Maniolas

By Jelly F. Musico PROMOTING THE EASE OF DOING BUSINESS: Senator Migz Zubiri, chair of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship, on Tuesday discusses proposals seeking to promote the ease of doing business in the country by simplifying bureaucratic procedures, eradicating red tape and promoting competitiveness. Looking on is Sen. Bam Aquino. (MNS photo) MANILA  (PNA) – Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said on Tuesday that Senator Paolo Benigno ‘Bam’ Aquino has the prerogative to conduct Senate inquiry into foreign policy direction of President Rodrigo Duterte. ”I’m sure as a senator of the Republic, that is well within the prerogative of any senator to inquire into — as a matter fact, the Senate is already inquiring into that,” Yasay said in a press briefing in Malacanang. Aquino, cousin of President Duterte’s predecessor President Benigno Aquino III, has filed Senate Resolution No. 158 asking the Senate to investigate what he claimed conflicting statements of President Duterte and his senior officials. ”This is a matter that will probably be more a concern of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that we have, chaired by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. So, if he wants to air these concerns, then he brings it to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee so that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be able to investigate this matter,” Yasay said. Yasay believed that there are no conflicting statements from President Duterte and his Cabinet officials with regards to the foreign policy direction of the government. ”Our foreign policy must Read More …

By Lily O. Ramos President Duterte leads the inspection of shabu laboratory in Arayat, Pampanga: President Rodrigo R. Duterte leads the inspection of the seized shabu laboratory in Arayat, Pampanga on Tuesday (Sept. 27, 2016. (Photo by Rey Baniquet/PPD/PNA) MANILA  (PNA) – Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada announced Wednesday he will bring to the city next month a team of elite policemen-instructors from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to train members of the Manila Police District (MPD) to become Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) instructors. DARE Philippines Association, Inc., a non-profit non-government organization, brought DARE from the US to Philippine schools in 1993 through Estrada’s initiative when he was vice president and concurrent head of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC). Estrada said they hope to train more DARE instructors as part of the city government’s plan to expand the coverage of DARE, a classroom instruction program that taps active duty police officers to teach Grades 5 and 6 students good decision-making skills to keep them away from drugs and other vices. “We will be going full-blast so we need more DARE instructors who will give DARE lessons,” the mayor said. “This is my way of helping President Duterte in his fight against drugs, by teaching the young generation how to say ‘No’ to drugs at an early age.” “This (DARE) is our first line of defense against illegal drugs in our schools. We must save our children before drugs get them,” he added. As chairman of DARE Philippines, Estrada has Read More …

A customizable tool to find AAPI data on issues relevant to older populations AARP Data WASHINGTON, D.C  – The AARP Public Policy Institute launched AARP DataExplorer, its free interactive search and visualization tool for data on the 50-plus population. AARP DataExplorer allows users to browse and search for data on issues like demographics, health, financial security, housing and transportation by indicators including age, race/ethnicity, state, income, health status, and languages spoken. “Data is critical to understanding the issues and needs of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities,” said Daphne Kwok, AARP Vice President of Multicultural Leadership, Asian American and Pacific Islander Audience Strategy. “AARP DataExplorer is an easy tool for those looking for data on AAPI older adults to find relevant facts and figures which can be customized to fit their needs—whether it’s researching trends or patterns at the state or federal level, or driving policy solutions.” Users can create their own, customized visualizations of the data that can be turned into PDFs or PowerPoint slides and downloaded as images to use in reports or projects. The AARP DataExplorer site also offers a “Storybooks” feature that provides context for some of the data and helps users understand the story behind the data. AARP DataExplorer presents the most current data and indicators and add new ones as soon as new data are available. No data programming skills are needed. To use AARP DataExplorer and watch a video tutorial to learn how to customize the data and visuals, visit dataexplorer.aarp.org. About AARP Read More …

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago greets supporters during a campaign event at the University if Perpetual Help University in Biñan, Laguna on March 1. Santiago consistently topped a number of student-led election surveys organized in major universities around the country.(MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – Senators on Thursday joined in mourning the death of former Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, with most of them hailing her as one of the greatest public servants. Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, a student of Santiago in the UP College of Law, said he owes his legal knowledge to the late senator. “I would always intently listen to her when she would speak in the Senate on constitutional and international law matters. I did not always agree with her position but I always learned from her arguments,” Pimentel said. “I’m saddened by her passing, saddened more by the fact that I wasn’t able to visit her during her last days with us,” he added. In a statement, Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon said “there is no senator, past or present, who can match Senator Santiago’s uncommon brilliance and fiery dedication to her principles and beliefs.” “She was an intellectual giant and a legal luminary whose wit and words benefited this nation and its people so many times over. She’s a loss to the country. She will remain an inspiration to all of us,” Drilon said. Drilon and Santiago were classmates in the University of the Philippines-Iloilo College and the UP College of Law, from 1961 to 1969. Read More …

Senator Grace Poe talks to the media as she concedes to front runner Rodrigo Duterte in the presidential elections on Monday. Poe said she has accepted the electorate’s decision and greeted Duterte, who is leading the count by more than 5 million votes from the next candidate with over half of the votes tallied.(MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – Being a newbie in politics, Senator Grace Poe recalled how she had “sleepless nights” to face feisty constitutionalist, former Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Poe was the one who defended the proposed Freedom of Information (FOI) as chair of the Senate committee on public information and mass media during the 16th Congress. And Santiago was among those who interpellated her on the floor. “I was already defending the FOI bill, it was the first bill that I defended on the floor and I was quite scared to be interpellated then by Senator Santiago,” she recalled during the hearing of the committee, which she still chairs this 17th Congress. “I remember having sleepless nights preparing for that particular time when she would actually interpellate me,” said Poe. Before interperelatting her, Poe recalled Santiago telling her that: “Senator Poe, I feel very maternal towards you.” “So instead of actually interpellating me, she lectured me on the importance of having a Freedom of Information bill and I will never forget her for that,” she said. “She stressed that the presidential communications privilege should not be abused by any sitting president and I think that’s a valid point Read More …