Aquino to grace Hanjin ship rites
President Benigno S. Aquino III will lead the blessing and naming of two bulk carriers built by Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co.-Philippines (HHIC-Phil.) for India’s Adani Shipping PTE.Ltd. in a ceremony that will be held Thursday at the HHIC Shipyard at the Subic Freeport Zone (SFZ) in Zambales.
Adani Shipping PTE. Ltd. officials led by company managing director Rajesh Adani, HHIC Chairman N.H. Cho, SFZ Administrator and Chief Operating Officer Armand Areza and provincial officials will join the President in naming M/V “Rahi” and M/V “Vanshi.”
The vessels, both 175,000 dead-weight ton (DWT) have hulls made of steel with overall length of 289 meters and a registered length of 279.98 meters.
Gross tonnage of each bulk carrier is 91,829.0 tons while the net tonnage is 59.082 tons.
HHIC-Phil., the world’s fourth largest shipbuilding facility, started its operations in the Philippines in 2006 with an initial investment of $721 million.
It has recently shifted to full-scale operation at its Subic shipyard after completing its facility expansion program in mid-2009. (PCOO)
OSG asks Sandigan to nullify plea agreement with Garcia
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on Wednesday asked the Sandiganbayan to nullify the plea bargain agreement with former Armed Forces Comptroller General Carlos Garcia, saying it is “irregular and it is not right.”
In a press briefing this afternoon, Solicitor General Jose Anselmo “Joel” Cadiz said nullifying the agreement would rectify the Sandiganbayan’s mistake of approving the controversial plea bargain agreement with Garcia.
Cadiz said its call for the Sandiganbayan justices to take a second look at the approved agreement was contained in the Urgent Motion for Leave to Intervene and Omnibus Motion-in-Intervention they filed today.
In its motion to intervene, Cadiz said the plea bargain agreement and its approval suffer from grave legal infirmities “thereby rendering them null and void and hence, should be set aside.”
He stressed the plea bargaining agreement was approved despite non-compliance with Section 2, Rule 116 of the Rules of Court which requires the need to get the consent of the offended party, which is the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
“We have requested the Sandiganbayan to take a second look at the plea bargaining agreement it has entered into with Garcia,” Cadiz said noting that the approved agreement clearly disregarded the offended party, which is the AFP and the Republic of the Philippines.
The agreement reportedly allowed Garcia to return to the government some P150 million believed to be ill-gotten in exchange for pleading guilty to a lesser offense instead of plunder which is punishable by life imprisonment.
As a result, Garcia was released from prison after posting bail for P60,000 or P30,000 each of the offense of direct bribery and violation of the anti-money laundering law. (PCOO)
Toll rate hikes will be graduated, Palace says
The toll rate hike at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) is part of the country’s contractual obligations which even the Supreme Court has ruled as above board.
In a media briefing, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang said the toll rate hikes will be graduated so as not to adversely push inflation prices soaring and put so much pressure on the road users and consumers.
Carandang, after emerging from the economic cluster meeting, which President Aquino attended, said there will be two tranches for the toll hikes: one in January and the last tranche, two to three months later.
Transportation and Communication Secretary Jose “Ping” de Jesus, according to him has reported that the toll increase is lower than what has been applied for by the operator.
He said the planned toll increase was based on the costs and other operating expenditures.
The Bangko Sentral he said made a sensitivity analysis on the impact of the toll fees on consumer prices and the national inflation will just be at about 2.4 percent, which is manageable.
“The toll rates increase will not have any significant impact on the macroeconomy,” Carandang said.
He said President Aquino had asked the economic team to look for other options of increasing the toll rates without forfeiting the country’s contractual obligations.
According to Carandang the protest against such toll hikes is just happening in the SLEX and not in the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), which has been continually upgrading its road system. (PCOO)
Palace says new LRT, MRT rates adjustments would be acceptable
Malacañang assured on Wednesday that the scheduled fare adjustments on the Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Transit will not be that much and will be acceptable to the commuters.
In a press briefing at the Palace on Wednesday, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) Secretary Ramon “Ricky” Carandang said the public could expect an acceptable new fare for the LRT and MRT considering that the government has more leeway in setting the rate of adjustments as one of its significant owners.
“The MRT increases are a little bit different because the government effectively owns a significant portion of that so I think we have much more leeway,” Carandang said.
He further explained that the government has been subsidizing LRT and MRT fares in terms of per passenger basis to the tune of significant billions every year.
Carandang said that Transportation and Communications Secretary Jose De Jesus will announce the rate in the MRT and LRT fare increase and when will it be implemented.
The implementation of fare adjustment on LRT and MRT has been under study last year until it was postponed on the first quarter of 2011. (PCOO)
