Government

by Beatrice M. Laforga, BusinessWorld, 3 Feb 2021 DEPARTMENTS under the National Government may have to reduce their workforce when some projects will be devolved to local government units (LGUs) starting next year, the Budget chief said

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SUPREME Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio on Thursday said President Aquino has made Congress “inutile” and a “surplusage” when it usurped its power of the purse to fund items not in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) under the so-called Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

The Philippines’ adept response to the succeeding waves of high-impact global events this year—from the Arab Spring to the worldwide economic and debt crises—has “underscored our resilience as a nation,” according to Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario. In a statement, Del Rosario on Thursday noted that “the passing year rained extraordinary challenges.” But, he said,…

The Philippines went through its transition from a dictatorship to an open democratic society in 1986. The road of transition has not been easy; it has not been short.

Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday pressed the adoption of a strategic urban development plan for Metro Manila, saying its absence has stunted the country’s development and has led to urban squalor in some areas.

Jails nationwide housed 59,289 inmates as of end-2010. Meanwhile, convicts in national penitentiaries reached 35,937, according to the NSCB.

The Procurement Service — put in place for transparency purposes in government transactions — does not seem to be working, the Commission on Audit said, noting the steady decline in the sales from the service’s depots and sub-depots in the past years.

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Friday that it is positive that it will meet its goal of providing monetary assistance to 5.2 million poor families by 2016 through its conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.

Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento yesterday raised the need to streamline the bureaucracy because of duplication and redundancies of certain functions and mandate of some government agencies that has resulted in an endless blame game in times of crisis and controversy. Sarmiento said that there need to synchronize and harmonize the function of the…

THE purpose of Philippine Foreign Policy is to secure the national interest in our dealings with foreign nations, regional organizations and international bodies. This has been done through its three long-established pillars, namely: 1) promoting national security; 2) enhancing economic diplomacy; and 3) protecting the rights and welfare of Filipinos overseas. In terms of a…

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday updated Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials on the former’s governance, tax administration and poverty reduction measures during a routine visit, a Palace official said.

THE best of government cannot be found in the things that government propagandists advertise as great. The reason is simple. The great and breakthrough initiatives often come in dry and little memos framed in legalese. And are too bland to get the notice of the mainstream media.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) figured prominently in the headlines in 2010 due primarily to two unfortunate incidents: the bloody hostage crisis at Rizal Park last Aug. 23 and the fire tragedy in Tuguegarao City last Dec. 19.

MANILA, Philippines – The commitment to enter into the Performance Governance System (PGS) pathway for good governance, coming from the very top, necessarily is broad-brush. At such a high level, the decision can only be generic, remaining at a mainly abstract level. That decision – with the commitment behind it – needs to be brought…

Additional representation for teachers in the board of the state-pension fund, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), is being pushed by Sen. Ralph Recto in the hope of helping and resolving concerning their welfare especially the alleged non-remittance of their premiums estimated at P6 billion.

President Benigno Aquino 3rd has abolished the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change headed by former Sen. Heherson Alvarez and nine other offices created by the Arroyo administration that have been found to duplicate functions of other existing line agencies or departments.

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Last week I decided to drop by the opening-day budget hearings of the Congressional appropriations committee. It was also my very first time to visit the Batasan compound, which I duly found to be pretty impressive, except for the lack of parking space.

MANILA, Philippines — The Aquino administration has effectively decommissioned the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group and the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission after it gave the two agencies a zero budget under the proposed 2011 budget.

Much of a person’s life chances has to do with the country where he was born. Certain countries give their citizens a better quality of life and greater opportunity to succeed. It depends on a host of factors, the most basic ones being the opportunity to live a healthy, safe, educated, and upwardly mobile life.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines  – The Civil Service Commission (CSC) is embarking on a campaign for a drug-free bureaucracy.

An association of domestic manufacturers is pushing for the establishment of a department that shall oversee local industries, separate from another one that would focus on foreign trade. In a statement on Friday, the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) said it “is set to draft a bill establishing a separate Department of Industry—distinct from the…

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III said Friday he has created a Public-Private Partnership Center that will serve as a one-stop shop for P180 billion worth of private-sector funded projects lined up for next year.

President Aquino has set his austerity program in motion, ordering the abolition of task forces and Cabinet-level positions without portfolio, imposing a moratorium on new hires and reducing subsidy to state corporations.

THE OMBUDSMAN has asked nine agencies to withhold salaries of officers and employees who failed to liquidate cash advances. Total unliquidated cash advances amounted to P2.4 billion, according to a statement issued by the state graft buster yesterday.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III plans to abolish at least two government-owned or -controlled corporations to slash next year’s budget by more than P100 billion.

The Commission on Audit (CoA) on Tuesday declared that it will enforce a decision directing officials of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to refund the government a total P8,762,948.31 in financial benefits they distributed to employees and to themselves some ten years ago.

IN line with the Aquino administration’s zero-based budgeting (ZBB) thrust, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is in the process of beefing up its organization by rationalizing the various agencies under it.

ZERO-BASED budgeting (ZBB) has always been an attractive technique to US state-government level planners. It became even more so when Americans felt the 2008-2009 economic meltdown.