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Compare your electricity bill with other provinces

Compare your electricity bill with other provinces

by | Jun 7, 2023 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

After surviving scorching May, brace for hotter June. Weathermen say El Niño will be felt starting this month.

All-day air conditioning and fanning are inevitable. Brace too for higher home electricity bills.

Two factors make electricity costly: usage and power insufficiency.

We can conserve only so much energy. But government must entice more investors in power generation.

The last two huge capacity boosts were 668 megawatts in October 2022 and 668 MW in December 2021. Both were by Aboitiz’s GNPower Dinginin.

The Department of Energy expects Luzon demand to jump 1,000 MW this year. Experts forecast more yellow alerts, a mis-color code to mean possible blackouts till at least June 18.

Big generators run on coal, bunker, natural gas, hydro, geothermal. Small ones use solar and wind.

Seven liquified natural gas plants are under construction, the largest by subsidiaries of Meralco, San Miguel Corp., Ayala Corp., Walter Brown.

Compare your electricity bill with other provinces. See table of March 2023 billings of 55 distribution utilities and electric cooperatives (out of 152) with readily available data on websites.

They range from P7.92 per kilowatt-hour, La Union to P18.78, Surigao del Sur.

But they have a similarity. More than half their charges are generating costs which they merely pass on to customers. The largest distributor Meralco, dependent on eight generators, is among the lowest one-sixth of the sampling.

Distributors like Meralco and Aboitiz can source power from affiliate generators, but not to exceed 50 percent of supply. Subsidiaries supply only nine percent of Meralco’s power.

Meralco’s One Energy Inc. is building an LNG plant in Atimonan, Quezon. But to sell to mother Meralco, One Energy must first win a competitive selection process which ERC must approve.

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Luzon’s 500-kiloVolt Hermosa-San Jose transmission line is now onstream. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines energized it on May 27 to further improve reliability of the Luzon backbone.

Bulk power from Hermosa, Bataan will zip through Pampanga to San Jose, Bulacan on to Metro Manila and surrounding provinces. NGCP rushed the work 24/7.

With the new transmission line is construction of the Hermosa Substation for better voltage regulation and power transfer from existing
230kV facilities in the area.

ERC provisionally approved NGCP’s project for P10.2 billion. But it allowed only partial cost recovery of P19 million, less than one percent.
NGCP prioritized urgency and set aside for later the issue of ERC approvals of cost recovery.

“Our priority has been and will always be doing what’s best for the public,” said stockholder Henry Sy Jr., former president-CEO.  “Financial considerations can take a backseat and be threshed out later.”

Sy sought to correct “misimpressions of consumer shortchange by rate computations.”

NGCP is to finish more projects in Visayas-Mindanao: “Stakeholders can be assured that we will continue grid improvement, expansion and reinforcement for reliable transmission.”

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Avoid paying taxes once Maharlika steals our pensions

Avoid paying taxes once Maharlika steals our pensions

by | Jun 2, 2023 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

Our pension, health and housing contributions are in peril. This, after Malacañang and Congress railroaded passage of the Maharlika Investment Fund.

They pretended to heed public outcry. At first, they excluded from capitalizing Maharlika with our SSS, GSIS, PhilHealth, Pag-Ibig, OWWA and PVAO. But by slyly including the words “may” and “option,” they will still take our money.

Their greed is insatiable. In the Legislature they steal hundred billion-peso flood control and roadwork funds. In the Executive they pocket procurement kickbacks and confidential-intelligence funds.

Now they will take even our hard-earned cash for health care, home buying, college, retirement, burial and emergencies. After all, it’s they who appoint administrators of our fund contributions.

Last November the House of Reps hastily enacted Maharlika for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s trip to Davos. Last Wednesday, May 31, the Senate rushed its version for Marcos Jr.’s second State of the Nation.

But Maharlika is not just for presidential vanity. It is, as objectors warn, for “crony capitalism.”

Critics coined that term during the dictatorship of Marcos Jr.’s father. Marcos Sr. granted behest loans to golfing buddies from government-run pensions and -owned banks PNB, DBP, Landbank.

Those loans supposedly were to benefit Filipinos through industrial investments. The First Couple and cronies instead divvied up the cash to amass castles, mansions, ranches, private jets, limos, art masterpieces, jewelry, fur coats and 3,000 pairs of shoes.

A Malaysian politico recently was caught pillaging the One MDB sovereign fund. Prime Minister Najib Razak and wife are in prison for absconding with $1.25 billion. Stashed in their manor were suitcases of cash, jewelry, fur coats, wristwatches, signature bags and shoes.

Philippine courts have regained P174-billion Marcos Sr. loot. Still to be recovered is P125 billion. Eerily that missing amount is the same Maharlika initial capital to be taken from DBP, Landbank, Bangko Sentral. It’s equivalent to $2.5 billion, double the 1MDB hoard.

Marcos Jr. will sit as or appoint the Maharlika chairman. He will pick the directors, advisers, managers. If they plunder Maharlika they won’t go to jail. Their Maharlika law metes only P5-million fine. A drop in the P125-billion bucket.

Businessmen, laborers, academics, activists, church and civic leaders united against Maharlika. The political elite crushed their dissent.

Who concocted Maharlika? Marcos Jr. never mentioned it in his election campaign, nor in his first State of the Nation, nor in his Medium-Term Fiscal Framework. Thus, the suspicions about the intent: plunder, money laundering.

Genuine sovereign funds like Norway’s and Singapore’s are reeling from global inflation. Though untimely, our rulers forced Maharlika through. They plan to invest it abroad; in the same breath they invite foreign investors. They say Maharlika will earn from rural roads and bridges, but who makes money out of those?

Some beg Marcos Jr. to veto onerous Maharlika law provisos. Others are to question it at the Supreme Court. A few are forming watchdog groups. Most are resigned to having our pensions and contributions raided.

But we’re not exactly helpless. There’s a way to starve kleptocrats of blood to suck. Let’s avoid paying taxes.

How? Barter goods and services. Buy from low-income earners who need not issue official receipts.

Make family purchases via our VAT-exempt seniors and persons with disabilities. Avail of all possible income-tax deductions for dependence and expenses. Postpone tax payments till the last minute.

When touring, book untaxed homestays, hostels, pension lodges. Buy from roadside hawkers.

Avail of all possible loans and benefits from SSS, GSIS, PhilHealth, Pag-Ibig, OWWA, PVAO. Postpone repayments till absolute deadline. Collect matured 20-year contributions from Pag-Ibig.

Shun admin fundraisers. Boycott crony-capitalist businesses.

Emigrate, and announce that it’s in disgust with the political elite.

All these are legal – unlike what they’re doing to us.

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Bersamin, Panganiban liable for obeying illegal order

Bersamin, Panganiban liable for obeying illegal order

by | May 31, 2023 | Gotcha

Watch: Video clip of Panganiban at Senate hearing, 23 May 2023 

GOTCHA

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Agriculture Senior Usec Domingo Panganiban can be indicted for repeated graft.

Under oath at the Senate, they said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. instructed them to import 440,000 tons of sugar via select traders. No open bidding.

That was an illegal order. In obeying it, Bersamin and Panganiban broke the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. They favored with multibillion-pesos three traders with whom they and Marcos Jr. met at Malacañang. Dozens of others were disfavored, another act of graft.

It was, as Senator Risa Hontiveros denounced, “state-sponsored smuggling”. They can be charged with economic sabotage under the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Law.

Result of their acts: sugar retails so costly today.

R.A. 3019, Section 3, specifies “corrupt practices of public officers”:

“(a) Persuading, inducing or influencing another public officer to perform an act constituting a violation of rules and regulations duly promulgated by competent authority or an offense in connection with the official duties of the latter, or allowing himself to be persuaded, induced, or influenced to commit such violation or offense.”

The selection criteria for the three traders – from a three page list of over a hundred – was secret. The Sugar Regulatory Administration should have done it by public bidding. To avert price cartels, SRA usually chooses a dozen or so traders.

Panganiban allocated 240,000 tons to the first trader, which Hontiveros revealed has a history of smuggling. The second got 100,000 tons, which its auditors reported to be undercapitalized by $398,103 (P19.7 million) in 2021. The last 100,000 tons went to a lightweight that doesn’t have a company website.

Panganiban waived the requisite hundred-million-peso performance bond each must post to guarantee completion of imports. That broke SRA policy and practice.

The three bought sugar from Thailand. Landed cost is P25,000 per ton. They sell at P85,000. At P60,000 markup per ton, they will profit P26.4 billion from 440,000 tons.

Violated was Section 3(e): “Causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence.”

Through SRA, Panganiban made Customs release previously seized smuggled sugar of the first trader. Another breach of Sections 3(a) and (e). The second trader also brought in multimillion-peso unauthorized shipment.

One million pesos in agricultural smuggling is economic sabotage – nonbailable, life imprisonment.

Bersamin was once Chief Justice. Panganiban was a 30-year agriculture bureaucrat before resurrection as senior usec. They should’ve advised Marcos Jr., concurrent Agriculture Secretary and SRA chairman, to grant import privileges strictly by public bidding.

 Bersamin and Panganiban denied wrongdoing. Hontiveros noted, however, that the three allocatees were awarded before SRA’s issuance of Sugar Order No. 6.

 Last year, Hontiveros recalled, Marcos Jr. fired Vic Rodriguez as executive secretary for authorizing imports without presidential signature as SRA chairman. “This time they committed worse,” she said.

 Bersamin countered that there are three other ways to import sugar aside from SRA order. Those are by minimum access volume (MAV) under the World Trade Organization, by presidential directive, and by emergency procurement.

 But MAV imports also go through open bidding. Presidential imports are done by government-owned Philippine International Trading Corp., which also publicly bids out allocations. No disaster warranted emergency imports.

 SRA Sugar Order No. 6, Feb. 15, 2023, belatedly legitimized the favored traders’ contraband. Yet Malacañang declared as smuggled and thus saleable at Kadiwa rolling stores 9,827 tons of sugar confiscated from 21 other traders between Nov. 12, 2022 and Mar. 15, 2023. That again infracts Section 3(e).

 Malacañang claimed that the three traders’ P85-per-kilo selling price was cheap, since sugar was then retailing at P100-P130 per kilo.

Conveniently downplayed was that, before the scam, sugar was only P70 at the start of Marcos Jr.’s tenure. Before then, only P40.

 Industrial users begged Panganiban to be allowed to import sweeteners on their own at much lower rates. Nixing their plea, Malacañang told them to transact only with the three select traders, Hontiveros bared. Again, defiance of Section 3(e).

 Marcos Jr. too is liable for corruption and economic sabotage. But, by faulty constitutional interpretation, he can be indicted only after term’s end in 2028. Impeachment is unlikely. Marcos Jr.’s cousins, son and minions control the House and Senate supermajorities.

 For now, the Ombudsman must uphold the law against Marcos Jr.’s subalterns. That will teach them that presidential directives cannot right a wrong.

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Our Navy’s dramatic birth 125 years ago

Our Navy’s dramatic birth 125 years ago

by | May 26, 2023 | Gotcha

Flagship BRP Gregorio del Pilar – PN Facebook page

GOTCHA

The Philippine Navy was a revolutionary independence force.

Unlike the Spanish armada that colonized. Unlike the British Admiralty started by slavers Francis Drake, uncle John Hawkins and cousin Richard Hawkins who became Sirs when knighted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1581. Unlike the United States Navy begun by mercenaries in 1776. Unlike the Japanese navy that was warlike imperialistic.

“El Presidente” Emilio Aguinaldo established the Philippine Navy on May 20, 1898. He named it Bureau of Navy under the Revolutionary Army. Appointed director was Pascual Ledesma (1843-1917) of Himamaylan, Negros, merchant marine master who in 1894 joined the Katipunan. Named in his honor is the PN’s main port in Sangley, Cavite.

Ledesma’s deputy was Angel Pabie, also a merchant ship captain. The Malolos Congress of September 1898 formed the Department of War and Navy under Gen. Mariano Trias.

The PN’s initial equipment were launches and cannons that Filipinos captured from Adm. Patricio Montojo, whom Commodore George Dewey defeated in the Battle of Manila Bay, May 1, 1898. Dewey gave Aguinaldo a pinnace of Montojo’s flagship.

The 900-ton steamer of Compania Tabaco de Filipinas was added when the Filipino crew mutinied and executed the Spanish officers. Their leader, Second Officer Vicente Catalan, a Cuban-Spanish creole, proclaimed himself “admiral of the Philippine Navy.” Catalans are natives of Spain’s separatist region Cataluña.

The steamer became the PN flagship Filipinas. Catalan was commissioned navy captain (colonel). He participated in the capture of Subic, Zambales, the natural harbor, ship repair yard and recreation facility of the Spanish armada, later of the US Navy.

Filipino merchants Leon Apacible, Manuel Lopez and Gliceria Marella de Villavicencio contributed five large vessels: Taaleño, Balayan, Bulusan, Taal and Purísima Concepción. The first three delivered arms, flags and uniforms to revolucionarios in Bicol and the Visayas.

Our Philippine Navy celebrates today its 125th anniversary.

*      *      *

By invented history, Beijing claims to own the South China Sea. But there’s no record anywhere.

In many official files are early Filipinos’ seafaring tradition.

The Pintados of Panay frequently raided coastal Fujian across the SCS in southern China. They attacked aboard dozens or hundreds of kora-kora, each bearing 300 warriors. Chinese annals recount how terrified the Fujians were. Only the whites of the raiders’ eyes could be seen; faces and bodies were tattooed, teeth red from betel nut.

Spaniards named the tattooed males and females Pintados. A princess betrothed by her datu-father to a neighboring island chieftain tested the latter by asking for a kora-kora-load of Fujian slaves. She promptly got her wish.

Spaniards called the swift craft caracoa or corcoa, different from the balangay that rode only 40. Rowing kora-kora at 15 knots (28 kph), Moros repelled the conquest of Cotabato and Sulu by Spanish galleons doing only six knots (11 kph).

Pre-Spanish conquest, Luzon folk crisscrossed the SCS, trading with fellow-Malays in Borneo and Champa (in Vietnam). Luzon’s trade center was Ma-i (Mindoro); Borneo’s was Brunei. The Malay-Polynesian Champa kingdom reigned from the 2nd to the 17th centuries. Luzon and Borneo helped Champa repel Khmer and Indo-Chinese encroachers.

Chinese recorded that Filipinos went to China before Chinese came to the Philippines (William Henry Scott). Till the Tang Dynasty, 618-906, China knew no land between Taiwan and Java. In 972 the Sung Dynasty tried but failed to control the SCS trade. Reported then was the travel time by Malay fast craft from Ma-i and Borneo to China: 30 days.

In 1293 the Yuan Dynasty’s Kublai Khan sent 30,000 foot- and horsemen to exact tribute from the Malays. King Kertanegara of the emergent Majapahit Empire routed the invaders in Java, killing 18,000.

Chinese scrolls extol Zheng He (1371-1433). The Ming court dispatched the royal eunuch to establish trade with India and northeast Africa. In seven voyages in 1405-1433, each with 300 ships, Zheng He hugged the coast of Siam, then hopped south to Java, Borneo onto India, Arabia, Horn of Africa. Never did he cross the SCS to Luzon nor Taiwan.

Two millenniums earlier, ancient Malays – forebears of Filipinos, Indonesians, Malaysians – navigated the Indian Ocean to populate Madagascar. Modern day Malagasy in that huge island east of Africa are mix of blacks and southeast Asian. Many plants and animals there are not in mainland Africa but found in the Malay archipelago 7,700 km away, like cassava, camote, corn.

Malagasy are Africa’s only eaters of rice, also the prime export. Palay is terraced on plowed paddies. Malagasy language is related to Borneo’s Ma’anyan.

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Bully Communist China shrieks as Philippines starts fighting back

Bully Communist China shrieks as Philippines starts fighting back

by | May 24, 2023 | Gotcha

CCG-5201, 110 meters long, dwarfs PCG rigid hull rubber craft – screen grabbed from PTV 4

GOTCHA

Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang feigned a peace mission to Manila last April 21-23. He met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. purportedly “to tone down the rhetoric.” Qin’s wolf-warrior ambassador Huang Xilian had inflamed Filipinos by threatening the livelihoods of 150,000 countrymen working in Taiwan.

During those very days, however, Chinese gunboats were harassing Filipinos in the West Philippine Sea. A hundred Chinese maritime militia trawlers swarmed Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef, barring Filipino fishers from approaching. A Chinese warship circled Pag-asa Island.

Worse, two China Coast Guard vessels prevented Filipino patrols from resupplying sailors at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal. CCG-5201 and 4202 are 110 meters long, while the Philippine Coast Guard’s Malapascua and Malabrigo are 44 meters.

As Malapascua drew near, 5201 perilously, feloniously sped across its path only 40 yards away. Had the skipper not swiftly cut the engine and reversed full throttle, Malapascua would have collided the bully more than twice its size. CCG-4202 then shadowed Malabrigo to Escoda (Sabina) Shoal in Recto (Reed) Bank.

Unknown to Qin and the WPS trespassers, Filipino and foreign newsmen were aboard the PCG patrols. Docking the day after Qin departed, they were able to transmit videos and reports.

The world witnessed the double-faced Chinese Communist Party. While CCP’s envoys propagandize amity, it provokes armed conflict beyond its boundaries. Under international law, the WPS is within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone. It is 550 miles beyond China’s own EEZ.

The CCP had grown too spoiled with the previous admin’s acquiescence. It thought the PCG would slink away from confrontation. But those shameless six years are over. Filipino coastguards are again raring to defend the WPS against trespassers. Marine, sailors and airmen are jointly patrolling and exercising with America, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Australia and Japan.

Communist China had pushed the Philippines to the wall. Napuno na ang salop, enough is enough. The Philippines is finally standing up to the bully. Allies are rallying round.

Now the CCP is shrieking that everyone’s ganging up on it. That’s the old bully antic. It will taunt, kick sand in the face, punch in the back. But the bully needs confronting. Or else it will victimize forever.

Communist China bullied the Philippines for three-and-a-half decades. In 1988-1989, as coup attempts rocked Manila, Beijing grabbed six reefs: Zamora (Subi), Kagitingan (Fiery Cross), McKennan (Hughes), Calderon (Cuarteron), Mabini (Johnson South) and Burgos (Gaven).

In 1995, Beijing occupied and fortified Panganiban (Mischief) Reef 120 miles off Palawan. In 2012 it annexed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal 123 miles off Zambales. As Manila protested, Beijing concreted airstrips and planted missiles on Zamora and Kagitingan in 2013.

Communist China not only ignored the Philippines’ 2016 maritime arbitral victory at The Hague. It even stepped-up sea aggression.

Chinese coastguards drove away Filipino fishers from Panatag with water cannons and machineguns. Attack helicopters menaced resupply missions to Ayungin. Filipino oilmen were stopped from drilling gas at Recto’s Sampaguita Field.

In 2017, Chinese warships blockaded Sandy Cay within the territorial waters of Pag-asa Island, Kalayaan, Palawan. In 2019 at Recto, a Chinese maritime militia steel trawler rammed an anchored Filipino wooden boat, then left at sea 22 fishers thrown overboard.

Also in 2019, People’s Liberation Army frigates frequently trespassed Balintang Channel in Batanes. In Tawi-Tawi’s Sibutu Strait, two PLA warships zigzagged and stopped within Philippine territorial waters, flouting international maritime law.

In 2020, a PLA corvette aimed its weapons at a Philippine patrol near Malampaya gas field, Palawan. In 2022, a PLA spy ship trespassed the internal Sulu Sea between Palawan and Panay for two days.

Pillage of Julian Felipe and Escoda occurs every amihan, December-May. PLA fighters routinely barge into Philippine airspace. PLA submarines explore even the Philippine Rise on Luzon’s eastern seaboard.

This year a CCG vessel cut the line of a Philippine Navy ship towing Chinese rocket debris within Pag-asa territorial waters. The CCG fired military grade lasers at Filipino sailors.

Last April’s joint Phl-US exercises in the WPS included live-fire of missiles and cannons by 5,000 Filipino and 12,000 American fighting men. Drills and talks were held with other navies. Closer ties were forged with countries similarly bullied by China – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam.

None but brainwashed Chinese citizens believe the CCP screech that it’s the one being bullied.

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Shipowners shun Pinoy seamen due to ambulance-chasing racket

Shipowners shun Pinoy seamen due to ambulance-chasing racket

by | May 19, 2023 | Gotcha

Filipino seafarers embarking for shipboard duty – PNA photo

GOTCHA

Ambulance-chasing lawyers swindle seafarers. They hang out in hospitals, airports and offices where seamen gather, there to offer crooked deals. They even advertise online in breach of ethics.

Their modus starts with fooling the seafarer to sue the shipowner for recompense. That’s for injury or illness sustained at work or even while vacationing at home.

They offer to file claims with the National Labor Relations Commission or National Conciliation and Mediation Board. No need for the seafarer to attend hearings. When money is awarded, they take more than half.

The racket thrives on the ambulance chasers’ handout of some cash and promise of sure victory. NLRC and NCMB require immediate payment to the claimant despite ongoing appeal by the shipowner or manning agency.

The seafarer doesn’t know he has 30-percent chance of losing at the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court. In which case he must return the entire payment, including what the ambulance chasers took.

If he fails to reimburse, his assets can be garnished. He loses all his cash, house, lot, car, furniture, appliances, personal business.

For 15 years the International Mariners Employers Council and International Chamber of Shipping have been asking the government for an escrow mechanism. The losing defendant shall immediately pay the claimant, but in case of appeal the money shall be deposited in escrow until final judgement. That will prevent ambulance chasers from taking money and running away.

IMEC consists of 250 shipping firms, and ICS of 40 national shipowners’ associations. The Department of Labor and Employment, to which NLRC and NCMB are attached, has been ignoring them.

One-third of NCMB rulings were overturned in 2022. Yet shipowners are unable to recover P2.576 billion in initial judgements.

In the mid-1990s Filipinos were 45 percent of international cargo ship crew. Today they’re only 14 percent, due mainly to the ambulance-chasing racket and partly to deteriorated training.

In 2021 the Association of Licensed Manning Agencies began campaigning against ambulance-chasing and for an escrow system. Five congressmen included such system in the draft Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers. Advocating seamen’s rights and welfare are House overseas workers committee head Ron Salo (Kabayan Party), Sandro Gonzalez (Marino), Marissa Del Mar Magsino (OFW), Zaldy Co (Ako Bicol) and Rachel Arenas (Pangasinan).

The largest seafarers’ group, Associated Marine Officers’ and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines, also denounced ambulance chasing and did not object to the escrow provision. Same with Engr. Nelson Ramirez of United Filipino Seafarers.

ALMA, AMOSUP and UFS sought Senate approval and presidential ratification.

ALMA consists of presidents and general managers of manning agencies. Officers are Iris Baguilat, chairman; Cristina Garcia, president and trustees Capt. Antonio Ladera III, Capt. Jose Librodo, Chief Engr. Jessie Martin, Capt. Gregory Sevilla, Chief Officer Jay Babera, Capt. Leopoldo Tenorio and Chief Engr. Jean Vincent Abobo.

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

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  1. GENERAL RULES AND DEFINITIONS

 

1.1 If you choose to use the jariusbondoc.com service (the “Service”), you will be agreeing to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement between you and jariusbondoc.com (“jariusbondoc.com “).

 

1.2 jariusbondoc.com may change, add or remove portions of this Agreement at any time, but if it does so, it will post such changes on the Service, or send them to you via e-mail. It is your responsibility to review this Agreement prior to each use of the Site and by continuing to use this Site, you agree to any changes.

 

1.3 If any of these rules or any future changes are unacceptable to you, you may cancel your membership by sending e-mail to jariusbondoconline.com (see section 10.1 regarding termination of service). Your continued use of the service now, or following the posting of notice of any changes in these operating rules, will indicate acceptance by you of such rules, changes, or modifications.

 

1.4 jariusbondoc.com may change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Service at any time, including the availability of any Service feature, database, or content. jariusbondoc.com may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Service without notice or liability.

 

  1. JARIUSBONDOC.COM CONTENT AND MEMBER SUBMISSIONS

 

2.1 The contents of the jariusbondoc.com are intended for your personal, noncommercial use. All materials published on jariusbondoc.com (including, but not limited to news articles, photographs, images, illustrations, audio clips and video clips, also known as the “Content”) are protected by copyright, and owned or controlled by jariusbondoc.com or the party credited as the provider of the Content. You shall abide by all additional copyright notices, information, or restrictions contained in any Content accessed through the Service.

 

2.2 The Service and its Contents are protected by copyright pursuant to the Republic of the Philippines and international copyright laws. You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce (except as provided in Section 2.3 of this Agreement), create new works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit, any of the Content or the Service (including software) in whole or in part.

 

2.3 You may download or copy the Content and other downloadable items displayed on the Service for personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of any Content for other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from jariusbondoc.com or the copyright holder identified in the copyright notice contained in the Content.

 

  1. FORUMS, DISCUSSIONS AND USER GENERATED CONTENT

 

3.1 You shall not upload to, or distribute or otherwise publish on the message boards (the “Feedback Section”) any libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, or otherwise illegal material.

 

3.2 (a)Be courteous. You agree that you will not threaten or verbally abuse jariusbondoc.com columnists and other jariusbondoc.com community Members, use defamatory language, or deliberately disrupt discussions with repetitive messages, meaningless messages or “spam.”

 

3.2 (b) Use respectful language. Like any community, the Feedback Sections will flourish only when our Members feel welcome and safe. You agree not to use language that abuses or discriminates on the basis of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual preference, age, region, disability, etc. Hate speech of any kind is grounds for immediate and permanent suspension of access to all or part of the Service.

 

3.2 (c) Debate, but don’t attack. In a community full of opinions and preferences, people always disagree. jariusbondoc.com encourages active discussions and welcomes heated debate in our Feedback Sections. But personal attacks are a direct violation of this Agreement and are grounds for immediate and permanent suspension of access to all or part of the Service.

 

3.3 The Feedback Sections shall be used only in a noncommercial manner. You shall not, without the express approval of jariusbondoc.com, distribute or otherwise publish any material containing any solicitation of funds, advertising or solicitation for goods or services.

 

3.4 You are solely responsible for the content of your messages. However, while jariusbondoc.com does not and cannot review every message posted by you on the Forums and is not responsible for the content of these messages, jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to delete, move, or edit messages that it, in its sole discretion, deems abusive, defamatory, obscene, in violation of copyright or trademark laws, or otherwise unacceptable.

 

3.5 You acknowledge that any submissions you make to the Service (i.e., user-generated content including but not limited to: text, video, audio and photographs) (each, a “Submission”) may be edited, removed, modified, published, transmitted, and displayed by jariusbondoc.com and you waive any moral rights you may have in having the material altered or changed in a manner not agreeable to you. You grant jariusbondoc.com a perpetual, nonexclusive, world-wide, royalty free, sub-licensable license to the Submissions, which includes without limitation the right for jariusbondoc.com or any third party it designates, to use, copy, transmit, excerpt, publish, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, create derivative works of, host, index, cache, tag, encode, modify and adapt (including without limitation the right to adapt to streaming, downloading, broadcast, mobile, digital, thumbnail, scanning or other technologies) in any form or media now known or hereinafter developed, any Submission posted by you on or to jariusbondoc.com or any other website owned by it, including any Submission posted on jariusbondoc.com through a third party.

 

3.6 By submitting an entry to jariusbondoc.com’s Readers’ Corner, you are consenting to its display on the site and for related online and offline promotional uses.

 

  1. ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE AND LINKS

 

4.1 jariusbondoc.com contains links to other related World Wide Web Internet sites, resources, and sponsors of jariusbondoc.com. Since jariusbondoc.com is not responsible for the availability of these outside resources, or their contents, you should direct any concerns regarding any external link to the site administrator or Webmaster of such site.

 

  1. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

 

5.1 You represent, warrant and covenant (a) that no materials of any kind submitted through your account will (i) violate, plagiarize, or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary rights; or (ii) contain libelous or otherwise unlawful material; and (b) that you are at least thirteen years old. You hereby indemnify, defend and hold harmless jariusbondoc.com, and all officers, directors, owners, agents, information providers, affiliates, licensors and licensees (collectively, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all liability and costs, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising out of any breach by you or any user of your account of this Agreement or the foregoing representations, warranties and covenants. You shall cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defense of any such claim. jariusbondoc.com reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you.

 

5.2 jariusbondoc.com does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information displayed, uploaded, or distributed through the Service by any user, information provider or any other person or entity. You acknowledge that any reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement, memorandum, or information shall be at your sole risk. THE SERVICE AND ALL DOWNLOADABLE SOFTWARE ARE DISTRIBUTED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

 

  1. COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN JARIUSBONDOC.COM AND MEMBERS

 

6.1 If you indicate on your registration form that you want to receive such information, jariusbondoc.com, its owners and assigns, will allow certain third party vendors to provide you with information about products and services.

 

6.2 jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to send electronic mail to you for the purpose of informing you of changes or additions to the Service.

 

6.3 jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to disclose information about your usage and demographics, provided that it will not reveal your personal identity in connection with the disclosure of such information. Advertisers and/or Licensees on our Web site may collect and share information about you only if you indicate your acceptance. For more information please read the Privacy Policy of jariusbondoc.com.

 

6.4 jariusbondoc.com may contact you via e-mail regarding your participation in user surveys, asking for feedback on the Website and existing or prospective products and services. This information will be used to improve our Website and better understand our users, and any information we obtain in such surveys will not be shared with third parties, except in aggregate form.

 

  1. TERMINATION

 

 

7.1 jariusbondoc.com may, in its sole discretion, terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the Service for any reason, including, without limitation, breach or assignment of this Agreement.

 

  1. MISCELLANEOUS

 

8.1 This Agreement has been made in and shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the Republic of the Philippines law. Any action to enforce this agreement shall be brought in the courts located in Manila, Philippines.

 

8.2 Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, nothing in this Terms of Service will serve to preempt the promises made in jariusbondoc.com Privacy Policy.

 

8.3 Correspondence should be sent to jariusbondoconline.com.

 

8.4 You agree to report any copyright violations of the Terms of Service to jariusbondoc.com as soon as you become aware of them. In the event you have a claim of copyright infringement with respect to material that is contained in the jariusbondoc.com service, please notify jariusbondoconline.com. This Terms of Service was last updated on November 7, 2020.