Maniolas

— Vice President Jejomar Binay and Sen. Gringo Honasan show their certificates of candidacy at the Commission on Election in Manila on Monday, the first day of filing of COCs. Binay and Honasan will run under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) for the 2016 election. (MNS photo) MANILA, Jan 26 (Mabuhay) – The Freedom of Information (FOI) bill may finally be passed into law after years of languishing in Congress if Vice President Jejomar Binay becomes the next president of the Philippines. In an interview on Tuesday with Mike Enriquez over dzBB radio for the “Ikaw Na Ba? The Presidential Interview” program, Binay said he will ask Congress to expedite the passage of the proposed FOI law if he ends up in Malacañang after the May 2016 national elections. “Ipapakiusap ko sa Kongreso na kung pwede ho ilabas niyo at tapusin niyo na ho ‘yan para magkaroon tayo ng batas tungkol sa freedom of information,” he said, adding that he will certify the measure as urgent so lawmakers will approve it with dispatch. Although Binay wants to give journalists and the public wider access to information on the government and its officials, he said the FOI bill should contain provisions on ensuring accountability from those who request data. “Bago ho sana mangyari na magkaroon [ng FOI law] ay magkaroon ng accountability. ‘Yun ang nagiging balakid at ang rason kung bakit sa tingin ko ang Presidente ay hindi gumagawa ng paraan para maging batas [ang FOI bill],” he said. President Benigno Read More …

The camp of Senator Grace Poe asked the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday (Dec. 28, 2015) to stop the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that disqualified her to run in the 2016 presidential polls. Poe, through her legal counsel, Atty. George Garcia (in left photo), filed the petition for certiorari and urgent motion for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Comelec decision. One of the two petitions filed by Poe’s camp challenged the Comelec First Division ruling while the second petition assailed the Comelec Second Division ruling. Poe’s camp also asked the SC to issue a status quo ante order (SQAO) against the Comelec ruling in order that the name of Poe would still be included in the ballot for the 2016 elections. Photo at right shows Poe’s supporters urging the Comelec to allow the lady senator to run for president in the May 2016 polls. (MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) –Senator Grace Poe promised Monday that she would not impose new taxes, and would even lower existing ones, should she win in the May 2016 presidential election. “Nais kong itulak ang pagbaba ng buwis dahil hindi na makatarungan. Gusto kong babaan at gagawin ko ang lahat para babaan ang buwis,” Poe said. She said the Philippines imposes the highest income and corporate taxes among the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). “Thirty-two percent ang binabayaran ng mga empleyado natin. Ang corporate tax naman ay 30 percent. Papasok tayo sa ASEAN Read More …

Erich Gonzales and Daniel Matsunaga (MNS photo) Celebrity couple Daniel Matsunaga and Erich Gonzales denied that their pictures in Indonesia were actually from their prenuptial photo shoot. Fans of the lead stars of the upcoming series “Be My Lady” believe that the two had a prenup shoot in the tourist island of Bali. The couple posted photos of their recent trip in their respective Instagram pages around five weeks ago. “’Yung pictures na ‘yan ay dahil sa birthday ko. Sobrang maganda ‘yung lugar doon and nag-enjoy kami. Super short ‘yung holiday namin,” said Matsunaga, who turned 27 on November 28. “Katulad po ng sinabi niya hindi po ‘yon prenup. Siguro nagkataon lang kasi maganda po ‘yung scenery, maganda ‘yung background. We don’t want to rush something that we want to last forever. Ngayon, we’re just taking our time,” Gonzales said, stressing that their main focus now is “Be My Lady,” which started airing last January 18. “Hindi po lahat ng tao ay nabibigyan ng ganitong pagkakataon and sobra po kaming grateful sa management at sa lahat po dito. Masasabi ko na itong ‘Be My Lady’ ay pinaghirapan ng lahat at worth it lahat ng puyat at pagod dito,” she said. The two believe that the wedding will happen in God’s time. “Sobrang busy kami sa schedule namin pero mahal na mahal ko siya. Let’s wait for the right time. God really has his own time. I waited for three years for this relationship. Why not wait for a little bit Read More …

The Supreme Court should act immediately on the disqualification case against presidential bet, Senator Grace Poe Llamanzares, to avert possible political unrest in the Philippines With little time left before the final printing of the ballots for the May 16 elections, the Supreme Court, known for taking its time in deciding high profile cases, appears to be unperturbed from a possible scenario wherein a disqualified presidential candidate could win in the elections. This will provoke a sense of frustration and anger among the people, particularly the supporters of Grace Poe, in the event she wins and later on disqualified by the Supreme Court before she could be sworn into office. This could also spark a series of street demonstrations and public indignations all over the country, and as a result, might compel the government or Congress to declare that there was a failure of election. Who would then be the duly elected president? Is it going to be the duly elected Vice President? What happens when the losing presidential candidate in second place files a protest contending that he should be the one who should be installed as president since the winning candidate’s election was declared null and void by the Supreme Court. To avoid all these possible scenarios, the Supreme Court Justices should heed the advice of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to speed the completion of all oral arguments so that the disqualification case of Llamanzares would be decided before the scheduled printing of ballots and avoid what Read More …

President Benigno S. Aquino III is received by DOT Secretary RamonJimenez, Jr, heads of International Tourism Organizations, and by members of the diplomatic corps upon arrival at the Philippine InternationalConvention Center for the opening ceremony of theASEAN Tourism Forum. (MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – President Benigno S. Aquino III on Wednesday enjoined the participants of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tourism Forum (ATF) 2016 to work together and share experiences to enhance the region’s tourism sector. Like the Philippines, tourism is also a major industry in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, which lead the pack when it comes to attracting tourists, President Aquino said during the opening of the ATF 2016 at the Philippine International Convention Center. “We belong to a region that holds vast potentials in terms of tourism,” he said, noting that 2014 saw tourist arrivals in ASEAN reaching 105.1 million, a staggering 42.4 percent increase from 73.8 million tourist arrivals in 2010. Of those 105.1 million visitors, he said, 49.22 million came from within the ASEAN itself. “The strong interest that our peoples had in visiting each other’s countries highlights a potential to accelerate the growth of intra-ASEAN tourism, which redounds to all our benefits; not only does it contribute to our respective growth agendas, it also fosters greater understanding and strengthens the ties that bind our people,” the President told the forum participants. He further pointed out that ASEAN integration has made the regional grouping a more attractive destination for visitors from other parts Read More …