President Benigno Aquino III has approved the abolition of three government-owned and controlled corporations linked to the Priority Development Assistance Fund mess.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said this was in pursuit of maximizing efficiency and promoting accountability, and the decision to abolish them was based on a financial viability and relevance to national development plans study conducted by the Governance Commission for GOCCs.

She noted these GOCCs had been implicated as conduits of fake PDAF allocations. They include: Philippine Forest Corporation; ZNAC Rubber Estate; and National Agri-Business Corporation.

Vendors vacate BREDCO
jeepney terminal

Vendors occupying the jeepney terminal at the Bacolod Reclamation area have started to vacate the site and transferred to the Vendors' Plaza, Rey Demisana, City Enforcement Team leader, said yesterday.

The jeepney terminal built during the time of former Mayor Luzviminda Valdez, and the Vendors' Plaza has not been used for several years now and had been occupied by vendors.

Some of the vendors who have been relocated to the Vendors' Plaza from Bonifacio Street beside the Bacolod Central Market, meanwhile, complained that their profit had decreased.

Employers reminded
about holiday wages

Employees who worked yesterday should be paid 30 percent of their daily rates for the first eight hours, since January 31 has been declared a special non-working holiday, Department of Labor and Employment Region 6 Director Ponciano Ligutom said.

Ligutom said laborers should receive additional 30 percent of hourly rate if they worked over eight hours.

Workers who worked yesterday although it was their rest day, should receive 50 percent of their daily rate and an additional 30 percent of their daily salaries if their work went beyond eight hours, he said.