by admin | Dec 2, 2015 | National News
BSP MANILA, December 1 (PIA) –Over the mounting complaints of the hard to distinguish colors of the New Generation Currency (NGC) which the central bank is circulating as legal tender, a key official of the BangkoSentral ng Pilipinas(BSP) said it is high time that people should read and not just look.
In 2010, the BSP started replacing the New Design Series (NDS) of banknotes which started circulation in 1985.
As the BSP is slowly demonetizing the 30 year old NDS, the NGC replaces it as legal tender, explains BSP deputy governor DiwaGuinigundo, at a forum held at the central bank’s conference room, December 1.
The NGC is still using generally the same color schemes as the NDS, with a little bit of tweaking, brightening up the colors, BSP said.
But with the new development, the central bank has accordingly received complaints about the hard to distinguish colors that are now being used.
Complaints bared that the P500 bill, which is yellow can be easily taken as P20, which is close to being orangey. The blue P1000 is also having an uncanny appearance of the P100.
But, BSP Deputy governorGuinigundo downplayed the issue saying “there is an extra zero in P1000.”
“The solution is a society that reads, we need to teach our people to read and not just look at the colors, Guinigundo urged information center managers from all over the country gathered at the BSP.
Pressing for proof on his claims, the deputy governor pointed out that dollar economies only have green banknotes, and still they do not have problems.
We have simply added the colors of the banknotes to help people determine the money, he noted.
Unless one is so drunk or visually incapacitated, he can not really be expected to correctly identify the money, Guinigundo added.
Among the new colors are bright orange (P20), bright red (P50), ube (P100), bright green (P200), bright yellow (P500) and bright blue P1000.
As this floods the markets, the older NDS become unacceptable as legal tender for daily transactions starting January 1, 2016. On this date, only the NGC would be used for daily transactions, Guinigundo said.
Over this, authorities are asking people to spend their old banknotes now before they can not be accepted as legal payments come January 1.
Failing to do that, holders of old banknotes would have to exchange such in the banks, as these financial institutions are still mandated to accept the notes for exchange until the end of 2016. (rac/PIA-7/Bohol)
by admin | Dec 1, 2015 | National News
With the guessing game on whether Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will run or not now settled, the new guessing game is: who will stick with the other three presidential aspirants?
At least two analysts have predicted that Duterte’s entry will disrupt the existing political configurations particularly in Mindanao.
Mon Casiple said Duterte’s last-minute entry into the presidential race “has changed the political equation, ensuring a free-for-all among five candidates next year.”
Casiple, executive director of Institute for Political Reform, predicted that Duterte “will certainly get the Mindanao and Cebu votes.”
Meanwhile, Malou Tiquia of PUBLICOS Asia Inc. went even farther, predicting that Duterte will be a “game-changer”.
Tiquia, who hosts “Agenda” on CNN Philippines, said Duterte will take support away from Poe and Roxas.
Duterte caught political watchers in the National Capital Region by surprise when he stormed into the lead in the latest Pulse Asia survey.
The tough-talking Davao mayor cornered the nod of one-third of the the respondents, posting a commanding 34%, dislodging erstwhile topnotcher Sen. Grace Poe who fell to second with her 26%.
Vice Mayor Jejomar Binay dropped to third, four percentage points behind Poe at 22% while administration bet Mar Roxas plummeted even farther to fourth at 11%.
Sen. Miriam Santiago brought up the rear with 7%.
It will be recalled that many Mindanao politicians who had earlier express support for Duterte’s candidacy eventually settled for other candidates when the latter refused to beat the deadline last Oct. 17.
Duterte’s re-entry now poses headaches for the former as Mindanao and even Cebu are experiencing a sudden surge of regional pride.
In Davao provinces, rival politicians have already opened contact lines with the mayor’s camp to express support for his bid. Even former Speaker Prospero Nograles has openly declared his support for Duterte in spite of their bitter and protracted political rivalry in Davao.
Sources in the Duterte camp note a similar scenario shaping up in other Mindanao provinces and some areas in the Visayas particularly Cebu.
As the campaign period draws near, one question lurks on many people’s mind: who will be brave enough to go upstage and sit beside the other presidential candidates at the risk of antagonizing Duterte fanatics?
It won’t be a simple act because in doing so they put their candidacies on the line in the southern regions who see in Duterte their first real chance of finally seeing one of their own in Malacanang. (CHITO A. FUENTES)
by admin | Dec 1, 2015 | National News
This holiday season when gift checks are sometimes used in making purchases for officemates and friends, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) once again reminds the public to make sure that the gift certificates they bought from stores or retailers do not have expiration dates.
Under DTI Administrative Order No. 10-04 titled “Guidelines on the Issuance, Use and Redemption of Gift Checks, Certificates or Gift Cards,” all suppliers, issuers, distributors and sellers are prohibited from issuing or selling certificates or cards with expiry dates.
Though not legal tender like real money, gift certificates are good as cash, thus, DTI intends to regulate its use to protect consumers and ensure that they are not unduly deprived of their money.
The DTI identifies gift checks, certificates and gift cards as an instrument issued by a supplier to an individual, partnership or a juridical entity for monetary consideration evidencing a promise by the issuer that consumer goods or services will be exchanged in favor of the bearer upon presentation of said gift certificate/ check/ card to the value, credit, specific good, service or event shown in the instrument.
DTI added that all gift checks/certificates/cards with no expiry dates shall be redeemable until used by the bearer.
Commercial establishments or suppliers, however, may refuse to honor gift checks under two basic circumstances, according to the DTI order:
· when the gift certificate/check/card is lost due to no fault of the supplier; and
· when the gift certificate/check/card is mutilated or defaced due to no fault of the supplier and such damage prevents the supplier from identifying the security and authenticity features thereof
Certain gift certificates with expiry dates are usually given to consumers without cost or are given as gift, after buying a product or service.
To increase the public’s awareness on their rights and responsibilities, the DTI regularly conducts free seminars on Fair Trade Laws (FTL) through it s provincial offices. Topics for discussion include, among others, Price Act of the Philippines, Product Standards Law, Business Name Registration Law, and the Consumer Act of the Philippines.
For queries on the schedule of the FTL seminars, interested persons may call the nearest DTI Office. In Central Visayas, those interested may call DTI Cebu at (032) 255-7082, DTI Bohol (038) 412-3302, DTI Negros Oriental (035) 255-4781, DTI Siquijor (035) 344-2238.
by admin | Nov 30, 2015 | Editorial
A local weekly, not the Bohol News Today plastered in its front page, the unspeakable and the unmentionable.
The long rumored presence of a death squad here in Tagbilaran has been brought out of the hush-hush circles into the open. Now, not only did this paper muster the courage to shake off a popular belief that God-fearing Boholanos would always value life, it also exposed the apparent overwhelming support for the unconventional way of sweeping the dung off the streets.
The death squad uses a rather expensive modus in sweeping off the social dirt: through a hail of bullets.
The victim whom the paper cited, comes from a prominent family. He bit the dust and hugged dirt this time, even though as reported, he was less of a drug user and pusher but more of into getting things in his own creative way.
There are two things we need to get across here: First, this paper has finally blurted out what everyone kept mum about. Second, that this paper called it well-funded, means it can only be funded by those who have the means. On this, the police said these are perpetrated by rivals in the business.
So, can we say that even thievery is now a business and it can get you shot by your rivals? Maybe, if he got shot for drugs, we may have to believe so, the business being very lucrative.
But if the poor guy was like the one in Rizal street, or the spirit leaving the body near Coke, or the kid shot in front of Capitol, then it’s an entirely different apple and the paper was a tad close to saying what we deemed as honest appraisal of the killers and their mastermind.
This revelation, makes our world now less lonelier.
When we have been vocal about our belief that we have created our Frankensteins, we have only our people to blame. We have to tell you this, and we aint telling you nothing since then.
Well, it is just that we pity out law enforcers who stake their necks down the line everyday.
We then believed the police and their fastidious task of putting the drugs genie back in the bottle. It’s as daunting a task as a ton of cunning wont work with a genie all too powerful in and out of the bottle. So the vaudeville of arrests and raids have escalated into the death of several police officers and all these are the least publicity that an investment hungry Bohol needs.
So, the death squads come to even up the score.
What is just sad is the insinuation roughly puts us admitting that there is already a breakdown in the justice system.
You let loose a death squad and you will have more police work on the line.
The worse thing is, with the police staking out all their reputation and their balls, it seems this would be them again who would be dampening up the blame.
by admin | Nov 30, 2015 | Local News / Bohol Balita
Delivery of quality basic services to every Boholano constituents is the primary concern of the Provincial Government of Bohol in adopting the Purok system in the locality.
The Prosperity team for Countryside Development Program under the Purok System creates a Sectoral Committee for easy delivery of services to the public. This Sectoral Committee volunteers should have adequate capacity to perform their task and role in community development and sustainability. To achieve this goal, every Sectoral Committee volunteer should undergo series of trainings and other capacity development on socio-economic programs of the Provincial Government, internalize and share the spirit of leadership and volunteerism as a means to community development, impart skills on active listening, creative active responses and assertiveness, know and internalize the roles, functions and responsibilities of sectoral working committee volunteer and provide participants with a training guide on how to capacitate the sectoral committees in the purok. These are the essence of the 3-day Trainer’s training capacity development of purok sectoral working committee this coming November 27-29, 2015 at Camp Bernido, Tagbilaran City.
Maricres M. Anunciado
GO-SEEM
