‘GREEN’ VEHICLES. Bases Conversion and Development Authority president Vince Dizon shows the model “green” shuttle to be used by athletes during the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) this year. A memorandum of agreement was signed by BCDA and Connected Autonomous Shared Transportation (COAST) on Tuesday (Aug. 13, 2019) for the deployment of three fully electric and autonomous or “self-driving” vehicles in New Clark City during the biennial meet. (Photo by Marna Dagumboy-del Rosario)

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga — Asia’s first “green” and innovative vehicles will ply the streets of the New Clark City come October for use by the South East Asian (SEA) Games athletes.

This, as the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and Connected Autonomous Shared Transportation (COAST) signed on Tuesday the memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the deployment of three autonomous fully electric and “green” vehicles in New Clark City to be utilized during the regional athletic meet.

Committed to developing a green and modern metropolis, BCDA president and CEO Vince Dizon and Coast Autonomous Chair and CEO David Hickey, led the signing ceremony held at the One West Aeropark Building, Clark Global City for the pilot testing of the three low-speed autonomous or “self-driving” vehicles.

In a press conference, Dizon said the vehicles that are fully electric and with zero carbon footprint are the first in Asia.

He said COAST will provide three electric Coast P-1 Shuttles at no cost to the government.

“This is truly a very exciting day. On behalf of CDA, I want to thank COAST Autonomous for working with us,” Dizon said.

He said the vehicles will run at a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour and will arrive in the country for the pilot testing ahead of the SEA Games.

“BCDA and COAST share the same vision for the future: cities must be liveable by removing traffic and connecting people with clean mobility options that put pedestrians first,” Hickey said.

Under the agreement, COAST will provide and use high-definition and 3D mapping machines to determine the route of each vehicle for it to operate on its own, and transport passengers to and from the Athlete’s Village, the Athletic Stadium and the Aquatics Center.

“COAST Autonomous has developed its vehicles to adapt to the appropriate speed for the environment,“ said Pierre Lefevre, COAST’s chief technology officer.

“The vehicles are not dependent on GPS (global positioning system) and thus, can operate in urban canyons created by tall buildings, under tree canopies and even underground or in tunnels. COAST’s Technology is highly flexible and makes cities and campuses more walkable. The future mobility should be connected, autonomous, shared and electric,” he added.

Clark will serve as the main hub during this year’s SEA Games, with the construction of world-class sports complex in the New Clark City.

There are 56 sports to be played in by nearly 10,000 athletes from 11 countries at the biennial event.

The 11 countries are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

Source: pna.gov.ph

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The Department of Transportation (DOTr) wants to start building the Subic-Clark railway project by the first half of 2020, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said.

The train line is part of the DOTr’s plan to create a logistics hub in Central Luzon. The Subic-Clark railway will span some 71 kilometers and will be built and funded by Chinese companies.

“We want to start construction of the Subic-Clark railway by the first quarter at the earliest next year or the second quarter at the latest,” Tugade said last week.

The project will link the historic Port of Subic in Zambales—a former Unites States naval base until the early 1990s—and an emerging metropolis in Clark in Pampanga, where the province’s international airport is being expanded.

“We are expected to commence the process wherein we will be able to connect the cargo operation between Clark and Subic by rail,” Tugade added.

He said the Chinese Embassy had submitted a list of three Chinese contractors.

Without elaborating, he said one of those contractors was disqualified and needed to be replaced. The DOTr did not immediately respond to a request seeking added details.

The project is in step with the DOTr’s plan to expand the current 77-km of railway lines (Metro Rail Transit Line-3, Light Rail Transit-1, LRT 2 and Philippine National Railways) to about 322 km by the end of 2022.

Including projects still under construction, that footprint will increase to 1,900 km, the department said earlier.

Big-ticket items are the 30-km Metro Manila subway and the 147-km North-South railway, which will link Calamba in Laguna to Clark, Pampanga. Both of those will be funded by the Japanese government.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government will also fund the 581-km PNR Bicol line and the Mindanao railway project, whose first phase will stretch 102 km from Tagum to Digos.

New railway projects that started are the Ayala Corp.-Metro Pacific Investments Corp.’s 12-km LRT 1 Cavite extension project, the 37.6-km North-South Commuter Railway project Phase 1 (Tutuban in Manila to Malolos, Bulacan) and San Miguel Corp.’s 23-km MRT 7. These are carryovers from the previous administration.

Source: business.inquirer.net

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Photo Credit: carmudi.com.ph

A total of 55 erring policemen are set to undergo a 30-day reformation program in Subic, Zambales, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday.

The program dubbed as the Focused Reformation and Reorientation and Moral Enhancement for Police Officers in Line with Internal Cleansing Efforts (FORM POLICE) is a month-long training that aims to address the increasing number of wayward policemen.

PNP chief Police General Oscar Albayalde said FORM POLICE is a more effective retraining program to correct misdemeanors and other less serious prohibited acts committed by errant police personnel.

“Let me emphasize that FORM police is not a punishment, rather a restorative approach of internal cleansing through a continuing retraining program that personnel must undergo to promote our desire to completely reform the organization,” Albayalde said.

Albayalde said a total of 5,582 erring cops have been recorded from July 2016 to June 2019. He said the reformation program is being done batch by batch.

The PNP said the crimes or offenses which were committed by the erring policemen include crime against person, crime against property, bribery or extortion, AWOL (absent without leave), irregularities in the performance of duty and procedural lapse in handling drug cases.

Albayalde urged those who will undergo the reformative program to reflect on their mistakes so that their retraining would be fruitful.

“Make maximum use of the time to reflect… huwag lang kayong magalit sa akin o sa mga opisyal dito… you reflect then you’ll see… then probably maliwanagan kayo bakit natin ginagawa ito,” he said.

Source: gmanetwork.com

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Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Calixto Paulino of Zambales has been cleared by the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division of his graft charge in relation to the reportedly anomalous lease and development of the Olongapo City Civic Center back in 2014 to 2015, after his motion to quash was granted.

He was initially slapped with a violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, alongside several city officials.

From October 2014 up to the first quarter of 2015, Paulino and his co-accused were accused of fast-tracking the award for the lease and development of the Olongapo City Civic Center Contract to SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPHI).

They were faulted for not complying with the provisions of R.A. 6957 or the Act Authorizing the Financing, Construction, Operation, and Maintenance of Infrastructure Projects by the Private Sector, as amended by R.A. 7718 and its implementing rules and regulations.

Paulino stated in his motion to quash filed on May 27 that the facts charged in the information do not constitute an offense. He said that the provisions of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) law do not apply in this case because “this law only covers specific contractual agreements which do not include a straight lease agreement.”

Paulino further stressed that the BOT law provisions do not include a “simple lease contract.”

While Paulino harped on the simplicity of the lease agreement, the anti-graft court said in its ruling that it still has to examine the nature of it and settle once and for all if it is indeed covered by the BOT law.

A perusal of the lease agreement dated December 16, 2014, showed the court that the 38,749 square meters of land owned by Olongapo City was leased to SMPHI for commercial purposes. The lease agreement aimed to develop the land for mixed commercial use, which included a mall, hotel tower, buildings for business process outsourcing (BPO) offices, parking buildings, and a transport terminal.

The court explained that infrastructure projects refer to the construction, improvement, and rehabilitation of roads and bridges, railways, airports, seaports, and communication facilities, among many other things. In this case, the lease of the property cannot be considered as an infrastructure project.

“Considering that the true nature of the lease agreement is for commercial purposes, it thus follows that the said contract is outside the scope of the BOT Law and its implementing rules which govern infrastructure or development projects,” the decision stated.

“Consequently, the accused could not be faulted for their alleged failure to comply with the provisions of the BOT Law,” it added.

Paulino’s co-accused included Vice Mayor Aquilino Cortez Jr. as well as Councilors Elena Calma Dabu, Benjamin Cajudo II, Eduardo Guerrero, Noel Atienza, Alruela Bundang-Ortiz, Edna Elane, Emerito Bacay, Randy Sionzon, and Egmidio Gonzales Jr.

Also included in the charge sheet are Tony-Kar Balde III of the City Planning and Development Office, Cristiflor Buduhan from the Office of the City Accountant, Anna Sison of the Office of the City Legal Officer, Mamerto Malabute of the Office of the City Administrator,

Department Head II Joy Cahilig from the Office of the City Budget Officer – all members of the SBAC.

Since Paulino’s co-accused filed their respective motions to quash and applied the same argument, the graft charges filed against them were likewise dismissed.

The 19-page resolution was written by Chairperson Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta with the concurrence of Associate Justices Zaldy Trespeses and Georgina Hidalgo.

Source: news.mb.com.ph

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‘The City Council of Balanga [has] overstepped Congress by passing an ordinance which imposes more prohibited acts than those specified under [RA 9211],’ says the CA

MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the Balanga City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 93’s ruling declaring unconstitutional a city ordinance that imposes a total ban on the use, sale, distribution, and advertisement of tobacco products.

“Clearly from the foregoing, the City Council of Balanga [has] overstepped Congress by passing an ordinance which imposes more prohibited acts than those specified under national stature (RA 9211),” the CA’s Special 16th Division said in its 13-page ruling.

The local law in question is Ordinance No. 9, which expanded the scope of the ban on the use, sale, distribution, and advertisement of tobacco products as defined by Republic Act (RA) No. 9211 or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003.

Petitioners Philippine Tobacco Institute brought the issue to court after the local government in Balanga City, Bataan, refused to issue business permits for the sale and distribution of tobacco products because of the ordinance.

Balanga City RTC Branch 93 stopped the implementation of the ordinance in 2018, calling it “unreasonable and discriminatory” and tantamount to restriction or prohibition of free trade.

In denying the city officials’ petition for review, the CA said the ordinance “should be struck down as invalid for being ultra vires (an act done without authority) since it contravenes RA 9211.”

The CA noted how the ordinance prohibited using, selling, distributing, advertising, and promoting tobacco products within not only the university town, but also its 3-kilometer radius.

While city officials claimed the ordinance is in compliance with the President’s anti-smoking policy as well as the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the CA said “they cannot simply disregard the provisions of RA 9211 for the plain reason that in this country the latter law governs.”

“Hence, between [the] WHO FCTC and RA 9211, it is the latter law which should prevail. Therefore, the respondents-appellants in drafting the challenged ordinance should have taken into consideration the provisions of RA 9211,” the CA said in its decision penned by Associate Justice Jane Aurora Lantion.

Source: rappler.com

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