PIA Dispatch - Friday, December 12, 2008

PGMA to enlist support of Qatar in quest for peace in Mindanao

DOHA (Via PLDT) – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrives here tomorrow on a three-day mission to enlist the support of Qatar in the quest for lasting peace in Mindanao, meet with top Qatari business executives and touch base with Filipino overseas workers (OFWs) in this Middle East economic powerhouse.

Shortly after arrival here, the President will meet with top executives of Middle Eastern companies employing Filipino. Later in the day, she will touch base with the Filipino community during a meeting at the Sheraton Dohal Hotel and Resort, where she’s staying during her Qatar visit.

A not-so-subliminal message of this trip is the President ‘s solidarity with, and concern for the Filipino expatriate workers amid the deepening global economic crisis that has already chopped off thousands of jobs worldwide, especially in the countries hardest-hit by the financial squeeze.
Also scheduled on Day 1 of her Doha trip is a meeting with Philippine ambassadors in the Middle East countries, the home of thousands of OFWs. The President’s session with the Philippine envoys is expected to touch on the impact of the global economic debacle on Filipino job placements abroad.

In announcing her official visit here, the President said she wanted to ensure the job security of Filipino workers. She pointed out that it was imperative that the government ensured the protection of the welfare of Filipino expat workers.

The President expressed optimism in the Middle East employment situation, saying the region has not been affected by the financial contagion as much as other countries. “But having said that, there have been contingency measures that have been done to address the possible effects on our OFWs” of the worldwide financial crisis, she added.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), meanwhile, has ruled out the possibility of massive displacements of Filipino workers overseas. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said there were indications as cited in the reports from overseas destinations with heavy OFW concentrations of an impending massive lay-offs of Filipino workers.

On the government’s Mindanao peace initiative, President Arroyo said that the Philippines could learn something from Qatar which brokered the settlement of the Lebanese internal conflict mounted by Muslem separatists.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (PAPP) Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said the Philippines views Qatar as an “international guarantor” in the peace negotiations between the government and the MILF.

The MILF, Esperon said, has been calling for international guarantors in the peace process and Qatar could be one of them.

The President has already appointed Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis as the chief of the reconstituted government’s Mindanao peace panel preparatory to the resumption of the stalled government-MILF peace negotiations.

Informal talks between the government and the MILF are expected to start shortly after the President ‘s official visit to Qatar, possibly by Dec. 22.


PGMA cancels trip to Shariff Kabunsuan

DOHA (Via PLDT) – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrives here tomorrow on a three-day mission to enlist the support of Qatar in the quest for lasting peace in Mindanao, meet with top Qatari business executives and touch base with Filipino overseas workers (OFWs) in this Middle East economic powerhouse.

Shortly after arrival here, the President will meet with top executives of Middle Eastern companies employing Filipino. Later in the day, she will touch base with the Filipino community during a meeting at the Sheraton Dohal Hotel and Resort, where she’s staying during her Qatar visit.

A not-so-subliminal message of this trip is the President ‘s solidarity with, and concern for the Filipino expatriate workers amid the deepening global economic crisis that has already chopped off thousands of jobs worldwide, especially in the countries hardest-hit by the financial squeeze.

Also scheduled on Day 1 of her Doha trip is a meeting with Philippine ambassadors in the Middle East countries, the home of thousands of OFWs. The President’s session with the Philippine envoys is expected to touch on the impact of the global economic debacle on Filipino job placements abroad.

In announcing her official visit here, the President said she wanted to ensure the job security of Filipino workers. She pointed out that it was imperative that the government ensured the protection of the welfare of Filipino expat workers.

The President expressed optimism in the Middle East employment situation, saying the region has not been affected by the financial contagion as much as other countries. “But having said that, there have been contingency measures that have been done to address the possible effects on our OFWs” of the worldwide financial crisis, she added.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), meanwhile, has ruled out the possibility of massive displacements of Filipino workers overseas. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said there were indications as cited in the reports from overseas destinations with heavy OFW concentrations of an impending massive lay-offs of Filipino workers.

On the government’s Mindanao peace initiative, President Arroyo said that the Philippines could learn something from Qatar which brokered the settlement of the Lebanese internal conflict mounted by Muslem separatists.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (PAPP) Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said the Philippines views Qatar as an “international guarantor” in the peace negotiations between the government and the MILF.

The MILF, Esperon said, has been calling for international guarantors in the peace process and Qatar could be one of them.

The President has already appointed Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis as the chief of the reconstituted government’s Mindanao peace panel preparatory to the resumption of the stalled government-MILF peace negotiations.

Informal talks between the government and the MILF are expected to start shortly after the President ‘s official visit to Qatar, possibly by Dec. 22.


Government employees to receive performance bonus starting December 15

Government employees are in for an early Christmas treat as they will receive their performance bonus, a maximum of P10,000 per employee, starting Monday, 15 December 2008.

“Budget release documents are already in order to cover the performance bonus requirement of P7,000 per government employee of the national government,” Budget and Management Secretary Rolando G. Andaya Jr. announced today.

Andaya said the remaining balance of P3,000 will come from agency savings.

Administrative Order No. 250, issued on December 10, 2008, authorized the grant of the performance bonus (PerB) chargeable against the unreleased appropriations under the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) and agency savings. The said A.O. allows the payment of the PerB to all government personnel who have not received an additional year-end benefit in FY 2008 over and above the benefit authorized under Republic Act 6686, as amended by R.A. No. 8441.

The PerB is separate from the Year-End Bonus and cash gift which have been given earlier to government workers. Last month, DBM released some P11.6 billion to cover one-half of the year-end bonus and cash gift for the more than one million employees of government.

“The release of the performance bonus on top of the YEB is our government’s way of making Christmas more cheerful for our civil servants,” Andaya said.

Entitled to receive the PerB are all personnel of national government agencies (NGAs) and Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations (GOCCs), including Government Financial Institutions (GFIs), whether permanent, temporary, casual or contractual, and who have rendered at least four (4) months of service as of November 30, 2008.

“Government personnel who have rendered less than four (4) months of service as of November 30, 2008 shall also be entitled to PerB on a pro-rated basis,“ Andaya added.

PerB for GOCCs and GFIs shall be charged against savings from their respective approved corporate budgets while agencies belonging to the Constitutional Offices/Fiscal Autonomy Group (CFAG) such as Congress, the Judiciary, Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission-Proper, Commission on Elections, Commission on Human Rights, and Office of the Ombudsman shall be charged against their available savings.

The Budget Department has already released the corresponding implementing guidelines (Budget Circular No. 2008-5) for the grant of the PerB.


DepEd, PNRC to promote first aid programs in schools

MANILA (PNA) -- The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) joined hands to promote first aid programs in public elementary and secondary schools nationwide and ensure the health and safety of schoolchildren.

The DepEd said this undertaking will ensure that teachers in public elementary and high school teachers are equipped with first aid skills and knowledge which they can use to protect their students.

"Teachers are expected to serve as second parents to their students, and should therefore be extra caring about their (students) health and safety the way real parents are," the DepEd said.

The PNRC, on the other hand, vowed to work with DepEd to ensure that all teachers are equipped with first aid skills.

Earlier, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo directed DepEd to include first-aid instructions in the school curriculum noting some tragic stories of deaths and survivals of schoolchildren involved in accident in schools.

The PNRC said that it has recently distributed first aid training mannequins to all chapters to enhance their training capability, especially on cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) which is a special technical skill.

The PNRC likewise said it has mobilized its 2,476 active Red Cross youth councils in various colleges and universities nationwide to go full swing in its first aid training program for teachers. (PNA)


Government authorities and hog raisers assuage fears on ebola reston strain discovered in pig farms

MANILA, Dec. 12 (PNA)-- The head of the country's hog and swine farmers today assured local consumers it is safe to eat pork, notwithstanding the reported detection by government authorities of the so-called ebola reston strain found in at least Luzon-based pig farms.

Alberto Lim Jr., President of the National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc. (NFHFI) made the assurance as he sought to assuage fears that consuming pork will lead to illnesses.

“It is very safe to eat pork,” Lim stressed, emphasizing that ebola reston virus strain "is non-pathogenic and not harmful to humans (since) we cook the pork that we eat.”

Lim added there never was any confirmed report in the past that the virus caused any harmful effect to the health of human beings.

Besides, he said hands on pig handlers and raisers on the four piggery farms where the virus was detected were found to be free of any sickness or infection from the strain.

Lim also noted that even Health Secretary Francisco Duque gave assurances that the virus is of “low pathogenicity” and different from the feared African ebola virus.

Duque also said the detection of the ebola reston strain virus in the hogs is not a human health problem but an animal health issue.

Lim also took the opportunity to remind the public that while pork is safe to eat, consumers should buy only from vendors who are certified by the government’s National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).

NFHFI condemned the proliferation and sale of "double dead" also called "bocha" in tagalog and warned that this type of meat will definitely affect public health.

Lim said swine producers “strongly condemn” unscrupulous meat vendors and individuals behind the proliferation and sale of called "double dead" meat because they do not only put the hog industry in bad light but they are also putting the health of the consuming public in jeopardy.
He stressed those who abet the proliferation and sale of "double dead" meat should also be punished to the full extent of the law.

“Double dead meat is (the one that is)hazardous to one’s health,” he pointed out. “If you happen to eat it, you are vulnerable to many kinds of diseases because you get exposed to many bacterias.”

NFHFI also advised consumers to buy their pork only from licensed and authorized meat vendors and sellers to ensure consumer protection.

He encouraged consumers to be vigilant and report vendors and sellers who sell "double dead" meat to the public, including those who overprice their pork and meat products, to concerned government authorities like the NMIS. (PNA)


Dureza says PGMA keen on Mindanao cross section composition of new government peace panel with MILF

CAMP SIONGCO, Shariff Kabunsuan (12 December) - The new government peace panel that would continue negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front would be backed by a cross-section Mindanao panel of advisers.

Such was declared on Friday by Press Secretary Jesus Dureza here at a media Christmas party whom he presided over on behalf of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The President has cancelled her visit to this province due to current security threats from the group of rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front Commander Ameril Umbra Kato.
“Malacañang might announce in a matter of days the composition of the new government peace panel,” Dureza said.

Earlier, the Chief Executive has named Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis as the new government chief negotiator for the MILF.

“The President wants the new peace panel to comprise representatives from Mindanao’s cross-section so let us just wait,” Dureza said. (NYP/Joy P. Dimakiling/jmd/PNA/PIA12)



Gov’t optimizes use of 14,564 Tindahan Natin outlets to mitigate hunger

National Food Authority Administrator Jessup P. Navarro said the government has effectively boosted its drive to mitigate hunger and alleviate poverty in the country with the establishment of a total of 14,564 Tindahan Natin outlets or 100 percent of the targeted number of outlets nationwide.

A priority program of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to address the twin problems of poverty and hunger, the Tindahan Natin program is jointly implemented by the NFA and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The DSWD is responsible for setting the criteria for the selection of areas where TN outlets will be established, while the NFA licenses, accredits and supplies each outlet with its rice requirements.

The TN outlets sell quality but affordable NFA rice at P18.25 per kilogram. These outlets are located in identified depressed communities with high poverty incidence.

Starting this month, only those families with Family Access Card duly reviewed and validated by the DSWD will be allowed to buy the subsidized rice of the NFA from the TN outlets in the National Capital Region.

In the provinces, only those included in the TN Rice Allocation ledger will be allowed to buy.
Cumulative rice sales of the TN outlets as of end of November this year already reached 10.95 million bags nationwide, valued at P 9.1 billion.

To date, a total of 1,936 TN outlets operates in the NCR with a cumulative rice sales reaching 1.4 million bags valued at P1.24 billion. Meanwhile, there are 12,628 TN outlets in the provinces.
For more information on the Tindahan Natin program, the public may send inquiries via Text NFA Program through mobile number 0917-6210927.


DA preparing support program for hog industry amid Reston case

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is working on a support program to assist hog producers in farms where the Ebola Reston virus had been detected and provide incentives to other growers to encourage them to participate in the concerted government program to stamp out this disease, which is not harmful to humans.

This planned program will include the acquisition of additional laboratory kits needed to check the presence of this virus among local swine and a support package to help livestock growers whose infected hogs will be culled or destroyed by quick-response government teams led by the DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to prevent the spread of the Reston disease among animals.

“We will purchase laboratory test kits and other materials necessary to quickly diagnose the presence of the virus in hogs, and provide assistance to farmers to encourage them to come forward and participate in the testing and disease eradication program,” he said.

This developed as executives of international health institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) or World Animal Health Organization commended Secretaries Arthur Yap of the DA and Francisco Duque of the Department of Health (DOH) for their respective offices’ quick or “appropriate action” in containing the latest resurfacing of the Reston virus, which was earlier detected in two swine farms in certain parts of Luzon.

Officials of the DA and DOH along with these international health institutions have pointed out Wednesday night that the Reston virus “does not pose a significant public health risk.” Duque and Yap said this particular strain of the Ebola virus has been shown in the past to be “non-pathogenic,” which means it is not harmful to humans.

The Reston virus is entirely different from the three other Ebola subtypes, which are all potentially fatal to humans. Unlike the Zaire , Ivory Coast and Sudan strains, the Reston strain has not been found to be fatal like the three other strains or to have caused illnesses to humans in contact with the infected animals. It was first discovered in the Philippines in 1989 among crab-eating macaques or monkeys then being exported by the Laguna-based Ferlite Farms to the Hazleton Laboratories in Reston , Virginia .

The WHO and OIE consider the presence of the Reston virus in the Philippines as an “animal health issue and does not consider this a significant public health concern at this time.”

At the end of a nine-hour consultative meeting with livestock industry leaders at the DA last Wednesday, WHO country representative to the Philippines Dr. Soe Nyunt spoke on behalf of OIE and FAO in thanking Yap and Duque for their efforts in immediately addressing the Reston issue.

“On behalf of the international health organizations—OIE, FAO and WHO—we would like to put on record that we thank and appreciate the efforts of Secretary Yap and Secretary Duque in taking the appropriate action,” Nyunt said during the press briefing held to inform the public about the presence of the Reston virus.

The other experts present during the marathon meeting at the DA were Anthony Hazzard, WHO regional adviser for Food Safety; Carolyn Anne Coulombe, WHO technical officer (Risk Communications) Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response; and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) director Remigio Olveda.

AGAP party-list Rep. Nicanor Briones, who represented the subsector of small livestock stakeholders during the consultative meeting, also thanked Yap, Duque and WHO officials for educating the public about the Reston virus.

“I would like to thank Secretary Duque and Secretary Yap and the representatives of WHO for making this thing clear to the public para hindi matakot ang ating mga consumer (so as not to spook our consumers),” Briones said.

Earlier, Yap said that after finding out the presence of the Reston virus in the quarantined farms, 28 pig tissue samples taken from different locations in four different periods—May, June 4 and 26 and September—were sent to Center Disease Control (CDC) Plum Island for testing. Only six (6) samples were positive of the virus.

Additional samples sent to the RITM after these earlier tests were all found to be free of the Reston virus. As of 6 pm Wednesday night, the RITM, which is the accredited laboratory in the world to conduct such tests, reported to the DA and BAI that, based on preliminary test results, the additional 94 samples collected from the pigs in the identified pig farms all tested negative of the virus.

WHO experts led by Dr. Nyunt and Dr. Julie Hall, team leader of its Emerging Infectious Diseases Division, have confirmed during the Dec. 10 consultative meeting at the DA that, based on historical evidence, the Reston virus has been found to be “non-pathogenic” and does not cause illnesses to humans in the past.

Yap said the WHO has also declared that pork that is properly handled, washed and cooked is safe for human consumption because heat from adequate cooking kills viruses, including Reston .
In fact, Hazzard told a press briefing after the consultative meeting that consumers should be worried of normal bacteria and not of the Reston virus when eating undercooked pork. “I think that if you undercooked pork, you have much more to worry about with the normal bacteria and normal parasites. Significantly more to worry about than Reston ,” he said.

As a matter of precaution, Yap has called on the public to report sick animals to their City and Provincial Veterinarians and to refrain from buying meats from stalls without National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) certifications.

Yap said that in general, meat from sick or already dead animals—regardless of whatever viruses these animals had been infected with—should never be eaten by people.

Yap and Duque, BAI Director Davinio Catbagan and Eric Tayag of the DOH National Epidemiology Center along with the international health experts met with officials of industry stakeholders like the National Federation of Hog Farmers, the Philippine College of Swine Practitioners or PCSP, Philippine Swine Producers Association, the Soro-soro Ibaba Development Cooperative, and the partylist organization Agriculture Sector Alliance of the Philippines (AGAP), to brief them on the official findings on the virus.

Yap pointed out that although “no current reports of unusual illnesses nor deaths in pigs have been reported, the DA and the DOH have engaged stakeholders in the hog industry, local and international health and animal experts, to assist the government in the pro-active eradication of this virus.

Besides tissue samples taken from pigs in the affected areas, Yap said tests were also done on the handlers in the farms where the virus originated; and even the butchers in the slaughterhouses where the animals were usually sent, as a precautionary measure. All the tests conducted on human samples yielded negative results for the presence of the Reston virus, he said.

Yap has ordered the BAI, together with the local government units (LGUs), to continually test pigs in their localities. Hogs in farms that have tested positive for the virus will be quarantined and will undergo a comprehensive inventory.

All pigs found to be infected will be destroyed and disposed of properly, Yap said.
As a precautionary measure, Yap had also suspended all Philippine pork exports until further notice.

Tests done by the RITM confirmed that the disease discovered in the affected hog farms cannot be transferred from pigs to humans.

The presence of the Reston virus in domestic swine was discovered when the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) was testing tissue samples that the PCSP, in coordination with BAI, sent last August to check the presence of the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PPRSV) and determine its strain. (DA-PRESS OFFICE)


Seven abducted gravel and sand haulers freed by their captors

ISABELA CITY, BASILAN - Sand haulers abducted last December 1, 2008 in Tuburan, Basilan were released last Monday evening (Dec 8).

1st Marine Brigade Commander, BGen Rustico O Guerrero, identified the victims as Rodel Fernando, Joeber Natividad, Wagnerson Toledo, Albert Manolis, Tomas De leon Jr, Alfredo Layam and Raffy Ragmak.

The ten wheeler truck where the victims were riding on was flagged down by a group of 10 armed men wearing masks and bonnets at Brgy Bato Babag, Tuburan municipality.

Geon Arasad, a member of the MILF, is reportedly behind the abduction.

The release of the victims was facilitated by Lamitan Mayor. Roderick H Furigay. The kidnappers initially negotiated with Alki Asbi, the ten wheeler truck’s owner and the Brgy Captain of Brgy Bulanting, Lamitan City.

Asbi contacted thru cellphone the Marine Battalion Landing Team 7 commander, LtCol Leonard Vincent Teodoro PN(M), and informed him about his negotiation with the kidnappers. The Battalion commander who is responsible over the area, personally monitored this case without letup until the captives were safely released.

Meanwhile, BGen Guerrero revealed that the combat operations made by the military in the different parts of the province might have pressured the abductors forcing them to release the victims.

However, News reports said that an undisclosed amount for “board and lodging fee” was allegedly paid in exchange for the release of the kidnap victims. (1MBDE / PIA-BASULTA)