(10) days from receipt of no- stantial allegations to justify a der of business iyan, plenary has na may (If

n, plenary has na may (If I see there is a) serious pointment is valid [unless the
ave tice.” The petition was filed last cause of action.” 60 session days also, so plenary challenge (to) the legitimacy of SC rules otherwise].) — Dane

Nation
016 monday by the government’s meanwhile, House majority has until oct. 31,” mr. Fariñas the officer in question, hintayin Angelo M. Enerio and Minde
The
lawyer, Jose C. Calida. Floor Leader rodolfo C. Fariñas told reporters. (We only have ko muna ’yun dahil hindi na- Nyl R. dela
EDITORs Cruz
marifi s. jara, ricky s. torre
wednesday, march 7, 2018
o
at

e
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#nationataglance ncIp tells TV network to ‘rectify’ use of ‘exclusively indigenous term’
THe naTional Commission on indigenous peoples (nCip) has warned a broadcasting company
against using an ip term as title for a mythological television series. “The Bagani is real, not a fictional
and not even a mythological group of warriors which the aBS-CBn TV series would like to portray.
Bagani is an exclusively indigenous term that refers to the peace-keeping force of the Manobo in-
es digenous Cultural Communities/indigenous peoples (iCCs/ips) and other iCCs/ips in Mindanao. The
m Bagani defends and protects lives, properties and territory,” the nCip said in a statement dated March
5 and released yesterday. The commission said portraying Bagani “as merely fictional or mythological,
and without reference to its historical and cultural significance, the TV fantasy show distorts, misleads
n and confuses rather than educate the Filipino TV viewers.” Members of the Manobo and other iCCs/
ate ips have earlier expressed their disapproval on the use of the term. nCip said aBS-CBn must “im-
. mediately rectify the injustice committed in using the word Bagani,” or the commission, together with
r the iCCs, would “take all necessary remedies to protect and fulfill the rights of the indigenous peoples
to their cultural integrity as guaranteed by the Constitution and by law.”

ich
d BiCol: alBaY PHIVOLCS
phivolcs warns of continued dangers as it lowers mayon alert level to 3
THe pHilippine institute of Volcanology and Seismology (phivolcs) lowered
e on Tuesday, March 6, the alert level around Mayon Volcano to 3, which means a
“decreased tendency towards hazardous eruption.” However, the agency warned
the public that “sudden explosions, lava collapses… and ashfall can still occur and
threaten areas in the upper to middle slopes” of the volcano. phivolcs has also rec-
ommended that a 7-kilometer (km) no-go zone be maintained, particularly in the
o south-southwest to east-northeast sector, stretching from anoling, Camalig to Sta.
Misericordia, Sto. Domingo. The 6-km radius around the active volcano is declared
a permanent danger zone. The previous alert level 4, meaning a hazardous erup-
c tion is imminent, was raised last Jan. 22. phivolcs said in its bulletin yesterday that
Mayon’s condition in the past week “has been characterized by a general decline
in unrest,” adding that, “should there be a persistent downtrend in monitoring pa-
tic’s rameters, then the alert level will be further lowered to alert level 2.”
to
per CalaBarZon: lipa CiTY, BaTangaS
Ex-charter change commission member says federalism good for business
but nixes federal-presidential proposal
a ForMer member of the Charter change (Cha-cha) commission under the arroyo administration
said federalism would be good for the business sector with government processes devolved, but dis-
agrees with the proposed federal-presidential system. “Business don’t have to go to Manila to get per-
mits... only (president rodrigo r. Duterte) openly declared that he wants to restructure government,
which is very important. This is our opportunity especially for Davao,” said lito Monico C. lorenzana,
former Cha-cha commission member and president of the Centrist Democracy political institute (CDpi).
However, Mr. lorenzana said in a chance interview last Friday, March 2, that the federal-presidential sys-
tem — versus a federal-parliamentary system — voted on last week by the current Consultative Com-
mittee for Cha-cha would not really change the existing political setup.”The problem is it’s the same as
we have right now… we want a parliamentary federal system,” Mr. lorenzana said, adding that the CDpi
will campaign nationwide to push for the parliamentary system. — maya m. padillo
naTional CapiTal region: paraÑaQUe CiTY
DoTr says parañaque transport terminal construction done by april
THe paraÑaQUe

DOTR
pDIc advises borrowers of closed Empire Rural Bank to pay loans integrated Termi-
n THe pHilippine Deposit insurance Corp. (pDiC) has called on borrowers of closed empire rural Bank, inc. nal exchange is
to pay their loans notwithstanding the closure of the bank. empire rural Bank, a single-unit bank in lipa now 68.47% com-
s City, Batangas, was closed by virtue of Monetary Board resolution no. 297 dated Feb. 22. pDiC, in a state- plete and is ex-
ding ment issued Tuesday, March 6, advised borrowers “to transact only with authorized pDiC representatives, pected to be com-
emphasizing that it has not engaged any person, agent or agency to collect the loan payments for and in pleted by april,
m- behalf of the bank.” Queries may be directed to the pDiC-public assistance Department through telephone the Department
on, no. (02) 841-4630 or 841-4631 or the toll-free hot line 1-800-1-888-pDiC (7342), e-mail address pad@pdic. of Transportation
gov.phor, or send a message at pDiC’s Facebook account www.facebook.com/OfficialPDIC. (DoTr) announced
yesterday. in a post on its official facebook page, DoTr said: “This intermodal trans-
port facility is envisioned to be a modern transportation hub, providing a seamless
interconnectivity of the different modes of transportation from the neighboring
sm WeSTern ViSaYaS: BoraCaY, MalaY provinces south of Metro Manila. it will facilitate seamless transfers and will offer
DILg preparing to file charges against fixed departure schedules and a centralized ticketing system.” The six-level facil-
Boracay officials within 2 months ity will connect the light rail Transit-line 1, city and provincial buses, UV express
THe DeparTMenT of interior and local government (Dilg) is aiming vans, and public utility
to file charges within the next 60 days against local and/or national jeepneys. DoTr said the
987 officials who would be found responsible for the environmental prob- transport hub would be
to lems in Boracay island in Malay, aklan. Dilg-Western Visayas regional able to accommodate
al Director anthony C. nuyda said in a press conference that an investi- an average of 200,000
gating team formed by Dilg officer-in-charge Secretary eduardo M. passengers daily.
año already started the inspection of the area last week. “The objective
of Dilg as per the directive of the president is to identify who are liable
for these problems in Boracay. and if there are people who are liable,
t local or national officials, should be identified and cases should be filed
mer against them,” said Mr. nuyda, who is the regional representative in the
12-man team. He said they will look into the issue of establishments
that were allowed to operate despite the absence of business permits @CLYDYLAVILA AND
and fire safety inspection certificate. “We hope that within 60 days or @JEANDEMECILLO/THE FREEMAN
cu- two months we can already file charges. The charges will still depend
- on the documents that we will gather but definitely it will be some case CenTral ViSaYaS: CeBU CiTY
of neglect of duty, etc,” he added. — Louine hope U. conserva
Deadly collapse
f a bunkhouse at a construction site in Luz,
cebu city collapsed around 3 a.m. on
march 6, leaving five dead as of 9 a.m. and
55 others injured, according to the city
Disaster Risk Reduction and management
at Office. The city’s Office of the Building
m Official has suspended all developments
being undertaken by the contractor, j.E.
ndi- abraham c. Lee construction. cebu city
to Legal Officer joseph U. Bernaldez said
they may sue the construction company as
the bunkhouse was built illegally.
s,
DENR

nt

DaVao: DaVao CiTY

lih TEsDa to give displaced Ofws from kuwait, rebel returnees free skills training
d THe TeCHniCal education and Skills Development authority (TeSDa)-region 11 office
has set up a desk at the Davao international airport to provide immediate assistance to
returning overseas Filipino workers (oFWs) from kuwait who would be displaced by the
current ban on the gulf state. TeSDa-11 information officer Mafel Joan n. gamale told me-
dia in a forum that they will be offering free skills training to the oFWs, who can also opt
, to transfer the training scholarship to a dependent. “anybody who is interested and able
will be accepted for the training. This is a free skills training program to equip the people
s in a way that it is easy for them to land jobs,” she said. Ms. gamale said the free skills
training program is also open to rebel returnees, or former members of the new people’s
t. army. “They will be able to join in the community without stigma because they have skills
to bank on,” she said. For 2018, TeSDa-11 has p160 million worth of scholarships, cover-
ant ing tuition fee, starter tool kits such as welding machines and ovens, and allowance for
a- mobilization or transportation. Ms. gamale said some scholarship programs include free
ng meals. — maya m. padillo
y AFP
businessworld gRaphIcs: erka Capili inCiong