Pagkakaroon ng DNA data basae system sa buong bansa, ipinanukala ni Barbers

Ang panukalang pagkakaroon ng Pilipinas ng DNA Database System ang tatapos sa mabagal na proseso ng   pagresolba ng kriminalidad ng bansa.

Inihain at itinutulak ni Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers sa kongreso ang House Bill No. 7215, “ An Act Providing  for the Establishment of the Philippine DNA Database System o PDDAS upang  pabilisin at padaliin ang paglutas sa mabagal na proseso ng krimen sa bansa.

Ayon kay Barbers, ang kanyang panukala na pagkakaroon ng sarili nating DNA database ay makakatulong upang pabilisin ang paglutas ng mga krimen, paghahanap sa mga nawawalang personalidad, pagkilala sa mga patay, pagkilanlan sa mga pagkatao at pagsusuri sa ng magkadugo.

“The database would satisfy the state’s policy to establish and maintain a fair, responsible, ethical and efficient criminal justice system,” pagdidiin ni Barbers.

Ipinaliwanag din ng kongresista na sa pamamagitan ng DNA database sa bansa, magsisilbi itong taguan ng mga impormasyon ng pagkakakilanlan ng mga taong may kinalaman o nasangkot sa krimen, mga akusado, suspek, bilanggo,  drug dependents, mga vomunteers, uniformed personnel, at mga kawani ng pamahalaan.

Kung maisusulong aniya ang kanyang panukala, maiibsan ng malaki ang suliranin ng bansa sa paglutas sa mga krimen na halos dekada ang itinatagal sa korte dahil lamang sa pagkalap ng mga impormasyon at ebidensiya.

“DNA is a powerful investigative tool beacause, except for identical twins, no two people have the same DNA,” paliwanag pa ni Barbers.

Idinagdag pa ni Barbers na sakaling maisabatas ang HB No. 7215, matutulungan nitong patatagin ang forensic DNA profiles ng mga sangkot sa krimen at magiging madali para sa mga imbestigador ang paghahanap ng mga mahahalagang impormasyong tutulong para malutas ang  isang kaso at ebidensiyang maipapakita sa korte.

Ipinaliwanag pa nito na malaki ang kinakaharap na suliranin ng mga imbestigador sa paghahanap ng mga impormasyon upang patunayang  ang isang tao ay may pagkakasala o wala sa batas.

Base sa ulat ng BBC News, pinakauna ang Great Britain noong 1985 sa paggamit ng DNA database system bilang pangunahing kasangkapan sa paglutas ng krimen sa kanilang bansa at sa kasalukuyan umabot na sa 5 milyon ang nakapasok sa talaan ng database system  dahilan upang kanilang mabilis na nalutas ang 40,000 krimen sa kanilang bansa.

Ito rin ang ginagamit ngayon ng mga bansang Estados Unidos, Canada, Australia at mga bansa sa Europa sa paniniwalang ito ang pinakamabilis na paraan ng upang lutasin ang ibat-ibang uri ng kriminalidad sa bansa.

Sa panukala ni Barbers, ang PDDAS ay magsisilbing taga ipon ng mga impormasyon, taga analisa, at taga tala ng mga genetic markers na nakikita sa bawat genetic information mula sa forensc DNA analysis.

Sa pamamagitan ng minute sample ng genetic DNA material mula sa laman ng isang tao kung kaya maisasagawa ang pagsusuri ng data base at mabibigyan ito ng numeric value o barcode.

Isinasaad din sa panukala ni Barbers na kailangang magbuo ng  Philippine DNA Database System Scientific Advisory Committee na pamumunuan ng kinatawan mula sa University of the Philippines- PGH, upang matiyak ang tamang proseso na papasa sa pamantayan ng DNA testing database.

Nakasaad pa rin sa HB 7215 na ang lahat ng impormasyon na makukuha mula sa DNA Database ay hindi maaaring ilabas maliban sa Philippine DNA Database Office (PDDO) na kinabibilangan ng PNP, NBI, PDEA at AFP.

Kung kinakailangan ng ibang ahensiya ang impormasyon kinakailangang ng clearance na ipagkakaloob lamang ng PDDO. At lahat ng impormasyon na ipalalabas ay kinakailangan may kaakibat na court order.

Sa nasabi ring panukala, ang hindi tamang paglalabas ng mga impormasyon mula sa DNA samples ay may kaukulang kaparusahan na pagkakakulong ng walong taon at isang araw o pagbabayad ng multa na hindi bababa sa P500,000 o di kaya ay parehong kaparusahan  ayon sa ipapataw ng korte.#

STATEMENT BY

REP. ROGER “OGING” MERCADO

Southern Leyte, Lone District

Chair, Committee on Constitutional Amendments

Deputy Majority Leader

Twitter: @OgingMercado

[Context: Election of the Philippine Olympic Committee tomorrow, Feb 23]

REP. ROGER MERCADO TO POC, NSAs: LESS POLITICS, MORE SPORTS

While the presidents of the national sports associations wrestle with the choices they have to make for the future of Philippine sports, I hope they will take a moment to consider how grassroots sports development programs or the lack thereof impact on remote provinces like Southern Leyte, which I represent in Congress.

I filed House Bill 6207 seeking to establish the Southern Leyte Sports Academy in the provincial capital of Maasin.

HB 6207 would provide for the upgrading, improvement, and modernization of existing facilities, equipment and personnel and incorporate or consolidate them into the newly created sports academy.

In the current 17th Congress, there are three other bills on similar local sports academies and one bill for a national sports academy. In the previous 16th Congress, there were 10 sports academy bills.

I ask the National Sports Association (NSAs) and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) to consider, in addition to the medal counts, the demographic profiles and other population statistics of the provinces, towns, and cities.

Look at the youth population. For example, Southern Leyte will have 186 thousand youths aged 5 to 19 by the Year 2020 according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

That 186 thousand is the baseline the POC and NSAs should be considering along with the medals counts of the Palarong Pambansa, the Philippine National Games, and the Batang Pinoy program. From that base, we can discover the future Olympians. The POC and PSC grassroots programs should be youth of Southern Leyte and other parts of our country whatever their economic stature.

Look at not just the kids in the schools but also the kids out of schools. We lawmakers push for sports academy bills because of our faith in our constituents. We know that given the opportunity our kids can excel in sports.

We simply ask the NSAs and POC to do much less politics and do more sports. (END)

REP. FREDERICK W. SIAO

Lone District of Iligan City

Vice Chair, Committee on Tourism

Member, Appropriations, Mindanao Affairs, and 8 other committees          

AFP, DND, DILG KEEP MINDANAO SAFE FROM TERRORISTS, SAYS REP. SIAO

[Iligan City Congressman reacts to the statement of MILF Chairman Al-Hajj Ebrahim Murad]

As the Representative of Iligan City, I am deeply concerned about the statement of MILF Chairman Al-Hajj Ebrahim Murad that Iligan City and Cotabato may already be targets of terrorist groups for a sequel of their siege of Marawi City, in case the Bangsamoro Basic Law fails to pass.

I was therefore relieved to know directly from our military and defense officials that Iligan and Cotabato are not under any imminent threat from the ISIS terrorists who attacked Marawi.

The concern of the esteemed MILF Chairman for the welfare of Iligan and Cotabato is much appreciated, but I also hope he would first confer with top officials of the AFP, DND, and DILG instead of first making such statements to the news media.

Let me take this opportunity to assure Chairman Al-Hajj Murad that there is a good base of support in Congress for the passage of the proposed BBL and so there is no need to play the ISIS card while the BBL goes through the legislative process.

Congress is simply in the process of ironing out the details to significantly increase the BBL's success factors during the implementation phase.

Iligan is one of the most progressive cities in Mindanao and is still recovering from the impact of the Battle of Marawi. The extension of Martial Law in Mindanao has helped stabilize the peace and order situation, as well as business confidence in Iligan and all over Mindanao.

Meanwhile, the military and police are steadfast in their ongoing mission to defend Mindanao against all security threats, foreign and domestic. Their commitment to their duty has earned the admiration and respect of Iliganons. (END)

Office of Rep. Arthur C. Yap

3rd District of Bohol

Tel No. ‎9315426

February 21, 2018

Bicameral Committee Oks Bill on Ease of Doing Business

In a fitting Valentine’s gift to the Filipino people, the bicameral conference committee composed of congressmen and senators have concluded their discussions on disagreeing provisions of House Bill 6579 and Senate Bill 1311, entitled the “Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018” last February 14, 2018.

“Upon this Bill’s passage into law, government agencies and units will be required to act on all applications for permits, licenses and authorizations within a given period of time or else, the erring officials will be sanctioned not only administratively but criminally as well” according to Economics Affairs Chair Arthur Yap (3rd District-Bohol) who was a member of the Bicameral Conference Committee.

Heading the House of Representatives Panel wasTrade and Industry Chair Ferjenel Biron and Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri for the Senate. The other House Of Representatives members were Xavier Jesus Romualdez, Rosanna Vergara, Manuel Zubiri, Vilma Santos-Recto, Winston Castelo, Gus S. Tam bunting, Luis Raymond Villafuete, Jose Christopher Belmonte, Karlo Alexei B. Nograles, Bernadette Herrera-Dy, and Arlene Arcillas. For the Senate, the other members were Senators: Sherwin Gatchalian, Manny Pacquiao, Bam Aquino and Sonny Angara.

DTI Secretary Mon Lopez was also in attendance in the sessions and hailed the passage of the Bills as critical for raising the Philippines position in the Competitiveness rankings.

The reconciled version of the bill effectively amends and expands the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007.

Once passed into law, processing time for simple permits will be reduced to

three (3) working days; complex transactions to seven (7) working days; and highly technical application to twenty (20) working days.

The measure also reduces the number of signatories from five (5) to three (3) signatures; and will recognize electronic signatures or pre-signed permit/license/certification in case the authorized signatory is on official leave.

However, cases that pose danger to public health, public safety, public morals or to public policy, and for highly technical application such as natural resource extraction activities, will be given more time for consideration but still, with specific time deadlines.

“Essentially, we want to prevent discretion in Government Agencies and instrumentalities, as well as eliminating face to face transactions for permits and licenses, which breed corruption.” Yap adds.

The Law will also streamline procedures for the issuance of local business permits by:

using a single or unified business application for local tax and clearances, building clearances, fire safety inspection certificates, etc.; which shall also be available online; and create a one-stop business facilitation service on site and/or on-line in all cities and municipalities.

“More importantly, innovation and technology allows us speed and security of transactions which was not possible before. This in turn drives down costs for all our MSME’s who represent the bulk of our local Philippine businesses.” Yap stressed.

For that reason, that reason, moving forward, all LGU’s are mandated to automate their business permitting and licensing systems with the help of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) as the thrust will be on-line transactions.

Another feature of the law is the issuance of local clearances such as sanitary permits, environmental and agricultural clearances, be done together with the business permit, with said business permits having a validity of one (1) year, which may be renewed within the first month of the year or anniversary date of the issuance of permit, unlike now when the validity is only until the end of the calendar year.

It will also streamline procedures for securing the Fire Safety Inspection Certificate (FSIC) by:

a) limiting the processing time to ten (10) working days; and

b) disallowing the Bureau of Fire (BFP) personnel from selling or recommending any brand of fire extinguishers or equipment.

 The bill also mandates the DICT to create the Central Business Portal which shall serve as the central system to receive application and capture application data involving business-related transactions; and the Philippine Business Databank containing all data and information of registered business entities.

The Law also creates the Anti-Red Tape Authority (referred to as the Authority), under the Office of the President which will plan, implement and oversee national policy on anti-red tape and ease of doing business;

receive complaints, initiate investigations, and assist in filing of administrative and criminal cases related to anti-red tape.

The measure also subjects all offices and agencies providing government services to a Report Card Survey initiated by the Authority, in coordination with the CSC and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which shall become the basis for the grant of awards, recognition, and/or incentives for excellent delivery of service in all government agencies.

“This landmark law will make it faster and cheaper to do business in the Philippines. But we are not yet done, because amendments in the Corporation Code, Retail Trade Law, and the Financial Inclusion Act, which effectively modernizes the Warehouse Receipts Law and the Chattel Mortgage Law are needed to give that full measure of support and services to our MSME’s. This will keep up the momentum of growth and expansion of our economy,” according to Yap.

Both houses of Congress are set to ratify the Bicameral Committee report this week.

SWAY TO FEDERALISMO: Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Negros Occidental Rep. Alfred Benitez, and Makati Rep. Monsour Del Rosario gamely swing to the beat of Dahil sa Iyo with new members of Partido Demorkratikong Pilipino from Bataan. Some 4,500 local officials of the province led by Bataan Gov. Alfred Garcia, Rep. Jose Enrique Garcia and Rep. Geraldine Roman took their oath as members of the party at the Vista Mall in Balanga City today, 22 Feb 2018.

#onehouseforchange

Photo Release

22 February 2018

PDP PUSHES FOR FEDERALISM: Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and other PDP stalwarts with an estimated 4,500 new members of the party from Bataan in a gesture of unity after the mass oath-taking rites at the Vista Mall in Balanga City, 22 Feb 2018.

#onehouseforchange

Photo Release

22 February 2018

DANCE TO FEDERALISMO: Bataan officials led by Gov. Albert Garcia (R), Rep. Jose Enrique "Joet" Garcia, Rep. Geraldine roman, and Vice Gov. Ma. Cristina Garcia dish out their unique way of welcoming visitors to the province and  the entry of some 4,500 local officials of Bataan into the folds of Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino after the mass oath taking ceremonies in Balanga City led by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

#onehouseforchange

New Release

22 February 2018

Divorce bill to strengthen marriage -- Alvarez

The divorce bill being crafted in the House of Representatives would not run counter to the constitutional provision that the state should protect the family.

"In fact this will strengthen yung marriage dahil nga alam ng both parties na kung hindi ka umayos, hindi ba, nandiyan palagi yung possibility…yung tsansa na hiwalayan ka noong spouse mo. So it will really strengthen your marriage, kasi mag-iingat ka na kung mahal mo talaga yung tao," said Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez in a radio interview on Thursday.

Alvarez also said the proposed "Absolute Divorce and Dissolution of Marriage Bill" will not be costly and lengthy to a spouse.

"Hindi po… hindi na po magastos," said the Speaker.

The poor and overseas Filipino workers can avail of the services of a public attorney in seeking a divorce and the process would be simple and fast, according to Alvarez.

Expensive and lengthy divorce are the complaints and problems of many OFWs, said Alvarez.

"Hindi naman nila mahiwalayan dahil napakahirap nga. Isipin mo, uuwi sila dito, maghahanap ng abugado, kulang pa daw naman yung pambayad sa abugado yung kinikita nila," said Alvarez.

Under the proposed divorce bill, among the grounds for divorce are when the spouses are living separately for at least five years, irreconcilable differences and sexual infidelity.

Alvarez said irreconcible difference is when the married spouses are no longer happy with each other and there is no point in reconciling.

The bill also provides for alimony or financial support for the children of divorced parents.

"Yung alimony, puwede mong monthly installment or puwedeng lump sum," the Speaker said. #

#onehouseforchange