The Executive Branch of Government

[Bosnyboy]

Originally Posted by RonnieR

PNoy not aware Hinatuan radar not working – Mar Roxas

By Froilan Gallardo on December 6 2012 6:58 pm

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 6 Dec) – President Benigno Simeon Aquino III was not aware that the Doppler radar station in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur was not working on the day typhoon Pablo struck eastern Mindanao last Tuesday, Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas said here Thursday.

“I was not aware of that. It was never brought to the attention of President Aquino,” Roxas said in a press conference here.

Roxas, who was inspecting provinces hit by Typhoon Pablo, quickly wrote it down when the question was raised during the press conference and promised he will bring it up to President Aquino.

The Doppler station of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in Hinatuan, the only radar station in Mindanao, was down only months after it went online along with the other Doppler stations in Cebu, Subic and Tagaytay.

With a range of 300 kilometers, Doppler stations provide up-to-the-minute or real time information on wind velocity and rain density which is uploaded immediately to Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and other monitoring stations in Asia.

Roxas said the Doppler stations form a vital part of the country’s weather monitoring network aside from PAGASA’s use of old technology such as rain gauges.

“We are in fact thinking of investing in newer Doppler stations which has greater range, like 600 kilometers. We need to have these to cover our entire country,” he said.

http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories...ing-mar-roxas/

Then i guess someone fouled up. Heads definitely should roll on this one. Theyre definitely sleeping on their jobs just like those policemen caught sleeping in their offices just recently. That caused them to be relieved of their post. Ganun din dapat dito because of their negligence, lives, lots of it were lost. Local economy suffered.

[pi_malejana]

Originally Posted by RonnieR

PNoy not aware Hinatuan radar not working – Mar Roxas

Hinatuan WAS working back then... ClimateX PH kindly put up the raw feed from Hinatuan Station that day... in fact, we were able to track the eye of Bopha as it made landfall... the feed is now down again though...

what the problem was that the coverage of the radar was very very poor... you can only make out the eastern portions... maybe it was due to the radar still being calibrated or maybe some structures or even mountains along the western side that is blocking the radar, idk.. maybe someone familiar can tell us what mountains in Surigao can block that??

here's a proof:

[nayki]

Originally Posted by RonnieR

PNoy not aware Hinatuan radar not working – Mar Roxas

By Froilan Gallardo on December 6 2012 6:58 pm

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 6 Dec) – President Benigno Simeon Aquino III was not aware that the Doppler radar station in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur was not working on the day typhoon Pablo struck eastern Mindanao last Tuesday, Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas said here Thursday.

“I was not aware of that. It was never brought to the attention of President Aquino,” Roxas said in a press conference here.

Roxas, who was inspecting provinces hit by Typhoon Pablo, quickly wrote it down when the question was raised during the press conference and promised he will bring it up to President Aquino.

The Doppler station of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in Hinatuan, the only radar station in Mindanao, was down only months after it went online along with the other Doppler stations in Cebu, Subic and Tagaytay.

With a range of 300 kilometers, Doppler stations provide up-to-the-minute or real time information on wind velocity and rain density which is uploaded immediately to Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and other monitoring stations in Asia.

Roxas said the Doppler stations form a vital part of the country’s weather monitoring network aside from PAGASA’s use of old technology such as rain gauges.

“We are in fact thinking of investing in newer Doppler stations which has greater range, like 600 kilometers. We need to have these to cover our entire country,” he said.

http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories...ing-mar-roxas/

Kelangan pa ba malaman ng presidente ng Pilipinas yan? Sino ba in charge dyan sa radar na yan?

[amigo32]

dapat may tatanggalin sa puesto nyan fire him

[wolfram74]

PH won't hit self-sufficiency in rice in 2013

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III has bravely proclaimed the country will become self-sufficient in rice in 2013. The target is a nice sound-bite in the Philippines, the world’s biggest rice importer, especially with mid-term elections coming up in May of next year.

The problem is the Philippines will fail to hit the target, and I believe imports could hit 2 million tons next year, which would be close to the record amount of imports set a few years ago. The reason for this can be found by just adding things up. Bill Clinton called it arithmetic.

You tally production and warehouse stocks on one hand and then look at consumption and how much rice is in government and commercial warehouses on the other. You also need two months’ worth of inventories, maybe three months. That gives you a rough idea what the supply/demand balance is in the Philippine rice market.

The production side of the ledger goes this way: Milled rice production in the Philippines in 2011/12 should hit a little over 11 million tons, separate forecasts by the Philippine government’s Agriculture Department and a report by the U.S. Agriculture Department attaché at the U.S. embassy in Manila said.

In the 2012/13 season, output may go up to 11.5 million tons. The USDA attaché report believes Philippine output would remain flat at 11 million tons. The attaché reports are compiled by U.S. agricultural experts at their embassy in Manila but they are not official USDA data.

The amount of rice stored in government warehouses is enough for 15 days of consumption and the amount in commercial warehouses is good for 16 days, the Agriculture Department said.

The government would normally include the rice in private households to pad the numbers a little bit. All Philippine households store a small amount of rice, but they should not be included because that grain is not in the domestic market at all. At best, the country only has one month worth of rice stocks in warehouses. That’s wafer thin.

Let’s break down the consumption side of the equation. The rate of daily rice consumption by Filipinos stood at 33,000 tons in 2010 although it should be closer to 35,000 tons by this time just because the number of people keeps increasing. At 100 million, annual consumption of milled rice in the Philippines would be around 13 million tons in 2013.

“Despite projected gains in rice output, the country is expected to remain a rice importer…as the population continues to grow and a safe level of stocks is maintained for food security reasons. This level is assumed to be at least 2 months of equivalent consumption, which is even lower than the historical 30-year average of 3 months,” an Asian Development Bank report in August concluded.

That is one of the reasons why the USDA attaché feels Philippine rice imports in 2013 will remain at 1.5 million tons.

The wildcard in all this is the weather.

The Philippines, on average, gets 20 typhoons per year. In 2012, the country has lucked out because many of the typhoons did not hit major rice growing areas or caused severe damage there. When you throw in climate change and the resulting unpredictability of extreme weather events, it would seem highly unlikely that the Philippines will be spared a hit from a major typhoon in 2013, especially to a vital rice-growing region. The new normal is the Philippines will get an extreme weather event.

It is also becoming harder to expand amount planted to rice in the Philippines to 5 million hectares. The amount currently stands at 4.35-4.66 million hectares, according to government estimates. Vietnam has about 7.5 million planted to rice while Thailand has10.25 million hectares, more than double what the Philippines had. If a major rice growing area is damaged, the already sizable gap between production and consumption can only widen, not shrink, as the government fervently hopes.

If Philippine milled rice production is 11.3 to 11.5 million tons and consumption is 12.9 to 13 million tons, the Philippines will import around 1.3 to 1.8 million tons of rice next year. If the weather is bad, the amount can easily expand to 2 million tons.

Like I said, arithmetic.


The Philippine Commodities Digest is a weekly publication of A & V Media in New Jersey, providing a roundup of developments and trends in the country’s key farming and mining sectors. It is read by traders, analysts, investors and followers of the Philippine agricultural market as well as the country’s mining industry.

[oanari]

Originally Posted by wolfram74

PH won't hit self-sufficiency in rice in 2013

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III has bravely proclaimed the country will become self-sufficient in rice in 2013. The target is a nice sound-bite in the Philippines, the world’s biggest rice importer, especially with mid-term elections coming up in May of next year.

The problem is the Philippines will fail to hit the target, and I believe imports could hit 2 million tons next year, which would be close to the record amount of imports set a few years ago. The reason for this can be found by just adding things up. Bill Clinton called it arithmetic.

You tally production and warehouse stocks on one hand and then look at consumption and how much rice is in government and commercial warehouses on the other. You also need two months’ worth of inventories, maybe three months. That gives you a rough idea what the supply/demand balance is in the Philippine rice market.

The production side of the ledger goes this way: Milled rice production in the Philippines in 2011/12 should hit a little over 11 million tons, separate forecasts by the Philippine government’s Agriculture Department and a report by the U.S. Agriculture Department attaché at the U.S. embassy in Manila said.

In the 2012/13 season, output may go up to 11.5 million tons. The USDA attaché report believes Philippine output would remain flat at 11 million tons. The attaché reports are compiled by U.S. agricultural experts at their embassy in Manila but they are not official USDA data.

The amount of rice stored in government warehouses is enough for 15 days of consumption and the amount in commercial warehouses is good for 16 days, the Agriculture Department said.

The government would normally include the rice in private households to pad the numbers a little bit. All Philippine households store a small amount of rice, but they should not be included because that grain is not in the domestic market at all. At best, the country only has one month worth of rice stocks in warehouses. That’s wafer thin.

Let’s break down the consumption side of the equation. The rate of daily rice consumption by Filipinos stood at 33,000 tons in 2010 although it should be closer to 35,000 tons by this time just because the number of people keeps increasing. At 100 million, annual consumption of milled rice in the Philippines would be around 13 million tons in 2013.

“Despite projected gains in rice output, the country is expected to remain a rice importer…as the population continues to grow and a safe level of stocks is maintained for food security reasons. This level is assumed to be at least 2 months of equivalent consumption, which is even lower than the historical 30-year average of 3 months,” an Asian Development Bank report in August concluded.

That is one of the reasons why the USDA attaché feels Philippine rice imports in 2013 will remain at 1.5 million tons.

The wildcard in all this is the weather.

The Philippines, on average, gets 20 typhoons per year. In 2012, the country has lucked out because many of the typhoons did not hit major rice growing areas or caused severe damage there. When you throw in climate change and the resulting unpredictability of extreme weather events, it would seem highly unlikely that the Philippines will be spared a hit from a major typhoon in 2013, especially to a vital rice-growing region. The new normal is the Philippines will get an extreme weather event.

It is also becoming harder to expand amount planted to rice in the Philippines to 5 million hectares. The amount currently stands at 4.35-4.66 million hectares, according to government estimates. Vietnam has about 7.5 million planted to rice while Thailand has10.25 million hectares, more than double what the Philippines had. If a major rice growing area is damaged, the already sizable gap between production and consumption can only widen, not shrink, as the government fervently hopes.

If Philippine milled rice production is 11.3 to 11.5 million tons and consumption is 12.9 to 13 million tons, the Philippines will import around 1.3 to 1.8 million tons of rice next year. If the weather is bad, the amount can easily expand to 2 million tons.

Like I said, arithmetic.


The Philippine Commodities Digest is a weekly publication of A & V Media in New Jersey, providing a roundup of developments and trends in the country’s key farming and mining sectors. It is read by traders, analysts, investors and followers of the Philippine agricultural market as well as the country’s mining industry.

why do Philippine media claimed that Philippines is the world biggest importer of rice? Indonesia imported about 3.09 million metric tons of rice last year compare that to Philippines's 1.2 million metric tons. Nigeria imported more rice than Philippines. Yet, according to Philippine media, the Philippines is the world's biggest rice importer.


http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/0...8IJ0LI20120808

[mahadlikha]

PINAGMUMUKHANG PULUBING MAYABANG TAYO NG PNOY GOV'T!

Pinagmumukha tayong mga PULUBING SAKSAKAN NG YABANG ng gobyerno ni PNoy sa kabila ng pagkamatay ng halos 500 katao at pagkawala ng bahay ng daan-daang libong iba pa dahil kay Typhoon ‘Pablo.’

When Hurricane Sandy devastated New York and other parts of the US several weeks ago, PNoy’s government IMMEDIATELY DONATED $250,000, OR MORE THAN P10 MILLION.

Nadyaryo pa iyung donasyon na iyun kung natatandaan nnyo. Pero ngayon, HALOS MAMALIMOS na ang mga opisyales ng gobyerno sa paghingi ng donasyon para sa mga biktima ni ‘Pablo.’

Not only to us ordinary mortals but to other countries as well.
PAG PARA SA IBANG TAO, may pera ang PNoy Government at SIMBILIS NG KIDLAT sa pagbibigay nito. Pero pag para sa mga NAMATAYAN o NAWALAN NG BAHAY nating kababayan, kailangang IPANGLIMOS ng donasyon sa SAMBAYANAN at kung saan pa puwede.

Samantalang NI HINDI MALINAW KUNG MAGKANO na ba ang inilalabas na pera ng gobyerno para sa mga biktima ni ‘Pablo” at saan at paano ito ginastos.
I haven’t read or heard of any amount which has been certified as accurate by the government. The last figure I came across was something like P3 million two days ago, when the death toll was just 300 more or less.

So the questions now are:
WHERE IS THE MONEY for disaster relief? Where is the breakdown of the expenses and documentary proof like receipts? WHO is responsible for the money’s disbursements and HOW MUCH is the budget?

WALA PA TAYONG NAKIKITANG KATIBAYAN, mga kababayan, na sa ginagawang panglilimos ng donasyon ng gobyerno, HINDI NAGKAKANAKAWAN sa pondo para sa disaster relief.

That’s why with the outpouring of foreign aid for victims of Typhoon ‘Pablo, DON’T SEND your help through the government anymore. Especially if disaster relief funds won’t be accounted for, even partially.

Send it STRAIGHT to the victims, or to certified charity institutions like Caritas Manila or known foundations and media organizations.

Foreign governments have so far pledged tens of millions of pesos in aid.
Australia will immediately put up P38.5 million (A$900,000) for the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) for emergency family kits, which include sleeping mats, mosquito nets and water containers, and another P43 million (A$1 million) to the World Food Program for 1,000 tons of rice.

Canada will donate Cad$250,000 (P10 million), China $30,000) P1.2 million), New Zealand $500,000 and the United States $100,000. The government will be in charge of al these pledges. These should keep their hands full.
Let’s just join forces in monitoring as much as possible where all these foreign aid will go.

[expatdingdong]

Originally Posted by amigo32

dapat may tatanggalin sa puesto nyan fire him

i hire dapat ni Prince si Prisco Nilo tapos sisantehen ulet para meron scapegoat....

eto na ba ang bagong gobyerno... parang wala naman... same old same old excuses a) hindi nakikinig ang mga tao b) calamity unforseen c) sira ang radar d) matagal na sinabihan geohazard area yan.....

pare pareho.... dapat ganyan din sinabi ni Obama nung dumating si Sandy

[Silka_Papaya]

The Aquino Administration should improve it's collection of taxes. Just take the case of Silka Papaya which owes more than One Billion Pesos in unpaid taxes.

[Parchie]

Originally Posted by expatdingdong

i hire dapat ni Prince si Prisco Nilo tapos sisantehen ulet para meron scapegoat....

eto na ba ang bagong gobyerno... parang wala naman... same old same old excuses a) hindi nakikinig ang mga tao b) calamity unforseen c) sira ang radar d) matagal na sinabihan geohazard area yan.....

pare pareho.... dapat ganyan din sinabi ni Obama nung dumating si Sandy

Knowing that there exists this weather disturbance is a good thing but successfully doing the preparations needed is more desirable. Disaster Preparedness Plan? Do we have one? (a real, functional, well-planned,and properly financed response system?)

Those things, my friend, usually resides in the back portion of the bucket list of almost LGU/ central government officials! Why? Perhaps because they still have to recoup their expenses during elections or they wanted to grow their cash registers first, before they'll try to care for the gullible electorate.

[amigo32]

imposible yan
tuwid na ang daan

[wolfram74]

Country slips in global tax ranking


THE PHILIPPINES has slipped in a global tax ranking, despite government efforts to improve its systems, as other economies also implemented reforms.

The country placed 143th out of 185 in the World Bank and the International Finance Corp.’s (IFC) annual "Paying Taxes" report, down from 135th out of 183 in last year’s rankings.

The United Arab Emirates was ranked first, followed by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Singapore. The Central African Republic, Congo, Guinea, Chad and Venezuela were at the bottom.

The report measures the overall ease of paying taxes based on those imposed on medium-sized firms in a given year using three main indicators: number of payments, time given to comply and the total rate imposed.

Taxes and contributions measured included the profit or corporate income tax, social contributions and labor taxes paid by the employer, property taxes, property transfer taxes, dividend tax, capital gains tax, financial transactions tax, waste collection taxes, vehicle and road taxes, and other small fees.

This year’s report, which was the result of surveys conducted from June 2011 to March 2012, showed that businesses overall spent an average of 267 hours complying with 28.5 tax payments and paid 27.2% of profit. Last year, firms took an average of 277 hours, made 28.5 tax payments and coped with a rate averaging 44.8%.

"Governments continue to reform their tax systems despite global economic uncertainty, with 31 economies having taken steps to make it easier and cost less for small and medium businesses to pay taxes," the report states.

For the Philippines, the indicators barely moved even as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) continued to modernize its operations.

The country, according to the report, requires 47 tax payments from businesses per year, significantly higher than the world average of 27.2. One corporate income tax payment, 36 labor tax payments and social contributions and 10 for other forms of taxes are mandated. The numbers were the same as those in last year’s report.

As for the time required for compliance, businesses here spend 193 hours to settle their obligations, lower than the global average of 267. Of this, a total of 42 hours is needed to pay corporate income tax, 38 hours for labor taxes and social contributions and 113 hours for consumption taxes.

Last year, firms in the country spent an average of 195 hours to comply with their tax obligations, with 37 hours needed to pay corporate income tax, 38 hours for labor taxes, and 120 hours for consumption dues.

The country’s total tax rate also rose to 46.6% of firms’ commercial profit from last year’s 46.5%, and was also higher than the global benchmark of 44.7%. A total of 21.1% goes to corporate income tax, 11.3% for labor taxes and social contributions, and 14.2% for other taxes.

(snipped)

[3cr]

With sin tax approved, BIR 2013 collection target hiked to P1.272-T
Rappler.com
http://www.rappler.com/business/1779...ed-to-p1-272-t

MANILA, Philippines - The 2013 collection target of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which collects about 3/4 of the country's revenues, has been increased to P1.272 trillion following the landmark approval by lawmakers of the sin tax measure.

The sin tax bill, which increases the excise tax imposed on tobacco and alcohol products, would translate to P33.96 billion in additional revenues for 2013, which would effectively raise the BIR’s 2013 target from the original goal of P1.238 trillion.

This 2012, the BIR is tasked to collect P1.066 trillion.

The Senate and the House of Representatives approved the sin tax measure on Tuesday, December 11, and is expected to be signed into law by President Benigno Aquino III before end-2012.

"This version will allow a collection of P33.96 billion in incremental revenues from tobacco and alcohol for the next year and P184.31 billion over the next four years, adequately covering the financing requirements outlined by the Department of Health for the Aquino administration’s Universal Health Care program,” Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said.

Purisima has been a staunch supporter of the sin tax measure and has spearheaded efforts for a bill that originally sought a P60 billion additional revenues.

Nonetheless, he also thanked the lawmakers for the passing a measure that would finally reform the 15-year-old sin tax regime in the country

“The passage of the excise tax reform on tobacco and alcohol marks a historic victory for health and revenue reform in the Philippines,” he said.

The approved measure also removes the price classification freeze that has pegged tobacco products to 1996 prices as the basis for their tax classification.

“This version provides for a unitary tax regime by 2017 for tobacco and fermented liquor, a shift from the current multi-tiered system that has allowed smokers to downshift to lower-priced products,” he said.

As a health measure, the approved sin tax bill also indexes the tax rates of tobacco and alcohol by 4% every year so that these products do not become more affordable over time.

More importantly, Purisima said the measure reflects the Aquino administration’s good governance agenda by pushing to reform the 16-year old sin tax regime existing in the country.

"President Aquino's agenda for good governance has succeeded in working with industry vested interests for the benefit of the country," Purisima said.

[Parchie]

Target lang naman yan. Kung gusto nila, gawin nilang P1.5T!

[amigo32]

iyak ang mga sunog-baga at lasinggo nyan

[Parchie]

Originally Posted by amigo32

iyak ang mga sunog-baga at lasinggo nyan

Hindi rin. Dadami na yung imported nyan, masmura pa nga!

[Biarway]

Ganun ba ang mangyayari? Kaya ako pabor sa sin tax na yan eh dahil ang dami ko nakikitang mga bata na nagsisigarilyo dahil piso lang ang isa.

[Parchie]

Originally Posted by Biarway

Ganun ba ang mangyayari? Kaya ako pabor sa sin tax na yan eh dahil ang dami ko nakikitang mga bata na nagsisigarilyo dahil piso lang ang isa.

Ang mga magulang ang problema diyan. Kahit tig tapwe lang ang isang stick, kung pinangangaralan ng mga magulang ang mga iyan hindi mo makitang maninigarilyo ang mga bata.

[amigo32]

eh nagyoyosi din sila eh

[Parchie]

Originally Posted by amigo32

eh nagyoyosi din sila eh

Tumbok mo intoy!