News Briefs: May 12, 2019
ACT asks Comelec to refund tax deducted from teachers
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers of the Philippines (ACT) on Friday demanded that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) pay its debts to teacher-poll workers who served in the 2018 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
“We are here to remind Comelec of their debts to thousands of teachers whose poll service compensation was wrongly deducted a 5-percent tax in 2018, lest they forget,” ACT national chair Joselyn Martinez said.
In the 2018 elections, ACT said the Comelec automatically deducted a 5-percent tax from the compensation of all poll workers as ordered by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
ACT said teachers from at least 10 regions have not yet received their tax refund. —Mariejo S. Ramos
TUCP files 3 separate wage hike petitions
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) filed on Friday three separate petitions seeking an across-the-board increase in the current wages in Northern Mindanao, Central Luzon and Calabarzon by as much as P782.
TUCP president Raymond Mendoza cited the inability of workers nowadays to consume nutritious food due to the high cost of basic goods and services.
“Businesses and the government should invest on the health and well-being of workers by ensuring that their wages can afford them proper nourishment and embark on building a robust and healthy workforce for business and economic growth,” Mendoza said.
For Northern Mindanao, TUCP wants the current minimum wage of P365 to be increased by P782, while for Central Luzon and Calabarzon, the group wants the prevailing daily wage of P400 be increased by P768.
“Only nutritionally deficient meals can be provided under the current minimum wage,” he said. —Jovic Yee
QC prosecutor orders libel raps vs ABS-CBN execs
The Quezon City prosecutor’s office has ordered the filing of libel charges against broadcaster Ces Drilon and two other executives of ABS-CBN for allegedly making defamatory statements during an internal company investigation.
In separate resolutions dated April 29, Quezon City chief prosecutor Vimar Barcellano ruled that there was probable cause to file charges of libel against Drilon, Marie Milagros Lozano and Venancio Borromeo for acting in bad faith when they submitted written testimonies in the investigation of a complaint filed by TV and radio personality Gretchen Fullido.
It would be recalled that the network created an ad hoc internal investigation committee to look into Fullido’s sexual harassment complaint against former news executive Cheryl Favila and news segment producer Maricar Asprec.
Fullido had complained in late 2018 that Favila and Asprec sexually harassed her by sending her inappropriate text messages with sexual innuendos. —Jerome Aning
QC to pay GSIS P53M for employees’ unremitted premiums
The Quezon City government has committed to pay the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for the premium contributions of its employees for over 15 years.
In a statement Friday, the GSIS said its president and general manager Jesus Clint O. Aranas and Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista signed on May 2 a memorandum of agreement (MOA), under which the city will pay the state-run pension fund P53 million in unpaid interest on premium arrearages, even as its outstanding obligations already reached nearly P139 million.
Under the MOA, the GSIS will condone P75 million out of the city government’s unpaid dues. —Ben O. de Vera
