News

Arroyo to sign anti-foreclosure law

Thursday, 09 October 2008 08:29 Lira Dalangin-Fernandez/Inquirer.net

MANILA - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will sign a new law next that could save some 368,535 delinquent borrowers from losing their homes through foreclosure, Speaker Prospero Nograles said Thursday.

The Socialized and Low Cost Housing Loan Restructuring Act of 2008, contained in House Bill 4220 and Senate Bill 1987, will cover all socialized and low-cost housing loans from government financing institutions and agencies with at least three months of unpaid monthly amortizations, and of which the original principal amount does not exceed P2.5 million.

Oil flows off Palawan

Thursday, 09 October 2008 08:24 Thea Alberto/Inquirer.net

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MANILA - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has announced the extraction of fresh oil off Palawan.

"The President is pleased to announce, as reported by Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, the extraction of fresh oil from the Galoc oil field in the northwest offshore of Palawan at 10:45 am today [Thursday]," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told a press conference.

‘Lean, mean’ budget pushed in House

Wednesday, 08 October 2008 03:36 Lira Dalangin-Fernandez/Inquirer.net

MANILA - The cuts in the proposed P1.4-trillion 2009 budget might not come from the lump sum programs, but from operating expenses of government agencies and benefits of state workers, a leader of the minority in the House of Representatives said Wednesday.

Batting anew for "a lean and mean" budget amid the financial turmoil in the US, Minority Floor Leader Ronaldo Zamora proposed that the Personnel Services (PS) and Maintenance and Other Operating Expense (MOOE) of departments be pegged at eight percent, similar to the inflation rate projected by the government for next year.

Transparency urged in Arroyo pardons

Tuesday, 07 October 2008 05:01 Thea Alberto /Inquirer.net

MANILA - While the decision to grant a pardon or executive clemency is a constitutional right, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should be “fair and transparent” in enforcing them, senators said Tuesday.

Opposition Senator Francisco "Chiz" Escudero said the President failed to be transparent in granting executive clemency to Claudio Teehankee Jr.

Vigilance urged vs ‘midnight pardons’

Tuesday, 07 October 2008 04:58 Lira Dalangin-Fernandez/Inquirer.net

MANILA - The lead prosecutor in the case of convicted killer Claudio Teehankee Jr. has acknowledged the prerogative of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to grant executive clemency, but urged the public to be watchful for more midnight pardons, saying outgoing presidents have the propensity to grant such.

Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio noted the government’s failure in observing the rules in granting executive clemency, saying there should have been publication of the name of the convict and a notice to the convicting trial judge, prosecutors, and the offended party.