SM, Comelec team up for mall voting project

SM Supermalls President Steven Tan and Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia recently led the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement for the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) mall voting scheduled on October 30, 2023.

The MOA signing was held in SM City Manila last August 7.

Five SM malls will be participating in the pilot implementation of mall voting: SM City Manila, SM City North Edsa, SM City Sucat, SMCity Legazpi in Albay, and SM City Consolacion in Cebu for a total of more than 8,000 registered voters.

“Thank you Comelec for choosing us as your constant partner in giving the public better access to government services. We once again extend our hand to everyone, especially the youth, to come to our malls and take part in selecting the leaders of our local barangays and the Sangguniang Kabataan,” said SM Supermalls President Steven Tan.

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Villar earlier warned that if the reclamation project reaches Las Piñas, it may cause six to eight-meter flooding in her hometown.

Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros said she supports the suspension order of the President as she reiterated her call to reject all China-funded reclamation projects in the country.

“There are questionable entities involved in those projects, particularly the China state-owned China Communications Construction Co. (CCCC), which has historically destroyed our marine ecosystems in the West Philippine Sea.

We should not be taking risks with companies like CCCC," Hontiveros said in a statement on Wednesday.

“These China-funded reclamation projects may cause irreversible damage to our cherished natural resources,” she added.

The fishers' group Pamalakaya earlier called on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to suspend the reclamation projects in Manila Bay following the recent severe flooding in Bulacan and Pampanga.

Pamalakaya said the DENR must temporarily halt the reclamation projects "until the proponents scientifically prove that their projects have not aggravated the flood hazards in these coastal areas."

If the President does not act on a proposed law submitted by Congress, it will lapse into law after 30 days from receipt.

Romualdez said the number of potential beneficiaries was supplied by concerned agencies during the House deliberations on the extension proposal, contained in House Bill 7909, of which the Speaker is the principal author. He said the proposed new extension would give beneficiaries enough time to avail themselves of the amnesty and lower tax rates so they could settle their estate tax obligations and use the properties and other assets they have inherited from their dead loved ones. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)