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Cebu City Council approves P1.9 billion supplemental budget
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Council has approved the Supplemental Budget Number 3 that contains the allocation for aid to affected residents during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) after almost a month-long discussion. After a six-hour regular session on Wednesday, June 17, 2020, the council, though, decided to decrease the supplemental budget from […] The post Cebu City Council approves P1.9 billion supplemental budget appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
House arrest warrant vs Quiboloy moot – lawyer
Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s lawyer says the arrest warrant issued by a House of Representatives panel is moot as the panel’s hearings are already adjourned......»»
PSE approves listing of GSIS-owned Alternergy preferred shares
Alternergy disclosed that the PSE has approved its application to list the 100 million preferred shares that it sold to the Government Service Insurance System at a price of P14.50/share......»»
TikTok facing ban in America; penalized $384 million in Europe
The US House of Reps has passed a bill to ban TikTok unless it cuts ties to Communist China. Chinese parent ByteDance must sell TikTok to another nationality in six months or be shut down......»»
ADB approves USD 100 mln loan to support small and medium-sized enterprises in Sri Lanka
Manila [Philippines], March 19 (ANI): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 100 million loan to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka more access to finance and build their resilience to external shocks, such as the economic crisis and climate change. SMEs play a critical role in Sri Lanka's economy, contributing 52 per cent to the country's gross domestic product and employ 45 per c.....»»
Marcos approves release of P9.7 billion unprogrammed funds for DPWH projects
President Marcos has approved the release of P9.7 billion from the unprogrammed funds for public works and road repair whose original budget was slashed and included in the P60 billion in last-minute insertions in the 2024 national budget by some members of the House of Representatives......»»
That extra step: How TV Patrol verified Rep. Paolo Duterte s questionable PHP51-billion infrastructure budget
CHEERS TO ABS-CBN's TV Patrol for its report that confirmed that Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte received a total of PHP51 billion for infrastructure projects from 2020 to 2022, when his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, was still in o.....»»
SC approves procedural rules on anti-terror law
The Supreme Court on Monday said it has finalized the set of procedural rules guiding all petitions and applications related to the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, which will take effect on January 15......»»
Parañaque approves P12.4 billion budget for 2024
The city council of Parañaque has approved a P12.4-billion budget for next year, Mayor Eric Olivarez announced on Wednesday......»»
SP approves P5.4B provincial annual budget
SP approves P5.4B provincial annual budget.....»»
Senate approves P5.77-trillion national budget for 2024
The 2024 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) — or House Bill 8980 — received 21 affirmative votes and no negative votes, while one senator abstained......»»
Senate approves P5.7 trillion national budget for 2024
The Senate yesterday approved on third and final reading the P5.768-trillion proposed national budget for 2024, which is seen to strengthen local food production through modernization, mechanization and improved logistics as well as defend sovereignty and protect Filipinos against any threat or violence......»»
Error-prone AI chatbot dog leads Japan’s elderly astray
A cartoon canine AI chatbot designed to cheer up and inform lonely older residents of western Japan is in the doghouse after providing error-laden responses. Powered by generative artificial intelligence, "Dai-chan" was this year launched by Osaka authorities who called it the first of its kind in a country where one in 10 people is age 80 or older. But the chatbot, which features a Shiba Inu cartoon dog and answers in the Osaka dialect, has shown itself far from faithful to the truth. When a user asked about the World Expo planned in Osaka in 2025, the dog incorrectly responded that the event was cancelled. That answer gained public attention, with Japanese newspapers and broadcasters reporting on the dog who got the wrong end of the stick. "Dai-chan, you're good," one social media user joked. Despite slow progress and budget challenges, the world fair is still scheduled to go ahead. Among other incorrect answers, Dai-chan said the "G7 foreign ministers' meeting will be held on November 4" rather than the slated November 7-8. Asked by an AFP reporter if the mooted Sapporo Olympic Games will be pushed back, the bot dog said: "The Sapporo Olympics is postponed! It's not cancelled so I look forward to it!" Earlier this month, the Japanese Olympic Committee said Sapporo had given up its bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics as public support for hosting the games waned after a string of corruption scandals over the 2020 Tokyo Games. Asked about the decision, Dai-chan responded: "The Olympic Committee decided to postpone! It is a decision considering safety! Good job, the Olympic Committee!" The government has defended the chatbot. Its purpose "is to broaden communication base for elderly people and not to give correct answer every time, and users seem to be enjoying Dai-chan with an understanding of the limits of what generative AI can do," an Osaka official in charge of the project told AFP. "Dai-chan is designed as a talking dog that is 10 years old (in terms of human intelligence) tasked with preventing elderly residents from becoming isolated," Osaka governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told Japanese media. Asked by AFP for his reaction, Dai-chan said: "Yes, yes, I often make mistakes, but it's a bit hard that people report about it. But making mistakes is part of growth, isn't it?" The post Error-prone AI chatbot dog leads Japan’s elderly astray appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Republicans pick ‘novice’ as 4th speaker nominee
Republicans have named a fourth candidate for speaker of the United States House of Representatives and hope to end two weeks of party division and a leaderless lower chamber. Louisiana’s Mike Johnson won an internal party vote just hours after previous nominee, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, buckled under a backlash led by former President Donald Trump and announced his withdrawal. Johnson — the vice chairman of the conference but a relative novice in politics — lost out to Emmer earlier in the day but quickly threw his hat back in the ring after his leadership colleague bowed out. Only 128 of Johnson’s colleagues voted for him in the final round of balloting, according to US media — with 29 preferring his rival, Florida lawmaker Byron Donalds, and another 44 casting their votes for someone else entirely. Like Johnson, Emmer had baselessly sown doubt over the validity of Biden’s 2020 election win over Trump, but supporters of the former president were angered by the majority whip voting to certify the result. Trump took to his Truth social website to brand Emmer a “globalist RINO” — short for “Republican in name only.” If Johnson were to succeed where his colleagues have failed, he would be the least experienced speaker in more than a century, having never chaired a committee or held a top leadership role. Moving up to the House from state-level politics only in 2017, Johnson could find himself presiding over a government shutdown in three weeks unless he can cut a 2024 budget deal with much more seasoned negotiators in the White House that is acceptable to his party. He would also be expected to lead the deeply fractured conference through upcoming fights over funding for Ukraine and Israel in their conflicts with Russia and Hamas. Tuesday’s disarray marked two weeks since the party’s first nominee to replace Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, withdrew as it became clear he was nowhere near the 217 votes needed to be elected. Hard-line Trump ally Jim Jordan, the next nominee, flopped three times on the House floor as successively larger tallies of Republican opponents joined the Democrats to reject him. The post Republicans pick ‘novice’ as 4th speaker nominee appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
SC denies Senate certiorari petition
To maintain the separation of powers between the three departments of the government, the Court cannot exercise a power that belongs to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. This was stated in an SC en banc decision penned by Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, denying the petition for certiorari and prohibition filed by the Senate of the Philippines challenging the constitutionality of a memorandum issued by then President Rodrigo Duterte. In 2021, the SBRC started an investigation on the budget utilization of the Department of Health following a report from the Commission on Audit that there was a deficiency of P67,322,186,570.57 in public funds intended for the government’s Covid-19 response. The committee then conducted hearings on the following matters: the DoH’s underutilization of its 2020 budget; the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines by local government units; unspent funds, misstatements, irregularities, and deficiencies of the DoH, as found by CoA; and payment claims issues between the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and private hospitals. Concerned officials from the executive department, including then DoH Secretary Francisco Duque lll, attended the hearings. But then Pesident Duterte, through Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea, stopped the executive officials from attending the hearings, by issuing a memorandum dated 4 October 2021 directing all officials and employees of the Executive Department to cease attending the SBRC hearings on the government’s disbursement of the Covid-19 funds. The Memorandum also asserted that the SBRC inquiry has turned into a preliminary investigation of sorts meant to identify the persons allegedly liable for irregularities that existing statutes already defined and punish. It claimed that the SBRC has stepped into the mandates of other branches of government. Viewing the memorandum as an obstruction to the Senate’s constitutional function to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation, Senate Resolution 131 was passed, authorizing the filing of the present petition before the Court. In denying the Senate’s petition, the Court found that it failed to meet the requisites for a petition for certiorari to prosper. The post SC denies Senate certiorari petition appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
‘Intel fund requests being abused’
A lawmaker said Monday the grant of confidential and intelligence funds under the national budget has become a trend that several government agencies have abused. Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin on Monday said there has been a noticeable increase in the allocation of confidential and intelligence funds in recent years granted to various agencies unrelated to national security or surveillance. “There are many who have joined the trend and abused it,” Garin said. “If you look at the historical data, the jump started in 2017, when the total confidential fund in 2016 was P720 million. In 2017, it jumped to P2.07 billion and by 2020, it more than doubled to P4.57 billion,” she said. The marathon deliberations on the proposed P5.768-trillion national budget for 2024 had led to intense debates in the House, particularly on the grant of multi-million-peso confidential funds to numerous civilian agencies, including the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education. Last week, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, the senior vice chair of the House appropriations panel, said that about 10 government agencies, including the OVP and DepEd, which Vice President Sara Duterte both heads, are expected to be affected by the House’s plan to realign the confidential funds to national security agencies. The realignment is being mulled amid China’s persistent assertiveness inside Philippine territory in the West Philippine Sea. Duterte sought P2.395 billion and P758.6 billion for the OVP and DepEd, respectively, in the proposed 2024 budget, including P500 million and P150 million, respectively, in confidential funds. The post ‘Intel fund requests being abused’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Sara Duterte’s P2.7B confidential expenses as Davao mayor should be probed—Castro
Davao City’s confidential expenses that ballooned to P2.697 billion during Vice President Sara Duterte’s stint as mayor should be probed by the Commission on Audit, a lawmaker said Monday. The call for investigation was prompted by the 2022 report of the CoA, which found that Davao City spent P2.697 billion on confidential expenses between 2016 to 2022, or an average of PP385.3 million per year over the preceding six years. Duterte served as the Davao City mayor from 2016 to 2022 before she assumed the VP post in July of last year. Based on CoA findings, Davao City incurred P144 million of confidential expenses in 2016, which was more than doubled to P293 million in 2017 and further climbed to P420 million in 2018. The city’s confidential fund expenses further grew to P460 million in 2019 and were maintained consistently for the subsequent years of 2020, 2021, and 2022. In an interview on Monday, ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro, who sought the CoA probe, stressed that the P2.697 billion totality of confidential expenses of Davao City in the previous six years “could have been utilized more effectively to benefit the education sector, specifically by providing much-needed support to teachers.” “We were shocked also [by] the report of the CoA. With this controversy of confidential funds, we are thinking of asking the CoA to investigate,” she said. “The CoA should file an audit observation memo and then ask them to explain maybe the misuse of funds and then file necessary legal action.” She added, “Imagine more than a million a day spent for the confidential funds in a city. I just wonder how it was spent and where it was spent. So, we want the CoA to review if the city government of Davao City led by Vice President Sara Duterte by then really followed the guidelines or the joint circular 2015-01.” The said joint circular outlined by CoA with the Departments of Budget and Management, National Defense, and of the Interior and Local Government, and Governance Commission for GOCCs, contains guidelines on the entitlement, release, use, reporting, and audit of confidential and intelligence funds that are in the General Appropriations Act. Daily Tribune has been asking for Duterte’s comment, but she remained mum on the issue. While Castro admitted that the local government units are entitled to confidential funds for peace and order maintenance, it was “ironic” that Duterte sought allocation of such funds given that she claimed Davao City was “very peaceful, disciplined, and well” during her tenure. "So why is it necessary to have an increasingly confidential fund?" the lawmaker stressed, noting such a fund should be used for other fruitful endeavors. "I remember the time the teachers of Davao City were asking for city allowance, but she did not grant it. Instead, she refused and even got mad with ACT (Alliance of Concerned Teachers) during that time," Castro pointed out. While none in the law limits the amount of confidential funds, the militant lawmaker pointed out that it should be rationalized. A proposed law aimed at imposing a cap and limit on confidential funds, streamlining the allocation of such that would promote transparency and accountability, is currently being crafted, according to Castro. It will be filed in Congress when the session resumes in November. The post Sara Duterte’s P2.7B confidential expenses as Davao mayor should be probed—Castro appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
DBM approves release of P705M for bike safety program
Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman has signed the issuance of the Special Allotment Release Order amounting to P705 million to the Department of Transportation, to cover the implementation of the Active Transport Bike Share System and Safe Pathways Program in Metropolitan Areas. According to the Budget Secretary, the program aims to embed sustainable and active mobility in the country’s overall transportation system. “Achieving an improved transportation system toward a better quality of life for all Filipinos calls for a multisectoral approach. President Bongbong Marcos was very particular when he directed us to provide the necessary budgetary support to the transport sector, as we see this as one aspect of the solution,” Pangandaman said. “We are one with bikers and active transport advocates in providing cyclists a comfortable and safe space on our streets,” she added. The appropriated amount for the program will be used to construct protected bike lanes, procure bike racks, improve end-of-trip cycling infrastructure, construct safe and accessible pedestrian pathways and sidewalks, and upgrade existing pop-up bike lanes into permanent bike lanes. Aside from increasing the accessibility of key activity areas and fundamental facilities through supporting the development of active transport, the program will also prioritize providing a sustainable transportation option that is cohesive, direct, safe, comfortable and attractive to the public. The program is expected to reduce carbon emissions in metropolitan areas as well as significantly improve overall public health and safety through upgraded bike and pedestrian facilities. To further promote indirect economic and environmental benefits such as better quality of life, transportation cost savings, time savings and improved air quality, the program will also focus on reducing road congestion as motor vehicle users shift to more efficient modes of transport. The post DBM approves release of P705M for bike safety program appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Court approves Yanson matriarch’s last will disinheriting 4 children
A Bacolod City regional trial court approved the petition of Yanson Group of Bus Companies matriarch Olivia Villaflores Yanson for probate of her last will disinheriting four of her children and naming two as her universal heirs. Bacolod City Regional Trial Court Branch 44 Presiding Judge Ana Celeste P. Bernad in Special Proclamation No. 19-2771 dated 31 August 2023, said: “The last will of Olivia Villaflores Yanson is allowed probate as it complied with the formalities required by law”. Olivia, who together with her husband, the late Ricardo Yanson Sr. established Vallacar Transit Inc. in 1968 that eventually became the largest bus company in the Philippines, named her children Leo Rey and Ginnette as the universal heirs in her will. It may be recalled that on 15 April 2019, Yanson filed a petition for probate of her last will and testament, which was docketed as Special Proceedings No. 19-2771. Olivia’s four other children—Roy, Emily, Ma. Lourdes Celina and Ricardo Jr.—who are collectively known as the Yanson 4, opposed the probate of her will, saying their mother was under due and improper influence and pressure from Leo Rey and Ginnette. Judge Bernad, in her proclamation, said the oppositors to the probate process had not presented any evidence to the court that would show that there was undue influence or pressure exerted on the petitioner before or during the execution of her last will and testament. The court said the petitioner (Olivia) had shown to the court and proved that it was her personal decision to make a last will and testament and that she asked her lawyers to prepare a draft containing all the provisions she wanted. Olivia was 85 years old when she made her last will and testament and proved she was in full possession of all her reasoning faculties or her mind was unbroken, unimpaired or unshattered by disease, injury or other cause at that time. The petitioner said she knew the nature and extent of her estate and she clearly understood the importance and consequences of making a last will and testament. The petitioner signed the will in the presence of four subscribing witnesses. The will was also acknowledged before a notary public by the petitioner and the instrumental witnesses. Judge Bernad said that in considering the petition and the opposition, the court kept the pronouncements of the Supreme Court in mind and only looked at the issue of the extrinsic validity of the last will and testament of Olivia Yanson. The Supreme Court in a 2020 ruling said "the main issue which the court must determine in a probate proceeding is the due execution or the extrinsic validity of the will as provided in Section 1, Rule 75 of the Rules of Court.” It said the probate court could not inquire into the intrinsic validity of the will or the disposition of the estate by the testator. Thus, due execution is "whether the testator, being sound of mind, freely executed the will in accordance with the formalities prescribed by law." The post Court approves Yanson matriarch’s last will disinheriting 4 children appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
DoE: Households without electricity increased by a million in last 5 years
The number of households without electricity has increased by a million in the last five years, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said Friday. The DoE based the number on the 2020 consensus, which showed that 1.8 million households did not have electricity, a much higher number compared to the 2015 consensus, which showed only 800,000 households without electricity. Speaking at a Senate hearing on the DoE’s proposed P2.5 billion budget, Lotilla said the 2020 number also translated to a percentage of electrification of 96 percent, which was two percent lower than 98 percent in 2015. Lotilla attributed the increase to the rise in population and total households. “We cannot cope with this given the present budgetary limitation [of the agency],” he said, noting that “an increase in the electrification budget would increase the rate of implementation” of the country’s electrification program. National Electrification Administration chief Antonio Almeda, meanwhile, pointed out that its originally requested budget for electrification was P6 billion. This request would have covered 2,000 sitios, he added. However, the Department of Budget and Management cut the energy sector's fund to P1.6 billion, prompting the program to be limited to 576 areas. With this, Senator Raffy Tulfo urged the DBM to provide the DOE and its attached agencies with the appropriate budget. “These agencies should be given ample resources to help manage an imminent energy crisis,” said Tulfo, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Energy. “Para makapagtrabaho ng maayos itong sa energy sector natin, bigyan niyo sila ng tamang budget, para nagagawa nila ‘yung nararapat (For our energy sector to do their work properly, give them the proper budget so they can do what they need to do),” Tulfo added. The post DoE: Households without electricity increased by a million in last 5 years appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»