News Roundup 29 June 2022
Jun 29, 2022 • 5 min Read
Robredo says legacy is turning OVP into advocacy-driven agency | PHILSTAR.COM – For outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo, her legacy as the country’s second-highest elected official is turning her office into an advocacy-driven agency from a mere ceremonial one. Under Robredo’s six-year term, the OVP, through its flagship anti-poverty Angat Buhay program, handed out assistance to those in need, going above and beyond the mandate of the vice president of being a spare tire to the chief executive. “The core of our programs is to transform communities,” she told reporters partly in Filipino at the last press conference that she held as vice president at her office at the Quezon City Reception House. Robredo said that when she became vice president, she wanted to go beyond the usual medical assistance programs that her predecessor provided and engage with communities so that their beliefs in how the government should be. Beyond assistance that the OVP under Robredo provided to poor communities, it also notably served well throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by launching programs to address the ill effects of the unprecedented health crisis, like free teleconsultations for the sick and free transportation and lodging for frontline healthcare workers. All these, Robredo and her office achieved despite the meager resources provided to them. Speaking to reporters, the outgoing vice president admitted that they could possibly have done more had they received more funding from the national government, but still viewed this as a “blessing in disguise” as it pushed them to be creative. “Maybe if we had been given more, we would have been able to transform more communities. But since that is beyond our control, whatever was given to us, no matter how small, we did our best,” Robredo said. She added that she does not have any regrets during her term and even fondly remembered her 18-day stint as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs, calling it one of their best days in the OVP. “Those were the best 18 days of our OVP life because we worked the hardest during that time as we knew I could be axed at any time,” Robredo said. “It was very satisfying in the sense that we knew that it was very difficult, but we still did what we had to do.” Even in her failed presidential bid, Robredo said she had no regrets and would be very much willing to do it all over again. “If I had to do it all over again, knowing what the results will be, I will still do it. Because for me, that is the happiest, most satisfying campaign I’ve been through in the many years I’ve been involved in political exercises,” she said. Robredo spent half of her last full working day as vice president at her office, which she capped off with a brief presser with reporters. As she rode the vehicle that would take her away from her office that was witness to her past six years as vice president to a lunch meeting with the Australian envoy, she was greeted with applause from staff and salutes from military personnel. Now that she will be Citizen Leni by Thursday noon, she said she looks forward to watching more Korean dramas and reading books, but added she would not completely disappear from engagements as she will be busy with her Angat Buhay non-government organization and the fight against disinformation. “It helps that I am a long-time NGO worker. So it’s not a problem for me to return to my old life,” Robredo said.
After jeeps, buses might soon halt operations next amid skyrocketing fuel price | PHILSTAR.COM – After losing hundreds of jeepney units offering free rides, commuters might soon see less public utility buses plying the roads too, with operators beginning to feel the bite of skyrocketing gas prices. Speaking in an interview Wednesday morning aired over DZMM TeleRadyo, Juliet de Jesus, managing director of the Samahan ng mga Transport Operators ng Pilipinas said that something would have to give to keep buses on the roads despite longwinding delays on both petitions to increase minimum fare and calls for a subsidy. Drivers of public utility buses, many of which serve the EDSA Carousel in the metro’s busiest thoroughfare while others are provincial buses bringing commuters into the capital region, have protested delayed payment of the Libreng Sakay program under service contracting and harsh treatment by employers. But the transportation department brushed these off as unreported cases that should be under the jurisdiction of the labor department. “We’re more affected because we’re buses. The diesel requirements and our operational expenses are bigger,” de Jesus said in Filipino. “[If] worse comes to worst, I’m not saying it will happen now, but if they don’t do something and we’re forced to just wait for the hearing, buses will obviously have to halt their operations if they really can’t purchase diesel.” De Jesus was referring to the hearings of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board on petitions filed by groups representing bus drivers and operators pushing for a P4 to P7 increase that would increase the minimum fare to P15 to P20. The possible loss of buses ferrying commuters along EDSA would cripple a public transport system already in crisis, with hundreds of jeepney routes also setting up shop after drivers decided to search for other ways to provide for their families.
SEC has ordered Rappler shutdown, says CEO Ressa INQUIRER.NET – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has affirmed its earlier decision to shut down online news organization Rappler, its CEO Maria Ressa announced Wednesday morning. During the East-West Center international media conference in Hawaii, Ressa shared the SEC ruling dated Tuesday, June 28, which orders the cancellation of the certificates of incorporation of Rappler Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corporation. According to Ressa, Rappler will appeal the decision “especially since the proceedings were highly irregular.” The SEC first ordered the revocation of Rappler’s license to operate in 2018. In a 29-page ruling, it said the online media outfit was “liable for violating the constitutional and statutory Foreign Equity Restrictions in Mass Media enforceable through rules and laws within the mandate of the Commission.” Rappler later asked the Court of Appeals to annul the decision, saying that its right to due process was violated when the order was released without a formal charge.
