Philippines’ Congress to prioritize EPIRA changes as Senate junks ‘Cha-cha’

Congress to prioritize EPIRA changes as Senate junks ‘Cha-cha’

THE PHILIPPINE Senate would put proposals to change the 1987 Constitution on the back burner and would instead focus on measures to boost the military amid growing tensions with China, according to the Senate president.

The chamber would also pass bills that seek to boost healthcare and jobs while easing hunger, Senate President Francis “Chiz” G. Escudero said in a speech as Congress resumed sessions on Monday.

At the weekend, he said they would tackle a proposal to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) amid blackouts.

The Senate will also push changes to the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE), particularly lower taxes on domestic and foreign companies.

Mr. Escudero said Congress should go beyond laws that only benefit big business, and find solutions to problems with healthcare, joblessness and poverty.

“We will take peaceful measures to defend our people’s right to sail in our seas and fish in our waters, as what our ancestors had done, and what our children and grandchildren shall do,” he added.

The Senate in December passed a bill that seeks to boost the country’s defense program through investments in local defense equipment manufacturing. The measure will give the Department of National Defense P1 billion in seed funding.

Also on Monday, Speaker and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said the House of Representatives would also seek changes to EPIRA.

He said changes to EPIRA, which liberalized the power industry, would bring down electricity prices and ease inflation.

It would now fast-track changes to EPIRA and a bill that seeks to extend the lease period for foreign investors. Other pending measures include amendments to the Agrarian Reform law and another that will modernize national defense.

“We have to continue building roads, highways, ports, school buildings and climate change-proof structures to maintain and expand economic growth,” Mr. Romualdez said. “I emphasize our commitment to pass the remaining priority bills before the end of the third regular session.”

Jose Enrique “Sonny” A. Africa, executive director of think tank IBON Foundation, said it is wrong to equate economic progress with growth given the increasing number of poor Filipino families.

Most Filipinos haven’t become better off because of this growth,” he told BusinessWorld. “The number of self-rated poor families has soared by 3.4 million since the start of the Marcos administration from 12.6 million in June 2022 to 16 million in June 2024.

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[2019] Is Russia imperialist?

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Russia is said to be an imperialist world power, one in conflict with the imperialist superpower, the U.S. Russia has been characterized in this manner both during the period of the Soviet Union, and after the Soviet Union collapsed and separate states were formed. Russia has said to be imperialist both when it was a socialist state and now as a capitalist state.

Is Russia imperialist?

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US Reimposes Sanctions on Venezuela After Brief Relief

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US Reimposes Sanctions on Venezuela After Brief Relief

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The document specifies that the US regime does not authorize “any transactions involving any financial institution blocked pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13850 other than Banco Central de Venezuela or Banco de Venezuela SA Banco Universal.”

As a second prohibition, it further indicates that “the provision of goods or services to, or new investment in, an entity located in Venezuela that is owned or controlled by, or a joint venture with, an entity located in the Russian Federation,” is also forbidden, thus keeping the same provision that existed in the revoked license against Russia.

Imperialist Provocations: UK to Send Warship to Guyana

Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com) — The United Kingdom is preparing to send a warship to Guyana allegedly in a gesture of diplomatic and military support for the former British colony. But in reality, this is a clear military provocation that violates the agreements reached by Guyana and Venezuela in a recent presidential summit in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Imperialist Provocations: UK to Send Warship to Guyana

Guayana Esequiba: Geo-economics of an Occupation

An air of bonanza has raised the projections of the Exxon Mobil corporation, which accumulated around 414 billion dollars in 2022, an unprecedented income in its history, which represents 44.8% more than the previous year. It is a gigantic increase if compared to its crisis in 2020, when its losses put its place in the stock market in jeopardy. Also from the research of that American corporation, it is said that Guyana could become “the country that produces the most barrels of oil per inhabitant in the world, surpassing Kuwait, in that case, when measuring the wealth per capita of its 800 thousand inhabitants, it would become a rich country, since in 2021 its GDP increased by 57.8% and in 2022 by 37.2%”.

Guayana Esequiba: Geo-economics of an Occupation