MDM

P4 TUESday | march 12, 2019

Bong Go bats for improvedaccess to quality education

YOUNG SUPPORTER. A child asks former Special Assistant to the President and 2019 senatorial candidate Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go to sign on his shirt during Sunday’s rally of the Hugpong ng Pagbabago in Balayan, Batangas.

Former Special Assistant to the President and 2019 senatorial candidate Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Sunday vowed to further boost the government’s program on providing quality education for all Filipinos.

This was Go’s message during the general assembly of the scholars of Batangas First District Rep. Eileen Ermita-Buhain (EEB Scholars) at the Balayan Covered Court in Balayan, Batangas.

“Gusto kong isulong ang pagbibigay ng mas maraming suporta sa edukasyon. Isusulong kong magbibigay ang pamahalaan ng libreng school supplies, uniforms, at ibang kagamitan sa paaralan,” Go said.

Earlier in the day, Go was at Lipa City with other senatorial candidates under the banner of the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) for their kickoff rally.

GO, who traces his

ancestry in Batangas, received the support of the province’s leaders and residents.

The audience at Balayan gave Go a warm reception, giving him a standing ovation after he was introduced. However, Go said it was not necessary. “Wag po kayong tumayo sa akin, ako po ay isang ordinary public servant lang po,” Go said.

“Ang dugo ko po ay Batanguenong Bisaya,” Go said, telling the audience that his grandparents are members of the Tesoro clan of the province but decided to migrate to Davao.

Go said he is bringing the changes that President Rodrigo Duterte wanted for the education sector.

“Ipagpapatuloy ko po ang mga pagbabagong nasimulan ni Pangulong Duterte. Mahalaga po kay Pangulong Duterte na makapagbigay ng libreng edukasyon para sa ating mga kabataan,” he added.

Go had earlier proposed an increase in salary of public school teachers and additional funding for the Department of Education in the annual General Appropriations Act for the provision of free uniforms, school supplies, and other equipment in public elementary and secondary schools.

“Maganda po na may libreng matrikula na binibigay na ang gobyerno pero ipaglalaban ko rin na mabigyan kayo ng libreng kagamitan pang-eskwela para mas maraming makapagtapos ng pag-aaral,” he added.

Go’s legislative agenda also covers programs on agriculture, housing, long-term sports development, fire protection and prevention, localized peace talks, barangay welfare, creation of a Department of OFW, and improved benefits for senior citizens.

MANILA -- The Court of Appeals (CA) turned down the appeal of online news website Rappler and its holding company, Rappler Holdings Corporation (RHC), against the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) move to revoke its business registration for violating the Constitution and foreign equity restrictions in mass media.

In a 25-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Rafael Antonio Santos dated February 21 and released to media Monday, the CA’s Former 12th Division said it saw no merit on the motion for partial reconsideration filed by Rappler on the case.

Associate Justices Apolinario D. Bruselas and Germano D. Legaspi concurred in the decision.

The CA, however, said it would not preempt the evaluation and the subsequent

finding and conclusion of the SEC which will investigate the legal effect of the alleged donation of foreign funds by Omidyar into Rappler’s operations.

Rappler claims the constitutional limitations on foreign investments does not apply to it since it is not a mass media entity as defined by a 1976 law, Presidential Decree No. 1018, limiting the ownership and management of mass media to citizens of the Philippines.

Contrary to the firm’s claim, the CA said that Rappler is a media entity, since under a later law, Republic Act No. 9211 “the definition of mass media was expanded to include electronic media such as the internet”.

This definition of mass media was used by the SEC, the CA pointed out.

The appellate court said that Rapper itself in a case

before the Supreme Court asserted that it is a mass media entity.

The case involved the firm’s petition seeking to be allowed access to live coverage of the 2016 presidential and vice-presidential debates.

In this case, the CA explained “the Supreme Court agreed with Rappler and ruled that it is an online mass media entity and should be granted equal right with traditional forms of mass media to broadcast the debates via online live streaming,”

The CA said that applying the full beneficial ownership test, Rappler cannot claim to be 100-percent Filipino owned.

“(T)he grant of control to a foreign entity over a mass media entity, regardless of the actual exercise of such foreign control, is already considered a violation,” the court added. PNA

CA junks Rapplerplea vs SEC ruling

MANILA -- A suspected member of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) has been arrested by operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Taguig City.

In a statement Monday, NBI Director Dante A. Gierran said Salahim Dawani a.k.a. Abu Moadz was nabbed in an operation last March 6.

Dawani has a standing

arrest warrant issued by the Basilan Regional Trial Court (RTC) in connection with the kidnapping of several workers of the Golden Harvest Plantation in Tairan, Lantawan, Basilan in 2001.

Witnesses said Aby Moadz was with the group who burned down houses in the area and decapitated plantation workers Primitivo Falcasantos and

Crisanto Suela.He was among

those who served as augmentation force to the ASG brigands who kidnapped victims at the diving resort in Sipadan, Pulao, Sabah, Malaysia on April 23, 2000. He also helped guard the kidnap victims when they were brought to the towns of Talipao and Patikul in Sulu. PNA

Abu Sayyaf mannabbed in Taguig