Ilocos Norte sets sights on becoming 'best little province'

LAOAG CITY, September 1 (PIA) - With key development facilities in place, Ilocos Norte is on its way to becoming the country's best little province, according to Governor Imee Marcos.  

“The objective is simple: a place for us to live, bring up our children, work and do business, renew the soul. As it is now, Ilocos Norte is the best little province in the country,” the governor said during her August 26 State of the Province Address, a local version of the President's annual State of the Nation Address.

Marcos laid out strategies to attain her vision of making Ilocos Norte the best province by 2020 which include quality education advancement; job generation; agricultural modernization and research development technology; quality management; poverty eradication; environmental protection and disaster reciliency management; transportation and infrastructure development; renewable energy development; tourism development; housing development and heritage and culture conservation among others.

The provincial government has started working on developing the province's eastern section to form part of the “Metro Ilocos.”

Part of the plan is to put in place a transport system to support the province's employment sector.

The province eyes the creation of the Ilocos Norte Transport Authority to manage a possible 24-hour transportation system that covers the Laoag-Sarrat–Dingras–Piddig road; the Marcos-Solsona road; the Batac-Banna Road; the Banna-Nueva Era road and the Laoag-Pagudpud road.
 

“The help of our people is the main factor for the attainment of our goals for development. Not the officials from government nor the rich. Our people has driven us to make the province great and and Ilocanos are greater still," Marcos said.

The governor also reported her administration's accomplishments on poverty reduction, good governance and jobs generation among others.

“We want more and better jobs to provide adequately for our families. Every Ilocano must have the choice of working overseas or working here at home. But as our economy grows rapidly and diversifies, we will also safeguard the environment’s rare and fragile treasures,” she added. (MCA/FGL, PIA – 1 Ilocos Norte)

DTI launches Phl Business Registry in two towns, one city of Nueva Ecija

TALAVERA, Nueva Ecija, September 1 (PIA) -- Starting a business in the towns of Talavera and Guimba as well as San Jose City is made faster and more convenient with the launching of the Philippine Business Registry (PBR) in those areas.

“PBR is the integration of registration processes of five government line agencies namely Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Bureau of Internal Revenue, Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-ibig, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and Social Security System into a single application system, which cuts down the processing time from two weeks to 30 minutes,” DTI National Economic Research Business Assistance Center Central Manager for Region 3 Raquel Malig said.

“To be able to get necessary permits from the municipal or city business permits and licensing office (BPLO), applicants must first register their business with these line agencies. Hence, PBR serves as the first step to secure business permits from the BPLO,” Malig added.

Under the agreement, the three local government units shall provide personnel who will man and process the papers referred to the PBR whose office shall be located within the municipal or city hall.

DTI, for its part, shall provide the needed trainings of the local government staff and make the acquisition of the business name easier.

Among the areas in the country that has committed to the PBR include the cities of Quezon, Valenzuela, Muntinlupa, Batangas, Iloilo, and Cagayan De Oro. (CLJD/CCN-PIA 3)

MTD targets P10B worth of completed gov’t centers

ALLOYMTD Group of Malaysia, through its local unit MTD Philippines, Inc. and in partnership with local government units, expects to complete about P10 billion worth of regional government centers (RGCs) before June 2016.

“We hope to start building five regional government centers within the next two to three months valued at P10 billion, to be completed before June 2016,” Isaac S. David, president of MTD Philippines, said via text message on Saturday.

Mr. David added that the government centers will be in Bangsamoro, Eastern Visayas, Bataan, Ilocos Norte and Nueva Ecija.

In January 2013, the infrastructure group started the construction of a P2.5-billion Region IV-A Calabarzon regional government center, modeled on Putrajaya, the Malaysian federal government center south of Kuala Lumpur, and is looking to implement similar projects in other Philippine administrative regions.

Under a joint venture agreement with the local government unit, MTD Philippines will finance, design, construct, operate and manage the regional centers, which will house government agency offices, business process outsourcing offices, hospitals, and retail centers.

Mr. David is hopeful that the success of the 70,000-square-meter Region IV-A RGC will be the template for the implementation of more RGC projects in other regions.

“The proposal for an integrated government center for all regional offices is a response to the national government’s efforts to provide convenience to the public and empower regional constituencies by decentralizing government’s powers and functions,” Mr. David explained. --Chrisee Jalyssa V. Dela Paz

source:  Businessworld

ADB starts review of PHL Local Government Code

THE ASIAN Development Bank (ADB) is partnering with the Philippine government for the review of the country’s Local Government Code (LGC).

The review formally kicked off yesterday in Manila, according to the lender’s Web site.

In an e-mail interview, ADB Senior Public Management Specialist Juan Luis Gomez said: “ADB assists in the review of the LGC with technical assistance in the form of national and international experts to lead the government-led review of the code.”

“It also provides financial assistance to conduct national and local level consultations on the necessary amendments of the code,” Mr. Gomez added.

The ADB approved a $250-million loan to support the government-led review of the LGC in February this year.

“The review is the centerpiece of a $250 million loan approved in February 2014 by the Board of Directors of the ADB in support of local government finance and fiscal decentralization reforms in Philippines,” Mr. Gomez explained.

“The review was requested at the Philippines Development Forum in 2013 and was incorporated into the work plan of the Cabinet Cluster on Good Governance and Anti-Corruption for 2013-2015,” he added.

Mr. Gomez said the review is focused on the “fiscal aspects” of the LGC.“As such, amendments will be proposed on the areas of local government expenditure (what services local governments should deliver), own revenue sources (local government units’ (LGUs) tax and fees and charges), transfers from the national government to LGUs (including the internal revenue allotment and shared revenues), and LGU borrowing.”

“The review will also look at proposals to encourage inter-local cooperation and will propose changes to the requirements in the code for new LGU formation,” he added.

Mr. Gomez heads the ADB team tasked to review the LGC.

“Undersecretary Austere [A.] Panadero and Director Anna [F.] Bonagua of the Department of Interior and Local Government provide guidance and leadership to the technical review team,” Mr. Gomez added.

Mr. Gomez said position papers that include specific amendments to the code and its implementing regulations are expected to be ready by October.

The said position papers will include inputs obtained from consultations with all stakeholders, like the national government, LGU leagues, civil society organizations, the academe, and development partners.

It will also include earlier local government reform proposals and new research conducted by the team. -- BCPB
 
source:  Businessworld

LGUs to get higher IRA share

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUs) will receive P389.869 billion in internal revenue allotment (IRA) shares from the national government next year, higher than the level set for 2014, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said in a memorandum.

Based on Local Budget Memorandum No. 68, the IRA level for 2015 is 14.15% higher than the P341.545 billion set for this year.

This year’s share is based on national internal revenue taxes collected in 2012.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) raked in P1.058 trillion in taxes in 2012, up 14.48% from a the P924.1 billion collected in 2011 but P8 billion short of that year’s P1.066-trillion goal.

Broken down, provinces will get P91.02 billion in IRA while cities will receive P89.21 billion.

Meanwhile, municipalities have been allocated P132.95 billion, while barangays will receive P76.68 billion.

By region, local governments from Calabarzon (4-A) will receive the highest allocation at P43.03 million, followed by Central Luzon (P37.06 billion) and Western Visayas (P31.73 billion).

“The LGUs shall be notified of their IRA allocation by the DBM Regional Offices (ROs) concerned,” the memorandum read.

The DBM said LGUs should align their programs, activities and projects to five priority areas based on Executive Order no. 43, series of 2011.

Priority areas include anti-corruption, poverty reduction and empowerment of the poor, inclusive growth, just and lasting peace of the rule of law and integrity of the environment and climate change adaptation and mitigation.

IRA shares, the DBM said, should first be allocated to basic services before use for other purposes.

At least 20% of IRA shares should likewise be allocated to development projects. Further, at least 5% of LGUs’ estimated revenues should be set aside for disaster risk management.

“The disbursement of funds shall be in accordance with pertinent budgeting, accounting and auditing rules and regulations,” the DBM said.

Under the Local Government Code, local governments are allotted 40% of the internal revenue taxes from the collections of the third fiscal year prior to the current fiscal year.

Of the IRA shares, provinces and cities get 23%, municipalities receive 34% while the remaining 20% goes to barangays. -- M.F.E. Flores
 
source:  Businessworld

LGUs, private companies offer affordable homes

Local government units (LGUs) are forming partnerships with private companies to provide decent and affordable housing.

An example is Bistekville II, a housing project in Barangay Kaligayahan, Novaliches, formed through a tie-up with the Quezon City government and Phinma Properties, the property development arm of Phinma Inc.

As of June 2014, 405 underprivileged families have already moved to Bistekville II.  Phinma Properties has constructed 616 one-story with loft units and 78 condo units.

Built on a 4.4-hectare land, the project aims to construct 1,078 mixed housing units — consisting of 703 one-story with loft units and six three-story medium rise buildings, with 375 condo units.

A housing unit in Bistekville II can be availed of by any Quezon City underprivileged family. The monthly payment is as low as P2,500, payable in 30 years, depending on income and age.

This year, Phinma Properties will also launch another housing project in partnership with an LGU — the Strikeville 4 located at Mambog, Bacoor, Cavite.

source:  Manila Bulletin

DENR-8 calls for P205 M cadastral survey support

Tacloban City, Leyte — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources office in Eastern Visayas (DENR-8) is calling for public cooperation in the P205-million cadastral survey program now being conducted in the region.

DENR-8 Regional Director Leonardo Sibbaluca said the cadastral survey has resumed after it was delayed by super typhoon Yolanda which struck the region in November last year.

Sibbaluca said, “We enjoin the presence of concerned local government officials and lot claimants during the conduct of the survey in their respective towns and barangays so that they can point out the correct boundaries of their lots.”

The surveys include Category A – establishment of main and subsidiary controls, political boundary and lot surveys; Category B which is the same as Category A but limited to political boundary survey only; and Category C, or lot survey only.

Sibbaluca said the cadastral survey which is funded by a P3.56 billion budget is, aside from the P6.2-billion National Greening Program, one of DENR’s biggest funded projects.

In Eastern Visayas, he said, 13 towns are covered under Ccategory A survey, 29 in Category B, and two under Category C Survey. Some P205 million has been allotted for the cadastral surveys, started in 2012, of these 44 municipalities in Region VIII.

Sibbaluca explained that the cadastral survey is intended to determine the administrative boundary of a city or a municipality and its component barangays, and also includes the determination of administrative boundary of lots in alienable and disposable lands of the public domain for purposes of land titling. He also informed that these surveys are being conducted to support government projects, such as land titling, land use planning, taxation and the internal revenue allotment (IRA) program for different municipalities nationwide.

Currently, a Category A survey of Lope de Vega, Northern Samar, and General MacArthur, Eastern Samar have been completed by the survey contractor and approved by his office. His office has also approved category B surveys of Alang-alang, Dulag, and La Paz, in Leyte, Tagapul-an, and Sta. Rita in Samar, and Lavezares, Capul, and San Antonio in Northern Samar.

Contracts recently forged by his office are for six more survey contractors to conduct Category A survey in Sogod, Bontoc, and Silago towns in Southern Leyte, San Sebastian in Samar, and Pambujan in Northern Samar, and Category B Survey in Maslog, Eastern Samar. These eight municipalities are subject to cadastral survey in addition to the 44 municipalities which shall benefit from the cadastral survey program, he added. On the other hand, the cadastral surveys of Tacloban and Ormoc are yet to be contracted, he further added.

He told reporters that cadastral survey program started sometime in 1913 through the passage of RA 2259 or the Cadastral Act. However, the program was given inadequate support, hence only half of the country’s cities/ municipalities have been completely surveyed.

He said with the passage of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991, cadastral surveys, lot surveys, and special surveys were devolved to the local government units (LGUs) but due to lack of manpower, financial resources, as well as technical capability of LGUs, not a single municipality was surveyed.

In August 2001, the DENR was mandated through department administrative order 2001-23 to execute, supervise, and manage the aforesaid types of surveys, he said.

source:  Manila Bulletin

Fort Bonifacio belongs to Makati – CA

The decision reverts 729.15 hectares to Makati. The contested area starts from behind the posh Magallanes, Dasmariñas, and Forbes Park, all the way to parts of Guadalupe.

MANILA, Philippines – The booming commercial hub that has fueled Taguig City’s economy in recent years belongs to Makati City after all.

The 6th division of the appeals court on Monday, August 5, favored Makati’s appeal to declare some parts of Fort Andres Bonifacio, formerly called Fort William Mckinley and the so-called “embo” barangays (barangays whose names end with “embo”) to be within the city’s territory and not Taguig’s.

The 37-page decision – penned by Justice Marlene Gonzales-Sison and concurred in by Justices Hakim Abdulwahid and Edwin Sorongon – reversed the ruling of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 153 that had sided with Taguig.

The Court of Appeals (CA) ordered Taguig “to immediately cease and desist from exercising jurisdiction within the disputed area and return the same to Makati; and [ordered it] to pay the cost of suit.”

The CA found no merit in Taguig’s contention that the “embo” barangays and the Inner Fort barangays (Barangay Post Proper Northside and Barangay Post Proper Southside) belong to it.

Taguig can still appeal the decision. If upheld by the Supreme Court, however, the decision by the CA's 6th division will revert 729.15 hectares to Makati.

The contested area starts from behind the posh Magallanes, Dasmariñas, and Forbes Park, all the way to parts of Guadalupe.

It covers the entire Bonifacio Global City development that is home to posh condominiums, luxury malls, high-end restaurants, foreign embassies, call centers, and military camps.

Marcos proclamation is constitutional

The court lifted the preliminary injunction issued by the Pasig lower court against Makati on July 15, 1994, which had been modified by a resolution issued by the CA on Sept 11, 1995.

The case stemmed from the orders of President Corazon Aquino in 1992 and of President Fidel Ramos in 1993 to develop portions of military camps, including Fort Bonifacio, and placing them under the Bases Conversion Development Authority.

In those orders, they identified certain barangays as part of the municipality of Taguig, despite the fact that earlier presidential proclamations had clearly placed these parts of Fort Bonifacio under Makati’s jurisdiction.

These were Presidential Proclamation (PP) 2475, which was issued by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, and PP 518, through which President Aquino amended it in 1990.

Taguig seized the opportunity by asking the Pasig court that same year, 1993, to confirm the delineation of boundaries indicated in the two presidents’ orders. While the Pasig RTC sided with Taguig, the appeals court reversed the lower court.

The CA declared constitutional and valid PP 2475 and PP 518.

A Manila Bulletin report said the CA corrected the lower court’s position that the Marcos and Aquino proclamations altered the boundaries between the two localities when they transferred parts of Taguig to Makati.

In fact, the CA said, these proclamations were only confirming the jurisdiction of Makati.

Delay in showing interest

The appeals court cited the fact that since 1970, the residents of the 7 barangays within the military camp have been registered as Makati voters.

The court also took Taguig to task for not showing interest in the boundary claims early enough. It says the fact that it took Taguig 7 years to dispute the boundaries affirmed by PP 2475 “is strongly persuasive of the lack of merit of its claim.”

Joey Salgado, public information chief of the Makati City government, said they have yet to receive a copy of the CA decision, but were "glad that the CA has upheld our jurisdiction."

"Makati’s claim on these areas have historical and legal basis. We have always maintained they are part of Makati," he said.

While the boundary dispute between Taguig and Makati was ongoing, the municipality of Pateros joined the fray in May 2012, to claim parts of Fort Bonifacio and the “embo” barangays from both cities.

The Inquirer reported that Pateros was claiming 461.56 hectares of Fort Bonifacio area from Taguig, and 304.45 hectares covering the barangays of Cembo, South Cembo, West Rembo, East Rembo, Comembo, Pembo, and Pitogo from Makati. – Miriam Grace A. Go/Rappler.com