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High-tech sunglasses help police in China spot suspects in train station

BEIJING — Chinese police are sporting high-tech sunglasses that can spot suspects in a crowded train station, the newest use of facial recognition technology that has drawn concerns among human rights groups.

In a scene reminiscent of the dystopian sci-fi television show Black Mirror, officers in the central city of Zhengzhou are wearing the digital shades amid the crush of travelers heading home during Chinese New Year, the busiest time for the country’s transit system.

So far, the technology has allowed police to nab seven suspects accused of crimes, as well as another 26 people who were using fake IDs, according to the state-owned People’s Daily, quoting the city’s police department.

The system is part of China’s efforts to build a digital surveillance system able to use a variety of biometric data — from photos and iris scans to fingerprints — to keep close tabs on the movements of the entire population.

The special glasses are being used by four officers positioned at the entrances to Zhengzhou’s east station, according to the People’s Daily.

The glasses have a camera connected to a smartphone-like device that allows the officers to take mug shots of suspicious individuals and compare them to a database back at headquarters.

The app brings up the suspect’s vital information, including name, ethnicity, gender and address. It also tells officers whether the possible perps are on the run from the law, the address of the hotel where they are staying and information related to their internet usage.

Experts say China is racing ahead of Western countries in deploying facial scanners owing to its comparatively lax privacy laws and because Chinese are used to having their pictures, fingerprints and other personal details taken.

Banks are beginning to use facial recognition instead of cards at cash machines while the travel and leisure industry also sees opportunities — China Southern Airlines this year began doing away with boarding passes in favor of the scheme.

But the programs have drawn fierce criticism from human rights organizations and privacy advocates, who are concerned by their potential for abuse. — AFP

ADM said in advanced talks to buy commodity trader Bunge

ARCHER-DANIELS-MIDLAND Co.’s (ADM) in advanced talks to acquire commodity trader Bunge Ltd., a deal that could spell the end for a company independent for two centuries and reorder the financial environment that enables farming across the globe.

ADM and Bunge, which has a market value of about $11.5 billion, could reach an agreement as early as this week, people familiar with the deal said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. The takeover talks could still fall apart, while other bidders could still be interested in acquiring Bunge, the people said. ADM is scheduled to announce full-year earnings Tuesday.

Bunge is the B in the so-called ABCD companies that dominate global agricultural trade, alongside ADM; Cargill, Inc.; and Louis Dreyfus Co. Founded to broker grain trades in Amsterdam in 1818, it’s now headquartered in White Plains, New York, and supplies ingredients and expertise in the Americas, Eastern Europe and Asia. But its profits have plunged after years of bumper crops, prompting industry executives to talk of consolidation.

The potential takeover matters well beyond the tightly knit world of agricultural traders. The companies buy crops across the planet — from soybean growers in Brazil to wheat farmers in Ukraine — and supply the world’s largest food companies such as Nestlé SA and Kraft Heinz Co.

ADM and Bunge each oversee some of the largest networks of US grain infrastructure such as silos that thousands of farmers rely on to get their crops to market. A potential merger would likely be scrutinized closely by regulators, just like Bayer AG’s pending acquisition of Monsanto Co. to create the world’s largest supplier of seeds and crop chemicals. It’s also likely to attract attention from politicians across the bread-basket states of the Midwest.

“This is a big deal, arguably, for consumers because it controls the flow of production from the farm to the products on grocery store shelves,” Chad Hart, a professor of agricultural economics at Iowa State University in Ames, said in a telephone interview Monday. “It’s a continuing sign that agriculture is trying to readjust to a tighter margin environment.”

A deal involving Bunge would likely give the ABCD grain merchants the biggest shake-up in a generation. For almost two decades, the industry has seen consolidation among midsize players, but the top firms have remained little changed since Cargill merged with the trading unit of Continental in 1999 and ADM took over most of the assets of Andre & Cie, which at the time of its bankruptcy in 2001 was among the world’s top grain traders.

And the move may also trigger a bidding war: Glencore Plc. made an approach last year to Bunge about a merger with its own agriculture unit. While Glencore, which is partnering with Canadian pension funds, rarely gets involved in competitive takeover battles, the commodity trader, led by Ivan Glasenberg, could try to trump ADM with a cash offer.

“The great ABCD reshuffling has just started,” said Jean-Francois Lambert, a consultant and former head of commodity trade finance at HSBC Holdings Plc.

Bunge shares rose 2.9% to $80.89 on Monday in New York while ADM slid 2% to $40.60. ADM, Bunge and Glencore declined to comment.

An ADM merger with Bunge would probably face significant antitrust hurdles in the US and perhaps in Brazil and China. To satisfy regulators, a deal would likely require the divestment of assets such as silos and processing plants in North America, certain to attract interest from competitors. The National Farmers Union, commenting on initial reports of ADM’s interest in Bunge in January, said it opposed further consolidation in the agriculture industry. 

ADM, which has a market value of about $23 billion, made a preliminary approach to Bunge in recent months, a person familiar with the matter said in January.

Bunge has struggled over the last year and a half. It cut profit guidance several times as large surpluses of wheat, corn and soybeans reduced trading opportunities. Soren Schroder, Bunge’s chief executive officer, said in July that clear overcapacity in the industry meant there was a need for consolidation. — Bloomberg

Why do women chefs keep missing out on Michelin stars?

PARIS — Women may do the lion’s share of cooking all over the world, but when it comes to haute cuisine they are still almost invisible.

Only one woman, Anne-Sophie Pic, holds the maximum three Michelin stars in France.

In fact, only 2.7% of Michelin-starred restaurants are run by women in the country regarded as the world center of gastronomy. And for the second time in three years no women chefs got new stars individually in the 2018 French Michelin list announced last Monday — although two shared the honors with their partners.

Gender is “not something we take into account. Our inspectors are there to check the quality of the cuisine,” insisted Michael Ellis, international director of the guides.

“We don’t look at the chef’s sex, origin or age,” he added, just what appears on the plate.

Yet women remain a tiny minority in the often macho and highly competitive world of haute cuisine, holding less than 5% of Michelin stars globally.

Only one woman made the list of new stars awarded in France in 2017 and only two figured in the British-based World’s 50 Best Restaurants classification.

However, Mr. Ellis sees signs of hope.

“There are lots of women working in kitchens, although often they are not yet chefs. But in my opinion it is only a matter of time” before they will be running them, he told AFP.

‘WOMEN HAVE TO BE TWICE AS GOOD’
But one of the two women chefs who got a Michelin star this time insisted that the playing field is far from level.

“In the kitchen a woman has to always show that she is twice as good as a man,” said Malaysian-born Kwen Liew, who won her first star with her Japanese partner Ryunosuke Naito for their Pertinence restaurant in Paris.

“It is not easy for women in the kitchen. So I act like a man there,” she told AFP.

“It depends on the mentality of the personnel, but (in general) men do not listen to women, they say, ‘We don’t give a damn what she says.’”

The number of women in French cookery schools, however, is rising fast, and they now outnumber men on patisserie training courses, said Ellis.

Historically, women chefs held a massively important place in French cooking, particularly in its gastronomic capital, Lyon.

Les meres lyonnaises (The mothers of Lyon) dominated fine dining between the wars, and many women chefs held sway in the city until the 1970s.

Maria Canabal, founder of the global Parabere Forum of 5,000 women chefs, blamed the military atmosphere in many kitchens for the glass ceiling which has held back women.

‘OUT-AND-OUT MACHISMO’
She said “ingrained stereotypes” made it more difficult for women even “in cookery schools, where they often say to the girls, ‘You will get your diploma but you won’t survive out there.’”

The specter of sexual harassment is never far away, she said. “All male-dominated environments are places where women are potentially at risk,” she said.

But even if women push through they face other obstacles, said Anne-Sophie Pic, who is heading a new mentoring drive for chefs who have just got Michelin stars.

“When a chef becomes a mother, if she is not well supported, she is also forced to make a choice” between her child and her career, she said.

A French documentary last year shone a light on the lack of media visibility of women chefs, with men utterly dominating television cookery shows.

“That showed me there was a real necessity to talk more about women,” Pic told AFP. “It is terrible to admit, but up to now I have worked so hard to make people forget that I am a woman, and for men to accept me,” she added.

Most women chefs agree that to succeed in the man’s world of haute cuisine you need to have very thick skin. “A lot of chef-proprietors think themselves all-powerful. It’s total out-and-out machismo,” said Brazilian chef Alessandra Montagne, who worked in several top restaurants before opening her own Paris establishments.

“You should never take anything personally. When someone told me, ‘You are good for nothing’ I never let myself be beaten, I just put my head down and persevered,” she said. — AFP

Diagnosing pathologies in the 1987 Constitution

By Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco

THERE is no clear path yet for Charter change (Cha-cha) being offered to the public. The Duterte administration’s consultative committee has only been formed. Hence, there is still no certainty as to when this group will commence with their work.

Both chambers of Congress on the other hand, have vowed to continue with their respective efforts to determine the viability and practicability of undertaking Cha-cha. Obviously, this undertaking has become even more challenging given that there are three competing groups now (Senate, House of Representatives, and the administration’s consultative committee) vying to come up with a draft constitution.

Notably, public discussions on Cha-cha have been dominated by appeals for finding a consensus on what sort of federal structure is well-suited for Filipinos. Not surprisingly, understanding constitutional reform has been unfairly framed to the public as simply the process of shifting to a federal form of government.

But federalization should be conceived as merely one feature of Cha-cha.

Revising the Constitution encompasses a broader political reform effort. It is, in a sense, a reset button because the scope of what aspects of our political system can be changed is wide open.

Hence, constitutional reform is also an opportunity to address anomalies such as the domination of dynastic families in the electoral process or the substandard political party system that allows these traditional political elites to skew elections in their favor, just to name few.

The reality is that pathologies in a Constitution can emerge during its reign. These pertain to provisions in the constitutional text itself that may have been designed with good intentions but have eventually become debilitating to the political system it purports to govern. Our 1987 Constitution is no exception. Therefore, the constitutional reform process should primarily involve identifying, and analyzing, what these pathologies are.

Dr. Raul C. Pangalangan, the former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law and presently a judge in the International Criminal Court, has shed light on an organic irregularity in our charter, a “built-in contradiction between the economic and the governance clauses of the constitution.”

This pathology Pangalangan has identified dovetails to the “economic” amendments agenda which is fundamentally grounded on the belief that de-nationalizing economic sectors in the country will bring in a deluge of foreign direct investments (FDI).

In a letter submitted to the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments, the Makati Business Club, one of the more vocal and ardent promoters of economic liberalization, cited three major impediments to FDI growth in the Philippines: “(1) the perception of high levels of corruption in government; (2) restrictive foreign ownership rules; and (3) uncompetitive labor compliance costs.”

Clearly, simply removing foreign ownership restrictions would not automatically inundate the economy with FDI because the other two obstacles must be addressed as well. And given that the Philippines currently rank 101st in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016, opening industries to foreign ownership without the accompanying governance and labor reforms will probably only result to modest, if not minimal, growth in FDI levels.

But what about other pathologies? For instance, our national language. Article XIV lays out an interesting arrangement on this subject that needs to be reconsidered.

We have one national language, which is Filipino (See Section 6). But we also have two official languages, which are Filipino and English (See Section 7). And no law has ever been passed to remove the status of the latter as such. In fact, until now the language of government, of legislation, and of the courts in the Philippines continues to be English.

Then, we also have auxiliary languages such as Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Waray, Tausug, so forth, which are all contemplated to function as a third-level means of communication within the regions where they are spoken.

But this neat grouping of Philippine languages is not that accurate. The fact is most Filipinos commonly relate with English because it is the official language widely used by the state. Moreover, the use of Filipino as the language of the nation is suspect because it is basically a Tagalog clone. And hence it is very rarely spoken by nationals outside the Tagalog region.

A provision that is inconsistent with the actual conditions and sentiments of the people has no place in the Constitution. Correspondingly, our experience of languages spoken in the country necessitates a rethinking of the constitutional designation of Filipino as a national language.

Is it still necessary to have just one artificially created national language given the richness of our linguistic heritage? Or is it now more appropriate for our language diversity to be officially acknowledged because it reflects the narrative that is real to all Filipinos? A Constitution could recognize more than one national language after all.

Additionally, should English now be unequivocally accepted as the lone official language of the Philippines because doing so more accurately reflects the reality in our day-to-day lives? English is obviously a colonial language. But considering that American colonization is a fact of life that is universally shared in the Philippines, the designation of English as such would certainly be more unbiased for all Filipinos than Filipino.

With Filipinos now being genuine citizens of the world, claiming the lingua franca of the day as our one and only official language makes practical sense. Plus, insisting on having just one national language seems anachronistic. Our nationhood now ought to be founded on deeper grounds than just having a common native tongue. Indeed, it is only fair to demand that the linguistic and cultural diversity of the country be prominently manifested in our constitution.

There is no guarantee that the President’s Cha-cha promise will be delivered during his term. Even with a strong push from his surrogates in Congress, the revision of the 1987 Constitution is still not a sure thing. For as they say, anything can happen in Philippine politics.

Nevertheless, as the principal actors in the constitutional reform process, we must now focus on painstakingly diagnosing pathologies in our national charter. Furthermore, we must be ready to actively participate in the hearings and consultations to be initiated by the Duterte consultative committee and Congress as part of their Cha-cha effort. So that whatever happens in 2019, or even in 2022, one outcome we can all look forward to is this: more Filipinos with a deeper appreciation of the 1987 Constitution.

 

Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco is a lecturer at the Institute of Law of the University of Asia and the Pacific and nonresident Research Fellow at the Ateneo School of Government.

BPI launches two remittance products for OFWs, workers’ families

BANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has launched two remittance products to cater to the needs of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and their families here.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Ayala-led BPI said it is offering BPI Pamana Padala where accounts being used by OFWs to send money home come with an insurance deal.

“OFWs can now send their hard-earned money to their BPI Pamana Padala account, from which they can electronically transfer funds directly to the BPI accounts of their loved ones. Its unique feature is the Remittance Continuation Plan which provides the free 90-day Personal Accident Insurance of P100,000 and life insurance coverage of up to P300,000,” the statement read.

The BPI Pamana Padala account holder will be entitled to the insurance coverage as soon as the holder sent four remittances within a year.

“[W]e launched BPI Pamana Padala, which not only gives the convenience of transferring funds anytime and anywhere, but also comes with a back-up plan for the peace of mind of the OFW,” Simon R. Paterno, BPI executive vice-president and segment head of financial products and alternative channels, was quoted as saying in the statement.

“Through this we hope to give the protection that OFWs need and thereby safeguard the future of their families.”

Meanwhile, BPI also launched BPI Padala Moneyger designed for the recipients of remittances here in the country.

Using the BPI Padala Moneyger account, the holder can manage the money such as paying bills and transferring funds with the use of the lender’s online banking platform as well as its automated teller machines.

The account has no maintaining balance as long as four remittances are made to the account within a 12-month period.

In early January, BPI partnered with Lulu Exchange, a foreign exchange firm in the Middle East.

The partnership enables the bank’s customers to remit money with Lulu Exchange which goes directly to BPI and BPI Family Savings Bank accounts.

BPI is the third largest commercial bank in the Philippines in asset terms as of end-September 2017, data from the central showed.

The bank reported it booked a net income of P22.42 billion last year, up by 1.7% from 2016.

Shares in BPI gained 1.27% or P1.5 to P119.5 apiece on Wednesday. — KANV

Wave of crypto scams, crash in Bitcoin spook card firms

AMERICA’S largest banks had myriad worries in mind when they rushed this week to ban customers from using credit cards to buy cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s gut-wrenching slide was just one of the threats.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. started to decline purchases as industry executives zeroed in on a variety of ways they could get burned, according to people briefed on the decisions. Publicly, JPMorgan cited the risk that borrowers might not repay. Behind the scenes, card issuers were also concerned about the protections they offer shoppers and their vulnerability to thieves, the people said.

Near the top of many lists were initial coin offerings (ICO). Startups have embraced the fund-raising method, selling tradable tokens to gather money for projects, sometimes promising future rewards. ICOs drew $3.7 billion last year, but in many cases companies have struggled to make good on obligations or revealed themselves as scams. Increasingly, regulators are intervening, deeming some tokens to be unregistered securities.

Card executives saw a few dangers, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential deliberations. It can take days for buyers to receive their tokens, and if the instruments turn out to be fraudulent or illegal, cardholders may dispute the charges. Major crypto exchanges such as Coinbase eschew most tokens, but some ICOs and smaller venues enable card purchases.

Eastman Kodak Co., which has been working on KodakCoins, warned potential investors Tuesday that bogus websites and Facebook accounts are promoting and even claiming to already be selling the planned digital token.

Another worry is that a thief could open a credit-card account with a stolen or fake identity, or just poach someone else’s number. The fraudster would then be able to convert the credit line into a hoard of digital cash that would be almost impossible to trace.

Of course, Bitcoin’s plunge also creates a classic problem for any banks providing financing. Consumers who lean on credit lines to speculate — and bet wrong — may struggle to repay. The danger wasn’t so acute last year when cryptocurrencies kept climbing. But since briefly exceeding $19,000 in late December, Bitcoin has plunged.

One Reddit user, going by bitconnected1369, drew a mix of pity, disbelief and scorn over the weekend after writing in a forum about loading up on Bitcoin at $17,000.

“Am I worried? No,” the user wrote. “I bought it on my credit card through Coinbase and had planned the repayments would be paid out of Bitcoin profits. First payment due in a couple of weeks and I believe we will start to rise up before then.”

Short of that, the user might sell a portion of the investment to keep up with initial card payments.

What could possibly go wrong?

Bitcoin dipped below $6,000 this week after authorities continued to speak out against speculation. And another big lender, Lloyds Banking Group Plc, said that it, too, was halting credit-card purchases, further constraining the inflow of investor money.

It got even tighter on Tuesday. Coinbase said people using credit cards to fund accounts are starting to get stung by “cash advance” fees. Customers began noticing the costs in their card statements last week after payment networks told banks it’s OK to classify crypto exchanges in a way that treats transactions like buying a currency.

“You’ve got people that are eschewing their mortgage to buy Bitcoin to get rich quick,” said Kristina Yee, an Aite Group analyst who studies cryptocurrencies and blockchain. The banks are “worried that people are over leveraging themselves and they won’t be able to pay back the debt.” — Bloomberg

How PSEi member stocks performed — February 7, 2018

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Wednesday, February 7, 2018.

Brazil court suspends export of live animals for slaughter overseas

A BRAZILIAN JUDGE has suspended export of live animals for slaughter, citing concerns that they are transported in cruel conditions.

Exports can only restart when guarantees of adequate treatment are provided, Judge Djalma Moreira Gomes in Sao Paulo wrote in his late Friday decision, published in the local media.

The injunction was in response to a case brought by an animal rights group, National Forum for the Defense and Protection of Animals.

The forum’s civil suit cited conditions aboard the ship Nada, currently docked in Sao Paulo’s Porto de Santos with about 27,000 heads of cattle owned by Minerva Foods and bound for Turkey.

A veterinary report found that the animals were held in tiny and unhygienic spaces.

Mr. Gomes wrote he was accepting the petition “to prevent the export for slaughter of live animals, from throughout the national territory, until the destination country adopts slaughter practices in line with those of the Brazilian legal system.”

Animals currently aboard the Nada must be taken off, he said.

“It can only continue its voyage after the complete disembarkation of the live animals.”

The same judge had issued an initial court order on Thursday to stop the ship from leaving port.

The animal rights group bringing the case said it had received “huge support” from other activists.

The case “represents an extremely important point in the history of Brazil’s protection and defense of animals,” said Patrycia Sato, from the Animal Forum, in a statement.

“We hope that the export of live animals will be definitively banned.” — AFP

Comparative daily minimum wages of select Asian economies (as of November 2017)

Appointments body confirms Duque as DoH chief

By Camille A. Aguinaldo

THE COMMISSION on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Francisco T. Duque III as Secretary of the Department of Health (DoH).

Sought for comment, Mr. Duque said he hoped the CA’s approval of his appointment would raise the morale of the DoH, which is being hounded by criticisms over its suspended anti-dengue immunization program.

“It’s a big relief and hopefully this will be a boost to the entire department. I dedicate and share the confirmation to everyone in the Department of Health. And we need something like this, like a shot in the arm, so to speak. Nothing like Dengvaxia, of course,” he told reporters.

Mr. Duque, who headed the DoH during the Arroyo presidency, faced the CA on two confirmation hearings before being confirmed by the panel on Wednesday. He was repeatedly questioned by members of the CA regarding measures the DoH has undertaken to address the concerns over the Dengvaxia controversy.

At the second confirmation hearing early Wednesday, Mr. Duque turned emotional as he was being questioned by Senator Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel on how he planned to raise the morale of DoH amid the anti-dengue controversy hounding the agency.

“DoH is fighting too many battles (on) too many fronts. It’s a struggle to do your job when there are too many things to be done and almost paralyzing,” he said in an interview with reporters.

“It’s the difficulty in implementing, doing your job in the midst of all these issues and public criticisms from different quarters. It’s difficult. It’s not an easy job,” he added.

Senators and congressmen comprising the CA also quizzed Mr. Duque on the DoH’s implementation of other health programs, such as the Reproductive Health Act and the Cheaper Medicines Act, as well as the reported net income loss of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

At the CA’s plenary session, senators expressed confidence over Mr. Duque’s capability to handle the Health department, especially on addressing the Dengvaxia controversy.

“We are confident that with his integrity, sense of purpose and exemplary stewardship in his previous and current positions, Dr. Duque is adequately equipped, mentally, physically and spiritually for our people’s sake to help the department,” said Senator Gregorio B. Honasan II, chairperson of the CA committee on health. President Rodrigo R. Duterte has brought back Mr. Duque to his old post last October 2017 following the CA’s rejection of Paulyn Jean B. Rosell-Ubial as DoH chief.

Mr. Duque assumed his post at the DoH a month before French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur released an analysis that the Dengvaxia vaccine may pose health risks for those vaccinated without having dengue.

House grills IT consultant with higher pay than Sereno

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
InterAksyon

THE information technology (IT) consultant hired by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno was receiving a higher salary than she was.

However, the high court’s resident IT specialist said the development in their Enterprise Information Systems Plan (EISP) was “not substantial” despite the hiring of the expert.

“The hardware side . . . those are the ones that’s almost finished. But for the application side, only the judiciary email is ongoing,” lawyer Carlos N. Garay, Management Information Systems Office (MISO) acting chief said.

Mr. Garay acknowledged that the EISP, which includes the automation of the country’s courts, would take several years and requires the setting up of infrastructure, nationwide connectivity, network security, data management and software applications.

Earlier, Ms. Sereno said the EISP would speed up adjudication of cases, increase personnel productivity and improve court and case management.

To help steer this automation, the Supreme Court hired Helen P. Macasaet, who received a monthly salary of P250,000 from 2014 to 2017. This was bigger than the P233,000-per-month salary of Ms. Sereno.

In his impeachment complaint against Ms. Sereno, lawyer Lorenzo G. Gadon alleged that the chief magistrate had betrayed public trust when she hired an IT consultant with an excessive compensation without public bidding, in contravention of existing laws, Commission on Audit (CoA) rules, and public policy.

Lawyer Michael B. Ocampo of the Office of the Chief Justice said he was the one who had negotiated the process of procurement of Ms. Macasaet’s services with the former MISO head. He denied being biased in the process of hiring of Ms. Macasaet as an IT consultant.

“It’s a master plan to automate 2,700 courts nationwide . . .it’s like automating a big organization,” Mr. Ocampo said, adding that this required a highly technical consultant.

Mr. Garay said that as head of the MISO, he did not need any IT consultant.

“When I came to the Supreme Court, I was confident of my own abilities, so I don’t need a general IT consultant . . . probably, I would get a specialized consultant,” he said.

Ms. Macasaet said she believed her compensation was commensurate with her experience in the field and the service she gave to the high court.

She also said that she did not get the P250,000 in full every month, but only around P80,000 after deducting all taxes and expenses related to her work.

“Excluding all personal expenses, I would be getting more or less a net of P80,000, which I used to buy makeup, decent clothes, pair of shoes to face the judges and the justices,” she told the panel.

ALLEGED TAX EVASION
Also on Wednesday, the House committee on justice directed the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to begin an investigation on Ms. Sereno’s possible tax liabilities amid her alleged failure to file her statement of assets liabilities and net worth (SALN) for 17 years when she was still a law professor at the University of the Philippines (UP).

Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo V. Umali, chairperson of the committee, tasked BIR deputy commissioner Arnel Guballa to produce a report on or before Feb. 19.

Among the allegations in the impeachment complaint against Ms. Sereno was her failure to declare in her SALN from 2010 to 2016 the P30 million she earned as one of the private counsels of government in the arbitration case involving the expropriation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

The House panel is on its 14th hearing on the impeachment case, this time, to determine if there was probable cause to impeach her.

Mr. Gadon said Ms. Sereno, who was with the UP College of Law from 1986 to 2006, only filed SALN in 1998, 2002, and 2006.

The BIR submitted to the committee certified copies of Ms. Sereno’s income tax return from 2004-2009.

Mr. Guballa said Ms. Sereno registered as a professional earning her income as a lawyer from a law office.

As to inquiries about her payment of taxes from her earnings on the Piatco case, Mr. Guballa said the BIR has no formal investigation yet.

“We are still collating information. We can answer those questions when we have conducted a formal investigation,” he said.

“We will try our best in two weeks. . . . I will try my best to come up with a proposed deficiency or whatever we can made regarding the income the Chief Justice had made,” Mr. Guballa added.

Purchase of speed guns sought to enforce speed limits in NCR

By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo
Reporter

THE GOVERNMENT is set to buy radar speed guns within the year to properly enforce speed limits within Metro Manila.

The Department of Transportation (DoTr) said it is targeting to buy around 200 speed guns for 1,000 intersections in Metro Manila, using funds from the Road Board. “We need to buy speed guns, and the local government units (LGUs) should have their own. There are 1,000 intersections in Metro Manila, so around 20%, so 200 speed guns,” DoTr Undersecretary Thomas M. Orbos told reporters.

He added that the LTO (Land Transportation Office) will request funding and distribute the equipment.

He said there are around P10 billion worth of funds in the Road Board, which can be utilized to buy speed guns.

The Road Board is a body mandated to ensure the efficient utilization of the Road Users’ Tax, funds for road improvements such as traffic lights installation and flood control.

The DoTr, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) also yesterday launched the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) 2018-001 on the classification of roads for speed limit setting, aimed at establishing coordination mechanisms for the setting of speed limits on national roads, in line with Republic Act 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code.

“The memo circular allows national and local governments to work hand in hand in enforcing speed limits. Under Section 38 of the Traffic Code, Local Government Units (LGUs) are mandated to classify roads within their jurisdiction and effectively set speed limits. LGUs are also mandated under the Local Government Code to regulate streets and bridges within their jurisdiction,” DoTr said in a statement.

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