THE CHIEF of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said the 2012 executive order (EO) that detailed changes to the country’s mining policy and effectively stalled the issuance of new permits, is not necessary.
Aug 252016
Aug 252016
THREE line departments will issue a joint memorandum circular next week urging local government units (LGUs) to streamline their business permits & licensing system (BPLS) to three days in order to make the localities more attractive to commercial investments.
Aug 242016
Lynda Reyes Fil-Am artist, Lynda A. N. Reyes is currently participating in two art exhibits in Los Angeles. Her oil painting “Blue vs. Pink” is currently on view at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (LAMAG) in Barnsdall Park until September 18, 2016. The gallery is located at 4800 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California 90027. The Open Call exhibit is a thematic community-based biennial featuring artworks by 300 artists who were encouraged to freely interpret the notion of play in sculpture, painting, and photography. This year’s juror is Scott Canty, who recently retired after 30 years with DCA’s Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Lynda AN Reyes_Blue vs. Pink Oil Painting Lynda wrote a short verse about the painting: “It was a day of fun. Who cares if the blue team or the pink team wins? The girls enjoyed playing, the families enjoyed watching. It was fun time for everyone. Hurray! Let’s play again and again.” Two oil paintings of Lynda “Branching Out No. 1 and “Branching Out No 2” are on display at the San Fernando Valley Arts and Cultural Center (SFVACC) from August 23 – September 10, 2016. The gallery is located at 18312 Oxnard Street in Tarzana, CA 91356. Juried by Margaret Danielak, the show features 65 local painters, sculptors and photographers in the age of 50 +. The exhibit titled “The Art of Creative Aging” celebrates the minds of artists who continue to explore their creative skills during the third phase of their lives. The chance Read More …
Aug 242016
President Rodrigo Duterte elaborates more on the allegations against Senator Leila De Lima during a press conference held at the Presidential Guest house in Davao City on August 20. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – President Rodrigo Duterte will convene an advisory body with lawmakers to boost his plans to overhaul the country’s creaking infrastructure and untangle crippling traffic jams in the capital, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said Tuesday. The Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), which is chaired by the President, will meet as early as next month, Pernia told reporters. Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino, convened the LEDAC only twice, compared to past presidents who met with lawmakers every quarter. Duterte will propose drafting a national transport policy, amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer law to resolve “right of way” problems and raising the minimum cost for projects that will require approval by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Board to P5 billion from P1 billion. The measures will “fast-track the appraisal and approval process while still ensuring quality” of the projects, Pernia told reporters. The LEDAC will also tackle amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and the creation a “super body” for water resources, he said. Pernia said immediate solutions to ease traffic in Metro Manila include constructing a bridge from Bonifacio Global City to Ortigas Center to divert 25 percent of traffic on EDSA. The construction of a common station that will connect LRT Line 2 and the MRT 3 will also be fast-tracked, he said. The Read More …
Aug 242016
Senator Leila de Lima, chair of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, leads the inquiry on the extrajudicial killings, Monday morning.(MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – A “clear squid, diversionary tactic” was how Senator Leila de Lima described on Monday insinuations about her possible involvement in the pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by detained businesswoman Janet Napoles. “I’d like to think that’s another diversionary tactic being employed in an effort to possibly block or delay the Senate inquiry,” De Lima said. “That has always been again another old issue, that is again a rehash issue and again just like the alleged drug connection, or my involvement, I flatly, vehemently, categorically deny any irregularity on my part in any of the matters affecting the Napoles and the PDAF case,” she said. The PDAF, or Priority Development Assistance Fund, also known as the “pork barrel” fund of lawmakers, has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. De Lima was reacting to President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to revisit the Napoles case, which he said involved corruption and the lady senator. De Lima was the former justice secretary who handled the cases of Napoles and legislators allegedly involved in a billion-peso pork barrel scam before she was elected senator last May. But the senator noted that the President had not even specified why there was a need to revisit the Napoles case “Again a clear squid, diversionary tactic. It’s so unfortunate,” she said. Asked how she was holding up amid the allegations being hurled Read More …
Aug 242016
Martial Law victims raise their fists after they filed a petition on Monday asking the Supreme Court to intervene and stop the planned hero’s interment for the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani next month. President Rodrigo Duterte recently ordered the military to prepare for Marcos’ burial scheduled on September 18.(MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Former President Ferdinand Marcos would not be laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani for the next 20 days, the Supreme Court said Tuesday in response to petitions by various groups seeking to deny the late strongman a hero’s burial. At a press conference, SC spokesman Theodore Te said the high court issued a status quo ante order directing the parties to observe the status before Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana came out with a memorandum on August 7 instructing the military to facilitate the burial. The SC also postponed the oral arguments on the issue, initially set for Wednesday, to 10 a.m. of August 31. Petitioners of the burial, some of them Martial Law victims and former government officials, have urged the SC to shot down the impending burial backed by President Rodrigo Duterte, citing Marcos’ dubious record as a war soldier and massive human rights violations and corruption that tainted his 20-year rule. The government opted to go strictly by the book, emphasizing that the directive is within Duterte’s powers under the Constitution and the Administrative Code. Marcos, however, would not gain the status of a “hero” as Read More …
Aug 242016
Senator Leila de Lima welcomes Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa before the start of the Senate hearing on the extrajudicial killings.(MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday revealed it could only so far investigate more than 500 of the 756 drug-related deaths due to its lack of manpower. At the resumption of the Senate inquiry on the spate of alleged extrajudicial killings, PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said that in these 756 deaths, the drug suspects were “presumed” to have resisted their arrest, by fighting it out with lawmen and snatching their firearms. “Otherwise, kung hindi sila nanlaban, eh di buhay sana sila, your honor,” Dela Rosa told Sen. Leila de Lima when asked if the “nanlaban” angle was the PNP’s “official version” of these deaths. “Unless proven otherwise there is controverting evidence, I presume my men are performing their duties regularly,” Dela Rosa added. Chief Supt. Leo Angelo Leuterio, head of the PNP’s Internal Affairs Service, said that of those being investigated, 23 have already been proven to be “legitimate,” while the rest remains under investigation. By “legitimate,” Leuterio said the probe had proven there was “prima facie” (“at first sight”) evidence to show the suspects had indeed been killed by cops while resisting arrest. When asked by De Lima why only a fraction, or 581 deaths in 569 police operations, of the total 756 deaths had been investigated, Leuterio blamed the shortage on his office’s Read More …
Aug 242016
THE government’s plan to trim income tax rates is not expected to be inflationary, as increased purchasing power will prod companies to also raise volumes, keeping prices at bay while also spurring further growth, a senior central bank official said.
Aug 242016
DAVAO CITY — The Davao Region office of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is aiming to complete the feasibility study for the planned Mindanao Railway System (MRS) by end-September this year following an order to prioritize the project.
Aug 242016
OVER 18,000 outdated government regulations across several agencies are being reviewed for repeal, with the numbers expected to grow, the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) said.