Category Archives: PRESIDENT DUTERTE – EXECUTIVE

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DOLE to work with Congress to end contractualization

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To review orders on job contracting

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is looking to review its orders specifically on job contracting or availment of contracting arrangements by private companies.

“We will review the department issuances related to such work arrangements and we will try to make sure… Read More

PRESIDENT DUTERTE - EXECUTIVE

Duterte names Quitain as new chief legal counsel

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 President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Jesus Melchor Vega Quitain as the new Chief Presidential Legal Counsel.

“In-appoint din ng Pangulo si (The President has appointed) Jesus Melchor Vega Quitain bilang kanyang (as his) Chief Presidential Legal Counsel,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace press briefing on Tuesday.

Quitain will replace Salvador Panelo who is running for senator in the 2022 elections.

Prior to his appointment, Quitain was the officer in charge of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President (OSAP).

He also served as Davao City administrator during Duterte’s term as city mayor.

However, Roque said Duterte has yet to replace former Department of Information and Communications Secretary Gregorio Honasan II and former Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones who are both running for senator.

He also confirmed that Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president and Chief Executive Officer Vivencio “Vince” Dizon has resigned from his post effective October 15.

Dizon will remain as deputy chief implementer of the National Task Force Against Covid-19 and the country’s testing czar in charge of overseeing the government’s testing efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Secretary Vince has asked the President to unload him of this task so that he can focus full-time on the national government’s Covid response efforts and vaccination rollout,” Roque said.

Under Dizon’s term, the BCDA earned PHP48 billion in revenues in only five years, the highest by far of any administration. (PNA)

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PRESIDENT DUTERTE - EXECUTIVE

TUGADE SLAMS POE OVER TRAFFIC MESS

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Don’t politicize issue

Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on Friday called out Senator Grace Poe for politicizing the country’s traffic woes for her supposed plans to run for higher office.

Emergency powers should be tied with master plan: Poe

In a television interview, Tugade said Poe, as chair of the Senate committee on public services, was using issues in transportation as an instrument in her political campaign.
“Alam naman ‘ho natin na pumoporma ‘yan si madam Grace para sa pagka-presidente na naman. ‘Wag na ‘ho ipagkaila ‘yan, ‘yun ‘ho yung porma niyan. At ginagawa niya plataporma ng transportasyon sa Senado para ito ‘ho yung ‘thriller’ para ganyan, marinig at makinig siya (We all know madame Grace is preparing for her bid as president again. Let’s not deny it, that’s her style. She’s using transportation as her platform in the Senate as a ‘thriller,’ so she can be seen and heard),” Tugade said in a television interview.

No lack of plans on use of emergency powers: DOTr chief

  Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade on Friday denied Senator Grace Poe’s accusation of lack of a master plan on the use of emergency powers to solve traffic woes in Metro Manila.In a television interview, Tugade enumerated the agency’s plans on how to use… Read More

Tugade said traffic issues should not be politicized, noting that if the Senate does not want to give emergency powers to President Rodrigo R. Duterte to solve the metro’s traffic problem, they should be allowed to do their work as they see fit.
“’Wag na natin pulitikahin. Ayaw niyo ng emergency powers, sige na. Sa inyo na ‘yung emergency power. Hayaan niyo na lang po kaming magtrabaho sa inaakala naming tama (Let’s not politicize traffic. If they don’t want to give emergency powers, fine. They can keep it. They should just let us work as we see fit),” Tugade said.
He said they have been asking for emergency powers since the beginning of Duterte’s term because it was necessary to solve traffic issues in a timely manner.
“Kailangan ‘ho talaga ‘yan pero kung ayaw na ‘ho nila ibigay, ‘wag na. Kasi paiksi ng paiksi ‘yung oras. Noon pa namin po hiningi ‘yan nung sa umpisa ng termino ng ating pangulo. Ngayon, 1,021 days na lang ang termino ng ating pangulo (We need emergency powers but if they won’t give it, then don’t. Because time is running out. We’ve been asking for this since the beginning of our president’s term. Now, only 1,021 days are left in the president’s term),” Tugade said.
He added that the DOTr would continue to “work firmer and stronger in the pursuit of our mandates, in accordance to law.”
In a television interview on Thursday, Poe called out Tugade for his alleged failure to solve problems related to traffic congestion in Metro Manila.
On the other hand, the DOTr said traffic is not part of its mandate and the appointment of Tugade as “traffic czar”, through a 2016 bill did not push through. (PNA)
AFP

MISLATEL to install telco facilities in AFP camps

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Representatives of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company (Mislatel) on Wednesday signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) allowing the new telco player to build its communications facilities in military camps and installations.

MISLATEL

Maj. Gen. Adrian Sanchez Jr., AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications, Electronics, and Information Systems (CEIS), J6; and lawyer Adel Tamano, Mislatel chief administrative officer, signed the MOA at the AFP Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
Based on the agreement, the AFP will determine specific locations with its rental value for use of Mislatel in the installation and management of its communications sites without undermining the operations of affected AFP units.
Mislatel is also required to “furnish all equipment, labor, and materials necessary to effect the co-location of its facilities and shoulders all expenses in connection with or incidental to the co-location” and payment of all taxes, permits, licenses, and other charges.
Payment will be made by providing CEIS equipment, upgrade, services, and training to the AFP equivalent to the monetary value of the lease subject to inflation.
“Our MOA with other telcos significantly improved the ICT infrastructure of the AFP and we are optimistic that this opportunity will also bring great benefits to the armed forces,” AFP Chief-of-Staff, Gen. Benjamin Madrigal, Jr. said.
Mislatel also “guarantees that the devices, equipment, and/or structures installed at the site provided by the AFP shall not be used to obtain classified information” as a measure to prevent electronic espionage.
The Mislatel consortium, which will adopt the name Dito Telecommunity, is composed of Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Udenna Corp, and China Telecom.
It was conferred with the status of new major player in the telecommunications industry by the National Telecommunications Commission on November 19, 2018.
“We at Dito Telecommunity are truly grateful to the AFP for this partnership. The rollout of Dito’s towers is indeed one herculean feat. With this partnership with the AFP, we are nearer our goal of building a wide and robust network,” Dito president and chief executive officer Dennis Uy said.
The signing was witnessed by retired Maj. Gen. Rodolfo Santiago Jr., chief technology officer of Mislatel and Col. Walter Icaro, chief of the Plans, Policy, Program and Budget Division of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for CEIS, J6.
The MOA was subsequently endorsed by Madrigal for the approval of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. 
“This partnership gives Mislatel a fair chance to compete with the other networks, given that the AFP also has similar partnership with Globe and Smart,” Madrigal said. (PNA)