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Capitol mulls putting ‘integrated south bus’ terminal in Talisay instead of at SRP
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Instead of at the South Road Properties (SRP), the new location of a new south bus terminal in Cebu might be in Talisay City. Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia on Wednesday, Mar. 27, said that they had received an unsolicited proposal of developing a brand new, south bus terminal. READ: Mayor Rama.....»»
Arayat-Magalang bypass road 80 % complete: DPWH
Arayat-Magalang bypass road 80 % complete: DPWH.....»»
DPWH continues construction of Sta. Margarita Diversion road
Samar First DEO now continues the construction of Sta. Margarita Diversion road under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for FY 2023......»»
Davao City Council moves hearing on traffic-causing road construction works
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews – 26 March) – The Davao City Council rescheduled to Tuesday, April 2, the second hearing on the suspended road construction works in the locality after key officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) – Davao region failed to show up Friday. The DPWH-Davao key officials are reportedly in […].....»»
DPWH-Davao: Coastal Road lights inactive due to stolen wires
THE Department of Public Works and Highways-Davao Region (DPWH-Davao) confirmed that a portion of lights along the Davao City Coastal Road are inactive due to wire theft......»»
Balamban site is for road project, not Capitol bldg – Gwen
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The cleared site in Barangay Cambuhawe, Balamban, in western Cebu, is not for the new Capitol building, but for nationally funded road projects. Cebu Provincial Governor Gwen Garcia made this clarification after photos of a deforested mountain in Balamban, initially thought to be the site development of the new Capitol building,.....»»
Senate tackles airlines’ booking glitches, offloading mess
Growing complaints from various passengers against budget carrier, Cebu Pacific’s overbooking, offloading, and booking glitches have reached the Senate inquiry on Wednesday. This came after Senate committee chairperson, Senator Nancy Binay, filed Senate Resolution No. 575 pushing for an investigation on the customers’ complaints against Cebu Pacific due to recent flight cancellations. During the hearing, Binay said her office was able to compile at least 3,000 complaints from the passengers, which have been aired through social media platforms. “We have since seen it fit to invite our other airlines to this hearing because these problems, it seemed, have only grown in number. Our passengers face inconveniences on multiple fronts on account of flight delays, cancelations, offloading, and overbooking,” Binay stressed. Overseas worker, James Bartolome, said he has yet to receive his refund from Cebu Pacific after his flight going to Qatar was canceled. After knowing that his original flight was canceled, Bartolome opted to book another airline as the budget carrier won’t be able to give him an earlier flight. Senator JV Ejercito said the airport and airline operations will provide the “first and last impressions” to the tourists and potential investors entering the country. “We need to systematize this for our tourism and business climate,” he said, sharing that he was not even spared from experiencing flight delays. Binay emphasized the need to identify problems and immediately craft strategies to prevent similar complaints in the future. Senator Christopher “Bong” Go said that Cebu Pacific and other similar airline companies should acknowledge the impacts of flight cancellations and other airline mess. “Incidents like these could discourage tourists so this hearing should serve as a platform to air the grievances of the frustrated and helpless passengers,” Go said, citing that these may affect the country’s tourism industry and the economy. “Remember that we are still reviving from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added. Go said the airlines must immediately act and rectify these issues by imposing proper mechanisms for compensating affected passengers—which includes food provisions during flight cancellation and alternative flight schedules. During the hearing, several Cebu Pacific passengers also complained about apparent website errors that resulted in them being charged multiple times for transactions yet it appeared to be unsuccessful. Cebu Pacific chief marketing and customer experience officer, Candice Iyog, explained that there is a part of the flow where if a passenger clicks proceed, it commits the changes even before the passenger pays. “We recognize that and we are taking that feedback as well,” Iyog said. The Cebu Pacific, she added, is already working on “a fix or an enhancement” to the interface of the website, which will likely be ready at the end of this month. “Depending on when it's ready, we're looking at possibly, end of July that we will be able to implement this change in the user experience,” she said. Senator Risa Hontiveros lamented that in several instances when passengers’ original flights were canceled, Cebu Pacific offered flight rebooking and passengers were immediately made to pay before they could confirm their purchase of travel tickets. Citing a passenger’s experience, the airline’s website technical issue made them pay a bill of P16,000-worth of add-ons after availing of Cebu Pacific’s free rebooking option, following the cancellation of flights. Iyog said they recently reminded their customer service agents to allow passengers to get back to their original flight or to remove add-ons that were “accidentally added.” “We don’t want to cancel flights for our passengers. It’s bad business and we don’t want to disrupt our passengers—that’s why we give options,” Iyog noted. Tougher passengers’ rights Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe slammed the budget carrier for lacking customer service agents directly responding to these complaints. Poe called on for a tougher policy on air passengers' rights to address the cancellations and delays in flights by local airlines besetting travelers. "This pressing public service issue calls for urgent effective solutions as it involves not only the air passengers' rights but also the overall impact on the country's tourism and economy,” she added. While overbooking is a globally accepted practice, Poe said "systematic delays and cancellations are not." Also, Hontiveros pressed that the government agencies should step in to prevent more passengers from being disrupted in their travels due to canceled, rescheduled, and delayed flights in Cebu Pacific and other airline companies. “These kinds of inconveniences disrupt the travel experiences also of tourists, and as the chair said, could negatively affect the tourism sector,” she added. Aside from the reported overbooking, offloading, booking, and flight cancellations, Senator Raffy Tulfo said that adding extra flights daily amid lacking proper airplane maintenance can be called “abuses of the airline companies.” He lamented that it could pose danger and compromise the safety of all airline passengers, “There were safety issues surrounding the uploading, overbooking, and flight cancellations of airlines. If these airlines don’t care about fulfilling their obligations to provide air transport for their passengers, I will not be surprised that they are cutting corners when it comes to safety as well,” Tulfo pressed on. Tulfo said extra flights can also cause fatigue in pilots and flight attendants. For his part, Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa wants the Civil Aeronautics Board to become proactive in resolving the massive airline mess in the country. Dela Rosa asked CAB if it is amenable to institutionalize the Air Passenger Bill of Rights in order to protect the public from erring airline companies. "What is your position? Do you agree with the proposal to create a law that will institutionalize the Air Passenger Bill of Rights?" asked Dela Rosa. In response, CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla, said they have been very supportive of the proposal. “But it seems it is not among the priorities of Congress,” he said. Dela Rosa said he is mulling to proposed the bill in the Senate “not to discourage the airline industry but to protect the public interest. The post Senate tackles airlines’ booking glitches, offloading mess appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Compensating Marawi siege victims
The program to compensate victims of the Marawi siege will sink or swim on funding. Politico-sociocultural and human factors, including administrative hurdles, aside, the key to its success hinges on the sincerity of the government in providing the needed funds. Of course, the integrity of the distribution through the mechanism laid down by the Marawi Compensation Board or MCB also counts. It will take a lot of lobbying and follow-up to shepherd the program. And for this purpose, the civil society groups that had been galvanizing attention to the acute needs of the evacuees will have to reboot their campaign (Are they represented in the MCB? The Compensation Law speaks of their possible membership). MCB needs their “noise” to prevent the program from being relegated to the backburner with serious calamities happening elsewhere that also need funding. It takes a lot of networking and constant reminders to national policymakers about the need for funds. Remember, nothing is specific about how much the government has earmarked to implement the Compensation Law. Everything remains hazy and iffy. What we have learned is that in the 2023 Government Appropriation Act, about P1 billion has been set aside to initialize the program. That was not even specifically appropriated for the Marawi victims but lumped into the appropriation for assistance to disaster-stricken areas. That amount is a ridiculous crumb that is not even enough for the administrative needs of MCB. How can we augment or supplement any annual government appropriation for the Marawi victims? The Bangsamoro Autonomous Government comes to mind. The BARMM Organic Law provides a budget for this contingency. Thus, under Article XIV, Section 2 of RA 11054, the “Special Development Fund — The National Government shall provide a special development fund to the Bangsamoro Government for the rebuilding, rehabilitation, and development of its conflict-affected communities. The amount equivalent to Fifty billion pesos at Five billion pesos per year, for a period of 10 years from the ratification of this Organic Law, shall be allocated for this purpose. The utilization of the fund shall be in accordance with the Bangsamoro Development Plan to be adopted by the Bangsamoro Government.” That’s it. The provision describes to a tee the aid for the rehabilitation of “conflict-affected” Marawi. What we are trying to drive home is that, even if the national government becomes remiss in funding the program, our fallback will be tapping the resources of BARMM. The regional government has so many funds that it can spend legally on the rehabilitation program. We are told that BARMM has already started implementing its assistance to the war victims. Truckloads of building materials were unloaded at the center of the most affected area, Banggolo, for everyone to see. Choosing construction materials instead of cash, as a form of assistance, is a sound idea. Unfortunately, we were told that many victims were not given a heads-up and failed to avail of it. There was a deficit of communication. Victims demand transparency in the distribution to protect the integrity of the process. Apropos of this, there are pedestrian suggestions that come to mind. A strict monitoring of the use of these materials should be conducted by BARMM to ensure that they will not fall into the hands of pseudo-claimants. The local government units, especially the barangay chiefs who know the residents, should be given a role. Care should also be exercised to prevent the materials from being brought to places outside of the most affected priority areas. Personal, social, and consanguineal biases should never play a role in processing claims. The “palakasan” system will defeat the purpose. These are the evils that should be avoided lest they bring to naught the noble purpose of the law. Responsibility should also be defined clearly by identifying the agency and the officials tasked with distributing the largesse. Transparency by publishing the process of distribution, the criteria, and whatever documents are needed to substantiate the claim for assistance must be observed. BARMM should formulate its own Implementing Rules and Regulations to shut off any doubt about the integrity of the distribution. It is a relief that BARMM has initiated the process. Bravo! We hope it will accelerate the distribution in the meantime that the MCB is getting its act together for the huge task ahead. amb_mac_lanto@yahoo.com The post Compensating Marawi siege victims appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Infrastructure projects get better loan terms from Japan
The Philippines has secured better financing terms for two big-ticket infrastructure projects funded by the Japanese government aimed at improving public transport and road connectivity......»»
Garcia misusi sa 2 ka bus terminals
Garcia misusi sa 2 ka bus terminals.....»»
NBI nabs 8 bogus DBM officials
Eight people allegedly posing as officials of the Department of Budget and Management were apprehended by the National Bureau of Investigation in Mandaluyong on Tuesday......»»
Mandaue drug bust: P476,000 ‘shabu’ seized from HVI
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Authorities seized suspected shabu worth at least P476,000 from a 45-year-old man described as a high-value individual during an anti-illegal drugs operation in Mandaue City early on Wednesday morning, March 27, 2024. The operation took place along Realty Road in the North Reclamation Area in Barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City, Cebu. The.....»»
P1.1 billion released to restore heritage school buildings
The Department of Budget and Management has released P1.1 billion to conserve and restore heritage school buildings in the country......»»
Filinvest Invests P16B in Ciudad BTO Project
The development of Ciudad will finally be realized after the Province of Cebu turned over Friday a parcel of the property to homegrown developer Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) through a build-transfer-operate (BTO) engagement. Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Tristan Las Marias, FLI president and CEO, formally kicked off the project in simple ceremonies onsite on […].....»»
Solon bats for expansion of motorcycle taxis outside Metro Manila
A House lawmaker has voiced his support for expanding the government's allotment of motorcycle taxis outside Metro Manila as the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board is set to greenlight the participation of more players in its pilot study......»»
MMDA allows road works during Holy Week
Road diggings will take place along major thoroughfares in Metro Manila this Holy Week when most motorists are vacationing in the provinces, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority announced yesterday......»»
Stop motorcycle taxi expansion, Marcos urged
Various transport groups yesterday appealed to President Marcos to stop the expansion of motorcycle taxis in Metro Manila amid the impending decision of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board o authorize several companies as players in the pilot study......»»
Authorities verifying 13 dead in North Cotabato road mishap
Authorities are still verifying the 13 fatalities in a vehicular accident involving a passenger van that collided with a dump truck along the National Highway in Barangay Luhong, Antipas, around 12:15 p.m. in North Cotabato on March 25, 2024......»»
Illegal road works?: Alarm raised over road development within watershed areas in Barangay Carmen
A DAVAO City Councilor has raised concerns regarding road construction within the watershed areas of Barangay Carmen, Baguio District......»»
Low subsidy forces LRTA to cut budget for train rehab
The Light Rail Transit Authority is cutting its budget for the restoration of trains to make the most of the lower subsidy given to the agency this year......»»