by admin | Nov 19, 2014 | Headlines, National News
Over 200,000 OFWs to benefit from UK’s new minimum wage rates
Over 200,000 OFWs to benefit from UK’s new minimum wage rate
Over 200,000 overseas Filipino workers are to benefit from the new national minimum wage rates the UK’s Low Pay Commission has recommended for workers in the United Kingdom, and which took effect on October 1, 2014, Secretary of Labor and Employment Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said yesterday.
Baldoz, citing a report of Philippine Labor Attache to the UK Joan Lavilla, said the new minimum wage rates apply to workers 21 years old and above; 18-20 years old; under 18 years old; and apprentices.
For workers 21 years old and above, Lavilla, in her report, said the new minimum wage rate has increased by 19 pence (P13.69), from UK pound 6.31 (P454.70) to UK pound 6.50 per hour (P468.39), or three percent increase.
“This is the new effective adult rate minimum wage in the UK,” Lavilla said.
As recommended by the LPC, the new minimum wage rates for the applicable age brackets are as follows:
- For 18 to 20 year olds, from UK pound 5.03 (P362.46) to UK pound 5.13 per hour (P369.67), or two percent increase;
- For 16 to 17 year olds, from UK pound 3.72 (P268.06) to UK pound 3.79 per hour (P273.11), or two percent increase; and
- For apprentices, from UK pound 2.68 (P193.12) to UK pound 2.73 per hour (P196.72), or two percent increase.
OFWs in the United Kingdom consist of nurses, radiologists, therapists, caregivers, and some household service workers. (DOLE/PCOO)
by admin | Nov 19, 2014 | Headlines, National News
MANILA, Nov. 18 (PIA)–Dili lamang ang mga opisyal sa gobyerno ang angay mangandam sa pag-abot sa mga kalamidad sa nasud.
Tungod niini, nipahigayon og pulong-pulong ang National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Council (NDRRMC) dungan sa International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction alang sa mga elderly ug persons with disability kabahin sa kun unsa ang ilang mahimo sa panahon sa kalamidad.
Matud pa ni Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia and the Pacific Sen. Loren Legarda, walay gipiling edad ang kalamidad mao nga angay nga matag miyembro sa pamilya adunay kahibalo kun unsaon pagluwas ang ilang mga kaugalingon.
“Resilience should be an attitude it should be part of our way of life, ang ating paghahanda sa mga natural hazards na nangyayari ay napakahalaga para hindi na mangyari muli ang nangyari sa Ondoy, Sendong, Pablo at Yolanda,” matud pa ni Legarda.
Dugang pa ni Legarda, kulang pa ang kaandam sa matag usa sa panahon sa kalamidad apan dili pa ulahi aron hingosgan kini.
Matud pa usab ni NDRRMC Usec. Alexander Pama nga mahinungdanon ang kahibalo ug kasinatian sa matag usa aron maluwas sa unsa mang kalamidad ang moabot sa nasud.
Matud pa sa NDRRMC, ang Pilipinas vulnerable o dayag sa mga kalamidad diin mokabat sa 20 ka bagyo ang moigo sa nasud matag tuig, gawas pa sa mga dili matagnang linog mao nga angay lamang mahimong andam ang matag usa. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)
by admin | Nov 19, 2014 | Headlines, National News
MANILA, Nov. 18 (PIA)–Gipahayag ni Presidente Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III nga sa pagtinabangay sa tanan, nagbunga na ang mga gipatumang reporma sa administrasyong Aquino.
Gisulti kini ni PNoy sa iyang pagtambong sa ika-75 anibersaryo sa Department of National Defense (DND) kagahapon diin gilusad ang Philippine Defense Transformation Roadmap 2018.
“Ngayon po dumating na tayo sa sandali kung talagang saan may tinatawag tayong virtous cycle. May katahimikan tayo. Nagkakaroon ng pagkakataon ang ating ekonomiyang umusbong at lalo talagang yumabong. Pagdating naman po noong nagkakaroon ng estado, ng dagdag na kakayahang talagang paglingkuran ang ating mga kababayan, lahat ng ginagawa nating pagtutulungang ito ang siyang nagpapamadali na maabot natin ang gusto nating madatnan,” matud pa sa Pangulo.
Gi-ila ni PNoy ang nahimong kontribusyon sa departamento sa Defense sa repormang gipatuman sa administrasyong Aquino.
Nahimong kahigayonan usab ang maong programa aron mahatagan sa Pangulo og mga pasidunggog ang mga miyembro sa Defense department.
10 ka indibidwal ang nakadawat og outstanding achievement medal, Philippine legion of honor nga adunay ranggong officer ug legionnaire.
Sukad Hunyo 2010 hangtud Oktubre 2014, mikabat na sa P41.38 bilyon ang pondong gigahin alang sa AFP Modernization and Capability Upgrade Program.
Uban niini, 46 na ang nakumpletong proyekto apil na ang dugang mga kagamitan sama sa mga barko ug helicopters.
Dungan niini, subling gipahayag sa Pangulo ang gihimong pagpaningkamot sa administrasyong Aquino nga ihatag sa mga sundalo ang mga benepisyong angay kanila sama sa pabalay ug pension. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)
by admin | Nov 18, 2014 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
Loon, Maribojoc uplift as nat’l geologic monument?
NATURAL MONUMENT? Seas off Loon and Maribojoc retreated from 50-100 meters seaward as the earthquake in 2013 uplifted these shorelines. When the phenomena exposed interesting geological data, the DENR mulls on declaring these over 11 kilometer shorelines as protected. Fishermen fear, they may lose their access to the sea. (RAC/PIABohol)
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, November 18, (PIA) –-The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) considers declaring the uplifted shores of Loon and Maribojoc a National Geological Monument (NGM), but residents in these areas may not like it.
An eventual declaration of the uplifted areas could mean limited access to the fishermen and residents who have live life of gleaning, spear-fishing and other marine-related activities, a local artist and self-confessed environment advocate feared.
According to Rene Eune Ponte, a declaration may mean the national government taking full control and management of the area, to the detriment of communities who live by the shorelines, having a say at what is best for them.
Made an irritating issue between government and fishermen who started building boat-huts across the 50-100 meters so they could be closer when the waters retreated after the earthquake, the uplifted reefs now become a DENR object for preservation and conservation.
A year ago, a devastating earthquake shook Bohol and its neighboring provinces. This resulted in the uplift of portions of the intertidal zone within waters of Loon and Maribojoc in western Bohol.
And, for various reasons, the uplift becomes an object of interest of the community members, scientists, national and local governments, land use planners, and private individuals.
This pushed the DENR Secretary to consider the declaration of the area as NGM by the National Committee on Geological Sciences (which is under the DENR).
The DENR believes by so doing, it assures protection and conservation of the features exposed after the October 15, 2013 co-seismic uplift, according to a paper submitted by the DENR Mines and Geo sciences Bureau (MGB).
Earlier, an MGB team undertook a rapid assessment of the uplifted coastal zone in Loon and Maribojoc.
“The uplifted area is a predominantly marine carbonate platform with patch coral reefs stretching from north of Loon town center southward and eastward to Barangay Guiwanon in Maribojoc,” a line in their report reads.
The team concluded that the approximately 11.5 kilometers length of emerged shore, mostly ranging in width from 200-250 meters, is the pre-earthquake foreshore (or intertidal) zone.
“Based on the present height of the notches that mark the pre-earthquake eroding zone and high tide line, the earthquake raised the rocky shoreline and adjoining foreshore by at least 0.7 meters with a consequent seaward regression of the high tide line by about 50-100 meters,” their observations stated.
Within the intertidals, MGB pointed out that everything in from coral patches and breaks in the rocks accentuating the monotonous landscape, to the shells and other evidences of the former biota of the intertidal zone, the regenerating mangroves; all are of “geoscientific and ecological importance.”
“The features should be conserved and protected for the appreciation of present and future generations, and to educate the public on geological phenomena associated with tectonics as well as biological and ecological succession of various species of plants and animals that normally follow abrupt changes in the environment,” the reports bared.
For this, the DENR recommends a 2-stage Action Plan for the coastal areas’ preservation, as in the designation of a Geo-conservation Site by the secretary and to be followed by detailed studies for the formulation of a Management Plan and establishment of a Bohol Geopark that would include the uplifted area as one of the areas of geological significance.
A marker or signage with the Declaration will put up the explanation of the geological phenomenon that led to the uplift and exposed features that are of scientific and educational significance and worthy of preservation for its ecological and geo tourism value.
The designation hopes to protect locally and nationally important geological and ecological site; increase public awareness, understanding and enjoyment of the landscape, rocks, fossils, biota and provide an environment for learning about local geology including how certain geological phenomenon can abruptly change the landscape and biota.
Then, a detailed study on the formulation of Conservation and Management Plan as well as the establishment of the Bohol Geopark leads to the endorsement of the proclamation of the area as natural monument under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS).
The Bohol Geopark establishment will raise to international community the geo/eco tourism values of the Uplifted Terrane and the many other tourist areas in the province of Bohol, said the MGB in its recommendation.
But for residents, when the DENR starts solo managing the site, small fishermen would bear the brunt.
“See, we have to manually haul our boats from the boat-houses on the base of the cliffs across 50-100 meters of dried intertidal zones, and finding a way is no joke. How could we do that when the area could not be opened for our access?, a fisherman asked.
Why don’t we allow the people to decide what to do with the area, the same fisherman asked in Cebuano.
Maybe, they can allow the town to manage the area and find portion of the areas suitable for scientific study, others for livelihood, tourism activities and sports and recreation sites, he suggested. (RAC/PIABohol)
by admin | Nov 17, 2014 | Headlines, National News
Malacañang reduces taxes, penalties for independent power producers
Malacañang said on Sunday that President Benigno Aquino III signed an Executive Order that grants the reduction and condonation of real property taxes and interest/penalties for independent power producers (IPP).
In the radio interview with dzRB Radyo ng Bayan, Presidential Communication Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr., said Executive Order 173 covers real property taxes and interest/penalties assessed on the power generation facilities of IPPs under build-operate-transfer contracts with government-owned and/or -controlled corporations.
Pursuant to the executive order, real property taxes imposed by LGUs for all years up to 2014 on “property, machinery, and equipment actually and directly used by IPPs for the production of electricity under a build-operate-transfer contract will be reduced to an amount equivalent to the tax due with computed date on assessment level of 15 percent of the fair market value of said property, machinery, and equipment depreciated at the rate of two percent per annum less any amounts already paid by the IPPs.”
Coloma said this is to prevent any liabilities from the part of the National Power Corporation that could lead to an increase or spike in the cost of electricity.
President Aquino signed the EO last October 31, 2014.
“The same executive order also stated that “all fines, penalties, and interest on such deficiency, real property tax liabilities are also hereby condoned and the concerned IPPs are relieved from payment thereof,” Coloma continued. (PCOO)
