DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje on Wednesday ordered the department's lawyers to start summary proceedings against personalities behind the smuggle try of some P35-million worth of turtles and corals seized from two container vans last May 1 aboard a vessel that came from Cotabato province.

Paje gave the order as he condemned the poachers and their financiers who, he said, “have practically robbed the present and future generations of Filipin...

THE government will tap the private sector and encourage volunteerism in a move to meet its target of halving the country’s 3.6 million housing gap by the time President Benigno S. Aquino III bows out of office in 2016.

“Since the resources of government are limited, we will fast-track the implementation of our sustainable communities, including the immediate development of other proclaimed sites for housing under PPP (Public Private Partnerships)schemes,” Vice President and Development ...

WITH the onset of rainy season, Senator Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to immediately insure all school buildings and properties in the country’s northeastern seaboard where disasters usually strike.

Escudero made his call as he pursued this plan together with the DepEd and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), who will serve as the education department’s insurance underwriter.

“When disaster ravages the country, one of the first to go down...

FORMER President and now Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wants the government to address the problem of compulsive gambling, calling it a “growing public health concern that needs immediate attention”.

In line with this, Arroyo has filed author of House Bill 3599, which seeks to lessen the social impact of the problem of gambling in the country by providing counseling support and information dissemination on its condition and treatment.

“Compulsive gambling is character...

SENATOR Manny Villar has proposed to reduce the working hours of all public school teachers to a six-hour per day or a total of a 30-hour workweek to make them more effective and productive.

“Teachers clamor for higher pay but shorter working hours. Their work schedule leaves them stressed out and exhausted. Reducing their number of working hours will allow them to have more time to innovate and enhance classroom teaching and result to a more productive workforce,” Villar said.

Villar filed...

THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has said it is planning to buy a submarine for the Philippine Navy (PN) to strengthen and improve its security capability.

AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Oban said the Navy’s Philippine Fleet is doing a study about the acquisition of such a submarine. It is conducted by the fleet’s office of plans and programs under Lt. Cmdr. Merlito Martinez.

The AFP chief stressed, however, that they are looking at the long-term prospects of acquiring a submarine...

SENATOR Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos,Jr., chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government, received the eleven members of the House of Regional Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, who called on him and whose main interest is to discuss the experiences of the Philippines in regulating and developing the whole local government system, including the Barangay as a community and public administrative unit.

The visit also served as a manifestation of potential expansion of diplomati...

SENATOR Manny Villar called on the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to crack down on licensed recruitment agencies that demand money in exchange for the retrieval of passports and other documents by job applicants.

The pro-OFW legislator said that his office has received reports about certain licensed agencies that withhold their passports and refuse to return them despite several months of waiting for their deployment to push through.

"I urge the Philippine Overseas Employm...

TO DRIVE home his seriousness and determination in fighting corruption, President Benigno S. Aquino III has put himself at the helm of the Cabinet Cluster on Good Governance and Anti-Corruption.

“Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap means that good governance will be our overarching strategy in pursuit of inclusive development. It also means that the President will be leading the charge against corruption,” Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad said.

“The President is serious a...

AS TESTAMENT of its commitment to help overseas Filpino workers (OFWs),  Puregold will put up a special booth during the 6th edition of its highly-successful "Tindahan ni Aling Puring Sari-sari Store Convention" that will be allocated for “modern-day heroes” who want to put up a sari-sari store.

 

OFWs and their families will be taught on how to start the business and have an alternative livelihood during the convention slated from May 18-21 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Vice Pres...

SOME of the biggest names in the business sector will impart their knowledge on how to start a small- and medium-scale business during the 6th Edition of Puregold’s "Tindahan ni Aling Puring Sari-sari Store Convention" from May 18-21, 2011 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

 

Dr. Francisco Colayco, a well-known entrepreneur, a venture developer and a financial advisor, leads the list of personalities who will tackle different aspects of business that would be helpful to would-be entrepr...

VICE President Jejomar Binay and Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) has been invited guest of honor and speaker during the opening ceremony of the 6th Puregold Sari-Sari Convention slated May 18-21, 2011 at the World Trade Center, Pasay City.

Big names in business as well as celebrities and Puregold endorsers in Boy Abunda, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon are also expected to grace the occassion.

And as testament of its commitment to help OFWs,  Puregold will put up a special b...

THE Senate Committee on Local Government will hold another public hearing in Marawi City next week before submitting its committee report on the Malacanang-backed proposal to postpone the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) polls originally scheduled for August this year to 2013.

Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, committee chairman, emphasized that there is a need to conduct further hearings as to provide the bases for any conclusions in the eventual committee report.

Marcos emphasiz...

President Aquino said the plan will allot government land to an initial 560,000 families (a third of the more than 1.4-million informal settlers in the whole country) determined to be “squatting” in Metro Manila.

He said a unique “opportunity” had presented itself after an inventory led by the Departments of Agriculture and Environment and Natural Resources had discovered that 1.5-million hectares of government land were readily available.

“We can give each of those 560,000 families t...

PRESIDENT Aquino has expressed full confidence in his Cabinet as he made it clear that he is not considering any revamp within the officials in the Executive department.

“I am empowered to reorganize the Executive branch to a large degree at any given time. Tinatanong ako kung may Cabinet revamp, kung sino ang papalitan ko, sabi ko, I’m happy with the Cabinet… so why should there be a revamp?” the Chief Executive said.

The President cited the dedicated performance of his Cabinet exertin...

By Ismael Adesas Amigo

OBVIOUSLY, Ombudswoman Merciditas Gutierrez finally succumbed to the political pressure heaped upon her by the Aquino Administration but she beat them to the draw by abruptly tendering her irrevocable resignation effective May 6, 2011.

The question now lingers: Will the nature of political vindictivism now stop and gear up to pro-people, pro-pregress thrust? 

Or, will the other GMA remnants like Prospero Pichay follow the same route and silently fade away from public servi...

UNSCRUPULOUS individuals may soon face stiffer penalty once a bill that addresses rampant smuggling of imported vehicles becomes a law.

Tarlac Rep. Jeci Lapus said House Bill 4362 seeks to squarely address the problem of smuggling of imported vehicles and penalize individuals involved in the illegal activity.

"The occurrence of registration of imported vehicles without clearances from the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) remains unabated despite existing laws," s...

THE Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) expects the Philippine aviation sector to regain its Category 1 status from the United States Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) within the year.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to get back the FAA’s Category 1 rating within the year or early next year,” Glicerio V. Sicat, DOTC undersecretary for civil aviation and railways, said.

Sicat said the upgrade of the country's aviation sector will allow local airlines to expand their ...

THE Reproductive Health (RH) bill issue has turned into a virtual "religious war" after the influential Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) and other religious groups expressed support behind the controversial piece of legislation.

The INC, which has about six million members and is known to vote as a bloc, said it is "ready to support the bill on reproductive health as long as there are no immoral elements in them."

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), for its part, has strongly oppo...