MARCOS MARKS 65TH BIRTHDAY AT BAMBOO-PLANTING EVENT IN RIZAL

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Tuesday marked his 65th birthday by planting bamboo in San Mateo town, Rizal, highlighting the need for action as the world reels from the impact of climate change.

"Ang pinakamaganda para ang kaarawan ko ay mas maging makabuluhan at may dahilan na tayo ay mag-celebrate ay sabi ko gawa tayo ng... tree planting ... ang pinakaimportanteng issue [hindi lang] sa Pilipinas kundi sa buong mundo ngayon," Marcos said at the MMDA landfill inside the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape.

"The challenges we hurdled in recent years highlighted the fact that we have one earth. we must spare no effort to ensure that it survives in the years to come."

Marcos said preserving the environment is among the administration's priorities because it entails economic gains.

Nature, he added, "desperately needs attention" and the nationwide tree-planting would also strengthen the environment.

Environment officials said the Indonesian bamboo or "Kawayang Tinik" was chosen for the landfill because of its potential to "absorb heavy metals" and its varied day-to-day use.

The gesture is part of the simultaneous tree-planting activities nationwide headed by the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources' (DENR) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government's (DILG).

The event was concluded by a crowd singing "Happy birthday" to Marcos, with a smiling Chief Executive clapping in return.

Officials presented a cake to Marcos, clad in blue polo.

Among other activities that Marcos is expected to join on his birthday are the signing of an executive order in Malacañang and a gift-giving activity in San Juan City.

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office previously said it would launch a nationwide feeding program today to mark Mr. Marcos’ 65th birthday and first in office as President.

Meanwhile, PAO Chief Persida Acosta welcomed the pronouncement of the Department of Justice that it would submit a list of 300 prisoners who are qualified for clemency on Sept. 13.

ENHANCING DEFENSE RELATIONS, ISRAEL SHARES ANTI-DRONE EXPERTISE WITH PHL

MANILA — The Israeli Embassy in the Philippines hosted an anti-drone seminar on Monday to discuss its own experiences and to introduce its top-of-the-line defense companies  to enhance security relations with the Philippines.

The embassy reopened two offices in the middle of the pandemic, which includes an office for economic relations, while the other is the office of the defense attaché.

“What we’re sharing here is not only technologies, it is best practices, and the Israeli experience,” Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss told reporters in a briefing.

“It is a process of checking policy, identifying what are the challenges, what are the issues, what kind of solutions, and only at the end you look at the technologies and for that, we have the Israeli companies to present the technologies and so it’s much wider than just bringing a company.”

Representatives from different Philippine government defense agencies were at the seminar. Fluss said: “We have here not only the military, but different civil departments or entities because it’s an all-government approach here.”

PRESIDENT MARCOS PRIORITY TAX REFORM PACKAGE REACHES HOUSE PLENARY

MANILA — One of the priority tax reform measures being pushed by President Marcos in his first State of the Nation Address last July 25 has reached the plenary level of the House of Representatives last week.

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, who chairs the House ways and means committee, delivered his sponsorship speech on the final package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) that the Marcos administration inherited from the previous administration and wanted passed.

The CTRP, or House Bill 4339, will simplify the taxation of passive income, financial services and transactions by reducing the number of tax rates from 83 to only 58, according to Salceda.

“If we are able to enact this package as proposed, we will be able to complete the CTRP, one of the largest tax reforms of any country in the world,” he said, noting that this will “significantly simplify tax administration and encourage more financial transactions.”

He added that this program has been a case study for model reforms at Harvard University.

HB 4339 also harmonizes the interest income tax rates and gradually reduces these from 20 to 15 percent. This will benefit a vast majority of Filipinos who have bank savings of less than P15,000, which comprises 79 percent of depositors, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The proposal also seeks to remove the documentary stamp tax (DST) on certificates.

Common employment requirements such as the clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation, birth certificates, diplomas and transcript of records will no longer be subject to the DST.

PALACE EXTENDS STATE OF CALAMITY FOR 3 MORE MONTHS

The state of calamity due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be extended for three months, Malacanang said Monday.

Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has decided to extend the declaration of the calamity state in the Philippines due to the coronavirus disease until the end of the year to preserve its benefits.

Earlier, Mr. Marcos said he was not keen on lifting the state of calamity as the country would lose international support if the declaration were lifted.

“The international medical community, including the WHO (World Health Organization), is supporting countries under a state of calamity. If we lift it, the support will stop as well,” he said.

“We are looking at amending the law in terms of procurement and all of that in the middle of an emergency,” the President added.

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda welcomed the Palace’s decision to extend the state of calamity for the next three months.

But Salceda said the government should also set an official timeline with milestones for the “full reopening” phase.

“Keeping the public health emergency declaration effective will help us bolster our health care system. But we can fully withdraw some of the more restrictive or even militaristic aspects of our anti-COVID-19 measures, such as heavy-handed rules on masking, in favor of a more positive or affirmative approach,” said Salceda, chairman of the House committee on ways and means.

“It would also help us get out of the emergency situation if we can already deal with pandemics on a more institutional level,” he said, pointing to the President’s aim to establish a Center for Disease Control and a Virology Institute.

PBBM: MASK OPTIONAL OUTDOORS

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday made wearing face masks voluntary in outdoor settings but encouraged the public to follow health protocols to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said the President accepted the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to no longer make wearing masks mandatory outdoors.

The new policy, contained in Executive Order No. 3, will take effect immediately, Angeles said.

She added, however, that immunocompromised persons, senior citizens, and people not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are “strongly encouraged” to continue wearing face masks.

The Palace said the Department of Health (DOH) has been told to update the minimum public health and safety guidelines to reflect EO No. 3.

The DOH also agreed to lift masking for non-vulnerable sectors and low-risk settings, officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire revealed Monday.

SC JUNKS PETITION VS LTO’S LICENSE CARDS DEAL

MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the petition of an anti-corruption watchdog to stop the Land Transportation Office (LTO) from implementing a contract with a German technology company amounting to P836 million for the delivery of driver’s license cards.

In a 25-page decision promulgated recently, the SC junked the petition of Anti-Trapo Movement to stop the LTO’s 2017 deal with Dermalog for the purchase of over eight million plastic license cards with a five-year validity.

The SC said the petitioner’s lack of legal standing “to bring the action before this court renders the case dismissible.”

The high court noted that the petitioner failed to establish that the LTO “blatantly disregarded relevant constitutional and statutory prohibitions in awarding the contract to Dermalog.”

The case stemmed from a 2017 deal between the LTO and private firms NEXTIX, Dermalog Identification Systems and CFP Strategic Transaction Advisors for the purchase of plastic license cards.

The petitioner questioned the contract before the SC, saying the LTO “violated the existing procurement laws.”

Dermalog is the LTO’s current information technology system provider.

The company has been blamed by LTO officials for the recent delays in driver’s license renewals due to glitches, causing inconvenience to numerous vehicle owners.

In dismissing the petition, the SC said the LTO did not gravely abuse its discretion when it awarded the contract to Dermalog.

REGULATORS ORDER TELCOS TO BLOCK SUSPECT SITES AMID TEXT SCAM EXPLOSION

MANILA — The National Telecommunications Commission ordered major telco firms to block clickable websites contained in spam text messages that continue to bombard mobile phone users.

In a memo issued by the regulator on Monday, the NTC laid out the specifics of their order, including blocking or deactivating websites (uniform resource locators,TinyURLs, Smart Links and/or QR codes) that come from malicious sites.

These websites will need to be referenced with an existing database from the NTC, National Privacy Commission, Department of Trade and Industry, law enforcement agencies, subscriber reports and “those generated from machine learning or artificial intelligence.”

Text scams have become commonplace in the country. The NPC concluded an initial probe recently, but details have been scarce while an NTC official noted scammers are scraping private information from mobile applications.

A PLDT official quipped that names appearing in spam text messages could have been culled from popular mobile wallet GCash and messaging app Viber.

The NTC is also ordering the country’s three major telco firms, Globe Telecom Inc, PLDT Inc, and Dito Telecommunity Corp., to submit a written report of compliance by the end of the week.

The telco companies have yet to respond to a request for comment as of reporting.

The order came amid recent action from the private sector and government to investigate the worsening wave of text scams nationwide.

For the private sector’s part, telcos like Globe Telecom Inc, tweaked its privacy settings. GCash, also started anonymizing transactions.

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SPLITTING MAGUINDANAO MAY BE GOOD FOR 'DEMOCRATIC COMPETITION' – EXPERT

MANILA – Splitting Maguindanao may be good for ‘democratic competition’ in the region, an expert said, ahead of a plebiscite that will decide on whether or not the province will be divided into two on Saturday.

Speaking with TeleRadyo, Atty. Benny Bacani of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance said dividing the province into Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur will create more elective posts in the area.

If the split pushes through, incumbent Governor Mariam Mangudadatu will lead Maguindanao del Sur. Vice Governor Ainee Sinsuat, meanwhile, will be made governor of Maguindanao del Norte.

“Yung mga miyembro ng (The members of the) provincial board niyan, specially for doon sa probinsya ng Maguindanao del Norte, that will be appointed ng president subject to the recommendation of the provincial governor and the members of Congress,” he said.

“Dadami yung mga, sabihin nating mga (There will be more) elective positions, so that opens also more opportunities for more political players come 2025. So sabihin na natin na, politically, eh mas magkakaroon ng mas maraming opportunity kasi there will be more elective positions na, kasi dalawa na ung probinsya mo eh kaysa yung isa, which, in a way is good for democratic competition,” he explained.

“Alam naman natin, na ang source of conflict din talaga dito are political. So in a sense that will also help, sabihin nating manage yung political conflicts especially during elections.”

A local official has previously said that splitting Maguindanao into two provinces will help improve the delivery of service to their constituents.

Provincial administrator Atty. Cyrus Torreña also said splitting Maguindanao into 2 provinces would help governors bring in more investments and change the area's reputation.

CSC: OVER 3,000 GOVERNMENT JOBS UP FOR GRABS

MANILA — More than 3,000 job vacancies in 131 government offices are up for grabs during the online career fair to be held from Sept. 19 to 23, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) announced yesterday.

CSC Commissioner Aileen Lizada said a total of 3,314 jobs have been posted by participating government agencies, local government units, state universities and colleges as well as government-owned and controlled corporations on JobStreet.com.

Lizada said the number of job vacancies is still expected to increase prior to the start of the online fair.

Meanwhile, production workers are highly in demand in the country, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.

Data from the DOLE’s Bureau of Local Employment showed that 10,426 job vacancies are available for production workers.

The agency also recorded 5,220 jobs available for production machine operators.

Office clerk ranked third in the list of top vacancies with 1,671 slots followed by customer service assistant with 1,626 slots. Companies hiring executive assistants posted 1,152 vacancies.

NEW IMMIGRATION COMMISSIONER NAMED

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday appointed lawyer Norman Garcera Tansingco as commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration.

“This is confirmed,” Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in a statement as Malacañang released a copy of Tansingco’s appointment paper to reporters.

He will replace Immigration officer-in-charge Rogelio Gevero Jr., who was appointed by Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla last month.

The BI is one of the three attached agencies under the DOJ.

Tansingco previously worked at the bureau for almost a decade until January 2017 as chief of staff of then-BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan.

A certified public accountant, Tansingco was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1991.

He is a native of Tacloban City, Leyte.

WEAKER GLOBAL DEMAND CUTS PRICES ACROSS OIL PRODUCTS

The country’s oil firms cut pump prices by as much as P1.70 per liter effective today to reflect the movement of prices in the world market.

Prices of kerosene went down by P1.70 per liter, diesel by P1.45 per liter, and gasoline by P0.45 per liter.

This is the second consecutive week of oil price rollbacks across all petroleum products.

“Phoenix Petroleum Philippines will decrease the prices of diesel by P1.45 per liter and gasoline by P0.45 per liter effective 6 a.m. of September 13,” Phoenix said in its advisory.

Cleanfuel, Chevron Philippines, Seaoil Philippines, and PetroGazz also issued separate advisories of the price cut.

Rodela Romero, Director III of the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau, said last week the movement of prices in the world market showed a possible rollback in pump prices across all products.

“The reasons (for the decline) are the weakening demand due to China’s lockdowns and prospects of more interest rate hikes,” Romero said.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

AMBS LAUNCHES ALLTV

ALLTV joins the Philippine broadcast spectrum during its star-studded opening salvo that brings fun, entertainment and giveaways to its viewers starting today, Sept. 13.

President Marcos will be featured in his first one-on-one interview during the pilot episode of the talk show of multimedia queen Toni Gonzaga.

TV host and singer-comedian Willie Revillame returns to national TV with his popular game show Wowowin.

The Villar-backed ALLTV offers new TV experience with relevant news programs and exciting entertainment shows.

ALLTV airs on Channel 2 on free TV and Planet Cable; Channel 35 on Cignal TV and Sky Cable, Channel 32 on GSAT, Channel 23 on Cablelink and Channel 2 on other cable TV providers.

SPORTS

TENNIS: PRAISE POURS IN FOR TRIUMPHANT ALEX EALA

MANILA -- Filipina tennis phenom Alex Eala is the toast of the town after her historic triumph in New York over the weekend, where she won the US Open girls singles championship.

The 17-year-old Eala took down No. 2 seed Lucie Havlickova of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-4, in the finals at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. On her way to becoming the first Filipino to win a Grand Slam singles title, Eala did not drop a single set.

Her feat drew praise from Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and several lawmakers, while her fellow athletes and sports figures also celebrated.

"A nation of over a hundred million people take pride in your accomplishment. My family and I salute you!" former world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao told Eala on Twitter.

"Keep being an inspiration. Work hard and stay humble. The world has yet to see more of you and what we Filipinos are capable of. Congratulations!" he added.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Rep. Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino said Eala's triumph at the US Open is just the beginning.

"Alex will go a long, long way in her tennis career, which is just budding," Tolentino said in a statement. "We expect Alex to bring more honors to the country, and her accomplishment would definitely inspire young Filipinos to follow in her footsteps."

Her triumph was a source of pride to newly-appointed Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Noli Eala, the uncle of the tennis champion.

"What a way to start my chairmanship of the PSC. My own niece giving the country another reason to be proud and to celebrate," said the PSC chief.

In a statement, the PSC chairman said Eala's triumph "is a testament to the Filipino spirit and our strength of character."

"It also proves that there is no shortcut to success," Noli Eala said. "Alex worked long hours and days, and sacrificed being away from home to pursue her dream and achieve this milestone in her career."

"She has proven that the Filipino can be at par with anyone, if given a genuine pathway to success. Truly a proud moment for the country."

On social media, her fellow Filipino athletes also hailed Eala's feat, with the Philippine women's national football team -- trailblazers in their own right -- leading the way.

Before her singles triumph in the US Open, Eala previously won grand slam doubles at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 French Open.

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 56.86

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors. - Thomas Henry Huxley