Construction of CGMA classrooms in NegOr ongoing
Construction of six classrooms in three identified areas in Negros Oriental under the Classroom Galing sa Mamamayan Abroad (CGMA) program are now ongoing according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) here.
Atty. Jose Ogang, chief of DOLE office here, said that two classrooms are now being built in each of the following identified areas: Nagbinlod Elementary School in Sta. Catalina, Matambok Elementary School in Manjuyod and Bonbonon Public High School in Sta. Catalina.
CGMA aims to alleviate classroom shortage in the country with the total number of classrooms built under the program now steadily approaching the 400 mark nationwide.
A report reaching Labor and Employment Secretary Patricia A. Sto. Tomas indicated that a total of 312 CGMA classrooms have now been finished, while another 62 are in various stages of construction in several regions.
Also, seven classrooms are undergoing school area identification and 19 are undergoing site validation and documentation prior to construction.
Undersecretary for Employment Danilo P. Cruz, Executive Head of the DOLE CGMA Program, reported that six new classrooms were recently inaugurated and turned over to Paggulayan Elementary School in Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro, Francisco Benitez Elementary School in Tondo, Manila and Tagulod High School in Candaba East, Pampanga.
Cruz also acknowledged the latest donations for the construction of eight CGMA classrooms from the overseas Filipino communities and other individual/group donors.
Cruz said the CGMA Program is a continuing global initiative of the DOLE in collaboration with the Departments of Education (DepEd), Foreign Affairs (DFA), and the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII).
Gov’t offers scholarship prog for ‘near hires’ in IT industry
Job seekers in Negros Oriental will soon increase their competency and up their chances of employment with the government’s scholarship program dubbed as PGMA Training for Work Coupon.
According to Engr. Samuel Jordan of the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) here, the scholarship is open to “near hires” or job applicants who fell short of hiring standards in call centers, animation, software development and medical/legal transcription.
These are the applicants who for some reason did not qualify for the job due to lack of competency and skill required, says Jordan.
It will also be offered to job seekers in other industries with critical skills requirements like aviation, agriculture, medical tourism, health, metals and services.
Jordan said that the scholarship program will be implemented here once their office receives the implementing guidelines.
The government has earlier allocated a total of P500 million for 100,000 scholars nationwide under the PGMA Training for Work Coupon program.
The program aims to provide rapid, effective and efficient training assistance to job seekers and minimize wastage of resources.
Under the program, TESDA will distribute training coupons thru the umbrella organization of business process outsourcing and call centers, the Business Processing Association of the Philippines or BPAP, who in turn will distribute training coupons to the “near hires” of the firms to avail of the specified training in any of the private training provider accredited by TESDA and BPAP.
Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has earlier stressed that the operation of a “finishing school for call centers would assure investors of a steady and adequate pool of trained workforce.
The over $400 billion business processing outsourcing industry (BPO) worldwide has been growing by 11 percent annually. Many BPO firms reportedly prefer the Philippines over other countries because of the availability of a pool of talent, an environment conducive to the call center business and adequate infrastructure facilities.
The information technology business, particularly call centers, has been the major contributor to the President’s job creation program which targets to create 10 million jobs by 2010.
Starting with less than 2,000 employees in 2001, the BPO industry is expected to employ 100,000 Filipinos this year.
BFAR turns over its biggest fingerling dispersal to NegOr this year
To boost the tilapia production in the fish farms and fish ponds in Negros Oriental, some 550,000 genetically enhanced tilapia for excellence (GET-EXCEL) fingerlings were turned to the province today by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
The said fingerlings, which came from Clarin Freshwater Fishfarm, Caluwasan, Clarin, Bohol is the biggest dispersal done by BFAR this year.
The fingerlings will be distributed to the fish farms in East Balabag, Valencia, Tanjay City, Maslog, Sibulan and Baywan City along with the Barangay Agricultural Development Centers (BADC’s) in the province and will be utilized by the Farmers Field School on Tilapia.
The fingerlings were turned over by Mr. Andres M. Bojos, BFAR Assistant Regional Director and Mrs. Anecita L. de la Peña, chief of the Fisheries Extension Training and Communication in BFAR-7.
BIR hikes last year’s collections, targets 30% more for this year
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in Dumaguete and Siquijor recently announced that they have exceeded their revenue target for five successive years. This was bared earlier by Jose Senador, chief of the Taxpayers’ Service Section during an advocacy forum on the Expanded Value Added Tax (EVAT) held by the Philppine Information Agency (PIA) in Siquijor province.
“Our goal for this year is P98.5 million which is 30% higher than the total tax we collected last year,” Senador said, stressing that BIR needs to hit this target and it is intensifying its campaign to collect more.
The office is undertaking surveillance method and other strategies to monitor business activities and make sure that business establishments are not violating government rules on registration, invoicing and bookkeeping. Aside from the series of information drives in Negros Oriental and Siquijor, a tax mapping activity or routine check up of all establishments is also being scheduled in the province. “We check on their administrative requirements like registration receipt and book of accounts as mandated by the tax code,” he explained.
“We hate to use administrative remedies to collect taxes but if we have to, we will not hesitate as long as it is within the bounds of law,” he added, citing that the office used the method against two big corporations in Dumaguete last year. “We were able to collect more than half million because of the remedy,” he said. “This time, we appeal that you pay promptly and correctly so we will not resort to this kind of collection,” Senador said.
He however claimed that some of the delinquent big taxpayers paid their taxes by way of appeal and not by threat, he said.
Likewise, Revenue District Officer Atty. Arturo Acabal said the centerpiece of their effort is revenue collection. Therefore, the BIR should be proactive and aggressive in their tax campaign in order to meet the target as he appeals to business establishments to make necessary compliance before the BIR team comes, inspects and verifies the legality of their operation.
To note, BIR exceeded its revenue collection target last month due to higher sales tax and strong performance by large taxpayers service (LTS). “This means that Filipino taxpayers are also doing their share to nation-building by paying the correct taxes,” Malacañang earlier admitted.
For its part, the Arroyo leadership will continue to seal the revenue leakages by running after tax dodgers and corrupt officials while keeping an eagle eye on its austerity programs.
“The goals that President Arroyo has laid out in her economic blueprint have placed the nation on the runway for economic takeoff, and no amount of political intrigue will delay the schedule,” Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.
He stressed that the Arroyo administration is committed to increase tax collection efficiencies so that more funds can be allotted to poverty alleviation programs and services.
Under RA 9337 or the Reformed Value Added Tax Law, local governments will receive a 50% share from the revenues for the construction of public elementary and secondary school buildings, energy, environmental conservation and agricultural modernization.
Survey justifies info drive on Charter change
Little or zero knowledge of the Constitution among Filipinos bolsters the need for intelligent discussions on Charter change, experts from various fields came to conclude in an academic roundtable held recently.
The forum, spearheaded by the Ateneo School of Government and bringing together two dozen academics, law deans, top economists and opinion writers, cited recent polls to show that proponents and opponents of Constitutional revisions must conduct sedate debates instead of name-calling.
Pulse Asia reported in March that at least 68% of respondents have little or no knowledge at all of the 19-year-old Constitution. The same report, presented by Pulse Asia consultant Mario Taguiwalo, says 32% of the respondents claim significant appreciation of the Charter. The survey also shows a marked increase in advocates of Charter amendments, from 29% in March 2005 to 43% in March this year.
The survey also shows that majority of Filipinos still depend on opinion makers and local leaders in decision making, fellow Pulse Asia member Rapa Lopa added. He urged advocates and officials to start talking about Charter change in a sober manner.
"The survey is basically telling us (leaders): we (the people) are listening to you, we want to know what you think, and we will follow what you tell us," Lopa explained. "People who have access to information and power to communicate must see this and rethink and rethink what they are doing. They must inform our people or help people make more informed decisions."
The conclusions were an indirect dig at politicians who have been criticizing the methods for constitutional revision, instead of hearing out the reasons first. It also highlights, however, the recent call by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines for brisker information drives on the substance instead of the form of Charter change. Responding to that call, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, the largest labor federation, urged pro- and anti-Charter change groups to conduct sedate debates.
The Philippine Council of Ecumenical Churches, the umbrella of hundreds of born-again Christian denominations, also said it would conduct public discussions after educating its congregations since February.
Opinion writer and former Consultative Commissioner Alex Magno found impressive the percentage of Filipinos who feel they are fairly knowledgeable or competent about constitutional issues. "As far of I can gather, people who are open to changes doubled in a few months. What the survey tells me is that no great passions are involved here. What degree or constitutional literacy do we require before we accept these are morally valid?" he remarked.
Dean Andres Bautista of the Far Eastern University Institute of Law batted for more discussions on Charter reforms. "In a democracy, in order to build up consensus, you do need to get that number higher. It is my personal advocacy that we strive to inform and to educate," he said. "What's more important, the informing and educating should not be on the basis of what you feel and certainly not on the basis of personalities, but on tangible knowledge that can make you vote for or against the issue at hand."
The Pulse Asia survey of March 2006 also bothered some of the roundtable reactors. Atty. Raul Lambino wondered why a majority did not know the 1987 Constitution when it is being taught in schools for almost two decades. "When the Charter was ratified in 1987, was it possible that people did not have knowledge of the document at all?" he asked. "What degree of competence are we expecting from people before we can conclude that it is morally right or immorally wrong to vote for Charter change?"
In an interview, Charter Change Advocacy Commissioner Ramon Orosa labeled the present Constitution a failed experiment and presented reasons for amending it. "Over 600,000 people joining the labor force every year are not absorbed either by agriculture or industry. Ten million people are outside the country looking for job opportunities," said Orosa, "Politics is holding the economy hostage."
Orosa advanced that a unicameral-parliamentary form of government can make economic policies more forward looking and harmonized, compared to the current setup. The Constitution ties down the country's hands from coping with global economic pressures, he said. Thus, the Consultative Commission's proposals on economic liberalization and changing the form of government come in one package.
Other personalities at the Ateneo roundtable were University of the Philippines business professor Rene Azurin, former education secretary Florencio Abad, former education undersecretary Chito Gaston and media practitioners Cheche Lazaro, Emily Abrera, Malou Mangahas and Sylvia Mayuga.
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