Typhoon YOLANDA (Haiyan)

[shibby75]

baka si friend din nag clear ng mga debris sa daanan?

Baka kelangan pamilya mo ang nandon para kumilos ka ng mabilis.

Im not talking about you as a person, im pointing out na kung kelangan mo magmadali, eh magpadala ka ng isang truck, kesa punuin mo ang 20 trucks na abutin ng ilang araw pa.

[Syuryuken]

parang loko-loko to

BIR chief: Foreign donations subject to VAT

Generosity from foreign governments and relief organizations, in this time of need, is to be repaid by the Aquino government with a big tax slap on their donations for the victims of super typhoon “Yolanda,” Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) chief Kim Henares yesterday pronounced.

Henares stressed that only donations made to charitable institutions accredited by the government are officially tax exempt which the Aquino administration, through the BIR chief, makes certain that all donations are directly given to and handled by specific government agencies to avoid donors from paying taxes.
This also means that yet another layer of bureaucratic red tape is added to the already existing red tape that has bogged down delivery of foreign aid. It also portrays the Aquino government as heartless and even greedy, to tax donors whose only intention is to help the suffering starving, homeless and desperate victims of Haiyan.

Speaking to newsmen, BIR Commissioner Henares clarified that under the latest law on value-added taxes only “donations to the national disaster relief and rehabilitation management council is duty-exempt under the provision.”
But government certainly can waive such taxes, that is if there is such a law, since Henares is also known for creating new “laws” unilaterally on taxes, such as taxing allowances, and now donations.
“At the end of the day, there’s really no tax because this is going to be shouldered, if there is any, it’s going to be shouldered by government via budgets report for as long as the donation is made to the NDRMMC. Now for donations made to accredited relief agencies of Department of Social Welfare and Development, it’s the same. It’s duty-exempt and the fund is usually tax exempt. They (foreign donors) should coordinate with DSWD on how to do it so that the VAT can be properly answered for.”
Henares emphasized that the law requires that the “ donation is to accredited registered relief agencies accredited by DSWD or donations made to NDRRMC.
“If the donation is not one of those, it is not duty and VAT exempt.” Henares said these rules apply to importation of goods which come from outside the country to be donated to the Philippines.
“For donations within the Philippines which no longer pass through customs the donation is donor tax free provided it is given to an accredited agency,” she said.
Henares stressed that the said donation provided its documented and handed to an accredited agency is also deductive as an expense by the donor.”
Complaints have been raised by donors that their relief goods for the Haiyan victims are being held up in Customs, apart from the fact that it is agencies such as the NDRMMC and the DSWD that have been proved to be ineffective in distributing these relief goods, apart from politics played in the disribution of aid and relief goods.
Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero said he wants a proper accounting from the Commission on Audit (CoA) of all the donations being received by the government.
The chairman of the Senate finance committee has sent a letter to CoA chairman Grace Pulido Tan, seeking a full report on the donations here and abroad extended to the government to ensure proper compliance with existing rules and regulations ahead of the plenary debates on the 2014 spending plan next week.
“Such audit and the respective agencies’ compliance with rules and regulations will help all of us in quelling any anxiety the public may have on the possibility of the aid falling into the wrong hands or not reaching or benefiting the calamity victims,” Escudero said.
All donations to the government are deemed public funds and must be properly accounted for and audited to ease worries of possible misuse, the senator stressed.
At the same time, Escudero asked Budget Secretary Florencio Abad to provide the finance committee with the guidelines and procedures on the acceptance and utilization of donations from donor countries and international organizations for victims of natural disasters.
“We’d like to retrace our steps on how donee agencies comply with the reportorial requirements on acceptance and utilization of donations. GAA mandates that they do so. Fund drives are also governed by presidential decrees and administrative orders. These must be adhered to,” he said.
Escudero added: “Proper accounting and utilization of donations is the best that a country like ours battered by natural disasters can do to match the goodwill of individuals, organizations and foreign countries that come to our aid in trying times.”
“All donations shall be used only for the purpose specified by the donor. Anyone who gambles or takes advantage of money and aid intended to help save lives is a betrayal and must be considered a heinous crime. Every single centavo will decide whether a person may survive or die,” Escudero emphasized.
President Aquino, for his part, thanked foreign donors. As the donations from 40 countries have reached to $95.092 million in cash and kind for relief and search and rescue operations.
“Over the past few days, however, the Filipino people have seen many reasons to be grateful as well. Filipinos at home and abroad have, once more, come together to render aid and assistance to hard-hit areas,” Aquino said.
Aquino said “the thought that the community of nations stands in solidarity with our nation has also greatly eased our burdens”.
Without any hesitation, donor nations and private international organizations have poured in their commitments to send their donations, from cash to food and medical supplies, and dispatch at the soonest possible their human resources to Leyte and Samar provinces.
The Russian Andronov-225, the biggest aircraft in the world has landed in Cebu, as well as other cargo aircraft from Canada and Unites States and those from other countries have lined up along the tarmac in Cebu as the control tower and runway of Tacloban airport is under repair.
The warships of United Kingdom and United States have also docked in the waters of Tacloban for its troops to deliver relief goods and other services needed to ease the suffering of the typhoon victims.
“On behalf of the Filipino people, I thank the governments and peoples of so many nations, 28 as of last count, as well as the donor organizations, who have pledged or already provided assistance, whether technical, financial, or in kind, for the relief and rebuilding efforts that we are undertaking in Leyte, Samar, and other provinces devastated by Haiyan,” Aquino said.
Aquino also expressed his gratitude to the Filipino individuals who in one way or another extended their help to fellow Filipinos.
“The well of strength and compassion that characterizes us as a nation has time and again proven to be bottomless,” Aquino said.
Aquino said “solidarity born of faith and prayer, combined with a steadfast resolve, is showing the world that nothing can make the Filipino spirit yield”.

[lowslowbenz]

^

Hijodeputa ka Henares may your fcuking soul rot in hell.

[ClaNker]

Baka kelangan pamilya mo ang nandon para kumilos ka ng mabilis.

Im not talking about you as a person, im pointing out na kung kelangan mo magmadali, eh magpadala ka ng isang truck, kesa punuin mo ang 20 trucks na abutin ng ilang araw pa.

We are talking about 1.4M empty stomach and devastation spread across several region with every city in those region was 90% to totally damaged. LGU crippled and yet your talking as if this is only one barangay.

At pano mo padaanin yang mga truck na yan kung di pa nagagawa ang clearing operation sa national highway?

[ClaNker]

Baka kelangan pamilya mo ang nandon para kumilos ka ng mabilis.

Im not talking about you as a person, im pointing out na kung kelangan mo magmadali, eh magpadala ka ng isang truck, kesa punuin mo ang 20 trucks na abutin ng ilang araw pa.

We are talking about 1.4M empty stomach and devastation spread across several region with every city in those region was 90% to totally damaged. LGU crippled and yet your talking as if this is only one barangay.

At pano mo padaanin yang mga truck na yan kung di pa nagagawa ang clearing operation sa national highway?

[lowslowbenz]

From Facebook

[claRkEnt]

Baka kelangan pamilya mo ang nandon para kumilos ka ng mabilis.

Im not talking about you as a person, im pointing out na kung kelangan mo magmadali, eh magpadala ka ng isang truck, kesa punuin mo ang 20 trucks na abutin ng ilang araw pa.

ok, ganito na lang. Kung yung friend mo umalis ng Saturday even with that single truck, tingin mo nakarating sya sa kamag-anak nya in less than 2 days?

[rukawa11]

Baka kelangan pamilya mo ang nandon para kumilos ka ng mabilis.

Im not talking about you as a person, im pointing out na kung kelangan mo magmadali, eh magpadala ka ng isang truck, kesa punuin mo ang 20 trucks na abutin ng ilang araw pa.

bet ko sir hindi mo kaya mapuntahan lahat ng barangay less than 2 days kahit marami ka galamay:D
bet ko din na hindi mo kaya pakainin ang isang milyong katao ng isang truck lang :D
hindi ganun kadali magutos at magpadala ng tauhan sa loob ng 2 araw lang, talagang abutin ng 7days para maabutan ang lahat, sad but true
(kulang kasi tayo ng mga gamit, kinurakot ni jinggoy at revilla hahaha)

[falken]

parang loko-loko to

This is the time for common sense, not more red tape.

[Ry_Tower]

Kung taxable man, i-waive na yan!

[Retz]

I grew up believing black is beautiful. until i saw Binay.

[NightRock]

I grew up believing black is beautiful. until i saw Binay.

And now you realized "black is the most beautiful"

[ClaNker]

And now you realized "black is the most beautiful"

Totoo yan!



Nakaka akit no?

[Ry_Tower]

^ Mga loko-loko.

And now you realized "black is the most beautiful"

Nabali ata isang paa nang office chair ko.

[ClaNker]

Walang sinabi mga model mo Retz sa alindog ko. Angkinin mo na. Black is truliliii beautiful. :hysterical:



Sorry sa OT:

Kunting light moment lang, nakaka stress nang yari sa mga kababayan natin.

[NightRock]

Totoo yan!



Nakaka akit no?

Totoo ba na ang surename ng asawa ni Nancy...Nunog kaya hindi nya ginagamit hehehehe

lakas maka Epal ni Binay.. tumulong nalang kung tutulong wag na mag lagay ng kung ano ano pa sa plastic nag papa tagal pa yon

[ClaNker]

Totoo ba na ang surename ng asawa ni Nancy...Nunog kaya hindi nya ginagamit hehehehe

lakas maka Epal ni Binay.. tumulong nalang kung tutulong wag na mag lagay ng kung ano ano pa sa plastic nag papa tagal pa yon

Hehehehe...

Wala eh, trapo talaga. Opportunity ang calamity sa kanya.

[Monseratto]

Mananalo yan, moron mga botanteng pinoy.

Overdrive mga batikos sa kanyang karibal...

Sec. Mar Roxas character exposed in interview with CNN?s Andrew Stevens at Yolanda disaster site « Get Real Post

Sec. Mar Roxas character exposed in interview with CNN’s Andrew Stevens at Yolanda disaster site
November 15, 2013by Ilda

They say people’s true character reveals itself under pressure. Super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) has certainly put Philippine politicians under pressure. This is something they are not really used to. They are more used to grandstanding under their own terms during scheduled press conferences with members of the local media and during mock hearings, which appear staged to give them the opportunity to vilify their political enemies.

One can say that Philippine government officials are more comfortable with the laissez faire style of administering their constituents. This is evident in their inadequate preparation before the arrival and their slow response to the disaster in the aftermath of typhoons that pass through the country every year.
Because of the intensity of Typhoon Yolanda, the attention of the international community has also put Philippine government officials under the global spotlight. Now the whole world is witness to the true characters of Filipino politicians. Unfortunately, what we are all seeing is not good. Some of them need to work on their ego and get a lesson in humility.

One government official who does not seem to handle stress very well is Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Mar Roxas. His interview with Andrew Stevens, another CNN correspondent showed that he can be very defensive and abrasive towards other people.

At one point during the interview, Roxas was arguing over the treatment of dead bodies left rotting on the roads. Stevens pointed out that every day, he sees the same decomposing bodies when he passes by the same road on the way to the city. But Roxas vehemently denied they were the same bodies, stopping short of calling Stevens a liar. The DILG Secretary showed his arrogance in that instance. Suffice to say, it is evident that it would be another colossal mistake if he becomes the next President. Korina Sanchez as the next First Lady doesn’t sit well with a lot of people either, specially since she is beginning to show signs of irrational behavior. Another CNN journalist can attest to this.

The way Roxas kept interrupting Stevens during the interview gave viewers the impression that he is not a people person. His attitude was like “I already know what you are getting at but let me correct you now…”. Likewise, his use of banal metaphors to describe their relief efforts can be interpreted as an attempt to distract from the real issue. At one point he said that the government only set aside pails of water not realizing they needed a swimming pool. As if that actually excuses the government’s lack of foresight.

Stevens seems to share other international media correspondents’ observations and pointed out to Roxas the apparent lack of order in distributing relief goods. While he acknowledged what Roxas was trying to say — that the government could not handle the initial response — Stevens couldn’t help but remind Roxas that it has already been a week and yet the victims of the typhoon still beg for water from him and his crew.


Stevens appeared frustrated over not getting an accurate assessment of the relief and rescue efforts from Roxas considering they were both in the disaster zone. It was as if they were both seeing the same thing – chaos, survivors begging for food and water and dead bodies lying around – except that the DILG secretary still insisted that the situation was under control.

Roxas explained that nothing can be fast enough in a situation like the one he is coordinating now. The bottled water supply for example, is brought to the social welfare warehouse from where it then goes to the community. It’s probably hard for a veteran journalist like Stevens, someone who has been to many disaster areas, to comprehend why relief goods cannot be given straight to the people. He must be saying to himself that those relief goods do not belong in a warehouse, they need to be given to the people ASAP. He was slowly realizing though that in the Philippines, even the distribution of relief goods, which should be classified as “urgent” has to pass through a maze of bureaucracy.

Some say that the delay in distributing relief goods could have something to do with some government officials’ insistence to distribute the relief goods themselves in order to be seen as doing something and get brownie points from the voters. In the aftermath of typhoon Sendong in Cagayan de Oro in 2011, a typhoon that claimed over a thousand lives, there was a rumor going around that presidential sister Kris Aquino caused the delay of the distribution of relief goods:



Some even say that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) does have this tradition of holding on to relief goods for far too long in the past, which eventually results in relief goods not being given at all to the intended recipients.

Despite the glacial speed with which the Philippine government is moving, Roxas said that everything that the government has is already being deployed. Using another metaphor he said that “if this was a gun, all bullets are being deployed” and “if this was a fire hose, all hoses are being deployed”. What he was probably trying to say was, even though Stevens could not feel the presence of the Philippine government, in actual fact, all the resources of the country is already operating in the typhoon ravaged areas. In other words, as far as the Philippine relief operation goes, that’s as good as it gets.

Stevens or any of the members of the international community that are present in the typhoon affected areas must have thought the government is still holding out or hiding a special operations unit that could put order in the chaotic scene. It seems they held on to President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino’s promise the day before the typhoon that the government is ready with relief operations and that Manila is standing by, ready to support EVERYONE. This could explain why just like the rest of us, they keep wondering why the response is slow, when in fact; there was hardly any response team to begin with. Roxas confirmed this when he said that they were expecting the local government unit to respond in the first instance.

What Roxas was saying can only mean one thing. If the Philippine government does not increase its calamity fund or upgrade it’s relief and rescue efforts, which should include the acquisition of equipment for rescue operations, setting up of evacuation centers that can withstand extreme weather conditions and the modernization of the military, then the Filipino people will be seeing the same response the government is providing now – from slow to next to nothing in some parts of the affected areas – when the next disaster strikes.

Towards the end of Steven’s interview, Roxas made an appeal to the international community and gave a list of supplies he would prefer that donors send to the Philippines like tents and generators. This prompted the interviewer to ask “are you saying that the international community has not responded as generously as they need to?” to which Roxas quickly replied by saying that he is just trying to match the help that’s coming in with what he’s seeing in the ground as the need. It was akin to saying “thanks for the tea towels but what I really wanted was the new Ipad mini”.

Roxas’s general disposition towards the CNN correspondent and some Filipinos’ aversion to foreigner’s critical analysis makes one conclude that when it comes to foreign donations in times of crises, Filipinos are welcoming; but when it comes to foreign criticism of the country’s shortfalls, some Filipinos quickly give the middle finger.

Stevens did not mince words when he told Roxas his personal observation of the entire rescue operation. He said he got the impression that there is no effective chain of command and no structure in place. He added that the operation is uncoordinated; it doesn’t seem to be working nearly efficient enough. Roxas attempted to disagree with his view and gave a long drawn-out response but eventually admitted that it is very chaotic and supplies like body bags can easily gets lost, which essentially says there is no system or structure in place to prevent things from going haywire.

Yes, things are chaotic in typhoon-ravaged areas at the moment but when you think about it, even under normal circumstances, there is hardly any system or structure in place to keep things in order over the entire country. There is a general lack of order in the Philippines and this only gets magnified when disaster strikes. And this is the reason the country cannot progress.

[Noel Salisipan]

We are talking about 1.4M empty stomach and devastation spread across several region with every city in those region was 90% to totally damaged. LGU crippled and yet your talking as if this is only one barangay.

At pano mo padaanin yang mga truck na yan kung di pa nagagawa ang clearing operation sa national highway?

Para sa akin mabagal pa rin ang sistema.
Buhay na nakataya pero nakuha pang mag posing ng iba dyan.

Gutom na mga kababayan natin at nagkakasakit, mukhang pinapaganda pa nila ang pagrerepack at kung ano-anong iteketa ang nilalagay.

Bakit hindi ibagsak ng karton-karton at magtalaga ng authority sa bawat lugar na nasa critical na sitwasyon.

[ClaNker]

Para sa akin mabagal pa rin ang sistema.
Buhay na nakataya pero nakuha pang mag posing ng iba dyan.

Gutom na mga kababayan natin at nagkakasakit, mukhang pinapaganda pa nila ang pagrerepack at kung ano-anong iteketa ang nilalagay.

Bakit hindi ibagsak ng karton-karton at magtalaga ng authority sa bawat lugar na nasa critical na sitwasyon.

Pinapaganda ang pagrerepack? Ibig mo bang sabihin na maarte ang mga volunteers sa re-packing centers, at mabagal kumilos?!?

Ibagsak? Via chopper? Remember road are impassable for a few days.