The practice of diverting funds from education, health, poverty alleviation and other programs to graft-ridden public works projects, including flood control, also benefited congresspersons, senators, the Vice President and the President, who have seen their budgets surging over the past several years. This is the observation stated by the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) in...
Author: Juan V. Sarmiento Jr. (Juan V. Sarmiento Jr.)
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Subdivision residents upset at discovery that Discaya firm bagged contract for bridge rehab project
ALABANG, Muntinlupa City — With the revocation of the project contractor’s license, residents of a private subdivision here are questioning the scheduled closure next month of a bridge to pave the way for retrofitting the South Luzon Expressway crossing. To their surprise and consternation, the residents of Pleasant Village learned just last week that the...
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Take the ‘Trump tariffs’ to the local levels and to the May elections, economist says
How can the Philippines cope with the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump, who has upended the rules-based global trading system with a tariff war he is waging against scores of countries? “We cannot predict what Trump will be doing next [during his second four-year term]. We can’t rely on the US to maintain rules-based...
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PLDT well on the way to building its campus-style HQ in Filinvest City
PLDT has finally acquired a large parcel of land for its campus-style headquarters in the 244-hectare Filinvest City in Alabang, the central business district of Muntinlupa City, CoverStory.ph has learned. The acquisition of the property ended years of on-again, off-again negotiations between PLDT and Filinvest Alabang Inc. (FAI) of the Gotianun family. Currently, the publicly...
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Zonal values of real estate are rising much faster than incomes do
Real estate sellers and buyers and heirs will pay a bigger amount of taxes starting this year in Muntinlupa City, home to swanky subdivisions such as Ayala Alabang and Palms Pointe, as well as the Filinvest City central business district (CBD) and Madrigal Business Park. Zonal values in Muntinlupa rose 14 to 100% effective Jan....
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Living his dream and not working a day in his life
Sandy Daza hosts three food shows on TV and writes a column, making him one of the most recognizable chefs in the Philippines. He co-owns kiosks bearing his name that sell empanada and siopao in malls across Metro Manila. And he wears another hat: as a guide of culinary tours in Japan that he considers...
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Food, friendship and more on a tour with a chef
FUKUOKA, HIROSHIMA, OSAKA—We came here to savor food that popular Filipino chef Sandy Daza has taste-tested and pronounced “exceptional” (for him, “good” is simply “not enough”). But the “Daza Japan Food Tour” of the three cities and their namesake prefectures on Oct. 20-25 offered participants more than just food. It also included visits to fish...
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Theft of millions of Filipinos’ personal data eroding public trust
The series of data breaches at government agencies has resulted in the theft of millions of Filipinos’ personal information not only once but twice or even thrice, in gross violation of their right to privacy. Understandably, the theft is causing Filipinos to lose trust in the offices that keep their personal data even as the...
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Zonal values of residential land surging
Zonal values of residential land are rising by up to about 330% in Parañaque City effective Monday, Oct. 2, catching residents and property owners by surprise. The surge is triggering concerns that the high cost of real property in the city will hamper sales and further make homes unaffordable to most people, especially the Gen...
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Estate tax may now be paid in installments and online
Instead of a one-time payment that many find difficult to comply with, heirs may now pay in installments the estate tax due the property they inherited from relatives. They may also stagger the payments over a two-year period. Heirs even have the option to settle the amount online with an accredited bank of the Bureau...