Lead convenor of the "Solo Parent Advocates in Negros" (SPAIN) Maria Teresa "Matet" Lozada, in a press conference held March 14, 2014, sealed partnership with Councilor El Cid Familiaran in implementing Ordinance 550 to the 61 Barangays of Bacolod City. ‘SPAIN OF FAMILIARAN’. Lead convenors of the "Solo Parent Advocates in Negros" (SPAIN) -- Maria Teresa "Matet" Lozada on March 14, 2014 sealed a partnership with Bacolod City Councilor El Cid Familiaran in implementing Ordinance 550 by handing the symbolic Troll Tinn bottle. Also in photo are (left to right) Co-Convenors Brgy. 41 Kagawad Sally Penuela, Analia Villegas, Moonyen Montelibano, Rose Lorilla, Lozada, Lilia Orsos, Susan Grandeza. Not in photo are Susan Seva and Dr. Bernie Eres.* (Gil Severino photo) "Isa-isahon ko gid ang 61 Barangays sang Bacolod…the entire Bacolod City’s 61 Barangays will be covered. In a one-on-one approach, Solo Parents will be organized just like the senior citizens and people with disabilities," Lozada said.
She added, "In fact, as I am speaking to you now, volunteers are now mobilized in various puroks and barangays. They are speaking about leading productive lives as Solo Parents to their children." Principally authored by Familiaran, Bacolod City Ordinance 550 is an "Ordinance institutionalizing the programs and services to Solo Parents and their children"; Lozada and a group of Solo Parent Advocates committed themselves to be harbingers of benefits enshrined in the ordinance. "Only a single parent, male and female or mom and dad, can understand the plight of a fellow single parent and Councilor Familiaran’s authored Ordinance 550 has all the necessary framework to assist them cope with difficulties thus ensure their children’s welfare and future," Lozada explained to media gathered last Friday at the Negros Press Club. She clarified that Ordinance 550 is not gender biased thus the involvement of both male and female advocates seeking to see a more productive and empowered family led by a male or female parent left alone to tend children due to death, separation, circumstances like rape, custodial or adoption. Lozada disclosed that a follow-up "inter/intra-netizen" press conference-symposium will be held soon; it will be a convergence of government agencies, private citizens, Academe, NGOS, POs, government officials and the Tri-media. Among the benefits extended to these individuals stipulated in the Familiaran’s Ordinance 550 and detailed during the press conference are "Employment Related Benefits to Solo Parents", which are: Parental leave of not more than seven working days WITH PAY in addition to leave privileges under existing laws; flexible working schedules subject to prior arrangements with department heads; and legal sanctions to employers found guilty of discrimination relative to Republic Act 8972 or the Solo Parent Welfare Act. Programs and services to solo parents also provided in Ordinance 550 are skills and livelihood training assistance through the City Cooperative and Livelihood Development Center (CCLDO), livelihood and skills development programs of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship Development (SEED) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) assistance through the SEA-K or self-empowerment assistance-Kaunlaran.*(Gil Alfredo B. Severino) Negros Daily Bulletin
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BACOLOD City Councilor El Cid Familiaran and other concerned individuals have joined hands in the advocacy to empower solo parents in the city.
Matet Lozada, convenor of the Solo Parent Advocates in Negros (Spain), held a press conference at the Negros Press Club Friday to present their advocacy on the cause of solo parents. Familiaran is the author of an ordinance institutionalizing the programs and services to solo parents and their children. This is accordance with the Republic Act 8972 or an act providing for benefits and privileges to solo parents and their children. Lozada said that they will start organizing the solo parents in the 61 barangays so that their cause and needs will also be heard and addressed. She said the family is the foundation of the nation thus, there has to be an effort that will strengthen its solidarity and ensure its total development. "Our mission is to promote social justice and help provide mechanism for the implementation of comprehensive package of social development and welfare services intended to solo parents and their children," she said. Lozada added, “Our vision is to see a more productive and empowered family of solo parents in our community who are full of skills, trainings, sense of values, self worth and self reliance." Sun.Star Bacolod An ordinance renaming the City High Mansilingan Road in Bacolod City as Vicente Remitio Avenue, was approved by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod on third and final reading Wednesday.
The ordinance authored by Councilors El Cid Familiaran and Archie Baribar and co-authored by Councilor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, said the late Vicente T. Remitio was a tireless civic leader, religious worker; brilliant lawyer scholar; student leader; debater, gold medalist orator, a recipient of 30 distinctions and honors, including an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws and Honoris Causa conferred by the the Central Philippine University. The ordinance also said Remitio helped organized the Young Men Christian Association, the Negros Press Club and the Parenthood Movement of Negros Occidental, and was an active member and past president of the Rotary Club of Bacolod, the Convention of the Philippine Baptist Churches and other numerous organizations and associations. Appointed Mayor by the late President Manuel Roxas in November 25, 1946, he held the position until October 3, 1948 when he established the Bacolod City High School; the Burgos Public Market and Libertad Market and the Bacolod City Slaughterhouse projects, which, until today, continue to serve the people of Bacolod, it said. The ordinance said Remitio was elected as No. 1 councilor of Bacolod City in 1955. In an interview with the late Cesar Borromeo, the writer said former Mayor Remitio had said that, “The longer I stay as City Mayor, the poorer I get, and the more insecure my family becomes.” Recognizing his selfless dedication to the city, a leading national magazine, The Philippine Free Press, called him in a cover story “Service at a Sacrifice,” the ordinance said. His achievement made him a recipient of the “Ang Banwahanon Award for Public Service,” the highest award given to a Bacolodnon by the City, it said.*CGS BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO Visayan Daily Star Local News: SP to AVM Bernardo Engineering: Stop Additional Sevices Fees at Slaughter House3/14/2014 Members of the Bacolod Meat Vendors Association have expressed sigh of relief when the Sangguniang Panlungsod resolved yesterday during the session to issue cease and desist order on AVM Bernardo Engineering to stop charging additional charges to the meat vendors who have their animals slaughtered at the Bacolod Slaughter House.
AVM Bernardo Engineering was contracted by the Bacolod City government during the adminsitration of then mayor now cong. Evelio Leonardia to handle the operation of the Bacolod City Slaughter House on a Build-Operated-Transfer (BOT) Scheme. For 6 years now, AVM has been operating the slaughterhouse, and all animals for sale of meat are slaughtered at the said slaughter house. However, the problem arises when AVM started to charge the meat vendors for additional charges by passing on to them the 12% value added tax aside from the P2.50 per kilo slaughtering fee. According in the complaint aired by Michael Yusingco, president of the vendors, who appeared before the SP yesterday, AVM started the excessive charges on the first week of February 2014. Aside from passing on to the meat vendors the 12% VAT, AVM also include the extremeties, bones, legs, horns and internal organs in charging the meat vendor the slautering fee. Before, only the meat was charged with such fees, which cost them maximum of P400.00 a day only. But now, with the inclusion of the internal organs and extremities, would cost them P4,000.00 more or less daily. Mr. Jerson Juarez, director of the vendors association said, before AVM Bernardo imposed the increased charges of slaughtering fee, it should have observed the provisions in the memorandum of agreement (MOA), Article 3 section 16, that "it shall be allowed to recommend for the adjustment of slaughter and delivery services provided that any increase shall be not more than 12% compounded, and shall be reasonable and justified by the unavoidable increase in the actual cost of operation and only upon the approval and concurrence of the Sangguniang Panlungsod." Hence, Councilor El Cid Familiaran, supported by Councilors Caesar Distrito, Ana Marie Palermo, Sonya Verdeflor, Alex Paglumotan, and Archie Baribar, resolved that the SP shall issue the cease and desist order on the AVM Bernardo Engineering to temporarily stop the charging of additional fees on its slaughtering fees to the meat vendors, including the 12% VAT. To recall, during the committee hearing in February 24, 2014, by the Markets and Slaughter House Committee chaired by Coun. Sonia Verdeflor, AVM Bernardo which wasrepresented by Plant Manager Glorydee Cometa and Legal Counsel Atty Marvin Tanada, manifested their intention to impose the 12% VAT which the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) imposes upon them starting last year. The 12% VAT can be passed on to the customer/buyer pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code. However, the Meat Vendors Association in Bacolod City, represented by its President Michael Yusingco, manifested their opposition because it willl be an additional burden. He said at present the cost of pork is P190.00-P200.00/kilo and the cost of beef is P220.00/kilo. If the 12% VAT will be shifted to them the cost of pork will increase to P223.00/kilo and the cost of beef to P226.00/kilo, to the disadvantage of the consuming public. If a meat vendor has 4 hogs and 1 cattle to be slaughtered he pays more than P50,000.00 a year aside from payment for the slaughtering fees. He also said, MOA between the City and AVM during the last administrations has been favoring AVM, but no protection to the meat vendors, no protection for the city and consequently no protection for the B.I.R. "It is the only the Bacolod slaughterhouse and compared to other AA slaughterhouses in Negros, that charges the highest fees. The meat vendors have no choice but to go to AVM because there is a MOA. . AVM also charges us the cost of plastics while the vendors do not charge their customers the cost of packing. Verdeflor’s committee reports that the meat vendors said, they were not accorded AA handling of their slaughtered meat particularly on the delivery. They said AVM delivers only in one area at an agreed schedule of delivery from 11:00 P.M. – 1:00 A.M. and that while AVM had been operating for more than five years, they were told that it has no delivery truck. However, per their inquiry at the L.T.O. , AVM has 4 trucks- (1) registered in the name of AVM Bernardo (RGF 163); (1) registered in the name of Nelson Lim Golpeo (RGA 814); (1) registered in the name of Alberto Wong (RGH 960) and (1) registered in the name of Glorydee Cometa (KFM 257). Furthermore, there are times that AVM delivers their meat already spoiled because it has no cold storage room. They also pay additional stockyard fee of P5.00-P10.00/day if their hogs remain in the slaughterhouse unslaughtered. They also have concerns about AVM’s waste water treatment. Therefore they are asking the City Mayor’s Office to review the MOA with AVM because they believe that there are so many violations committed by AVM aside from the 12% VAT that they are imposing upon the meat vendors. Considering that Mayor Puentevella was present during the committee hearing, he said, if AVM will not comply, it will force the city to do some drastic measures to protect the meat business in Bacolod City. He also said that if AVM will shift the 12% VAT to its customers the end users will ultimately be affected and it is not good for our people. Then the city will be forced to come into the picture and to use its authority to terminate the MOA, or in the alternative have the MOA amended and negotiate with AVM that the latter continue to operate but not exclusively, which means that the city can seek other alternatives so that the meat vendors can choose where to have their hogs and cattle slaughtered. The resolution of the SP yesterday to issue cease and desist order on AVM Bernardo Engineering to stop charging additional fees to the meat vendors somehow eased the tension among the meat vendors.* by Edith Colmo Negros Daily Bulletin The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) approved on third and final reading last Wednesday an ordinance naming the City High Mansilingan Road as Vicente T. Remitio Avenue.
The ordinance, authored by Councilors El Cid Familiaran, Archie Baribar and Jocelle Batapa–Sigue pays tribute to the man who was a tireless civic leader, religious worker, brilliant lawyer, scholar, student leader, debater, acclaimed orator and a recipient of thirty distinctions and honors, including an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws and Honoris Causa conferred by his alma mater, the Central Philippine University. Vicente Remitio was appointed Mayor by the late President Manuel Roxas in November 25, 1946 and held the position until October 3, 1948. He established the Bacolod City High School, Burgos and Libertad Public Markets and the Bacolod City Slaughterhouse projects, which until today continue to serve the people of Bacolod City. The former Mayor was guided with the principles of thriftiness, honesty, discipline and an abiding faith in God. He helped organize the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA), Negros Press Club and the Parenthood Movement of Negros Occidental and was an active member and past president of the Rotary Club of Bacolod, the Convention of the Philippine Baptist Churches and other numerous organizations and associations. In 1955, he was elected as no. 1 councilor of the city. Because of his sterling qualities of honesty, sincerity, devotion and commitment to serve the city, he was recognized and made a recipient of the "Ang Banwahanon Awardee for Public Service," the highest award given to a Bacolodnon by the city government. His selfless dedication to the city prompted a leading national magazine, the Philippine Free Press, to dub him in a cover story "Service at a Sacrifice". The authors of the ordinance said that his contribution to our city deserves appropriate recognition, and naming one of our major thoroughfares after him is a fitting tribute by the present and future generation who appreciates with great esteem his legacy.* Negros Daily Bulletin Councilor El Cid Familiaran revealed the Sangguniang Panlungsod had approved the resolution he authored addressed to AVM Bernardo, operator of the city’s slaughterhouse, appealing for its immediate cessation of imposing 12 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) to meat vendors availing of their services.
According to Familiaran, since the private firm signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the city government, the company is already VAT-registered. The councilor said it is automatic that the rates the company are charging as slaughter fees, which is P2.50 per kilo, are inclusive of the 12 percent VAT. He said that in the light of Section 16 of the MOA signed with the city, any increase in fees and other charges should at least have a clearance from the City Council. Familiaran said the imposition of the 12 percent VAT is tantamount to an increase in the rates imposed by the private slaughterhouse operator. “If you’re VAT-registered, it is automatic ‘cost of goods plus 12 percent VAT’, but if you’re non-VAT, it should be ‘gross sales plus three (3) percent tax,’” he pointed out. The councilor stressed that the reason perhaps that it is only now that AVM Bernardo imposed the 12 percent VAT, is its failure to issue official receipts since the start of their operations. /WDJ By Ranie S. Azue Watchment Daily Journal A resolution requesting Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP)-Bacolod to establish an automated teller machine inside the Bacolod People’s House was authored by Councilor El Cid Familiaran.
The putting up of ATMs by various banks around the city provides convenience for the people and bank depositors, whenever they want cash for their needs. According to the councilor, LBP, being a government bank, has been also responsive in setting up such facility in most of the local government units in order to cater to its clienteles which consists of government workers, such as those employed at the Bacolod City Hall Building. With the transfer of political power and bureaucracy to the New Government Center, which was renamed to Bacolod People’s House, city employees there do not have access with LBP’s ATM. Familiaran stressed the busy routine work of the city employees, and the distance of the People’s House from the banking institutions and/or their ATMs, call for the setting up of the machines thereat./WDJ By Ranie S. Azue A resolution requesting AVM Bernardo Engineering, operator of the Bacolod City Slaughterhouse in Brgy. Handumanan, Bacolod City, to cease-and-desist from collecting 12 percent VAT from meat vendors while issues over the operation of the slaughterhouse are being resolved was unanimously approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod yesterday.
The resolution was sponsored Bacolod Councilor El Cid Familiaran in response the letter of Michael Yusingco, Bacolod Meat Vendors Association president, dated March 4, requesting for the deferment of the 12 percent VAT. Plant manager Glorydee Cometa informed the city that they will impose the 12 percent VAT after the Bureau of Internal Revenue released their official receipt early this year, during a public hearing on Feb. 24. Yusingco, however, said yesterday that the 12 percent VAT was imposed on them without the SP being informed about it. He said that, based on the memorandum of agreement between the city and AVM Bernardo, any increase should not be more than 10 percent and this should have the approval of the SP. What the operator is imposing is a price increase and not VAT since it is earning more than P2 million a year and is therefore required to pay VAT, he said. Yusingco said AVM Bernardo is allegedly earning about P29 to P30 million a year but they declared that they are only earning between P20 to P24 million. He also denied the claims of Cometa that the meat vendors have unsettled accounts of P3 million with AVM Bernardo. How can that happen when the operator will not slaughter their animals if they cannot pay VAT? Yusingco asked. Meanwhile, Councilor Sonya Verdeflor, chairman of the Committee on Markets and Salughterhouse, recommended that the city should review the MOA between the city and AVM Bernardo, particularly Article IV, Section 16, to determine whether or not the operator can shift the 12 percent VAT to its customers, increasing its slaughtering fees without the approval and concurrence of the SP. She also recommended that the SP should determine whether or not AVM Bernardo violated the conditions and their obligations in the MOA. During the Feb. 24 committee hearing, AVM Bernardo was given 60 days by the city to comply with the conditions of the MOA, and, together with the meat vendors represented by Yusingco, submit their position papers in support of their respective stand on the subject within 30 days from the date of the committee hearing.*CGS BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO Visayan Daily Star Alarmed by the report that a member of the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO) had tested positive for illegal drugs use, the chairman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Police, Security, and Jail Management and Penology is pushing for a random drug testing for all employees of the city government.
Councilor El Cid Familiaran said it would be good for Mayor Monico Puentevella’s administration if such random drug testing be undertaken, not only on regular employees, but including casuals and job order workers. Familiaran said government workers are considered as public servants, and the moment somebody started working for the government, he or she becomes a public property. We should be role models of our society and we cannot discipline the community if we ourselves violate certain laws, Familiaran said. He said that Puentevella would issue a directive pushing for the random drug testing to all employees. The councilor revealed he will check and determine if it would be possible for him to propose an ordinance related to it. Familiaran said further that the City Health Office has an existing facility for the proposed random drug testing. Last week, Bacolod City administrator Rolando Villamor warned all employees they will face possible harsh penalties, including termination from work, if they tested positive for illegal drugs use. Villamor said further that said employees will not only face administrative sanction but will be facing criminal charges as well./WDJ By Ranie Azue Watchmen Daily Journal BACOLOD City – Bacolod City Rep. Evelio Leonardia called the renaming of Bacolod Government Center into People's House of the City of Bacolod “hypocritical”.
“It is a hypocritical move from someone who tried to sabotage its construction in the first place,” he said. The BGC was constructed during Leonardia’s last term as mayor. Leonardia’s successor Mayor Monico Puentevella announced the move to change BGC’s name to People’s House last month during his “Lamesa ni Mayor” program. Both city officials were present during the 78th Induction Ceremony of the Negros Press Club last Saturday. The two were both past presidents of the organization. Leonardia arrived earlier and sat down at the presidential table while Puentevella, who arrived later, chose to sit at the back with other guests. Leonardia scored the mayor’s move and said it was “a waste of precious official time and energies”. Even as Bacolod struggles with the successive tragedies caused by fires, he said Puentevella has not forgotten to mobilize the city council to rename the government center “for shallow and inappropriate reasons.” Leonardia stressed that the BGC has always belonged to the people, built on the vision of a modern, dynamic and prosperous city. “To rename it PHOBC repositions it differently, and creates confusion as to what it stands for and how it was built,” the solon said. Leonardia also recalled what he claimed was the Puentevella’s efforts to stop the BGC construction. “We will not forget Puentevella’s shameless efforts at delaying and stopping the construction of the Bacolod Government Center; the records of the many cases he and his henchmen filed against me for building the BGC. All these cases, however, have all been dismissed.” “Bacolod Government Center was the name that came about naturally and spontaneously from the people themselves, backed up by Local Government Code,” he stressed. In the hearts of our people, who sacrificed with me just so we can have a government building we can be proud of, the authentic name Bacolod Government Center is already enshrined, he stressed. “No one, not even the mayor, is going to take that away from them,” the Bacolod solon said. Earlier the majority block in the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod who are allied with Puentevella, approved on first reading the ordinance “Naming the public building known as the Bacolod City Government Center as the People's House of the City of Bacolod.” The ordinance is being proposed by Councilors Archie Baribar, El Cid Familiaran, Wilson Gamboa, Ana Marie Palermo, Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, Sonya Verdeflor, Claudio Puentevella and Noli Villarosa. By: Dolly Yasa The Daily Guardian |
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