Close to 1,300 runners ranging from beginners, advance and elite gathered together last Sunday to what organizers said the biggest environmental run in the city to date.

Dubbed as “Olongapo River Run 2017” under the flagship project Making Riverth Possible, the event aims to spread environmental awareness amongst residents.

“This is the first environmental run the city organized, we are very happy with the turnout with less than month of preparation, our long term goal here to spread good habits about taking care of our environment starting from our young generations who will eventually be our future,” Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Paulino said.

He added a healthy and clean environment equals to a good and healthy lifestyle for Olonapenos.

“Ngayon hindi na kayo hihikain pag tumakbo kayo dito sa East Tapinac Oval track, o lulubog sa putik pag tagulan, o matatapilok dahil sa maliit at malalaking bato na tatapakan nyo, bagong gawa na siya, green na green ang damo, rubberize ang track at malinis, ang pakiusap ko lamang ay panatilihin natin malinis ang lugar na ito.” Paulino added.

Environmental Task Force head Anthony Bayarong explained that the preparation was short. A total of 630 runner joined the 2.5 kilometer race, 354 in the 5 kilometer run and 254 in the 10 kilometer category.

“We only had 3 weeks to prepare for this and was expecting around 300 to 350 runner, we were surprised with the outcome and this only proves that residence supports the city’s push to revive the river that has long been neglected.” Bayarong said.

He added that the River Run 2017 is only one part of a series of environmental event. The task force also conducted school tour in which they teach proper segregation of trash to students, a recyclable regatta race which was conducted a day ahead of the River Run.

A total of 29 boats made out of recyclable materials raced one another during the recyclable regatta which left barangay Barretto clinching the title while Harbor point finished second and Barangay Kalaklan got 3rd in the open division.

Kalaklan Elementary School topped the regatta race while, Columban main finished second and Mabayuan Senior High settled for 3rd place.

Volunteers are also expected to flock the citywide cleanup campaign scheduled on the 23rd of September.

“Napaka sarap isipin na nung inumpisan namin ito ay 5 thousand lang ang lumabas 4 years ago, hanggang sa umabot na kami ng 26,000 volunteer nung nakaraang taon, patunay lang na marami talaga ang nagmamahal sa ating kalikasan at ilog.” Paulino added.

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The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), a government-owned and/or -controlled corporation (GOCC) that administers the state’s health insurance program, cornered the bulk of subsidies given away by the national government in July.

The latest Bureau of Treasury data showed that of the P16.867 billion in subsidies granted to GOCCs in July, P15.114 billion or 89.6 percent was received by PhilHealth.
Last year, PhilHealth got P43.8 billion, the biggest amount of subsidies among GOCCs.

Next year, PhilHealth is also poised to get the largest chunk of subsidies worth P57.1 billion.

According to the latest data on the national treasury’s website, PhilHealth had 41.2 million members with 52.2 million dependents in 2016, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 93.4 million or 91 percent of the projected 2016 population.

The GOCC subsidies in July, however, were only less than half of the P35.258 billion distributed in the same month last year.

The other GOCCs that received subsidies in July were the National Irrigation Administration (P978 million); Philippine Rice Research Institute (P337 million); People’s Television Network Inc. (P105 million); National Electrification Administration (P100 million); Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (P70 million); Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (P69 million); Philippine Heart Center (P38 million); Lung Center of the Philippines (P22 million); Philippine National Railways (P13 million); Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority (P13 million); Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (P5 million); and Southern Philippines Development Authority (P3 million).

The Governance Commission for GOCCs had said that up to 90 percent of the subsidies that state corporations receive were being spent on programs and projects, while the remainder covered operational expenses.

Source: business.inquirer.net

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Before the budget of the Commission on Human Rights was slashed to a mere P1,000 by the House of Representatives, the CHR faced only a 10-percent cut (to P649.48 million), as the Department of Budget and Management had proposed.

But then the House leadership threatened to defund the commission with a “zero budget,” and later settled for P1,000, for questioning the killing of thousands under the administration’s war on drugs.
It is, of course, just the House leadership sending a statement, no matter how eyebrow-raising, since the Senate normally restores an affected agency’s actual budget.

Such goings-on in the House will not simply be dismissed, like many of its televised public hearings in aid of legislation. This case involving human rights and the CHR is particularly important and is of major interest even among other countries and foreign investors.

The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) has already raised concerns on the political stability of the country, capped by the substantial downsizing of the 2018 budget for the CHR.
ECCP president Guenter Taus pointed out that such incidents were not sending the right signals to foreign investors and that the national government needed to look into long-term solutions to make the country look attractive to new investors who might want to set up shop here. As it is, he said, inviting new investments from overseas was “becoming more and more difficult.”

This was the first time that the ECCP had spoken up against the downsized budget of the CHR, a move that has earned backlash from local groups and the international community.
The ECCP had earlier warned the government that investors were seeing the Philippines differently from outside looking in, citing how the country was being portrayed negatively by foreign media for its dismal record on human rights protection.

This was in connection with the deaths of innocent people and even teenagers in the hands of policemen who were supposed to be their protectors, as well as the failure of the police to protect civilians from roaming vigilante groups killing suspected drug pushers and users.

This is not all talk. Official data bear witness to this.
Investment pledges made by foreign firms have been declining during the past four quarters — or the first full year of the Duterte administration.

Foreign investment applications approved by seven investment promotion agencies (IPAs) fell 45 percent to P26.7 billion in the third quarter of 2016.
Approved foreign investments declined 9.3 percent year-on-year to P125.7 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.
This was followed by a drop of 12.8 percent year-on-year to P22.9 billion in the first quarter of 2017.

Last week, the Philippine Statistics Authority said foreign investments from April to June this year slumped by 55 percent to P18.2 billion from P40.4 billion in the same three-month period last year.
The PSA data consisted of approvals made by the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, Board of Investments, BOI-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, Clark Development Corp., Philippine Economic Zone Authority and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. These IPAs give away fiscal and nonfiscal incentives to investors.

While the foreign business community is all praise for the administration’s economic team led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the same cannot be said for the other branches of the government, particularly the legislature.

Congress cannot use its power of the purse to make any official or agency of the government kowtow to the administration. If it continues to do to the government’s critics what it did to the CHR, the quality of our lawmakers becomes suspect.

This is especially true for members of the House who seemed to have voted the way they did simply out of fear of losing the benefits that go with being part of the ruling majority. They should stop sending the wrong signal to foreign investors that only bolsters fears of political uncertainty.

Source: opinion.inquirer.net

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After seven years in and out of the Bataan District Jail (BDJ), Bernadeth Gabor could feel confident to disprove President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent assertion that those who had spent time behind bars are hopeless and could no longer be rehabilitated to become productive members of society.

Gabor: From one-woman show to university mission —Jovic Yee

Make no mistake, Gabor is no troublemaker. She is the dean of the College of Technology of the Bataan Peninsula State University (BPSU) who initiated the Hope Behind Bars program to help hundreds of BDJ “residents” get a second shot at life after prison.
The in-prison skills development program offers various technical-vocational courses to inmates.

Mr. Duterte and others who see no hope for former prisoners might learn that some of Gabor’s students who are now free had landed decent jobs here and abroad while others were helping her maintain and expand the program.
Gabor, 41, started Hope Behind Bars in 2010 after a friend working at the BDJ asked for her help to teach some skills to the inmates. She was hesitant at first to jump at the idea because she feared for her life due to the bad image of prisoners she then had.

Nonetheless, with the civic-mindedness that had been instilled in her since childhood, she accepted the challenge, she told the Inquirer. Despite lacking resources in the first two years of the program, she soldiered on, inspired by the BDJ residents’ “eagerness to learn.” “They see you as their chance to become better individuals. They are very happy because they learn a lot. I’ve grown fond of them because I saw hope in their eyes,” Gabor said.

It was difficult for her to recruit other teachers as they, too, were afraid of the inmates as she was. But after some prodding and experiencing how it felt to teach inside a jail, volunteers started signing up.
What was initially a one-woman show became a full-fledged program backed by no less than 50 teachers and BPSU staff.

The university later provided financial support. This enabled Gabor, who first taught how to bake bread like the popular pan de sal, to offer other courses such as welding, automotive repair, housekeeping and even dressmaking. Most of her students have been certified as professionals by the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (Tesda).

BDJ residents who took part in the program were mostly those who were about to be released and who saw their new skills as a boost to their social reintegration.
Gabor said a study showed that those who took part earned enough to send money to their families to buy appliances and fix their homes. Some have been employed in cruise ships and even as security officers in provincial malls, she said.

Good feeling

“It gives you a good feeling that somehow you are able to restore their self-confidence, that you are able to impart to them new skills, knowledge and information,” she said.
Gabor’s work has been recognized by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, which has tapped her to replicate Hope Behind Bars in Olongapo City in Zambales province.
Bato Balani Foundation Inc. and Diwa Learning Systems Inc. have also honored her with “The Many Faces of the Teacher” award.

Now on its 14th year, the award aims to inspire and encourage teachers around the country to do more, especially outside their classrooms where they can make a make “a bigger difference.”
The achievements of Gabor’s students dispute Mr. Duterte’s recent statement that prisoners “do not want [to go] out of prison because they have lost the existence, the essence or existence of a productive person.”

“If they get used to six, seven, 10 years, 15, 20 years they are in prison, no matter what form of livelihood you teach them in Tesda, once they are out, they will look for some trouble. And then they will return to Muntinlupa and they will be happy,” Mr. Duterte said in a Tesda anniversary speech.
‘There is always hope’

Gabor, however, believes “there is always hope” for those who may have lost their way.

“Once they are out, there are jobs and they have families waiting for them. The people must learn to accept them. That’s why I strive to open the minds of others that they (prisoners) can change,” she said.
According to Gabor, one of the main reasons some released prisoners go back to jail is people look down on them and are afraid of them.
“This should not be the case. We should support them in their path to changing their lives,” she said.

Gabor said her passion to teach at the BDJ was further strengthened when two years into the program, her younger brother was locked up at the facility on “false charges” of selling and possessing illegal drugs.
After spending at least two years in jail, her brother was acquitted. Now he is a contractor abroad.

Gabor said what happened to her brother made her better understand the plight of the BDJ inmates and realize that people in prison need help and should be given an opportunity to turn a new leaf.

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

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Foreign investment approvals fell by more than 50 percent in the second quarter, the government reported on Friday, with all but one of six agencies reporting year on year declines.

Photo by: rappler.com

Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that six out of seven monitored investment promotion agencies (IPAs) had approved just P18.16 billion in foreign pledges, down 55 percent from P40.39 billion a year earlier.

Year-on-year declines were recorded by the Board of Investments (P3.57 billion, down 83.3 percent), Clark Development Corp. (P441 million, -40.5 percent), Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (P21 million, -73.6 percent), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (P13.7 billion, -2.5 percent), and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (P62.4 million, -98.4 percent).

The only gainer was the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, which posted 258.2 percent growth to P279.2 million.

The BOI-Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao had no record of investment approvals for the three-month period.

The PSA said Japan was the top prospective investing country during the quarter, with P4.8-billion worth of commitments or 26.4 percent of total foreign investment pledges.

Singapore and the United States were second and third respectively, pledging P2.4 billion or 13 percent and P2 billion or 11 percent.

The largest share of pledges, or P6.7 billion, was for the manufacturing sector, followed by administrative and support services (P4.1 billion) and real estate (P3.8 billion).

In terms of location, the National Capital Region had the largest share of P5.1 billion, closely followed by Calabarzon with P5 billion.

For the first half of the year, total approved foreign investments, fell 38 percent to P41.04 billion from P66.63 billion in 2016.

Total investment pledges, combining those from Filipino nationals and from foreign investors, showed positive 29.7 percent growth in the second quarter to P230.45 billion from P177.68 billion in the year-ago period.

Filipino nationals accounted for 92.1 percent of the total at P212.3 billion.

Foreign and Filipino ventures approved by the IPAs are expected to generate 95,131 jobs, the PSA said. The bulk of 76.2 percent will come from projects with foreign interest, it added.

Source: manilatimes.net

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