Maniolas

Members of the Cabinet on Friday signed a P105-billion rehabilitation and recovery master plan for areas hit by Typhoon Yolanda last year. The master plan was the result of consolidated proposals from the provincial governments of Cebu, Samar, Eastern Samar and Leyte, GMA News TV’s “State of the Nation with Jessica Soho (SONA)” reported Friday evening. Proposals from other provinces in Eastern Visayas struck by Yolanda such as Aklan and Iloilo will also be included in the masterplan soon, the report added. The master plan was signed in Cebu City by Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (PARR) Panfilo Lacson, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman, Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson, Socio-economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas and representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry. Among the subjects covered by the masterplan are the rebuilding of destroyed infrastructure, livelihood programs and relocation of the displaced residents. According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) there about 3,000 families still living in a tent city in Tacloban. Soliman said they will begin constructing nipa huts next week to transfer at least 700 families from the tent city. National Housing Authority general manager Chito Cruz pointed out that though there are funds, they are finding it hard to find lots for the construction of temporary houses. “Talagang lupa ang problema namin. Even with the transition shelter, talagang importante makapili tayo ng safe na lupa,” Cruz said Read More …

Undelivered books, under-equipped canteens, and emotional trauma plague public schools around the Philippines even as a new school year nears. Grade 9 students may face the first few weeks of the school year without books, Mark Salazar reported on “24 Oras” Friday. Teachers fear the situation may turn out as it had when the K-12 system was first implemented, when they had to photocopy books for their students. “Late. Kung hindi man, natapos ang Grade 7 ng walang module. Nung inimplement ito nung Grade 8, ay natapos ang second quarter, saka lang dumating ang modules intended for first and second quarter. Samantala, yung third and fourth quarter, walang nagamit na module ang mga bata,” said Louie Zabala, president of the Manila Public School Teachers Association. Antonia Lim, who leads the Alliance of Concerned Teachers in the Central Visayas, said, “Yung Grade 7, talagang walang aklat sila sa lahat ng subjects. Yung Grade 8 naman, parang tatlong subjects lang siguro ang may aklat, pero late nang dumating.” ACT-Bicol’s Nic Sambitan related the same scenario, and said Grade 8 students didn’t get access to books. If the same scenario presents itself, Zabala said teachers would have to shell out their own money to photocopy their modules. Department of Education (DepEd) Executive Director of Instructional Materials Council Secretariat Socorro Pilor admitted delivery of the books has been delayed due to “development delays”. She said books that were delivered to teachers, some of which were rushed, are meant for temporary use while final copies Read More …

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. on Friday confirmed receiving in June 2012 a request for P250 million from Senator Jinggoy Estrada to fund livelihood projects for poor farmers in several provinces. Ochoa made the statement after the deleted files recovered from the hard drive of principal pork barrel scam whisteblower Benhur Luy included a document entitled, “200M_Sexy_Ochoa.doc.” Luy is a former finance officer of alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles. Napoles ran the scam by convincing lawmakers to fund livelihood projects in agricultural communities through her dubious non-government organizations.  Instead of delivering the programs for the farmers, the allocations are pocketed by Napoles and the lawmakers as fat kickbacks. It couldn’t be determined immediately if the file “200M_Sexy_Ochoa.doc” contained a letter endorsing one of Napoles’ NGOs as a recipient of the funds being requested supposedly for the farmers. A check with Ochoa’s office indicated that the request they received from Estrada was indeed for P250 million instead of just for P200 million. Estrada, a leader of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance, is one of the three senators charged with plunder before the Ombudsman in connection with the P10-billion pork barrel scam.  The other two are Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, also an opposition stalwart, and Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. “In June 2012, the Office of the President received a letter from Sen. Jinggoy Estrada requesting funding support amounting to 250 million pesos for livelihood projects for small farmers located in various provinces,” Ochoa said in a statement on Friday. “As with Read More …

A Green Sea Turtle comes on the shore. Chinese fishermen were previously arrested after they were found poaching the endangered species in the Spratly Group of Islands in the West Philippine Sea. Photo by Haribon Foundation. MANILA, Philippines—The massive fishing operations of Chinese ships in the South China Sea could make the local population of sea turtles and giant clams extinct, a marine biologist said Friday. “Their fishing operations will have an effect on our marine biodiversity but we won’t see this until years or decades later,” Ditto Dela Rosa Jr., a research specialist with expertise in marine biology, said in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net. “The Philippine marine ecosystem is home to seven species of giant clams out of the total nine species worldwide and five out of seven sea turtle species worldwide,” he said. Recently, aerial photographs taken by the Philippine military, showed Chinese fishing vessels in the Spratly Group of Islands, filled with clams. Several Chinese fishermen were also apprehended by police after their boat was found to be filled with hundreds of dead sea turtles. Giant clams, locally known as “taklobo,” can grow up to 4.5 feet and weigh in excess of 200 kilograms. The large shells allow corals to grow on them and create reefs. Sea turtles, called “pawikan” locally, play a big role in keeping the local population of jellyfish, which they feed on, controlled. A Giant Clam opens its hard shell to show the soft inside parts. Chinese fishing vessels were recently seen Read More …

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz: No problem. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz has downplayed the assessment of an international workers’ rights organization that the Philippines is among the worst countries in the world for workers. “It does not necessarily concern the workers’ rights since we don’t have problems with workers’ rights. We can say the industry advocacy for workers in the country is very good,” said Baldoz, referring to the 2014 Global Rights Index of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). ITUC ranked 139 countries based on internationally recognized indicators to assess where workers’ rights, such as democratic rights, decent wages, safer working conditions and secure jobs, are best protected, in law and in practice. Countries were ranked from 1 (best) to 5 (worst) based on 97 indicators related to workers’ rights. The evaluation was conducted from April 2013 to March 2014. The Philippines obtained a rating of 5, which meant that legislation protecting workers’ rights were in place but workers effectively had no access to such rights, thus exposing them to autocratic regimes and unfair labor practices. “In terms of quality of work in the country, I can say we are doing OK. The same goes with what they are saying about labor rights,” Baldoz said. But she said that if there was one aspect of the ITUC findings that was accurate, it would be the problem of the extrajudicial killings of workers. According to Baldoz, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has committed to fast-track the Read More …