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Archive for September, 2006

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Reyes grilled over DENR excess officials

Posted by Michille on 26th September 2006

Reyes grilled over DENR excess officials – The Daily Tribune!

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Angelo Reyes yesterday found himself being grilled by senators for having so many undersecretaries, with three supposedly questionable underlings on top of what is “administratively” allowable in each government agency.

One of them happens to be a military general, who was allegedly linked to the “Hello Garci tapes” and who, unknown to many, seemed to have found his way back to public service through DENR after he ended his tour of duty.

Excessive under-secretaries became the center of attention of the senators sitting in the finance committee in deliberating the proposed P7.05-billion of the department or 2007, almost 20 percent higher than that sought this year.

The senators, as they went through each item after the presentation of Reyes, noted a huge chunk of the planned appropriations to cover personal services amounting to P3.9 billion eating up more than half of the total or 56 percent, followed by maintenance and other operating expenses at 31.7 percent or P2.3 billion and P.8 billion, almost 12 percent, for capital outlay.

Reyes’ office alone is seen to account for P700 million of its expenditures for next year.

Seeing these figures, the senators were prompted to scrutinize the additional public expenses needed to pay for perks and allowances, leading to the discovery that the DENR is maintaining eight undersecretaries.

Sen. Franklin Drilon, committee chairman, noted the inclusion of retired Gen. Roy Kyamco among the undersecretaries.

When reporters asked for confirmation if he is the same military officer prominently mentioned in the Hello Garci tapes as having allegedly participated in the rigging of the poll results in 2004 elections, Drilon said, “That general.”

The other immediate subordinates of Reyes were identified by Drilon as Francisco Bravo, Teresita Castillo, Ramon Paje, Demetrio Ignacio, Manuel Gerochi, Jose Ferrer and Armi Jane Borje.

“We will be looking at this closely. We will see how much extra funds would be spent for these excess undersecretaries. We will continue the inquiry (to find out) what are the perks, what are the allowances, that would go to the offices of these excess personnel,” Drilon said.

He stated that government regulation limits the number of undersecretaries to five.

But Reyes claimed these Palace appointees are only acting as “officers-in-charge.”

The senator said government agencies can only have OICs for an existing office.

“There are no existing offices for undersecretaries. Certainly, you cannot appoint OICs,” Drilon added.

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Storm alert raised over RP’s eastern provinces

Posted by Michille on 26th September 2006

Storm alert raised over RP’s eastern provinces – The Manila Bulletin Online!

Manila (dpa) – Philippine authorities on Tuesday raised the alarm against flashfloods and landslides in several eastern provinces as a tropical storm bore down on the area.

Tropical storm Xangsane was packing maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometres an hour and gustiness of up to 100 kilometres per hour, according to the weather bureau.

Xangsane ”has intensified further and remains a threat” to the eastern Philippines, the bureau said in a bulletin.

”Residents are alerted against possible flashfloods and landslides,” it added.

The storm was located near Borongan town in Eastern Samar province, 600 kilometres south-east of Manila, on Tuesday morning.

The weather bureau said it has raised storm alerts over seven provinces in the eastern Philippines as Xangsane moved north-west at seven kilometres per hour.

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CA again defers Raul’s confirmation

Posted by Michille on 26th September 2006

CA again defers Raul’s confirmation – The Manila Times!

Ronnie E. Calumpita, Reporter

JUSTICE Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez on Monday failed to get the Commission on Appointments’ confirmation.

Gonzalez’s confirmation was again deferred because of the filing of new supplemental complaints against him at the commission’s Committee on Justice and the Judicial Bar Council.

During the hearing, Bonifacio Alentajan, a lawyer who led the filing of the supplemental complaints, argued that Gonzalez does not deserve to hold any public position, because of his alleged involvement in graft and corruption and his alleged dishonesty and vote-buying when he ran as congressman in Iloilo.

“He was disbarred for 46 months because of the irregularities he was involved with. He’s really unfit to become the justice secretary or to hold any position in the government,” Alentajan said of Gonzalez.

Some members of the committee, however, found fault with Alentajan’s allegations after he admitted that Marietta Orlean is his client. Orlean, a barangay chairman in Iloilo, is also opposing Gonzalez’s confirmation.

Some congressmen members of the Committee on Justice and Judicial Bar Council said that Alentajan’s being Orlean’s attorney is tantamount to a lawyer-client conspiracy to prevent Gonzalez’s confirmation.

Other commission members, however, found this viewpoint merely an effort to protect Gonzalez.

In an interview after the hearing, the justice secretary declined to comment on Alentajan’s allegations, saying these had all been dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Gonzalez said he has a certification from the Ombudsman dismissing 23 cases filed against him by Alentajan and Orlean.

“They’re nothing [allegations]. I don’t know what else [they’re going to allege], but as far as I’m concerned they’re all closed. I will not elaborate on that, because they’ve been dismissed. It’s up to them [committee members],” the justice secretary said.

No one objected to Gonzalez’s confirmation, because he often makes remarks that put himself and Malacañang in a bad light.

The commission will continue hearing on Gonzalez’s confirmation next week.

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Storm still rages since Aug. 11 sinking of tanker

Posted by Michille on 26th September 2006

Storm still rages since Aug. 11 sinking of tanker – INQ7.net!

Inquirer
Last updated 07:43am (Mla time) 09/26/2006

Published on page A15 of the September 26, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

SHE SITS IN eerie silence on the dark and chilly sea floor, occasionally sending tiny globules of oil to the surface, yet the storm that the MT Solar I whipped up when she sank off Guimaras Island on Aug. 11 rages on.

A preliminary report submitted by experts from the firm London Offshore Consultants Ltd. Pte., who had sent down a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) to take video of the sunken tanker, said that “presently, the leakage from the vessel, as sighted, was relatively minor.”

The experts, who were on board the Japanese research ship Shinsei Maru, had been commissioned by Petron Corp. and insurance firms to recommend how best to remove the oil remaining in the Solar I’s tanks. A copy of their report was made available to the Inquirer.

The ROV, guided from the surface by the experts, used a robotic arm to tighten certain valves on the tanker to reduce the oil leaks.

The report said “the intact upper deck areas, sealed tank lids and closed ventilation valves, as well as the minimal current sighted at the seabed, do not suggest it (the oil leak) should worsen in the near future.”

If it does not move

“If the vessel remains in its same orientation and position, that is, it does not move, it is unlikely that a greater leakage will occur.”

The experts said “factors that might cause increased leakage from the vessel in its present state (are) if the current increases in strength or if the sea temperature increases slightly.”

They said, however, that they “need to check whether this is likely or not in this particular area.”

They noted that “although the seabed surface is soft mud, and the vessel is on a slope, the lack of any appreciable sub-sea current and the buildup of material at the aft end of the vessel suggest that further movement is very unlikely.”

However, they suggested that “it would be wise to undertake an on-bottom stability study, if possible.”

Siphoning work

Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, head of Task Force Guimaras, said yesterday Petron’s insurer, the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund, had agreed to fund the siphoning of the remaining oil in the tanker and would take this up at its executive meeting in February. But he said preliminary engineering work was set to begin next month. The fund will choose the company that will do the siphoning.

Regional task force head Rafael Coscolluela said last week it would take at least three and a half months to completely siphon the oil, including another month and a half for the preparation and the equipment to reach the site, and another two months to complete the operation.

“The operation would be complicated and would require special precautionary measures,” Coscolluela said, referring to the possibility that if not done right, the operation could leak more oil.

“There is minimal oil leakage,” he added. “It comes out every few seconds and it consists of about a one-foot circle, the oil that surfaces.”

Because of the reduced leakage, the Coast Guard station chief in Iloilo, Commodore Harold Jarder, said only one ship had been deployed near the sink site along with three tugboats.

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Fraport, PIATCo execs face criminal charges

Posted by Michille on 26th September 2006

Fraport, PIATCo execs face criminal charges – INQ7.net!

By Armand Nocum
Inquirer
Last updated 04:53am (Mla time) 09/26/2006

Published on page A1 of the September 26, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation has recommended to the Department of Justice the filing of criminal charges against executives of the German-based Fraport AG and Philippine International Air Terminals Co. for allegedly allowing foreign investors to own 61.4 percent of PIATCo, which built the mothballed Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA 3).

Under the Constitution, foreigners can own only up to 40 percent of public utilities.

In a letter to Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño, Victor A. Bessat, deputy director for Special Investigation Services of the NBI, said “there appears to (be a) probable cause to prosecute” Fraport and PIATCo officials for violating the Anti-Dummy Law, also known as Commonwealth Act No. 108.

If found guilty of violating the law, officials of PIATCo, Fraport, Philippine Airport and Ground Services (PAGS), Philippine Airport and Ground Services Terminal Inc. (PTI), Philippine Airport and Ground Services Terminals Holdings Inc. (PTH) and People’s Air Cargo & Warehousing Co. Inc. (Paircargo) could face imprisonment of up to 15 years.

Those recommended for criminal prosecution were PIATCo president Cheng Yong, Fraport vice president Peter Henkel, Jason G. Cheng, Jefferson G. Cheng, Rita Bonifer, S. Samin Aydin, Lilia G. Cheng, Hachiman Yokoi, Gil Camacho, Katherine Agnes M.C. Arnaldo, Jorg Seyffart, Marife T. Opulencia, Mary Antonette P. Manalo, Ricardo C. Castro Jr., Hans Arthur Vogel, Dietrich F. R. Stiller and Noemi S. Dacanay.

Documents obtained by the NBI showed that except for Fraport, PIATCo and the other companies involved in the NAIA 3 project had common officers and directors.

Bessat, acting on behalf of NBI Director Nestor Mantaring, also submitted to the DoJ comments made by Roberto S. de Alban and Joselito R. Amon of the NBI-Legal Evaluation Division, and a complaint affidavit of Melanio Elvis M. Balayan, convenor and executive director of the Concerned Lawyers for Moral and Effective Leadership (Clamor).

In his complaint, Balayan accused the officers and executives of Fraport, PIATCo, PAGS, PTI, PTH and Paircargo of violating the Constitution and laws imposing nationality restrictions, particularly the Anti-Dummy Law and Republic Act No. 7042, or the Foreign Investment Act of 1991.

RA 7042 provides that foreign ownership in entities engaged in the operation and management of public utilities, including airport terminals, is limited to 40 percent.

“In view of the grave danger and the adverse ‘cascading’ and rippling effects of these violations to the national interest, the immediate investigation and prosecution of the instant case is not only warranted but (also) imperative,” Balayan said.

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Warming sea temperatures point to onset of weak El Nino

Posted by Michille on 26th September 2006

Warming sea temperatures point to onset of weak El Nino – PIA!

by Rachelle Nessia

Dumaguete City (26 September) — The warming sea temperatures observed in the equatorial Pacific indicate the possibility of the onset of a weak El Niño in the country.

According to Provincial Chief Meteorologist Edsin Culi of PAGASA, slightly warmer than normal sea surface temperatures have been observed in the equatorial Pacific from May onward this year.

Weaker-than-average, low-level winds blowing from the east have also been observed across most of the equatorial Pacific since early July.

Culi said these are patterns indicate that a warm episode is already starting to develop over the equatorial Pacific.

PAGASA said that based on trends and statistical and coupled model forecasts, the warming sea temperature in the equatorial Pacific is likely to continue through the end of this year and into early 2007.

Should these conditions persist, then it is possible that Philippines will soon experience a weak El Niño, says Culi.

“However, we can’t say for now which parts of the country will be affected,” he adds.

Conditions over the equatorial Pacific have already influenced the rainfall conditions in the country, a statement from PAGASA said.

According to the weather bureau, rainfall conditions during the second half of August were below average in the following areas: Northern Luzon, Bulacan, Zambales, Bataan, Rizal, Batangas, Laguna provinces, northern Palawan and western Mindanao.

Likewise, recent rainfall conditions from September 1 to 17 have been observed to be below average in most parts of the country. (PIA)

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