Davao Food Safety ordinance still buried in Council records

A proposed Food Safety Ordinance that will ensure the safety of street foods in Davao remains buried in the records of the City Council despite a 2011 study which found out that only 10% of streets foods here are safe for consumption while the rest contained pathogenic bacteria.

The said study (which also included Cagayan de Oro and Laguna) was conducted by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM) in 2011 to find ways to improve the sector.

“The last time I heard, the proposed ordinance has undergone first reading in the council under councilor (Bernard) Al-Ag who was then the chair of the Committee on Health,” Food and Drug Administration (FDA) XI Regulatory Officer Arnold G. Alindada said. However, the committee heads for the 17^th City Council changed with the Health Committee now under Councilor Joselle Villafuerte.

“I have just talked with councilor Villafuerte and she said she will pull it out, study it again and will push for its approval,” Mr. Alindada said.

Once passed, the Food Safety Ordinance will appropriate a specific budget for the training of sanitary inspectors. While the FDA has jurisdiction only over processed food products and not ready-to-serve food from restaurants and caterers, Mr. Alindada said they are pushing for the approval of the Food Safety Ordinance.

Robert L. Oconer, Chief of the Davao City Environmental Sanitation Office, said he has recommended for the removal of food, fruits and other vendors even before election (May 2013) but both Mayors (former Mayor Sara Z. Duterte and Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte) instructed him to just let them be for as long as they are regulated.

He said they conduct a quarterly education of vendors and are proud that they have followed the rules in terms of wearing hairnets, personal hygiene and complied with the procurement of health certificates.

“Even before the study was made we were already monitoring the food vendors making sure that they comply with the sanitation requirement,” he said. Mr. Oconer said that in his 21 years as a sanitation officer, he has never received a complaint about the food vendors in the city.

But sans the Food Safety Ordinance, Mr. Oconer has issued this warning to all those buying and eating street foods “eat at your own risk.”

Former DOST XI Regional Director and now RECORD Foundation Managing Director Ma. Delia M. Morados said she looks forward to the day when Davao’s street foods will have the same high-level of sanitation comparable to HongKong and Malaysia. She said it would be great to see all the street food vendors gathered in an air conditioned place where the sanitation officers can inspect them regularly.

Ms. Morados is one of the editors of the book “Mindanao Conference on Existing and Emerging Issues on Food Safety” which was launched in the city on July 30, 2013. The book tackles all the food safety issues discussed during the 2008 Conference including the role of the government and the private sectors in ensuring food.

LRA downplays WB standard on release of land titles

The Land Registration Authority (LRA) downplayed the World Bank standard which cited three weeks as the ideal period of time for the release of land title registrations and said it is only realistic in countries that do not follow the Torrens System

“The World Bank study on the ease of doing business citing 3 weeks as the maximum period for release of land titles is based on the processes followed by countries without the legal torrens systems,” LRA Deputy Administrator for Operations Atty. Robert Nomar V. Leyretana said last Thursday.

Leyretana had a one-on-one discussion with Land Management Bureau (LMB) officer-in-charge Engr. Ralph C. Pablo and the officials of the Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines (OSHDP) in the city to thresh out the organization’s concern on the delay in the release of land title registrations all over the country as a result of LRA’s computerization program.

OSHDP President Atty. Ryan T. Tan said the developers are pushing for the harmonization of the systems used by the LRA and the LMB to make the system of land administration, property registration and transferrability of titles more efficient.

“Globally the standard for processing of our subdivision of titles is three weeks maximum but in the Philippines you are lucky if you get your titles in three months (because of the conflict between the two agencies),” he said.

LRA started bidding its computerization program in 2000 under the Build-Own-Operate Scheme but the implementation started only in 2008. The computerization program aims to make LRA’s operations more efficient and prevent the issuance of dubious land titles. However, developers claim it is only in this country where computerization has resulted to delays in transactions specifically in the release of land titles.

 

“The three-week standard is easy in Australia because they do not have land titles—they just have the transfer of their properties listed and that’s it,” Mr. Leyretana said. In the Philippines, he said, the torrent system has been followed since 1903 and this legal framework has resulted to a slower process.

This is the reason why the LRA thought of computerizing their system, to respond to this particular problem, he said.  But while they have computerized the system, he added, LRA cannot do away with the legal framework.

LRA has scanned 22.28 million of 24 million certificates of title and has encoded 21.37 million of such titles as of August 08, 2013. Up to 136 of the 167 Register of Deeds nationwide are already fully computerized and live. Aside from the usual technical glitches, he said, the agency is also faced with the problem of antiquated personnel most of whom are 55 years old and above who are not computer-savvy.

“Only 6-7% of the Registry of Deeds have not been computerized but these are smaller ones located in Batanes, Bongao, Tawi-Tawi and Catanduanes,” Mr. Leyretana said.

But the computerization process did not reinvent the wheel of the whole land title registration program based on PD 1529, he said. PD 1529 is the law amending and codifying the Laws relative to registration of property.

A case in point, he said, is the process of getting a certificate of copy of a lost land title. Many people think we can just print the copy since we are computerized, he added, but they still have to go to court and file a petition to get an order directing the Register of Deeds to issue a copy.

Leyretana was however quick to point out the benefits of the computerization program saying lot owners can now go to the LRA and get a print out of the land configuration in order to determine the right measurement of their lots. It has also started to offer geo-spatial query service to several government agencies to identify the right of way and titled property falling within danger zones.

“We have been pushing for the LARA Law (Land Administration and Reform Act) in order to harmonize our policies,” Pablo said. He said they were asked to submit the latest version of this bill in order to harmonize the different government processes. The LARA Bill seeks to combine several offices with land distribution functions into one.

However, Leyretana said they have been vigilant in opposing the passage of this bill. “We want a reconfiguration not a merging of all agencies with land distribution functions,” he added. LRA should not be lumped among these agencies, he said, because it is only mandated to register titles and not to dispose or distribute.

In the meantime, the developers and homeowners will have to wait for these agencies to resolve their problems. “Naiipit ang pera natin habang nag-aaway ang DENR (LMB),” Tan said.

Creation of Housing Department pushed

The 16^th Congress is urged to create the Department of Housing and  Urban Development (DHUD) to allow the government more efficiency in the coordination of its housing programs.

“Creating the DHUD will promote the efficient management and development of land resources and enhance coordination and integration of plans, programs and projects of the government in housing and urban development,” Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Deputy Secretary General Atty. Wendel Avisado said.

Avisado said the bill creating the DHUD was passed during the 3^rd and final reading of the 15^th Congress but did not take off in the Senate. Its creation will simplify all the processes required to make the government’s housing programs work.

At present, he said, there are various shelter agencies under the HUDCC umbrella. These include the HDMF or Pag-IBIG which funds the housing of its members, National Housing Authority which produces housing units, SHFC which funds socialized housing for the informal sector, HLURB which regulates and oversees land use plans, NHMFC which mobilizes funds and HGC which guarantees funds.

He said the creation of HUDC is important especially now that the housing sector is faced with many challenges including the urbanization of the Philippines which is now at 49% and is expected to increase to 65% by 2030.

“With urbanization comes critical issues like high poverty incidence, environmental degradation, lack of urban housing and proliferation of slums and informal settlers,

” he said. The country’s housing needs was 3.5 million in 2010 and is estimated to reach 5.7 million units by 2015, he added.

Avisado said the scarce availability of non-flood prone land for socialized housing especially in Metro Manila have compounded the challenges that come with urbanization.

While the HUDCC has adopted strategies to address these issue and concerns, he said, there is still a need to create the DHUD.

Pag-IBIG Fund members urged to voluntarily increase contributions

Pag-IBIG Fund president and CEO Darlene Marie Berberabe is encouraging Fund members to voluntarily increase their contributions as a way to build financial freedom.

“But we are urging our members to voluntarily increase their monthly savings considering that after 20 years they will be able to triple their money,” she said. A third of the contribution comes from the members themselves, another third from the employers and then from the dividends.

Pag-IBIG has paid a total of P9.3 Billion total dividends to its members last year and she said, these dividends are tax-free compared to banks which impose a 20% withholding tax.

Berberabe said they are constantly looking for innovative ways to be more relevant to their members without increasing their contributions. Our marching orders from the vice president were to improve the benefits for members without increasing the monthly cost, she said.

To do that, she said, they increased their membership base from 8 million to 12.7 million. Pag-IBIG has doubled the maximum loan amount to P3.6 million while reducing the calamity interest rates from 10.5% to 5.95% with monthly contribution still at P100.

The Home Development Mutual Fund, more popularly known as Pag-IBIG Fund is set to link up with at least 19 business partners per region every quarter in up to 32 key cities in the country to make the Fund more relevant to the daily lives of its members.

“How do we make Pag-IBIG Fund more relevant to those who are saving but are not yet ready to borrow money for housing” was one of their concerns according to Pag-IBIG Fund president and CEO Darlene Marie Berberabe Wednesday.

Berberabe, who was in the city Wednesday for the signing of the memorandum of agreement with its partners, said the Fund now has 12 million members with up to 60,000 members borrowing every year. But what about the rest, she said.

She said the Pag-IBIG Privilege Cardholders Program, which will be officially launched and piloted in the cities of Cebu, Davao and Baguio, was conceptualized to make the Fund more relevant to members.

Among the first partners of Pag-IBIG’s new program in Davao are New City Commercial Corporation, Davao Doctors College and Penong’s Franchise Corporation. These companies have offered different discounts levels to cardholders every time they purchase or make payments at the stores.

Pag-IBIG is still looking for partners and is yet to bid for the services of a company which will produce the Privilege Cards which will be made available to members for a minimal fee. Once issued hopefully before the year ends, users of the Privilege Card in various cities in the country can avail of the discounts provided by the partner companies.

“We are focusing on companies relating to health, education, groceries, schools and restaurants,” she said.

Ms. Berberabe said the target is to issue around 200,000 Pag-IBIG Privilege Cards once the program is official launched next year. She said they now have 32 partners in the pilot areas but are still looking for partners nationwide.

“I am sure we will get more partners because with Pag-IBIG’s 12 million members and the opportunity to get their stores marketed to these members, it is a good marketing strategy for these businesses,” she said.

Ace O. Cayonda, Penong’s Marketing head, said their restaurants cater to the lower A to C markets and since most of Pag-IBIG members are regular wage earners, they see the linkage as a good opportunity to promote their brand.

OSHDP pushing for socialized housing condominium

The Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines (OSHDP) is pushing for the inclusion of the condominium as a socialized housing project through an amendment in Republic Act 7279, paving the way for socialized housing condominiums.

Under the law, socialized housing referred to “housing programs and projects covering houses and lots or home lots only, undertaken by the Government or the private sector for the underprivileged and homeless citizens.”

“Housing for the poor remains sluggish and if the Aquino administration wants to address this problem and provide safer and disaster-resilient communities for the marginalized sector then this will be a significant legislation,” OSHDP President Atty. Ryan T. Tan told BusinessWorld during the second day of the OSHDP and HUDCC 4^th national Convention held at Marco Polo Hotel.

Mr. Tan said housing problems in the country remain huge, with 600,000 informal settler families all over the country and 104,000 in NCR alone. The need for housing is also increasing faster than actual production of housing units, he added.

He said amending the law will encourage private sector developers to build 5-story socialized housing condominiums that can house hundreds of people compared to only a few families that occupy horizontal housing developments. With buildings or condominiums included in RA 7279, private sector developers will be able to build socialized housing condominiums and include them as their compliance under Section 18 which requires developers to allocate 20% of their project area or project cost to socialize housing.

“Private sector developers will also be able to enjoy the tax exemptions once socialized housing condominiums are included in the law,” he said.

Mr. Tan said such legislation is very timely because climate change has compelled the government to do something about the informal sectors especially in Metro Manila.  Providing incentives to private developers has a social benefit because it will give the government an option when it comes to relocating the informal sectors living near the waterways and in esteros, he said.

By now, he said, it is obvious that relocating the informal sector outside of Manila is not working because they just flock back to Mania and sell the land or home lots awarded to them. In-city or on-site development for urban centers is the way to go, he added.

He said lots in Manila and in other major cities are expensive but somehow, private developers will be able to lower the cost with socialized housing condominiums.

OSHDP has submitted its proposal to HUDCC and is willing to initiate the filing of the proposed bill that will not only make condominiums more affordable to the marginalized sector but will also help the government solve its problem on the informal sector.

Engr. Carol R. Angel, Regional Manager of the National Housing Authority, said they are supporting OSHDP’s move because this will greatly benefit not only Metro Manila but also urban areas like Davao where there are no socialized or even lost cost condominiums. 

“Low income earners do not want to be relocated far from their workplace because that will be double expenses for them in terms of living allowance or transportation cost,” she said.

Mr. Tan said it cannot be denied that there is a gap between policy statements and actual housing related government programs for the poor. Private sector participation is always at its highest when state policies call for it, he said, and this legislation will be effective in bridging this gap.

Pag-IBIG Fund link up with businesses to become more relevant

The Home Development Mutual Fund, more popularly known as Pag-IBIG Fun is set to link up with at least 19 business partners per region every quarter in up to 32 key cities in the country to make the Fund more relevant to the daily lives of its members.

“How do we make Pag-IBIG Fund more relevant to those who are saving but are not yet ready to borrow money for housing” was one of their concerns according to Pag-IBIG Fund president and CEO Darlene Marie Berberabe Wednesday.

Ms. Berberabe, who was in the city Wednesday for the signing of the memorandum of agreement with its partners, said the Fund now has 12 million members with up to 60,000 members borrowing every year. But what about the rest, she said.

She said the Pag-IBIG Privilege Cardholders Program, which will be officially launched and piloted in the cities of Cebu, Davao and Baguio, was conceptualized to make the Fund more relevant to members.

Among the first partners of Pag-IBIG’s new program in Davao are New City Commercial Corporation, Davao Doctors College and Penong’s Franchise Corporation. These companies have offered different discounts levels to cardholders every time they purchase or make payments at the stores.

NCCC offers a 5% discount for every P1,000 worth of purchase from their hardware and 5% discount for premium cakes bought at their Bakery during the cardholder’s birthday month. DDS has agreed to provide up to 15% discount on tuition fees of cardholders and their beneficiaries up to third degree of consanguinity or affinity upon full payment of the fees. Penong’s offer discounts and freebies for every P500 worth of transactions.

Pag-IBIG is still looking a partner and is yet to bid for the services of a company which will produce the Privilege Cards which will be made available to members for a minimal fee. Once issued hopefully before the year ends, users of the Privilege Card in various cities in the country can avail of the discounts provided by the partner companies.

“We are focusing on companies relating to health, education, groceries, schools and restaurants,” she said.

Ms. Berberabe said the target is to issue around 200,000 Pag-IBIG Privilege Cards once the program is official launched next year. She said they now have 32 partners in the pilot areas but are still looking for partners nationwide.

“I am sure we will get more partners because with Pag-IBIG’s 12 million members and the opportunity to get their stores marketed to these members, it is a good marketing strategy for these businesses,” she said.

Ace O. Cayonda, Penong’s Marketing head, said their restaurants cater to the lower A to C markets and since most of Pag-IBIG members are regular wage earners, they see the linkage as a good opportunity to promote their brand.

Ms. Berberabe said they are constantly looking for innovative ways to be more relevant to their members without increasing their contributions. Our marching orders from the vice president were to improve the benefits for members without increasing the monthly cost, she said.

To do that, she said, they increased their membership base from 8 million to 12.7 million. Pag-IBIG has doubled the maximum loan amount to P3.6 million while reducing the calamity interest rates from 10.5% to 5.95%, with the monthly contribution still at P100.

“But we are urging our members to voluntarily increase their monthly savings considering that after 20 years they will be able to triple their money,” she said. Pag-IBIG has paid a total of P9.3 Billion total dividends to its members last year and she said, these dividends are tax-free compared to the bank which imposes a 20% withholding tax.

New professions seek PRC regulation to prepare for Asean integration

Philippine professionals are in a mad rush to prepare themselves for the 2015 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) integration with several professions already seeking regulation with the Philippine Regulation Commission (PRC) for competitiveness.

“There are pending applications from new professions that want to be regulated by the PRC now,” PRC chairperson Atty. Teresita R. Manzala said during the Mindanao Pre-Summit Conference held at the Grand Regal Hotel last week. The Pre-Summit was a venue for the different professions to present the regional and national development that will impact on the competitiveness of the Filipino professionals.

Among the professions seeking PRC regulation are Microbiology, Instrumentation, Food Technology and Human Resources.

Ms. Manzala said the best time to prepare for the Asean integration is now. It is time to prepare and develop the different roadmaps for each profession now if Filipino professionals are to compete in Asean by 2015, she added.

She said the Philippines has to develop the Asean Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF) by 2014, in preparation for 2015. “It is time to start putting in place our ABCs or Action, Branding and Communication,” she said.

The AQRF is the common reference framework which will function as a translation device to enable comparisons of qualifications across participating ASEAN countries.

The ASEAN is made up of 10 member-states, she said, and each one has different levels of development and education. There is a need to harmonize all these qualifications through the AQRF, she added.

AQRF is based on the 1995 ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) agreed upon by the ASEAN economic ministers in order to substantially eliminate restrictions to trades in services.

Leandro a. Conti of the Board of Mechanical Engineering said the major professional services initiated the Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) to enable to qualifications of professional service suppliers to be mutually recognized by signatory member states. The Registry for Engineering started in 2005, ahead of the other professions like Nursing which started in 2006, Architecture in 2007, Dentistry in 2008 and Accountancy in 2009.

When the Asean integration happens, Ms. Manzala said, it will pave the way for the mobility of professionals within ASEAN as well as the exchange of information and enhance the cooperation in mutual recognition of practitioners.

Ms. Manzala said it is easier to assess the standards of professions with PRC regulation. “For unregulated professional they will have a hard time doing that,” she added.

By 2015, she said, there will be integration, transmigration and cross border connectivity among professionals. We have to plan our offensive and defensive strategies now as well as out safeguards if our professionals are to remain competitive in Asean by that time, she added.