PIA Dispatch - Friday, August 28, 2009

PGMA intensifies zero Basura campaign in Baguio

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo intensified the zero Basura campaign here by ordering all government agencies to allocate space within their areas of jurisdiction for the establishment of material recovery facilities (MRF) in the city.

The President issued the directive to heads of all concerned agencies Friday afternoon during the climate change and waste disposal management briefing at the Mansion House.

The drive is part of the government’s efforts to resolve the garbage problem in the city.

In her brief remarks, the President assured Baguio City Mayor Reinaldo Bautista that upon her instruction, all government agencies based in the city will conduct an immediate inventory to pinpoint the exact location for the MRFs.

“If your problem is your space (for MRF), we can have an inventory of all national government properties located in different barangays and we will locate your MRF there,” the President said.
The President then offered a parcel of lot at the Mansion House for the construction of an MRF for Barangay Luwalhati here.

She also mentioned the spacious property of Camp John Hay, the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture, among others.

The President also committed P13 million as the national government’s share for the establishment of MRF in 128 barangays in the city. Of the P21.5 million total budget for the 116 MRF in Baguio City, the city government will only share P8 million.

Since December last year, the President has declared that every Friday is climate change day for the Office of the President. She has devoted her time to visiting different regions, cities and municipalities in the country to discuss environmental issues and look into possible solution at the local level.

The practice is in accordance with Executive Order that created the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change, which she chairs. Under the task force are 17 task groups, particularly the DENR which in-charge of solid waste management.

Climate change is the direct effect of global warming. It refers to any long-term change in the patterns of average weather of a specific region or the Earth as a whole.


PGMA to meet African leaders in Libya in talks on Somalian piracy, Mindanao

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will have the voice of the Philippine government heard by peoples of the African continent when she attends a Special Summit of the African Union (AU) scheduled over the weekend in Tripoli, Libya, it was learned today.

The President was invited by Libya, through its de facto Head of State Col. Muammar Qaddafi, who is the current chair of the influential African Union, which meets August 30 and 31.

Members of the AU are also members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which will meet in Manila this coming December.

The special meet this weekend is a follow-up to the 13th Summit held in July in Sirte city, near the capital of Tripoli.

President Arroyo will also join Libyans on September 1 in celebrating the 40th year of Tripoli's El-Fateh Revolution which brought Qadaffi to power. Libya has been a major supporter of the Philippines on the Mindanao peace talks.

AU delegates will participate in three workshops on specific peace and security issues, an Executive Council meeting, and an assembly of Heads of State and Government which President Arroyo is slated to join, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

In a separate outline of the agenda, the AU said the two-day Special Summit “is also expected to provide a clear roadmap for Somalia's piracy problem."

Delegates will discuss ways of addressing peace security issues in the African continent, including Somalia's civil strife and the corollary problem of high seas piracy committed by Somali pirates. Filipino seafarers have been among the victims of Somali pirates.

The DFA said the Libya meeting will provide President Arroyo "an opportunity to invite African states to attend the first Special NAM Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development scheduled in Manila from December 1 to 3 this year.

Reportedly, the root cause of high seas piracy is "the abhorrent illegal fishing by foreign fleets committed in Somalia's 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

Delegates will determine how to safeguard and protect Somali waters without outside interference, Au said.

In Tripoli, President Arroyo would meet with the delegations from Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Guinea in connection with the Philippine bid for Observer-State status in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

The status of Observer would allow the Philippine Government more pro-active participation in deliberations at Summits, plenaries and other-level meetings of the OIC, and input its position on the Mindanao peace talks on the same level as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), already a long-time Observer-organization in the OIC.

Also in the agenda is the situation in Sudan's Darfur and the Great Lakes region, according to a statement from the pan-African body.

The AU said a review of the various conflict crisis situations in Africa will be presented and the body "will look at ways and means of ensuring the effective implementation of the decisions adopted by the AU policy organs on these issues.”

Also to be considered are "the challenges of post-conflict reconstruction and stabilization, with specific reference to the roles that could be played by member states and the regional mechanisms.


PGMA, FG cleared on merits of the case – Fajardo

Malacanang was pleased on the decision of the Ombudsman clearing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo of graft in connection with the botched US$ 329-million National Broadband Network-ZTE deal.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said during an interview today at the Feast of Saint Agustin in Lubao, Pampanga, the Palace also expected some sectors to give color to the Ombudsman's ruling.

Fajardo said that although President Arroyo had immunity from suit, the Ombudsman based its decision on the merit of case.

”We would like to believe that it was because of these evidence and also because of the merit of the case as the basis for clearing Mrs. Arroyo and her husband First Gentleman Mike Arroyo. Both parties were given equal opportunity to present their evidence in court,” Fajardo said.

In the 144-age decision, approved by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimino, the Ombudsman investigating panel dismissed the complaints against First Gentleman Arroyo, several government officials and executives of the Chinese firm Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE) Corp. for lack of probable cause.

”The panel has not been presented with convincing and solid evidence directly or indirectly linking respondent Jose Miguel Arroyo in the project,” the Ombudsman decision said.

The anti-graft body also absolved Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr., Department of Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro Mendoza, DOTC Undersecretaries Lorenzo Formoso and Elmer Soneja, and ZTE officials Yu Yong, George Zhuying, Fan Yan and Hou Weigui from liability.

But the Ombudsman recommended the filing of graft charges against former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos and former Socio-Economic Planning Director General and now Social Security System (SSS) head Romulo Neri.

Abalos was ordered charged with violation of the anti-graft law for taking interest and intervening in a contract “completely alien to his duties,” as shown by his bribe offer of P200 million to Neri and million of pesos offer to Joey de Venecia, namesake son of the former House Speaker and a losing bidder in the NBN project. Also cited was his instruction to Rodolfo Lozada Jr., Neri’s consultant in the deal, to protect their “130”—obviously a hefty commission.

”It is without a scintilla of doubt that the actions of respondent Benjamin Abalos, a former chairman of the Commission on Elections, are highly suspect, reprehensible and should in no manner or measure be countenanced by those in public service,” the resolution said.

“The most glaring of all, a question that Abalos continues to keep mum about, are the reasons for his inordinate and extensive interest in a project that is completely alien to his duties and functions as chairman of the Commission on Elections,” it added.

It also said that Abalos’ presence in a conference in China with ZTE officials “speaks volumes into Abalos’ conduct as a peddler of undue patronage.”

On the other hand, the ruling said Neri, should be charged with conferring with Abalos on the project, although the latter was not supposed to have any role in it, and for meeting with ZTE officials when the NBN project was under assessment.

As the then chief of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), Neri should have been more prudent in his actions since the agency was then evaluating the NBN deal, the Ombudsman ruling said.

The complainant in the Ombudsman were Akbayan Partylist Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and NBN-ZTE star witness Rodolfo Lozada Jr.

President Arroyo signed the contract on April 20, 2007 in Hainan, China but scrapped it on September 22, 2007 after allegations of bribery erupted.

Former Comelec chairman Abalos resigned on October 2007 amid allegations that he offered millions of pesos in bribes for the passage of the NBN contract with the ZTE Corp.


BIR rate wins, CTA finds Gloria Kintanar guilty

“Her success in selling health products is proving to be dangerous to her financial health.”

The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) found accused Gloria V. Kintanar guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Section 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 (NIRC), as amended, on two counts.

The decision of the CTA is another breakthrough for the BIR’s fight against tax evasion under its banner program Run After Tax Evaders (RATE).

The case against Kintanar stemmed from her failure to file her Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for taxable years 2000-2001.Together with her husband Benjamin G. Kintanar, Jr., she was charged for tax evasion in June 2005 with the Department of Justice by the BIR RATE team after it was discovered that she was actually receiving huge amounts of commissions for distributing or selling Forever Living Products, Inc. (FLPPI) health products but failed to report the same income in the ITRs she was obligated under the NIRC file.

The CTA did not give credence to the defense given by Kintanar saying that the ITRs he presented in court were of doubtful authenticity and materially flawed with irregularities. It is said that accused Kintanar presented fabricated and flawed ITRs purporting to be received by a revenue district of which she is not a resident. The Court likewise noted the evident lack of concern on the part of the Kintanars appear to be voluntary and considered as intentional disregard of their tax responsibilities.

In Criminal Case No.O-033, the CTA sentenced Kintanar to suffer an indeterminate penalty of one (1) year, as minimum, to two (2) years, as maximum and ordered her to pay a fine in the amount of Php 10,000.00 with subsidiary imprisonment in case she has no property with which to meet the said fine.

She was likewise ordered to pay as civil liability deficiency income tax for taxable year 2000 the amount of Php3,156,470.22, inclusive of penalties, surcharges and interests plus 20% delinquency interest per annum full payment.

Likewise, in Criminal Case No. O-034, the CTA sentenced Kintanar to suffer an indeterminate penalty of one (1) year, as minimum , to two (2) years as maximum and ordered herto pay a fine in the amount of Php 10,000.00 with subsidiary imprisonment in case she has no property with which to meet the said fine.

She was likewise ordered to pay as civil liability deficiency income tax for taxable year 2001 the amount of Php3,147,518.77, inclusive of penalties, surcharges and interests plus 20% delinquency interest per annum full payment.

For the BIR RATE team’s success in the Kintanar case at the CTA, BIR Commissioner Sixto S. Esquivas IV praised Deputy Commissioner Gregorio V. Cabantac and BIR lawyers Claro Ortiz and Emerita Francia for a job well-done and promised to back the latter’s team in going after tax dodgers.

Commissioner Esquivas added, “With the recent victory in the Kintanar case at the CTA, we will be even more vigilant and aggressive in enforcing our tax laws. We will recognize compliant taxpayers but we will punish those who do not mend their ways. Tax evasion is a crime and it must be punished without fear or favor.”


PSALM appoints administrators for Sual and Pagbilao IPPs

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) today (28 August 2009) successfully conducted the second round of bidding for the appointment of independent power producer administrators (IPPAs) to manage the contracted capacities of the National Power Corporation in the coal-fired Sual and Pagbilao power plants.

San Miguel Energy Corporation (SMEC) and Therma Luzon Inc. were declared the two highest bidders in the rebid of the selection of IPPAs, which has been described as the first of its kind in Asia and, probably, the world.

SMEC, the energy investment arm of food and beverage conglomerate San Miguel Corporation, made it two in a row as it offered USD1.072 billion (USD1,072,000,000.00) for the management and control of National Power’s 1,000-megawatt (MW) contracted capacity of the Sual coal-fired power plant. Last Wednesday (26 August 2009), SMEC successfully concluded negotiations with PSALM for the sale of the 620-MW Limay Combined-Cycle Power Plant as the government accepted its USD13.5-million (USD13,502,000.00) offer for the Bataan-based power asset.

Therma Luzon, an affiliate of the Aboitiz group, was declared the highest bidder for the 700-MW contracted capacity of the Pagbilao coal-fired power plant with an offer of USD691 million (USD691,009,003.00).

Both bids exceeded the reserve price set by the PSALM Board.

As soon as it has verified the accuracy, authenticity, and completeness of the bid documents that the two companies have submitted, PSALM will issue a Notice of Award to SMEC and Therma, formally declaring them as the winning IPP administrators for the contracted capacities of the Sual and Pagbilao power facilities.

Both SMEC and Therma Luzon participated in the first bidding for the Sual and Pagbilao IPPAs held last 26 June 2009. While the technical bids of the two companies met the government’s requirements for both capacities, their financial offers came up short of the floor price.

With the successful appointment of the Sual and Pagbilao IPPAs, PSALM will enter Phase II of its IPPA selection process, which will involve the IPP contracts of the hydropower plants.