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Death toll from Storm Yagi rises to 10 as it continues to intensify

PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

THE DEATH toll from Severe Tropical Storm Yagi (Enteng), which battered the Philippine capital and nearby cities and provinces, had risen to 10, the local disaster agency said on Tuesday.

Seven of the 10 deaths were from Calabarzon, two from Central Visayas and one from Western Visayas, it said in an 8 a.m. report.

Ten people were injured in Central Visayas, it added.

Yagi had intensified into a severe tropical storm as of late Tuesday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in a 5 p.m. bulletin.

The state weather bureau said the storm was expected to leave the Philippine area of responsibility by Sept. 4.

Once outside the country, the storm was forecast to move westward until Friday morning, then turn west-northwestward for the remainder of the forecast period.

“Enteng is forecast to make another landfall in the vicinity of southern mainland China during the weekend,” it added.

PAGASA said that the storm could strengthen into a typhoon outside of the Philippines by Thursday.

The eye of the storm was last seen 165 kilometers west-northwest of Laoag City, Ilocos Norte province and was moving westward at 10 kilometers per hour (kph).

The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 95 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 115 kph.

Tropical Wind Signal no. 1 remained hoisted over the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, the northern portion of La Union and Abra.

Yagi, the fifth storm to hit the Philippines this year, on Monday made landfall in the eastern town of Casiguran in Aurora province north of Manila, the capital.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development said in a 6 a.m. report 303,939 people in Metro Manila, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas had been affected by the storm.

More than 60,000 people from 14,607 families were staying in evacuation centers, it added.

In Bacoor, Cavite province southwest of Manila, a video circulating online showed an evacuation center being flooded in the early hours of Sept. 2 due to heavy rains. Evacuees were transferred to a different site.

Cabarzon police said flooding was reported in 60 villages across Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Quezon.

It said nine people died in the region and it was investigating “whether these fatalities were directly related to the storm.”

Six people remained missing as rescue efforts continued, it added.

Separately, a local official from Antipolo City in Rizal said they had retrieved the body of one of the four missing people whose house in San Luis village was washed away by floods.

“We are now looking for the remaining three,” search and rescue operation commander Brandon Villegas told DZBB radio. The body was found in a low area on Monday.

The disaster agency said in its 8 a.m. report, 54 roads and two bridges were still not passable amid heavy rains.

Three ports in Calabarzon and five in Bicol were still nonoperational, it added.

The Philippine Coast Guard said at least 800 people had been stranded at ports in Luzon and the Visayas on Tuesday.

As of 4 a.m., 801 passengers, drivers and cargo helpers remained at ports in Pangasinan, and the Calabarzon, Bicol and Western Visayas regions.

Twenty-three vessels and 34 motor bancas had been affected, it added.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s office said local governments were leading the response to the storm, adding that the National Government was ready to help in whatever way it can.

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said customers affected by brownouts were down to 4,000 as of 6 a.m.

Affected customers were mostly in parts of Metro Manila, Cavite and Rizal, the distribution utility said in a statement. — K.A.T. Atienza, Adrian H. Halili and Sheldeen Joy Talavera

PHL Senate approves CREATE MORE bill on second reading 

POLLOC FREEPORT AND ECOZONE — BARMM FACEBOOK PAGE

By John Victor D. Ordonez, Reporter 

THE PHILIPPINE Senate on Tuesday approved on second reading the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) bill, which seeks to lower taxes on domestic and foreign companies to 20% from 25%. 

Senate Bill No. 2762 also removes value-added tax (VAT) on goods and services to essential services such as janitorial, security, financial consultancy, marketing and human resources. 

Large-scale domestic enterprises with a capital stock of more than P20 billion will also be entitled to a VAT zero rating on local purchases, VAT exemption on imports and duty exemptions on imports of capital equipment, raw materials, spare parts and accessories. 

The Senate version of CREATE MORE transfers the responsibility of processing VAT refund claims to the Department of Finance from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to cut delays. The House of Representatives approved its version of the bill in March. 

The measure also ensures that registered business enterprises will be entitled to a 100% additional deduction on power expenses in a taxable year, up from 50% under the Tax Code, to address high power costs. 

“A lower income tax rate will make investing in the country favorable so certain types of investors because it lowers the cost of doing business in the country,” Eleanor L. Roque, a tax principal at P&A Grant Thornton, said in a Viber message. 

But for some businesses affected by the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Pillar 2, lower tax rates may not be that attractive since they are subject to global minimum tax of 15%, she added. 

Domestic tax base erosion and profit shifting relates to tax planning strategies that multinational companies use to exploit loopholes in tax rules to artificially shift profits to low or no-tax locations as a way to avoid paying tax. 

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)/G20 BEPS project helps governments deal with tax avoidance, ensuring that profits are taxed where economic activities generating them take place and where value is created, according to the OECD website. 

Under the bill, local companies will be subject to a 2% local business tax based on their gross sales. They will also be allowed to maintain a work-from-home setup for up to half of their workforce to cut costs. 

“In addition to lowering the tax rates, we should put more emphasis on transparency and predictability,” Ms. Roque said. 

The bill allows the President to give fiscal and nonfiscal incentives to enterprises without the need for a recommendation from the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB). 

It also sets the FIRB’s authority to review and monitor the compliance of investment promotion agencies in granting tax incentives.  

The review board may also suspend the authority of IPAs that grant incentives to projects and activities with an investment capital over the P20-billion threshold, programs not listed on the national or local Strategic Investment Priority Plan, or for failing to comply with regulations and orders issued by the FIRB. 

Rene D. Almendras, president of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), said Congress should continue pushing measures that would improve the ease of doing business in the Philippines. 

Congressional efforts to cut red tape are welcome because they would improve the business climate and attract more foreign investors, he said in a Viber message. 

Senate concurs with ILO convention on labor inspections

PHILIPPINE STAR/KJ ROSALES

 

THE PHILIPPINE Senate on Tuesday approved on final reading resolutions seeking concurrence on an International Labor Organization (ILO) treaty that ensures Philippine companies comply with global standards in labor inspections.

“As we concur with the ratification of ILO Convention No. 81 this afternoon, we reaffirm our commitment to resolve the existing gaps in our current labor policies,” Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva told the plenary after the chamber concurred with the treaty.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. ratified the convention in November.

The ILO convention also aims to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of labor inspection in industrial and commercial workplaces.

During plenary, Senators also voted in favor of a resolution concurring in the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, which promotes tax information exchange between countries to combat tax evasion.

Mr. Marcos ratified the tax treaty in October last year, which also aims to boost cooperation between countries in the collection of taxes.

The convention was developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Council of Europe in 1988 and took effect in 1995.

“It currently is the most comprehensive multilateral instrument available for all forms of tax cooperation to tackle tax evasion and avoidance,” according to the OECD’s website.

Nearly 150 countries have signed the convention including those from the Group of 20 (G20) and the BRICS bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates), it said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Special human rights laws got zero funding in 2025 — CHR

PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter

THE COMMISSION on Human Rights (CHR) on Tuesday revealed that special human rights laws did not receive any allocations under the proposed 2025 national budget, its chairperson said. 

Measures addressing human trafficking, violence against women and their children and crimes against humanity, among other laws, did not receive a single centavo for 2025, CHR Chairperson Richard P. Palpal-latoc said in a congressional budget briefing.   

Mr. Palpal-latoc estimated that it will cost the government about P106 million for the human rights body to effectively perform the additional mandates, under special human rights laws.

“There are several laws that provide an additional mandate to the Commission on Human Rights, and these laws were not given funding,” he told congressmen.   

“Based on our computation and the budgetary requirements of these additional mandates given to us, we have estimated the amount of P106 million funding requirement,” he added.

Special human rights laws refer to measures meant to address specific human rights concerns, complementing the protection of rights enshrined under the Constitution and other treaties of which the Philippines is a party.   

Party-list Rep. Arlene D. Brosas said that a law addressing enforced disappearances did not receive allocation for next year despite a clause ensuring its funding.

“This is one of the things we’re asking for because it’s a significant task,” Mr. Palpal-latoc said in Filipino, noting the importance of having a budget to fulfill its mandate of investigating alleged cases of state abduction. 

The CHR was forced to squeeze in the additional obligation to their existing budget meant for jail visits and inspection just so they could fulfill it, he added. “Our resources are insufficient to fulfill this mandate.”

The commission also noted in a Viber message that “while the CHR can absorb additional responsibilities within its existing mandates, the lack of funding places a strain on its resources,” noting that adequate budgetary support is “crucial” for its operations.

“Additional responsibilities are given to the commission, but its budget remains lacking,” Negros Oriental Rep. Jocelyn Sy Limkaichong, who sponsored CHR’s budget, said in mixed English and Filipino. 

Congress should look at augmenting the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for next year so it could provide funding to the special human rights laws, she added. “We probably can augment, or whatever is the best solution, so that unfunded laws can be properly implemented.”

The CHR saw its proposed 2025 budget increase by 13% to P1.1 billion from P937 million this year.

The lack of budget for special human rights law puts into question the government’s commitment to upholding human rights, according to rights group Karapatan.

This affects the commission’s “ability to fulfill its mandate and exercise its role as a national human rights institution,” Karapatan Secretary-General Cristina E. Palabay told BusinessWorld in a Facebook Messenger chat.

“It puts into question the seriousness of the government in fulfilling its obligations as per international and domestic human rights instruments as well as its intent to uphold justice and accountability,” she added.

Despite President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s pivot towards upholding human rights compared to his predecessor, the lack of allocations to the laws shows that his promise of improving the domestic human rights situation is “empty and bankrupt.”

P390-M calamity aid released

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

HOUSE of Representatives Speaker and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Tuesday facilitated the release of P390 million worth of financial aid for indigent Filipinos affected by severe Tropical Storm Yagi (Enteng)

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. instructed the release of the calamity aid to indigent residents of Metro Manila and Calabarzon after the storm flooded regions, displacing almost 40,000 Filipinos.

The P390-million cash assistance program will be sourced from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita (AKAP) budget.    

“Through the DSWD AKAP Program, we are providing P10,000 to each of the affected families. While this may be a small step, I hope it offers some immediate relief and helps you begin the process of rebuilding,” Mr. Romualdez said in a statement. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio 

DoH suspects 2 new mpox patients

COTABATO CITY — Health officials are closely watching over two individuals from different areas in region 12 who are suspected of having been infected with monkeypox (mpox) virus.

Dyan Zubelle Roquero Parayao, physician and chief of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the Department of Health (DoH) in the region, had said in a media forum on Monday, Sept. 2, that they have isolated the two patients in keeping with the department’s disease control procedures.

“They have skin rashes, lesions and recurring fever,” Ms. Parayao told reporters during a dialogue in Koronadal City on Monday, facilitated by the DoH-12.

She said they have identified the people with whom both patients had close contacts before they were confined in an isolation facility of the DoH-12. — John Felix M. Unson

Updates on intel fund use sought

PHILIPPINE STAR/ GEREMY PINTOLO

A PHILIPPINE Senator on Tuesday urged law enforcement agencies to brief lawmakers on how intelligence funds have been utilized this year to build intel networks to secure wanted fugitives after a former town mayor and her cohorts accused of coddling illegal gambling outfits fled the country undetected.

“They freely transferred from location to location and even reached our ports,” Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian said in a statement in Filipino. “What happened to the intelligence network being built by our law enforcement agencies?”

Mr. Gatchalian cited gaps in the intel gathering capacity of these agencies and what he called a “snail-pace process” of filing criminal cases against the former mayor and her cohorts.

“Whether there was collusion or a failure of intelligence, there should be accountability on this issue,” the senator said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

17 Houthi-held Filipinos still safe

THE DEPARTMENT of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Tuesday said the 17 Filipino seamen held hostage by Houthi rebels since November are still “safe and sound.”

DMW Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac during a virtual briefing, assured the public that the 17 people previously aboard MV Galaxy Leader are “safe and sound.”

He said there is already coordination and communication lines with Houthi rebels holding the seafarers..

“We know they are safe and sound. Still at this stage, they are on board the ship. However, we still are coordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on [their] safe and eventual release,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.

The DFA last year said the 17 Filipinos were among the people held hostage by the Yemeni rebels after seizing their cargo ship in the Red Sea. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana

SC reduces penalty of PCG official

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

THE SUPREME COURT (SC) overturned the dismissal of a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official, reducing his penalty to a one-month and one-day suspension, and ruling his involvement in procuring supplies for Typhoon Yolanda relief operations as free of dishonesty.

The SC Second Division said the PCG official, who headed the coast guard’s Special Service Office at the time, was guilty of simple misconduct for bypassing the public bidding process in the procurement without approval from the PCG head.

“He is guilty, not of grave misconduct, but of simple misconduct only, as he failed to comply with the requirements of Republic Act No. 9184,” Justice Antonio T. Kho, Jr. wrote in an 11-page decision.

The Ombudsman in 2017 initially found him guilty of serious dishonesty, grave misconduct, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and ordered his dismissal from office.

The case concerned his disbursement of P500,000 for procuring office supplies and information technology equipment through alleged unjustified public bidding. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana

PSA chief asked to resign

THE HEAD of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) should resign after the government terminated the contract for printing national identification cards, a congressman said on Tuesday.

Bidding officials of the central bank should also be sacked over the initial contractor’s slow production and delivery of National IDs, Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith T. Flores said in a statement.

“I am not satisfied nor appeased by the cancellation of the contract with the supplier of the PhilSys (Philippine Identification System) National ID. There must be investigations by the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) and DoJ (Department of Justice) to determine accountability and liability,” he said.

“Failed contracts like this erode the credibility of the national government and the agencies concerned,” he added. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

Comelec backs hybrid elections

THE COMELEC office in Intramuros, Manila — PATRICK ROQUE

THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) will support efforts to amend a law that automated the national and local polls, election chief George Erwin M. Garcia said on Tuesday, citing the need to revise the measure to allow the conduct of hybrid elections.

“We will definitely support [it],” he said during Comelec’s congressional budget briefing. “If there is an initiative by Congress to have a hybrid election, we will definitely support it.”

“We will need an amendment because what is stated in [Republic Act No.] 9369 is pure automation, it doesn’t provide for the conduct of two systems, therefore we might encounter problems,” he added.

Comelec in July rejected a proposal to hold hybrid elections for the 2025 polls, citing that it would violate a 2007 law that mandated the conduct of automated election systems. The country first conducted its automated elections in 2010. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

Remove deadline for temporary, improvised plates use, LTO told

THE LAND Transportation Office (LTO) must remove the deadline for the temporary and improvised license plates use until the agency closes its production backlogs, transportation analysts said.

“The government should allow temporary plates, subject to official design, of course, if the agency itself cannot provide the plates,” Nigel Paul C. Villarete, senior adviser on public-private partnership (PPP) at the technical advisory group Libra Konsult, Inc, said in a Viber message to BusinessWorld.

This comes after the LTO ordered on Sunday the extension of temporary and improvised license plates use until Dec. 31 instead of the earlier deadline of Sept. 1.

“[The LTO] should not impose deadlines until such time the agencies can provide the plates. Deadlines may be set after the government is able to provide the plates,” Mr. Villarete said

Senator Francis N. Tolentino said the agency must use the extension to ramp up the production of official license plates.

“They promised to make significant progress. We’ll see what happens on December 31, whether the deadline will be extended further, or if plates will finally be issued,” Mr. Tolentino said in a statement, noting the deadline, which falls on New Year’s Eve, is an “imaginary target.”

“LTO was unable to produce MV (motor vehicles) plates adequately. A very simple process that it had no trouble doing before. Deadline of Dec. 31 should be removed permanently,” Rene S. Santiago, former president of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines, said in a Viber message.

Car and motorcycle dealers should be allowed to make and issue license plates in accordance with the prescribed standards of LTO, he said.

“In short, sporting the number authorized by LTO once a vehicle is sold and registered. This will be cheaper, and convenient, for vehicle owners,” Mr. Santiago said.

“The LTO has made the right decision to reconsider the apprehension of vehicles using temporary plates, as the backlog of official plates has been the fault of the government,” InfraWatch PH Convenor Terry Ridon said in a message.

Mr. Ridon said the LTO should commit to ensure the timely printing of license plates before apprehending motorists for the use of temporary plates.

However, the agency reiterated that it has already addressed its license plate production backlog for four-wheel vehicles, and is working to ramp up the production of license plates for motorcycles.

“Thousands of license plates remain unclaimed in various motor vehicle dealerships and in a meeting with car dealers last month, the car dealers said their clients are unable to claim the plates despite their repeated message to them,” it said.

Earlier this year, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. ordered the LTO to address the backlog of vehicle plates by June next year. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

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