by aimee | Feb 13, 2013 | National News
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Feb. 13 (PIA)–MAGPADAYON ang implementasyon sa airtime limit rule human wala ni-isyu og temporary restraining order ang Korte Suprema batok niini.
Gimanduan sa SC—sa ilang en banc session—ang Commission on Elections (Comelec) nga tubagon sulod sa 10 ka adlaw ang mga alegasyong nakalatid sa manag-lahing petisyo nga giduso sa GMA Network Corp. ug ABC Broadcasting Corp. (TV5).
Sa usa ka pahayag, miingon si Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. nga ilang gi-konsiderar nga “good news” ang maong lakang sa SC ug ila nang gi-andam ang gipangayong komento sa korte kalabot sa gidusong petisyon sa GMA7 ug TV5 aron babagan ang implementasyon sa aggregated airtime limit nga 120 minutes sa TV ug 180 minutes sa tanang estasyon sa radyo.
Sa habig sa Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters ng Pilipinas (KBP), gitumbok nila ang hugot nga patakaran sa airtime sa mga political ads nga nangahulugan usab sa posibilidad nga dili na maabot sa impormasyon kalabot sa mga kandidato ang mga katawhang tua sa lagyong lugar.
Apan gitumbok ni Brillantesa nga ang ilang gipatuman agig pagsunod lamang sa nakalatid ubos sa Fair Election Act.
Tungod niini, si Brillantes nagkanayon nga hingpit na nilang ipatuman ang balaod ug pag-monitor sa campaign hours sa mga kandidato tungod kay wala may TRO nga gipagawas ang korte. (PIA-Bohol/ecb/i-gg)
Comelec, nipasidaan sa mga lokal nga kandidatong nakigdungan
sa kampanya sa mga senatorial ug party-list bets
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Feb. 13 (PIA)–NIHULGA og diskwalipikasyon ang Commission on Elections (Comelec) sa mga lokal nga pulitikong nakigdungan sa pagpangampanya karon sa mga senatorial ug party-list group candidates.
Gahapon, nagsugod ang 90 ka adlaw nga kampanya sa national candidates, apan nabantayang pipila ka local politicians ang nakikaway usab sa publiko.
Matud pa sa komisyon, sa Marso 29 pa magsugod ang opisyal nga campaign period alang sa mga modagan sa regional, provincial, city ug municipal positions.
Parehong mahuman ang kampanya sa Mayo 11, duha ka adlaw sa dili pa ang adlaw sa piniliay.
Giingong mag-atubang og election offense o diskwalipikasyon ang mapamatud-ang sayo nangampanya.
Samtang gikalipay usab sa Comelec ang daghang sumbong nga gipaabot sa publiko pinaagi sa ilang social media. (PIA-Bohol/ecb/i-gg)
by aimee | Feb 13, 2013 | National News
PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III signed the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act that plugs the loopholes in the existing law to effectively fight such offense, the Palace confirmed on Wednesday.
Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the signing of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act will make the government’s fight against human trafficking more effective.
A year ago, the US State Department removed the Philippines from the Tier 2 category in its Annual Trafficking in Person report but the country remains in the watchlist.
“We’re still in the watchlist. We would like to improve our standing in the watchlist and we hope that, with this expanded coverage of anti-trafficking, we will be able to remove ourselves from the watchlist,” Lacierda said.
“This is a concern and a priority of the President and this measure will be enforced by the different agencies, especially the Department of Justice as well as our police agencies.”
Lawmakers has called on the President to immediately sign the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act to address human trafficking in the country particularly in disaster areas where women and children were being victimized.
The expanded law is a strengthened version of the Anti-Trafficking Law, covering attempted trafficking. It has accessory or accomplice liability, which covers more related acts and individuals.
Recruitment in the guise of domestic or overseas employment for sexual exploitation, forced labor or involuntary debt bondage, can now be considered human trafficking.
Also, included in the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act are recruitment of any Filipino woman to marry a foreigner, engagement in sex tourism, recruitment for organ removal and recruitment of a child to engage in armed activities abroad are human trafficking and punishable under the law. (PND)
by mikocanares | Feb 12, 2013 | Opinion
For the last half of 2012, I was desperate to find a decent bank willing to lend me money to finish my house at an interest rate that I can afford. My wife, another Certified Public Accountant in the house besides myself, went through an options analysis including the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) and a few commercial banks that promise interest holidays, or low interest rates, or fast processing and so on and so forth. She found out that when one borrows from HDMF at an amount beyond Php750,000, the interest rates converge with that of commercial banks so we decided to apply a housing loan from both PS Bank and Bank of Commerce.
The experience was not that pleasant. Both banks were slow at responding to request for information and failed several times to get back to us as to the status of our applications. PS Bank, for example, treats us as miserable clients, not worthy to be lent some money despite our positive and highly liquid cash position, because our access road is not yet developed though it exists. In an age of cash-flow lending, its lending system is stuck to collateral issues that despite our explanation, our application got disapproved twice. They told us we need to pave our access road so that our loan will be approved. That time they did this assessment, our house was already 60% complete.
Bank of Commerce, on the other hand, eventually lent us the money, but not without making us feel miserable as well. They said that after application, we will be able to get the approval we need and the first release in a month’s time. After two months and after exhausting our savings, nothing happened. All promises and a string of requirements; not until I burst in anger towards the close of 2012 did we get a positive response. Both my wife and I felt that the bank employees enjoyed our powerlessness; they enjoyed hearing our pleas for consideration.It made us realize that banks exist not for financially insignificant people like my wife and me. But we continued pleading to almost the point of losing our sense of dignity. Had we the choice, we would not go through the same experience again.
Banks, or financial access to banks, are just for the rich. I should say. Or with our case, the persistent poor who got angry towards the end.
In Abhijit Banerjee’s and Esther Duflo’s book, PoorEconomics, they posited the argument that “credit constraints are likely to be much tighter for very poor borrowers than for somewhat richer ones”. However, they also presented cases, where capable, educated people, with strong business models were never trusted by banks. They also presented cases that those that lent to the poor are not your banks – these are micro-finance institutions like Yunus’ Grameen in Bangladesh, Padmaja’s Spandana in India, or TSKI in the Philippines. Banks are not for the poor. When the world’s largest micro-finance institutions start to behave like banks, they might also start to lose the advocacies that in the first place, gave birth to their existence. Microfinance institutions then, are the options for the poor, as these institutions offer lesser interest rates than usurious money lenders, but less stringent in terms of requirements as compared to banks.
But where will those in the middle range of the income spectrum, like me, go? Surely, banks find us less bankable and more risky. Microfinance institutions will also find us ineligible.There are limited options for us, as there are limited options for the poor. In one study we conducted at the end of December 2012 in 11 agricultural barangays in Batuan, Duero, Guindulman, Pilar, and Sierra Bullones, we found out that the poor could not access banks, not even microfinance institutions as indicated in the graph below:
When I talked with a friend who teaches at a local university here in Tagbilaran as to her sources of credit, she mirrored the results of the community study as depicted in the graph above. Banks have not granted her loan. If she needs immediate cash, she goes to her friends and family. For bigger requirements, she borrows from the employee’s cooperative to which she is a member. But at one time in her life, she wanted to put up a business venture but failed to do so because no single bank would finance her business and she was rated “not credit worthy”.
Banerjee and Duflo’s book, while not necessarily referring to the middle income group said that these borrowers “run the risk of being too large for the traditional moneylenders and microfinance agencies but too small for the banks”. Funding this set of people with financing needs will remain a challenge.
So you’re planning to go to the bank for your financing needs? Think again.
This post is written by Michael P. Cañares. This is also available at http://www.boholanalysis.com.
by aimee | Feb 12, 2013 | Local News / Bohol Balita
(Former Trinidad Mayor Judith “Bb” Cajes as she delivered her message )
The LGU-Trinidad through its members of the Water Sanitation-Technical Working Group has conducted a 3- day leadership and water governance seminar last February 4-6, 2013 at the Trinidad Municipal Center of this municipality.
The activity was participated in by all the members of the Board of Directors of the 16 Barangay Water Service Associations or BAWASA being the end-users of the LGU-Trinidad-Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig sa Lahat Program or SALINTUBIG Program.
The objective of the seminar according to Engr. Peolito G. Orioque, municipal engineer and member of the LGU-Trinidad water sanitation technical working group, is to enhance the basic leadership skills and capacity building of the members of the BAWASA-Board of Directors.
The seminar was attended by former mayor Judith “Bb” Del Rosario-Cajes and during her speech she reminded all the participants regarding the expected output of the seminar in which according to her is for the members of the BAWASA-Board of Directors to become self reliant in managing their respective potable water system particularly in maintaining its operation and its project sustainability in the long run.
Moreover, the former mayor also cited that one of the major concerns of the Administration of Mayor Roberto “Ondoy” Cajes is to have an affordable and safe potable water system in all barangays of Trinidad so that it could effectively help combat various water related deceases and to bring down as well the prevailing poverty incidence in his municipality.
The resource persons of the seminar were Mr. Jose Roel Tumarao, MLGOO and Engr Peolito Orioque, while the Community Organizers of the LGU-Trinidad SALINTUBIG project acted as facilitators.
The barangays with the existence of LGU-Trinidad SALINTUBIG project are Poblacion, Guinobatan, Tagum Norte, Tagum Sur, Soom, Catoogan, San Vicente, Kinan-oan, Mabuhay Cabiguhan, Sto Tomas, Hinlayagan Ilaya, Bongbong, Banlasan, San Isidro and kauswagan while the remaining four barangays are still in the process of further study and validation.
The SALINTUBIG project is a joint effort of LGU-Trinidad, Department of Health ( DOH ), Department of the Interior and Local Government ( DILG ) and the National Anti-Poverty Commission ( NAPC ).
by aimee | Feb 12, 2013 | Headlines, National News
MALACAÑANG has joined the rest of the Catholic world in expressing regret over the shocking resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
In a statement issued late Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda expressed hope that the Pope may find “peace and contentment” upon his resignation on February 28.
The 85-year-old Pontiff announced on Monday that he would resign citing old age and weariness in performing his duties as leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics.
The German-born leader of the Catholic Church revealed his historic decision in Latin during a meeting of Vatican cardinals making him the first pontiff to resign in 600 years.
“Not only the Catholic world, but all peoples and nations of goodwill are filled with great regret as news comes of Pope Benedict XVI announcing he intends to relinquish the Petrine Ministry on February 28 of this year,” Lacierda said.
“At this time, when the Pope has announced the physical challenges he faces makes it difficult to continue bearing the burdens of his office, we join the Catholic world and all whose lives he has touched, in prayer and sympathy. May he find respite from his physical challenges, and peace and contentment in the seclusion of retirement,” he added.
The Palace official praised the Pope for showing humility by resignation describing his move as an “act of supreme faith”.
“Pope Benedict XVI’s decision, historic as it is, is in keeping with humility and pastoral approach he has placed at the core of his service as Pope. It is also an act of supreme faith in the institution he has headed, and the faith he has proclaimed to the world. We pause in human sympathy with Pope Benedict XVI in his acknowledgement of the great physical burden of his office,” he said.
Lacierda recalled the “prayers and comforting words” the Pope has dedicated to Filipinos during times of calamities.
“We recall, in particular, with fond gratitude, the many prayers and comforting words Pope Benedict XVI has dedicated to Filipinos in times of calamity and challenge, and his words of encouragement and witness in the many Catholic events that have brought Catholics together, such as the recent canonization of San Pedro Calungsod,” he said.
The conclave of cardinals is expected to be held in March within 15 or 20 days of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
A new pope is expected to be elected before Easter Sunday on March 31.
“We hope and pray the Catholic Church and the Holy See will emerge from the coming period of the Sede Vacante, the conclave to come, with the election of a new Pope prepared to take up the great burdens and expectations of the Catholic faithful worldwide,” said Lacierda. (PCOO)
