Cayetano Pushes for Longer Philippine Passport Validity

Office of the Senator

Alan Peter S. Cayetano

Rm. 602 GSIS Complex Senate of the Philippines Roxas Blvd Pasay City

         

PRESS RELEASE

04 October 2016

Cayetano pushes for longer PH passport validity

Calls for a hassle-free passport application process

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano is pushing for the establishment of a seamless and hassle-free processing of passports for Filipinos here and abroad.

The senator on Tuesday (October 4) expressed his support to lengthen the validity of Philippine passports from five to ten (10) years. Cayetano chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which conducted its first public hearing on the proposed measures to extend the validity of passports.

This proposal is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s earlier directive to amend Republic Act No. 8239, otherwise known as the Philippine Passport Act of 1996, which sets the validity of passports to five years.

The President, in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), lamented how Filipino passport applicants have to endure long lines or even stay overnight as the government can only cater to a limited number of applicants per day.

The senator stressed the need to simplify the application system in order to ease the people’s burden of having to renew their passports every five years, and to prevent backlogs and delays in the issuance of passports.

“We’re here to have the first low-lying fruit output from the legislative and the executive, which is the issuance of passports – how to make it easier,” Cayetano said.

The senator also stressed the need to make the passport application process easier for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and other marginalized groups, including Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens.

“OFWs, PWDs, and senior citizens should be given priority, not because they want special treatment, but because they have special needs,” Cayetano explained.

Cayetano said OFWs in particular should be given priority because any delay in the processing of their travel documents could cost them their jobs abroad.

He said he plans to visit the one-stop center for OFWs located in Clark, Pampanga in November to see how the systems and services can still be improved to address migrant workers’ concerns.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay also backed the proposal to extend the validity of Philippine passports. “Let me just say that the Department of Foreign Affairs has no objection to the proposal to increase the validity of passport from five years to 10 years,” he said during Tuesday's hearing. #

CAPTION:

Tuesday (October 4) - Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano leads the first public hearing on proposals to extend the validity of Philippine passports from five to ten years. The senator is pushing for the establishment of a hassle-free application process to prevent delays and ease the burden of Filipino passport applicants.#

National Peace Consciousness Month Celebration in Compostela Valley

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) together with the Local Government Unit of Compostela Valley Province celebrates the “National Peace Consciousness Month” last September 30, 2016 with the theme “Kita ang Pagbag-o, Kita ang Kalinaw.” (a. dayao/ids comval)

Comval celebrates the “National Peace Consciousness Month” last September 30, 2016 where a “Liwanag ng Kapayapaan” symbolizes the greater impact of the community on Peace Advocacy.  The peace forum also ended with a Boodle Fight as a community sharing of meal together. (a. dayao/ids comval)

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Statement of Condolence on the Passing of Senator Defensor-Santiago

Office of the Senator

Alan Peter S. Cayetano

Rm. 602 GSIS Complex Senate of the Philippines Roxas Blvd Pasay City

Press Statement

September 29, 2016

Statement of condolence of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on the passing of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago

I extend my deepest condolences to the family and friends of our former colleague, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. 

I join the millions of Filipinos in the country and around the world in mourning the passing of an exemplary public servant and a fierce defender of good governance.

Senator Miriam was among the best and brightest advocates for change who, despite her own personal battles, continued to fight for the rights and welfare of our people. She will be remembered for her strong stand against corruption and for her outstanding performance as former chairperson of the Senate foreign relations committee.

I will never forget what she once said, about how she was "a staunch believer in God, and the triumph of good over evil," as she encouraged our people "to remain adamant that good will triumph over evil, and that good governance will triumph over corruption." 

While we will miss her presence, let us celebrate Senator Miriam's life as a towering figure among titans of the Senate halls, including late senators Joker Arroyo, Ernesto Maceda, and Jovito Salonga.

May her legacy inspire future generations of leaders to work hard and work together in the fulfillment of our vision to create a better nation.

Paalam at Maraming Salamat, Senator Miriam. May you rest in peace. I pray for your blissful return to our Almighty Father.

No end in sight!

TUE, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring

Since Fri-day, September 23, Syria is being bombarded by air as army prepares ground invasion of Aleppo. Syria’s armed forces have called on civilians in Aleppo to flee rebel-held areas ahead of a ground offensive. The country has witnessed an escalation of violence in the wake of a nationwide “cessation of hostilities.”

The Russian-backed Syrian army launched dozens of airstrikes on September 23 on rebel-held areas of the north-western city of Aleppo in preparation for a ground offensive, state media and several news agencies reported on Friday, citing military officials.

Numerous reports emerged  from damage to emergency service facilities and underground shelters, leading many residents of the embattled city to hide in their homes, unable to flee.

In 2015, Russia launched a military campaign in Syria to bolster Assad’s rule. But the conflict is raging with no end in sight. “With respect to the air or artillery strikes, they may continue for some time depending on the field situation and the terrorists’ losses,” a Syrian military source told Reuters news agency. “Like any military operation, it starts with preparatory airstrikes and artillery, and then the ground forces work according to the results of the strikes and their impact,” the source added.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor that uses a nationwide network of informants, reported by early evening at least 40 airstrikes. The White Helmets rescue agency reported that at least 93 people had been killed during Friday’s barrage.

The Syrian army on Thursday announced “the start of its operations in the eastern districts of Aleppo,” warning civilians to stay clear of “the headquarters and positions of the armed terrorist gangs.” The regime in Damascus regularly uses the term “terrorist” to describe all those fighting against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

The escalation of violence in Syria comes in the wake of a nationwide ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia that collapsed earlier this week. US State Secretary John Kerry called on Moscow and Damascus to halt aerial raids in a bid to salvage the “cessation of hostilities.” However, the Observatory reported apparent Russian aircraft taking part in airstrikes on Aleppo, Syria’s second city.

Syria descends into chaos. My heart is bleeding. And not only mine! What’s happening now is annihilation in every sense of the word, some-one told the international news agency Reuter. Water services have also been severed for nearly two million Syrians in Aleppo following Thursday and Friday’s attacks, reported UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency.

More than 300,000 people in Syria have been killed and half the population displaced since government forces launched a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters calling for Assad to step down in March 2011. The international community has failed to provide a viable political solution to the more than five-year conflict, despite repeated efforts to implement nationwide ceasefires and peace talks. The same international community, which keeps on criticizing the Philippines and its president on the war on drugs and against corruption.

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Email: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me in Facebook or Twitter or visit www.german expatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogsspot.com.

Duterte Will Demand Pinoy Fishermen's Right to Livelihood

During China talks, Duterte will demand Filipino fishermen’s right to livelihood

BY LORENZ NIEL SANTOS on SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 in ASIA TIMES NEWS & FEATURES,CHINA, SOUTHEAST ASIA

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will visit China within the year. While no details are yet known on when this will push through, he said he will insist on the fishing rights of the Philippines in the disputed West Philippine Sea.

A fisherman repairs his boat overlooking fishing boats that fish in the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, at Masinloc, Zambales, in the Philippines April 22. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

Filipino fishermen and Chinese Coast Guard are still playing cat and mouse despite the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) that such action by China is illegal.

Part of the decision of The Netherlands-based Arbitral Tribunal is the fact that Scarborough Shoal along with Gaven Reef, McKennan Reef, Johnson Reef, Cuarteron Reef and Fiery Cross Reef are rocks that generate no entitlements to an exclusive economic zone. This means that anybody can go to those areas and exercise their fishing rights without fear of being chased after by Chinese military ships.

“One of the things that I would demand if I go to mainland China is give us back our fishing rights…so our fellow Filipinos can make a living,” said Duterte in a speech during the inauguration of a power plant in Mindanao.

Some sectors have expressed their apprehension that the Arbitral Tribunal might be neglected as Duterte appears to be cozying up to China.

No more fist fight challenge and jet ski ride

 During Duterte’s presidential election campaign, while he said the Philippines cannot afford to go to war with China, it did not stop him from promising that he will reclaim Spratlys Island from China by sheer bravado.

“I will ask the Navy to bring me to the nearest point in South China Sea that is tolerable to them and I will ride a jet ski. I will carry a flag and when I reach Spratlys, I will erect the Philippine flag. I will tell them (Chinese), suntukan o barilan [fistfight or firefight],” said Duterte.

Now, in his more subdued pronouncement, Duterte assured that the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision will not be ignored.

He said the Philippines has to make a stand but conflicts should be resolved by sitting down and talking.

“This piece of paper that we have our award, we do not go out of the four corners of this paper. We cannot go to war. Let’s talk first. Wag tayo magtapang tapangan [We should not be too aggressive],” Duterte said.

The President is confident that China will talk to him.

“It is not territorial. If territorial, we could have killed each other a long time ago. It’s the sovereign entitlement,” he said.

The tough-talking leader appears calculated when talking about China.

He said the Philippines should maintain goodwill with China for a stronger partnership noting that the power plant he inaugurated was partly funded by China.

“Let’s just do business. See, they helped build a power plant. Just imagine if we can get them to help in the years to come,” Duterte said.

According to an analyst, Duterte’s first official foreign visit to China will send a positive signal to the world that the Philippines is ready to repair its injured relationship with China after the Arbitral Tribunal’s ruling.

“I think that would send a very strong signal (on the Philippines’ commitment to establish good foreign relations) but it does not necessarily mean that we are giving up our rights. If properly handled, it could show that we are firm and demonstrate statesmanship by carrying out this kind of gesture,” University of the Philippines Maritime Law Professor Jay Batongbacal said during a press conference following the Arbitral Tribunal’s ruling.

A senior associate justice of the Philippine Supreme Court agrees with Duterte’s approach in dealing with China.

“This dispute should be resolved peacefully,” said Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, one of the staunch supporters of the country’s case against China.

He was part of the team that defended the Philippines’ case in The Netherlands.

Like the Philippines, China was among the countries that ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Carpio said.

“China agreed to that. That’s why we have used UNCLOS as our vehicle to resolve the dispute because when you ratify UNCLOS, you agreed to be bound by the dispute settlement mechanism…I take that’s what the President meant when he said that [the Philippines] will not go to war…We will not start a war we know we cannot win. Nobody wants war,” he said.

The senior justice said the Philippines has to be creative with its actions.

“We have to push the envelope, we have to negotiate, we have to be creative about this,” said Carpio but admitted that it will take time before the conflict is resolved even with the Arbitral Tribunal ruling.

(Copyright 2016 Asia Times Holdings Limited, a duly registered Hong Kong company. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

In love with life?

WED, SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring

Some-times, we feel our life is turning miserably. Our negativism doesn’t allow us to keep our eyes, ears – and, most important! – our minds, hearts and souls opened. We’re reaching our breaking point.

This breaking point can be the prelude to our strongest moment. Can be! Must not! But if yes, then it is when we reach our breaking point,  we discover our real strength. Allow me to ask you, my dear readers: “What happens to you or with you when you reach your breaking point?” Do you face it or do you run away? I’ll be giving you a very simple answer: If you face it – you break it. If you run away (and/or close your ears, eyes and mouth) – it breaks you!

Are you in love with life? No.

Everyday – a dull reality! Many of us will answer this question with a big YES! Actually, we do like to cover a newborn day already with grey veil. But, each day has a new face, but sometimes we don’t have the strength to watch its countenance. Of course, not every day has adventures and highlights. Would be really too easy!

Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that, at the same time, seemed especially desolating and painful with a particular satisfaction. Indeed, everything I have learned, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness.

If it ever were to be possible to eliminate affliction from your earthly existence, the result would not be make life delectable, but to make it too banal and trivial to be endurable.

By observation, we can feel that many of us need help to manage the everyday life. We need something that would keep us going as we journey through life. Many times we can also learn from other people and their experiences.

And here is one more thing: Affection is the humblest love – it gives itself no airs. It lives with humble and private things: soft slippers, old clothes, old jokes, and the thump of a sleepy dog’s tail on the kitchen floor. The glory of affection, the disposition of mind, the good will and tender attachment, that can unite those who are not “made for one  another.”

For me life has been a thing of ups and downs in approximately equal measure. I don’t have something sensational to report every day about my progress. Often, I wonder if fulfillment in life is necessarily tied to change for the better. But one thing is for sure: I keep staying in love with life.

Magnitude 6.3 Quake Shakes Mindanao

Magnitude 6.3 quake shakes Philippines' Mindanao island

A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck off the Philippine's Mindanao island on Saturday, sending hotel guests and construction workers running from buildings in Davao, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, initially reported as a magnitude 6.5, struck at 6:53 a.m. (18:53 ET on Friday) and was centered 114 km (71 miles) east of Davao on Mindanao.

It was a deep tremor, 69 km (43 miles) below the seabed, and was not expected to cause a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

A magnitude 6.3 quake is considered strong and is capable of causing severe damage, but Renato Solidum, head of the Philippines' seismic agency, said the effects of this one would be mitigated by its location and depth.

"The quake is offshore and relatively deep and shaking is reported to be maximum of Intensity V, hence we expect no significant damage," Solidum told Reuters.

Dave Cabrera, a security guard at Hotel Uno in downtown Davao, said the quake was felt strongly in the city.

"Many guests left their rooms and rushed downstairs," he said. "That is the strongest I have felt for this year."

Around 1,000 construction workers building the 23-storey Avida Towers nearby also evacuated, said Junrey Quiroa, a security guard on the site.

"That earthquake was strong. We were worried things might fall off so everyone got out of the site."

ALSO IN ENVIRONMENT

• Yellowstone River reopens after deadly parasite killed thousands of fish
• NHC says Lisa weakens to a tropical depression

The Philippines is on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire and experiences frequent earthquakes.

(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales in Davao and Manuel Mogato in Manila; Additional reporting by Sandra Maler in Washington; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Leslie Adler and Cynthia Osterman)

Toll Road Opening Eases Trip to NAIA

By: Philippine Daily Inquirer

September 23rd, 2016 01:23 AM

NOWOPEN The first segment of Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway is now open. It will link Terminals 1 and 2 in Parañaque City to Macapagal Boulevard and the Entertainment City in Pasay City. For the first month, motorists will not pay toll for using the expressway. RICHARD A. REYES

Access to Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) just got a little easier.

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) opened on Thursday the initial section of a toll road seeking to cut the notorious congestion around the Naia complex, the country’s busiest air gateway.

Starting on Thursday, motorists were allowed to use the portion of the Naia Expressway Project Phase 2 that links Terminals 1 and 2 to Macapagal Boulevard, which is near the Entertainment City casino complex.

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The rest of the toll road, which extends further to Terminal 3, and Metro Manila Skyway and South Luzon Expressway, would be opened “before the Christmas season,” the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said in a statement. SMC also operates the Skyway and SLEx.

The opening toll fee of P35 for light vehicles has been waived for the first month of operations. Also waived are the fee of P69 for larger Class 2 vehicles and P104 for Class 3 vehicles.

“Finally, our countrymen will feel the benefit of having faster and more direct access to Naia Terminals 1, 2 and 3. It will also go a long way in easing traffic congestion in surrounding cities, and support growth in southern Metro Manila,” said SMC president Ramon S. Ang.

SMC estimated that more than 40,000 motorists would use the Naia Expressway Phase 2 daily.

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said the Naia Expressway Phase 2, once fully opened, would cut road congestion by over 60 percent.

PPP project

Before the expressway opening, average travel time between the Skyway and Naia Terminal 1 is 24 minutes, according to the DPWH. That would be cut to 8.2 minutes with Phase 2 of the airport expressway.

The project was among the public-private partnership (PPP) projects launched by the Aquino administration.

SMC, through Vertex Tollways Development Inc., won the P17.9-billion project in 2013 after its P11-billion bid bested the offer of sole rival Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

The conglomerate, which has been diversifying into infrastructure and power, will operate the expressway for 30 years.

In his statement, Ang asked for the public’s understanding, partly due to the added road congestion during the construction of the toll road.

The project was delayed by over a year, as the government dealt with massive right of way issues, including the relocation of various water pipes and power cables along the toll road’s alignment.

“The DPWH would ensure 24/7 operation in the last segment of Naia Expressway,” Villar said.

He added that the Duterte administration was conscious of delivering on its promise. “We will set deadlines and contractors would have to abide.”

Terminals 3 and 4

The Naia Expressway Project is a four-lane, 12.65-kilometer elevated expressway (including ramps) and 2.22-kilometer at-grade road traversing Sales Avenue, Andrews Avenue, Parañaque River, MIAA Road and Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard.

When all phases are completed, the Naia Expressway Project is expected to provide easy access to and from Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 4 and will interface with the South Luzon Expressway through Sales Interchange, Manila Cavite Toll Expressway and Macapagal Boulevard.

A total of 16 off and on ramps are being built along strategic locations at Villamor Air Base, Resorts World, Terminal 3, MIAA Road, Imelda Avenue, Cavitex, Seaside Drive and Macapagal Boulevard.