PIA Dispatch - Sunday, January 4, 2009

PGMA orders evacuation of Filipinos in Gaza Strip

Worried over the safety of Filipinos in Gaza Strip, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the immediate evacuation of Filipinos willing to leave the war-torn Hamas stronghold that has been under massive Israeli attack over the last nine days.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said in an interview over Radyo ng Bayan this afternoon that the President has directed all concerned government agencies, particularly the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), to ensure that the Filipinos are kept out of harm’s way.

Reports said there are 21 families living in Gaza Strip, many of them married to Palestinians.

Dureza said 66 Filipinos are already on their way to safety in Amman, Jordan. From there, the evacuees will be repatriated to the Philippines.

Israeli authorities are allowing Filipinos to leave Gaza Strip and cross the Palestinian border into Jordan, but not their Palestinian husbands.

The situation in Gaza, a narrow strip of land wedged between Israel and Egypt along the Mediterranean Sea, took a dramatic turn for the worse when Israel mounted a ground invasion of the Hamas territory Saturday.

Gaza Strip is a mere 40 kilometers and 10 kilometers wide, with a population of about 1.5 million.

Israel said it launched the attack on Gaza Strip starting with sustained air strikes in retaliation for continuing Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli territory over the last two years.


PGMA to start 4-day Mindanao working visit Monday

OZAMIZ CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will visit Misamis Occidental to personally look into the status of government infrastructure projects in the area.

The President’s arrival here on Monday (Jan. 5) is part of her four-day visit to six provinces in Western and Northern Mindanao, namely, Zamboanga del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Camiguin and Bukidnon.

After her engagement in Midsalip, Zamboanga del Sur, where she is scheduled to visit the San Jose Parish Church, the President will fly to Bonifacio in Misamis Occidental to inspect the Salug Irrigation System project.

She is also scheduled to visit Sinicaban town to inspect the eco-tourism project at Dolphin Island and inaugurate the hatchery project at the Misamis Occidental Aquamarine Park (MOAP).

In the afternoon, the President will inaugurate the newly-constructed Ozamiz City Public Mall/Market before visiting Tangub City, where she is scheduled to lead the awarding ceremonies for the 2008 winners of the Tangub City Christmas Festival Showcase.

On Tuesday, the President will visit the municipality of Clarin in Misamis Occidental to inaugurate the Clarin Bridge.

The President is determined to proceed with her four-day visit to Western and Northern Mindanao tomorrow morning despite the flash floods and rains in some parts of Mindanao, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said.

"Beginning Jan. 5, the President will be making different visits to look at projects and bring government, especially the central government, closer to the people on the ground,” Dureza said in an interview over Radyo ng Bayan.


Rescue, relief operations to 20,000 flash flood victims step up in 3 Northern Mindanao cities

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Jan. 4 (PNA) -– One person was already reported drowned as rescue and relief operations went into high gear in affected flooded areas in southern Gingoog City, a sketchy report coming from the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) on Sunday stated.

A PDCC report, identified the victim as certain Rudy Andig of Gingoog City.

The victim was crossing in an overflowed river when washed away by the rampaging flood waters, PDCC report added.

Rescue and relief operations to some 20,000 flash flood victims in the cities of Gingoog and Iligan, and this region’s capital city went into high gear as more rescue teams from the different disaster councils were already deployed in several flood-prone and low-lying areas in urban centers.

Northern and Northeastern Mindanao AFP’s Fourth Infantry (Diamond) Division chief Maj. Gen. Ricardo A. David, Jr. already mobilized some of his field units to help in the rescue and relief operations.

Over flowed creeks and rivers nearby added problem to residents in Iligan, Cagayan de Oro and Gingoog, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported.

At least 25 houses were already reported washed out while over a hundred were partially damaged by the rampaging flood waters in some areas in the three cities of Northern Mindanao.

Initial summary report coming from the various disaster coordinating councils in the region stated that at least 11 barangays in Cagayan de Oro, five in Gingoog City and seven in Iligan City are under flood waters.

Unconfirmed report also reaching the Cagayan de Oro Disaster Council said seven persons were reported missing when the flash flood struck on Friday night.

Search and rescue operation to the reported missing persons is still going on.

A separate report also reaching this city said that undetermined number of persons were trapped in Bayug and Manauang areas when the cascading flash floods hit these barangays on Thursday and Friday in Iligan City.

“We are still verifying these reports and we cannot confirm yet until official reports will come in,” said Northern Mindanao OCD Director Carmelito Lupo.

Reports also reaching OCD said two children were rescued by disaster team at a low-lying barangay here.

Some of the flood victims, particularly those families living in the nearby creeks and rivers in said three cities have already fled and evacuated to safer areas, some of them in barangay halls, health centers and basketball courts, OCD report said.

The Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) in Northern Mindanao had already mobilized all disaster councils to assist the flash flood victims, added OCD Director Lupo.

Worth of damage on infrastructure and agriculture are yet to be determined by the concerned government agencies.

Meanwhile, a landslide was also reported along the national highway in Lanuza, Surigao del Sur.

The center of low pressure area was reported along the eastern part of Surigao that triggered heavy rains in several areas in Northern and Northeastern Mindanao regions, it was learned.

As this developed, various disaster councils reported before noon yesterday that flood waters in said cities started to subside.

Relief operations continues.

In a related development, rescue teams from the National Disaster Council and Regional Disaster Council flew to Bukidnon province Sunday afternoon to personally verify the reported landslide areas there. (PNA)


DA, BFAR eyeing untapped Pacific Ocean for Pinoy fishers

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is embarking on a medium-term plan to boost fish catch and sustain the high growth Philippine fisheries by investing in ports in the country’s Eastern seaboard to encourage Filipino fishers to operate in the country’s generally untapped exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Pacific Ocean .

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said that the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is putting up an initial four fishing ports as part of government efforts to find alternative fishing grounds following the non-renewal of a bilateral agreement that has previously given access to Filipinos to the fishing grounds of Indonesia.

The Philippine EEZ in the Pacific is home to migratory species like bluefin, yellowfin and skipjack tuna, which usually go there during the colder months of the year’s second semester.

BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento said these fishing ports will be put in Casiguran, Aurora; Infanta, Quezon; Tacloban City in Leyte; and Surigao City in Surigao del Norte.

He said these chosen sites for the four fishing ports share two common traits: their geographic location facing the Pacific Ocean and their proximity to existing airports.

Sarmiento said the facilities that will be built in these areas will be patterned after the fishing port in Davao City —it has piers, refrigeration facilities, ice plants and processing plants—to enable fishers to unload their catch, process them and export their products to whatever markets because of their nearness to airports.

Although the three fisheries subsectors—commercial, municipal and aquaculture—continued to post positive growth figures this year, these agriculture officials said during the Senate subcommittee hearing that the commercial subsector did not expand as much as did in the past because the steep fuel costs has discouraged fishing vessels from going out to sea as frequently as they used to do.

“So if we are to sustain the growth of Philippine fisheries, we have to increasingly go into municipal fisheries and aquaculture and at the same revitalize commercial fisheries by opening up ports in the Pacific side,” Yap said.

Sarmiento said that right now, only a few local fishers operate in the Pacific Ocean because tuna and tuna-like species stay there only on a seasonal basis and the design of Philippine fishing vessels are not quite suitable for the rougher waters in the Eastern seaboard.

But the biggest factor that has discouraged Filipino fisheries from setting out in the Pacific Ocean EEZ is the lack of infrastructure facilities in the Eastern seaboard, he said, hence the decision by the DA and BFAR to come up with a medium-term plan to put up fishing ports.

“With the recent closure of Indonesian waters to our fishing vessels, we have to look for alternative fishing grounds, and the likely candidate would have to be the Pacific Ocean EEZ,” Sarmiento.

“Until now, the Pacific EEZ is underutilized by local fishers for three reasons,” he said. “There are only few Filipino operators who go to that area for three reasons. First, tuna and other tuna-like species are seasonal in that area. Second, the design of Philippines fishing vessels are not really suitable for operations in the Pacific. The third, and this is the most serious reason, is that there are no infrastructure facilities in the Eastern seaboard to service Philippine operators who would decide to operate in the Pacific.”

“So with the permission of Secretary Yap, we drafted a medium-term plan that would include putting up of fish ports of the Davao fish port model,” Sarmiento said. “At least to enable the fishermen to unload, to process their tuna and ship to whatever export market.”

Surigao City in Surigao del Norte is a good choice because fishers can use the Butuan City airport, he said. Tacloban is another good choice because fishers can use the airports in Tacloban and Cebu City , he added.

Casiguran is also a good place to put up a fishing port, he said, because with the completion of the road project connecting Aurora and Quezon City , the fish catch there can be brought to Metro Manila in just a few hours’ time.

Infanta is one more ideal site, he said, with the impending completion of the 129-kilometer road from Marikina to Infanta, which will cut travel time between that province and Metro Manila to just two hours, Sarmiento said. About 100 kilometers of this Marikina-Infanta Road Project has already been finished by the Department of Public Works and Highways, he added. (DA-PRESS OFFICE)


DILG seeking to hire 500 new jail officers next year

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) hopes to allocate P63.59 million for the hiring of 500 new jail officers of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) under its 2009 budget plan that will be tackled by the bicameral conference committee of the Senate and the House of Representative starting tomorrow (Jan. 6).

Secretary Ronaldo Puno said that besides hiring new jail officers, the DILG is also asking Congress to approve its proposal to allocate P201.62 million next year to improve the BJMP’s security capabilities and decongest overcrowded facilities for inmates.

The BJMP proposed budget of P4.16 billion for 2009 is 12% higher than its 2008 appropriations of 3.71 billion, Puno said.

He said that the hiring of new jail officers under the proposed 2009 national budget will help address the acute shortage of manpower in the BJMP, where there is only one jail custodian for every 53 inmates.

This is a far cry from the United Nations standard on jail custodial ratio of one officer for every 7 inmates, Puno noted.

The proposed P201.62 million capital outlay for the Bureau, also under the proposed 2009 budget, will be used meanwhile to construct new jail buildings and offices and procure short and long firearms, prisoners’ vans, and other equipment like gas masks, Puno said.

He said that for 2009, the BJMP plans to procure at least 250 units of short firearms, which requires an allocation of P12.7 million; 125 units of long firearms worth P18.15 million; 150 units of prisoners’ van, P127.05 million; and other equipment like gas masks, tear gas canisters, and computers, P5.842 million.

For the construction of new jail buildings, regional offices, additional cells for inmates, and perimeter fences, the DILG is seeking an allocation of P39.46 million next year.

In 2008, the BJMP’s budget of P3.71 billion included allocations for creating 500 new jail officer positions; procurement of handcuffs, short firearms, long firearms, prisoners’ vans; and the construction of new jail buildings and facilities.

However, despite hiring more officers, the present personnel strength of the BJMP at 7,476 employees is only 15% of the ideal manpower requirement of 31,643 for the bureau for a total jail population of over 60,000 inmates, Puno noted.

For an average of 6,000 inmates nationwide who need to be transported to and from court daily, the BJMP only has 130 prisoners’ vans, 8,085 serviceable handcuffs, 4,034 short and 1,239 long firearms.

Even more alarming, an estimated 48% of its jail officers have not been issued firearms as a result of the supply shortfall. .

Puno likewise pointed that additional jails are needed to decongest existing facilities, where inmates are now packed in the most primitive and inhuman conditions, causing deaths from diseases and jail disturbances.

The BJMP exercises supervision over 150 district jails, 93 city jails, 835 municipal jails, 2 youth centers, and 2 female dormitories nationwide.


Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor denies any wrong doing in connection with the PDEA drug bust case

“I categorically deny any involvement in any wrongdoing in connection with the PDEA drug bust”! This was the statement of Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor in reaction to a news article which appeared in the December 4, 2009 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) naming him as the Department of Justice (DOJ) official following up the case of three suspects arrested in a September 20, 2008 drug bust by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Blancaflor explained, “the truth of the matter was, I was only performing a valid and legal function by inquiring at PDEA why a December 2, 2008 resolution was not yet implemented three (3) weeks after such was made. I was informed by the staff of Director General Dionisio Santiago that an appeal was being made. So I asked for a copy and I left it at that. In fact, I already forgot about it until the aforementioned article appeared”.

In December 2, 2008, the DOJ issued a Resolution signed by Chief State Prosecutor Jovito Zuno ordering the release of the three suspects, citing, among others, illegal arrest and search.

“I would like to face any inquiry being made so that the truth of the issue could come out. I hope that media will not sensationalize this”, Blancaflor said.


Speaking Out
by Ignacio R. Bunye

MANILA, Jan. 4 (PNA) -- Already acknowledged as the texting capital of the world, the Philippines is now expanding its role further by aggressively pushing the use of mobile banking technology in the area of micro-finance.

This development is expected to benefit a lot of our countrymen especially in hard-to-reach areas in the countryside.

How significant is technology, notably the use of cell phones, in developing countries such as the Philippines?

Mercy Corps., an international humanitarian relief and development agency, through its web initiative Global Envision, said that while electronic gadgets once symbolized the gap between the world's haves and have-nots, cell phones are now beginning to bridge that divide.

According to Global Envision, banks and cell phone companies are taking advantage of the new technology and the widening cell phone use in developing countries to provide financial services to about two billion people who use mobile phones but do not have bank accounts.

In the Philippines, this development started with the partnership of cell phone operators Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. with rural banks to offer mobile banking services.
Globe Telecom first partnered with rural banks three years ago to provide this type of service to rural residents through the use of G-Cash electronic money product for fund transfers and loan collections.

Smart Communications, on the other hand, signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), currently headed by Tomas Gomez IV, last November to offer similar services.

With the partnership, rural banks would have access to Smart's 34 million subscribers and SmartMoney's 6.7 million account holders.

Thus, mobile banking has facilitated the flow of cash to and from the rural areas where most of the country's poor are located.

The cell phones allow countryside folk access to credit or cash for micro-businesses, agriculture and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Mobile banking also provides invaluable and efficient services to beneficiaries of migrant Filipino workers.

Global microfinance body Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), the world's leading resource for the advancement of microfinance, has predicted in a recent report that with the right market conditions, mobile banking could reach large numbers of poor people outside the formal financial system.

Gautam Ivatury, CGAP's technology program manager, said that in the Philippines in particular, a transaction on a cell phone or at an ATM costs one-fifth that of a traditional visit to a bank branch.

This is especially significant as CGAP estimates that 80 percent of people in least developed countries are "unbanked" people who have no access even to simple banking services such as checking and savings accounts.

Organizations involved in the development of microfinance have noted that lack of access to banking services hinders economic development.

Global Envision has emphasized that in this scenario, the poor have no other choice other than the informal cash economy, leaving them vulnerable to risks and without a means to efficiently save or borrow money.

Mobile phone banking in our country has truly worked wonders especially for those who should benefit from its services the most.

This is acknowledged by no less than US Ambassador Kristie Kenney who once remarked, during her meeting with the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines that "at a time when there are a lot of bad financial stories, the Philippines is a good success story." May this year bring about more opportunities for success in the sector, and enable the Philippines to continue being a global model in mobile banking especially in microfinance.