News Briefs: July 27, 2019

P5.5M worth of  illegal drugs intercepted at Naia

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Friday said they had intercepted 1,490 tablets of ecstasy, 3,320 tablets of valium and 1,850 grams of kush, a type of marijuana, worth P5.5 million. Mimel Talusan, the BOC’s district collector at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), said the ecstasy tablets came from Germany and were declared as gifts while the kush came from the United States and declared as tortilla chips. The valium cache, meanwhile, was to be exported by four senders from Parañaque City and Bulacan to 36 recipients in Australia, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom. —Jerome Aning

Law creating Nat’l Commission of Senior Citizens signed

President Duterte signed on July 25 Republic Act No. 11350 which creates the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC), under the Office of the President, comprised of a chair and six commissioners. The law abolishes the National Coordinating and Monitoring Board created by the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 and transfers its functions and programs to the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The commissioners will be senior citizens who are college degree holders and bonafide members of senior citizens organizations. The commission will also have an executive director who will be in charge of the NCSC’s daily operations. —Julie M. Aurelio

Health chief welcomes higher tax on tobacco products

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III welcomed on Friday President Duterte’s signing into law of Republic Act No. 11346, which imposes a higher tax on tobacco. He said the new law would assure funding for the government’s universal health care program and also help curb smoking prevalence in the country. Under the law, the current P35 tax on cigarettes will be raised to P45 next year and adjusted by P5 yearly until it reaches P60 per pack in 2023. Thereafter, a 5-percent annual increase will be implemented. The government is expected to collect P15 billion in the first year alone from the tax measure. —Jovic Yee

80% of QC firms have not completed requirements

Around 80 percent of business establishments in Quezon City have not yet complied with regulatory requirements for clearances, Mayor Joy Belmonte revealed on Friday. She urged the city’s 70,000 business owners to immediately complete their requirements or their permits will be canceled. The city government said business owners had to comply with the requirements before January 2020. Belmonte said the move was in line with her plan to streamline all business transactions and hasten the release of permits. —Mariejo S. Ramos

Isko signs benefits ordinances for Manila folk

Grade 12 students, solo parents, senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) are set to get more benefits from the city of Manila after Mayor Isko Moreno on Thursday signed an ordinance granting them a P500 monthly allowance, or P6,000 a year. The allowance will be dispensed via automated teller machines. Ordinances No. 8564 and 8565 are the first two ordinances signed by the 42-year-old mayor. Ordinance 8564 provides a P500 monthly allowance to Grade 12 students enrolled in any Manila public school. Ordinance 8565, meanwhile, provides the same allowance to senior citizens, PWDs and solo parents who are registered in the city’s master list, among other requirements. —Krixia Subingsubing