Maniolas

Nearly 12 million households said they considered themselves poor as 2013 drew to a close, according to a new survey by pollster Social Weather Stations. According to the SWS survey, taken from Dec. 11 to 16 last year, 55 percent of respondents or 11.8 million families, said they were poor. This was higher than the 50 percent of families who considered themselves poor in September, the SWS said in its report published Monday in the Business World website. Also, 41 percent of respondents, equivalent to 8.8 million families, considered themselves food-poor, four points higher than in September. “Both self-rated poverty and self-rated food poverty rose from the previous quarter, and are above their four-quarter averages for 2013,” the SWS noted. The increases in the national numbers for self-rated poverty and food poverty were “roughly due to increases in all areas except Mindanao.” The SWS also found that the full-year results for 2013 – with self-rated poverty at 52 percent – were similar to marks in 2012. The pollster added self-rated food poverty in 2013 averaged 39 percent, two points down from 2012. The survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,550 adult Filipinos nationwide. In the survey, respondents were asked to choose whether their families were poor, not poor or “on the line” in both poverty and food-poverty categories. Respondents were also asked how much money would be required for their households not to be considered poor. Sampling error margins of ±2.5% for national, ±4% for the Visayas and ±6% for Metro Read More …

Of the 1.7 million licensed firearms in the country, 60 to 70 percent were issued based on fake documents, the Philippine National Police said Friday. Citing figures from the PNP Firearms Explosives Office, Police Chief Superintendent Louie Oppus said in a report on “24 Oras” aired Friday evening that he has ordered the investigation into the use of fake names and addresses as well as fake neuro-psychiatric results by applicants. “I have now caused an investigation into those neuro-psychiatric results na parang peke… Biruin mo, mga limang tao, magkakapareho ang resulta ng neuro remarks? May posibilidad ba ‘yun?” he said in the report. He said the PNP hopes the recently signed Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act would give gun control teeth. Signed by President Benigno Aquino III in May 2013, the law seeks to regulate the registration and ownership of firearms and ammunition by requiring gun owners to renew their licenses every two years. The new law supersedes Executive Order 194, signed by President Joseph Estrada in 2000, which removed a limit on the number of guns a person can own. Before EO 194, owners were only allowed to have 10 guns. The report said that under the new law, the PNP itself will administer neuro-psychiatric and drug tests. Gun owners will also be required to apply for licenses to own firearms before they can register their guns, and firearms will be automatically considered illegal if their licenses are not renewed within a day of expiration. Automatic weapons, once Read More …