Tag: Arjay L. Balinbin

THE GOVERNMENT has exempted from excise and income taxes the sale of gold by small-scale miners to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in a bid to “further build up” the country’s foreign exchange shield against external financial shocks.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has signed a law institutionalizing the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

THE Department of Education (DepEd) said Wednesday that it failed to start construction on 4,100 new classrooms and fill at least 10,000 teaching positions in the first three months of the year because of the delayed passage of the 2019 budget.

MALACAÑANG on Wednesday said the Philippine government will now shoulder all expenses for shipping back Canada’s garbage.

MALACAÑANG on Wednesday said the Department of Justice (DoJ) will look into corruption allegations against dismissed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Nela Charade G. Puno.

THE DEPARTMENT of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday said it is ready for the revival of the mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) in the senior high school program.

MALACAÑANG said Tuesday that the Department of National Defense (DND) and the National Security Adviser (NSA) are currently looking into the United States’ warnings on the use of Huawei phones and telecommunications equipment.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has ordered the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to convert “all collective land titles” to individual certificates of land ownership awards (CLOA), according to Agrarian Reform Secretary John R. Castriciones.

RETIRED Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales was held Tuesday by Hong Kong immigration authorities for being a “security threat,” her legal counsel confirmed.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte, after about a week out of the public eye, resurfaced at Malacañang Palace on Tuesday during the presentation of credentials of Thailand’s Ambassador Vasin Ruangprateepsaeng.

THE Department of Justice (DoJ) is studying “if charges can be filed” against former National Youth Commission (NYC) chairman Ronald Gian Carlo L. Cardema for presiding over a meeting even after he filed a petition to replace his wife as the first nominee of the Duterte Youth Party-list, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

CHINA has deployed anew clam-harvesting fleets to the South China Sea in the last six months, including in Scarborough Shoal, according to American-based think-tank Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI).

MALACAÑANG ON Tuesday advised Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Board Director Sandra M. Cam to pursue her anti-corruption advocacy “outside the government” if she “cannot stomach” what she sees in her agency.

MALACAÑANG on Monday said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Philippines and Kuwait on the protection of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) should be reviewed following the recent killing of a Filipina domestic helper in the Persian Gulf state.

THE revival of capital punishment being pushed in the Duterte administration will have some bearing on the 2022 elections, analysts sought for comment said.

PRESIDENT RODRIGO R. Duterte was “upbeat” during the weekend based on the “sound of his voice,” his spokesperson said on Monday amid speculations over his health condition.

A ROAD in Manila has been renamed to Mel Lopez Boulevard in honor of the accomplishments, contributions, and “exceptional” public service of Gemiliano “Mel” C. Lopez, Jr. as a sportsman, public servant, and socio-civic leader, especially to the people of Manila. President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed on April 12 the law, Republic Act No. 11280, that changes the name of the portion of Radial Road 10 traversing Bonifacio Drive at Anda Circle up to Marala Bridge at the foot of Estero de Marala.

TASK FORCE Bangon Marawi Chairperson and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council Secretary Eduardo D. del Rosario on Monday said the government has already spent at least P15 billion for social services in war-torn Marawi City.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Sunday would not confirm or deny rumors that he was confined at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City over the weekend.

THE GOVERNMENT is readying to resume its nationwide advocacy campaign on federalism by July when the 18^th Congress opens its first regular session, according to Interior Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan E. Malaya.

MALACAÑANG on Sunday ordered Chairman Ronald Gian Carlo L. Cardema of the National Youth Commission (NYC) to vacate his post as he has filed a petition to replace his wife, Ducielle Marie Suarez-Cardema, as the first nominee of the Duterte Youth party-list.

MALACAÑANG on Thursday announced that President Rodrigo R. Duterte has fired Director-General Nela Charade G. Puno of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for alleged “graft and corruption.”

MALACAÑANG on Thursday said the recall of Filipino representatives from Ottawa over the delayed trash shipments serves as a warning by President Rodrigo R. Duterte that his administration is ready to “sever” 70 years of diplomatic relations between Canada and the Philippines.

MALACAÑANG ON Thursday said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should conduct an investigation into the reported pre-shading of ballots in Lanao del Sur during the 2019 midterm elections held last Monday.

EMERGING results of the May 13 mid-term elections showing President Rodrigo R. Duterte will likely consolidate his influence on lawmakers, especially those in the Senate, will mean stronger impetus for reform but also carry long-term political risk, Fitch Solutions Macro Research said in a May 14 note e-mailed to journalists on Wednesday.

MALACAÑANG on Tuesday criticized an American comedian-host for “implying” in his Netflix show that President Rodrigo R. Duterte is an “autocrat” who “every so often goes on a killing spree.”

DOMINATION of the Senate race by bets endorsed by or associated with President Rodrigo R. Duterte promises to revive the impetus for reforms in his last three years in office, analysts agreed on Tuesday, and Malacañang lost no time in listing prompt approval of the P4.1-trillion 2020 national budget and a shift to a federal form of government among its priorities for the 18^th Congress that opens its first regular session on July 22.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte is set to visit Japan from May 29 to 31 on a Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s invitation, Cabinet officials said Tuesday.

THE new Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) is expected to start operations by the last week of May, according to House committee on housing and urban development Chairman Alfredo Abelardo B. Benitez, the Representative for Negros Occidental’s 3^rd District.

ABOUT 61 million voters, with the youth forming a considerable segment of this electorate, are expected to vote in today’s mid-term elections, the outcome of which will influence policy making in the remaining three years of the administration of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Saturday warned his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio against running for president in 2022, saying it will not be worth it because political enemies and the media will only “destroy” her.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte should ensure the passage of “drastic” anti-corruption measures, including capital punishment for convicted plunderers, in the remainder of his term, the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) said in an interview Friday.

MALACAÑANG warned on Friday that President Rodrigo R. Duterte will not allow any form of cheating by the election commission in the 2019 midterm elections on Monday, stressing that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should ensure the integrity of the ballots.

THE COUNTRY’S economic outlook and the peso’s stability will be the key deciding factors for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in further cutting its policy rates and reducing banks’ reserve requirement, think tank Fitch Solutions said in an analysis.

THE PHILIPPINES and Mexico are set to conclude negotiations for agreements on air services, disaster risk management, and the establishment of a Joint Economic Committee (JEC), according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Thursday issued Proclamation 719 declaring Election Day, May 13, as a special non-working holiday nationwide.

THE MAN who claimed to be the netizen Bikoy, in the videos alleging drug links in President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s family, would have been cited for contempt if the Senate had proceeded with its inquiry into this controversy, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson said on Thursday.

PRESIDENT RODRIGO R. Duterte has warned the mayor of a town in Negros Occidental against sowing fear and to allow the people “to vote freely” on May 13.

THE government will seek to make up for the building lag caused by the delayed 2019 budget, which dampened spending by about P1 billion a day, but much will depend on good weather to facilitate construction, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte will remain “very engaged” with Congress in pushing for the approval of the remaining tax reform packages using his “political capital” as his administration targets an “A”-level sovereign credit rating within two years, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said Wednesday.

By Charmaine A. Tadalan and Arjay L. Balinbin Reporters THE Senate on Wednesday canceled a planned hearing on the controversy over the netizen “Bikoy” which the...

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has signed into a law a measure waiving fees and charges for government documents typically issued to first-time jobseekers, the Palace said.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte signed into law last month an energy efficiency and conservation bill, officials said.

THE BANGSAMORO Transition Authority (BTA) has called on the national government to immediately set up the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Body that will facilitate interactions with the newly-formed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

MALACAÑANG said on Thursday that the sovereign credit rating upgrade issued by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) confirms the positive impact of policies implemented by the government’s economic managers.