by admin | Aug 5, 2017 | Local News / Bohol Balita
Anytime soon, we would be reading legal questions about why Vice Governor Dionisio Balite still clings on to his seat despite a suspension order which he and a good number of former provincial government officials have been meted with.
For allowing then Governor Erico Aumentado to purchase heavy equipment by greenlighting a letter of credit to a bank, Balite, along with several officials have been given a slap on the wrist and a 3 month work suspension without benefits.
Suspended, Balite and the concerned officials had a legal recourse: file a temporary restraining order (TRO) so implementing the order can be held in abeyance enough for the Ombudsman to decide on the propriety of the move to temporarily suspend perceived erring officials.
Of course, while others just decided to wait out for the suspension, Balite, through his counsel filed for a TRO, which the courts also granted.
Filing the TRO is just a statement that Balite thinks suspension was unjustified.
Those who did not file for the temporary reprieve, might think a TRO is useless.
So, those who just sat out for the suspension order, shamefully chastised, could also be an admission that they did know they were wrong.
But Balite will have none of that. He, who felt there was nothing wrong with allowing the governor to get a letter of credit, questioned and got a temporary reprieve. From the courts, and from the people whose doubts have been expunged for Balite’s fighting for justice.
Seemingly, by some kind of reckoning, Balite’s TRO may have expired already and the Ombudsman still has to blow the whistle and make a decision. This now sparked the legal question.
This week, we already see the social media trolls identified by the local Administration question Balite’s “callousness.”
What made Balite tenaciously cling keep to the vice governor’s seat when the suspension order could already be implemented?
Had it come from Balite’s supporters, we would hail the whistle blowers.
But, when it would emanate from the same mouths who remain zipped about the blatant abuse of discretion of the governor in personally designating the Provincial Administrator and other lower ranking officials to be the governor’s alter ego, even with the vice governor obviously alive and present, would their clanging raucous be worth listening?
By delicadeza, the Vice Governor must be allowed to sit over. But he was never given the confidence.
When the Governor flew out of the country, shouldn’t delicadeza of the disente’ng officails of the best managed province deny the chance for the vice to sit in?
And in utter disregard to delicadeza, we see the Capitol paid barkdogs, or lapdogs praise and announce to all and sundry the presence of a suspended provincial official clearly present and calling the shots.
Why is a suspended provincial official be prominently present on high stakes meetings especially when it entails Capitol dealing with money?
Of course we know what draws these people into these anti-Balite frenzy: the scent of money is like blood in the water for these predators on the prowl.
This, incidentally too, is just the micro picture of a macroscopic reality which only the yellow toes as their script, followed to the dot.
And with these bashing that Balite gets, would looking away from these mentioned excesses not be yellowed hypocrisy?
by admin | Jul 30, 2017 | Local News / Bohol Balita
By JUNE S. BLANCO
REP. Erico Aristotle Aumentado of Bohol’s 2nd District is bullish on producing energy from residual waste.
He met last week with a waste-to-energy expert to discuss where and how his constituency can participate.
Aumentado said waste-to-energy calls for the segregation of waste. Biodegradable waste can be fodder for biomass energy, or at least, can be turned into organic fertilizer. But, the solon quoted the expert, residuals can be turned into energy as well.
This, the solon said, is where his constituents can be motivated to better implemented Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management (ESWM) Act.
Waste-to-energy is a two-pronged approach to contribute to mitigating climate change, he explained.
On top of pushing for zero waste at the household level, turning residuals to power means less bulk for landfills, savings in tipping fees and contribution to the longer lifespans of sanitary landfills.
The solon noted that once landfills are filled to capacity, a local government unit (LGU) operating it must look for another site to contain residual waste. Bohol may be the country’s tenth largest island, but it does not have the luxury of space.
Aumentado said Bohol is basically agricultural and ecological. In order to feed the people, landfills and space-intensive solar panels must not compete for space with agricultural lands and the imperative forest cover. After all, he said, agriculture and tourism are the province’s economic drivers.
Power generated from residuals, the solon said, will also be the 2nd District’s contribution to locally-generated energy.
Aumentado pointed out that only the power industry approves of, and even requires redundancy. This is so that business will not come to a standstill when one source experiences breakdowns like what happened to the Tongonan Geothermal Power Plant in Leyte following the recent 6.5 earthquake and before that, Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
Leyte is Bohol’s main power source. Unless the latter produces more locally-generated power, it will always endure long rotational blackouts, he explained.
The downside to this is the slowing down of business, especially tourism, due to higher overhead costs in operation. After all, in most cases, water distribution is also dependent on power.
Aumentado has broached the topic to the 2nd District mayors in one of their meetings at the Quest Hotel in Cebu City. He said the mayors have committed their support to the waste-to-energy project by more stringent implementation of RA 9003.
by admin | Jul 23, 2017 | Local News / Bohol Balita
By JUNE S. BLANCO
IMPROVED ports may serve best the population today but these may be insufficient in the coming years.
Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd District) made this observation after noting that development is dynamic.
Seafaring vessels are becoming bigger, bringing in and out of ports bigger batches of passengers and cargoes each time, he noted.
Aumentado said while expansion and extension of the ports of Clarin, Buenavista and Getafe towns are in place with the P60 million savings in the 2015 budget of the then Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC), improvement must not stop there. The three ports had gotten P20 million each.
This early, he said, studies must already be made for the further development of these ports, specifically the establishment of roll on-roll off ramps and sturdy mooring facilities.
These facilities will enable bigger vessels to seek harbor or shelter should they be near these ports during storms or typhoons.
And while they are at it, the solon said the studies must include mooring facilities to accommodate power barges as well.
Aumentado is pushing for the development of local power sources. But, he pointed out, it will still be to Bohol’s advantage to be ready for power barges.
The gestation period for the more serious development of locally-generated power will be long, he admitted, hence the mooring facilities will be an advantage.
The Clarin, Getafe and Buenavista ports are also gateways to and from Bohol. The improvement expands the previously limited berthing areas that used to accommodate just one passenger banca at a time – leaving no more space for pump boats to dock.
The solon said he wanted to improve the gateways to make development come in.
He cited the case of Dubai that built alongside its international airport a hospital. Before long, he said, locators came in droves to set up businesses near the airport and the hospital because of the potentials for expansion.
As things are, he said, goods get to the people of Clarin, Getafe and Buenavista by shipments from Cebu to the ports of Ubay, Talibon or Tubigon – which are bigger – to be transferred by land.
The additional cost of the land trip increases the prices of these goods. The businessmen, however, merely pass on the increase to the consumers.
With the extended and widened ports, more goods at reasonable prices will be available in these and in neighboring towns. Fast crafts now at the Getafe port for regular daily trips from Cebu and back daily will soon also be familiar sights at the Clarin and Buenavista ports, Aumentado added.
by admin | Jul 18, 2017 | Local News / Bohol Balita
Peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said they are preparing for the worst under the second year of Duterte’s presidency. “We have seen a preview of the worst things to come. We know what to do – we fight and defend our rights, now and always.”
“Things are taking a turn for the worst under Duterte. His first year is marked with unfulfilled promises, promotion of neoliberal policies and militarism. His declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao is enough reason for people to mobilize and protest his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24,” said Danilo Ramos, the newly-elected chairperson of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP).
“We will make President Duterte accountable for his unfulfilled promises. We will continue to assert genuine land reform, free land distribution and the lifting of Martial Law. We will continue to defend our democratic rights in the face of Duterte’s all-out war,” the KMP leader said.
“Instead of seriously addressing the People’s Agenda that was presented to his administration last year, Duterte allowed his economic managers to come up with ‘Dutertenomics’ that essentially perpetuates pro-foreign and pro-business neoliberal policies. The people’s clamor for genuine land reform and national industrialization fell on deaf ears. The peace negotiations that are supposed to come up with a Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) were stalled and not gaining any headway due to the GRP’s dogged determination to force a ceasefire and lack of sincerity in the peace process,” Ramos said.
Ramos added, “President Duterte can either choose to genuinely side with the people or face wider mass protests and resistance against his presidency.”
Peace talks, CASER relevant and needed
The KMP leader said the peace negotiations and the forging of a CASER is still important.
“The GRP should do its task and cooperate with the NDFP in accelerating the peace talks and the CASER. But it seems that what the GRP have accomplished so far is to delay talks and disagree with many of the pro-people proposals forwarded by the NDFP.”
“Although the GRP peace panel agreed in principle to free land distribution, farmers know that we can only realize this through our struggle and assertion. Dismantling land monopoly is the first key step in achieving genuine land reform and rural development,” Ramos said.
KMP said it will mobilize tens of thousands in a nationally-coordinated protest coinciding with Duterte’s SONA.
Prior to the SONA, farmers organizations will launch actions ranging from occupation of lands, protest camp-outs, barricades and Kadenang Magsasaka in towns, provinces and regions.
“Farmers, fisherfolk and agricultural workers nationwide will link arms and demand genuine land reform,” said Antonio Flores, KMP secretary general.
On July 23, farmers will lead in the State of the Peasant Address outside the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). Contingents from Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog will proceed to the National Capital Region to join the multisectoral mobilization on July 24. ###
Reference: KMP Chairperson Danilo Ramos, 0999-4363493
by admin | Jul 16, 2017 | Local News / Bohol Balita
By JUNE S. BLANCO
POOLED outputs of small power plants in Bohol can add up to more locally generated electricity.
Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd District) said the province’s size and sources of energy that can be developed into power plants limit production to only around 10 megawatts each – just little more than the production of existing mini hydroelectric plants in Ewon in Sevilla, Hanopol in Balilihan and Tontonan, Loboc.
But he still welcomes developers planning to invest in power plants in Bohol using renewable sources as these do not adversely affect the prime economic drivers of the province – agriculture and tourism.
Aumentado if Bohol’s leaders can convince and bring in interested parties to establish power plants here, be they another hydroelectric, biomass, waste-to-power, solar or nuclear, adding all their outputs can up the locally generated power to boost the power reserve.
“Only in power production is redundancy allowed – even required,” the solon stressed.
To allay people’s fears of a repeat of the Chernobyl, Russia and Fukushima, Japan nuclear plant accidents and disasters, however, Aumentado, together with Zamboanga del Norte 1st District Rep. Seth Frederick Jalosjos, filed House Bill 3651 seeking to create a nuclear energy regulatory body.
The solon is currently in Vienna, Austria, on a scientific visit to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the Vienna International Center. The attendees will attend briefings and participate in discussions on key aspects of comprehensive nuclear laws.
These include the establishment of an independent regulatory body, nuclear safety and security requirements, safety of nuclear installations, radioactive waste and spent fuel management, safe guard and civil liability for nuclear damage, as well as the related international legal instruments, particularly in the context of developing an adequate legal framework to support a nuclear power program in the Philippines.
He said this will prepare the Philippines should investors opt to develop nuclear energy.
He has also talked with an investor keen on producing energy from waste – including plastics – as well as biomass, to meet the power demands of Bohol’s 2nd District.
He said the former will cut government spending for the establishment of sanitary landfills. Funds saved from this, he said, can then go to infrastructure and even social projects instead.
The solon expressed confidence that the mix of sources now and soon to be available will ultimately meet the growing power demands of the entire district – and even the province – without depending too much on the geothermal power plant in Tongonan, Leyte.
An added advantage of biomass, he explained, is the residuals in the conversion of biomass into power can be utilized as fertilizer – organic at that.
The move, Aumentado said, will put his district one step closer to his aspiration of making it Bohol’s first “green”, that is, environmentally sound, district.
The waste and the biomass will separately undergo both aerobic and anaerobic procedures, he said.
The investor, he said, will visit Bohol anytime soon to determine the volume of waste and biomass that the district can produce to feed the waste conversion and the biomass power plants to produce from one to two megawatts of energy. He echoed the investor as saying that “the more waste, the more there will be energy”.
He also said for more biomass, the investor is likewise keen on tapping his constituents to plant feed stocks on public lands.
The leaves will be for food for ruminant animals while the waste – parts of the plant that the animals find “not tasty” and will not eat will be fed to the biomass power plant.
by admin | Jul 5, 2017 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
The Philippines, through Department of Trade and Industry’s Board of Investments (BOI) Governor Lucita Reyes, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines (SEIPI) President Danilo Lachica and Ionics Vice-President for Operations Mr. Jay Chavez, recently participated at the celebration of World Trade Organization’s 20th Information Technology Agreement (ITA) Symposium held on 27-28 June in Geneva, Switzerland.
According to Magnolia Uy, DTI Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Geneva (PTIC-Geneva), the event allowed for the member countries to highlight ITA’s role of providing households and domestic businesses access to more affordable and higher-quality Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) through tariffs elimination on hundreds of ICT products.
The Philippines, as one of the 82 signatories of ITA, has benefited from the initial ITA signed in 1996 and its expansion of list in 2015. According to the Philippines’ chief ITA negotiator and Board of Investment Governor Lucita Reyes, the country’s ITA membership helped lower prices for key ICT hardware inputs that the BPO industry depends upon. At present, the country’s ICT services exports account for roughly 70% of total services exports while the ICT goods exports account for more than 35% of total exported goods.
In terms of ICT goods exports, Lachica added that the Philippine semiconductor and electronics industry continues to grow at a steady rate, ranking as the 17th largest exporter of ICT products in the world valued at approximately USD 24 billion (out of USD 29 billion total electronics exports).
However, according to Ionics Vice-President for Operations Jay Chavez, to sustain the demand of ICT services enterprises for ICT products, it is imperative for the Philippines to move up the value chain for ICT products by engaging in products and systems design and by taking manufacturing to the next level through the implementation of smart factory and Industry 4.0 technologies.
The ITA was finalized during the 1996 WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong while the Philippines became a signatory to the Agreement in 1997. In 2012, members recognized that technological innovation had advanced to such an extent that many new categories of IT products were not covered by the existing agreement. As negotiations to expand the coverage of the Agreement began in 2012, the ITA expansion agreement (ITA-2) was concluded during the 2015 WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi. The Philippines availed of the flexibilities of extended staging of tariff reductions of the Agreement. Executive Order (EO) 21 that mandates the Philippines ITA commitment will enter into force on 1 July 2017.
WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo opened the Symposium and noted how exports in the products covered by the original Agreement tripled from USD 549 billion in 1996 to approximately USD 1.7 trillion in 2015 representing an annual growth rate of 6%.
At present, ITA products account for a remarkable 15% of all global manufacturing exports. ITA membership also increased from 29 WTO members in 1996 to 82 today, accounting for over 97% of global ICT trade.
