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Govt urged to fast-track approval of student fare discount law’s IRR By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
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HE government was prodded on Thursday to fast-track the early implementation of the 20-percent land-sea-air fare discount benefit for students recently signed into law by President Duterte. “Let us move fast to implement the law,” said Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, principal author of the Student Fare Discount Act. The senator pressed for the new law’s early publication in newspapers, or the Official Gazette, to pave the way for government agencies concerned to issue the implementing rules. “Without these two, Republic Act [RA] 11314 can’t be implemented,” Angara pointed out, adding, “Students will have to wait for the implementing rules and regulations, or IRR, but that can’t be promulgated if the law has not been published yet.” Angara asserted that “the ball is now on the court of the Executive branch. They must step on the gas.” As provided in Section 12 of RA 11314, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will issue the IRR for public-utility vehicles such as jeepneys, buses, taxis and the transport network vehicle services such as Grab. He added that the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) is also expected to
issue the separate IRR for airlines, while the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) will have a separate IRR for passenger ships and all other water vessels. For the rail sector, he said the responsibility falls on the Department of Transportation (DOTr), having jurisdiction over Light Rail Transit, Metro Rail Transit and Philippine National Railways. “Now that the students are anticipating when the discount can be availed of...the designated agencies need to make sure that the students will not have to wait long,” the law’s author added. The senator stressed that “of equal importance is the duty of the Office of the President to have RA 11314 officially published because that is the start of the official timer that will launch the implementation phase.” At the same time, Angara clarified that while President Duterte signed RA 11314 last April 17, 2019, it will only take effect 15 days after its publication in a national newspaper, or in the Official Gazette, after which the concerned agencies are given 90 days to promulgate the IRR. “But the 90 days is just the maximum. It can be issued earlier which, in this case, it should, considering the public interest the law has generated and the public good it will create,” the senator stressed.
Expert warns pangolins may be extinct in next two years By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
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N American wildlife law-enforcement expert has warned that pangolins may become extinct sooner than later unless authorities step up their efforts to effectively stop the illegal trade of the critically endangered animal. George Phocas, formerly of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (US-FWS), said that Pangolin, arguably now the most illegally traded species in the world is facing extinction, possibly in the next two years because of the massive harvesting of these ant-eating species from the wilderness of Africa and Asia where they are known only to occur. Interviewed by the BusinessMirror on Wednesday at the sidelines of the Conference on Wildlife Forensics as A Tool to Combat Wildlife Trafficking held in Mandaue City, Cebu, from July 16 to 18, Phocas said recent reports of dead pangolin seized by authorities are cause for alarm. Phocas has extensive experience working with various law-enforcement agencies in Asia under the USFWS international attache program prior to his retirement. He has also worked on the pangolin case for five years in the Philippines. He lamented that his first pangolin trafficking case in his career doing undercover sleuthing against wildlife traffickers failed to gain traction back then because of perceived “insignificance.”
Global concern
TODAY, he said there is a global concern for the pangolins and law enforcement must work harder to stop the illegal activities that target this particular species in the wild.
There are only eight known pangolin species in the world—four are in Africa and four in Asia, including the Philippines—the Palawan or Philippine pangolin, scientifically called Manis culionensis, a species endemic to Palawan Island. Hunted for its meat, scale, internal organs, including testicles, pangolins are believed to be miracle cures to various ailments, with meat as food, and parts used for traditional medicine with China and Vietnam being major buyers. Their perceived health benefits, specially as an aphrodisiac, is reportedly boosting the illegal trade of this species.
Vanishing species
ACCORDING to the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Palawan pangolin, a scaly anteater that feeds of termites and ants is an elusive animal and little is known about their behavior in the wild. This shy mammal has a voracious appetite for pesky termites and ants, hence, their extinction could cause an ecological imbalance, possibly an increase in the population of these potentially pesky insects. The least studied among pangolin species in the world, the Palawan pangolin was just recently declared as distinct from the Sunda pangolin that it was earlier thought to be. It is now the subject of conservation efforts by authorities and wildlife conservation groups based in Palawan, considered as the country’s last ecological frontier, where communities admitted that hunting animals for food, medicine and pet trade along with other forest products is a way life.
New PCG vessel eyed for patrol duty in disputed WPS, Benham
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By Lorenz S. Marasigan
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already improved in Cagayan more than 24 hours after the storm made a landfall in Gattaran. Overall, the storm has affected at least 391 families in 12 barangays in Northern Luzon and triggered flooding in five barangays in Albay, Oriental Mindoro. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said nine roads and three bridges were also affected
@lorenzmarasigan
HE French-made vessel that will patrol contested Philippine waters is expected to be delivered this coming December, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), as the ship was formally presented to government officials on Wednesday. Commissioned as the Barko Republika ng Pilipinas (BRP) Gabriela Silang, the offshore patrol vessel is designed to patrol the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and the Benham Rise. It will also serve as an anti-piracy and
anti-terrorism floating asset in the southern part of the country. The 83.6-meter-long vessel has a maximum speed of 20 knots and can accommodate 64 crew for 22 days. It was built by French company Ocea.
It is expected to arrive in Manila in the first week of December this year, after completing the provisional requirements and the training of 18 PCG personnel as its sailing crew starting September 1 up to the last week of October. The vessel is equipped with a mission management system (MMS) with dedicated command and control center, which integrates vessel’s sensors such as radars, automatic identification system (AIS), communications and surveillance equipment, and day and night vision camera, among others. Built with advanced technologies in computer and radio techniques to improve the operational efficiency of users and providing a multiuser system, the vessel’s MMS allows onboard rigid inflatable boats to have
access to any situation picture and improve the control of operations. It is also capable of situation awareness, target detection, tracking and information, record and replay, information display, and exchange of information with other units. Likewise, the new vessel is capable of responding to marine environmental pollution such as oil spills using its onboard containerized antipollution equipment. It is also equipped with emergency equipment such as a hyperbaric chamber for treating bends and a survivor room for rescued persons. The P5.59-billion vessel, ordered in 2014, also has two onboard 9-meter rigid hull inflatable boats that can help the Coast Guard in law enforcement or in visiting other vessels.
‘Fake’ BOC employees nabbed in sting operation By Rea Cu
@ReaCuBM
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HE Bureau of Customs has reported that two persons allegedly masquerading as employees of the bureau were apprehended in an entrapment operation. The suspects are allegedly involved in the “unauthorized sale” of seized items from the BOC. In a news statement issued on Thursday, the BOC said that the suspects were apprehended following a joint operation conducted by the BOC-Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (BOC-CIIS), BOC-Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNPCIDG), last Tuesday. The BOC-CIIS and ESS coordinated with Police Lt. Col. Cesar G. Paday-os, chief, CIDG Anti-Transnational Crime Unit regarding the reported irregularities of a certain group of individuals pretending to be employees of the BOC on July 12, 2019. Based on the initial report of the bureau’s Intelligence Group (IG), the modus of the suspects were to post vehicles on sale on social media at very low prices to “lock-in” the agreement for immediate meet ups with potential buyers. “The ploy of these individuals is to invite their victims near the office of BOC and show identification cards to convince their victims that they are indeed BOC employees,” the BOC said. Last July 16, an entrapment operation was then planned by the operatives of PNP-CIDG, BOC-ESS and CIIS, wherein operatives jumped off to an agreed place of the transaction at Gate 1, Port Area, Manila, which resulted in the arrest of the two suspects identified as Primo Baldon and Richard Lagrolia. The BOC also said that a joint investigation by the bureau with the PNP is being conducted for the institution of appropriate charges against the arrested personalities. Last May, the BOC reported that two bogus brokers suspected of extorting money from importers and exporters were arrested during a joint entrapment operation of its IG
Falcon leaves two dead in Cagayan Valley WO persons perished in Cagayan while 21 barangays in Luzon and Visayas were flooded due to heavy rains brought by the southwest monsoon and Tropical Storm Falcon. Antonio Macalan, Cagayan provincial disaster chief, said the two fatalities from the towns of Lallo and Gattaran, drowned while Falcon was directly affecting the province. Macalan said the weather has
Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Friday, July 19, 2019 A3
in the Cordillera Administrative Region and in Region 1. The storm, which is expected to leave the country on Thursday evening, also caused landslides in Libon, Albay and in San Gabriel, La Union. Meanwhile, the NDRRMC said that at least 21 other barangays were also floodedinLuzon,andintheVisayasdue to monsoon rains over the past days. The barangays are located in Iloilo City, Aklan and Albay. Rene Acosta
and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) operatives. The BOC received complaints on the alleged extortion activities of two persons who were demanding P500,000 in exchange for the release of shipments consigned to Shacka Guns and Ammo which was held at the Ninoy Aquino Interna-
tional Airport. The complainants, together w it h undercover aut hor it ies, met with the suspects where the two alleged extortionists were arrested after they accepted the marked money. Investigation furthered revealed that the two suspects were not Cus-
toms officers but were bogus brokers who allegedly extort money from stakeholders of the BOC. Last April, the BOC issued an administrative order covering the exercise of its jurisdiction and police authority, in a bid to boost its anti-smuggling efforts and border security mandate.