Have plans for the Holy Week? For individual and corporate taxpayers with an accounting year ending Dec. 31, plans for this upcoming Lenten season should include the preparation of the annual income tax filing. Why? Because this year’s due date falls on April 17th (since April 15th falls on Black Saturday which is a holiday). The timing can be a hassle considering that it is right after the holidays.
Local celebrities spent the Holy Week break by flying to their dream out-of-the country destinations or simply staying home and enjoying the picturesque and relaxing local vacation places.
Vehicles continue to build up in several points along the North and South Luzon Expressways Thursday morning as more Filipinos continue to head for provinces for the Holy Week. As of 10:07 a.m., traffic along the Calamba Toll Plaza in SLEX has become moderate, with the queue of vehicles reaching 1.2 kilometers, the Toll Regulatory Board said on Twitter. Ambulant tellers have been deployed and a counterflow lane has been opened. A 500-meter queue is also building up along the SLEX toll plaza in Ayala, Alabang. The traffic situation along the northbound lanes from Calamba and Ayala, meanwhile, remains light. As of 10:08 a.m., the traffic is moderate to heavy along NLEX from Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to Balagtas Interchange in Bulacan, the Tollways Management Corporation (TMC) tweeted. The traffic flow also ranges from moderate to heavy in the northbound lane from Balintawak Toll Plaza to Sta. Rita Interchange. The same traffic situation has also been reported from Bocaue Interchange to Dau in Pampanga. The queue of vehicles along the Dau Toll Plaza has reached approximately 1 kilometer, according to TRB. TMC said on Twitter that the heavy traffic flow in these areas is due to the large volume of vehicles passing along NLEX. — Xianne Arcangel/RSJ, GMA News
Filipinos raise palm fronds to receive a blessing from Italian priest Romulo Bertoni (2nd from left) to mark Palm Sunday at a shopping mall parking area in Las Pinas City, south of Manila, the Philippines, 13 April 2014. Palm Sunday for Roman Catholic devotees symbolically marks the biblical account of the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, signaling the start of the Holy Week. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) — President Benigno Aquino III on Monday went to Cramp Crame in Quezon City to check the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) security preparations for the Holy Week. At a press conference, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Aquino led a command conference at Camp Crame to “ensure that the Holy Week holidays are orderly and peaceful.” She said the PNP presented its preparations for Holy Week, the World Economic Forum in May, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in 2015. “I am told… that the President did make a couple of questions – did pose a couple of questions to the presenters and… those questions were all ably answered,” Valte said without elaborating. Valte said the President will also spend the week monitoring the preparations and actions of concerned government agencies in light of the coming holidays. She reminded the public about the emergency hotlines, a Summary of the Rights of Air Passengers, and an advisory on heat stroke available on the Official Gazette. “These will be helpful to our countrymen who are going out of town for the weekend,” Valte said. Read More …
Penitents, locally known as “Morions”, wear masks and Roman centurion costumes as they take part in a procession commemorating the passion of Christ during Holy Week at Mogpog town in Marinduque, central Philippines, March 25, 2013. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Palace hopes the nation will have a peaceful and reflective Holy Week as Filipinos observe the Lenten Season. “As a new week approaches, we in the administration wish the Filipino people a peaceful and reflective Holy Week,” Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a statement she read over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Saturday. At the same time, as most Filipinos from Metro Manila start to travel to the provinces, Valte reminded them to be extra cautious to ensure their safety. “We encourage the public to take note of emergency hotlines present in the Official Gazette (http://www.gov.ph/emergency-hotlines/), as well as to familiarize themselves with the Summary of the Rights of Air Passengers also found on the Official Gazette website (http://www.gov.ph/summary-of-the-rights-of-air-passengers/),” the Palace official said. These government websites would be useful sources of information for people going home to their provinces, and to those traveling around the country.
President Benigno Aquino III will spend the Holy Week holidays in “resorts.” “Iyong dating gawi, either sa Times Mountain Resort sa Quezon City o kaya naman sa Pangarap River Resort, doon tayo maglalagi,” Aquino told reporters Wednesday when asked on where he would spend the Holy Week. The “resorts,” however, are only references to his family’s home on Times Street in Quezon City and his official residence Bahay Pangarap. On a serious note, Aquino, a bachelor, said he will be with his sisters for Visita Iglesia on Maundy Thursday and for Mass on Easter Sunday. Aquino, meanwhile, reminded Filipinos to do good even after the Holy Week is over. “Huwag po sana nating kalimutan: ang pagpapakumbaba, pagmamalakasakit, at paggawa ng matuwid ay hindi lamang para sa mahal na araw. Ang ginagawa nating pagninilay at panalangin ay paghahanda lamang para sa isang buong buhay ng pagsunod sa halimbawa ni Kristo,” he said in his Lenten message. He also reiterated the Palace’s earlier call for Filipinos to make sacrifices just as Jesus Christ did. “Tiyak naman pong lahat ng ating pinaghirapan ay may positibong ambag para sa ikabubuti ng mas nakakarami. At di po ba, napakaliit lamang ng hinihingi sa atin kumpara sa ibinigay ni Hesukristo?” The President said. “Magsilbi po sanang inspirasyon sa atin ang ipinamalas na pagmamahal ni Hesukristo. Ito ang gabay natin ngayon bilang mga Kristiyano sa pagharap sa sarili nating mga sangandaan at sa pagsisilbing tanglaw sa mga Kristiyano ng kinabukasan,” he added. — KBK, GMA News
Manny Pacquiao, right, from the Philippines, connects with a right to the head of Timothy Bradley, from Palm Springs, Calif. , in their WBO world welterweight title fight Saturday, June 9, 2012, in Las Vegas. Despite what many believed was a fight won by Pacquaio resulted in a split-decision loss to Bradley. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares and Sarangani Lone District Rep. Manny Pacquiao may have locked horns in the past due to the Filipino boxing champ’s P2.2 billion tax woes, but with the Pacman’s impending April 13 fight with WBO Welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, Jr., Henares said she is one with the nation in wishing for Pacquiao’s victory. The tax commissioner said she should be the least of Pacquiao’s concerns as he prepares for the fight. “May laban siya (Pacquiao) ngayong linggo; hindi ako ang dapat iniisip niya … I was asked about him; kung hindi ako tinatanong, hindi naman ako magsasalita. “Sana manalo siya,” Henares said. Henares said she hopes Pacquiao has already learned his lesson, and would accurately declare and pay his taxes from earnings in the Bradley fight. Henares also said she hopes Bob Arum would get an interpreter so he would understand all her pronouncements in Filipino about Pacquiao’s tax woes. “It’s Holy Week, [we] should be more tolerant,” Henares added. (MNS)
(Supreme Court of the Philippines) MANILA, Feb 19 (Mabuhay) – The much-awaited results of the October 2012 Bar Exams will be released before the Holy Week in March. This was announced by the Supreme Court Public Information Office in a text message to reporters on Tuesday. “As per Justice Martin Villarama, chair of the 2012 Bar exams, barring unforseen circumstances, results will be out before Holy Week,” said the SC PIO. More than 5,000 law school graduates took the Bar exams during the four Saturdays of October at the University of Santo Tomas along España Boulevard in Manila. The number of examinees last October was lower than in 2011, in which 6,200 law school graduates took the exam. It was the second time that the exams was held at UST, where security had been tightened since the grenade attack during the Bar exams in 2010 when it was still held at the De La Salle University along Taft Avenue. (MNS)