News Roundup 16 December 2023
Dec 16, 2023 • 4 min Read
LTO announces end of paper licenses with 4 million plastic cards procured | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is saying goodbye to paper licenses, with around four million plastic cards now secured for drivers.
LTO Chief Vigor Mendoza announced this on Saturday as a strategic move aimed at enhancing efficiency and streamlining the agency’s operations.
“We would like to announce to our clients, to the Filipino people na wala ng lisensyang papel. Balik-plastic na lisensya na tayo,” said LTO chief Vigor Mendoza.
(We would like to announce to our clients, to the Filipino people that there’s no more paper licenses. We’re back to issuing plastic cards.)
The LTO chief said the secured plastic cards would effectively address the existing backlog in driver’s licenses, catering to both pending applications and daily renewal requirements.
Full Story at: LTO announces end of paper licenses with 4 million plastic cards procured | Philstar.com
Over 60,000 PUVs may be phased out | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Over 60,000 public utility vehicles (PUVs) could be phased out as the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) officially issued an order revoking the franchises of units that do not comply with the consolidation requirement.
Under Memorandum Circular 2023-051, all provisional authorities issued to individual operators and for routes without consolidated transport service entities (TSE) will be deemed revoked by Jan. 1, 2024.
The MC was signed by the Board on Dec. 14, the first day of the transport strike and the dialogue with Board officials.
Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston) president Mody Floranda said the country could face a transport crisis if the year-end consolidation deadline is imposed.
Floranda added that they were blindsided by the issuance of the memorandum as they were just in dialogue with LTFRB chairman Teofilo Guadiz, where they expressed their demand to suspend the consolidation deadline.
“We were just talking to him yesterday, he himself initiated the dialogue so we were surprised. We were asking if the deadline can be suspended and we were surprised the MC was signed, saying that we are no longer allowed to operate,” the transport leader said.
Under the MC, units will not be allowed to register as PUVs and operators shall be issued a show cause order.
TSEs that have filed application for consolidation are allowed to continue to operate under their existing provisional authority until Dec. 31, 2024 or upon the issuance of a certificate of public convenience.
Full Story at: Over 60,000 PUVs may be phased out | Philstar.com
Filipino seafarers safe after Yemen rebel attack — DMW | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The 15 Filipino crew members of the container ship Al Jasrah are “safe and accounted for,” the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said on Saturday.
On Friday, the ship was hit by missiles from a drone attack by the Yemeni rebel Houthi while crossing the Bab al Mandeb Strait which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
According to the ship’s manning agency and the shipping company, all crew members, including the 15 Filipinos, are safe and accounted for, the DMW said.
DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Leo Cacdac also told the DMW Sea-Based Operations Units to monitor the situation and coordinate with the manning agency and the shipping company.
Full Story at: Filipino seafarers safe after Yemen rebel attack — DMW | Inquirer News
Digital fund transfer system between Asean, Japan eyed | INQUIRER.NET – TOKYO, Japan — The government will explore ways to improve supply chains through digital transformation and minimal to zero transfer of funds fee between Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member nations and Japan, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual on Saturday.
Pascual joined President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s delegation to Tokyo for the 50th Commemorative Asean-Japan Friendship and Cooperation Summit.
“An example of this would be coming up with a digital system for enabling transfer of funds and digital payments with minimal or even zero fee, and having automatic exchange of currencies,” Pascual said.
Asked for more details on how this innovation could be achieved, Pascual said that it could be tackled in a session during the Asean Summit.
“We will have to pursue those initiatives in the area of digital payment in future investment promotions in Japan,” he said.
Story at: Digital fund transfer system between Asean, Japan eyed | Inquirer News
