PIA Dispatch - Thursday, November 11, 2008

Malacanang asks anti-Cha cha groups to dialogue

Malacañang today asked groups opposed to amending the 1987 Constitution to consider a dialogue on the matter instead of taking to the streets.

"We should talk, dialogue, debate instead of protesting. There are more positive ways to make oneself heard. But this is a right and the Palace will protect that right," Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said in a statement.

"We must all respect and protect the right to free expression. We assure that their rights will be protected. We hope the rally will be orderly and peaceful and respect the rights of others," Deputy Presidential Spokesman Anthony Golez added.

The Palace had urged lawmakers pushing for amending the present charter to conduct dialogues with groups opposed to the move.

The President’s critics claim that any Charter change moves are meant to extend her stay in office beyond 2010. This was earlier denied by Malacañang.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza has said that the President remains focused on further strengthening the economy so she could turn over to the next President in 2010, an economically- strong Philippines.

Dureza also stressed that Malacañang is ''not involved at all '' in any moves to amend the 1987 Constitution.Dureza said the Palace respects Congress' mandate and that it is up to Congress to decide on any Charter change, adding that the Chief Executive will not use any persuasive powers to stop allies in Congress to stop any move for charter change.

He pointed out that the President will ''continue doing governance” to further improve the country's economic fundamentals so as to lift the levels of living of the poor.


PGMA orders DA, DOH to ensure public safety and health amid the Ebola Reston scare

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo instructed today the Departments of Health and Agriculture to contain the Ebola Reston virus which was found to have infected several Luzon hog farms and at the same time to ensure health and safety of the people.

Presidential Deputy Spokesperson Anthony Golez, in a statement, said the President issued the marching order to assure the public that the government is taking appropriate steps to safeguard the public’s health.

Golez, a medical doctor by profession, said the Ebola Reston virus is different from the Ebola strain found in African monkeys.“There have been no recorded human deaths because of the Ebola Reston virus,” Golez stressed.

At the same time, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo advised the public to buy pork only from stalls certified by the National Meat Inspection Service.

"The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health are working together to control it, but this strain is not known to infect humans and is an animal health issue," Fajardo said in a statement.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said Wednesday pigs in two commercial farms and two backyard farms in the provinces of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, and Pangasinan were found to have been infected with Ebola Reston.


Government acts on Reston case

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has placed on quarantine three farms engaged in swine-raising after the presence of the Ebola Reston virus was earlier detected in their hogs.

In a joint press briefing, DA Secretary Arthur Yap and Secretary Francisco Duque of the Department of Health (DOH) pointed out that the Reston virus “does not pose a significant public health risk.”

Yap stressed that additional samples sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) after the earlier tests, were found to be free of the Reston virus. As of 6 pm Wednesday night, the RITM, which is the accredited laboratory to conduct these tests, reported to the DA and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) that based on preliminary test results, all 94 samples collected from the pigs in the identified pig farms tested negative of the virus.

Experts from the World Health Organization led by Dr. Soe Nyunt, the WHO country representative to the Philippines and Dr. Julie Hall, team leader of its Emerging Infectious Diseases Division, have confirmed that based on historical evidence, the Reston virus has been found to be non-pathogenic and does not cause serious 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 .
As a matter of precaution, Yap 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.

“In general, meat from sick or already dead animals should never be consumed,” Yap said.

Yap made the disclosure about the presence of the disease in certain hog farms after meeting with representatives of the WHO, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the DOH to discuss the issue.

The DA had also met with stakeholders in the hog industry led by the National Federation of Hog Farmers, the Philippine College of Swine Practitioners, Philippine Swine Producers Association, the Soro-soro Ibaba Development Cooperative, and the partylist organization Agriculture Sector Alliance of the Philippines (AGAP) to notify them of the presence of the virus.
“Despite the fact that no current reports of unusual illnesses nor deaths in pigs have been reported, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health, 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,” Yap said.

He noted: “The Philippines subscribes to the belief that we are one world and must safeguard the health of its citizens, and that of the global community’s, as well. The Philippine Government will continue to act in the spirit of transparency and cooperation, and is confident, that with the support of the international community and its local stakeholders, we will successfully hurdle this challenge.“

He said the WHO and the World Animal Health Organization or the Office International des Epizooties (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.”

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 are usually bought, as a precautionary measure. All the tests conducted on human samples yielded negative results for the presence of the Reston virus.

Twenty-eight (28) pig tissue samples taken from four different locations in four different periods—May, June 4 and 26 and September—were tested. Only six (6) samples were positive.

Yap also announced a series of measures to contain the infection and immediately address the impact of this development on the livestock sector in a meeting with some 15 leaders of the hog industry yesterday morning.

He 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.

The government, he noted, will provide assistance to quarantined farms by providing them feeds and replacement stocks once the farms have been cleared.

As a precautionary measure, Yap had also suspended all Philippine pork exports until further notice.

Yap said the DA has already informed the OIE of the status of the Reston virus infection in the Philippines . The FAO and the WHO were also informed and provided regular updates about the disease.

Tests done by the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) confirmed that the disease discovered in the affected hog farms cannot be transferred from pigs to humans.

The findings of the non-pathogenocity of the Reston virus were confirmed by experts from the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Virginia Department of Health.

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 Philippine College of Swine Practitioners sent last August, in coordination with BAI, to detect the presence of the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PPRSV) and determine its strain.

The Reston virus was discovered in 1989 in a monkeys (crab-eating macaques) that the Hazleton Laboratories in Reston , Virginia had been importing from the Ferlite Farms in Laguna. (DA Press Office)


PGMA calls for stronger human rights program

Roxas City -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo directs all government offices and local government units (LGUs) to strengthen and enhance human rights in the country.

The President's directive is contained in an Administrative Order which she signed in line with the 60th anniversary celebration of the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

President Arroyo highlighted the "many human rights violations" of the New People's Army (NPA) and also the "blatant" human rights violations of the three renegade commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who "brazenly pillaged" Mindanao villages at mid-year.

She also sought help in the "solution to the murder of Popoy Lagman way back in 2001" which remains unsolved.

The President has assured guests, including members of the diplomatic corps and the United Nations (UN), that her government is "working on the Millennium Goals" and that Congress has so far passed many laws for the protection of children, including the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

The Philippines government, she said, is working very hard to ensure maternal health and achieve universal primary education which are past of the UN Development Goals.

She added that some P36 billion has been earmarked in 2009 for the health sector, including maternal health services.

Earlier yesterday, the President revealed that she had instructed the social welfare secretary to establish a Children's Defense Fund to ensure that her administration has a "child-centered human rights agenda.

"Meanwhile, President Arroyo stressed that even in the toughest times, the Filipino people will prevail.

She pointed out that the country's human rights programs shall be successful shields against the storm winds of the global financial crisis.


SLEX Alabang Viaduct is now open to vehicular traffic

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo opens today to vehicular traffic the newly-rehabilitated 1.2-kilometer stretch of Alabang Viaduct of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) in Alabang, Muntinlupa.

After her visit to the wake for the five members of the Philippine Marines who were killed in action in Basilan at the BNS Gymnasium in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, the President motored here to inaugurate the P1,135,402,688 newly-upgraded 8-lane Alabang Viaduct.

The President cut the ribbon upon her arrival at 12:30 p.m. and then led the windshield inspection of the viaduct via a ceremonial drive-through of this portion of the SLEX Rehabilitation and Upgrading Project.

Joining the President in the ceremonial drive-thru were Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Malacanang External Affairs and Subic Clark Alliance for Development Council (SCADC) chairman Secretary Edgardo Pamintuan, Malaysia-Thailand Developers Construction (Philippines) Inc. Chairman Dato Nik Hussain, F.F. Cruz & Co. Inc. president Felipe F. Cruz Sr., and Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) executive director Manuel Imperial.

Also present were Muntinlupa City Mayor Aldrin San Pedro, Muntinlupa lone district Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon.

The opening of the Alabang Viaduct is part of the Arroyo government program to invest in infrastructures in order to pump-prime the economy by connecting the entire nation thru a network of roads and sea routes.

After the drive-thru, Isaac David, President of the South Luzon Tollway Corp. (SLTC) briefed the President on the Alabang Viaduct project which, according to him, is 98.63% (as of Dec. 7, 2008) completed. Rehabilitation and upgrading construction works started in November 2006.

Alabang viaduct was “discovered in 2000 by the SLTC to be “structurally weak” and not fit for heavy vehicles.

David reported to the President that the originally 6-lane Alabang Viaduct is now an 8-lane elevated highway that can accommodate more than 250,000 vehicles, from its original capacity of 200,000

.He also briefed the President on the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) extension project from Calamba to Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

He said the SLTC will start its construction in January 2009 after resolving the “right of way” problem in the portion of the project.


PGMA visits the wake for five marines killed in Basilan clashes with Moro rebels

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited on Thursday the wake for the five Marine soldiers who were killed during last Sunday's running battles with combined Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels and Abu Sayyaf militants in al-Barka, Basilan that also resulted in the killing of nine rebels.

The President was received by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Alexander Yano, Navy’s flag officer-in-charge Vice-Admiral Ferdinand Golez and Marines commandant M/Gen. Ben Dolorfino upon her arrival at 12:30 pm at the BNS gymnasium of the Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City.

President Arroyo condoled with the family members of the fallen soldiers that included two sergeants Wilfredo Abugan, a 33-year-old native of western Samar and Roque Alejo, 31-year-old from Camarines Sur, Bicol.

Other soldiers killed in action were Corporal Daniel Discaya, 28-year-old of Pangasinan; Rodolfo Budino Jr., a 26-year-old private first class; and, private Julius Delena, the youngest victim at 23, also of Pangasinan.

The President stayed for 30 minutes at the wake with the bereaved families whom she handed with financial assistance.

“I don’t know how to start again now that my husband is gone. I would like to thank the President for personally expressing her sympathy to us,” Abugan’s widow Luanne said.

Mang Guillermo, the father of Alejo, told the President that “I have already accepted the fate of my son who died serving our nation.”

M/Gen. Dolorfino confirmed that MILF deputy commander Satar Alih was among the rebel fighters killed in the Al-Barka town encounter.

Among those wounded in Basilan encounter was Air Force pilot Capt. Francis Vergara who was flying an OV-10 bomber plane.


PGMA distributes 550 TESDA scholarship vouchers worth P 3 million in Quezon province

SARIAYA, Quezon – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo distributed today P3.642-million worth of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) Vouchers to residents of this province for them to improve their lives.

The distribution of vouchers to 550 recipients highlighted the inauguration by the President of the Quezonian Livelihood and Learning Center (QLLC) and the graduation of this year's batch of 1,009 student trainees who completed their respective courses in the Center.

The PGMA-TWSP vouchers are for trainings or courses in slaughtering operations, consumer electronics servicing, computer hardware servicing, front office, medical transcription, call center agents, heavy equipment operations, household servicing, food and beverage servicing and shielded metal arc welding.

The President, who was assisted by Quezon Gov. Rafael Nantes, Quezon 2nd District Rep. Proceso Alcala, QLLCI Chairman Conrado Escudero and TESDA Deputy Diretor General Teodoro Gatchalian, handed over the vouchers to Zoraida Amper, superintendent of the Quezon National Agricultural School, in behalf of would-be scholars.

The President was then ushered into the QLLC where she was given a brief tour of the Center's facilities that include the F&B service, Household Service, High Speed Sewing, Computer, Cosmetology and Reflexology rooms.

This was followed by the President’s unveiling of a mural depicting Jesus' Multiplication of the Loaves. The mural was designed by painter Vicente Fario on the request of the Daughters of St. Francis whose missionary works with the Center focus on values formation and inspired the artworks.

Through a tie-up with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Provincial Office in Quezon, the Quezon National Agricultural School (QNAS) and the office of Quezon 2nd District Rep. Proceso Alcala, the QLLC, Inc. was formed in October 2007 to provide livelihood assistance to the people.