News Roundup 30 June 2023
Jun 30, 2023 • 4 min Read
Senators criticize P40 minimum wage increase as insufficient | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The recent approval of a P40 increase in the daily minimum wage for private sector workers in the National Capital Region received criticism from three senators, who argue that the raise falls short of meeting workers’ needs.
The wage adjustment will raise the daily minimum wage for non-agricultural workers from P570 to P610, and for those in the agriculture sector, service and retail establishments with 15 or fewer workers, and manufacturing establishments with less than 10 workers, from P533 to P573.
The senators believe that the approved increase is inadequate compared to the proposed P150 across-the-board daily minimum wage hike, which had received preliminary approval from the Senate committee on labor, employment, and human resources development.
While acknowledging the positive aspect of the wage increase, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that it is still insufficient to meet the needs of workers.
“That’s a wonderful development for our workers. Although it’s not enough,” Zubiri said on Thursday.
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who chairs the Senate labor panel, welcomed the wage increase but expressed concern that it may not provide a living wage in Metro Manila.
“As a product of a tripartite body where employers, workers and the government are all represented, we are confident that this amount serves and protects the interests of all stakeholders,” Estrada said in a statement Friday.
Full Story at: Senators criticize P40 minimum wage increase as insufficient | Philstar.com
Only licensed health workers can inject Pfizer bivalent jabs to be sold – FDA | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines —Only licensed healthcare professionals will be allowed to administer the bivalent COVID-19 vaccines that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will soon sell in the Philippines, the Food and Drug Administration said on Friday.
In a press briefing, FDA Director General Samuel Zacate said that the Pfizer bivalent vaccines can only be injected onsite once purchased from a pharmacy. Buyers will not be allowed to bring the jabs home or outside the store.
A doctor’s prescription will also be required for those purchasing the Pfizer bivalent vaccines, the FDA said.
The FDA announced on Monday that it has granted a certificate of product registration (CPR) for Pfizer’s bivalent shots, which can be received by adults and children 12 years old and above.
The CPR will be valid for five years and was granted “after a comprehensive evaluation process [and] extensive clinical trials … of all scientific data,” the FDA said.
In the same press briefing, representatives from the Center for Drug Regulation and Research (CDRR) said Pfizer has yet to specify the price of the vaccines once available in the market.
Full Story at: Only licensed health workers can inject Pfizer bivalent jabs to be sold – FDA | Philstar.com
De Lima’s last drug case re-raffled to another court | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Detained former senator Leila de Lima’s final drug case has been re-raffled to another Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) branch with the trial set to resume on July 7.
Based on a court order signed by Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 204 Presiding Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara, and made public on Friday, the said court will now handle the case upon the motion of de Lima’s co-accused Ronnie Dayan, Joenel Sanchez and Franklin Bucayu.
It can be recalled that the said motion resulted in the inhibition of Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 256 Presiding Judge Romeo Buenaventura.
“The case was eventually re-raffled and assigned to this Court on 26 June 2023,” Muntinlupa RTC Branch 204’s court order read.
Alcantara was the same judge who acquitted de Lima and her former driver-bodyguard Dayan in one of the three drug cases filed against her.
Full Story at: De Lima’s last drug case re-raffled to another court | Inquirer News
Sandiganbayan convicts Napoles, ex-Davao lawmaker for graft over PDAF | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — A former lawmaker of Davao del Norte’s first district and pork barrel scam alleged mastermind Janet Lim Napoles have been found guilty of graft by Sandiganbayan.
The decision pertains to cases involving the appropriation of funds to a fake non-government organization (NGO).
In a decision from the Second Division posted in the Sandiganbayan website on Friday, former Davao del Norte 1st District representative Arrel Olaño, Napoles, and other co-accused were found guilty for three counts of graft and three counts of malversation of public funds.
Olaño, Napoles, and two other accused were sentenced to imprisonment of six to ten years.
The issue involved the funneling of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development (CARED).
CARED is one of the bogus NGOs that Napoles set-up, together with her former right-hand man Benhur Luy, with the purpose of siphoning funds from a lawmaker’s PDAF to the organization.
According to the charges against Olaño, Napoles, and the others, P2 million from the ex-lawmaker’s PDAF was allocated to CARED under the guise of a livelihood project for barangays.
Full Story at: Sandiganbayan convicts Napoles, ex-Davao lawmaker for graft over PDAF | Inquirer News
