BIR campaign makes sense

 Economy
Mar 232014
 
BIR campaign makes sense

I wouldn’t call it a shame campaign. It really is more of a transparency campaign. And it is something that should be supported by all taxpayers who are now carrying the brunt of supporting our government. I am sure all of us feel bad about paying our taxes. It is not only because we see our politicians waste government funds and line their pockets with our hard earned money. It is also because we know the very rich do not carry their rightful share of the tax burden. It should be easy to say that a well connected taipan with his army of topnotch accountants and tax lawyers would be able to avoid if not evade taxes that you and I have no choice but to pay. Even with everything being legal, most of the one percent comprising our ruling elite pay less than the rest of us in proportion to income earned. But paying taxes is something we have to live with. I have met Filipino taxpayers in other countries who pay even higher percentages of their income in taxes but they are not complaining. They get excellent health care, fantastic infrastructure and a system of justice that works. Government is able to protect the personal security of taxpayers. We get extremely little, if any, of those sorts of things for the taxes we pay. Let us not get into the justness of the current tax structure because even in the US, that is problematic. Let us just talk Read More …

Penshoppe eyes 25 new stores abroad

 Economy
Mar 232014
 
Penshoppe eyes 25 new stores abroad

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino fashion retailer Golden ABC Inc. is expanding it business by opening more new stores locally and overseas this year. “I am very excited about our international expansion. We are looking at about 25 stores abroad,” Golden ABC Inc. chief executive officer Bernie Liu told reporters in a chance interview noting that all new stores to be set up overseas are for the Penshoppe brand. The firm is looking at opening five to 10 more stores in the Middle East and about 10 stores in Indonesia. Liu said the firm will also be entering a new market this year, as it is slated to set up in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. “Store investment is going to be done by our partner,” Liu said. The firm currently has presence in markets such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “For domestic (expansion), we are targeting 25 (stores) as well,” Liu said, noting that such would require about P200 million worth of investment. The locations for the new outlets will depend on where new malls will be rising. “We have to be a bit selective where we’re opening. Metro Manila is getting a bit crowded. The opportunities are really outside Metro Manila,” Liu said. He added that the new outlets in the local market will be a combination of its different brands. Aside from Penshoppe, Golden ABC creates and sells ready-to-wear clothing under the Oxygen, ForMe, Memo, Regatta and Read More …

Jinggoy to Ombudsman: Don't give in to pressure, publicity in ‘pork’ probe

 News
Mar 232014
 
Jinggoy to Ombudsman: Don't give in to pressure, publicity in ‘pork’ probe

Senator Jinggoy Estrada said Sunday that he hopes the Office of the Ombudsman will not be swayed by pressure and publicity in its investigation into the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam. In a statement released Sunday, Estrada said he–and fellow senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Bong Revilla Jr.–”were continuously crucified and demonized in various forums: mass media, cyberspace, including the Senate blue ribbon committee.”  Witnesses have linked him to the scam. Ruby Tuason, who used to work for former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada and former senator Loi Estrada, testified in February that she delivered bags of money to Senator Estrada’s office.  Earlier this month, Technology Research Center director general Dennis Cunanan said Estrada and Revilla chose the allegedly bogus NGOs that received their PDAF allocations. Cunanan is on leave from the TRC and, like Tuason, faces plunder complaints over the scam. Tremendous pressure, unfair publicity “I wish that the Ombudsman will not give in to the tremendous pressure and unfair publicity generated by this controversy with extreme prejudice against me and my two colleagues,” he said. “I also hope that she will not be rushed into making decisions and that she observes the proper legal processes, including the rights of the respondents during preliminary investigation,” Estrada added. He added his counter-affidavit to a plunder complaint filed against him in September should show Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales that “truly there is no plunder case or any case to speak of.”  Estrada, who has denied involvement in a supposed scam that allegedly diverted PDAF Read More …

DSWD to wrap up probe on rotten relief goods by April

 News
Mar 232014
 
DSWD to wrap up probe on rotten relief goods by April

The Department of Social Welfare and Development is expected to shed light by next month on how some relief goods ended up in a dump site or were spoiled when distributed to local government officials. “Next week, we will conclude the proper investigation and discuss it with [the team] for some adjustments. By April 5, we will file our recommendation to DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government),” Social Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman told GMA News Online in a phone interview on Sunday. DSWD’s recommendations will include the the investigation’s findings on who should be held accountable for the spoilage of relief goods, and whether administrative cases should be filed. Soliman clarified that some relief goods were indeed disposed of in a dumpsite in Palo, Leyte since these were “not seen fit for human consumption.” She noted that only a sack of assorted biscuits, 10 cups of instant noodles, and a half sack of rice were buried in the dump site despite media reports that truckloads of spoiled goods had been disposed of there. She said some of the donated food got wet, causing them to spoil. The Social Welfare secretary explained that the rotten relief goods that were given to another village in Palo town did not come from DSWD but from various agencies. The relief goods were almost distributed to Yolanda survivors but were intercepted by the chairman of Barangay Gacao, who saw maggots crawling on some of the packages. Soliman said that the investigation will also look into Read More …

GPH peace panel: Alleged CPP leaders not covered by immunity agreement

 News
Mar 232014
 
GPH peace panel: Alleged CPP leaders not covered by immunity agreement

The government peace panel on Sunday reiterated there was nothing illegal in the arrest of two alleged leaders of the Communist Party-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front in Cebu on Saturday afternoon.  “The NDF represented by Mr. Luis Jalandoni has protested that the arrest is illegal since both Wilma and Benito are covered by JASIG (Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees). The GPH panel believes otherwise. There has been no violation of the JASIG in these cases,” it said in a statement.  Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda also explained that since the identities of NDF leaders and consultants covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees has been inaccessible due to a corrupted diskette, it is no longer operative. “Hindi po operative ang JASIG po ngayon dahil nga po hindi ho mabuksan ‘yung files. Matatandaan po ninyo, nasabi na rin po ‘nung binubuksan po ‘yung files ay hindi ho nila mabuksan. Sila po ang nagbigay ng listahan ng JASIG list po. It’s in a diskette, it can no longer be decrypted, so it was not our fault,” Lacierda said in an interview aired over state-run dzRB. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process explained that since the names of those on the JASIG list are unknown at the moment, it cannot be verified if Benito Tiamzon was indeed on the list. “The NDF and the GPH agreed to a procedure in July 2011 to verify the true identities of several dozen alleged NDF consultants in the Read More …

After arrest of CPP leaders, military asks NPA members to lay down arms

 News
Mar 232014
 
After arrest of CPP leaders, military asks NPA members to lay down arms

Will this end the 45-year armed struggle of the New People’s Army? After nabbing the leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front in Cebu, the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Sunday asked the insurgents to surrender. “We call [on] the rest of the members of the CPP-NPA to lay down their arms, abandon the armed struggle, return to the comfort of their families, and join us in bringing peace and development to our nation,” AFP chief of staff General Emmanuel Bautista said in a televised news conference. “The arrest of Benito and Wilma Tiamzon is another victory for the combined efforts between the AFP and PNP (Philippine National Police) and other stakeholders in pursuit of peace and security,” he noted. On Saturday, around 3:15 p.m., the Tiamzon couple were arrested in Barangay Zaragoza,  Aloguinsan, Cebu. Wilma Tiamzon was allegedly the secretary general of CPP-NPA while her husband, Benito, was purportedly the chairman of the group. “These [arrests] contribute largely to our cause of finally winning peace in our country. Remember that [Benito] Tiamzon is the head of the military NPA and CPP who directs the armed struggle all around the country; who direct all the land mining, killing, and the violence perpetuated by CPP,” Bautista claimed. NPA will celebrate its 45th anniversary on March 29. Bautista said that the rebels had transformed into bandits who “focus on extortion activities.” The AFP chief also noted that “no singular person was directly responsible” for the arrests. Read More …

Lawmaker proposes creation of bike lanes on all major roads in PHL

 News
Mar 232014
 
Lawmaker proposes creation of bike lanes on all major roads in PHL

A lawmaker is proposing the creation of bike lanes on major roads all over the country in a bid to encourage the public to leave their cars at home and ride a bike to work. House Bill 3952, filed by Davao City Representative Karlo Alexei Nograles last February, seeks the creation of the local bikeways office (LBO), which shall be responsible for identifying roads and highways to be provided with bike lanes. The LBO will be mandated to plan and manage the construction of bikeways on all thoroughfares and roads within its jurisdiction. The project will be implemented  in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Land Transportation Office (LTO) and other related government agencies. Funds for the creation of bikeways and other related infrastructure such as bicycle parks and bike parking areas shall come from 30 percent of the revenues raised by local government units from the miscellaneous activities like parking and license fees. Should the proposal become a law, the LBO will be required to create a procedure for bike registration. The records of registered bikers shall be kept and maintained by the proposed government agency. Under HB 3952, bikers will face fines of up to P10,000 if they violate certain traffic rules, such as carrying more passengers than what the vehicle is designated to hold in the absence of a regular seat or trailer towed by the bicycle. Nograles said in the bill’s explanatory note that the creation of bicycle lanes in the entire Read More …

Sigh of relief

 Economy
Mar 222014
 
Sigh of relief

Just recently, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced a hefty slash in the utility’s deferred rate adjustments, resulting from the recent move by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to void the previous quarter’s prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said the utility would cut the deferred charge for its January billings to just 45 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kwh), or just a tenth of its earlier announced P4.56 rate, in response to the drastic cut in WESM prices arising from the ERC-ordered recomputation by the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) of the spot market’s sky-high rates during the October-December period. For his part, Meralco utility economics chief Larry Fernandez explained that Meralco was able to effect such a significant cut because, following the ERC-ordered re-calculation, WESM prices last December fell to a per-kwh average of P8.33 from the original P36. “Kaya sumunod ang generation charge mula original na P10.23 per kwh, ay naging P6.12 per kwh,” he said. Credit must be given to the ERC which has finally mustered the guts to wield the state’s police powers in intervening in the spot market and imposing lower, regulated electricity prices in response to the alleged move by certain independent power producers (IPP) suppliers to create an artificial shortage and whip up WESM’s record rate spikes. Credit also goes to Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, because everything started when he told the Supreme Court that regulators had been investigating the state-run Malaya Thermal Plant and 11 IPPs for Read More …

Construction seen to drive growth in next 3 years

 Economy
Mar 222014
 
Construction seen to drive growth in next 3 years

MANILA, Philippines – The construction industry will likely emerge as one of the main drivers of the economy in the next three years due to its strong growth potential, the research arm of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. said. “Given the base and seasonal effects, the construction industry still has a substantial upside potential in the next three years and would be one of the fast movers in the Philippine economy,” Mabellene Reynaldo, research analyst at Metrobank, said in a research note. “Private construction will still be propped up by steady real estate demand, especially as tight supply in Metro Manila drives growth in other regional hubs,” she added. “Reconstruction efforts in typhoon-damaged areas will also support both private and public construction values,” the Metrobank analyst further said. Construction contracted 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter last year, paling in comparison with a 29.9 percent growth seen in the same period in 2012, government data showed. This dragged last year’s construction growth to only 11.1 percent, slower than the 15.7 percent recorded in 2012. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The fourth quarter contraction so far is not indicative of a slowing construction industry,” Reynaldo pointed out. “A high fourth quarter 2012 base factored in the contraction, and private construction for the first nine months of 2013 was actually strong at 12.6 percent year-on-year,” she noted. The analyst also added construction work is done during the first half historically due to a wet season experienced by the Read More …

Top CPP leader Benito Tiamzon and wife arrested in Cebu

 News
Mar 222014
 
Top CPP leader Benito Tiamzon and wife arrested in Cebu

(Update 10:01 p.m.) Authorities arrested two leaders of the Communist Party-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front in Cebu on Saturday afternoon. According to a GMA News flash report, Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma were arrested by Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police personnel in Barangay Zaragoza in Aloguinsan, Cebu. “Wilma Tiamzon is the secretary general of the CPP/NPA while her husband, Benito, is the chairman of the CPP/NPA. They were arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest for their crimes against humanity that include murder, multiple murders, and frustrated murder,” General Emmanuel Bautista, chief of staff of the AFP, said. Benito is included in the “Big Five” fugitive list alongside fellow NPA leader Jorge Madlos. His arrest follows the arrest of Delfin Lee, who was nabbed in connection with a multibillion-peso estafa case. Last Wednesday, President Benigno Aquino III hinted another big-name fugitive would be arrested soon, but did not elaborate. A Palace official, who refused to be identified, said Benito Tiamzon was the fugitive Aquino was referring to. The arrest comes as the New People’s Army prepares to mark its 45th anniversary on March 29. — with reports by Rie Takumi and Andrei Medina/VC/JDS, GMA News

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