Partner for Change Philippines

Photo from PNA M ANILA   -- Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua said Beijing will punish those responsible for the sinking of a Filipino boat in the West Philippine Sea if proven that they were Chinese nationals. "If it were true that it was Chinese fishing boat which did it, they would be duly educated and punished for their irresponsible behavior," the envoy said in a text message to Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo. "Incidents happen even in the best-regulated family. We hope this incident could be held in a proper context," he added. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Thursday confirmed that the Philippine government has filed a diplomatic protest to China on the boat incident near the Reed Bank. Initial reports from the Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines said "a certain Chinese vessel accidentally collided with a Filipino fishing boat on June 9, 2019 at around 12 midnight" while it was anchored n...

Photo from Abante Tumataginting na 91 porsiyento ang nakuhang grado ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa isinagawang “approval rating” survey sa iba’t ibang religious group sa bansa. Sa press conference sa Quezon City, nagsama-sama ang iba’t ibang samahan ng relihiyon upang bigyan ng grado ang Pangulo kaugnay sa mga nagawa nito bago pa man dumating ang nalalapit na State of the Nation Address (SONA) ng Pangulo. Sinabi ni Pastor Jaime Poliquit, founder/chairman ng grupong GenerousLife International Ministry Inc., pangunahing nakita nila ang magandang pamamalakad ng administrasyong Duterte simula nang naupo ito bilang Pangulo. Kanila ring ipinagdarasal ang Presidente na manatiling ligtas, malakas at malayo sa anumang sakit upang maipagpatuloy nito ang kanyang nalalabi pang termino. Sinabi naman ni Pastor Hery Pacifico, ng Deborah Ablaze International, na pasado rin sa kanila si Pangulong Duterte dahilan sa nakikita nila na nasa tamang daan ang tinatahak ng liderato n...

Photo from PNA MANILA  -- Mislatel Consortium is eyeing to start its operations as the third major telecommunications player in the country by July this year. This, as the consortium composed of Udenna Corporation, Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corporation, and China Telecommunications Corporation signed a share purchase agreement last June 13, as part of efforts to obtain a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). “If we are able to get our CPCN by July, we will do our network rollout,” Mislatel spokesperson Atty. Adel Tamano said in a text message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Friday. Congress has approved last May 20 a legislative measure allowing the consortium to acquire control of franchise holder Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, which is one of the requirements to be able to operate as a third telco player. The approval of the measure will allow Mislatel to increase ...

NOYNOY AQUINO The Trade and Investment Development Corp. (TIDCORP) which was a conduit for the notorious Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) or known otherwise as the Presidential pork barrel under the term of former President Benigno Aquino continued to book huge losses from questionable transactions based on the recent Commission on Audit (CoA) report. The organization’s mandate is to facilitate international trade by offering financial or other assistance nor guarantees to local enterprises particularly small or medium-sized companies. The CoA report indicated that the staggered booking over five years of the deficiency in allowance for expected credit loss (ECL) of the state firm that totaled P932.978 million was contrary to state standards. As at 31 December 2018, the Retained Earnings and Loans Receivable were overstated by P795.252 million and P198.843 million, respectively, while the Pari-passu Payable is understated by P596.409 million. Under section ...

Photo from PNA MANILA  — President Rodrigo R. Duterte wants a cleansing of the party-list system in the country, Malacañang on Thursday said. Responding to queries from the media in a briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Duterte may be keen on abolishing the party-list system or on putting in marginalized sector representatives in the organizations. " Baka papunta roon  (abolition)  kung ganyan ang sentimyento niya or baka gusto niya na iyong nagre -represent coming from that sector (It might be heading to abolition or maybe he wants representatives to really come from the marginalized sector)," he said. Panelo said it is up to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to institute reforms in the party-list system. "Actually  nasa  (it's up to) Comelec.  Sila ang nagka -qualify  ng mga  nominees (They are the ones who qualify nominees)," he said. "He (Duterte) is expressing an idea and that’s for the Comele...

Another issue, another major fail for the Opposition to bring Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte down. They simply don’t get it. They keep using negative propaganda against him when the truth can quickly burn it down. They will never learn from their mistakes. They are pathetic. It actually takes guts to issue an unpopular opinion and only someone with strong conviction can maintain civility in the midst of a diplomatic tension like the incident between Filipino fishermen and a Chinese vessel. In that regard, Duterte is the opposite of “ duwag ”. The Opposition tried to make it look like it was Duterte’s fault why the fishermen had a collision with a Chinese vessel. After all the noise and commotion died down, the rational members of the public had to ask, what the heck was that about? Clearly, the media blew it all out of proportion. All’s well that ends well for the the stricken fishermen of the 2019 ‘Reed Bank Incident’. At some point, the Opposition ran...

Solid partners  Businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles turns out to be an associate of Estelita Trillanes, the mother of the senator, based on information that President Rodrigo Duterte obtained. The mother of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Estelita, and alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles are in cahoots in the anomalous supply of substandard Kevlar helmets to soldiers in 1998, President Rodrigo Duterte said. “The number one graft and corruption in the PMA (Philippine Military Academy) involves his father and even his mother. Remember the Kevlar? It’s a helmet that should be strong, where bullets can’t penetrate. That’s Kevlar,” Duterte said in a speech in Davao City. “The delivery was done by the mother of Trillanes and Napoles. That is the truth. That’s why the deal was reviewed,” he added. It was the first time that Mr. Duterte alleged the link between Estelita Trillanes and Napoles but he made a similar claim last year that the senator’s mothe...

Remember the Skyway Stage 3 update we posted a while back? The video we featured was courtesy of YouTuber  dmitrivalencia , which gave us a good drone’s eye view of the different sections of the Skyway project. Just yesterday, he uploaded another update yet again—you can view the embedded video above. You can tell from the June 2019 update that not all sections show significant changes. But still, a lot of progress can be seen along some of the major roads such as Osmeña Highway and Araneta Avenue. We took before and after snippets of the areas showing the most significant changes so we can all have a better look. Section 1: Osmeña Highway–San Andres intersection PHOTO BY  DMITRIVALENCIA The asphalt works on Section 1 along Osmeña Highway, which previously only reach until the Pablo Ocampo Sr. and Zobel Roxas intersections, now stretch to as far as the San A...