Arrest of top politicians, Govt. officials imminent

- Aug 23, 2015

The Financial Crime Investigations Division (FCID) is tipped to arrest several politicians and top government officials in the next few days, for alleged financial frauds, top government sources told the media.

The FCID, on the request of the Commissioner of Elections temporarily halted its process of summoning politicians, who were candidates at the August 17 parliamentary election, to record statements as it would have proved disadvantageous in the run up to an election.

“The FCID has commenced recording statements from those politicians by summoning them to the FCID,” Police spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said.

The Sunday Observer learns the FCID has sufficient evidence to arrest some politicians allegedly involved in financial frauds and are ready to make several arrests in the coming days.

According to sources, the FCID has already completed investigations on an alleged land deal by Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga who has been elected to Parliament from the UPFA, with over 300,000 preferential votes.

Top sources also said, preliminary information has been submitted to the FCID relating to the distribution of sil redi among Buddhist devotees during elections using State funds. In this connection, former Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and Chairman, Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC), Anusha Pelpita, are expected to be further questioned.

The FCID did not make any arrests in this regard but has completed its investigations and the next steps are inevitable, FCID sources said.

The investigation into the release of Rs.5 million to ‘Tharunyayata Hetak’ organization for ‘awareness creation regarding capital markets’ by the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) has concluded. According to the sources, the top three implicated in the investigations are former SEC Chairman Nalaka Godahewa, its Deputy Director General Dhammika Perera and a top official of the Tharunyayata Hetak organization, sources added.

The FCID has also completed investigations involving former Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa for alleged misuse of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) funds to buy goods from the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment(CWE) to be distributed among the voters during an election campaign.

“Due to the election, it was not possible to carry forward several investigations and also to take action with regard to the offenders linked to investigations already concluded. Now that the election is over, there is every intention to complete investigations and take action against wrongdoers, where investigations have been concluded,” the source added.

Courtesy - http://www.sundayobserver.lk/

National List: A Rejected Concept By The Lawmakers

By Nagananda Kodituwakku –August 23, 2015

Nagananda Kodituwakku

Outcry of many concerned citizens against appointment of those who had lost the trust and confidence of the people at the General Election through the National List, drove me to do a little bit of research on the introduction of the National List MP to the Parliament, through the 14th Amendment in 1988.

I found the research findings are truly interesting. The observations (reproduced below) made on the so-called “National List Issue” by some MPs when this Amendment was debated in the Parliament on 04th May 1988, would be an eye opener to the entire electorate. The time-tested arguments made against the introduction of the National List, clearly confirm that the people of this country has been effectively conned by the respective Political party leaderships.

The plain truth is that sovereign power of electing representatives to the Parliament vested in the people (Article 4 (c) have been openly abused by the respective political parties, including the JVP, to bring back those who have been rejected by the people through the back door.

R Premadasa, Prime Minister: “… Names presented by the Parties would be published in the gazette, immediately after the acceptance of the Nominations for the Election. Therefore, there would be an advance notice to the people about those who would be elected through the national list …”

Dinesh Gunawardana MP: “…The situation is very grave and unfortunate. The main political parties would abuse the ‘National List’ concept to introduce fraudsters to Parliament who cannot win people’s mandate to enter Parliament… ”                                           Read More

Maithri to have decisive discussion with SLFP MPs

SUNDAY, 23 AUGUST 2015

It is reported that President Maithripala Sirisena will have a decisive discussion today (23rd) at 5.00 p.m. with all Parliamentarians who have been elected from the SLFP.

After the discussion President Maithripala Sirisena, as the President of the SLFP, would take a final decision against those MPs who are against joining a national government say sources in the SLFP.

The faction led by Mahinda Rajapaksa has vehemently protested against joining a national government and during the meeting of the Central Committee of the SLFP Kumara Welgama, S.M. Chandrasena, C.B. Rathnayaka and Pavithra Wanniarachchi who were against the proposal to join a national government have been sacked from the SLFP and the UPFA.

The view of the faction with Mahinda Rajapaksa is to get Dinesh Gunawardene, Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila, Vasudeva Nanayakkara and others who could be removed from the SLFP to come together and function as an independent group in the Parliament. However, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has opposed this proposal say sources.

Sri Lankans world wide protest against Blue brigade brigand who robbed SLBFE being appointed national list M.P.!

(Lanka-e-News- 23.Aug.2015, 3.00PM) Sri Lankans within the country  and abroad have expressed their bitter displeasure and anger over the appointment of Dilan Perera, best known as the worst  disdained and discarded political scoundrel , as M.P. through  the national list by good governance president Maithripala. Not only the Sri Lankans here but even those abroad know fully well what a scoundrel and political animal is Dilan who would strip nude even in public exposing his innate animal propensities and shameless qualities only if he can achieve his perfidious and opportunistic political goals even sacrificing sacred national interests 

It is in keeping with this disgraceful inborn bestial  nature that Dilan some time ago castigated a most respected and revered Sri Lankan leader Ven. Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera and tried to make the latter drink poison . Dilan’s attitude of course  is understandable because it is not uncommon for stray dogs in the streets living on garbage junk to bark at throughbreds.

It is when Dilan Perera was the minister of foreign employment, he became most notorious and infamous  based on the allegations of frauds and misappropriations mounted against him . This corrupt and criminal involvements became so widely known that even the Sri Lankans abroad  were rudely shocked. Hence it is such  groups abroad that have sent hundreds of e mails , sms messages and gave phone calls  to Lanka e news today alone expressing their resentment and rage against the decision taken by president Maithripala to sacrifice a national list slot to appoint such a discarded and crooked  political scoundrel like Dilan as an M.P.

While Dilan was seeking to poison a most honorable respected citizen and honest sincere leader of the country like Ven. Sobitha Thera and falsely insult him verbally  , the FCID by summoning Dilan in connection with a Rs. 2.6 million fraud has proved what a dishonorable rascal Dilan is and insulted him publicly and truly. 

After holding a function of the foreign employment bureau at a hotel ‘Dunhinda Rest house’ in front of  Dilan’s house , he made the bureau to pay a colossal sum of Rs. 2.6 million to that rest house when he was the minister.Mind you , it is Dilan who gave orders as minister to make this payment. Subsequently it was discovered no such function was held in that hotel , and its owner had returned that sum of Rs. 2.6 million paid by the Bureau to Dilan himself..The hotel owner had by an affidavit made this shocking revelation to the FCID. This accusation alone when proved can put Dilan behind bars. 

In the circumstances, Maithripala who solemnly promised that he would responsibly carry on a government of good governance on behalf of the people has therefore  no right to appoint such a brigand of the Blue brigade as M.P. through the national list. When the president is himself  committing such grave indiscretions which is tantamount to aiding and abetting criminals , the police officers who are engaged in these serious and grave  investigations are deterred and daunted, being driven into a deep  quandary – not knowing whether to investigate the criminal or the accomplice, or blame both. 

Besides , this corrupt criminal Dilan is the crooked loony who openly stated , ‘court verdicts should be hurled  into the garbage bin, ’  which is tantamount to contempt of court .In such circumstances , a president who is supposed to uphold  laws and respect  good governance has no right to appoint such a scoundrel as an M.P. to represent the people in parliament when that is an individual who  should be rightly consigned to the loony bin for treatment.

Moreover , Maithripala after becoming the president  made Dilan the SLFP media spokesman.

When Lanka e news did a probe into this unwelcome  proclivities of president Maithripala and his unsavory affinity for such brigands like Dilan , the following startling disgusting discovery  was made :

It is not the task or responsibility of Lanka e news to expose the illicit affairs of any individual ,his high or low public profile regardless. But , if such illicit activities are impinging on and are detrimental to society, public and national interests they deserve to be exposed , no matter how high the profile of that individual is in society or public life, since we deem that we shall  be rendering a great disservice to the people and the country if we try to conceal  them.

The truth of the matter is , Dilan knows the inside out of the illicit affair of Maithripala and has been an aide in that connection , and if Maithripala  is to keep this hidden from the public he must keep the mouth shut of Dilan by pampering him as best as possible . In addition Maithripala knows Dilan’s mouth stinks many  miles worse than a  spittoon like one uncleaned for months, if he opens it to expose him. 

We don’t gainsay Dilan did open his spittoon of a mouth prior to the presidential elections in an effort to publicly malign and slander the president , but when the odds and opposition were mounting against him , Dilan found an escape route by blaming it on an employee of the bureau.

It is Dilan himself who sent that mudslinging employee out of the country at about the same time as Maithripala became the president. Unsurprisingly ,it is a ‘cutie’ (one among many)  of Dilan who personally accompanied this employee to the airport in Dilan’s vehicle  when he was sent  abroad.

Of course it is not our intention to expose the illicit connections and affairs of Maithripala Sirisena  no matter how many they are . After all those are  his and his own perilous  seeking  . But history has proved many leaders  were led to their  doom because of a  woman . But, may we warn ,  when they are multiple   the doom too  is multiple prone. 

No matter   his extra marital involvements of which we have a dossier of information, we are not duty bound to expose them for that can have a damaging effect on good governance  people are longing for   and Maithripala is professing to maintain. We therefore hope at this juncture Maithripala will not let down the people’s trust and hopes they have reposed in him .

 Might we also record herein that Lanka e news is vigilant as always watching the next move of those in power . So it is for president Maithripala to act in the best interests of the nation and not in the best interests of his illicit connections. The people who voted him into power are also keenly watching whether he is going to offer a ministerial portfolio to Dilan the notorious brigand of the Blue brigade in the glare of full knowledge of Dilan’s putrid  antecedence.

May we make it abundantly clear ,no good can originate for the benefit of the people and good governance , from a president  who is led more by lust and   illicit connections   disregarding  the trust placed in him by the nation,   and who is oblivious of people’s burning needs and abysmal sufferings because of his overriding selfish obsessions.

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by     (2015-08-23 09:57:10)

SB swindled Rs. 90 m from 2003-04 fertilizer imports

- Aug 23, 2015

It is nothing new to say that S.B. Dissanayake is a controversial figure in politics. During the previous regime, he had been condemned for allowing, as the higher education minister, private higher educational institutions without standards and the repression of the students who had opposed it. But, what we are going to say is not about something he had done in that capacity.

It is about a massive fraud he had committed previously, as the agriculture minister.

In 2003-04, the fertilizer company imported, through the agriculture ministry, 30,000 tons of urea, at a price 30 dollars higher than the market price per ton. The tender board vehemently opposed the transaction, but S.B. went ahead on its own in breach of the tender procedure.

The fertilizer company suffered a loss of more than Rs. 90 million as a result.

Also, S.B.’s son Narada was ordered by an Australian court to pay a Rs. 40 million compensation to Lakshmi Nettikumara, whom he had divorced in Australia. This order was pursuant to a court evaluation of a house owned by Narada in Australia. The court order was to pay her half the value of the house, which in fact is several times worth in commercial value.

Narada is a vivacious youth who does not have a financial ability to buy such a house. It was his father S.B.  who had bought it for him. In addition to this house, S.B. has another house in Australia, but he had not submitted details of them in his assets declaration.

It is a mystery as to how a person who engages only in politics has money to buy such property, as his MP’s salary and other allowances are not adequate to buy them.

There is also a question about how S.B. and his family members maintain lifestyles of wealth.

We have all the documentary evidence to support our claims, and we will present them for your perusal.

The ‘Yaha Paalana’ government which vows to punish the corrupt should properly investigate S.B. and take proper action.

Mihin Lanka: Pilot Carries Personal Weighing Scale To Trap ‘Excess Baggage’ Ground Staff Cheats

August 23, 2015

A very senior pilot of Mihin Lanka carried his personal weighing scale on two of his flights from Colombo to Sharjah and back, to trap suspected ground staff colleagues of the airline at the gulf station, who he claims were permitting excess baggage to selected passengers, which made the airline lose millions of rupees in revenue that also impacted the overall flight safety, Colombo Telegraph reliably learns.

“Ground staff of certain airlines around the world are noted to be involved in rackets of this nature as regular travelers opt to pay unscrupulous airline employees monies illegally to have their excess baggage waved off. Moreover it is a flight safety risk of not accounting the exact weight weight distribution and also for refueling purposes” confirmed a Mihin Lanka employee on condition of anonymity. He also went on to sate that most airlines carry spot checks in these areas and in the budget airline’s case it is mandatory that this is seriously looked into.

The senior pilot operated back to back flights on the 24th and 31st of July 2014 from Colombo to Sharjah and back and on both occasions got his operating flight attendants to identify large cabin baggage that passengers were bringing on board.

The pilot in his first report informed the airline that a particular bag weighing 32 kg had slipped through among many other carry on baggage that weighed well over the airline’s permitted limit.

In his second report he complained that over 15 bags were carried by passengers on board weighing over 15 kgs each.

The airline employee who wished to remain anonymous stated that this a serious issue that warrants immediate action. “We already have cabin crew who are not assigned flying duties relating to injuries sustained on board due to assisting passengers with the carriage of these heavy bags that requires to be stowed in the over head compartments. Further as a low cost carrier, every paid kilo gram of excess baggage brought on board is of valuable revenue” concluded the employee.

A passenger whose details were also furnished by the pilot in his report, had stated that monies had been exchanged between travelers and ground staff without the issuance of receipts.

The two voyage reports were addressed by the pilot to the airline’s Director Flight Operations Capt. Pujitha Jayakody, who himself had once been arrested by the Singaporean police for shoplifting whilst on official duty.

However it is reported that the airline had not taken any action still.

Published below is the Pilot’s two Voyage Reports.      Read More

More than a dozen killed in two car bomb attacks in Somalia

A Somali woman walks past the scene of a suicide car bomb attack near Juba hotel in capital Mogadishu Saturday. (Feisal Omar/Reuters)

By Reuters August 22 

MOGADISHU, Somalia — At least 21 people were killed in two separate car-bomb attacks in Somalia on Saturday, one in Mogadishu and another at a military training base in the southern port city of Kismayo, police and military officials said.

Sixteen soldiers were reportedly killed when militants drove an explosives-laden vehicle into a military training site in Kismayo. The attack was launched as the soldiers were lining up for training, military officials said. Col. Ahmed Ato told Reuters that at least 21 others were wounded in the blast.

Later Saturday, a parked car exploded near a bus station in northern Mogadishu. “So far we know five civilians died in this evening’s blast and seven others were injured,” Mohamed Yusuf, spokesman for the Interior Security Ministry, told reporters at the scene.

Both attacks bore the hallmarks of al-Shabab.

Sheik Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab spokesman for military operations, said his group was behind the car bomb in Kismayo.

The Islamist militant group has lost control of most of its territory to African Union troops in recent years but has stepped up attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere.

Malaysia Finds 24 More Bodies of Suspected Trafficking Victims

Police in Malaysia say 130 bodies now found buried at abandoned jungle camps near Thailand border

Workmen walk among coffins at a cemetery near Alor Setar, Malaysia, on June 22, 2015. The coffins contain human remains found at abandoned trafficker camps that were discovered in May in Malaysia’s Wang Kelian. PHOTO: REUTERS

Associated Press-Aug. 23, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Malaysian police say they have found another 24 bodies of suspected victims of human trafficking in jungles bordering Thailand.

Authorities in May said they discovered more than 100 suspected graves in abandoned jungle camps in northern state of Perlis, a remote area bordering Thailand that trafficking syndicates used as a transit point.

Most were believed to be from Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority andimpoverished migrants from Bangladesh.

Police say another 24 bodies have been discovered this week, in addition to 106 bodies found earlier. Police said in a statement Sunday that the bodies have been sent for autopsy.

The discoveries in northern Malaysia followed similar revelations earlier in May in Thailand, where police unearthed 36 bodies from shallow graves in seven abandoned camps on the Thai side of the border.

Making a State by Iron and Blood

Britain built an empire on the slave trade. Germany perpetrated the greatest genocide in human history. Who says the Islamic State won’t be a U.S. ally someday?

BY ROSA BROOKS-AUGUST 19, 2015

The self-styled Islamic State has killed thousands in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere, and states and media outlets around the world continue to decry its brutal tactics, which include a penchant for public decapitations, the mass slaughter of unarmed prisoners, and the sexual enslavement of women and girls.

Making a State by Iron and Blood by Thavam Ratna

German neo-Nazi protesters clash with police at new migrant shelter

Two consecutive nights of violence force police to seal off shelter near Dresden as Germany prepares for biggest influx of asylum seekers since second world war

Neo-Nazi protesters clash with police near a new shelter for migrants in Heidenau. Photograph: Matthias Rietschel/Getty Images

Asylum seekers stand on the steps of the new shelter in Heidenau, set up in a disused DIY store. Photograph: Matthias Rietschel/Getty Images

Kate Connolly in Berlin-Sunday 23 August 2015

Neo-Nazi protesters gathered to demonstrate against the arrival of migrants at a newly opened shelter in eastern Germany have clashed violently with police in a sign of growing tension over the record influx of asylum seekers expected this year.

The two consecutive nights of violence over the weekend came at the end of a week in which the interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, said Germany could expect to receive as many as 800,000 asylum seekers in 2015, the biggest influx since the second world war.

German Neo-Nazi Protesters Clash With Police at New Migrant Shelter by Thavam Ratna

India Markets Weekahead: Be greedy when others are fearful

(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters)

By Ambareesh Baliga-

August 23, 2015

It was a week of contrasts with the Nifty trying to break above 8,500 levels during the first three days till cracks appeared on Thursday, which led to a sharp fall. Though the index recovered to about 8,300 from the lows of 8,235, there was an underlying fear that adverse international sentiments may have an overbearing effect on India’s markets.

Nervousness amid concerns of a slowdown in China and uncertainty around the timing of a rate hike by the U.S. Fed contributed to recent decline. On the domestic front, worries over deficient rainfall continue to keep traders and investors jittery with fears of a first drought in six years. Asset class across the board witnessed selling pressure except for gold, which is currently up 10 percent from its recent lows.

Chinese manufacturing activity shrank for a sixth straight month in August. The Caixin/Markit flash PMI dropped to 47.1 in August from July’s reading of 47.8. Investors continued to absorb the minutes from the FOMC’s July meeting wherein the Fed offered no clear indications on an imminent rate hike. The dovish reading means the rate hike may not come at its most discussed date in September but could likely be in December or early next year.

NYMEX crude oil prices traded below $40 a barrel for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis on signs of U.S. oversupply and weak Chinese manufacturing. Low oil prices are expected to benefit India as it imports more than two-thirds of its requirement. It will also benefit corporates having crude or its derivatives as key raw material. The last quarter results showed margin improvements but if consumer demand doesn’t pick up, most of those margin gains may need to be passed on, though with a lag effect.

Metal stocks continued its decline as prices crashed globally on ongoing China concerns. Vedanta has decided to close down its rolled product business due to a steep fall in aluminum prices globally, negative margins and huge imports.

Meanwhile, global credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service cut its forecast for India’s economic expansion for the current fiscal year to 7 percent from its previous forecast of 7.5 percent due to drier-than-usual weather conditions.

A number of mid-cap stocks turned extremely weak, with a few of them like Kaveri Seeds and Amtek Auto falling due to specific news flows while others fell in tandem as large individual investors seem to have been unwinding.

In another key development, the IMF extended its basket of reserve currencies to Sept. 30, 2016, providing another setback to the already weak Yuan. Though China’s central bank has said it will not devalue the currency further in the near future, markets are skeptical.

Sharp cuts in the global and U.S. stock indices on Friday point to a gap down opening once again on Monday. The coming week also marks the expiry of derivative contracts, which is expected to keep volatility high. There has been no support for the markets from domestic news flows, nor any indication of a special parliament session to take up the GST bill.

I had advised last week that we could see further pressure if expectations are not met. However, in a desperate attempt to soothe investors’ frayed nerves, it is possible that the government may accept the recommendations of the AP Shah committee to waive retrospective imposition of the controversial minimum alternate tax (MAT) on foreign portfolio investors.

Rupee movement will be closely watched, and the RBI may have to reluctantly step in to support any sharp fall of the currency. Though the offer for sale of Dredging Corporation was successful, we should remember that it was miniscule compared to the upcoming IOC share offering, which is expected to bring in 93.96 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) for the government. This could be an acid test in view of the adverse market conditions expected on Monday. One also needs to see the outcome of the three IPOs slated for next week – Pennar Engineered Building Systems, Shree Pushkar Chemicals & Fertilisers and Logistics firm Navkar Corporation.

I have been asserting time and again that the global and domestic situations are not conducive for investors as it is more of a traders market with range trading becoming more and more predictable. However, we now need to see whether the range is broken on the downside and the Nifty reaches 8,000.

The clamour for a rate cut before RBI’s next policy meet may get louder, but even if the central bank obliges, it may not help sustain the markets beyond a point. It’s time for long-term investors to slowly nibble in. Remember Warren Buffett’s famous quote: “Be greedy when others are fearful.”

.”

Africa, China and the West: An Exchange with Thomas Mountain

Thomas Mountain interviewed by Ron Jacobs

( August 22, 2015, Boston, Sri Lanka Guardian) Ron Jacobs: Hi Tom, first can you provide a little background on yourself to help the readers understand your perspective on the matters we are discussing?

Thomas Mountain: I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. I married an ex-fighter from the Eritrean independence war in 1999 that I met in London and in 2006 we permanently relocated to Eritrea. I describe myself as an activist and educator and for what it’s worth, the most widely distributed independent journalist in Africa. I have been contributing toCounterpunch, amongst other publications, since 2003.

Africa, China and the West an Exchange With Thomas Mountain by Thavam Ratna

Syrian journalist wins Mackler 'courageous journalism' award 

Erhaim has trained about 100 citizen reporters from inside Syria, approximately a third of them women, in print and TV journalism

Undated photo of Syrian-based journalist Zaina Erhaim (AFP/HO/Peter Mackler Award)

Sunday 23 August 2015

A Syria-based journalist who has trained citizen reporters in the war-ravaged country has been named the recipient of the 2015 Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism, organizers said on Saturday.

The prize from Reporters Without Borders and Agence France-Presse was awarded to Zaina Erhaim, who lives and works in Aleppo, Syria.

Over the last two years, Erhaim has trained about 100 citizen reporters from inside Syria, approximately a third of them women, in print and TV journalism, and helped establish new, independent newspapers and magazines in the country.

The 30-year-old Erhaim is also the Syria project coordinator for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), an international organization that supports journalists in countries undergoing conflict, crisis or transition.

The work of some of her students has been published in major international news outlets.

Undated photo of Syrian-based journalist Zaina Erhaim (AFP/HO/Peter Mackler Award)

"Zaina Erhaim is a force multiplier of journalistic values in a country torn by violence and irrationality," said Camille Mackler, the Peter Mackler Award's project director.

"We salute her courage, upholding professional ethics and bringing them to the service of those left to write history."

David Millikin, AFP's director for North America, said Erhaim "embodies the ideals which the Peter Mackler Award was created to honour."

He added that Erhaim "has done extraordinary work both in training local residents and journalists who have become nearly the only first-hand source of news on the Syrian conflict and in supporting Syrian women living under siege."

With the award, "we pay tribute to the courage of those in Syria who fight for the freedom of information," added Delphine Halgand, director of Reporters Without Borders USA. 

The media rights group noted that Syria has been the deadliest country for journalists since 2011.

"Facing harsh oppression, Erhaim is an outstanding journalist and journalism teacher," Halgand said.

The award, named for the late Agence France-Presse journalist Peter Mackler, will be presented at a ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington on 22 October.

The prize was created in 2008 to honour the memory of Mackler, who died of a heart attack that year at the age of 58.

Philippines: General Santos City clamps down on smoking

By Edwin Espejo Aug 22, 2015 8:42AM UTC

General Santos City officials are not worried being accused of being copycats of neighboring Davao City.

“It is for the good of our constituents,” Mayor Ronnel Rivera said during the launching of a new city ordinance that put more teeth on a 23-year old city law that bans smoking in public places.

The new city ordinance now bans smoking in enclosed public buildings or those that are privately owned but used, rented or occupied by government offices and agencies or any of its instrumentalities and in any workplaces, whether public or privately-owned.

It repealed the City Crdinance No. 9 series of 1992) or the 1992 Anti-Smoking Ordinance passed by the City Council.

The new smoking ban also is in effect in public outdoor spaces where a crowd of people gather or congregate regardless of ownership.

This includes covered outdoor spaces, parks, playgrounds, sports grounds, or centers, gaming areas, cock fighting areas, healthcare/hospital compounds, memorial parks, memorial gardens, beaches, resorts, pools, market streets, sidewalks, parking areas, walkways, entrance ways, waiting areas, stairwells, and the like.

Councilor Rosalita Nuñez, principal author of the ordinance, said the local legislation carries with it fines and imprisonment or both for violators.

A K-9 team from Task Force Gensan was among those who joined the caravan in the launching a new ordinance that put more teeth on city-wide smoking ban.Pic by Edwin Espejo

Also covered by the ban are government-owned vehicles and public transport.

The new anti-smoking ordinance also makes permitting, abetting, tolerating or knowingly allowing smoking in the restricted areas unlawful and violators will likewise be penalized for it.

It will also be unlawful to obstruct or refuse the entry of any member of the Anti-Smoking Task Force or its duly deputized enforcers into places covered by the ordinance.

Mayor Rivera said the ban is good for the health of residents here especially when told that smokers hooked up on cigarettes are getting younger.

He also cited statistics pointing to 10 Filipinos dying every hour due to cigarette smoking.

Rivera himself is a heavy smoker but quit five months ago on the advice of his doctors.

Another former heavy smoker, Councilor Franklin Gacal Jr, said he will introduce another ordinance banning the retail sale of cigarettes by the stick or packs in the city.

“There are no graphic warnings in cigarettes sticks and packs which is a violation of the Philippine Clean Air Act,” he said.

Gacal is hoping his proposed ordinance will make it more difficult to sell cigarettes in the city.

Gacal, one of the trusted lawyers of former eight-division world boxing champion and Rep. Manny Pacquiao, suffered from a massive stroke two years ago but survived his life-threatening ordeal.

He said he has quit smoking since then.

The city is hoping to follow the lead of Davao City which has been clamping down on smokers for over two decades.

Prominent personalities have been arrested, including government officials who recently attended the convention of the Philippine Councilors League in Davao City.

Like Rivera, Davao City Rodrigo Duterte was a former heavy smoker.

But his no-nonsense drive to rid public spaces and establishments of smokers has earned the city raves for successfully implementing the smoking ban in the city.

Aside from a ban on smoking, Davao City is also strictly implementing a ban on firecrackers and pyrotechnics and imposing a city wide speed limit.