News Enrile: I’ll prove charges are false By Sandy Araneta FORMER Senator Juan Ponce Enrile said he is ready to prove his innocence and the innocence of his staff against charges filed against them over his supposed misuse of Priority Development Assistance Fund. “I am ready to prove my innocence, and the innocence of my staff in connection with the case filed against us,” Enrile said during the Samahang Plaridel Kapihan sa Manila Hotel on Monday. Enrile was apparently referring to his aide, lawyer Gigi Reyes, who was also implicated in the pork barrel scam, when he mentioned “innocence of his staff.” “In the first place their complaint was so lopsided. It was a general warrant. I have handled general law, of all cases in this country, nonetheless, I know what I was doing. And I never lost one case,” said Enrile, a former Senate president and later Minority leader. But Enrile declined to comment on the Facebook post of his daughter Katrina Ponce Enrile, who lashed at Senator Leila de Lima for “forgetting” that once upon a time, when she was Justice secretary, she also “shamed some political individuals.” “Senator De Lima forgets that when she was the secretary of Justice she knew full well that she shamed some political individuals, one of whom was my father and she did it without abandon,” said Katrina. Enrile was detained inside the Philippine National Police General Hospital for over 150 days, following his arrest in 2014 over graft and plunder charges. He was released on bail in 2015. Enrile was among the legislators named by so-called “pork barrel queen” Janet Lim Napoles for allegedly pocketing government funds through fake projects and bogus non-governmental organizations. Two other senators from the opposition whose terms ended on June 30—Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla, Jr.—were the first top government officials to be arrested following revelations by key whistleblower and former Napoles aide Benhur Luy.
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com
DBM asks Congress for pay hike authority By Maricel V. Cruz
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UDGET Secretary Benjamin Diokno asked Congress to adopt a joint resolution that will allow the Department of Budget and Management to increase the salary of government employees beginning this year. During the briefing of the Development Budget Coordinating Committee at the House of Representatives, Diokno said since the fourth Salary Standardization Law was not passed during the 16th Con-
gress, the House ought to pass an interim measure. Such a measure will allow the Duterte administration to implement beginning this week the salary adjustment to the country’s police and military
personnel as factored in under the proposed P3.35-trillion national budget for 2017. Diokno made the disclosure as the House committee on appropriations, chaired by Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, began its deliberations on next year’s national budget. During his budget presentation before lawmakers, Diokno said that a total of P39.5 billion has been set aside for the military and uniformed armed personnel (MUP), including the police by next year. The 2017 national budget amounts to P3.35 trillion, or 11
percent higher than this year’s P3.002 trillion. Diokno said the budget for the increase in the salary of other state workers was “built-in” in the appropriation of their respective departments or agencies. “The second tranche of salary increase is already in the 2017 budget,” Diokno told the panel. Diokno earlier said that the take-home pay of police and military personnel will be doubled by January 2018. He said the pay hike will be released in three tranches so that the government could ensure there is enough money for the
Ubial bares agenda By Macon Ramos-Araneta
Time for healing. Speaking at the Samahang Plaridel Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, former senator Juan Ponce Enrile and Francisco Tatad agreed with President Rodrigo Duterte that allowing the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani will help heal national wounds. Lino Santos
200 fishermen jailed DFA: Indonesians had hajj papers By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan in Indonesia freed GENERAL SANTOS CITY— Around 200 fishermen from this city and other parts of Mindanao who were jailed in Indonesia due to illegal fishing and immigration violations have been repatriated by the Philippine Consulate General in Manado. Daniel Te, head of the Department of Foreign Affairs Regional Consular Office here, said the fishermen are expected to arrive here on August 25 from North Sulawesi, Indonesia through a vessel owned by Filipino businessman Voltaire Loma. He said Loma, who is based in Bitung, volunteered to bring home the fishermen, most of whom have already completed their sentences. “The vessel left the Bitung port last Friday and we were informed that its arrival is on schedule, barring weather-related problems along the way,” he told PNA. Te said the Consulate General in Manado earlier processed the repatriation of the fishermen after being notified of their release from detention by the Indonesian government. He said the Consulate immediately verified the citizenship of the fishermen, who are mostly undocumented or did not carry passports and other official travel documents, as the Philippine Constitution mandates that it can only repatriate or bring home Filipino citizens.
purpose. The pay hike will be released this year, 2017 and 2018, Nograles said. President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to double the salary of the policemen and soldiers, as part of the administration’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs. Diokno said the Budget department proposed salary adjustment for the year 2017 and 2018. Under the 2017 General Appropriations Bill, the PNP proposed a total of P110.4-billion budget or higher by 24.6 percent than this year budget while the AFP proposed P130.6 billion.
The official said they facilitated the verification process by sending the birth certificates and other legal identification documents of the fishermen. Based on the identification documents that they sent, he said nearly 90 percent of the repatriates are from this city and nearby Sarangani Province. He said these are mainly crew members of fishing boats owned by companies based in the city that were caught illegally fishing in Indonesia’s territorial waters and were later charged with illegal entry and fishing violations. Since January, DFA records showed that a total of 229 fishermen who were jailed in Indonesia have already returned home. Some 136 fishermen were repatriated in February and 93 more in May through the efforts of the Consulate General in Manado and assistance from Loma and the Philippine Navy. As of Monday, Te said around 300 fishermen from parts of Mindanao are still languishing in various jails in Indonesia. “The DFA, through the Consulate General, has been working with the Indonesian government for the release of these fishermen,” he said. He said they have been closely coordinating with fishing companies here to prevent incursions in Indonesia’s fishing grounds.
THE Department of Foreign Affairs still cannot identify the official who issued the passports that 117 Indonesians were carrying when they were intercepted on August 19 but they have determined that the travel documents were actually special passports issued to hajj pilgrims. DFA spokesman Charles Jose said there is an office in the DFA that issues hajj passport, a special passport used only for a hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
“It is still the DFA who issued the hajj passport. We require different documentary requirements compared to the documents needed when issuing a regular passport,” Jose said, adding that the foreign office is looking to review its policy on hajj passports. “We will be reviewing our policy on issuance of hajj passport after this incident,” Jose said, adding that the DFA will start their own investigation as soon as the Bureua of Immigration finishes its own probe. Jose said the DFA is waiting
for the BI to turnover the passports used by the Indonesians. “We will conduct our own investigation once the BI turns over the passports of these Indonesians to DFA. Currently, the passports are still in the custody of the Bureau of Immigration. As soon as we get hold of this, we will conduct our own probe,” Jose said. The Indonesians who were bound for Medina, Saudi Arabia on Friday were stopped by immigration authorities at the Naia when they could not even speak Philippine languages.
Health and wellness. Physician Anna Ong-Lim (right) explains health issues along with wellness
advocate Cory Quirino at the Samahang Plaridel Kapihan sa Manila Hotel on Monday. Also at the forum was George Siy of the Association of Young Filipino Chinese Entrepreneurs. Lino Santos
THE health agenda of President Rodrigo Duterfe, with the unifying battle cry of “All for Health towards Health for All,” was unveiled by Health Secretary Paulyn Jean B. RosellUbial at the 6th Apec High Level Meeting of Health Ministers in Lima, Peru. Ubial said universal health care is still the centerpiece and the Duterte administration intends to prioritize the coverage of 20 million of the “poorest among the poor” Filipinos. Duterte had earlier directed Ubial to improve public-health access to the lowest quintile of the population that involves about 20-million Filipinos and she said the Duterte agenda is more focussed on insurance coverage for the poorest Filipinos. Ubial led the Philippine delegation which joined other panelists who shared country actions to address challenges in meeting the targets of Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and express commitment for advancing the implementation of Healthy Asia Pacific 2020. Once the Duterte Health Agenda is finalized, Ubial said it will eliminate disparities in health outcomes especially among the poor and highly vulnerable populations. “The over-all strategic thrust is bringing together key stakeholders that will work towards improving access to health services at the same time greatly reducing out-ofpocket costs,” she said. The health ministers expressed their overwhelming satisfaction and approval to the new Health Agenda. The call of the meeting for whole government approach was articulated by Secretary Ubial with the recent inclusion of Reproductive Health in the 10-Point Economic Agenda of the Duterte Administration. The DoH chief and other officials shall continue their official visit in Havana, Cuba on August 23-26 to learn about Cuba’s popular health system and have a fruitful exchange of information with health authorities. She said the special visit was strongly endorsed by Duterte who was impressed with Cuba’s successes in public health. She said it’s very, very famous worldwide. “I have been telling the President I already studied the Cuban health system—on how they implement primary health care. Their focus is actually primary health care and not hospital care,” said Ubial. “It’s primary health care at the community level. That’s what we are also trying to implement right now—community-based mental health, community-based rehabilitation services and all that,” further stated Ubial in an interview.