18 FEBRUARY 2019

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8 METRO John Henry Dodson, Editor Monday, 18 February 2019 Daily Tribune ‘Violators will be identified’ The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has said it will update the list of violators of poll regulations as they come to their attention. Thus far, the list contained only alleged violators in Metro Manila, specifically those running for senators in the midterm 13 May elections. Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said the updated list will be out in the coming days. The Comelec was reacting to candidates cited on the list who asked why the other “violators” had not been included by the poll body on the list. Vernadeth de los Santos FORENSIC investigators process the van which gunmen riddled with bullets along EDSA. Fake visas land Africans in jail By Anthony Ching The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced yesterday the arrest of two Africans who recently entered the country and attempted to leave for Canada using fake visas. The Africans were arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 by members of the BI Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (BI-TCEU), BI port operations chief Grifton Medina said. BI warns syndicates forgeries will not escape detection. BI-TCEU chief Erwin Ortañez identified the two Africans as Cameroonian national Etienne Makang Nformem, 35; and Abdelmotalab Idris Himat Mohamed, 29, a Sudanese national. Medina said BI has intensified its campaign against international syndicates using Manila as a jump-off point in smuggling illegal aliens to Canada. “We are warning these syndicates to stop their nefarious activities because our men at the airports are experts in detecting fraudulent visas and passports,” Medina said According to Ortañez, Nformem was intercepted on 9 February after he arrived in the country aboard a Gulf Air flight from Bahrain. The Canadian visa on his passport was found to be counterfeit. Mohamed was apprehended on 13 February while about to depart for his flight to Canada after determination by BI personnel that his visa was fake. The two suspects were detained at the BI Warden Facilities in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending prosecution for violating the Immigration Act. U-turn traffic mayhem Commonwealth gridlock seen with flyover closure YUMMIE DINGDING EDSA shooting leaves 2 dead By Sundy Locus A businessman and his driver were killed while a female companion was injured when their white van was shot at by motorcycle-riding gunmen along the southbound lane of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) near Reliance Street in Mandaluyong City. Senior Supt. Moises Villaceran Jr., chief of the Mandaluyong City Police Station, identified the fatalities as driver Allan Nomer Santos, 51; and 62-year-old businessman Jose Ruiz Yulo, a resident of Alabang, Muntinlupa. The woman, 38-year Esmeralda Ignacio of Las Piñas, was taken to a hospital across from where the shooting happened in broad daylight. The gunmen peppered with bullets the van’s right backseat and driver’s side. The victims came from a race track in Pampanga when their Toyota HiAce van was fired upon in the innermost lane by the suspects aboard a black motorcycle. The incident closed two lanes of the southbound direction, snarling traffic for hours, according to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. By Krizara Tibus With heavy traffic expected due to the closure of the Tandang Sora flyover on 23 February, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Quezon City government will deploy 240 traffic enforcers along Commonwealth Avenue. The closure of the flyover will pave the way for the construction of the Metro Rail Transit line 7 or MRT-7. The MMDA said 140 of its personnel will be deployed while 100 Quezon City traffic aides will augment them in at least two shifts. The closure of the flyover on Commonwealth Avenue is necessary to facilitate the construction of the MRT-7 tracks and station in the area, MMDA chief Jojo Garcia said. MMDA and QC gov’t to deploy 240 traffic enforcers. Garcia admitted managing traffic along Commonwealth will be difficult because the 2,000 to 3,000 vehicles that cross the Tandang Sora intersection will now be forced to make a U-turn to reach the other side. The challenge to motorists is that those making a U-turn will have to “swerve” through 9 to 10 lanes to reach the Commonwealth U-turn slots and then “swerve” again up to 10 lanes to get to the other side. MMDA estimated that about 100,000 vehicles pass through Commonwealth daily, thus traffic may slow down because of the swerving vehicles By Kathleen Mae Bulquerin POLICEMEN trail a group of men aboard a tricycle after their arrest on drug-related charges. The anti-drugs war campaign of the Duterte government is bearing fruits based on the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) survey, the Philippine National Police (PNP) leadership said yesterday. The SWS poll reported that six out of 10 Filipinos believe that the number of drug users nationwide has decreased due to the campaign of government agencies like the PNP and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). PNP spokesman Sr. Supt. WITH the Tandang Sora flyover’s closure, as many as 3,000 vehicles will be forced to swerve to make U-turns along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. ANALY LABOR near the U-turn slots. “This is where we see the problem as the 2,000 to 3,000 motorists will play tag with the close to 100,000 vehicles that pass through Commonwealth Avenue each day,” Garcia said in Filipino. Garcia added the MMDA had proposed building elevated U-turn slots along Bernard Banac said the survey affirmed the effectiveness of the campaign as a deterrent to the drug trade and use of narcotics. SWS poll validates Digong’s thrust, Palace says. He said the “anti-illegal drugs campaign of the government is effective in convincing drug dependents to refrain from further using illegal drugs.” “(It is) instrumental in reducing the total number of crimes nationwide, Commonwealth to ease traffic. He emphasized that only the Tandang Sora flyover and the crossing underneath will be closed as the Luzon-Katipunan flyover will stay open. Right of way issues had delayed the construction of MRT-7 now projected to be completed by 2020 instead of the original 2019 target completion date. Anti-drugs campaign being won — PNP AFP FILE PHOTO thereby creating a secure environment where people feel safe to live, work and do business,” he added. Malacañang also welcomed the SWS poll with presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo describing it as a validation of the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs. The survey was conducted from 16 to 19 of December 2018. It found that 66 percent of Filipino adults believed drug addicts in their area have decreased over the past year. Fourteen percent felt the number of drugs users has increased with the remaining seven percent saying the number of drug dependents has stayed the same. METRO BITS Forcible entry A 29-year-old man was arrested by police authorities after he allegedly attempted to rob a house in Barangay Barangka Ilaya, Mandaluyong City Sunday morning. The suspect was identified as Ferdinand Esguerra, 39. Elements of Pulis sa Barangay and Bantay Bayan of Barangka Ilaya received information from a concerned citizen about the incident and they immediately responded in the area which resulted to the arrest of the suspect at around 1:16 a.m. Neil Alcober SJ cops’ chapel Officers and men of the San Juan City Police came in full force Sunday during the blessing of their chapel inside their headquarters. They said the chapel will allow them to worship even while on duty. Senior Supt. Dindo Reyes, San Juan police chief, said the small space was converted into a chapel with a small altar inside the police station. Neil Alcober
DAVIS WANTS BOSTON MOVE HIT ONLINE SERIES AIRS AS TV SPECIAL DOMINGUEZ LAUDS AMNESTY LAW P13 P18 P10 Jun Vallecera, Editor Monday, 18 February 2019 Daily Tribune BUSINESS 9 THE senators are saying the Universal Health Care program can run on funds other than that prospectively generated by a higher tobacco levy that pends in Congress. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO UHC has funds other than sin tax Wife left out in tycoon’s will The Filipina first wife of the late tycoon George S.K. Ty and their two children were left out in the inheritance of the taipan, based on the contents of a last will and testament submitted to the Makati Regional Trial Court by the second wife. Lourdes de Lara Ty, who was married to the late tycoon in 1961, was completely omitted in the last will and testament allegedly left in the control of the second wife, according to the Filipina wife’s lawyer Jose Virgilio Bautista. “The second wife, Mary Vy, filed a petition with the Makati court to prove that the will is authentic and duly executed,” Bautista said. Bautista said Lourdes is the legal wife and must be considered in the estate case as the late tycoon’s surviving spouse. “As the legitimate spouse, she is entitled to both her conjugal share in the estate, as well as her compulsory inheritance known as her legitime,” the lawyer explained. “Lourdes could not believe that her late husband could really make a will that excluded her and their two legitimate children,” Bautista said. “And this is the reason why she will challenge and oppose the approval of the will in court,” he added. The petition filed by Mary Vy Ty in court never mentioned the name George S.K. Ty in any of the papers she filed, referring to the late tycoon by his Chinese name Ty Siao Kian. The prestigious Forbes Magazine rated the late George S.K. Ty one of the Top 10 richest Filipinos with a net personal fortune of $2.75 billion. There is an agreement in principle to increase the excise tax on tobacco products in order to raise funds for the Universal Health Care bill and substantially reduce the smoking prevalence among the youth Amid fierce lobbying and warnings by health and anti-tobacco advocates, Senate leaders have assured that the Universal Health Care (UHC) law that would deliver healthcare to all Filipinos could still be implemented as planned even without fresh revenues from higher tobacco tax. Senate Health Committee chair Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said even if the Senate failed to approve the bill increasing tobacco tax before it adjourned for the May elections, EJERCITO funds remain adequate to ensure smooth implementation of UHC. “There will be funds available for UHC,” Ejercito, who is pushing for a P90 additional tax per pack for cigarettes, said in an interview. The UHC will be pursued even if we are not able to pass it in the 17th Congress. The senator said the 2019 General Appropriations Act and funds coming from PAGCOR and PCSO will ensure funding for the UHC in its two years of implementation. He also said the additional P18 billion “savings” that were discovered at the Senate budget deliberation of the proposed 2019 outlay should further boost the UHC. This is contrary to the repeated claims of health advocates, the Departments of Finance (DoF) and of Health (DoH) that the non-passage of higher tobacco tax would imperil the effective roll out of the UHC. “To the tobacco industry, don’t think we are charging everything from you. We will find the sweet spot. We do not want to kill the industry. We understand that hundreds of thousands depend on the industry for the livelihood,” Ejercito said in previous hearings on the proposed increase in tobacco excise tax. Even Senate President Vicente “Tito” Children on motorcycles Sotto III earlier clarified that with or without sin taxes, there is enough budget for the implementation of the UHC which requires a hefty P257 billion on its first year of implementation alone. Officials of DoF and DoH have claimed that the UHC is short of P40 billion on its first year of implementation. The UHC listed the following as sources of appropriation for its implementation: Incremental sin tax collections: 50 percent national government share from PAGCOR, 40 percent from documentary stamp payments and mandatory contributions from PCSO, premium contributions from PhilHealth members and annual appropriations of the DoH from the General Appropriations Act. “Let us put it this way: It isn’t imperative for the excise tax measure to pass just so we have the UHC. The UHC will be pursued even if we are not able to pass it in the 17th Congress,” Sotto stressed. Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto has also said instead of relying on tobacco tax to fund the big part of UHC, the government may consider other tax sources such as adjusting further sugar tax that could translate to P5 billion in additional revenues. Recto said on top of their earmarked funds for UHC, Pagcor could still add with P5 billion while PCSO could afford to “donate” an additional P10 billion for the UHC. The Senate leader said the government could also get extra funds if PhilHealth would lessen its fraudulent claims, which could lead to P5 billion in “saved” premiums. Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means panel, said even if the Senate failed to come out with its own tobacco tax bill, “there is an agreement in principle to increase the excise tax on tobacco products in order to raise funds for the Universal Health Care bill and substantially reduce the smoking prevalence among the youth.” He nevertheless disclosed that “there is no consensus yet on the final tax rate.” Angara said the committee is also inclined to increase the penalties against illicit tobacco trade to give more teeth to the law. He said Senate will take up the unfinished bill when it resumes session after the 13 May elections. ANTEROOM Eduardo Martinez “ There is presently a law which prohibits children or protects them when on board motorcycles. COMMENTARY Last week, I wrote about the safety of children in private vehicles. I lauded the fact that Congress has come out with another bill that looks after the safety and welfare of our children. Hopefully, the President inks this soon making it a law. At the end of my article, I mentioned children’s safety on board motorcycles. Today, we still see some motorcyclists dangerously putting children on their two-wheeled vehicles. It gives me goosebumps when I imagine what may happen to them, especially the young innocent ones, in case of an accident. Actually, there is presently a law which prohibits children or protects them when on board motorcycles. We have Republic Act (RA) 10666, otherwise known as An Act Turn to page 10
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18 FEBRUARY 2019

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