Traffic interagency to meet Mar. 26 for anti-colorum plan

MEMBERS of the government’s Inter-Agency Council on Traffic (IACT) will meet Monday, March 26, to plan for the implementation of the nationwide crackdown on colorum public utility vehicles (PUVs).

“The President made it clear. We need to address and finally resolve the colorum problem that is plaguing our public transport system,” Undersecretary for Road Transport Thomas M. Orbos, concurrent head of IACT, said in a statement released today, March 25. Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, in an interview with Radyo Pilipinas on Saturday, said the meeting would discuss how the different government agencies would coordinate to “run after the colorum PUVs.” Mr. Orbos said aside from setting the guidelines and plan of action, IACT intends to set the protocol for all anti-colorum operations. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Barangay, SK elections to proceed, says Alvarez

HOUSE SPEAKER Pantaleon D. Alvarez said the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections will push through as scheduled on May 14 even as the House of Representatives passed on third reading last March 19 a measure for postponement.

“We passed the postponement before the break but it looks like Senate cannot act on it so it will proceed,” said Mr. Alvarez, speaking in Filipino in a chance interview after the mass oath-taking of new Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) members in Sultan Kudarat last March 24. Congress is currently on a legislative break and will resume sessions on May 14. — Minde Nyl R. dela Cruz

Pimentel bares his PDP-Laban senatorial list

SENATE PRESIDENT Aquilino L. Pimentel III on Sunday revealed his own list of senatorial candidates under the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) for the 2019 midterm elections, which included the five reelectionist senators belonging to the Senate majority bloc.

In a radio interview, Mr. Pimentel, also the president of PDP-Laban, was responding to Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito’s earlier remarks that the ruling party has overlooked the five senators seeking reelection in its senatorial slate based on the announcement made last week by House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, the party’s secretary-general. “He (Mr. Ejercito) doesn’t know what’s happening behind closed doors. Of course, I will fight for their slots in the lineup. But we are still at the stage where we are entertaining our party mates. Nothing is still final,” Mr. Pimentel said. His list included himself, along with Senators Ejercito, Juan Edgardo M. Angara, Maria Lourdes Nancy S. Binay, Grace S. Poe-Llamanzares and Cynthia A. Villar. He was also considering Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence T. Go, Davao Representative Karlo B. Nograles, Maguindanao Representative Zajid G. Mangudadatu, Bataan Representative Geraldine B. Roman, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr., Presidential Political Adviser Francis N. Tolentino, Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo V. Umali and Taguig City-Pateros Representative Pilar Juliana S. Cayetano. Mr. Pimentel said he planned to discuss his list with Mr. Alvarez so they could finalize the PDP Laban senatorial slate with the help of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, the party’s chairman. — Camille A. Aguinaldo

BI deploys additional officers for Holy Week travelers

THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has deployed 58 additional immigration officers to airports nationwide “to ensure that adequate manpower is available to serve the traveling public before, during and after the Holy Week,” the agency said in a statement issued last week.

BI Commissioner Jaime H. Morente said the added staff should “minimize, if not eradicate, long queues of passengers” with the usual increase in travelers during the holiday. — Dane Angelo M. Enerio

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Department of Trade and Industry-Zamboanga Peninsula office (DTI-9) has urged local government units (LGUs) to move their respective business licensing offices to the Negosyo Centers to further ease the business process for micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs).

Having the local permit processing will “make our facility a one-stop shop for our MSMEs,” said DTI Regional Director Sitti Amina M. Jain in a statement issued last week in time for the opening of two new centers located in the municipalities of Gutalac and Polanco in Zamboanga del Norte.

“By that, we mean not just DTI, but also our concerned partner agencies like DoST (Department of Science and Technology), TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority), DoLE (Department of Labor and Employment), and even BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue), they can conduct their trainings and briefings here,” Ms. Jain said.

The Negosyo Centers nationwide, set up in cooperation with LGUs and the private sector, are supervised by the MSMED Council through the DTI.

Ms. Jain said the DTI is aiming to establish one in all the 67 municipalities and five cities in the region.

“The launching of these (two new) facilities brings us to 40 operational and functioning Negosyo Centers in Zamboanga Peninsula,” she said.

The establishment of Negosyo Centers, provided under Republic Act No. 10644 or the Go Negosyo Act, is intended to promote and facilitate access to services for MSMEs.

Data released by the DTI last week, based on the 2016 List of Establishments of the Philippine Statistics Authority, show that the country’s 911,768 MSMEs account for 99.57% of the total 900,914 business establishments in the country.

Of the MSMEs, 89.63% (820,795) were microenterprises, 9.50% (86,955) were small, and 0.44% (4,018) were medium.

In the Zamboanga Peninsula Region, DTI-9 records show 11,809 registered businesses, up from 7,323 in 2016. — Albert F. Arcilla

DAVAO CITY — Environmental group Integrated Development Interventions, Inc. (IDIS) has called for the immediate drafting of a Forest Land Use Plan in Davao City to protect watersheds and have a sustainable water supply in this rapidly urbanizing city.

“It is very important because it is the forest that make sure that we are ecologically balanced… If we are to maintain our claim that Davao is a livable city, it should be included in the whole development direction and management plan of Davao,” IDIS Executive Director Chinkie P. Golle told media in a forum last week.

Ms. Golle said while the city’s zoning map identifies forest areas and there are reforestation activities, there is no comprehensive plan “on how to manage and how to reforest.”

She noted that of the 244,000-hectare (ha) area of Davao, geographically one of the biggest cities in the world, the urban area is currently only about 40,000 ha, leaving more than 200,000 ha that needs a protection and development program.

Ms. Golle said the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) and the city government have the responsibility for coming up with a Forest Land Use Plan.

“I think there were attempts and there are initial meetings to develop the Forest Land Plan Use,” she said, adding that the DENR must “facilitate the consultations.”

The IDIS official also stressed the need to manage the urban forest areas, referring to the development and maintenance of green and open spaces. — Maya M. Padillo

SENATOR Grace Poe-Llamanzares, chair of the committee on public services, urged the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to enforce a “strict inspection and maintenance” of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) trains following a derailment last Saturday.

“The derailment of the PNR train from its station in Paco, Manila should serve as a wake-up call on its safety management and enforcement,” she said in a statement Sunday. Ms. Llamanzares said the incidents of train derailments were “simply unacceptable,” noting that the DoTr was given a budget allocation in 2018 for maintenance and that the government has lined up various railway infrastructure projects.

“Let’s have a public transportation system that will bring the people to their destination and back to their homes unscathed,” she said. — Camille A. Aguinaldo

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL 3^rd District Representative Alfredo B. Benitez is now lobbying for the restoration of the sugarcane industry development budget to P2 billion this year, which was reduced by the Department of Budget and Management to P1 billion this year due to underspending by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA). The P2-billion budget is specified under Republic Act 10659 or the Sugar Cane Industry Development Act. Mr. Benitez has defended the SRA, saying the agency’s capacity to fast-track spending and the implementation of projects has been hampered by the bureaucratic process in fund allocation. — The Freeman

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CYCLING ENTHUSIASTS join the 5^th Bisikleta Iglesia, which made stops in seven churches in Batangas province on March 24, ahead of the Holy Week observance in the mainly Catholic Philippines.

The activity’s title is a play on the traditional Visita Iglesia, wherein Filipino Catholics go to seven churches on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday, both national holidays. The Department of Tourism (DoT) has launched a campaign promoting “faith tourism.”