A proposal presented by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus to raise the monthly subsidy for elderly farmers by NT$1,000 (US$32.79) moved forward procedurally yesterday after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus backed off from its previous opposition.
The move came after the DPP ran a television advertisement that accused the KMT of obstructing the amendment to the Temporary Statute Regarding the Welfare Pension of Senior Farmers (老年農民福利津貼暫行條例).
Without objection, the legislative plenary session yesterday referred the DPP caucus-proposed amendment, which proposes raising the subsidy from NT$6,000 to NT$7,000 a month and would require an estimated extra budget of NT$8.7 billion, directly to a second reading, meaning it does not have to undergo a preliminary review at the committee stage.
The referral allows the DPP caucus to ask for a vote during the second reading of the amendment if lawmakers across party lines fail to reach a consensus on the bill after a one-month negotiation period ends.
“We did not want it to become an issue in the [presidential and legislative] elections in January,” KMT legislative caucus whip Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲) said when asked why her caucus changed its position on the proposal.
Chao said the KMT caucus would coordinate party members after the Executive Yuan has put forward the government’s position within a month, as promised by Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄).
Some KMT lawmakers have already initiated various amendments, with Legislator Chung Shao-ho (鍾紹和) suggesting raising the subsidy to NT$10,000.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) did not comment when questioned by DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) on whether the government supported a rise in the subsidy during a question-and-answer session yesterday.
The DPP caucus did not oppose the NT$11 billion budget earmarked for a 3 percent pay raise for civil servants that started on July 1 “and we hope the government will also support the increase in the subsidy for elderly farmers,” Tsai said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS