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The hot seat meant for Vice President Jejomar Binay remains unoccupied at the Senate session hall on Thursday, November 6. As the Senate Blue Ribbon committee awaits Binay’s arrival, it was reported that the vice president instead flew to Cebu for several meetings. He was expected to answer questions regarding the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building II constructed during his term as mayor.(MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Vice President Jejomar Binay said he declined the invitation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to attend a probe since it will set a bad precedent. Binay flew to Cebu Thursday morning. He was scheduled to visit Toledo City later. Other activities lined up for the vice president include a visit to a mining company and a meeting with a mayor in Cebu. In a letter to Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Senator Teofisto Guingona III, Binay said: “This will set a bad precedent, where the Vice President, the second highest official of the land, can be summoned to a hearing by some senators.” He said he initially wanted to go to the hearing but the behavior of Senators Alan Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes IV changed his mind. “You assured me in your letter that if I were to show up in the Senate, I will be accorded a fair hearing and I will be given the respect that befits my position as Vice President of the Republic.” “However, recent events, especially the behavior of Senators Trillanes and Cayetano, gave me reason to Read More …

A utility man cleans Santa Claus decors outside a commercial building along Boni Avenue in Mandaluyong City on Monday, November 3, in preparation for the coming Yuletide season. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – At least P15 billion in value-added tax (VAT) refund claims remain undisbursed and have been sitting in government coffers for years, a situation that has diminished Philippine competitiveness as a business destination, the Tax Management Association of the Philippines Inc. (TMAP) told reporters in a joint briefing. The situation has prompted business groups to call for more dialog with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on the matter, saying the BIR’s inaction tax refunds could hurt the Philippine goal of attracting more foreign investments. “At the very least, we estimate it to be P15 billion as what government had provided under its national budget,” TMAP president Rina Lorena Manuel said during a joint press briefing of 20 business groups in Makati City. “But we believe the figure could be much higher, given it has accumulated if claims have been there for five, ten, over ten years for some,” Manuel noted. In the same briefing, Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce Philippines (ANZCHAM) president and CEO John Casey said government’s denial in releasing the VAT claims will hurt Philippine competitiveness in the region. “Taxation is one of the components that attracts investments. That’s only one component. The Philippines has great advantages, but it also has disadvantages and competitors in the ASEAN region are ahead,” he noted. In the Philippines, Read More …

Akbayan party chairperson Risa Hontiveros Baraquel leads the send-off of volunteers on Monday to Tacloban City for typhoon Yolanda’s first-year commemoration. The volunteers served a year ago in Yolanda-affected areas. (MNS photo) MANILA (AFP) – Organizers of a dance party marking the anniversary of Super Typhoon Haiyan’s rampage through the central Philippines said Thursday they had called the event off after a storm of complaints. The event, scheduled for Friday in Tacloban, the area most devastated by Haiyan, was supposed to be a celebration of the city’s recovery and the resilience of its residents said lead organiser Calai Cinco. “We’ve already cancelled it. We’ve had some complaints. There were a lot of negative vibes on the Facebook page,” she told AFP. She said the event, with the slogan: “Party like it never happened: remember because it did,” was intended to raise money for victims of the storm. But some observers thought the party, as well as accompanying T-shirts being sold, made light of the tragedy on November 8 last year, when Haiyan sent huge storm surges deep inland, leaving 7,350 dead or missing and leaving millions more to survive in the ruins of their washed out homes. One T-shirt had the slogan: “Eat, Pray, Loot”, referring to the widespread looting that followed the typhoon while another said “I thought it was a tsunami but it was just a storm surge”. “Those statement shirts leave a bad taste in the mouth. Callous and insensitive,” one person commented on Facebook. “It saddened Read More …

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