“The Masbate-based Quad Media Association has expressed grave concern over the filing of murder cases against its members, adding that Gigante and Alfaro were “wrongfully labelled”
HOW do you make low-cost housing really affordable to the low-income social sectors?
The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) believes it has found a novel solution to the housing backlog in the country.
This involves a new approach that allows two key shelter agencies to assume a significant role in the government’s Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) program.
According to DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, the Social Housing Finance Corp. and the National Housing Authority are taking over the direct contracting of construction services for the 4PH program to eliminate the cost of hiring developers.
From now on, the two key housing agencies would undertake in-house planning for small projects, such as creating standard designs but with different facades to reduce monotony.
The hiring of private designers would only be done for bigger projects.
In short, the government will take the place of developers and go straight to the contractors. DHSUD hopes this will reduce the costs of housing projects and eliminate capitalization and pre-selling by developers.
Acuzar used to head a big property development company before accepting the DHSUD portfolio.
He says he used to hire private architects to design housing projects.
Now it’s the NHA and the SHFC that will undertake in-house planning and hire private designers when projects are too big and complicated.
The Marcos administration’s marching order to the DHSUD is to build up to a million low-cost housing units every year or 6 million units within its term in office until 2028.
Is this goal achievable? We really hope so.
Lawfare: New scheme vs. media
Lawfare is defined as the use of legal systems and institutions to damage or delegitimize an opponent, or to deter an individual or group’s exercise of their legal rights.
It’s a worrisome and disturbing phenomenon.
And understandably, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security is raising the alarm against the use of lawfare against journalists.
PTFoMS Executive Director Paul Gutierrez cites the case of two broadcasters in Masbate who had earlier filed graft and plunder cases against local officials but were slapped instead with murder charges.
Gutierrez is seeking clarification from the Masbate Provincial Prosecutor on the case against Benjamin Gigante and Jose Alfaro, both broadcasters for dyME radio station and members of Masbate’s Quad Media Association.
They were charged with the killing of a certain Richard Bauso on April 6 in Cawayan, Masbate, and also accused of being communist rebels.
Last month, a local court recalled the arrest warrant against the two broadcasters over the Aug. 2022 killing of Virgil Arriesgado allegedly carried out by communist rebels.
“In both incidents, it appears these local media personalities were first accused of being members of the local communist terrorist movement in Masbate before being linked to the murder of the above victims,” Gutierrez said.
The charges against the two broadcasters could be “retaliatory legal acts” to intimidate them and suppress their right to free speech, he warned.
Gutierrez lamented in some instances, local journalists who had incurred the wrath of local officials ended up being accused of crimes or membership in terrorist organizations.
He said this was tantamount to lodging strategic lawsuits against public participation.
“A strategic lawsuit against public participation suit is a ‘retaliatory legal act’ aimed at intimidating and distracting the accused from pursuing his original complaint against his accuser or suppressing his right to free speech and expression,” Gutierrez explained.
The Masbate-based Quad Media Association has expressed grave concern over the filing of murder cases against its members, adding Gigante and Alfaro were “wrongfully labelled” as communist rebels.
The group said the charges were a “retaliatory response” to the string of graft and plunder cases that Gigante and Alfaro filed before the Office of the Ombudsman over alleged ghost infrastructure projects in Masbate from 2022 to 2023.
The Presidential
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Task Force on Media Security under the Department of Justice is tasked to address violations pertaining to the right to life, liberty and security of members of the media.
The DOJ should probe this case and determine whether this is nothing but lawfare against journalists just doing their job of exposing shenanigans of public officials. (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)
