Day: June 11, 2023

The House of Representatives passed 577 bills on final reading during the First Regular Session, including 33 of the 42 priority bills of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. as listed by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council. The House will continue to perform at a fast pace for the rest of the 19th Congress, assured Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers in a news release on Sunday. ‘Speaker Romualdez knows that time is of the essence that’s why he can easily tune out from all the political noise. We will follow his lead,” Barbers said. Barbers said the House-approved measures have both quality and quantity, boosted by the fact that Romualdez is one of the President’s most trusted allies in the legislature. “A lot is riding on the work of the government. In fact, there are over 31 million who bought into the President’s notion of a better and more comfortable life. This promise will come to fruition if the legislature and executive continues to tread a united path,” Barbers said. Quezon City 1st District Rep. Mark Enverga said the strong synergy between the House of Representatives and the Palace is the key to the notable First Regular Session performance. ‘We could not have done this without the synergy we have with Malacañang. The teamwork made all of these possible. This is why we have to further strengthen this harmonious relation with the administration of President Marcos,’ Enverga said in another news release.

Source: Philippines News Agency

A lawmaker is pushing for a measure that implements an alert system against kidnapping and other crimes. In his Senate Bill No 2256 or the Philippine Amber Alert Act, Senator Mark Villar said in a news release issued Sunday that kidnapping and other forms of crimes can be easily solved through the system which provides the public with immediate and up-to-date information regarding a missing or kidnapped child through a widespread media broadcast on television, radio and wireless devices. The system, first developed in the United States, aimed to involve community members to search for the kidnapped child and suspect. The AMBER Alert system, or America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, is the namesake of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was abducted while riding her bike in Arlington, Texas on Jan. 13, 1996, and found dead four days later about eight kilometers away from where she was last seen. The system is designed to inform the general public quickly when a child has been kidnapped and is in danger so “the public would be alerted.’ The bill will provide a mechanism that will quickly disseminate information in case of kidnapping or disappearance of a child at risk of death or serious injury. Under the proposed measure, the Philippine Alert System shall be established and maintained by the Department of Interior and Local Government in cooperation with other relevant government agencies, broadcast media entities, and social media platforms. An Amber Alert may only be activated after the following conditions have been met: abduction or kidnapping has been confirmed and the victim is a child (17 years old and below); victim is at risk of serious bodily injury or death; sufficient information available to disseminate to the public that could assist in the recovery of the missing or abducted child; annd alert coordinator determines that activation of the alert is necessary. ‘Any person who knowingly and falsely activates an Amber Alert or who provides false information regarding the abduction or disappearance of a child shall be penalized with imprisonment of not less than two years and not more 10 than six years and a fine of not less PHP 500,000 and not more than PHP1 million,’ the bill states. (With a report from Leonel Abasola

Source: Philippines News Agency

The Department of Labor and Employment-Zamboanga Peninsula (DOLE-9) will conduct a job fair offering 4,055 vacancies in line with the celebration of the 125th Independence Day on Monday. DOLE-9 director Albert Gutib said the ‘Araw ng Kalayaan’ (Freedom Day) job fair at KCC Mall de Zamboanga will be participated in by 44 topnotch firms both for local and overseas employment. ‘Topping the list for available occupations are nurses, production workers, service crew, delivery workers, household workers and hotel staff, among others,’ he said. The country’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.5 percent in April 2023, from 5.7 percent in the same month last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. Across regions, Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) posted the highest employment rate of 97.6 percent, followed by Cordillera Administrative Region (97.3%), Region 9 (97.3%), Mimaropa (97.1%), and Region 8 or Eastern Visayas (97%). Gutib said applicants may pre-register through the job fair manager accessible via https://dole9.org/jfm, an online system with a user-friendly interface that makes it easier to navigate the online process. ‘The employers and vacancies are posted so they can choose the positions that match their qualifications,’ he added. Gutib advised jobseekers to prepare multiple copies of application documents: resume or curriculum vitae, identification pictures, certificates of employment for those who were previously employed, diploma and/or transcript of records, and an authenticated birth certificate.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The government carefully studied and analyzed petitions to increase toll fees, assured Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Sunday. Diokno issued the statement after the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corp. announced that it would implement an increase in toll fees starting June 15. “The NLEX rate increase is for staggered implementation – not a one-time implementation. It is staggered over several years,” Diokno told reporters in a Viber message. “The (petitions to) increase (toll fees) piled up because of the inaction of previous administrations. The Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration had to act on petitions from 2010. The petitions were carefully studied and analyzed. They were approved objectively and fairly.’ NLEX earlier said the Toll Regulatory Board approved the toll rate adjustment and authorized the implementation of an additional PHP7 in the open system and PHP0.36 per kilometer in the closed system. The new rates were part of the authorized NLEX periodic adjustments due in 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2020. Under the new toll fee matrix, motorists traveling anywhere within the open system will pay an additional PHP7 for Class 1 vehicles (regular cars and sports utility vehicles), PHP17 for Class 2 vehicles (buses and small trucks), and PHP19 for Class 3 vehicles (large trucks). The open system is from Metro Manila in the cities of Navotas, Valenzuela and Caloocan to Marilao, Bulacan, while the closed system covers the portion between Bocaue, Bulacan and Sta. Ines, Mabalacat City, Pampanga, including the Subic Freeport Expressway (formerly Subic-Tipo). Those traveling NLEX end-to-end between Metro Manila and Mabalacat City will pay an additional PHP33 for Class 1, PHP81 for Class 2 and PHP98 for Class 3 vehicles. Diokno said the government needs to perform its contractual obligations. “We’re promoting PPPs [public-private partnerships]. And the government will have no credibility as a partner if it does not comply with its contractual obligations under past PPP contracts,” he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Typhoon Chedeng further weakened and accelerated as it moves north northeastward over the Philippine seas, according to the 11 a.m. weather bulletin on Sunday. It is forecast to leave the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) at night. Heavy rainfall is unlikely in the next three days but the southwest monsoon (habagat) enhanced by Chedeng will bring occasional to monsoon rains over the western portions of Luzon and Visayas during the same period, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). Batanes, Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Nueva Vizcaya, Central Luzon, Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, and Western Visayas can expect wet conditions throughout Sunday. The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms, also due to the southwest monsoon and localized thunderstorms. While the effect of Chedeng on the monsoon will decrease as it moves further away from the PAR, the formation of a frontal system north of extreme Northern Luzon will continue to mainly enhance the southwest monsoon from Tuesday onwards and affect most of Luzon, especially the western and extreme northern portions. Gusty conditions will still continue over most of Luzon from Tuesday onwards as the southwest monsoon will be enhanced by another weather system. Sunset is at 6:25 p.m.

Source: Philippines News Agency