THE CIVIL Aviation Authority Philippines (CAAP) has re-validated air operating certificates (AOCs) of local airlines as part of efforts to comply with international aviation safety standards, an official said yesterday.
Feb 252013
Feb 252013
THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) new issuance, Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 16-2013 (RMC 16-2013) clarified the tax treatment of deposits/advances given by clients/customers to their suppliers/providers. This new issuance is an offshoot of RMC 89-2012, which involves cash advances given to General Professional Partnerships (GPPs). Unlike RMC 89-2012, RMC 16-2013 covers all taxpayers, other than GPPs, doing business in the Philippines. The latter details all the tax implications to and obligations of the taxpayer and the client for purposes of recording and documentation of the deposits/cash advance made.
Feb 252013
Complaints about the traffic in EDSA are increasing with the situation getting worse more today than yesterday. Over 120,000 cars were sold in 2012 (not including trucks and other vehicles) – just think of the heavy volume of vehicles added to the streets every year. It was really prudent of the government to defer the two-year EDSA rehabilitation plan unless new alternative routes are opened. Yesterday when parts of EDSA were closed for the 27th People Power celebrations, a young businessman spent four hours getting to the airport from White Plains – double the time it takes on a “normal” day. A lot of plans and proposals have been made to address the worsening traffic and the only feasible plan is to build a skyway, plus add more trains on the MRT and lessen the number of buses. Other creative solutions have been tried and tested, but none made remarkable improvements as far as traffic congestion is concerned. Reader Dr. Ron Benitez is suggesting a “brand coding scheme” in addition to the current number coding to ease up traffic – saying his proposal could help drastically reduce the estimated 400,000 vehicles plying EDSA every day. The plan is for every vehicle manufacturer to attend a “lottery” conducted by MMDA or DOTC to draw the day when their respective brands will not be allowed along EDSA. For instance, if Toyota drew Monday, then all types of Toyota-manufactured vehicles will be restricted from EDSA. MMDA or the DOTC can combine different brands Read More …
Feb 222013
INQUIRER.net 6:03 pm | Friday, February 22nd, 2013 L-R: Daphne Oseña-Paez (UNICEF Special Advocate for Children); UNICEF Philippines Representative Tomoo Hozumi; ECCD Council Governing Board Chair Teresita Inciong; Australian Ambassador Bill Twedell; DSWD Sec. Dinky Soliman; OIC-Director Marilette Almayda of the Bureau of Elementary Education-DepED; and Teresa Mariano, Head of the Social Services Dept. of QC LGU. MANILA, Philippines – The Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council, the Department of Education (DepED), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) launched this February an innovative project called Early Learning for Life which aims to help children ages 3-5 years old get ready for school. “The vital years of the child 0-6 years old should be a collective aspiration,” said Dr. Teresita G. Inciong, Chairperson of the ECCD Governing Board. She continued: “It is in this light that the Project responds to the urgent need for children to get the right start to learning and development, and eventually complete their education.” Significant research studies show that 50 per cent of a person’s ability to learn is developed in the first few years of life. However, national statistics indicate that only 78 out of 100 Grade 1 entrants have kindergarten experience. “This initiative is most welcome as it will give our young learners a strong foundational head start in early education,” Department of Education Secretary Bro. Armin A. Luistro, FSC said. The $18M project, funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and in collaboration with UN children’s agency, UNICEF, will Read More …
Feb 222013
By Frances MangosingINQUIRER.net 6:01 pm | Friday, February 22nd, 2013 Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III, left, joins prayers at the Blue Mosque in Taguig City Friday. AP MANILA, Philippines—Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Friday Malaysia’s continuing payment of lease for Sabah bolsters the Philippine claim over the territory. “You see, the sultanate is being paid 5,000 ringgit up to now,” said Gazmin, referring to the nominal yearly compensation the heirs to the Sultanate of Sulu receive from Malaysia under a long-standing agreement. “So if you are being paid then there’s claim,” he said in a press briefing. Dozens of followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III sailed over to neighboring Sabah island more than a week ago to assert their centuries-old claim over the area. Also among their demands is additional compensation. Malaysian authorities surrounded the group, which is believed to be made up of anywhere between 80 and 400 people, and a stand-off has since been in place while negotiations continue. Kuala Lumpur has given the 300 followers of the sultan led by his brother, Agbimuddin Kiram, until Friday to decide whether to leave on their own, or be rounded up and deported. But Gazmin said that while the claims of royal family could be valid, it is not right to send an armed group to Sabah to reclaim their territory. President Benigno Aquino in his first public comments on the issue Thursday said: “Going there with arms is not the way to resolve this.” “When you brandish arms, Read More …
Feb 222013
By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:35 pm | Friday, February 22nd, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—A visiting lawmaker from the United States has lauded the Philippines’ “restraint” in dealing with China over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) issue and he hoped the Chinese side would “understand the need” to settle the long-drawn-out territorial dispute soon. US Rep. Jeff Miller, who leads a five-member delegation of US lawmakers on a three-day visit here, also reiterated his government’s support for a peaceful resolution of the dispute, an issue of keen interest to the US amid its defense pivot to the Asia Pacific. “We appreciate the restraint that the government here has shown in going through the arbitration process. I’m hopeful that China will be able to understand the need to resolve this issue as soon as possible,” Miller told the Inquirer while visiting the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario had briefed the delegation—Miller and fellow US Representatives Gus Bilirakis, Timothy Walz, Michael Michaud and Josiah Bonner—on the West Philippine Sea issue during the group’s courtesy call at the Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday. During the meeting, the Philippine side explained the country’s move to hale China to the United Nations arbitration tribunal in a bid to invalidate the Chinese side’s “nine-dash line” claim over territories in the contested region of the South China Sea, including a portion the Philippines refers to as the West Philippine Sea. The legal action, formally rejected by China Read More …
Feb 222013
By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:23 pm | Friday, February 22nd, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The United States is open to a review of rejected benefit claims of thousands of aging Filipino World War II veterans as deserving former servicemen should receive the compensation due them, the chair of the US House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs said Friday. Florida lawmaker Jeff Miller, head of a US congressional delegation that visited the Philippines this week, told the Inquirer on Friday that his government was willing to take a second look at claims of Filipino veterans earlier denied by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). Miller quickly pointed out, however, that such review was not a guarantee of a reconsideration, saying the US government is “very careful” in studying and approving claims of Filipinos who served under the US flag more than six decades ago. “We understand that there are other individuals who claim that they have a right to compensation, and I agree that every person should have the opportunity for a full and complete review,” Miller said. “But we have to be careful that only those that have earned the compensation get the compensation,” added the lawmaker, who led four other fellow lawmakers on three-day visit in the Philippines. During a meeting at the Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario requested Miller’s support as he called for a review of the rejection of claims of 24,385 Filipino veterans under the Filipino Veterans Equity (FVEC). Miller said Read More …
Feb 222013
A total of 77 out of 267 passed the Master Plumber Licensure Examination given by the Board for Master Plumbers in Manila earlier this month, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced Friday. [Click here for complete list.] The results were released in one working day after the last day of examination. Registration for the issuance of Professional Identification Card (ID) and Certificate of Registration will be on March 5, 2013, the PRC said. — KBK, GMA News
Feb 222013
By Nikko DizonPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:53 pm | Friday, February 22nd, 2013 Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram talks to reporters during a news conference in Alabang, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013. His followers who crossed to the Malaysian state of Sabah this month will not leave and are reclaiming the area as their ancestral territory, the sultan said Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013, amid a tense standoff. AP PHOTO/AARON FAVILA MANILA, Philippines—The followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III holed up in Lahad Datu town in Sabah refused to leave despite the Friday deadline set by Malaysia. Jamalul, his brother Ishmael and wife Princess Fatima Cecilia and some of their followers faced the media on Friday in a press conference at the Blue Mosque in Maharlika Village in Taguig City, saying they will consult their followers regarding their next move. Princess Fatima, who is the sultan’s spokesperson, said the family wants the Sabah issue to be resolved before the International Court of Justice and that they are open to negotiate with Malaysia. She also said that the family was hurt by President Benigno Aquino’s statement that the Sabah issue was “dormant” but she welcomed his directive for his top Cabinet officials to study the Sabah claim issue. Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Read More …
Feb 222013
This year, Malacañang is taking the commemoration of the first EDSA Revolution into the digital age. Using the hashtag #EDSA27, the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) will be tweeting the events of the four-day protest to overthrow Ferdinand Marcos as if it were happening today. “The PCDSPO will be tweeting the events of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution as they happened, based on the compiled timeline of Angela Stuart Santiago,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a statement Friday. The peaceful revolt installed to power President Benigno Aquino III’s mother, the late President Corazon “Cory” Aquino, and ended the decades-long Marcos dictatorship. This year’s celebration aims to highlight the role of “other EDSA’s” or the main roads of Baguio, Iloilo, and Davao “which contributed in their own way to overthrow an oppressive regime and restore democracy,” said Valte. Valte said they plan to do this by showcasing online Kidlat Tahimik’s semi-autobiographical film “Why is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow?” Tahimik, also known as Eric de Guia, is a multi-awarded Filipino filmmaker who received the 2012 Fukuoka Prize for arts and culture. “We are making available online a portion of his film featuring the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, and simultaneous uprisings in key landmarks of Baguio City,” she said. Additional celebrations to commemorate the People Power Revolution include the superimposition of the iconic map used by Marcos and General Fabian Ver to plan out their attack on Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo onto a Read More …