Government Saves PhP 9-B From Taguig ITX Project

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has managed to save the government PhP 9 billion in the construction of the Taguig Intergrated Terminal Exchange (ITX) project as the private partner, Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), agreed to waive the Annual Grantor Payment (AGP).

DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade said he sat down with top honchos of ALI to forgo the PhP 277 million AGP, which is supposed to be paid on a yearly basis for 35 years.

"Let's find ways how we can stop the practice and paradigm of government paying the private sector royalty grounds as they operate terminals. Under the contract, the government should pay PhP 277 million for the next 35 years," Secretary Tugade said.

Further, Sec. Tugade said that the DOTr has engaged in a discussion with ALI since last year, where they were able to come up with a win-win solution that will ultimately benefit the Filipino people.

"Two things will be done -- the P277 million per year for the next 35 years will no longer be paid, saving the government, this country, no less than PhP 9 billion cashout annually... And two, from the start of its commercial operation, until the end of the concession agreement, ALI will share 2% of their income from the commercial spaces in favor of the government," Secretary Tugade said during the groundbreaking of the Taguig ITX, one of the big-ticket infrastructure projects of the Duterte Administration aimed at further decongesting vehicular traffic on EDSA.

During the ceremony, the transportation head was joined by other members of the BUILDBUILDBUILD Team including DPWH Secretary Mark Villar and BCDA President and CEO Vince Dizon.

Taguig ITX project, done in partnership with ALI., will be a 6-storey building on a 5.57 hectare property inside the FTI compound which would house passenger concourse, a centralized ticketing area and several business and retail establishments.

The project will also have a provision for 1,200 public utility buses and vehicles’ bays and parking. Upon its completion, Taguig ITX is expected to house around 4,000 buses and accommodate 160,000 passengers daily. It will also feature a pedestrian walkway connection to the PNR FTI station and the proposed subway system.

Taguig ITX will cater to all provincial buses plying the south of Luzon, Visayas and Mindandao destinations.

The Taguig ITX construction would start by the 2nd half of 2018 and is expected to start operation by 1st half of 2020.

Other high level government officials who attended this morning’s ITX groundbreaking rites at the former NFA warehouse, FTI, Taguig City, include Taguig City Mayor Lani. Cayetano, Cong. Federico Sandoval II (Malabon), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Danilo Lim, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Chairman Martin Delgra III, PNR Chairman Roberto Lastimoso and General Manager Junn Magno, NFA administrator Jason Aquino, and PPP Center Executive Director Boyet Pecson.

ALI chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala , ALI vice chairman and director Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala also graced the ceremony.

Foundation for Media Alternatives Denounces Attacks On Press Freedom & Free Speech

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) condemns all attempts to suppress press freedom in the Philippines. As advocates of human rights and communication rights, FMA believes that freedom of the press and of expression are fundamental to civil liberty and must be upheld especially at a time when the very foundations of democracy are under threat.

On January 15, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked the registration of Rappler, an online media organization in the Philippines. The next day, a subcommittee at the House of Representatives proposed to amend Article III, Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution to specify “responsible exercise” as a qualifier for constitutionally protected speech. These two incidents come at the tail end of a series of attacks against Philippine media. In numerous occasions, President Rodrigo Duterte himself has directly threatened to block the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise. In one instance, Duterte offered to arrive at a compromise provided that ABS-CBN promotes federalism. Even the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, which has been a staunch critic of Duterte’s war on drugs, was not spared and the renewal of its broadcast franchise was left to languish in Congress after it expired. This, while the administration builds a close circle of bloggers and opinion makers, a select few favored, accredited and resourced by government agents.

Thus, the defense that the Rappler lockdown is an isolated case simply cannot stand. The government has made its message loud and clear: support our agenda or lose your right to operate.

It is time we reclaim our voices and speak back.

Mass media is often referred to as the Fourth Estate, watchdogs against tyranny and a pillar of democracy. It is a major piece in the elaborate system of checks and balances established to prevent abuse of power. Without a free press, without a public sphere that encourages difference and dissent, individual forces increase their capacity to manipulate and monopolize public opinion. Such is exactly how authoritarian regimes are born. This is why we cannot let any attempt to curtail press freedom—however small or “isolated” they may be—simply come to pass.

FMA has always been resolute in its commitment to uphold the freedom of the press, and we will continue to do so. Under international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Republic of the Philippines is bound to protect the freedom of expression and of the press. But when the State itself emerges as a threat to these freedoms, it is up to civil society and the public to defend them.

We, at FMA, therefore call on the Filipino public to continue to stand its ground against the creeping crackdown of the free press masked as legitimate regulation of mass media ownership. This constitutes indirect media censorship masked as regulatory oversight, with a sinister objective of silencing dissent and free expression.


#StandWithRappler #DefendPressFreedom

NUJP Stands with Rappler

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Below is the official statement of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) regarding the Security and Exchange Commission's (SEC) revocation of the registration of news outfit Rappler and Rappler Holdings Corp.

"The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines is outraged at the Security and Exchange Commission's (SEC) revocation of the registration of news outfit Rappler and Rappler Holdings Corp. for supposedly violating the Constitutional prohibition against foreign ownership of media.

The SEC has apparently decided to reject Rappler's contention that its foreign investors merely placed money in the outfit but do not own it, which it issued after President Rodrigo Duerte, in his state of the nation address last year, threatened to have its ownership investigated.

It was but one of many threats Duterte has made against media critical of him and his governance, such as the Philippine Daily Inquirer and broadcast network ABS-CBN, whose franchise renewal he threatened to block.

We are sure Rappler, as it has said, is capable of mounting a legal defense against what amounts to their closure.

As it does so, the NUJP declares it full support to Rappler and all other independent media outfits that the state has threatened and may threaten to shut down.

We call on all Filipino journalists to unite and resist every and all attempts to silence us."

The NUJP National Directorate

Reference:
Atty. Jocelyn Clemente, Acting Chair
Ms. Dabet Panelo, Secretary General
NUJP hotline: 09175155991