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YOLANDA FUNDS TO GO TO MARAWI CITY—ARMM
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HE Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said on Friday that some P5 billion in unused national government fund intended for the victims of Super Typhoon “Yolanda” in 2013 will be realigned for the rehabilitation of Marawi City.
ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman disclosed in a press conference that the regional government is also preparing for an immediate transitional shelter areas for residents in Marawi City affected by the
ongoing war. “Our initial talks with the executive committee, the P5-billion unused money will be realigned, including the relief assistance of DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development],” Hataman said. He said that the local government is in close coordination with the World Food Program and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and that they have discussed with the Lanao del Sur provincial government regarding efforts for the rehabilitation of clustered groups. But Hataman admitted that there is no concrete plan yet for the joint intervention effort pending the assessment of the situation on the ground.
“There is an initial plan, and this is the ... transitional shelter and other infrastructure prospects with the help of public works and highways in the region.” Hataman also disclosed that the San Miguel Corp. has pledged to construct 1,000 household subdivision-type temporary shelters, and the Pag-IBIG housing project loan for Mindano State University and government employees of the city. Earlier, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that the more than four-month long Marawi crisis will end in a few days. Lorenzana said that government forces are still engaged in fierce battle with some 40 to 50 proISIS Maute terrorists in the city.
VISITING QUEEN. Miss Earth Australia 2017 Nina Robertson join Manila Standard employees during her visit at the publication’s office in Makati on Wednesday.
GADON WANTS RODY AS SPECIAL PROSECUTOR VS CJ THE lawyer who filed the impeachment case against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno on Friday said that he would ask Congress to allow President Rodrigo Duterte to act as special prosecutor in the impeachment trial against the chief magistrate. “I will formally file a motion with the House of Representatives and also the Senate, whichever the case may be, na payagan maging special prosecutor si President Duterte,” said lawyer Larry Gadon said at a forum in Quezon City. Gadon said he will file a motion if the impeachment complaint he filed against the Chief Justice reaches the Senate for trial. The House Committee on justice has recently deemed sufficient in
substance the impeachment case filed by Gadon. The next step is the determination of probable cause. Gadon said that there are no provisions in the Constitution that prohibits a sitting President to sit as as special prosecutor in an impeachment trial. “Ang paniniwala ko diyan ay wala naman sigurong bawal diyan, sapagkat this is a political exercise, at kung yung mga Associate Justices nga ng Supreme Court ay iimbitahin ko na maging witness, bakit naman ang executive branch, ang presidente, ay hindi mabigyan ng pagkakataon na makilahok sa isang political exercise na ito?” Gadon said. If Duterte is allowed by Congress to sit in the prosecution panel,
the President will be able to crossexamine Sereno during the trial, Gadon said. He is also confident that Duterte would be willing to become a special prosecutor, since the President himself earlier said that he wants Sereno, along with Ombudsman Conchita CarpioMorales, impeached. Duterte was a public prosecutor before he became mayor of Davao City. This would make him qualified to grill witnesses in the event of an impeachment trial against the Chief Justice, Gadon said. But Gadon added that he has yet to talk to lawmakers who could potentially endorse the motion. “Wala pa akong nakakausap,” he said. “Ito’y susubukan ko pa lang.”
The lawyer said he does not believe that Duterte’s participation in the possible impeachment trial will influence senators, who will sit as judges. “Sa tingin ko hindi naman, sapagkat ang mga senador ay matured naman na individuals, professionals, sila naman ay mga sariling isip,” Gadon said, adding that the strength of the case will still rest on the evidence presented. Gadon has accused Sereno of culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, other high crimes, and betrayal of public trust. He said he has yet to form a legal team to represent him in the event of a trial, but he said he wanted to be a private prosecutor in the case too, alongside Duterte.
‘DECLINE ON NEW FOREIGN INVESTMENT ALARMING’
STAYING HEALTHY. The Quezon City Health Department held a ‘dancercise’ at the QCX Event Center for the elderly and senior citizens during the Health Fair for the Elderly, with the theme ‘Have Fun, Be Happy and Stay Healthy.’ Manny Palmero
SENATE Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon expressed serious concerns over the capability of the government to attract new foreign investments. Drilon raised this as it was revealed during the Senate hearing on the proposed budget of the National Economic and Development Authority that new investment in the first half of 2017 plunged 90.3 percent from the same period in 2016. Latest Foreign Direct Investment shows a significant deceleration in the influx of new investments, according to Drilon, citing data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which showed that foreign equity placements other than reinvestments of earnings decreased by 90.3 percent during the first six months of 2017 ($141 million) vis-à-vis the same period in 2016 ($1.448 billion). “We note from the reports that there is a deceleration in new investment. This is very alarming. Why such a huge drop? Is this an indication of anything?” Drilon asked.
The minority leader said that the Neda has a lot to explain about this huge drop in new foreign investments, saying this is “reflective of confidence of foreign business on our country.” “If we are to attract new foreign investment, then it is about time that we take a serious look at how things are going on in our country, because new investment would not come in unless we are able to raise the investors’ confidence level on our country,” Drilon said. Citing a study conducted by The 2018 Asean Business Outlook Survey published by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore and the US Chamber of Commerce, Drilon said among the companies surveyed, only 22 percent chose the Philippines as a possible expansion location, with Vietnam topping the list (34percent). The Philippines ranked sixth lagging behind Vietnam, Myanmar (29percent), Indonesia (29percent) Thailand (26percent), and Cambodia (23percent).
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com
SOLON SLAMS JUNKING OF P100K LIMIT ON BONUSES
By Maricel V. Cruz
AN OPPOSITION leader in the House of Representatives on Saturday slammed the Senate for throwing out the House’s initiative to increase to P100,000 the aggregate amount of 13th month pay, Christmas bonus and other benefits that may be received tax-free by employees every year. “The whole point of the higher ceiling for tax-exempt bonuses and other benefits is to help as many employees as possible. The higher the limit, the greater the number of potential beneficiaries,” Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza, senior deputy minority leader, said. “On top of the mandatory 13th month pay, a growing number of employees are now getting Christmas bonuses, productivity incentive handouts, loyalty rewards, cash gifts and other benefits of similar nature, and they deserve to fully enjoy all these subsidies,” Atienza said. The proposed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act, as embodied in House Bill 5636, passed by the House in May raised from P82,000 to P100,000 the maximum amount of 13th month pay, Christmas bonus and other benefits that may be earned by employees free of withholding income taxes. But the provision in HB 5636 was dumped when the Senate ways and means committee sent the measure out for plenary debate and approval. “The exclusion is unfair to compensation earners who for years have endured the burden of paying for the lion’s share of all personal income taxes,” Atienza, former three-term mayor of Manila, said. Atienza has been batting for the passage of key measures seeking to assure employees a rising standard of living, including a bill that proposes to require all corporations to distribute at least 10 percent of their annual net income to their workers as profit share.
SEPARATE REGULATION FOR TNCS PUSHED A HOUSE leader has filed a bill proposing a separate regulatory framework that will govern transport network companies (TNCs) like Grab and Uber where the Transportation department shall be given the sole authority for the operations of these services. Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte, in filing House Bill 6467, recognized the need to adapt to such technological innovations while ensuring the safety and comfort of the ever-growing number of users of online ride-sharing platforms. In his proposal, Villafuerte said, it is the Department of Transportation, and not the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board that should have authority over TNCs and transport network vehicle services (TNVS), because the vehicles used in these point-to-point (P2P) transport services are “private carriers” and not common or public carriers that fall under LTFRB supervision. “TNVS, like the drivers of Uber and Grab, should be classified as ‘private carriers’ because they can choose not to offer their car-riding services by signing off from the platform and their services are by special agreement only, unlike ‘common carriers’ which are persons, corporations or associations engaged in the business of carrying or transporting passengers or goods or both, for compensation,”Villafuerte, vice chairperson of the House committee on local government, said. Villafuerte also pointed out that TNCs, such as the companies behind Uber and Grab, do not provide transportation services but merely link a potential customer with a third-party driver or TNVS and are thus not parties to a transportation contract. “The State must rethink and address decades-old rules and entrenched interests to continue to maintain the efficiencies of the new ridesharing movement introduced by TNCs like Uber and Grab,” Villafuerte said. Villafuerte likened TNCs to a travel agency that merely arranges the booking for a person but the actual transporting of a customer is done by the airline, which by analogy, is the TNVS. He said TNVS provide the public not only an alternative means of transport, but also encourage car owners to leave their vehicles at home, which help decongest traffic in Metro Manila and other urban centers. Maricel V. Cruz