today

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Aquino, Abaya lying about fare hikes
By Christine F. Herrera, Vito Barcelo, Manila Standard Today
December 30, 2014

THE youth group Anakbayan on Monday called President Benigno Aquino III and Transport Secretary Emilio Abaya “barefaced liars” after Abaya said the extra revenue from the planned fare increases in the MRT and LRT train systems will not go to improve the trains but will be used to pay for the onerous deals with private firms.

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Malacañang and the Transport Department had previously said that the fare hikes would go to improve the train service.

“The Aquino government and Liberal Party president Emilio Abaya are barefaced liars. They have been decieving the public to justify the train fare hikes,” Anakbayan national chairman Vencer Crisostomo said.

“In fact, they are implementing the fare hikes to fund the onerous and corrupt deals with private firms which have been getting super profits and are set to gain more from these hikes.”

Read full article @manilastandardtoday.com

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[In the news] Punishment for discrimination vs race, belief, gender pushed in Senate -INQUIRER.net

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Punishment for discrimination vs race, belief, gender pushed in Senate.
By Maila Ager, INQUIRER.net
April 18, 2014

MANILA, Philippines — A bill that seeks to prohibit and penalize discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, civil status, HIV status and other medical condition, among others, has been filed at the Senate.

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In filing Senate Bill 2122, neophyte Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV noted that while the Philippines was a signatory to numerous international agreements that seek to ensure respect for the human rights of all persons, some sectors continue to experience discrimination in schools, workplaces, public service, as well as commercial establishments.

“Unfortunately, reality has yet to catch up with the noble intetnions of these numerous laws and international agreements,” Aquino said in his explanatory note of the bill.

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[In the news] Wheel of torture: 10 cops relieved -INQUIRER.net

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Photo by CHRP, Extracted from PDI

Photo by CHRP, Extracted from PDI

Wheel of torture: 10 cops relieved
41 detainees maltreated at secret PNP facility
By Cynthia D. Balana, Philippine Daily Inquirer
January 29, 2014

MANILA, Philippines — Ten Philippine National Police officers have been sacked following revelations they played a so-called “wheel of torture” game at a secret detention facility to extract information from criminal suspects and also to have fun, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said on Tuesday.

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The CHR is looking into the alleged maltreatment of up to 41 detainees in the PNP facility in Biñan, Laguna province, according to the commission.

Under the game, detainees—mostly suspected drug traffickers—were punched if the “torture wheel” stopped at “20 seconds Manny Pacman,” referring to a nickname of popular boxer Manny Pacquiao, or hung upside down if it stopped at a punishment called “30-second bat,” said Amnesty International, the London-based rights group. It called the practice despicable.

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/570457/filipino-cops-accused-of-using-wheel-of-torture#ixzz2ro4hGaEw
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Wheel of torture: 10 cops relieved

[In the news] Anger at suicide of US Internet activist -InterAksyon.com

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Anger at suicide of US Internet activist
By Agence France-Presse
January 14, 2013

InterAksyon logo2WASHINGTON DC – The death of prominent Internet freedom fighter Aaron Swartz, who took his own life at the age of 26, weeks before he faced trial, sparked grief and anger Sunday from online rights advocates.

“Aaron did more than almost anyone to make the Internet a thriving ecosystem for open knowledge, and to keep it that way,” wrote Peter Eckersley from California-based activist group Electronic Frontier Foundation.

“He refined advocacy for the progressive and open-information movement,” said David Moon, program director for Demand Progress, a grassroots organization that Swartz co-founded to combat Internet censorship.

Swartz, who was just 14 when he co-developed the RSS feeds that are now the norm for publishing frequent updates online and went on to help launch social news website Reddit, hanged himself in his New York apartment on Friday.

Read full article @interaksyon.com

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[In the news] High Court asked to strike down RH law -RAPPLER.com

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High Court asked to strike down RH law
By Purple Romero
January 2,2013

rappler_logoMANILA, Philippines – The son of the lawyer of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday, January 2, to strike down the reproductive health law as unconstitutional.

James Imbong, son of CBCP legal counsel Jo Imbong, filed the petition along with his wife Lovely and in behalf of his children. They said in the petition that Republic Act 10354, (entitled ‘An Act Providing for a National Policy on Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health’), “mocks the nation’s Filipino culture – noble and lofty in its values and holdings on life, motherhood and family life.”

Read full article @www.rappler.com

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[In the news] Bukidnon Lumad leaders on SONA: Silent again on indigenous peoples -Mindanews.com

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Bukidnon Lumad leaders on SONA: Silent again on indigenous peoples
By Walter I. Balane
July 24, 2012

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNew/23 July) — “Silent again on indigenous peoples.”

This was the reaction of Lumad (indigenous peoples) leaders here to President Aquino’s nearly 90-minute State of the Nation Address Monday afternoon.

Datu Mayda Pandian, a provincial board member representing the indigenous peoples said Aquino forgot about the IPs. “There was zero mention of his plans or the development of his visi on for us,” Pandian, the IP’s mandatory representative to the provincial board, said.

He said there was even no mention about the Lumads when he cited his position on mining in the country.

Last Wednesday, Pandian told the provincial board the government must harmonize its local and national mining policy with the real interests of the IPs.
“Are the Lumads really benefiting from the mining propositions in their ancestral domains?,” he added.

He watched the SONA from his house in Panadtalan, Maramag town and was disappointed. But he declined to comment on the content of the President’s speech.

Read full article @ www.mindanews.com

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[In the news] 21 years later, Aung San Suu Kyi finally accepts Nobel Peace Prize -InterAksyon.com

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21 years later, Aung San Suu Kyi finally accepts Nobel Peace Prize
Reuters
June 16, 2012

OSLO, Norway – Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi finally accepted her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Saturday after spending a total of 15 years under house arrest and said full political freedom in her country was still a long way off.

“Absolute peace in our world is an unattainable goal,” Suu Kyi said in her acceptance speech during her first trip to Europe in nearly 25 years.

“Hostilities have not ceased in the far north; to the west, communal violence resulting in arson and murder were taking place just several days before I started out the journey that has brought me here today.”

Suu Kyi, the Oxford University-educated daughter of General Aung San, Myanmar’s assassinated independence hero, advocated caution about transformation in Myanmar, whose quasi-civilian government continues to hold political prisoners.

“There still remain such prisoners in Burma. It is to be feared that because the best known detainees have been released, the remainder, the unknown ones, will be forgotten,” Suu Kyi, 66, told a packed Oslo City Hall.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/34915/21-years-later-aung-san-suu-kyi-finally-accepts-nobel-peace-prize

[In the news] Teacher shortage in R-12 high schools almost 3000 -MindaNews.com

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Teacher shortage in R-12 high schools almost 3000
By Allen V. Estabillo, MindaNews.com
June 16, 2012

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/15 June) – The teacher shortage in Region 12’s 396 public high schools has increased to 2,657 as the total enrollment in the area was seen to hit nearly 240,000 by the end of the month.

Herlita Caraan, National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Region 12 chief, said data released by DepEd Region 12 showed that the area’s high school population for school year 2012-2013 was projected to grow by two percent or reach a total of 239,058 students.

Enrollment in public schools in the region will continue until the end of June as set by DepEd.
Region 12 covers the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato.

Caraan said that based on DepEd 12’s projections, the teacher requirement in the region’s secondary schools this year has increased to 8,849 from last year’s 8,680.

DepEd 12 presently has 6,534 regular high school teachers, increasing by 214 from last year’s 6,320, she said.

In school year 2011-2012, the official said the region’s teacher shortfall reached 2,360 based on its total enrollment of 234,371.

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[From the web] Can informal settlers co-exist with the rich in the big city? -RAPPLER.com

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Can informal settlers co-exist with the rich in the big city?.

Can informal settlers co-exist with the rich in the big city?
by Lila R. Shahani, RAPPLER.com
March 12, 2012

MANILA, Philippines – A different wind blowing in the post-Marcos years had already begun to bring radical change in government policy on housing for the urban poor.

In March of 1992, President Corazon Aquino signed RA 7279 (aka the Urban Development and Housing Act or Udha) – “to provide the underprivileged with decent housing at affordable cost, basic services and employment opportunities.”

In 1994, then President Fidel V Ramos signed the Comprehensive Shelter Finance Act (Cisfa), giving Udha muscle. (Ramos is this writer’s uncle.)

But Udha had not been fully implemented. Coordination between local government units, as well as national housing agencies, was not always done consistently.

At the time, national implementing agencies led by the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) became unpopular among urban poor groups and the NGOs supporting them.

Read full article @ www.rappler.com

[In the news] SPECIAL REPORT: Govt eyes mining sector shakeup in bid to wrest bigger share of booty -InterAksyon.com

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SPECIAL REPORT: Govt eyes mining sector shakeup in bid to wrest bigger share of booty
by Orti Despuez, Special to Interaksyon.com
March 2, 2012

MANILA, Philippines — As mining companies ride on what could be the biggest boom in history, the government is trying to extract more revenues from the industry amid perceptions that the state is not getting its “fair share” from its mineral resources.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the small share that the government — including local government units (LGUs) — gets from the mining sector’s profit is the main reason for the growing anti-mining sentiment.

Under existing law, the LGUs are at the losing end, with their share of profit trimmed down to a minimum.

To maximize revenue from the mining sector, the government wants to declare more “mineral reservations.” Declaring all current mining operations, including those in advanced stages of development, as mineral reservation areas will increase government’s share from P400 million to more than P6 billion a year.

Leo Jasareno, director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), said the government’s share in the business is largely in the form of excise taxes at two percent of a mining firm’s profit.

But if an area were declared a mineral reservation, then the government would be entitled to an additional five percent royalty, resulting in a combined seven percent share for the government.

Read full article @ www.interaksyon.com

[In the news] Budget office releases over P300 million to upgrade state health facilities | Sun.Star

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Budget office releases over P300 million to upgrade state health facilities | Sun.Star.

February 27, 2012

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P306.6 million to the Department of Health (DOH) for the implementation of the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP).

Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said the total release, which will be charged against Continuing Appropriations under the 2011 National Budget, will be used to upgrade various hospitals and rural health units (RHUs) across the country.

“This release is aligned with President (Noynoy) Aquino’s goal of preserving the health and well-being of all Filipinos. In improving our public hospitals and rural health centers, we can extend the reach of our healthcare services and offer high-quality medical treatment to those who need it most,” he said.

Of the released funds, P182.7 million will be used for buildings and structure outlay, while P123.9 million will be set aside for expenses related to hospital machinery and equipment.

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

[In the news] Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao meet in DC -MindaNews

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MindaNews » Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao meet in DC.

By Mindanews
February 20, 2012

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/19 Feb) –  Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao will gather here this weekend to discuss environment,  justice and human rights at a time when “peoples’ rights and conditions remain unchanged and neglected in the second Aquino administration.”

Lawyers, law students, paralegals and legal workers will be attending the 4th Mindanao Assembly of People’s Lawyers on February 24 and 25 at the Episcopal Mission Center, McArthur Highway, Matina.

The assembly is convened by the six-year old Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM)

Read full article @ www.mindanews.com

[In the news] Joint fact-finding committee runs non-partisan survey on proposed Pulangi V -MindaNews

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MindaNews » Joint fact-finding committee runs non-partisan survey on proposed Pulangi V.

By Walter I. Balane
February 14, 2012

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/13 February) – A mediation group, Mediator’s Network for Sustainable Peace (Mednet), Inc., has facilitated the formation of a joint fact-finding committee composed of representatives from the proponent, the opponents, and the communities affected by the proposed 300-megawatt Pulangi hydroelectric power project in southern Bukidnon and Cotabato provinces, Malaybalay Bishop Jose Cabantan said.

Cabantan told the 42nd Diocesan Pastoral Assembly, the biggest gathering of church leaders in the diocese’s 49 parishes around the province, that the proposed Pulangi V project, along with the peace and order situation in Upper Pulangi, is a concern for the diocese.

He said Mednet, a non-government organization focused on social development in peace and conflict resolution, can help gather the two parties together despite the differences in positions, and talk about it.

Cabantan said that when he assumed in 2011, then Malaybalay Bishop Honesto Pacana had already asked Mednet to come down and help. Mednet came in the picture in 2010 when Pacana was still bishop.

He told MindaNews Friday he needed to explain about Mednet to the church workers because the information about the group’s role was not cascaded down to the communities, especially in southern Bukidnon where the project was proposed to be built. He said a survey has started in the communities of Dangcagan town already.

The 17-member joint committee has initiated the survey among the affected communities to check on the people’s understanding of the proposed project, as well as socio-economic profile of the settlers and indigenous peoples that will be affected, according to Caroliza Tulod-Peteros, Mednet mediation service coordinator.

Read full article @ www.mindanews.com

[In the news] M’daue moves to save century-old trees -Cebu Daily News

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M’daue moves to save century-old trees.

By Tweeny Malinao, Correspondent, Cebu Daily News
February 5, 2012

The Mandaue city government is trying to identify and preserve century-old and heritage trees especially in urban areas amid the city’s rapid industrialization.

“The trees will always complement the city, no matter how big or how progressive the city becomes,” said City Councilor Jimmy Lumapas.

Lumapas started the campaign rolling when he sponsored the Century and Heritage Trees Ordinance of 2011, which was passed in August 2011.

Lumapas said he wanted to prevent the “indiscriminate cutting” of old trees and avoid the situation in Carcar and Naga cities in south Cebu where road-widening projects threaten to destroy pre-war trees lining the road.

“I doubt if there are heritage trees left in Mandaue. Just a few maybe, so we passed an ordinance to preserve those remaining,” he said.

The ordinance says it aims to conserving ecosystems and genetic resources, while meeting the needs of the people for forestry products in a sustainable manner and to promote social justice.

But implementing the ordinance remains a tall order. Implementing rules are still being reviewed by the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO).

Read full article @ cebudailynews.wordpress.com

[In the news] Gold Fields Philippines Inc. picket enters 3rd week | Sun.Star

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Gold Fields Philippines Inc. picket enters 3rd week | Sun.Star.

By Ma. Elena Catajan
February 4, 2012

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – There is no let-up in the picket against Gold Fields Philippines Inc. at the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corporation Far South East site.

Flora Belinan said the picket will not disperse until the company pulls out its drilling equipment from the site.

The picket has been ongoing for almost two weeks.

Meanwhile, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples still has to act on the temporary restraining order (TRO) against drilling activities in the area filed by lawyer Richard Kilaan.

Belinan said the unrest stems from an alleged lack of Free Prior and Informed Consent by Gold Fields to start drilling activities.

Kilaan said the request for a TRO was filed at the NCIP on the basis of a lack of a FPIC obtained by the LCMC’s newest investor which is on the closing months of its due diligence stage.

Belinan said Madaymen residents protested since they are affected by the present drilling.

Previously, Gold Fields president Brett Mattison assured all negotiations made were pursuant to law.

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

Anti-mining drive in Palawan gets 2.7 million of targeted 10 million signatures | Sun.Star

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Anti-mining drive in Palawan gets 2.7 million of targeted 10 million signatures | Sun.Star.

February 1, 2012

 A NON-government organization (NGO) initiating a signature campaign to save Palawan from mining has gathered 2.7 million signatures across the country, which is more than one-fourth of the 10 million target signatures.

Gina Lopez, managing director of ABS-CBN foundation, said they are hopeful to get the remaining 7.3 million within this year.

Lopez was one of the speakers of the two-day 2012 International Conference on Mining held at the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) campus in Roxas Avenue last week.

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

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