2 THE BIG NEWS EDGEDAVAO
VOL. 7 ISSUE 18 • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2014
TIME TO REBUILD. A resident tries to salvage scraps of galvanized iron sheets that could still be used to rebuild his family’s house four days after a fire razed three barangays in Davao City leaving thousands of families homeless. Lean Daval Jr.
SC: RH Law constitutional
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HE Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday declared Republic Act No. 10354, or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 as constitutional except for certain provisions. After a scrutiny of the various arguments and contentions of the parties in the consolidated cases consisting of 14 petitions challenging the constitutionality of the RH Law and two interventions to uphold its constitutionality, the SC unanimously held that “R.A. No. 10354 is constitutional based on the grounds raised, except for certain provisions.” Associate Justice Jose Catral Mendoza, Sr. Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, and Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita De Castro, Arturo Brion, Diosdado
Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano Del Castillo, Roberto Abad, Martin Villarama Jr., and Jose Portugal Perez, voted as unconstitutional Section 7, and the corresponding provision in the RH-Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) insofar as they require private health facilities and non-maternity specialty hospitals and hospitals owned and operated by religious groups to refer patients, not in an emergency or life-threatening case, as defined under R.A. No. 8344. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. Aranal Sereno and Associate Justices Bienvenido Reyes, Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Marvic Leonen voted constitutional on the same provision. Associate Justices
WEATHER FORECAST
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DavSur town wants 50-50 share from coal power plant By CHENEEN R. CAPON
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crc@edgedavao.net
TA. Cruz Mayor Joel Ray Lopez is pushing for the equal sharing on the remaining 70 percent business tax that will be generated from the commercial operation of Aboitiz-owned coal fired power plant. This developed despite the refusal of the Davao City government to the proposal of Aboitiz Power in 2013. Therma South Inc., is constructing a 300 -megawatt plant located in Barangay Binugao in Toril, Davao City and Sta Cruz in Davao del Sur.
“There should be an 50-50 sharing on the income tax since some of the components essential to the operation of the plant are in Sta. Cruz,” Lopez said yesterday, adding that the coal dome and the port which serve as access to the plant via the sea are located in his municipality. “We disagree on that,” councilor Danilo Dayanghirang told Edge Davao. “We want more. There’s a proposal that it should be 70 - 30 tax sharing but that may exceed. It depends on the endorsement of the ex-
ecutive body,” Dayanghirang said. Lopez attested on the proposal of Aboitiz Power to resolve the tax sharing dispute of the two LGU, adding if it will not be solve it will complicate the operation of the TSI. Last year, officials of Aboitiz Power sent a proposal letter to Davao City Council to solve the issues on tax sharing. The proposal signed by TSI President and Chief Operating Officer Benjamin A. Cariaso Jr. and Manuel M. Orig, Aboitiz Power first vice
president for Mindanao affairs, bared that the remaining 70 percent of the business tax should be equally shared by both LGU. Both firms cited Section 50 of the Local Government Code (LGC) which provides an allocation of 30 percent of the total business tax to the LGU where the principal office is located. With this provision, Davao City will automatically get 30 percent noting that when TSI was registered last January 3, 2013 to Securities and
the appropriation of around P8 million to facilitate the project’s implementation. Such funding, which was part of the approved provincial supplemental budget, would be drawn from a grant under the Mindanao Rural Development Program–Adaptable Loan Program 2 (MRDP2) of around P6 million and an additional P2 million from the national government. The governor said the P2 million appropriation was earlier issued a certificate of availability of funds by the Department of Finance. She said the local government earlier set
aside some P2 million or 15 percent of the project’s total cost as equity or counterpart as part of a scheme set by the MRDP2. “We’re targeting to start the project’s implementation before the end of the month,” Fuentes said. Under the project, the governor said the main beneficiaries would be farmers’ cooperatives situated or based in upland areas within the province. The Department of Agriculture (DA), which implements the MRDP2, earlier identified various upland areas in the province as viable sites for the development of
oil palm plantations. According to the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG) of South Cotabato, about 5,000 hectares of land in Koronadal City and at least 10,000 hectares in Lake Sebu are considered ready for the massive planting of oil palm. The towns of Norala and Tantangan were also found suitable for oil palm as shown by the thriving farms or plantations in these areas. OPAG earlier said around 1,200 hectares of land in the province are planted with oil palm, with Norala town hosting the biggest plantation area.[PNA]
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SoCot allots P10M for oil palm expansion
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ENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The provincial government of South Cotabato has allocated around P10 million for the expansion and development this year of oil palm plantations in various parts of the province. South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes said Tuesday they are currently evaluating the potential sites for the project, which will mainly be implemented in selected upland villages in the province’s 10 towns and lone city. She said the Sangguniang Panlalawigan or the provincial board approved during its regular session on Monday