Nationwide round-up (12/17/20)
Duterte blames regulator for toll mess
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Wednesday night warned toll officials to improve their service amid public complaints against cashless toll transactions or step down.
The President in a televised speech blamed the Toll Regulatory Board for glitches in radio frequency identification systems at toll gates that had caused traffic congestion at major expressways.
He called the regulator incompetent for failing to do a trial run. “The system was not tested thoroughly, which translates into something like incompetence.”
The government adopted a cashless toll payment system at about 200 toll gates after some workers got infected with the coronavirus.
Senators hit the regulator for failing to penalize toll operators for their faulty implementation of the cashless toll scheme since 2017.
“You have the power but you’re not using it,” Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian told a Senate hearing on the RFID system. — Gillian M. Cortez and Charmaine A. Tadalan
House deputy speakers balloon to 32
THE HOUSE of Representatives now has 32 deputy speakers, just two months after Speaker Lord Allan Q. Velasco assumed the leadership.
Congressmen on Wednesday — the last day of sessions this year — elected Cavite Rep. Abraham Tolentino and Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab as deputy speakers.
The deputy speakership is one of the chamber’s top posts. A deputy speaker can vote in all committees.
Some of the elected deputy speakers had helped oust Taguig City Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano, Mr. Velasco’s predecessor. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
80,000 more OFWs to return
MORE than 80,000 migrant Filipino workers are expected to come home early next year as countries continue to reel from the impact of a global coronavirus pandemic.
“We are expecting over 80,000 to come home,” Hans Leo J. Cacdac, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief, told a news briefing on Thursday. “That’s for the first half of next year.”
More than half-a-million Filipinos have come home after being displaced by the pandemic, International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) Director Alice Visperas told a separate briefing.
The government had helped more than 370,000 out of 550,000 overseas Filipino workers who got displaced to return to their home provinces, she said.
About 350,000 returning migrant workers also received a one-time cash aid of P10,000 each. — Gillian M. Cortez
NEDA bats for pilot physical classes
THE NATIONAL Economic Development and Authority (NEDA) on Thursday said a government plan to pilot-test face-to-face classes in January would help children learn more and boost the economy in the long run.
“We are glad as health systems improve and as we relax quarantines, we are now going to pilot face-to-face learning starting January,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua told a news briefing. “It will have a big impact on the economy because children will learn more and become more productive.”
“But we have to do it safely and slowly,” Mr. Chua said.
More than a thousand out of 61,000 schools in the country have been nominated to take part in the pilot run, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said on Wednesday. — Beatrice M. Laforga
Regional Updates (12/17/20)
Mactan airport chief suspended
MACTAN-CEBU International Airport Authority (MCIAA) General Manager Steve Y. Dicdican has been ordered suspended for six months for allegedly violating the Anti-Dummy Law.
Ombudsman Samuel R. Martires barred him from entering his office during his suspension to preserve evidence according to a copy of the order.
Mr. Dicdican was accused of letting foreign officials of GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) manage the airport. It is a consortium of Filipino company Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR Infrastructure Limited.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Dec. 4 said it had filed a complaint before the Justice department against Mr. Dicdican, other airport executives, and GMCAC officials for violating the same law.
In 2014, the Transportation department and the airport authority awarded the airport’s management to GMCAC under a 25-year concession for P14.4 billion for the airport’s expansion.
The complainants said GMCAC’s actions went beyond the terms of the concession and the MCIA was operated and managed by foreigners.
MCIAA workers were set to release a manifesto of support for Mr. Dicdican, spokesperson Mary Ann Dimabayao said by telephone.
Mr. Dicdican had questioned the hasty filing of the complaint, saying the concession deal was awarded years before he joined the airport authority. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
Anti-logging teams formed
THE ENVIRONMENT department has ordered one of its officials to set up four teams to boost monitoring of illegal logging operations in Cagayan Valley, Bicol and the Upper Marikina river basin, it said on Thursday.
This comes after lawmakers blamed illegal logging operations for recent floods that submerged many parts of Luzon after it was hit by a typhoon last month.
The government must go after illegal logging agents because transporters and buyers of undocumented forest products are often linked to these unlawful operations, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said in a statement.
Each team is made up of representatives from the agency, Interior and Local Government department, Defense department, Armed Forces, and Philippine National Police, the agency said. — Angelica Y. Yang
River dredging to start in January
THE GOVERNMENT will start its dredging project for Cagayan River next month, which will widen the river and prevent heavy floods.
Several areas of the region will be prioritized, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu told a news briefing on Thursday. Mr. Cimatu sought the widening of the river after the Cagayan Valley region experienced heavy floods last month.
Priority areas include Aparri, Camalaniugan, Lallo, Gattaran, Sto. Niño, Alcala, Amulung, Iguig, Solana, Tuguegarao City and Enrile towns. — Gillian M. Cortez
Big-ticket project list up for revision by year’s end
THE government’s flagship infrastructure project list — big-ticket priority works undertaken via the “Build, Build, Build” program — will be revised by year’s end to favor those more likely to make significant progress, based on projected construction timetables and funding availability, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
In a briefing Thursday, NEDA Undersecretary Jonathan L. Uy said the list of 104 infrastructure projects are under review to check for their readiness for implementation. He added that the new list might be ready before the year ends.
“We are now recalibrating the 104 infrastructure flagship projects. I hope by the end of this year we will have finalized a list, it would appear that we are now (at) about 100 projects (with) some additional ones we proposed for this particular update,” according to Mr. Uy, who also heads NEDA’s investment programming group.
“The important point is work (and) procurement (are) continuing… the disbursements are a bit late, and the extension of the 2020 budget to 2021 will ensure that all of these expenditures may be ramped up,” he added.
The government has revamped the list several times after identifying an initial 75 in mid-2019. The government has been prioritizing so-called “shovel-ready” projects as its time in office runs out, and also as a means of injecting money more rapidly into the economy to help it recover.
The overall program is estimated to cost P4.13 trillion, funded via foreign loans or aid, public-private partnerships, and budget funds.
Currently, 26 of the 104 priority projects are in the approval stages and are being reassessed for whether they can be substantially started or completed within the administration’s term, NEDA Acting Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said at the briefing.
“If they will be able to go through the approval and final preparation process in the next few weeks, then they will remain. If they will not be achieving those objectives, then they may be parked, but we are also considering a number of other projects,” Mr. Chua said.
“We are constantly reviewing the list and it is likely that our further review will include some of the major flood-control projects as addition because of our recent experience (with typhoons),” he added.
Details on the specific projects dropped or included in the updated list were not provided during the briefing.
Infrastructure spending hit P508.5 billion in the 10 months to October, down 18.4% year on year, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). In October, infrastructure and other capital outlays fell 30.6% to P57.1 billion.
Mr. Chua attributed the lower spending to the year-earlier base, at a time when the government was implementing a catch-up spending plan in the second half.
He said construction works are also continuing to face delays due to the disruptions caused by the late-year typhoons, as well as the dearth of transport for construction workers.
The government’s economic team early this month increased its expenditure target for infrastructure by 5% to P825 billion in 2020 from the reduced target in July. Despite the increase, this is still 16.6% lower than the original P989-billion pre-pandemic spending goal.
Capital outlays in the 10 months, which include equity injected into state-owned firms and transfers to local governments for their infrastructure projects, were down 11.8% year on year to P663.2 billion. The tally accounts for 80% of the P825-billion target for the year.
The DBM remained optimistic that the government can hit its revised target this year to help the economy recover faster from the recession. — Beatrice M. Laforga
Cap on residential rent hikes to remain in force until end of 2021
THE cap on residential rent increases will remain in force for another year, to the end of 2021, according to the National Human Settlements Board (NHSB).
In resolution 2020-04 published Wednesday, the NHSB said a 2% cap on rent increases applies to those paying monthly rent of up to P4,999.
The maximum rent hike is set at 7% for those paying monthly rent of between P5,000 and P8,999, and 11% for those paying between P9,000 and P10,000.
The guidelines apply to residential units occupied by the same lessee. If the unit is vacated, the lessor may set the initial rent for the next lessee.
The power to cap rent increases is conferred by the Rent Control Act of 2009, or Republic Act No. 9653, and is designed to protect low-income housing tenants. The resolution also cited the “economic and financial difficulties” inflicted by the pandemic.
Student housing landlords cannot increase rent more than once each year. The regulation also cannot be applied to new residential units constructed after the approval of the resolution.
The rent control measure was extended in 2017, and was set to expire on Dec. 31, 2020.
The trade department earlier set guidelines for rent deferrals and prohibited the eviction of residential and commercial tenants unable to pay after the end of a prescribed grace period. — Jenina P. Ibañez