DepEd tells school heads: Keep JS prom simple

 News
Feb 082014
 
DepEd tells school heads: Keep JS prom simple

As high school students prepare for their Junior-Senior Prom, the Department of Education over the weekend reminded schools to keep the event simple but meaningful. The DepEd stressed it does not want parents and students to worry about spending much for the event, radio dzBB reported early Sunday. Officials of public schools were particularly instructed to ensure the simplicity of the yearly tradition, the report added. If possible, the DepEd suggested that the prom be held inside the school premises, instead of at a fancy venue. The report also said the DepEd urged school administrators not to encourage parents and students to spend much for outfits. Students and parents are in the middle of preparations for the yearly prom, many of them spending on gowns and outfits and other arrangements. — LBG, GMA News

GSIS restores full benefits of Philpost employees

 General
Feb 082014
 
GSIS restores full benefits of Philpost employees

MANILA, Philippines – The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has restored the full benefits of nearly 7,000 Philippine Postal Corp. (Philpost) employees in the National Capital Region. A memorandum of agreement was signed by Philpost and GSIS following the reconcilation of service records of Philpost workers. Under the agreement, Philpost will pay about P110 million representing unpaid premiums from June 24, 1997 to Nov. 30, 2012. Since July 2012, GSIS has concluded 47 agreements with the postal agency, which allowed more than 20,500 employees to be reintegrated into the full coverage of the state pension fund. Aside from Philpost, some 1,400 active and inactive employees of Philippine National Railways will again have access to GSIS benefits after PNR agreed to settle unpaid compulsory GSIS premium contributions. Since 2010, the GSIS has signed agreements with a total of 149 suspended agencies that restored the loan privileges of more than 800,000 government workers. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

Export-grade slaughterhouse to be put up in Batangas

 Economy
Feb 082014
 
Export-grade slaughterhouse to be put up in Batangas

MANILA, Philippines – An export-grade slaughterhouse for hogs in Tanauan, Batangas that would service the tolling needs of pig raisers in neighboring provinces will be completed this year, according to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala. Interviewed on the sidelines of the recently-held 5th INAGHEN International Animal Health, Genetics & Nutrition Congress held, Alcala said  AAA abattoir would allow hog raisers in Batangas, Quezon, Laguna and Cavite to process meat for the export market. “This will greatly help the industry,” said Alcala. Of the total allocation of P150 million, the Agriculture chief said P120 million have so far been downloaded. “We can finance other equipment needed,” he said. The local government of Batangas would co-manage the abattoir and  facilitate the communication with hog raisers. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The Tanauan abattoir can process 250 hogs per day. Slaughterhouses are classified into three classes: A, AA, AAA. AAA slaughterhouses are abattoirs with the proper facilities for export production while A and AA slaughterhouses are  equipped to serve the domestic market. A-rated abattoirs have a lesser production capacity than AA-rated ones. Three other slaughterhouses are expected to be put up this year. To be built in Bamban, Tarlac is a P120 million AAA poultry slaughterhouse and trading center.

Private sector moves to define role in disaster preparedness, response

 News
Feb 082014
 
Private sector moves to define role in disaster preparedness, response

The private sector has been commended both locally  and internationally for its support for the rehabilitation of areas affected by Typhoon Yolanda, but it is moving to take disaster response a step further. Members of the private sector, including GMA Network, worked together to create disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) training modules for the private sector in a writeshop conducted in Tagaytay by the Office of Civil Defense and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Feb. 6 and 7. The writeshop was conducted in compliance with the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Act, which lays down how the public and private sectors can collaborate and cooperate in responding to and preventing disaster.  Harmonizing with other industries and public sector “[The Philippine DRRM Act of 2010] already lays an excellent foundation for cooperation and collaboration between public and private sectors to reduce and manage disaster risks,” said Dr. Benito Pacheco, Vice Chancellor of Research and Development of the University of the Philippines-Diliman and the writeshop’s main facilitator. “What we need next is a new ‘symphony orchestra mode’ of conducting, by which the private company players can blend in better among themselves, and together with public agencies.” Two sets of DRRM training modules were written: One for executives and another for mid-level managers. Those modules will then be used for a three-hour chief executive officers’ meeting to reach major decisions on how industries will respond to disasters. A separate three-day mid-level managers’ workshop will soon follow for discussions Read More …

US warship docks at Manila port for five-day goodwill visit

 News
Feb 082014
 
US warship docks at Manila port for five-day goodwill visit

USS Pinckney docks at Manila harbor . Destroyer USS Pinckney docks at Manila South Harbor on Saturday February 8, 2014, for a routine port call and a five-day goodwill visit to highlight strong ties between the US and the Philippines. Danny Pata The USS Pinckney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer docked at the South Habor in Manila for a routine port call according to a report from GMA’s Balitanghali program on Saturday. Commanding officer Frank Okata said this is the first time the warship visited the Philippines and the South East Asian region. Its crew members will be staying for a five-day goodwill visit which Okata said will give the US Navy crew a chance to interact with Filipinos and visit Metro Manila. Also he said their crew members meticulously prepared for their visit to the country to avoid a repeat of an incident last year when the USS Guardian ran aground at the Tubbataha Reef, a World Heritage Site. Among USS Pinckney’s crew members is Filipino-American US Navy seal Geraldine Igualdo who originally hails from Benguet province, the report said. According to Igualdo, there were a dozen Pinckney sailors of Filipino descent. The USS Pinckney is home-ported at San Diego, California, and traveled a month to reach the Philippines. — Andrei Medina /LBG, GMA News

Palace open to 'help' from third party on row with HK

 News
Feb 082014
 
Palace open to 'help' from third party on row with HK

Malacañang indicated Saturday it is open to third-party help in resolving its row with Hong Kong, which recently imposed sanctions stemming from the hostage tragedy in Manila in 2010. But presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said such third-party help should be “consistent” with Philippine national interest and the position of the Philippine government. “(If) it is a private initiative that will effect better relations with Hong Kong and (is) consistent with national interest, why not?” Lacierda said on state-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan. A report on BusinessMirror newspaper had quoted physician and Chinese General Hospital director James Dy as saying he plans to appeal to Hong Kong chief executive C.Y. Leung to reconsider the Hong Kong government’s decision. Earlier this month, Hong Kong revoked the visa-free privileges of holders of official Philippine passports after the Philippines refused to apologize for the 2010 tragedy. The August 2010 tragedy involved a dismissed policeman who took a busload of tourists hostage in Manila to demand his reinstatement. But the policeman and eight Hong Kong tourists were killed in a botched police rescue operation. While the Philippines expressed regret over the tragedy that killed eight Hong Kong tourists, it has not issued an apology. President Benigno Aquino III, in an interview with The New York Times, reiterated that he has no plans to apologize as doing so could create a “legal liability.”  — LBG, GMA News

All 228 Florida buses ordered off the streets after fatal Bontoc crash

 News
Feb 072014
 
All 228 Florida buses ordered off the streets after fatal Bontoc crash

14 dead, 32 hurt in Bontoc bus accident . Rescuers attend to the injured and dead passengers of a Florida bus that plunged into a 116-meter ravine in Sitio Paggang, Talubin, Bontoc, Mountain Province on Friday, February 7. Cordillera PNP (Updated 4:30 p.m.) All 228 buses in the Florida Transport fleet were ordered off the nation’s highways for at least 30 days, after one of its buses fell over a hundred meters into a ravine in the Mountain Province on Friday morning. In a phone-patch interview on “Balitanghali” on Saturday, Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Winston Ginez said during the 30-day preventive suspension, the agency will conduct an investigation to determine if the franchise license of the bus company needs to be revoked, suspended or canceled. Fourteen people, including comedian Arvin “Tado” Jimenez, musician David Sicam, leader of the Kinaiya Band, and visual artist Gerard Baja, were killed and 32 others hurt. The order came after the LTFRB discovered that the ill-fated bus’s license plate (TXT-872) was issued to a different bus from Mountain Province Cable Tours. Ginez said on Saturday, the LTFRB will confiscate the yellow plates of all 228 Florida Transit bus units with Nueva Viscaya, Mountain Province, Cagayan, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, and Bataan routes. The Florida bus crash came just two months after a horrific fall from the Skyway in Metro Manila of a Don Mariano Transit bus that also had fraudulent identification on its chassis, belonging to another vehicle. After the Skyway Read More …

LTFRB issues 30-day preventive suspension on 228 Florida bus units

 News
Feb 072014
 
LTFRB issues 30-day preventive suspension on 228 Florida bus units

14 dead, 32 hurt in Bontoc bus accident . Rescuers attend to the injured and dead passengers of a Florida bus that plunged into a 116-meter ravine in Sitio Paggang, Talubin, Bontoc, Mountain Province on Friday, February 7. Cordillera PNP The Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board has issued a 30-day preventive suspension order on a bus firm whose unit figured in an accident that killed 14 people and injured 32 others in Bontoc, Mt. Province early on Feb. 7. In a phone-patch interview on “Balitanghali” on Saturday, LTFRB chairman Atty. Winston Ginez said the preventive suspension is ordered against the Florida Transport, owner of the bus that plunged into a 116-meter-deep ravine in Barangay Talubin. Fourteen people, including comedian Arvin “Tado” Jimenez, musician David Sicam, leader of the Kinaiya Band, and visual artist Gerard Baja, were killed and 32 others hurt. The order came after the LTFRB discovered that the license plate (TXT-872) was issued to a bus from Mountain Province Cable Tours, owned by a certain Norberto Cue, Sr. Ginez said on Saturday, the LTFRB will confiscate the yellow plates of all 228 Florida Transit bus units with Nueva Viscaya, Mountain Province, Cagayan, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, and Bataan routes. The Florida bus crash and license-plate fraud came just two months after a horrific fall from the Skyway in Metro Manila of a Don Mariano Transit bus that also had fraudulent identification on its chassis, belonging to another vehicle. After the Skyway crash, the LTFRB vowed to impose Read More …

BOC collections up 19.26%

 General
Feb 072014
 
BOC collections up 19.26%

MANILA, Philippines – The reform program initiated by the Aquino administration to strengthen customs enforcement in a bid to stop smuggled and counterfeit products entering the country has yielded positive results barely four months since its implementation. Data from the Department of Finance showed that emerging cash collections by the Bureau of Customs from November 2013 to January this year grew 19.26 percent, a significant jump from the meager 4.76-percent growth recorded in the pre-reform period (January to October 2013). Collections totaled P81.32 billion for the three-month period, up from P68.19 billion a year ago. January to October 2013 collections, on the other hand, reached P250.08 billion compared with P238.73 billion. “One of the key performance indicators for the reform’s success is the improvement in its cash collections. One can draw a line before and after October, when the reform operations and personnel movements stabilized, and observe that the initial major elements of the President’s Customs Reform Program have been substantive and generated significant growth in revenues for the government. These are encouraging initial results. The numbers tell us the reform program is starting to work,” Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla said. The  reform  program involved the top-to-bottom reorganization of the Bureau which led to the appointment of new top level customs officials, the reassignment of posts of BOC officials and employees, the creation of two new units — Office of Revenue Agency Modernization and  Customs Policy Research Office – to ensure proper enforcement of customs laws and regulations. Business Read More …

Final part —‘new gun law’ series

 Economy
Feb 072014
 
Final part —‘new gun law’ series

After parts I and 2 of the IRR (Implementing Rules & Regulations) of RA (Republic Act) 10591, the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act or quite simply for us the “new gun law”, our readers should have a fairly good grasp of what provisions from the old have been rendered obsolete and irrelevant, and what new provisions in the law have been enacted to make RA 10591 more comprehensive, more pre-emptive than reactionary and more responsive to the current situation in the country. And the penalties are stiffer to boot. In the past, for instance, the old law required Philippine citizens who would be out of the country for six months or more to go to the police station nearest them and deposit their licensed and registered firearms for safekeeping.  With the new law, safekeeping of your firearms is a necessary part of your responsibility as a gun owner. Those with multiple guns are advised to have their own gun vaults, especially (but not limited to) those with 10 or more firearms in their possession.  If a minor, for instance, in our household gains access to such loose guns at home and figures in any incident involving these firearms, the parent who owns the gun could be liable for a criminal offense.  All it takes is one loose firearm for such accidents, and we have read about countless incidents like this in the newspapers, so even with just one such gun in the household, keep it safe and secure. There Read More …

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