New BuCor chief named
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has designated Gerald Quitaleg Bantag as the new director-general of the Bureau of Corrections, replacing fired former prison chief Nicanor E. Faeldon, Malacañang said yesterday.
Mr. Bantag’s designation was “based on his professional competence and honesty,” presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said.
“The Palace is behind the President’s decision and is confident that DG Bantag will continue the administration’s campaign against corruption as he spearheads reform initiatives in the Bureau,” he said. — ALB
Duterte meets with Chinese leaders
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte met with officials of the Communist Party of China in a courtesy call at the presidential palace on Monday, Malacañang said.
The president received Chongqing party chief Chen Min’Er, a protégé of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and other members of the party, the palace said in a statement late Monday.
“The President welcomed Chen and the CPC members in a tête-à-tête at the Palace’s music room,” it said. — Arjay L. Balinbin
Court rejects Yasay plea
THE Court of Appeals (CA) denied the motion for reconsideration of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto R. Yasay, Jr. seeking to lift the arrest warrant issued against him for violation of banking laws.
In a three-page resolution, the court said Mr. Yasay should wait for a Manila regional trial court’s decision on a similar motion that he filed. That court had ordered his arrest on March 8.
“The premature invocation of the intervention of the court while said motions are still unresolved is fatal to the instant petition,” the appellate court said.
Police arrested Mr. Yasay on Aug. 22 based on a charge that he conspired with five other officials of the shuttered Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank to get an anomalous loan worth P350 million for a company. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
DoH to finish universal health care rules
THE Department of Health will finish the guidelines on universal health care next month even if it has insufficient funds to fully enforce the program next year, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said at a Senate hearing yesterday.
The law mandates that all Filipinos become members of the state-owned Philippine Health Insurance Corp. It was enacted on Feb. 20 and the agency was given six months to complete the implementing rules.
Mr. Duque said the DoH’s proposed budget of P160 billion for next year would not be enough, noting that enforcing universal health care would cost about P287 billion. — Gillian M. Cortez
TWG on OFW dep’t to be formed
SPEAKER Alan Peter S. Cayetano on Tuesday said that there is a proposal to form a joint technical working group by both chambers of Congress in the creation of a Department of Overseas Filipino Workers.
Mr. Cayetano said he met with Senate officials on Monday. He expects the bill to be passed on final reading by December.
AFP defends telecom deal
THE Armed Forces of the Philippines said it had not bypassed Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in the signing of an agreement allowing a China-linked local telecommunication company to set up towers inside military camps.
“The MOAs have to be approved by the secretary of defense but before the secretary of the defense signs the MOA, I have to sign it,” AFP Chief of Staff General Benjamin Madrigal told reporters yesterday.
He said that Mr. Lorenzana can revoke the deal with Mislatel consortium’s Dito Telecommunity Corp. (DTC) if needed. Mr. Lorenzana earlier said that he was traveling when the deal between AFP and Dito was signed. — MWCP
Duterte meets with Chinese Maoist leaders
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte met with officials of the Communist Party of China in a courtesy call at the presidential palace on Monday, Malacañang said.
The president received Chongqing party chief Chen Min’Er, a protégé of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and other members of the party, the palace said in a statement late Monday.
“The President welcomed Chen and the CPC members in a tête-à-tête at the Palace’s music room,” it said.
Mr. Chen is seen as a “rising political star” in China, and he became the Communist Party Secretary of Chongqing two years ago and joined the 25-member Politburo, the CPC’s top decision-making body, according to the palace.
Chongqing is one of China’s leading cities and is typically lead by a party secretary from the Chinese Politburo, it said. — Arjay L. Balinbin
Court rejects Yasay plea
THE Court of Appeals (CA) denied the motion for reconsideration of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto R. Yasay, Jr. seeking to lift the arrest warrant issued against him for violation of banking laws.
In a three-page resolution, the court said Mr. Yasay should wait for a Manila regional trial court’s decision on a similar motion that he filed. That court had ordered his arrest on March 8.
“The premature invocation of the intervention of the court while said motions are still unresolved is fatal to the instant petition,” the appellate court said.
Police arrested Mr. Yasay on Aug. 22 based on a charge that he conspired with five other officials of the shuttered Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank to get an anomalous loan worth P350 million for a company, according to a police report. He posted a P300,000 bail the next day. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
DoH to finish universal health care rules
THE Department of Health will finish the guidelines on universal health care next month even if it has insufficient funds to fully enforce the program next year, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said at a Senate hearing yesterday.
The law mandates that all Filipinos become members of the state-owned Philippine Health Insurance Corp. It was enacted on Feb. 20 and the agency was given six months to complete the implementing rules.
Mr. Duque said the DoH’s proposed budget of P160 billion for next year would not be enough, noting that enforcing universal health care would cost about P287 billion. — Gillian M. Cortez
TWG on OFW dep’t to be formed
SPEAKER Alan Peter S. Cayetano on Tuesday said that there is a proposal to form a joint technical working group by both chambers of Congress in the creation of a Department of Overseas Filipino Workers.
Mr. Cayetano said he met with Senate officials on Monday. He expects the bill to be passed on final reading by December.
AFP defends telecom deal
THE Armed Forces of the Philippines said it had not bypassed Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in the signing of an agreement allowing a China-linked local telecommunication company to set up towers inside military camps.
“The MOAs have to be approved by the secretary of defense but before the secretary of the defense signs the MOA, I have to sign it,” AFP Chief of Staff General Benjamin Madrigal told reporters yesterday.
He said that Mr. Lorenzana can revoke the deal with Mislatel consortium’s Dito Telecommunity Corp. (DTC) if needed.
Mr. Lorenzana earlier said that he was traveling when the deal between AFP and Dito was signed. — MWCP
New BuCor chief named
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has appointed Gerald Quitaleg Bantag as the new director-general of the Bureau of Corrections, replacing fired former prison chief Nicanor E. Faeldon, Malacañang said yesterday.
Mr. Bantag’s appointment was “based on his professional competence and honesty,” presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said
“The Palace is behind the President’s decision and is confident that DG Bantag will continue the administration’s campaign against corruption as he spearheads reform initiatives in the Bureau,” he said. — ALB
NHA resettlement subsidy out
THE Budget department has released P212.9 million worth of subsidy to the National Housing Authority (NHA) for its resettlement program.
“The NHA resettlement program provides new settlements for families occupying danger areas such as waterways/riverbanks, railroad tracks, sidewalks, etc., and those displaced from sites earmarked for government infrastructure projects,” it said in a statement.
The agency also released P55.9 million for the program last July 30. — BML
