Maniolas

Civil society groups on Thursday urged President Benigno Aquino III to use the upcoming high-level United Nations meeting on climate change as a stage to show the devastating effects of the phenomenon. Aquino should also use the event as an opportunity to compel developed countries to proactively address their responsibilities and commitments, Gerry Arances, national coordinator of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice, told GMA News Online. He called on the President to discuss energy transformation, climate change impacts, and climate finance during the meet in New York on Sept.23. “[The Philippines being] a very vulnerable country sa climate change impacts, dapat manguna siya sa energy transformation and the only way to go about it is to change track,” Arances said, citing the country’s reliance on coal. Based on the Energy department’s annual report last year, more than a third or 38.76 percent of total power generated in the country came from coal-fired power plants. Arances explained that, globally, the power sector posted the highest contribution to greenhouse gas emissions due to the burning of fossil fuel. “Ang panawagan namin kay PNoy, bago ka pumunta riyan sana naman magsalita ka on climate crisis domestically… [at] bitbitin niya ang panawagan sa world leaders,” he said. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the volume of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere reached record-levels last year. “We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels,” Read More …

Ten months since super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) wreaked havoc in Central Philippines, the government has yet to create or designate a single agency that will ensure that all donated funds for relief operations reach their intended beneficiaries or materialize into envisioned projects.  “At present, there is no single agency that is actually monitoring the receipt and utilization of funds received as donation or grants for calamity victims,” the Commission on Audit’s special report on Typhoon Yolanda disclosed. Although the government created the Foreign Aid Transparency Hub (FAiTH) that tracks the pledges and donations of countries and international organizations, the hub does not scrutinize local and foreign donations carried by nongovernment organizations and private entities.  FAiTH does not monitor donations directly given to local government units. “Pledges of foreign aid coursed through nongovernment organizations (NGOs), such as the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) or other international aid agencies can also be recorded in the portal, but cannot be tracked,” COA said. The FAiTH Task Force has representatives from different government agencies: Department of Budget and Management, Commission on Filipino Overseas, Department of Finance, Department of Health, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Social Welfare and Development, National Economic and Development Authority, Office of Civil Defense, Office of Presidential Spokesperson, Presidential Management Staff and the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office. As of 8 September 2014, the country has received P71 billion ($1.626 billion) worth of foreign aid pledges in cash and in kind, but only P15 billion ($349.404 million) has Read More …

A total of 2,190 out of 3,661 Registered Electrical Engineers and 972 out of 2,964 Registered Master Electricians successfully passed the Electrical Engineer Licensure Examinations given this month, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced Thursday. The PRC said the results of examination with respect to four examinees were withheld pending final determination of their liabilities under the rules and regulations governing licensure examination.    [Click here for list of passers in Registered Electrical Engineer Licensure Exam.] [Click here for list of passers in Registered Master Electricians Licensure Exam.] Registration for the issuance of Professional Identification Card (ID) and Certificate of Registration will start on September 26, 2014 for R. M. E. and September 29 and 30, 2014 for R.E.E., the PRC said. —KBK, GMA News

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa on Monday defended before members of Congress Malacañang’s redefinition of savings in the proposed 2015 national budget, saying the executive crafted the new meaning in good faith. “Insofar as the executive is concerned, the [new definition of savings] was proposed in good faith, believing that we are correct and we do not violate any provisions of the Constitution,” Ochoa told lawmakers at the budget briefing of the Office of the President Monday night. Last July, the Supreme Court voted unanimously to strike down as unconstitutional specific acts of the Aquino government’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). One of the DAP acts that was declared unconstitutional was the withdrawal of unobligated allotments from the implementing agencies, and the declaration of the withdrawn unobligated allotments and unreleased appropriations as savings prior to the end of the fiscal year and without complying with the statutory definition of savings contained in the General Appropriations Act; Following the SC’s adverse decision on the DAP, the Palace changed the definition of savings in the proposed 2015 national budget to mean  portions of allocations that “have not been released or obligated” due to “discontinuance or abandonment of a program, activity or project for justifiable causes, at any time during the validity of the appropriations.” The General Appropriations Acts from 2011 to 2013, when the DAP was implemented, defined savings as funds that are “still available after the completion, or final discontinuance, or abandonment of the work, activity or purpose for which the appropriation is Read More …

The Office of the Ombudsman has meted the penalty of dismissal on Commission on Human Rights Commissioner Cecilia Rachel “Coco” Quisumbing after she was found guilty of violating the country’s code of conduct and ethical standards for government officials and employees. In a 23-page resolution signed by prosecutor Jasmine Ann B. Gapatan and approved by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on August 28, the Ombudsman also recommended the filing of a charge for direct bribery against Quisumbing before the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan.  “[Quisumbing is] found guilty of violation of Section Seven of RA 6713 and grave misconduct and meted the penalty of dismissal from the service, including all its accessory penalties of cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits and perpetual disqualification for re-employment in the government service,” the resolution said.  The Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates provided GMA News Online with a copy of the Ombudsman’s resolution. The charges stemmed from a complaint filed by Quisumbing’s former staff member Regina Eugenio. Eugenio alleged that Quisimbing had her promoted but kept the additional salary intended for her new salary grade, an offense that the Ombudsman deemed punishable by dismissal. “For her act of soliciting and receiving money—in this case Eugenio’s Salary differential—in the course of her official duties, this Office finds probable cause to indict respondent for Direct Bribery under Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code,” the decision said. The commissioner was earlier suspended by the Ombudsman on the same charges.  Quisumbing has claimed that all charges against her Read More …