MANILA, Philippines — Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo will celebrate a high mass at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the St. Jude Archdiocesan Shrine on J.P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, Manila in celebration of the joint feast of Saints Jude Thaddeus and Simon, two of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. A solemn procession was held last Sunday, Oct. 23, while novena masses were held from Oct. 19-27.

Saint Jude is the author of a short epistle in the New Testament known as the Letter of Jude. Known as the patron for desperate and impossible cases, devotion to St. Jude has become widespread in many countries. In the Philippines, novenas in his honor are recited by devotees every Thursday to ask for his intercession for impossible and hopeless cases, as well as in thanksgiving for favors granted. (Christina Hermoso)

House probe

The chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means Thursday revealed that the Bureau of Internal Revenue will be investigated for allegedly reneging its commitment not to demand additional information on the financial position and operations of taxpayers.

Committee chairman and Batangas Rep. Hermilando I. Mandanas said the House panel will look into complaints from taxpayers who had claimed that BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto Henares had issued a directive to taxpayers considered unconstitutional. (Ben Rosario)

Special audit

A former Bulacan provincial official has asked the Commission on Audit to conduct a special audit of calamity fund expenditures of the province which has been suspected of being misspent. In a letter to CoA Chairperson Ma.Gracia Pulido Tan, former board member Teofilo Rivera said that the appeal for the conduct of a special audit was triggered by calls from various local and barangay groups that received reports of irregularities in the expenditures.

 Rivera pointed out that on the onset of floods from typhoon Pedring, it was private groups and organizations which were giving relief to the affected areas and not the provincial government. He said there were confirmed reports that some barangays did not receive relief goods at all. Rivera noted that the municipalities of Calumpit, Hagonoy and Paombong were only adjacent to the Provincial Capitol and yet, relief goods took as long as several days to reach flood victims. (Ben Rosario)

Top choice

Libya remains the top destination for hundreds of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), who were repatriated by the government from the conflict-torn North African country, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said.

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said at the awarding ceremony of the 2011 Productivity Olympics in Intramuros, Manila, Thursday that many of the repatriated OFWs still prefer to return to Libya due to its high wages and quality work benefits. “Many of the repatriated workers chose not to look for new jobs since they want to return to Libya for work,” Baldoz said. (Sam Medenilla)

Holiday pay

Workers could expect a back-to-back additional pay during the long weekend after Malacañang declared Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, as special non-working holidays, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said Thursday.

 Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said that under DoLE’s wage rules, workers who will work during a regular holiday for the first eight hours of their shift will receive 130 percent of their regular wage and an additional 30 percent of their hourly rate if they will work over time. (Sam Medenilla)