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FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Underspending worries Recto By Macon Ramos-Araneta
S
ENATE President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto has warned against “the disturbing trend” of over-appropriations and underspending as the national budget will jump to P3.767 trillion in 2018, or by P1 trillion, from its 2016 level of P2.682 trillion. He doubts if agencies have the capacity “to spend their allocations, which essentially are taxes collected from the people.” “The budget will balloon by P1 trillion within two years. Can the agencies spend the money
in full, for the right things and on time?” Recto told economic managers on their maiden Senate appearance to pitch the 2018 spending program. He cited the budget for “Personal Services,” of which, P746
Solon... From A1
Bloody... From A1
of Chinese ships in the West Philippine Sea “does not mean anything,” even as he said Filipinos must learn to develop trust in China in the same manner that it trusted the United States, a longtime ally. But Alejano said the issue was not even comparable to the US ships conducting freedom-of-navigation surveillance in the South China Sea, which Cayetano said Filipinos should also be worried about. “The US is our long-time ally and is not involved in island grabbing in the South China Sea. Unlike China which has a history of grabbing islands and harassing our fishermen. That is entirely two different things,” Alejano said. He urged the Duterte administration to be transparent in its dealings with China and on the issues in the West Philippine Sea. “We have not heard, so far, of any diplomatic protest lodged by the DFA against China’s intrusions and aggressive actions especially on our fishermen,” Alejano said. “The Filipino people are kept in the dark as to the real score of Duterte’s foreign policy. We must demand transparency from our government officials.” Meanwhile, Rep. Prospero Pichay sought to establish a mutual defense treaty with China following the marching order of President Duterte to establish “mutual trust” instead of pursuing the traditional confrontational approach to ensure a successful joint exploration in the disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea. Pichay said he broached the idea during a briefing on Wednesday by Cayetano before the House special committee on the West Philippine Sea led by former Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. of Quezon City on the developments in the disputed areas. “I made that suggestion to Secretary Cayetano and he responded in the affirmative,” Pichay said. Pichay said the United States had failed to defend the Philippines from the continuing Chinese aggression. “The US failed to defend and rescue us because they don’t consider the building of military facilities by China in the West Philippine Sea as a form of aggression,” Pichay said. “They are just for the safe navigational pass. If this is the situation, we should abrogate the MTD with the US and establish a similar one with China.” With John Paolo Bencito
Bulacan province, describing the operations as “good.” “If we could kill another 32 everyday, then maybe we can reduce what ails this country,” Duterte said. However, Philippine National Police spokesman Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos insisted that officers in Bulacan and Manila had killed only in self-defense. “Can you blame the police now when the initial action is perpetrated by the suspect?” he said. As a matter of procedure, however, the PNP Internal Affairs Service will investigate the killings, he added. Duterte easily won last year’s presidential election largely on a vow to kill tens of thousands of drug traffickers and addicts, which he said was necessary to stop the country’s slide to narco-state status. Police have killed more than 3,500 people in drug raids since Duterte came to office in the middle of last year, according to government data. More than 2,000 other people have been killed in drug-related crimes and thousands more murdered in unexplained circumstances, according to the police. He has also repeatedly assured policemen that he will protect them if they are charged for killing drug suspects as part of his campaign. Rights groups have warned Duterte, who has said he would be
Senate... From A1 Lacson filed a resolution for the Senate panel to look into the “possible violation” of the Anti-Money Laundering Act by the LDB. Senate Resolution No. 468 states that Bautista, under the AMLA, is considered a “politically exposed person” for holding a prominent public position. It also mentioned a BSP circular which states that covered institutions “shall specify criteria and description of the types of customers that are likely to pose low, normal or high money laundering/terrorist financing risk to their operations as well as the standards in applying reduced, average and enhanced due diligence.” “In the case of LDB and the bank accounts of the Comelec chair, the compliance with the required due diligence must be studied and investigated,” the senators said. “The splitting of accounts of the Comelec chair in one small thrift bank so as not to be under the radar of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, likewise, needs to be further looked into,” they added. Patricia Paz Bautista earlier alleged that the Comelec chief owns more than 30 bank accounts containing a total balance of P329 million. Based on his 2016 Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth, Bautista only has a net worth of P176.3 million. The embattled Comelec chief has repeatedly denied the allegations of his estranged wife, claiming that there is an “orchestrated campaign” against him and his former wife was out to extort money from him. Macon Ramos-Araneta
billion was spent in 2016 out of a budget of P794 billion, “or an underspending or over-appropriation of P48 billlion.” Personal Services or PS is official budget-speak for payroll and other compensation expenditures for employees and pensioners. Recto said the same was true in the case of Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses, or MOOE, whose disbursements reached P1.011 trillion out of the P1.127 trillion provided for in the 2016 budget, “or a slippage of P116 billion.” MOOE covers non-salary operating expenses like utilities, supplies, rent, and grants. “Even in debts, our request was
over. The previous administratiin asked for P392 billion to service this, but only P304 was spent. There was an excess of P90 billion. Although sometimes we deliberately exceeded our forex assumption in computing interest payments,” Recto said. But Recto said the worst manifestation of underspending was Capital Outlays, largely infrastructure. In 2016, he said the Executive Department asked for P1.175 trillion, but managed to obligate P823 billion, or a shortfall of P352 billion. “In all, unreleased appropriations reached P63.43 billion in 2016, on top of the unobligated allotments of
P544.53 billion,” he said. “The utilization rate is low,” Recto said. “We betray the people when we are slow, or if we fail, in returning the taxes they have paid, through the national budget. The results penalize a people who have the right to expect the things promised in the budget,” he added. Recto theorized that the bureaucracy might have reached “peak capacity” in implementing projects and programs. He said this could be a result of “a technical deficit,” which in the case of agencies with infrastructure assignments was “due to lack of engineers and technical people.”
“happy to slaughter” 3 million drug addicts, may be orchestrating a crime against humanity. Wilnor Papa, Philippine human rights officer of Amnesty International, said the apparent uptick in killings this week appeared to be because of Duterte’s calls for more deaths. “Because of the remarks of the President, these kind of killings will go on,” Papa said. Duterte on Thursday rejected calls from human rights activists for the administration to stop his bloody war on drugs. “Human rights? Son of a bitch! I don’t care about you. I’ve got work to do and I’m going to do it. If you destroy the country, the youth of the land, I will kill you,” the President said in Filipino on a visit to Ozamiz City, where police killed the mayor, his wife and 13 others in a raid on July 30. Rights groups on Thursday called on the President to retract a statement calling on the police to shoot rights activists for obstructing justice. Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella defended the shooting deaths in Bulacan, saying they were the result of simultaneous police operations in the entire province. He added that in these cases, the suspects fought back. “Local authorities were met with violent resistance as evidenced by the recovery of firearms, grenades and live ammunition,” he said. On Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte expressed satisfaction on the record-high anti-drug operations in
Bulacan as a “good” development, saying that the daily killings will solve the country’s drug problem. “Thirty-two died early in Bulacan, in a massive raid. That’s good. If we can kill another 32 everyday then maybe we can reduce what ails this country,” the President said. “I will solve the entire problem. I’ll just kill them all,” he said. Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday urged the public to express outrage over a 24-hour police operation that killed 32 drug suspects in Bulacan. “We are not like this. This is not us,” Robredo told ABS-CBN News in Filipino. “We have long condemned the culture of impunity. Let us not allow it to return.” Amnesty International said Duterte’s drug war appeared to be “plumbing new depths of barbarity.” “No one is bearing the brunt of this brutality more than the poorest communities in areas such as Bulacan province, a hotspot for extrajudicial executions since the President took power, and the scene of yesterday’s 32 killings,” said Jams Gomez, director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific at Amnesty International. The group also expressed alarm at Duterte’s threat to abolish the Commission on Human Rights. The New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Duterte to retract his remark about shooting rights activists “before there is more blood on his hands.” Rights group Karapatan said that
the President’s repeated threats and orders to shoot and kill activists is “exacerbating the already dire situation in the country.” “His fascist campaigns against poor Filipinos—the war on drugs, his counter-insurgency war, and martial law in Mindanao—have already resulted in the killing, displacement and threats to lives, among others,” Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay said. But former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada expressed support for the anti-crime campaign, and warned offenders to turn over a new leaf. “In support of President Duterte’s war against drugs and criminality, we in the city of Manila have been serious in stamping out criminality and maintaining peace and order, and so I’m repeating my warning to criminals: give up or face the full force of the law,” Estrada said. Estrada commended MPD director Chief Supt. Joel Coronel and his men for ridding Manila of unwanted criminals and preserving peace and order; he also reassured the city police force of the city government’s continuous support. “I have your back, just make sure that this operation is carried out within the parameters of the law and the suspects’ rights are not violated,” he told Coronel. On Thursday afternoon, Estrada received a briefing from Coronel concerning the “one-time, big-time” operation that started Wednesday night. With AFP, Sara Susanne D. Fabunan
Du30... From A1 been repeating that,” Duterte said in Filipino. “My critics were right. I mentioned before that ‘if I get to be elected as president—three to six months.’ I never knew. Davao was my only template then,” he added. The President, who presented an “updated” narco-list as of Aug. 8 that includes politicians, judges, law enforcers and barangay captains, said the drug problem was well-entrenched, even in places that he did not expect—devoting his whole speech on how it developed. In the Senate, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said he was disappointed with the deliberate attempt of the Department of Justice to be “less than transparent” on the number of extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration’s bloody war against illegal drugs as he moved to defer the approval of its proposed budget for 2018. “From the testimony, it is clear that over 4,000 have been killed in the drug operations and that was admitted by the secretary of Justice,” said Drilon, referring to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. On questioning by Drilon in the hearing of the DoJ proposed budget for 2018, Aguirre told the finance committee that out of the more than 4,000 killings-- 3,050 legitimate police operations and over 1,000 were vigilante killings. Based on the data of the Philippine National Police, Aguirre said “over a thousand” were victims of vigilante killings. Out of the total estimated number of 4,000, he said the NBI was only handling 37 cases, seven of which happened in the National Capital Region, while the 30 others were from other regions. With respect to the estimate, NBI Director Dante Gierran said it was only related to the investigation conducted by the NBI. “We do not refer to the investigations being conducted by the other law enforcement agencies such as the PNP,” Gierran stressed. Justice Undersecretary Reynante Orceo said 3,050 people had been killed in legitimate police anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016 to May 2017. Later asked on its implication in the Justice department’s peformance, Drilon replied: “What performance?” Pressed if he meant the DoJ had no performance, Drilon quipped, “You call that performance? Of the over 4,000 cases related to drugs, exactly 37 being investigated and of the 37 [cases], 24 are pending and three have been recommended for prosecution. Dismay!” He described such action of the Justice department as part of the culture of impunity.
Trillanes... From A1 by Customs broker Mark Taguba, who told the Blue Ribbon committee that Paolo Duterte was part of a group involved in transactions at the Bureau of Customs in Davao City. Taguba, however, admitted he had no personal knowledge about the vice mayor’s alleged involvement. “Sabi-sabi lang, [It’s just talk],” he told the senators. Customs Deputy Commissioner Gerardo Gambala also testified he does not have personal knowledge of the alleged links of Paolo to the
Told that Aguirre merely wanted to be accurate, Drilon said he also liked to be accurate. “I’m just basing my statements on their facts. That’s why we will have another hearing on August 31.” Drilon, a former Justice secretary, also questioned the P33-million budget of the DoJ Interagency committee on extrajudicial killings. “I cannot understand what is the interagency committee. They cannot even explain what are their job. And they are spending more than P30 million of people’s money. I really cannot understand what they are doing,” Drilon said. Drilon said there would be another hearing for the DoJ because there were several topics they would want to raise. “We want to avoid asking these questions on the floor. We’d rather ask these in the committee, because when the budget is presented without all these questions being asked, this leaves us with no choice but to ask them on the floor. That will delay the approval of the budget,” he said. The proposed budget for DoJ under the submitted 2018 national budget is P17.276 billion, which is 0.46 percent of the total proposed P3.767 trillion. Out of the P17.726 billion, the Office of the Secretary will be allocated P6.5 billion; Bureau of Corrections, P2.36 billion; Bureau of Immigration, P943 million; Land Registration Authority, P1.072 billion; National Bureau of Investigation, P1.468 billion; Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, P126 million; Office of the Solicitor General, P803 million; Parole and Probation Administration, P877 million; Presidential Commission on Good Government, P121 million; and Public Attorney’s Office, P2.99 billion. For his part, Aguirre debunked Drilon’s allegations that they were not trasnparent with their figures on the killings in connection with the drug operations. “I told them that there’s no truth to that. Why are we going to hide them? The President is very transparent on this,” he told reporters in an interview after the budget hearing. “First, with the NBI, what are the cases that are investigated—they just arrived. Now with respect to the killings related to legitimate operations, it’s like a breakdown, aside from the 3,050, there are killings by the other group—the vigilante group,” he said. Defending the interagency committee, Aguirre said they were very active in their job, meeting once a month on updates on killings. On the dismal performance as claimed by Drilon, Aguirre said the NBI was earlier not required to investigate these killings until he issued Department Order No. 120 only in February 2017. He said that based on the law which was authored by Drilon, there were limitations to cases
Davao Group. “I could hear noises, I could hear people’s names. I could just hear Davao Group but the people behind it, I don’t know that,” he said. In an interview on ANC, Trillanes said he was baffled why a councilor from Davao City would be dealing with brokers. “And this Small Abellera is known in Davao City to be very close to Paolo Duterte,” he said. “I have formally requested the Blue Ribbon committee about it so that we can... test the credibility of Mr. Taguba,” also said Trillanes. Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the admission of
that could be investigated by NBI. “Investigating deaths or drug related killings is not one of them. And under the law, I could add functions to the NBI so I added in February 2017. Meaning to say before that date, the NBI had no obligation to investigate these killings,” related Aguirre. In the same hearing, Drilon also quizzed Aguirre about the said order which directs NBI to “conduct investigations on reported killings allegedly related to the campaign against illegal drugs.” Aguirre initially told the committee that they can provide the necessary data after 10 days. Gierran said there was no “intent to delay” any information or data on alleged EJKs. “We just want to be accurate,” he said. But when Drilon sought to have a preliminary estimate and threatened to “hold in abeyance” the department’s budget, Aguirre said the data would be provided after 20 minutes. Among those contributing to the perpetuation of the country’s drug problem, the President stressed, was the entry of illegal drugs from foreign shores; politicians and law enforcement agencies condoning the drug trade; and even terrorists using the drug trade to raise money. Calling the Bureau of Customs “corrupt to the core,” the President said he did not expect that the greed of some officials in the agency would reach a new high by letting illicit drugs from mainland China slip without notice. “I feel so bad [with] all of these things. How could I control in three to six months (the problem), when the police generals are involved? Even the Bureau of Customs were involved. P******* ina, nasa droga,” Duterte said. “How will I succeed [if] they’re into drugs? … I really thought that the Bureau of Customs were (sic) one with me,” he added. Duterte said the deaths of Parojinog and Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa should serve as lesson to all politicians involved in the drug menace, reiterating his vow to “kill” them all. “[This] is always a lesson to be learned,” he said. He also reiterated his call for the police force to clean its ranks, placing a P2-million bounty on the heads of members of the PNP who are protecting the drug trade in the country. “I am ordering the PNP chief, Bato [dela Rosa] is here, order somebody there in Crame to prepare a list. The police involved in drugs, I’ll place a P2 million bounty on your head. No questions asked. ..I want you down dead,” he said. Duterte also reiterated that “shabu” was keeping Islamic State-inspired terrorists holed up in Marawi City—tenacious despite their dwindling numbers for months already. With Macon Ramos-Araneta
Filipino-Chinese businessman Kenneth Dong to the Witness Protection Program is the prerogative of the Justice secretary, but said this was subject to abuse and public scrutiny. Dong is the middleman between Taguba and Chen Ju Long alias Richard Tan, a Chinese citizen from Xiamen, who owns Hong Fei Logistics, which owns the Valenzuela City warehouse in which the drug shipment was found. Meanwhile, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service Director Neil Estrella said it was unfair for Trillanes to accuse him of being involved in corruption at the bureau. Estrella was among the Customs officials who resigned amid the con-
troversy over the smuggled shabu. In an interview with GMA-7, Trillanes had claimed that Estrella and Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon received bribes to facilitate the entry of smuggled goods into the country. Also on Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte said he rejected Faeldon’s appeal to be relieved as Bureau of Customs chief three times. In his visit to policemen at Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental, Duterte said that while he “will not defend” the embattled Customs chief, Faeldon is here to stay. “Well, si Faeldon is not the one. He’s not that kind of [person.],” Duterte said. With John Paolo Bencito
Uber makes LTFRB an offer By Darwin G. Amojelar RIDE-SHARING app Uber System Inc. on Thursday proposed to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to let it pay a P10-million fine instead of being suspended for one month. “Uber has filed a second pleading urging the LTFRB to accept a fine rather than suspension to reduce the burden on the Filipino rider and driver community,” Uber said. “We are also offering financial assistance to driver partners as we work to urgently resolve this matter and hope to be able to serve the Philippines again as soon as possible.” The LTFRB on Monday suspended Uber for a month after it violated its order on July 26 to stop accepting new driver applications. The LTFRB last year imposed a moratorium on the processing of new applications for ride-sharing services such as Uber and its Southeast Asian rival Grab as it studied how to regulate a growing industry. Regulators said while Grab eventually followed the directive, Uber “openly defied” it even after the government issued a new order last month. Other transport groups accused Uber of acting “above the law.” “Uber was defiant, challenging the regulatory powers of the government and for which they must be accountable for,” agency head Martin Delgra said. Uber said this month it was accepting new applications for vehicles but was not processing them pending its discussions with regulators. It also urged the government to simplify the accreditation process, with a representative telling a congressional inquiry: “We cannot impose 1900s regulations on today’s technological innovations”. Uber on Tuesday initially defied the suspension order after lodging an appeal with the LTFRB. But it quickly reversed its stance and obeyed the order after government officials immediately rejected the appeal and warned that Uber drivers still on the road could be arrested. Uber’s regional manager, Michael Brown, then struck a conciliatory tone in a meeting with regulators in Manila on Wednesday. With AFP
Economy... From A1 improvement in the absorptive capacity of government agencies. Several sectors grew in the second quarter of the year, including the industry sector at 7.3 percent; the services sector at 6.1 percent and the agriculture sector by 6.3 percent. The GDP expansion during the April to June period was slightly faster than the 6.4 percent in the first quarter. For 2017, the government targets 6.5 to 7.5 percent GDP growth. The Philippine Statistics Authority said agricultural growth was notable, rebounding from a 2-percent decline in 2016. John Paolo Bencito
BAI... From A1 for H5N1 or the type that could cross over to humans. “In as far as AH5 is concerned this has been established. It is a relief that it tested negative for N1,” Piñol said. The World Health Organization says the H5N1 is “a type of influenza virus that causes a highly infectious, severe respiratory disease in birds called avian influenza or bird flu.” The UN agency says “almost all cases of H5N1 infection in people have been associated with close contact with infected live or dead birds, or H5N1-contaminated environments.” Arlene Vytiaco, head of the Disease Control Section of the Bureau of Animal Industry, says that while the strain identified in Pampanga is not transferable to humans, there is still a need to identify the N subtype. “ We already identified the H5 subtype, so we have to know the N subtype,” Vytiaco said. “We need to do this because in avian influenza, we should identify the H and N. Definitely, the one in Pampanga is already negative for N1.” The bureau’s Maria Lagayan of BAI says that, so far, the government is still in the process of identifying the source of the virus. “We are still investigating the source, although the possible suspect are wild birds or migrating birds,” Lagayan said. “There is still no confirmation, however. We are also still waiting for the results from Australia which will be released after two weeks.” Two poultry workers from San Luis were isolated earlier for showing flu-like symptoms.