Water firms to appeal MWSS rate cut order

 General
Sep 162013
 
Water firms to appeal MWSS rate cut order

The two Metro Manila water service concessionaires will dispute the order of Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System’s (MWSS) for a rate reduction by filing an appeal before an arbitration panel. Following the announcement last Thursday of regulators’ decision to deny their proposed rate hikes for the next five years, both Manila Water Company Inc. and Maynilad Water Service Inc. have until Oct. 13 to lodge the appeal. In a statement published Monday, Maynilad cited Section 7.1 of the concession agreement, where the rate determined by MWSS may be brought before arbitration. As such, Maynilad said that present water rates would remain in effect, pending the resolution of the appeal. Cherubim Ocampo-Mojica, head of corporate communications at Maynilad, explained that under the agreement, a concessionaire has a month to do so before an internationally constituted appeals panel. This was echoed by Manila Water spokesperson Jeric Sevilla who said the agreement gives the concessionaire 31 days from receipt of a disputed regulatory decision to file for arbitration. The panel would consist of three members—one of which is appointed by the MWSS Regulatory Office (RO), another by the concessionaire and a third by the International Chamber of Commerce who shall serve as chair. Mojica said that the concession agreement gives this appeals panel 60 days from receipt of the notice of dispute and statement of claim to come up with a final determination, which is either the rate set by the MWSS RO or the one claimed by the concessionaire. This 60-day period Read More …

Plunder raps filed vs Napoles, three senators in pork scam

 News
Sep 162013
 
Plunder raps filed vs Napoles, three senators in pork scam

The Office of the Ombudsman received on Monday plunder raps against businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and at least three senators said to have benefitted in the P10 billion pork barrel scam.  The accused lawmakers are Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile and former Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada. The Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation submitted the complaint around 3:30 p.m on Monday.  The pork barrel scam was allegedly led by Napoles, who turned fugitive after a court ordered her arrest over serious illegal detention of her employee and main scam whistleblower Benhur Luy. She surrendered two weeks later. Napoles was accused of being behind questionable NGOs that implemented ghost projects using pork funds, also known as the Priority Development Assistance Fund. The funds were supposedly siphoned to the pockets of Napoles and lawmakers. Luy in a Senate hearing said the division could reach up to 50-50.  Napoles is detained at Fort Santo Domingo in Laguna. —KG, GMA News

Senate OKs bill postponing upcoming SK polls

 News
Sep 162013
 
Senate OKs bill postponing upcoming SK polls

The Senate on Monday approved the bill postponing the Sangguniang Kabataan polls scheduled this October. Nineteen senators voted for the postponement. No one objected to the bill, but Senator Vicente Sotto III abstained. On Tuesday, Sept. 3, the Senate committee on local government said it will recommend the postponement of the upcoming Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, scheduled this October after it had a hearing with after a hearing with officials from the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and local government officials.  The SK was created by the Local Government Code of 1991 to provide youth representation in government.  —KG, GMA News

Sotto: Enrile 'rushed' to hospital Saturday due to high blood pressure

 News
Sep 162013
 
Sotto: Enrile 'rushed' to hospital Saturday due to high blood pressure

Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile was “rushed to the hospital” on Saturday morning due to high blood pressure, Senator Vicente Sotto III said Monday. Sotto, however, did not say whether Enrile is still in the hospital as of posting time. Sotto also did not say which hospital his colleague was brought to. Enrile is one of the senators expected to face plunder raps before the Office of the Ombudsman, according to the National Bureau of Investigation. — Andreo Calonzo/RSJ, GMA News

Drilon: Senators can still report for work even while facing plunder raps

 News
Sep 162013
 
Drilon: Senators can still report for work even while facing plunder raps

Senators can still report for work and will not be automatically suspended even with a plunder complaint filed against them before the Office of the Ombudsman, Senate President Franklin Drilon said Monday. “They are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Remember, they are elected representatives,” Drilon said at a press briefing.  The Senate leader made this statement after the National Bureau of Investigation confrmed that Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. will be charged with plunder in connection with the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam. —KG, GMA News

House starts plenary debates on proposed 2014 national budget

 News
Sep 162013
 
House starts plenary debates on proposed 2014 national budget

The House of Representatives on Monday began plenary deliberations of the proposed P2.268-T national budget for 2014, with a focus on the integration of the former Priority Development Assistance Fund into several agencies’ budgets. In his sponsorship speech, chairman of the Appropriations Committee Rep. Isidro Ungab said they did not recommend any cuts on the proposed budget. Ungab then formally announced on the floor that the committee has proposed to scrap the PDAF as a lump sum allocation.  “Following the call for greater transparency and accountability in the operations of our government, the committee with the approval of the House leadership recommends the scrapping of the lump sum appropriation of P 25.24 B for PDAF,” Ungab said. Ungab also noted that Vice President Binay’s special allocation of P200 M will also be removed. “In addition, the amount of P200 M representing the PDAF of the Office of the Vice President will also be deleted,” he said. Ungab earlier told reporters that the P25.4 B amount will be realigned to different social service agencies, where lawmakers could make requests on behalf of their constituents.  Ungab, however, made it clear that the requests were not done deals, and that agencies have a right to refuse them. He then enjoined members of the House to pass the General Appropriations Bill or House Bill 2360 quickly. Bigger budget for VIsayas, Mindanao Meanwhile in an early interpolation, Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora questioned the significantly lower budgets of Visayas and Mindanao as compared to that of Read More …

Avoiding a lost generation

 Economy
Sep 152013
 

IN THE PHILIPPINES, youth unemployment is becoming a major concern. Unemployment rose to 7.3% in July from 7% in the same month in 2012. Last week, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that although the local economy generated 620,000 new jobs, over three million of the more than 41-million-strong labor force remain jobless. Included in the three million unemployed are youth workers, or those who are at least 15 years old and looking for work.

The enigma of Ilocos

 General
Sep 152013
 
The enigma of Ilocos

If one were to ask for the secret of Ilocos Norte’s newest resort hotel, we would quickly answer Rolando Lawas, its resident manager who everyone calls LanLan. Small wonder his boss Danny Jacinto quickly left us in his care to spend four days at his hotel. Upon landing at Laoag’s airport, an hour’s flight on Airphil from Manila, we were whisked off to the Plaza del Norte Hotel & Convention Center in the midst of desert and hills, and after breakfast we were given a service vehicle to take in everything we could on the first day and to be able to relax on the other days. Our companion and friend Adolfo Timuat was only interested in the Juan Luna Museum. Aside from being a renowned Flamenco guitarist and Luthier (builders of guitars) in Spain, Adolfo was also a collector of Luna drawings. Juan Luna is decidedly the country’s greatest painter, instrumental for placing Philippine arts and culture on the world map. His most famous works were the Spoliarium, La Batalla de Lepanto, The Blood Compact, People and Kings and Ecce Homo among many others. We found students lined up for a visit at his Shrine in Badoc, Ilocos Norte, a reconstruction of the original house that burned down in 1861. Juan Luna was a co-worker of Jose Rizal, Graciano Lopez-Jaena, Marcelo H. Del Pilar and other Filipino reformers in Europe. All over the city are popular eateries purportedly put up by current Gov. Imee Marcos. Called the Johnny Moon Read More …

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