Hire displaced workers

Seek out the workers who lost their jobs and hire them.

President Macapagal-Arroyo gave this order to the labor department, saying displaced workers should get priority in the government’s emergency livelihood and employment program.

Press Secretary Serge Remonde said the DoLE was ordered to trace these workers “para makuha yung mga pangalan at addresses ng mga nawawalan ng trabaho.”

He said the government will give priority to displaced workers from the export-related industries, who are taking the brunt of the global crisis.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto earlier said some 800,000 Filipinos are in danger of losing their jobs this year as the global economic slowdown hits the export sector including the key electronics industry.

Remonde said the President also reiterated her directive for the government to tighten its belt to be able to pay subsidies for the poor and provide emergency employment for those who lost their jobs.

The President earlier issued an executive order for all government agencies to reduce by 1.5 percent their respective maintenance, overhead and operating budgets. She said the savings translate to P7 billion that can be used to pay the salaries of workers that can be accommodated in government offices for at least six months.

The government is hiring 180,000 contractual workers for six months. By: Tess Bedico - Journal online

==


Employment program

Journal.ph editorial
MANY quarters fear that more and more members of the Philippine labor force, including overseas Filipino workers, face the specter of losing their jobs this year due to the expected deepening of the international financial crisis.

The fear is not without basis since the hard-pressed working class, the creator of wealth in society, is the major victim of this economic meltdown, which continues to terrorize millions of people in both the industrialized and developing nations across the globe.

This is the problem that United States-educated Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who has reached the apex of her colorful political career, faces as she nears the end of her six-year term as President of the Philippines.

Without doubt, the Arroyo administration is up against one of its major challenges: Meeting the employment needs of the rapidly-expanding population at a time when manpower-importing nations are laying off their migrant workers.

This is where we add our voice to persistent calls that there’s now an urgent need to support the government move to allocate some P10 billion for the country’s emergency employment program.

The public applauded when the House of Representatives expressed its full support to the Arroyo regime’s program to put in place mechanisms to create new jobs because private businesses are now generally holding back their investments.

President Arroyo instructed Cabinet members to fast-track the implementation of government programs designed to strengthen the country’s economic competitiveness and ensure new jobs and livelihood opportunities for workers affected by the economic turmoil.

Whatever her critics say, there’s now this snowballing move to make the Comprehensive Livelihood Emergency Employment Program a permanent fixture of the government’s social reform and poverty alleviation policy with or without the global economic meltdown.

But what is needed to ensure the success of CLEEP, which is being administered by the National Anti-Poverty Commission? It is for concerned government authorities to spend the funding wisely and judiciously.

We are all for this. And we will be drawing the ire of the people, notably the poor and other unfortunate members of society, if we allow the money to end up in the deep pockets of unscrupulous public servants.

Keppel Cebu rationalizing work force to focus on shipbuilding; workers holed up in shipyard

CEBU CITY — Keppel Cebu Shipyard, Inc. is streamlining its work force as part of its new thrust to focus on shipbuilding and divert all ship repair activities to its shipyards in Batangas and Subic, Zambales.

The job rotation scheme, which started this week, and the voluntary reduction program offered to workers are expected to cut the Cebu shipyard’s 414-strong work force by 70%, union President Roger Igot said.

To protect their jobs, Mr. Igot and other members of the Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Baradero at Keppel Cebu have been holed up inside the shipyard in Mactan since Tuesday night.

More union members who reported for work yesterday were also expected to stay inside the compound even after their three-day shift ends.

Under the job rotation scheme, workers were divided and given three-day shifts.

"The management had told us that if we don’t resign voluntarily, our positions will be declared redundant. Any day now, we expect that announcement so we’re not going to leave the shipyard to protect our jobs," Mr. Igot said.

Most of the union’s 279 members were expected to join the group and will stay inside the shipyard, he added.

In a statement, Keppel Cebu said it was rationalizing its work force in preparation for shipbuilding, a thrust announced in the middle of last year because of declining domestic repair demand.

The Keppel Cebu shipyard is being upgraded to prepare it for shipbuilding.

"As certain specialized trades and skills in ship repair are no longer needed for shipbuilding, the company intends to rationalize its work force," the company said.

"Discussions were held with its workers’ union to offer a comprehensive separation package for the affected employees," it added.

Displaced workers will be given the opportunity to join other shipyards under Keppel Philippines Marine, Inc. or Keppel Offshore & Marine.

The workers, however, have not bought the management’s explanation about declining demand for ship repair.

Mr. Igot said there had been ship repair jobs diverted to the Batangas shipyard in January.

Presently, only one ship is drydocked at the Mactan shipyard, which normally can accommodate up to five vessels.

The workers also do not believe that the company is bleeding financially due to the global economic crisis. Mr. Igot said the management had announced the release of their profit-sharing bonuses, an average of P31,000 per employee, on Friday. Their incentive bonuses were also released just recently.

"We have never run out of jobs at the yard. Last year, there was always a ship to work on. We don’t believe there are redundant jobs here," Mr. Igot added.

He accused the management of union busting and of trying to replace regular workers with contractual workers who are paid less.

Regular employees are paid an average of P1,100 daily, including benefits, while contractual workers receive only the daily minimum wage of P250, or less, he added. — Marites S. Villamor - Business World

OFWs: From belly of luxury ship to top deck

By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo - Philippine Daily Inquirer
FROM BOILER room to ballroom, from stage to spa, from poolside to pantry, from bar to fine dining. From the belly of the luxury ship to the topmost deck where one could see forever and behold the azure sea and sky of the Mediterranean.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) rule the roost, so to speak, aboard the cruise ship Brilliance of the Seas because of their sheer number and also because of their skills, talent, dependability and graciousness. Filipinos comprise about 60 percent of the 853-strong crew that is composed of 51 nationalities.

“Here I earn the combined salaries of four teachers and three security guards in the Philippines,” reveals Jerry Dioneo, 36, who works in the dining section. Dioneo who hails from Silay City in Negros Occidental has been on the ship for about three years and is on his fourth contract. Only the Filipino nationals, Dioneo adds, are compelled to allot and remit 20 percent of their earnings to their folks back home. This is stipulated in their contracts.

And what is work like on cruise days? “Every day here is a Monday,” Dioneo chirps as he replenishes the cornucopia of food for the guests.

Victoriano Camacho, 46, of Calamba, Laguna, has been with the cruise company for 16 years and is now the sous chef (assistant of the executive chef). He started out at the Nikko Hotel in Makati. Now he earns $2,600 a month.

$1.7 billion of the total $10.8 billion remitted by OFWs in 2005 came from the sea-based OFWs. The number of Filipino seafarers working abroad as of 2005, is about 250,000 or approximately 20 percent of the world’s total.

‘White List’

The rise in the number could be attributed to the inclusion of the Philippines in the International Maritime Organization’s “White List” of 72 accredited countries. Being on the list means the country has continuously complied with the standards required for competent seafarers.

Being a Filipino seaman or seafarer does not necessarily mean working in cargo ships sailing drearily on a gray sea and being cooped up, fighting ennui until land appears on the horizon. A good number of the sea-based OFWs work in cruise ships. These luxury liners cater to vacation-bound, fun-loving, adventure-seeking humans, people who work hard and play hard, or who just want to be out of reach and listen to the music of the ocean, heeding the cruise logo catchphrase that says, “Get out there.” One could also choose to get holed up in the ship’s library.

The three-year-old German-built Brilliance of the Seas belongs to a fleet of cruise ships of the Royal Caribbean International (RCI) that sails in Europe, North America and the Caribbean. It has a passenger capacity of 2,500.

The Filipino seamen and women working on board are there to help make good things happen. The job is demanding as cruises involve service, hospitality, food, fun, travel, safety and, most of all, people.

Earning from tips

Bar server Vergie Mompil, an education course graduate, has spent eight years working on several cruise ships. Her husband, Edwin Vicero also works in another cruise ship, Jewels of the Sea.

Those in food service are not paid the fixed salary rate that workers in other sections receive. Food and drink servers like Vergie receive only $50 per 12-day cruise but the tips (provided for in the bill) earn her about $1,000. Two cruises per month or more than ten cruises in a six-month contract mean a lot when remitted to the Philippines. “After six months, we go on a two-month break,” Vergie adds.

Vergie is stationed at the bar in the main lobby ballroom at the foot of a luminous stairway where guests in formal wear linger to chat or dance to music provided mainly by—you guessed it—Filipino musicians.

Vergie and her husband have a three-year-old child who is being cared for by two aunts. The couple is building a home south of Manila and planning for a hardware store.

Not everyone is in the direct employ of RCI. Hoffman Roscano, 27, married, works as a photographer of a photo agency that operates aboard the ship. He and several photographers have their hands full during formal dinners and evening activities as well as land tours. During special occasions, they set up a mini studio where guests in their glittering “Titanic” finery could go for a formal shoot. Guests snap up the photos the morning after. Roscano also receives commissions from the sales.

‘Better than 5-star salary’

Karen del Carmen, in her 20s, works as a beauty therapist in the Brilliance Day Spa operated by an agency. A tourism graduate of a college in Bacolod, she had a work stint in a hotel in the Philippines after which she applied in a maritime agency. The spa company hired her and sent her to London for training.

“Better than a five-star salary,” is how del Carmen describes what she earns. After every 12-day cruise she gets two days off. “It’s fun working here,” she says as she looks up from her desk in the spa’s lavender-scented receiving area.

Nights are busy for the musicians who play in different venues aboard the ship. John Neri, 24, regales the night owls with violin music. As a child he studied music under a scholarship program for the musically gifted.

Neri met his wife in another cruise ship. Married for four years now, the couple is building a house in Kalookan City.

‘Oye como va’

Although now US-based, Vicky Gallarde of Vicky and The Holding Company band still calls the Philippines home. It’s a rollicking night when the band plays for a crowd with itchy feet.

Vicky switches without a hitch from lusty “Amor, amor, amor” to a staccato “Oye como va” while husband Chris and the rest segue from rhumba to disco beat. The band is a ship mainstay.

The couple has a room for two of their own at the crew quarters. The standard rooms for two for the crew have TVs and computers with e-mail capabilities. The Filipinos also have a daily two-page news digest called “Philippines Today.” There is a bar as well as games and exercise facilities.

Edgardo Villarino, 42, studied music in the University of the Philippines and sang with the UP Concert Chorus. He is married with three kids. The Inquirer chanced upon Villarino playing soothing classic guitar music by the poolside.

He was in the Caribbean several months earlier and he remembers the day a hurricane blew around there. There are less “sea days” in the Mediterranean, he says, meaning, the ship docks often in tourist havens.

Selling the Philippines

On his fifth contract now, Villarino says their own families could enjoy cruise privileges when there is space available. And could the entertainers have some fun during the day? “If there are less than five guests using the pool, we could take a dip,” Villarino says.

He dreams of cruises on Philippine waters that could rival those elsewhere. “We try to advertise the Philippines. Subic is so beautiful.” He talks of an island in Haiti that Royal Caribbean had developed.

Great workers

Bill Brunkhorst, American cruise director who makes sure entertainment is at its peak, has only good words for the Filipinos. “They are so talented and they learn very quickly,” he says. “They’re great workers.”

The Greek ship captain Michael Lachtaridis, a seasoned sea voyager who has been sailing the seas for 33 years says he has been working with Filipinos since the 1980s. “They get along well with other nationalities,” he says. “They are very educated and they are a happy lot.”

Whether it is instructing on wine tasting, giving beauty massages, serving at formal dinners, making omelets at the buffet breakfast, playing music, snapping photos amidst the Greek ruins, ensuring security and swiping cards at entry and exit points, disposing garbage or keeping staterooms clean, Filipino seamen and women are doing their best. And why not a Filipino guest chaplain or morgue attendant?

The least seen

The least seen but perhaps the most important because they make the ship sail the distances are those who work in the belly of the ship or the engine room. The lives of those on board are practically in the hands of these experts in ship engineering.

The Inquirer descended to the grime-free hard hat area and met some of the Filipinos there. Jessie Hervilla, Estefanio Joel, Steve Flores, Ramon Cerio, Percival Dilag and so many more. Chief Junior Engineer Rasmus Norling of Sweden has only high praises for the men who are seldom seen on deck.

But life for the OFWs on board these cruise ships is surely not problem-free, as life anywhere is not. Are the OFWs on these so-called floating four-star, five-star hotels better off than their counterparts in cargo ships and oil tankers? What lies beyond those glittering nights and sunny days at sea? What awaits them in their homeland? What awaits Edward Pampis, Joselito Benito, Cipertino Apil, Arlene Salon, Susan Gatmaitan, Arthur Pernia, Julius, Mijares, Juanito Embolori, Edwin Miranda, Enrico Sabido, Victor Amuyang, Ronaldo Carreon, Ernita Villanueva, George Tardo, Joselito Benito…

Don’t they feel resentful when they see food and drink flowing endlessly, people having so much fun and spending so much money for this kind of voyage, while they work so hard to keep these people thrilled and while the pine for home?

“Oh no,” says a food server without a tinge of resentment. “Many of them have worked hard too. And because of them we have our jobs. Someday we too could enjoy something like this.”

This Inquirer reporter was a regular paying guest on this cruise. The ship sailed from Barcelona and back and stopped in several key places on the Mediterranean coasts of Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey.

400 shipyard workers' jobs on the line

Ship repair firm plans to cut jobs

By Cris Evert Lato - Cebu Daily News
About 400 workers of a ship repair company in Lapu-Lapu City are in danger of losing their jobs as the management decides to focus resources on shipbuilding.

Keppel Cebu Shipyard Inc. president David Loh said in a memorandum to the workers that the company has to reduce its workforce due to continuing market decline.

The company offered an early retirement program for the workers on a voluntary basis. The program could be availed from March 2 to March 14.

But Roger Igot, president of the Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Baradero (Keppel Shipyard)-Nation Federation of Labor, said yesterday that the company is “using the global crisis as an alibi to destroy the union and replace regular jobs with contractual workers.”

“The real issue is that management wants to squeeze more profit by making labor costs cheaper. Management pays a regular Keppel worker much higher wages and benefits compared to a contractual laborer who makes do with below minimum wages and no benefits,” said Igot.

Igot and about 280 union members stayed inside the shipyard facilities overnight last Tuesday to protest the firm’s work reduction plans.

In a statement sent to , Keppel Cebu said the company's decision to focus on shipbuilding was reached in mid-2008 due to declining domestic repair demand.

Keppel Cebu said substantial investments were made to enhance its shipbuilding facilities. Facility upgrade is expected to be completed within the year which will enable the company “to build specialized ships for both the local and international markets.”

“As certain specialized trades and skills in ship repair are no longer needed for shipbuilding, the compnay needs to rationalize its workforce,” said Keppel Cebu in the statement.

Igot however said the shipyard management told them during their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations in June 2008 that more workers will be hired as Keppel turns to shipbuilding.

Igot said they do not believe that the company is losing.

He cited the ongoing shipyard development project worth P300 million and the incentive bonus released last February as proof that the company is still earning.

Jennifer Macairan, corporate affairs manager of Keppel Cebu Shipyard Inc., denied accusations that the company is using the crisis as an excuse to remove workers.

Macairan said that the firm has been affected with the global economic crisis.

She said that the company is practicing job rotation and energy conservation as cost cutting measures.

She said the early retirement program offered by the company was triggered by the financial crisis.

Keppel Cebu, formerly the Cebu Shipyard, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Philippines Marine Inc. (KPMI). It is also a member of the Keppel Group of Singapore, an international marine and offshore services. /With correspondent Jully Venus Cuizon.

Senate approves poll automation budget

Senate approved late last night (Wednesday) the P11.3-billion budget that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) needed to fully automate the May 2010 presidential elections.

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon, principal author of Republic Act (RA) 9369 or the Amended Automated Elections Law, lauded the Senate's approval of the budget, saying that this sends a strong signal that the Philippines stands firm in protecting and safeguarding the sacred votes of its people.

"We owe it to the Filipino people to have clean, honest and orderly elections. Automation will bring back our people's confidence in the elections," he said.

"With automated elections, our people can rely on the fact that their vote will be counted, and that their vote will mean change for the country, then they will stop being cynical. And once they stop being cynical, perhaps the focus will now be on the common good," he added.

Automating the electoral system to get rid of massive electoral fraud that often marred the country's electoral exercises and ensure clean, honest and orderly elections has been the promise of every president.

But it was not until Dec. 22, 1997 that RA 8436, the law that authorized the Comelec to use an automated election system, was passed.. However, the election modernization law was not implemented.

Gordon, who had been pushing for automated elections, authored RA 9369, which was passed into law in 2007.

RA 9369 was supposed to be implemented in the May 2007 elections but the Comelec sought a postponement, citing the lack of sufficient time for the necessary preparations needed.

To ensure that the provisions of the law would be met, such as the need to hold partial automation before fully automating the next regular national and local election, or the May 2010 elections, the senator pushed for the automation of the 2008 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) polls.

The success of the ARMM automated elections signaled that Filipinos are ready to modernize the country's antiquated electoral system and elevate it from third to first world class.

Gordon said the Senate would exercise its oversight power to ensure that the automation is aboveboard and fully implemented for democracy.

"Now all we have to do is implement the automation law and implement it well," he said.

"I am optimistic that the Comelec is keeping to its time-table. We already passed the law and allotted the appropriations. It is now up to the Comelec to ensure that the nation's quest to modernize our electoral process is enforced," he said.



Senate ratifies Tourism Bill

The Senate on Thursday dawn ratified the consolidated report of the Senate and the House of Representatives on the tourism measure that would grant incentives to tourism industry players, generate more jobs and increase revenues of local government units (LGUs).

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon, principal author of the Tourism Bill, hailed the ratification by Congress of the measure, which aims to boost the country's tourism industry.

"After a long day's work, it is great to have the tourism bill finally approved by both Houses," he said.

The measure is a consolidation of Senate Bill 2213 and House Bill 5229, an act declaring a national policy for tourism as an engine of investment, employment, growth and national development and strengthening the Department of Tourism (DOT) and its attached agencies.

Gordon, a former tourism secretary, said President Arroyo is expected to sign the bill into law within the Lenten break, stressing that the measure could ward off possible effects of the global financial crisis to the country's economy.

He explained that tourism is the fastest and most efficient way of generating foreign exchange, investments and employment. Once the measure is signed into law, it will spur the creation of jobs and open additional channels for the infusion of the much-needed investments in the country's economy, he added.

"This measure will definitely boost domestic tourism as it will provide the needed infrastructures to reinvigorate local productivity. An increased productivity means more jobs for the people and more revenues for the government," Gordon said.

The senator said the measure also seeks for the establishment of "tourism enterprise zones" in strategic areas in the country to lure foreign investors and tourists to visit places rich with history and culture.

He added that LGUs would take a major role in developing these tourism enterprise zones, which will enable them to spur economic productivity and achieve higher levels of economic growth.

"With the faithful implementation of this measure, the nation can have a better institution to regulate and promote tourism and install the necessary infrastructures to make our country truly world-class," Gordon said.

"We can have more jobs for our people, who will no longer have to find for their future in foreign shores, but right here in our native Philippines," he added.

Having no RH law is pro-abortion

EU ENVOY SAYS

The absence of framework on reproductive health in the Philippines is anti-poor, anti-women, anti-children, anti-development, and pro-abortion, said Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, head of the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines.

At the Reproductive Health Forum, the ambassador reiterated the call of the European Union at last year’s Philippine Development Forum for access to family planning methods for Filipinos.

In that statement, the EU said the country’s continued rapid population is exhausting its resources and slowing economic growth.

“It also threatens the sustainability of rural livelihoods and is inexorably destroying the remaining natural forest and marine habitats. The poor are paying the highest price, both individually and collectively,” it said.

“The European Union therefore calls for the effective implementation of a comprehensive national family planning policy, promoting access to family planning methods,” it added.

MacDonald prefaced his speech on the topic saying that while he is not a Filipino citizen but a friend of the Philippines, the “grim statistics” are known by many advocates of the RH bill. He also noted that the while reproductive health is a sensitive issue here, his views appear to be supported by the average Filipino, as results of survey on the topic show.

“I am a friend of the Philippines, a friend of development and the fight against poverty in the Philippines, and I hope that you might therefore be interested in the comments which I would like to offer,” he said.

MacDonald explained that the continued absence of a reproductive health law affects the poor more than the rich, pointing out that while the total fertility rate of the richest 20 percent of the Philippine population is two, the rate for the poorest 20 percent is 5.9.

He said women, particularly mothers, suffer without a law ensuring their health.

“The maternal mortality ratio in the Philippines has fallen only very slowly, to reach 162 in 2008, still three times the MDG (Millennium Development Goal) target of 52 by 2015,” he said.

Like the United Nations, the EU diplomat said he thinks the Philippines is unlikely to meet its MDG commitment under the present set-up.

MacDonald said children die in large numbers because of unplanned pregnancies.

“It is frightening to think of the opportunities which children here are being denied because of the strain on health services, on education services, and the lack of employment opportunities, in a country which is straining at the seams,” he said.

The EU ambassador said that as a development strategy, having more people only promotes exploitation, trafficking, and misery.

“Cheap labor and low wages, associated with a rapidly rising population, are not a way to promote development, to encourage higher-skilled employment, to allow families to give their children the opportunities that they deserve,” he said.

MacDonald said a high rate of abortion is the real-world effect when the state does not provide such services. He said latest estimates show that of 3.6 million total pregnancies in the Philippines in 2007, more than half or about 1.9 million were unplanned; and 25 percent of these unplanned pregnancies, or 500,000, ended in abortions.

“Here in the Philippines in the 21st century, these high if often invisible rates of abortion are a direct and ineluctable consequence of the unavailability of modern methods of contraception,” he said.

The EU envoy congratulated the advocates of the RH bill in Congress for their efforts to get the measure passed. He said that if they become successful, the Philippines would be on the right track to solving poverty, promoting maternal and child health and family
values.

“When you succeed, you will have done a tremendous service for the people of the Philippines, and for the voters of the Philippines,” he said. By Veronica Uy - INQUIRER.net

WB suspects, accusers bag major deals

They may have played vastly different roles, but both the suspects and the whistle-blowers in the World Bank investigation on collusion and corruption in bank-funded road projects in the Philippines have one thing in common—they all bagged some of the biggest public works contracts from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

But even bigger in value and number are the Public Works contracts obtained by the firms that served as whistle-blowers and witnesses—who were not sanctioned—in the investigation conducted by the World Bank’s anti-corruption unit, the powerful Department of Institutional Integrity (INT).

These are among the findings of an exhaustive analysis by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism of 27,535 awarded Public Works contracts from 2000 to 2008 that the Public Works department has posted on its website, www.dpwh.gov.ph.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has requested the Public Works department for an electronic spreadsheet version of its data enrolled in 1,102 pages but was told that the request has yet to be cleared with Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. If approved, the department said it could only provide the static PDF (portable document format) copies of the database.

To acquire and mine the information, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism developed a software application that copies each of the web pages and compiles the data into comma-separated values format.

Billions of pesos

Four of the debarred firms—Cavite Ideal International Construction and Development Corp., China State Construction Engineering Corp., EC de Luna Construction Corp. and CM Pancho Construction Inc.—are the 45th, 49th, 144th and 390th biggest contractors, respectively, in terms of total value of contracts awarded by the Public Works department.

Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Corp., which the Department of Institutional Integrity had wanted to sanction but was not debarred, ranked as the 76th-biggest contractor, out of a total of 1,791 contractors.

Together, the five companies bagged Public Works contracts with a combined value of P1.6 billion.

But the combined value of the contracts won by four other companies that were not the subject of the probe but assisted as witnesses of the Department of Institutional Integrity, reached P2.28 billion.

About half of that P2.28 billion went to Wee Eng Construction Inc. alone, including 16 chopped up road projects in Quezon province that the Public Works department awarded in just a week’s time—from November 17 to 24, 2006.

Emerging as the 16th-biggest contractor among those with contracts with the Public Works department, Wee Eng outranks all the debarred companies in terms of total value of its deals. The three other cooperative companies, meanwhile, beat out EC de Luna and CM Pancho.

Whistle-blowers RD Policarpio & Co., and JM Luciano Construction came in as the Public Works department’s 61st and 78th biggest contractors, respectively. The owner of the 58th biggest contractor, PL Sebastian Construction, was also interviewed but did not reveal damning information.

Bribe-takers’ cartel

The voluminous Department of Institutional Integrity probe reports—while frustratingly incomplete because investigators did not interview Public Works department officials and politicians named as members of a “cartel” of bribe-takers—raise important questions on the scale of collusion and corruption in infrastructure projects that cost billions of pesos. A huge chunk of these funds are loans that will eventually be billed on taxpayers.

Unfortunately, local oversight of how infrastructure funds are spent is terribly sparse and spotty that the officials of implementing agencies, the budget department, and even the Commission on Audit (COA) cannot really be sure what proportion of government’s annual infrastructure budget is spent according to authorized purposes.

Between 2000 and 2008, the Public Works department alone awarded more than 27,500 contracts worth P138.5 billion. The contracts, which averaged about P5 million each in value, were tendered and awarded by 191 DPWH engineering district offices and other implementing offices to 1,791 contractors.

The third-biggest contract listed on the department’s website—Package C.4: South Luzon Expressway Service Road (East and West) valued at P524.5 million—was awarded by the department’s Urban Roads Project management office to Cavite Ideal in May 2005, one of the firms debarred by the World Bank.

China State, also debarred, won the fifth biggest contract—Contract Package C.5—Quirino Highway (NLEX Junction to North Fairview) valued at P486.3 million—in August 2005. Again, the contract was awarded by the department’s Urban Roads Project management office.

Hanjin, which escaped sanctions because there was not enough evidence against it, won the 13th-biggest contract—Completion/Construction of Subic-Cawag-Balaybay Road, Phase II (Segment IV) in Subic, Zambales valued at P349 million—from DPWH Region 3 in October 2006.

Among the companies that escaped Bank sanctions because they did not participate in the two disputed tenders for NRIMP-1, Wee Eng won the 11th biggest contract—Concreting of Surigao-Davao Coastal Road (Marihatag-San Agustin Section) in Surigao del Sur valued at P373.8 million.

The project was awarded by Public Works department’s Region 13 office in December 2007, or after the Department of Institutional Integrity had wound up its interviews with respondents and witnesses on the alleged collusion in the first phase of the National Roads Improvement and Management Project, or NRIMP-1.

Modus operandi

From the Department of Institutional Integrity’s account of its investigation and “records of interviews” with the respondents and witnesses, the picture that emerges is a syndicate or “cartel” that instructs contractors on their exact bids to simulate a genuinely competitive tender. The cartel members have even gone as far as submit fake bids and pre-qualification documents to make it appear that a foreign company was taking part in at least one international competitive tender.

According to the Department of Institutional Integrity report, the cartel, through Public Works officials, can even artificially inflate approved budget for contracts to increase potential payoffs to various parties. It can also punish contractors who refuse to take part in the collusive scheme or renege on agreements by disqualifying them from taking part in future tenders.

After three rounds of tenders between 2002 and 2006, the collusive scheme has grown to involve not just small or marginal players but some of the biggest local and foreign roads contractors operating in the country, based on the list of 15 companies and one person that the Department of Institutional Integrity had sought to sanction back in May 2008.

Appeal motions

The World Bank sanctions board eventually debarred eight companies and one individual in January 2009. Two debarred Philippine firms, EC de Luna and CM Pancho, have announced separate plans to file motions to appeal the sanctions ruling, the last stage in administrative proceedings that the INT conducts, to determine violations of the Bank’s procurement guidelines.

The Department of Institutional Integrity believes that World Bank money that could have been diverted to illegal payoffs in the NRIMP-1 projects was at three to four times the initial estimates.

“In the two Packages examined in this matter, tangible losses from Bank funds would have been nearly $10 million had they been carried out,” the Department of Institutional Integrity report said. “However, INT believes that the entire NRIMP-1 Project has been corrupted, putting at least $30 to $45 million of the entire $150-million loan at risk.”

Indeed, the World Bank staff first became suspicious that irregularities were afoot as early as January 2001, less than a year after the $150-million loan for NRIMP-1 was approved.

Then Public Works Secretary Florante Soriquez proposed to repackage of the contracts into five subcontracts. The Bank’s task team leader then, Denis Robitaille, rejected the proposal and wrote to Soriquez: “It seems that the repackaging is being proposed only to fit the capacity of certain size of contractors.”

In June 2002, William Paterson, who succeeded Robitaille, objected to the department’s report on the pre-qualification of bidders for the first round of tenders later that year because, among others, “joint venture partners were improperly rated;” “some firms were inappropriately declared ineligible for multiple contracts;” and “some bidders’ pre-qualification application assertions appeared questionable.”

The outcome of the tenders for two components of the roads improvement project in October and November 2002 bolstered Paterson’s suspicions of collusion. The winning bids “both came in more than 25 percent above the agency estimate and had relatively fewer bidders,” he wrote in an internal email in January 2003. “A local Senator has been pressing for [a disputed] bid to be accepted and accused the BAC [bids and awards committee] chairman of interference when the BAC began to investigate.”

In April 2003, Paterson asked the Department of Institutional Integrity to come in and investigate. The Bank’s anti-corruption unit sent investigators to interview some of the contractors in August 2005.

Suzuka’s story

One of the first contractors they interviewed was Tomatu Suzuka, who told the Department of Institutional Integrity during the interview on August 5, 2005 in Japan that he had met with the late Senator Robert Barbers and Jose Miguel ‘Mike’ Arroyo, President Gloria Arroyo’s husband.

Suzuka was trying to get business in the Philippines for his construction company. According to the interviewer’s account of the conversation, “Mr. Suzuka stated that ‘they first discussed bribes’ and that ‘they had a rough approach.’”

In a statement read by his lawyer at the senate hearing Thursday last week, Mike Arroyo categorically denied the allegation, saying he had not met the Japanese contractor. Barbers’s sons have also decried the dragging of their late father’s name into the row.

By all indications, Suzuka’s tale was one of the most important breaks the Department of Institutional Integrity’s anti-corruption investigators ever had. It’s not very often that they encounter a witness who talks about meeting the spouse of a country’s president to discuss bribes.

Oddly enough, however, the interviewers did not press Suzuka for more details such as the time and place of the meeting, and exactly what Mr. Arroyo and Barbers said about bribes. Neither did the investigators try to get in touch with Mike Arroyo or Barbers, who died in December 2005.

Still, World Bank officials and Department of Institutional Integrity investigators were convinced that they were dealing not just with a group of wily contractors, but with a well-organized syndicate supported by powerful political figures and Public Works officials.

High-level support

“Evidence suggests [that] the cartel may enjoy support at the highest levels of the Government of the Philippines, including several officials of the DPWH and even reaching the husband of the President [Arroyo] herself,” the Department of Institutional Integrity later wrote in the Notice of Sanctions Proceedings.

The investigators knew they had a political bombshell on their hands and so sought to handle the matter carefully, according to at least one person whom the investigators consulted in Manila. But the Arroyo administration, after years of dealing with a string of controversies, had developed an extraordinary ability to defuse politically explosive issues. Already, the administration’s political bomb squad seems to be hard at work. By Roel R. Landingin, Philippine Center For Investigative Journalism

Whitewash

Philippine Daily Inquirer
Close this In the Laundromat known as congressional investigations, influential individuals suspected of wrongdoing usually come up smelling like roses while their accusers end up stinking like filthy sewage water. The concurrent investigations being conducted by the Senate and the House of Representatives into the blacklisting of three Filipino construction firms by the World Bank are destined to end in the same way: with the contractors being cleared and the World Bank being dismissed as little more than a weaver of fanciful tales, playing loose with the facts and quick to malign some poor, innocent Filipino companies with sterling reputations for fair-dealing and integrity. In fact this appears to have already come to pass in the House edition of the probe, which Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has fittingly labeled as “a comic opera.”

In 2007, the chief of the World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency uncovered evidence that a cartel, composed of several Filipino and Chinese firms, was trying to rig the bidding for contracts for the first phase of the National Road Improvement and Management Program (NRIMP 1), worth $33 million. The bank’s Sanctions Board, composed of senior officials and external legal experts, later determined that three Filipino firms — E.C. de Luna Construction Corp., Cavite Ideal International Co. Ltd. and CM Pancho Construction Inc. — and four Chinese construction companies colluded to set bid prices at “artificial, noncompetitive levels.” The bank then cancelled the funding for the project, and permanently barred E.C. de Luna from bidding in any World Bank projects and suspended the six other firms for varying lengths of time. Leonard McCarthy, World Bank Integrity vice president, said, “This is one of our most important and far-reaching cases, and it highlights the effectiveness of the World Bank’s investigative and sanctions process.”

Not so, the affected contractors protested. Ernesto de Luna told the senators he had been “interviewed” only once and no documents were sought from him by World Bank officials. Lamberto Lee of Cavite Ideal International told the congressmen that World Bank investigators merely relied on the testimony of one of the confidential witnesses to find his company guilty, while disregarding the testimony of 29 non-confidential witnesses who cleared his firm. What they were trying to say was that the World Bank didn’t do a fair and thorough investigation, a conclusion supported by a public works official.

“We cannot fathom the thinking of the bank in this process,” Undersecretary Manuel Bonoan said. “We have no reason to believe there was collusion.” He said the three Filipino firms banned by the World Bank were “the most reliable contractors in the country.” So reliable, in fact, that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has continued to award them contracts, regardless of the World Bank’s findings and sanctions. E.C. de Luna, for example, won a P100-million road building contract in Negros that was one of the components of NRIMP 1, but now funded by the Philippine government. And it is working on 25 other government projects worth a total of P3.7 billion.

So why would the World Bank single out these three companies? That logical question was never asked by the congressmen as they rushed to exonerate the contractors.

“There was no sufficient proof of collusion,” said the chairman of the House committee on public works and highways, Rep. Roger Mercado of Southern Leyte province.

“The DPWH based its findings on hard facts, the World Bank based its findings on the account of an anonymous person,” said Rep. Milagros Magsaysay of Zambales, who probably doesn’t read newspapers, because otherwise she would have known that the DPWH did absolutely nothing after the World Bank came up with its findings. Rep. Elpidio Barzaga of Cavite said it was the World Bank and other multilateral lending institutions that allowed bidders to go over the estimated budget for a project, unlike the DPWH, which stuck to its ceiling.

So now it is the World Bank that is guilty — of padding budgets and unjustly penalizing Filipino firms. But we are not surprised. First, because it seems to be the fate of whistle-blowers always to end up in the dock. And second, because lawmakers will never be interested in proving collusion among contractors or suppliers. That is how their favorites end up bagging contracts for their own pork barrel projects. And to expose them is to kill the golden goose that allows them to recover their election expenses, with interest that would be the envy of Ponzi scammers.

Gordon wants to amend AMLA

By: Marlon Purificacion - Journal online
SENATOR Richard Gordon yesterday said he wants to amend a provision in the 2001 Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) to allow not more than two years extension on freeze order against the accounts and properties suspected to have been illegally acquired by any public official or employee.

Gordon, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, is set to file a bill that specifically seeks to amend Section 10 of Republic Act 9160 as amended by RA 9194, otherwise known as the AMLA.

“We are introducing a measure to amend the anti-money laundering law, specifically on the section that provides for the implementing rules and regulations on freezing monetary instrument or property,” he said.

“Once the alleged offenders take hold of the accounts or property suspected to be related to money laundering, then the nation is immediately deprived of the possibility to recover unlawfully acquired assets and is prejudiced by the loss of property,” he added.

Under the current AMLA, the Court of Appeals (CA), upon request of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), may issue a freeze order on monetary instrument or property related to an unlawful activity for a period of 20 days and may be extended for a period not exceeding six months.

Under Gordon’s proposal, the CA may grant an extension of the freeze order every six months but, in no case, shall the total extension accumulate to more than two years.

“When the AMLC, the Ombudsman or the Solicitor General fails to file a forfeiture case and move for preliminary attachment, the freeze order may eventually lapse, giving the owners of the accounts free hand to dispose of the money or property as they wish,” Gordon said.

The AMLC, however, has to prove before the court that a “compelling reason” exists for the allowance of the extension.

Also, AMLC will have to justify why there is a failure on the part of the government to file for a preliminary attachment or forfeiture on any property found to have been unlawfully acquired by any public official or employee, thereby a need to further extend the freeze order period.

on Nuclear Plant at Bataan

Strategic Perspective - By Rene B. Azurin
Misrepresenting science
Know the difference between a scientist and a politician? Ask a scientist "what is 2 plus 2?" and the scientist unhesitatingly answers "4." Ask a politician "what is 2 plus 2?" and the politician furtively looks around, leans closer conspiratorially, then whispers out of the side of his mouth, "what do you want it to be?" OK, OK, that’s an old joke, but maybe we should keep it in mind when we hear a politician assuring one and all that the operation of the controversial Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is perfectly safe.

The proponent of House Bill 4631 ("Mandating the immediate re-commissioning and commercial operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant") in the House of Representatives, Rep. Mark Cojuangco, has been assuring all and sundry that the operation of the mothballed nuclear plant is completely safe, saying that he "would even take up residence in Morong (the town near where the plant is located) to prove that there was no danger in operating the facility." He did not say how this could constitute such proof.

Anyway, last week, Mr. Cojuangco was reported to have taken a group of his House colleagues on an inspection tour of the Westinghouse-built 619 MW plant "to show that it was still in good condition." Apparently, Mr. Cojuangco also served his colleagues some "scientific data" on the geology of the location plus a lecture on radiation levels and nuclear technology. Reportedly, 190 of his colleagues have already agreed to support his bill.

Let us set aside — for now — the fact that Mr. Cojuangco is the son of the chairman of San Miguel Corporation, a conglomerate that has expressed interest in taking over the BNPP as part of its strategic diversification into the power business. San Miguel, it will be recalled, has also recently acquired major shares in electric power distribution giant Meralco and oil refiner Petron. A big power generation firm fits nicely in the apparent strategic scheme.

For now, let’s focus on the science. Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo, professor emeritus of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Illinois at Chicago and a balik-scientist who now teaches at the National Institute of Geological Sciences of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, says that those who are trying to justify the activation of the BNPP have been guilty of "abusing scientific data." In particular, he says that Mr. Cojuangco is "dangerously misrepresenting" the scientific data contained in a paper authored by Dr. Joan Cabato, Dr. Fernando Siringan, and himself and in another written by Dr. Ernesto Sonido and Mr. Jesse Umbal, both on the geology of the BNPP site.

Dr. Rodolfo says that they were "dismayed to find that the explanatory note to the bill cites our work as certifying the safety of the Bataan nuclear plant site." He quotes from said note: "Top geologists have evaluated Bataan and, with the exception of Mt. Natib which is a dormant volcano whose last eruption was estimated to have been between 11.3 [and] 18 thousand years ago (Cabato et al. 2005) and which is ten kilometers (10 km) from the BNPP, could find no anomalies in locating the plant there."

Dr. Rodolfo takes vigorous issue with Mr. Cojuangco’s statements and says, first, that "the BNPP is not 10 kilometers away from Natib, it is on Natib, which constitutes the entire northern half of the Bataan peninsula." Next, he says that they did not estimate the age of Mt. Natib’s last eruption in their paper. What he says they actually wrote was:

"A breach in the caldera of Mt. Natib is the most likely source of a presumed pyroclastic deposit in the eastern bay that is associated with sediments about 11,300 to 18,000 years ago, indicating that a Natib eruption occurred much more recently than previously documented for this volcano." Finally, further quoting from their paper, he says that ".the youngest [faults] show that movements occurred about every 2,000 years, most recently about 3,000 years ago." Thus, concludes Dr. Rodolfo, "judging from the geologic evidence, Subic Bay is well overdue for an episode of faulting and earthquakes."

As pointed out by Dr. Rodolfo, an exhaustive analysis of the geology and geohazards of the Subic Bay area was made by Dr. Ernesto Sonido, formerly geophysics professor of the National Institute of Geological Sciences at UP, and Mr. Jesse Umbal, who obtained his masters’ degree at the University of Illinois and worked with Dr. Rodolfo during the Mt. Pinatubo eruption. In their paper, Dr. Sonido and Mr. Umbal adjudged Natib as "potentially active." They found Mt. Natib, like Mt. Pinatubo, to be a "caldera-forming" volcano, a type which (Dr. Rodolfo says), "characteristically, have very powerful eruptions separated by long repose periods." The Sonido-Umbal study "documented two Natib eruptions that formed large calderas and estimated the recurrence period for earthquakes of Magnitude 6.4 to 7.0 at 22 years; of Magnitude 7.0 to 7.3 at 59 years; and of Magnitude 7.3 to 8.2 at 157 years."

Dr. Rodolfo further stresses that none of the "top geologists" with an intimate knowledge of Bataan has called Napot Point "safe." As an example, he cites Dr. Ronnie Torres, formerly with the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and now at the University of Hawaii, who warned of volcanism and faulting at the site in 1992: "Natib volcano does not erupt very often but could still erupt." Says Dr. Rodolfo, "as a rough rule of thumb, the longer a volcano is in repose, the more time it has to store eruptive energy".

"In short," charges Dr. Rodolfo, "our science is being abused by a person in governmental authority, either deliberately or out of sheer geological ignorance." That’s heavy.

Beyond geological considerations, there are other issues related to nuclear power in general and the BNPP in particular. These include the risks of operational accidents, the high toxicity of materials handled, the stringent measures required to avoid radiation contamination of surrounding communities, the danger of radioactive material being stolen and used by terrorist elements, and the lack of a satisfactory solution for the final disposal of the tons of radioactive waste created. All these are compounded by the absence of a safety culture and the presence of a corruption culture in the country.

Obviously, serious questions on this matter need to be considered. But for us the public, the question we must first answer is, whose answers should we listen to? Those who represent science, or those who misrepresent it? Scientists or politicians? Well, what do we want the answer to 2 plus 2 to be? bworldonline.com

Palace eyes 3 million jobs

The government is ready to provide as many as three million jobs for the year as Malacañang raised to P330 billion the proposed multi-billion peso economic stimulus package to cushion the impact of the global economic crisis.

Secretary Domingo Panganiban, lead convenor of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, said the jobs will be created under the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program component of the economic sustainability plan.

Panganiban said the three million will be a “best-effort” and based on a projection that at least one million will be needed by June 30. “We might be going beyond one million by June 30,” he said.

He said the government is allotting P1 billion for every one million jobs.

The economic stimulus plan, originally at P300 billion, is provided under the proposed P1.415 trillion national budget for 2009 which Congress has yet to approve.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto earlier said part of the proposed economic stimulus package will be used to hire more teachers and policemen, finance infrastructure spending and rehabilitate the state healthcare system. He said the government also plans to increase the number of poor families receiving direct cash assistance.

President Macapagal-Arroyo called the program an “Economic Resiliency Plan” to pump-prime the economy. “The plan aims to upgrade infrastructure, expand social protection and ensure sustainable growth in the midst of the global economic crisis,” she said.

Recto said the focus is on the repair and rehabilitation of roads, hospitals, bridges and irrigation facilities, schools and other government buildings.

Panganiban said “so much number of people” also want to be interviewed for jobs in the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Transportation and Communication and Department of Education. He said there are also jobs in janitorial and utility services. “So we might go beyond the one million,” he said. By: Tess Bedico - Journal online

SBMA exec bares anomaly

A DIRECTOR of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority yesterday revealed that the SBMA has refused to enter into its books of accounts more than P850 million in disbursements which had been disallowed by the Commission on Audit.

Director Mario Garcia noted that as early as February 16, 2005, the Commission on Audit has been questioning the non-recording of P856,300,753 in disallowances and charges in the books of the SBMA.

Garcia said 99 percent or P854,677,167 was disbursed from 1992 to 1998 while the remaining one percent or P1,623,586 was released from 1998 to 2002.

Quoting the memo of State Auditor Teresita Gequinto, Garcia said the disallowances and charges have become final and executory due to the non-submission of an appeal within the prescribed period.

Garcia said according to Gequinto, the non-entry of the disallowances and charges into the SBMA books was in violation of COA Circular 94-001 dated Jan. 20, 1994.

“That circular prescribes the recording in the books of accounts of disallowances, including suspensions,” he said.

Due to the non-recording of the disallowances and charges into the books, receivables, affected expense accounts and retained earnings were either understated or overstated, Gequinto said in his memo.

Instead of entering the disallowances and charges into the books, Garcia said SBMA allowed the money to be liquidated over the years and is now down to only P37.032 million.

“Still, this amount has not been entered into the books and disallowances as per my initial inquiry. The question now is, what is the reason behind this? Or is anybody behind this?” Garcia asked. Journal online

US bases cleanup pinned on Obama

Officials of a Filipino group that has been pressing the United States since 1992 to clean up the toxic wastes left in its former military bases in Central Luzon said they are hoping that incoming American President Barack Obama would heed this clamor.

“We’re seeing there is more openness and more like us having an access to his office because there are a lot of allies [who] have supported him during his campaign and have gone to his conventions. [They are] Filipino-Americans who have been working on this issue to get the US to clean up,” Myrla Baldonado, executive director of the People’s Task Force for Bases Cleanup (PTFBC), said here on Monday.

These, as well as Obama’s background as a community organizer in Chicago and his social advocacies, including his receptive staff, make the campaign feasible now, she said.

“Also, I’m seeing more hope in the American people becoming allies especially in the peace movement so they can put pressure on the government for them to act in a way that’s very different from past administrations,” she said.

Obstacles

But the PTFBC, Baldonado said, still expected many obstacles in the campaign to repair the environment of the former Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base.

The Philippine government converted these into economic free ports starting 1991 without removing the contaminants left by almost a century of military use by the US.

A possible obstacle is Obama’s appointment of Sen. Hilary Clinton as state secretary, Baldonado said.

“This could be a repeat of the [Bill] Clinton administration where we have eight years of them denying responsibility then as if accepting responsibility, giving promises without doing anything substantial,” Baldonado said.

For another, Obama faces tough times, mainly the responsibility to stem, if not stop, the economic recession.

“It was easier to talk to him then but now he’s president of the… US, and he’s trying to deal with all sorts of people in making decisions, and there are pressures from the military industrial complex,” Baldonado said.

“It might be narrow, or very small, but there is a window of opportunity of reaching out,” she said.

“We don’t know if there’s going to be a cleanup within our lifetime or the lifetime of our organizational campaign but we know we’re leaving a legacy of keeping on, struggling, keeping on the pressures, empowering the people so they would continue,” she said.

No RP move

Baldonado said the Republicans, under outgoing US President George W. Bush, had adopted a resolution to clean up Clark and Subic.

Efforts by PTFBC’s partner, the Filipino-American Coalition for Environmental Solution, ran aground when the Republicans did not pursue the resolution and the Arroyo administration did not make demands, she said.

In 2004, the Dominican Order in the Philippines lobbied at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to press the US to end its “toxic legacy” in the Philippines.

It said the Philippine government “lacked the political will in negotiating with the US for the environmental cleanup and compensation for the victims.”

The Dominicans also told the UNCHR that as of 2004, at least 375 people, 282 of them children, had died around Subic of leukemia. Twelve more cases have been monitored around Clark.

At least 8,000 workers at the former Subic Ship Repair Yard had been exposed to asbestos, radioactivity and other toxic chemicals.

Around 43,000 more Subic workers had handled toxic chemicals and ammunition. Many suffer from various types of cancer, the group said. By Tonette Orejas - Inquirer Central Luzon Desk

SC: Dual citizens can’t run, hold elective posts

Affirms Comelec vs Fil-Am village chairman

By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net


MANILA, Philippines -- The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that only exclusively Filipino citizens can run and occupy elective public positions as it affirmed a Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision voiding the election of a barangay (village) captain in an Iloilo town who also holds American citizenship.

“A Filipino-American or any dual citizen cannot run for any elective public position in the Philippines unless he or she personally swears to a renunciation of all foreign citizenship at the time of filing the certificate of candidacy," the seven-page en banc resolution high court penned by Associate Justice Ruben T. Reyes said.

The decision rejected the petition of dual citizen Eugenio Lopez seeking to reverse the Comelec’s decision voiding his election as chairman of Barangay Bagacay, San Dionisio town, which he ran for and won last October 29.

Lopez’ qualifications to be barangay chairman were contested by Tessie Villanueva. He defended himself saying he holds dual citizenship under Republic Act. No. 9225, or the Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003.

However, high court said that, while the law allows one to reacquire Filipino citizenship, it also provides that anyone seeking elective public office should first "make a personal and sworn renunciation of any and all foreign citizenship before any public officer."

Thus, even if Lopez won the elections, took his oath of office and began to discharge the functions of barangay chairman, "his victory can not cure the defect of his candidacy," the tribunal ruled.

"Garnering the most number of votes does not validate the election of a disqualified candidate because the application of the constitutional and statutory provisions on disqualification is not a matter of popularity," the high court said.

Magna Carta for Poor gets solons’ nod

By Maila Ager - INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- A bill proposing Magna Carta for the Poor has been approved by a joint panel at the House of Representatives.

The committees on poverty alleviation, and on people’s participation jointly passed the measure aimed at reducing the number of “extremely” poor Filipinos and help them become economically empowered.

The bill, a substitute for four bills, also seeks to strengthen several social service programs for the underprivileged in order to protect and promote their rights to a decent life.

“For one, it aims to enhance the poor's right to employment by giving them preferential access to employment openings in private enterprises as well as in government programs and projects,” a statement from the House said Monday.

“Further, it seeks to create an Office of Employment Opportunities,” it said.

The proposed legislation, likewise, seeks to enhance the poor's right to food by giving them food or of food assistance/subsidy to help them in their survival.

It also seeks to strengthen the right to free quality education of underprivileged Filipinos by providing them access to quality education at the college level, and expanding the study-now-pay-later plans in state colleges and universities.

In terms of shelter for the poor, the bill proposes the implementation of a housing scheme to provide decent facilities to the poor with the least financial burden.

The bill further seeks to strengthen health and medical services for the poor through a system of free delivery of health services and medicines.

Decline in Philippine unionism alarms labor leaders

By Margaux Ortiz Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines -- Pervasive contractualization and casualization of employment have weakened unionism among workers in the country and have left workers vulnerable to union-busting company owners.

This is according to an official of the National Union of Workers in the Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries (NUWHRAI), who said that the prevalence of labor contractualization has been contributing to the significant reduction of legitimate labor organizations.

“Workers' engagement in intermittent and short-term employment affects, not only their ability to earn livelihood, but also their productivity and quality of work,” Daniel Edralin, NUWHRAI secretary general, said.

Edralin added that less unionism "rendered workers' right to security of tenure meaningless.”

Edralin explained that with severely depleted memberships, unions have been finding it difficult to repel the union-busting actions and schemes of their employers.

“Consequently, the number of legitimate labor organizations continues to decline,” he said.

Edralin added that there has been a decrease in establishments with collective bargaining agreements (CBAs).

He said that based on government data, the number of legitimate labor organizations presently number to 17,021, with a membership of 1,918,000.

“This is insignificant when one considers that we have 783,065 establishments with a total workforce of 33,695,000 in the Philippines today,” Edralin pointed out.

He added that of the 17,021 establishments with legitimate labor organizations, only 1,542 legitimate labor organizations were able to secure CBAs in 2007.

Edralin pointed out that this decreased from 1,670 in 2006.

“This insignificant number of CBAs benefited only 218,000 workers, a reduction from the 236,000 workers in 2006—both far below our total 33 million workforce,” he said.

Edralin disclosed that in the 1990s, around 550,000 workers were covered by these agreements.

1-M trabaho para sa mahihirap

MILYUN-MILYONG mga unskilled workers, magsasaka at mga walang trabaho ang mabibiyayaan ng bagong trabaho at mas mabuting kabuhayan dahil sa karagdagan pang employment generation program sa taong na nilalayong maibsan ang kahirapan at gutom sa mga maralita, ayon sa National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC).

Ayon kay NAPC Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban, nilalayon ng Arroyo government na magkaloob ng mahigit 860,000 mga bagong trabaho para sa mga mahihirap sa pamamagitan ng microfinance services, skills training at coconut intercropping programs may may 50 lalawigan at National Capital Region (NCR).

“We will concentrate the bulk of our jobs and livelihood generation programs in areas that have the highest levels of hunger and poverty,” ayon kay Panganiban.

Nabatid sa National Nutrition Council (NNC), inaasahang aabot sa 430,000 ang mabibigyan ng trabaho bago matapos ang 2008 mula sa microfinance at Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) program nito.

“In addition, we will afford some 332,505 underprivileged folk better livelihood opportunities through the skills and vocational training programs of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and various other community-based training programs,” ayon sa kanya.

Mabibigay aniya ang pamahalaan ng karagdagang kabuhayan at pagkakakitaan sa 67,023 sa magsasaka ng niyog sa pamamagitan ng coconut intercropping program ng Department of Agriculture (DA) habang may 37,583 manggagawa ang kukunin para sa public irrigation at roadside maintenance projects.

Nabatid na prayoridad sa anti-hunger program ng pamahalaan ang Apayao, Mountain Province , Kalinga, Masbate, Camarines Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Norte, Lanao del Norte, Sarangani, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Maguindanao, Surigao del Sur, Tawi-tawi, Northern Samar at NCR. JOurnal online

Heads to roll in drive vs car smugglers

THE Land Transportation Office (LTO) will investigate the surprising increase in registration of motor vehicles in port cities which have been tagged as new car smuggling havens.

LTO chief Alberto Suansing said that his office will leave no stone unturned in the war against smuggling. “If heads are to roll, then so be it, “ he warned amid reports that LTO personnel are in cahoots with car smugglers.

Suansing also said he will instruct LTO personnel to coordinate with the Bureau of Customs-Intelligence and Enforcement Group (BOC-IEG) to find a solution to shut down the new car smuggling hotspots. He added that the new modus operandi of car smugglers -- that of shifting areas of operation -- does not guarantee these criminals are safe.

“Eventually, the long arm of the law will catch up with them and we shall not allow these criminals to make a mockery of the government’s efforts to curb smuggling,” he added.

Suansing was quick to note that the government is actually gaining in the fight against smuggling. He cited the fact that the LTO also has an existing interconnectivity agreement with the Bureau of Customs whereby imported vehicles will not be able to register with the LTO unless the proper duties and taxes have been paid.

With the interconnectivity system in place, certificates of payment from the BOC shall be electronically transmitted to the LTO, eliminating opportunities for fraudulent activities pertaining to the importation of vehicles. The system has undergone thorough testing and implementation and is expected to take effect next month.

The land transport chief stressed that the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (Amcham) has lauded governmen efforts to curb the illegal entry of used cars that resulted in the growth in sales of motor vehicles in the country. Amcham said that in the first four months of 2008, auto sales in the country reached nearly 40,000 units. Total industry sales in 2007 were 117,903 units compared with 99,541 units in 2006, an 18.4 percent growth in sales volume. Suansing also hinted that the LTO might actively participate in the RATS (Run After The Smugglers) program of the government.

“With a more coordinated thrust amongst all the concerned line agencies, the public can be assured that the government will win this fight,” Suansing said.

‘Flawed’ Customs system allows car smuggling--Escudero

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- The Bureau of Customs system allowing the use of one certificate of payment (CP) for a batch of car importation has resulted the smuggling of between 8,000 to 13,000 vehicles into the country, Senator Francis Escudero said Wednesday.

Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on ways and means, gave this estimate of the number of vehicles that may be running around the country with questionable papers outside an ongoing Senate hearing on smuggling.

At the hearing, Customs commissioner Napoleon Morales said that the single CP for a batch of car imports is given only to members of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi).

The rest of the importing public must follow the one car-one CP rule.

But Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile, chairman of the Senate finance committee, said the rule of issuing one CP for one vehicle should be followed because allowing exceptions would facilitate smuggling.

But Morales said the exemption from the rule for Campi members was initiated by his predecessor, Alexander Arevalo.

Escudero said one CP-one batch system has made the P3-billion computerization program of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), which compiles a database of all registered vehicles, useless.

"The P3-billion LTO computerization project is useless because, as they say, garbage in, garbage out…Right now, our traffic enforcers are taking their chances with the vehicles they apprehend when they see that the registration numbers do not seem to match the model of the vehicle," Escudero said.

"Both the check valves at the Customs and the LTO are not working," he added.

During the hearing, Roberto Valera of the LTO admitted the database does not reflect vehicles issued certificates of registration or official receipts (CR/OR).

OFW home

The OFWs arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 3 p.m. on board Etihad Airlines flight EY428 from Abu Dhabi.

Aside from Marcos, those who were repatriated were Annabel Cernal, 38, of Las Piñas; Zenaida Calanda, 34, of Davao City; Nomeria Gandingan, 34, Zamboanga, Sibugay Province; Cheryl Marie Cabuata, 28, Solano, Nueva Ecija; Ma. Magdalena Mendoza, 45, of Quezon City; Rose Ann Tagalog, 19, San Pablo City, Laguna; Almie Salcedo, 22, of Cotabato City; Maricel Hermosa, 26 and Michelle Operania, 26, both of Olongapo City; Maricel Triste, 26, of Tarlac; Marianne Sabado, 30, of Quezon City; Dolly Ortouste, 28, of Zamboanga City and Eulie Seterra, 31, of Makati City, Juna Arabes, 40, of Misamis Occidental; Wenna Bacasmot, 42, of Pasig City; Rowena Gonzales, 25, of Tarlac City; Edna Guintibano, 27, of Negros Occidental; Lucielyn Dizon, 34, of Quezon City and Noraima Abidin, 23, of Maguindanao.

Four of them were raped and forced into prostitution.

Naglipanang Bumbay sa bansa iimbestigahan ni Miriam

KAKALKALIN na rin ng Mataas na Kapulungan ng Kongreso ang paglipana ng mga turistang Bumbay sa bansa.

Ayon kay Senador Miriam Defensor Santiago, nais niyang paimbestigahan sa kinauukulang komite sa Senado ang ang ilegal na pagdagsa ng mga turistang Bumbay sa bansa na patuloy na dumarami ang bilang.

Nakasaad sa Senate Resolution 431 ni Santiago na iniulat ng Bureau of Immigration (BoI) na nasa 5,000 Indian tourist ang “unaccounted” na nakapasok sa bansa sa pagitan ng 2005 hanggang 2007.

May discrepancy umano sa bilang ng visas na ipina-labas ng Department of Foreign Affairs sa nasabing panahon at sa aktuwal na Indian tourist na pumasok sa bansa.

“There is a discrepancy between the number of visas issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) during the period and the number of Indian tourists who actually entered the country,” ani Santiago sa kanyang resolusyon.

Sinabi ni BoI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, nasa 39,495 ang ipinalabas na tourist visas ng DFA sa mga Indian nationals sa pagitan ng 2005 hanggang 2007, pero base sa records, may 44,295 Indian tourists ang nakapasok sa Pilipinas.

Hindi malaman kung saan nanggaling ang visas ng nasa 4,800 Indians na nakapasok din sa bansa.

Aabot umano sa Pl2 million buwis para sa 2,500 per tourist visa ang nawala sa gobyerno dahil sa mga ilegal na turistang Bumbay.

Ayon kay Santiago, maliwanag na dapat pang pag-igtingin ng immigration ang kanilang rules and regulations upang maayos na ma-monitor ang mga du-magdang turista sa Pilipinas. By: Marlon Purificacion - Journal online

Holiday pay rules

LABOR Secretary Marianito Roque has advised all employers in the private sector to follow the holiday pay rules for tomorrow, June 9, a holiday.

President Macapagal-Arroyo, through Presidential Proclamation No. 1463 issued on Feb. 18 this year, moved the celebration of Independence Day to June 9 from June 12 to give employees a long weekend.

Under the pay rules, if the holiday falls on an employee’s regular workday and is unworked, he or she should be paid 100 percent of his or her regular salary for that day.

If the day is worked, 200 percent of the regular daily rate shall apply on the first eight hours plus 30% of the hourly rate if it is in excess of eight hours.

If the day falls on an employee’s rest day and is unworked, 100 percent of the regular daily rate shall apply.

If the day is worked, plus 30% of 200% shall apply on the first eight hours, and plus 30% of the hourly rate in excess of 8 hours. By: Efren Montano - Journal online

Magulang na papayag mamalimos, mag-prostitute ang anak, kulong

Magulang na papayag mamalimos, mag-prostitute ang anak, kulong ng 12 taon

INIHAIN sa Kamara ang isang panukalang batas na naglalayong ipakulong ng 12 taon ang mga magulang, foster parents o guardians na pumapa-yag na mamalimos at pumasok sa prostitusyon ang kanilang mga anak.

Sa ilalim ng House Bill (HB) No. 300 ni Manila Rep.Jaime Lopez ipinaliwanag nitong hindi layunin ng panukala na gawing labag sa batas ang pagi-ging mahirap kundi pakay lamang na mabawasan kung hindi man ganap na matigil ang pang-aabuso sa mga bata.

Papatawan ng anim na buwan hanggang anim na taong pagkakabilanggo ang sinomang mapapatunayang gagamit sa mga bata na 12 taong pataas habang 12 taong pagkakakulong naman kung 12 anyos pababa ang biktimang bata.

“Parents, adopters, guardians or persons exercising special or substitute parental authority over the child who shall use, coerce, intimidate, or force their children to beg or engage in prostitution shall suffer the penalty of prison correctional,” anang panukala.

Sa kasalukuyan, kabilang sa mga umiiral na batas ang International Declaration of the Rights of the Child na nagkakaloob ng espesyal na proteksiyon laban sa pang-aabuso sa mga bata, exploitation at diskriminasyon. Nanindigan naman si Lopez na ang mga magulang ang pa-ngunahing dahilan kung bakit hindi nagiging epektibo ang mga umiiral na batas dahil pinababayaan ng mga ito ang kanilang legal at moral na obligas-yon na ilayo ang mga bata sa kalsada upang mama-limos para tugunan ang pangangailangan ng pamilya.

Idinagdag nito ang pahayag na: “The pa-rents who defaults on his or her responsibility to the child by allowing the child to beg or engage in the sex trade or the illegal undertaking should not be condoned by society.” Ryan Ponce Pacpaco - Journal online

7 killed at height of 'Cosme'--gov’t reports

It was the so-called calm before the storm.

Northern and Central Luzon experienced moderate rains and wind on Saturday afternoon as tropical storm "Cosme" (international code name Halong) hovered over these regions. But by Saturday night through Sunday, Cosme's wrath was felt in Zambales, Pangasinan, Benguet, La Union and the Ilocos provinces.

Seven people reportedly died in Pangasinan, Dagupan City and La Union during Cosme's onslaught on Saturday night, while two other children swept away by floods in Dagupan City were still missing as of Sunday.

Power supply was cut off in several areas in Central and Northern Luzon on Saturday as trees fell on power lines in Pangasinan, Benguet and Zambales. Power supply had yet to be restored in most of these provinces as of Sunday afternoon.

Several roads in Benguet were closed as landslides hit these areas.

Thousands of families were left homeless in Pangasinan and Zambales as strong winds and waves battered coastal communities.

Reports reaching the provincial disaster coordinating council (PDCC) in Pangasinan said two persons died in Bugallon town, while another died in San Fabian town.

Lourdes Soriano, 72, was hit by a galvanized iron sheet blown off by strong winds in Bugallon town. The other victim, Cesario basi, died after a coconut tree fell on his house on Saturday night.

A 36-year-old man, identified only as Pascual, was pinned by a fallen mango tree in Barangay Bolasi in San Fabian town.

In Dagupan City, Supt. Dionicio Borromeo, police chief, said the body of two-year-old Miguel Poserio was found floating along Tanap River at Catacdang Bonuan on Sunday. However, his two brothers, three-year-old Randyl and four-year-old Rodyl, were still missing as of Sunday. Their mother said the three boys disappeared Saturday night.

Dr. Anthony Golez, deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), told reporters Sunday afternoon that the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) received field reports that three persons were killed in La Union. The NDCC, he said, was still confirming the La Union deaths.

The victims were said to have died of electrocution and trauma injuries sustained after being hit by flying GI sheets and fallen trees, said Golez who is concurrently a Malacañang deputy spokesperson.

"Zambales and Pangasinan were the hardest hit by the typhoon," Golez said.

In Central Luzon, strong winds accompanying Cosme damaged 7,000 houses in Sta. Cruz, Zambales, on Saturday night, Gov. Amor Deloso told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sunday.

"The winds were strong. They were like ipo-ipo (tornado)," he said when reached by phone while inspecting the damage in the town at past 10 a.m.

The number of damaged houses accounted for 80 percent of total houses in Sta. Cruz, he said.

The Zambales provincial government opened three evacuation centers in public schools in villages Malabago and Gama, and at the Sta. Cruz Academy at the town proper.

More than 500 families or about 3,000 people living near the shores of the South China Sea in the town sought refuge there on Saturday afternoon, he said.

The rest of the affected families chose to stay in their damaged houses, he added.

Deloso said the municipal board in Sta. Cruz would meet in an emergency session on Sunday to declare the town under a state of calamity so the town and provincial governments can use portions of their calamity funds for the reconstruction of houses.

At least 23 houses in a resettlement site in Barangay Cawag in Subic town were damaged as heavy rains and strong winds pounded the area on Saturday. Reports said most of the houses had cracked walls and floors.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Luzon said floods hit villages in Botolan, San Antonio and Iba towns, all in Zambales.

Reports from the Bulacan PDCC on Sunday said there was no report of flooding or typhoon-related casualty in the province's 21 towns and three cities.

On Sunday, major roads in Pangasinan were littered with galvanized iron sheets from blown off rooftops, fallen trees and electric posts and other debris.

"We did not expect the typhoon was this strong," said Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr.

"We can see the devastation but we cannot quantify yet the damage because our local officials are still in the process of assessing the damages in their own towns," he said.

Power went off early Saturday night as Cosme unleashed strong winds and dumped strong rains. Telephone lines also went down after trees fell on electric and telephone lines.

Several families were reported to have been evacuated in Lingayen, Calasiao and Manaoag towns, and San Carlos City.

Espino has ordered clearing operation in major roads in the province to ease the flow of traffic.

Espino said worst hit by 'Cosme' were western and central Pangasinan towns. He said he recommended to the provincial board the declaration of the province under a state of calamity.

In Dagupan City, city administrator Alvin Fernandez said the city took a heavy blow from "Cosme."

"Dagupan City was badly hit but at the moment we cannot assess yet the damage to property for the very reason that it's massive," Fernandez said.

"The truth is that we are prepared for a calamity but not for this type… which was unexpected," he said.

At the Dagupan City Jail, inmates took advantage of the typhoon and the power failure Saturday night and engaged in a riot at 7 p.m. Three inmates escaped during the melee.

But a report at the provincial disaster coordinating council here said one inmate was rearrested.

Fernandez said Dagupan City would be declared under a state of calamity.

"It is just formality. Everyone already sees that we are already in a state of calamity. The fish pens, the crops are all destroyed. Most of the houses, especially those made of light materials, have been damaged," he said.

Bangus (milkfish) pens and ponds in the city also overflowed, allowing bangus to escape to the Lingayen Gulf.

As result, bangus prices went down from a range of P75 to P80 a kilogram to P25 a kg.

Several hardware stores in Calasiao, Pangasinan, ran out of supplies, especially nails, as many residents started rebuilding their damaged houses on Sunday.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Sunday inspected the typhoon damage in Pangasinan.

In Benguet, landslides that hit the province's interior roads led provincial disaster relief officials scrambling for loaders to clear blocked roads.

Cosme's continuous rains closed several provincial roads but several private contractors sent their equipment to clear these roads.

As of 11 a.m. Sunday, the following areas were closed to traffic: Guiset-Ambuklao-Guirrel in Kabayan and Bokod towns, Dalupirip and Twin River in Itogon town, Kennon Road in Tuba and Palew in Tublay.

The Barangay Pakpakitan section of the Halsema Highway in Buguias town was closed but Gov. Nestor Fongwan immediately sent a loader there to clear the area.

Fongwan said more loaders would be needed to clear landslide-hit sections of the 84-km Halsema Highway. The province has only two loaders and a bulldozer.

The highway passes through the major vegetable producing towns of La Trinidad, Tublay, Atok, Buguias and Kibungan in Benguet and Bauko in Mt. Province.

Fongwan allayed fears of lack of vegetable supply since the Halsema Highway along Atok, Tublay and Kibungan towns were open. He said the typhoon struck on Saturday and Sunday when there was no trading.

Two families in Barangay Alno in La Trinidad town escaped death when their houses were destroyed as Cosme crossed the province on Saturday night.

Juanna Banawe, provincial social welfare officer, said Waldo Manuel's house was crushed by rolling boulders while Daniel Aquino's family was able to move out before a strong current swept their house.

At least 21 houses in Sitios Toll Gate, Kiangan, Mill Site, Power and Green Valley in Barangay Camp 6 along Kennon Road were damaged by landslides.

Atok Mayor Concepcion Balao provided comic relief at the provincial disaster coordinating council center at the provincial capitol when she declared that classes in her town would be suspended.

She retracted the announcement after she realized schools were still closed for the summer break.

Roads leading to Ifugao and Mt. Province were closed due to several landslides.

Only Kennon Road, however, was closed among the major routes to and from Baguio City, reports from the Office of Civil Defense in the Cordillera said.

The OCD said two minor landslides were reported along Kennon Road but the agency ordered the road's closure as a "preventive measure."

The Nueva Vizcaya–Ifugao–Mt. Province road, Banaue-Hungduan road and Banaue-Mayoyao road were closed to traffic. Clearing operations started on Sunday.

In Baguio City, the OCD reported only two typhoon-related injuries in the city. A car passing by Bakakeng Road was lucky to miss a tree falling although Harvey Sevilla, 23, was hurt as a branch hit him.

Roger Damaso, 28, was also hit by a fallen branch while walking along a road in Barangay Camp 8. Both are now at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.

A house near the Dontogan Elementary School was covered by a landslide but the five family members living there were unhurt.

OCD reports showed that rainfall measured 206.86 millimeters on Sunday.

"The storm was not so strong but the rains were hard," an OCD official said.

The National Transmission Corp. (Transco) ordered half a meter opened in Ambuklao's gate valves to release excess water, but the firm had not been able to update OCD abut the water level at the dam on Sunday morning. Reports from Gabriel Cardinoza, Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes, Delmar Cariño, Frank Cimatu and Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon; and Tonette Orejas, Carmela Reyes and Robert Gonzaga, Inquirer Central Luzon; Nikko Dizon, Inquirer in Manila

= = =

Zambales, Pangasinan worst hit by 'Cosme' - NDCC

Zambales and Pangasinan are the provinces hit hardest by tropical storm "Cosme," according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

Anthony Golez Jr, NDCC deputy administrator said at least two people were reported injured in Baguio City, while several road networks were disrupted due to trees that felled by the storm, which is forecast to exit Philippine territory by Tuesday.

"So far, Zambales at Pangasinan ang may pinakamatinding pinsala (So far
Zambales and Pangasinan have been hit hardest)," Golez said in an interview on dzBB radio.

The Health department has ordered local medical teams to make sure epidemics do not break out in evacuation centers, according to Golez.

The health teams have instructions also to make sure children do not catch diseases while in evacuation centers.

Golez said Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr ordered the release of rice to families in areas affected by the storm.

As this developed, dzBB radio quoted a report from the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council saying that it might take a month before electric power in Pangasinan is restored.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said "Cosme" continues to weaken while traversing the mountainous terrain of Northern Luzon.

It said that as of 10 a.m., "Cosme" was 30 kilometers (km) east of Tuguegarao City, packing maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 100 kph.

"Cosme" was moving northeast at 19 kph and was expected to continue to cross Northern Luzon Sunday.

By Monday morning it was expected to be 370 km east-northeast of Aparri, Cagayan or at 330 km east-southeast of Basco, Batanes.

On Tuesday morning it is expected to be 1,030 km northeast of Basco, Batanes or at 440 kms east-southeast of Okinawa, Japan or outside the Philippine area of responsibility.

Under Storm Signal No. 2 are Batanes, Cagayan, Babuyan, and Isabela.

Under Storm Signal 1 are Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Apayao, Kalinga, Abra, Mountain Province, Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, Quirino, Benguet, Pangasinan and La Union.

"Cosme" will continue to enhance the southwest monsoon and bring occasional rains over Southern Luzon and Western Visayas.

Residents in low-lying areas and near mountain slopes were advised to take all the necessary precautions against possible flash floods and landslides.

Residents along the coastal areas of Western Luzon and Western Visayas were also alerted by Pagasa against big waves. - GMANews.TV

= = =

'Cosme' ravages Zambales town; 7,000 families homeless

Tropical storm "Cosme" has ravaged Sta. Cruz town in Zambales province, leaving about 7,000 families in the area homeless, according to Governor Ramon B. Lacbain

In an interview with radio dzBB on Sunday, Lacbain appealed for help for the residents of Sta. Cruz, after the storm wrecked an estimated 75 to 85 percent of the homes there.

As of posting time, there were only about 500 people who were evacuated to safer places, according to Lacbain. "Kagabi lang nag-evacuate kasi malalim ang tubig (We were able to evacuated them just last night because the water was deep)."

Santa Cruz, a second class municipality, has a population of 49,269 people in 9,754 households, based on the 2000 census. - GMANews.TV

How stolen vehicles are given new LTO papers

A FULL-BLAST investigation conducted by the Philippine National Police Traffic Management Group with the support of the Land Transportation Office enabled officials to find out how stolen motor vehicles are being sold in the local market complete with LTO registration papers.

“We have identified a number of LTO officials and men who appear to be liable in the anomalous registration schemes concerning stolen motor vehicles in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao,” said Chief Inspector Joseph Q. Orsos, head of the PNP-TMG Legal Service.

Orsos furnished the Journal Group copies of their investigation report on some of the LTO officers and men. The investigation was conducted with the help of LTO chief Alberto Suansing and his Legal and Internal Affairs Task Force.

He cited the case of former Tagbilaran City LTO district head Gavino L. Paden and verifier/encoder A.G. Petarco. In a report to TMG director, Chief Superintendent Perfecto P. Palad, Orsos said the two appear to be liable for anomalous registration when they allowed the transfer of registration of two Mitsubishi Adventures with license plates AHB-423 and AHE-415 which are supposed to have originated in Cordillera Administrative Region-LTO wherein in fact no confirmation was made in any district office of the Cordillera LTO.

Orsos said their verification from the Cordillera LTO showed that the motor vehicle file numbers used as their basis for the transfer of registration were for jitney and motorcycle as pointed out by Cordillera LTO officials.

The Adventure with plate no. AHB-423 was found out to be truly owned by one Concepcion Ramos and with original plate no. TVV-747. he said. The vehicle was stolen on June 19, 2001.

On the other hand, the Adventure with plate no. AHE-415 turned out to be owned by one Lorenzo Sibayan with original plate no. WSX-464. The vehicle was stolen in Sikatuna Village, Q.C., on June 7, 2001.

Orsos said that on the case of former Tarlac City LTO district head Luciano L. Llanillo and verifier/encoder L.S. de Vera, they appear to be liable for anomalous registration when they allowed the original registration of two motor vehicles-a Honda CRV with plate no. CSP-216 and a Mitsubishi Pajero with plate no. CSN-898-wherein the registration papers were issued even before the supposed ‘owners’ acquired the same.

Orsos said it turned out that the Confirmation Certificates were issued ahead of the Sales Invoices in that particular case at the Tarlac City LTO office.

He said that the Honda CRV turned out to be owned by Jean Pierre Tuazon of Mandaluyong City who lost his car with original plate no. FES-559 to heavily-armed car thieves in Pasig City on May 15, 2002. On the other hand, the Pajero was found to be owned by one Manolito Natividad who reported that the SUV with plate no. YOU-888 was stolen by car thieves along Herrera St. in Makati City on April 27, 2002.

The case of LTO Bislig district head in Surigao del Sur, Bedula R. Lipoles also involved the anomalous registration of a Toyota Fortuner, said Orsos. The TMG lawyer said that Lipoles allowed the original registration of the Fortuner with plate no. LMG-164 under the name of one Edmundo Pang Sr., wherein the supporting documents made it appear that the subject vehicle was imported but without any certificate of payment or listing from the Bureau of Customs.

Orsos said they also doubted if the LTO district in Bislig was allowed to originally register an imported motor vehicle as this is allowed only in certain districts of LTO in Regions 3,7 and National Capital Region. The subject vehicle recovered from the possession of professional basketball player Lordy Tugade was found to be the real property of Jose Marcial Villanueva with original plate no. VDZ-615. The SUV was stolen while parked in Araneta Avenue, Q.C. on Dec. 6, 2006.

There was also the case of an Isuzu Crosswind Wagon with plate no. XEA-609 owned by one Edgardo Grafilo that was stolen while parked in front of a hotel in Quezon Avenue, Q.C. on Nov. 28, 2002.

Orsos said that on Sept. 3, 2007, the vehicle already sporting the plate no. JBM-685 was intercepted by TMG agents in Dumaguete City while being driven by one Sylvia Sy Uymatiao. He said that the Crosswind was established to be the very vehicle of Grafilo upon expert or macro-etching examination which revealed that the chassis and enginenumbers are already tampered and that the restored numbers corresponded to Grafilo’s vehicle.

Orsos said they discovered that the wagon was registered at the Cebu City LTO under the name of one John L. Cabanes using the spurious file number of the Danao City LTO. Orsos said the same Cebu City LTO under Ms. Anita Pulga is being investigated for the anomalous registration of motor vehicles with plate numbers UMJ-979, LMA-667 and YOK-182. By: Alfred P. Dalizon - Journal online

10% wage hike to gov’t workers

Arroyo signs order granting 10% wage hike to gov’t workers

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has signed the executive order granting a 10 percent wage increase to all government workers, her spokesman said Thursday.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bune made the announcement Thursday, Labor Day.

The increase, expected to benefit 898,848 national government employees, will cost P9.216 billion, the budget department said.

Meanwhile the adjustment for the 297,905 soldiers, policemen, firemen, jail guards, and Coast Guard personnel will cost the government P2.84 billion, it said.

Senate OKs working students bill on second reading

By Veronica Uy - INQUIRER.net


MANILA, Philippines -- The Senate earlier this week passed on second reading a bill allowing, among others, more companies to hire working students and for working students to earn credits while working.

Senate Bill 2116, which seeks to amend the Special Program for the Employment of Students 16 years after its initial passage, was sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, chairman of the labor committee.

In his sponsorship speech, Estrada said SPES was originally set up in 1992 by Republic Act 7323 to encourage poor students to pursue their education through employment -- during summer and Christmas vacations for high school students and throughout the year for those in college or vocational schools.

He said some 984,840 students have benefited under SPES since 1995.

Under the system, SPES-registered employers pay 60 percent of the salaries of SPES-certified poor students in cash, while the government issues education vouchers worth 40 percent of their salaries to pay for tuition and book expenses. It is open to Filipinos between 15 and 25 years old.

The bill is expected to pass third reading next Tuesday, as no senator introduced any changes.

The Senate approved the following amendments to the current law:
• Change the requirement for companies that seek to qualify under SPES from having 50 employees down to 16;
• Grant academic credits to students employed in activities related to their courses;
• Require employers to inform student-workers of their rights, benefits, and privileges under existing laws and company policies;
• Penalize persons or entities who refuse or dishonor educational vouchers by the government; and
• Remove threshold amount (formerly pegged at P36,000) for maximum family income requirement.

"They earn and learn system of SPES has been extremely helpful in assisting poor but deserving students finance their education and open opportunities for employment. It also develops the productive work ethic of our young working students," Estrada said in a statement.

Citing statistics provided by labor regional offices, SPES has benefited in 2006 alone more than 60,000 students who were employed in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, electronics, and other industries all over the country.