Maniolas

Detained Senator Jinggoy Estrada on Monday admitted that he thinks Vice President Jejomar Binay’s rating could dip, given the ongoing Senate investigation into the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II. “Maaapektuhan bahagya [ang ratings niya] pero alam naman ng mga tao na political persecution yun,” Estrada said during an interview after his bail hearing. Estrada is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center on accusations that he pocketed millions in government funds by diverting his pork barrel allocations to alleged pork-scam operator Janet Lim-Napoles. He has repeatedly denied the accusation. Estrada also linked his arrest over the pork barrel scam to political persecution. “Parang kami, three senators were jailed, they already achieved their purpose, wala nang sumunod, eh. Itong si Secretary De Lima, laging sinasabi na may susunod na batch, pero until now, she’s silent on that. Ngayon pinupunterya naman nila si Vice President. Inuubos talaga nila ang members of the opposition,” Estrada said. A plunder and graft complaint had been filed against Binay and his son, incumbent Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, over the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II. The younger Binay was a city councilor in 2007. The Senate, meanwhile, is conducting its own inquiry into the allegedly overpriced 11-story Makati building. The building has a total floor area of 31,928 square meters and has five parking floors, five office floors and a basement. The investigation was launched after Renato Bondal, the younger Binay’s opponent in the 2013 mayoralty race, alleged that the building Read More …

Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio “Jun” Abaya on Monday bared the government projects meant to improve the service of the Metro Rail Transit after it experienced a number of alarming glitches, including a derailment that saw a train overshooting the Taft Avenue Station and injuring more than 30 passengers and commuters.   Most of the projects presented will be completed next year while the rest are scheduled to be finished in 2016. Aside from the P3.579 billion worth of 48 new trains, which will start arriving next year, Abaya said the DOTC was bidding out the P870 million Ancillary System to integrate the brand new coaches on the MRT system. The system upgrade will be on the MRT’s power stations, train parking, and Taft Avenue station track extension. Among the projects revealed to the media was the P1.088-billion automatic fare collection system, the contract for which was inked last March. The program, tasked to unify the ticketing system of the three mass rail transport system in Metro Manila, will be completed next year. Abaya said that the train overhaul of the MRT would start in the last quarter of this year. The project, worth P1.155 billion, will involve the repair of 28 light rail vehicles.   He said that the train overhaul in 2006 was not completed as required.  Abaya said that facilities in stations will also be upgraded starting October.  This, he said, included the replacement of elevators and escalators. To avoid a lengthy disruption of operation due to communication problems, the Read More …

The House of Representatives will create an ad hoc committee that will review and evaluate the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which Malacañang is expected to submit to Congress on Wednesday. House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II on Monday morning filed House Resolution 1462 creating an ad hoc panel to review, evaluate and propose legislation related to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). It was later adopted by the House in plenary session. The ad hoc committee, which will be composed of 75 members, will have six months to finish its work. It is expected to study and conduct deliberations on all measures pertaining to the BBL. The election of the officials and members of the panel will take place after President Benigno Aquino III submits the final version of the draft BBL on Wednesday, Belmonte told reporters. Gonzales earlier said Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez was among the lawmakers being eyed to head the ad hoc committee on the BBL. The BBL will formalize the creation of the Bangsamoro political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Aside from deliberating on the draft BBL, the ad hoc House panel will also be mandated to pursue dialogues and consultations with sectors and constituencies that will be affected by the proposed measure.   It is also expected to establish appropriate systems and procedures to ensure that constituencies, sectors and groups are given sufficient opportunities to be heard, and Read More …

A festival has prompted a Bulacan court to postpone on Monday the pretrial proceedings of retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. to next week. Bulacan Judge Teodora Gonzales reset to 9 a.m. on Sept. 15 the next pretrial proceedings for Palparan, radio dzBB’s Rodil Vega reported. Also, protest actions by pro- and anti-Palparan groups had been scheduled for Monday. In Monday’s pretrial, Gonzales was expected to decide on Palparan’s petition to be transferred from the Bulacan Provincial Jail to the Intelligence Service, Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) or the PNP Custodial Center. Last Sept. 1, Palparan sought a transfer from the Bulacan Provincial Jail, dzBB’s Manny Vargas reported. At the time, Gonzales gave all parties concerned until Sept. 8 to give their comments. Last Aug. 18, Palparan was arraigned before the Malolos, Bulacan regional trial court on charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention. The court entered a “not guilty” plea for Palparan after the former military officer not enter one. The charges against Palparan stemmed from the disappearance of University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in Bulacan in 2006. Palparan had denied the allegations. Palparan was commander of the Army 7th Infantry Division based in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija when the abduction of the two students took place. He retired from the military in 2006, and won a seat in Congress through the anti-communist party-list group Bantay. He ran for the Senate in 2010 but did not win. — Joel Locsin/RSJ, GMA News

Thousands of food packs worth millions of pesos which could have helped Typhoon Yolanda’s victims were instead lost to spoilage, a Commission on Audit special report on Yolanda relief operations concluded. According to the report, which was posted on the COA website, some 7,527 family food packs worth P2.7 million; 95,472 assorted canned goods; 81 packs of noodles; and, 21 sacks of rice went to waste due to improper handling in Yolanda devastated areas, particularly in Central and Eastern Visayas. The COA report blamed the losses on the lack of coordination between government agencies, which caused delays in the the distribution of goods. “Procured supplies intended for relief operations have not been fully delivered by the suppliers due to logistical gaps, such as lack of storage facility while awaiting repacking and eventual transport to affected areas and lack of delivery trucks,” the report read. Warehousing the donations and relief goods at the National Relief Operations Center also created a “logistical nightmare” for the DSWD, the state auditors added. Furthermore, the disposal of damaged goods and dented canned goods, which were excluded from food packs, were also unaccounted. “Relief distribution operations did not provide daily and periodic reporting on the results/status of its operations as well as accounting of funds received and its utilization given the huge funding, defeating the purpose of pinpointing responsibility and promoting accountability and transparency,” the COA reported. Aside from rotten relief goods, the COA report also revealed that some P700 million in donations from local sources Read More …