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Luis Leoncio A new Malacañang-sanctioned budgeting scheme called Grassroots Participatory Budgeting Process (GPBP) has allotted P20.9 billion from the P2.606-trillion 2015 national budget to fund thousands of projects in various towns and cities nationwide under a so-called bottom-up budgeting (BuB) scheme developed by the Department of Budget and Management.

Although legislative support for the Bangsamoro Basic Law appears to have crumbled following the Mamasapano clash, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has said the House of Representatives would try to meet the June 11, 2015, deadline the passage of the measure.

Riza Lozada Rotating brownouts might start hitting the Luzon grid as early as March when electricity demand begins to peak coinciding with the regular maintenance shutdown of several aging power plants, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said.

Security forces from the Eastern Police District’s Civil Disturbance Management Unit prevented protesters belonging to the “Edsa 2/22 coalition” from occupying steps of the Edsa Shrine on Sunday, the kick-off of a planned series of protest actions against President Aquino.

Luis Leoncio Conclusion The Aquino administration’s stock reason in defending the fare increases for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) systems is the removal of government subsidies on utilities including the railway system on its claim the fare hike would require the entire nation to subsidize the spending of Metro Manila commuters.

Riza Lozada The Senate panel looking into the proposed special powers Malacanang is seeking to address the feared electricity-supply shortage in Luzon has recommended the junking of the Palace request, and proposed instead the interruptible load program (ILP), which has proved adequate in stabilizing supply in the country’s other major regions.

Grim findings on how some of Fallen 44 were killed. New grim findings on how some of the “Fallen 44” were killed in Mamasapano last January 25 have been uncovered by the Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry.

Luis Leoncio Vestiges of corruption, which President Aquino frequently cites as the source of most of the problems of his administration, have been a major source of the problems that sunk Metro Manila’s mass-transit systems, particularly the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3, into inefficiency, leading in turn to frequent breakdowns of the system, according to documents made available to The …

February 22, the anniversary of the start of the 1986 People’s Power Revolution, echoes with a different call this year. No more paeans to the son of the icon of democracy who led the popular revolt that toppled the Marcos dictatorship nearly three decades ago.

The House inquiry into the Mamasapano massacre resumes tomorrow (Tuesday), with militant lawmakers out to crack the riddle of President Aquino’s involvement in Operation Exodus, amid charges his officials have been covering up his role at the height of the fighting between police commandos and Muslim rebels and its tragic aftermath.