PIA Dispatch - Thursday, February 12, 2009

RP economy one of the brightest spots in the region, says visiting ICC chair

The Philippines remains one of the economies in the region insulated from the effects of the global economic downturn due to the reforms initiated by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo years ago.

This was the observation of Dr. Victor Fung, chairman of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), who paid a courtesy call on the President on Thursday afternoon (Feb. 12) in Malacanang.

Dr. Fung is the first chairman from Hong Kong of the ICC, the largest, most representative business organization in the world with hundreds of thousands of member companies in over 130 countries spanning every sector of private enterprise.

“I think the Philippines is one of the economies in the region that has been relatively insulated from this tsunami. I am very impressed with the way the Philippine economy has functioned,” Dr. Fung said. 

“So I think it (Philippines economy) is terrific, is one of the brightest spots in the whole region,” he added.

Although the Philippine exporting industry has been affected by the global recession, Fung said this would be temporary due to the uninterrupted remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and other robust businesses, such as the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

The continuing reforms and policies initiated by the President years ago have firmly put the Philippines on a path to stability and growth which, Fung said, has maintained the momentum in foreign investment.

“Obviously your exports have been somewhat affected but still going on very strongly. That is not a major part of your economy. I think that remittances have kept up and your BPO has really been developed very strongly due to the very good policies of the government that started a few years ago,” Fung said.

Fung said he and the President have been meeting quite a number of times, discussing a lot of issues such as keeping the multilateral trading system strong. 

“In today’s environment it is absolutely essential that we maintain the flow of trade. Trade is the lifeblood of the international economy. In my capacity as chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) which is the voice of global business, I think the idea of making sure that we keep each other informed of our respective presence in keeping the global trading system open, it is very important,” Fung said.

Dr. Fung, who leaves tonight for Thailand, had a speaking engagement in Manila and has been invited as speaker in the Philippines a number of times.


Palace to observe status quo in Daniel Smith custody issue

Malacañang said today that Daniel Smith, the American marine convicted of raping a Filipina woman “Nicole” in 2005, will remain detained at the US Embassy while talks are under way between the Philippine and United States governments after the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Smith should be kept in a Philippine jail. 

The Supreme Court also ruled as Constitutional the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which governs the conduct of servicemen in the country, including the provision on criminal jurisdiction.

In a statement, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that the government was "gratified" by the SC ruling and would take the necessary steps to abide by it.

"We are gratified by the decision of the Supreme Court upholding once again the Constitutionality of the Visiting Forces Agreements including the provision on criminal jurisdiction in Article 5," said Ermita in the statement read for him by Deputy Spokesperson Anthony Golez this morning in Malacañang.

"With our country's best interests in mind, the Executive Department shall be guided by the provision of the VFA and by the final ruling of the Supreme Court in negotiating with the United States for appropriate agreement on detention facilities."

"Pending completion of negotiations, the status quo shall be observed in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court itself," Golez added.

Voting 9-4, the High Tribunal on Tuesday junked the petition of former senators Jovito Salonga and Wigberto Tanada to declare the VFA unconstitutional on the ground that it supposedly derogates on the exclusive power of the SC to promulgate rules of procedure in courts.

In upholding the VFA, the magistrates sustained the Court of Appeals (CA) ruling that allowed Smith to be detained inside the US embassy.


Press statement of Executive Secretary & Presidential Spokesperson Eduardo R. Ermita

We are gratified by the decision of the Supreme Court upholding once again the Constitutionality of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), including the provision on Criminal Jurisdiction in Article V.

With our country’s best interest in mind, the Executive Department shall be guided by the provisions of the VFA and by the final ruling of the Supreme Court in negotiating with the United States for appropriate agreement on detention facilities. Pending completion of the negotiations, the status quo shall be observed in accordance with the Decision of the Supreme Court itself.


PGMA cites 10 Outstanding Local Governance Programs

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo conferred today the Galing Pook Awards upon the Ten Outstanding Local Governance Programs which have been chosen from a national search to become guiding examples of good governance that can be replicated in the local level. 

The President presented the plaques of recognition to the top local officials of the winning localities on Thursday morning at the Rizal Hall of Malacañang.

Assisting the President during the awarding rites were Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) senior executive vice president Edgardo Garcia, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Philippine Country Director Renaud Meyer and Landbank president Gilda Pico.

First to receive recognition was San Carlos City which was elevated to the Galing Pook Award for Continuing Excellence (ACE), specifically for sustaining its model local governance program. The city has received the same award for the third time. 

The awardees for the top 10 local governance programs were:

1. Albay province for Institutionalizing Disaster Preparedness and Management; 
2. Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato for the Multi-Sectoral Alliance for Allah Valley Landscape Planning and Management;
3. Barangay Sanito (Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay): Restoring Peace and Order Through a Barangay Local Government Code;
4. Cotabato Province: Children Advocates for Peace;
5. Marikina City: Service Without Delay through Centralized Warehousing;
6. Pampanga Province: Turning Sand to Cash;
7. Quezon City: Turning Payatas into a Model Waste-Disposal Facility;
8. San Carlos City: Moving towards a Sustainable City;
9. San Fernando City (Pampanga): Governance as a Shared Responsibility; and
10. Taguig City: Condo Living for the Urban Poor.

Albay was cited for the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO) which designed and implemented a disaster management program based on geostrategic intervention. Through risk mapping, it identified disaster-prone communities and safe areas, ultimately coming up with comprehensive land use plans that entailed the relocation of 10,076 households in eight resettlement sites, and the construction of a new airport and road network to reduce the impact of natural disasters. 

Two governors, eight mayors, five regional directors of national government agencies, the chair of the Coalition of Social Development Organizations in South Cotabato and two Sangguniang Panlalawigan representatives have joined forces to address the problems brought by river systems traversing Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato. The Allah Valley Landscape Development Alliance institutionalized successful watershed management programs and carried out interventions based on environmental, economic, social, cultural and organizational development and institution building.

Brgy. Sanito was faced with an influx of informal dwellers after Abu Sayyaf raids in the area in 1991. Poverty was pervasive, criminality was high and sanitation worsened. The barangay eventually introduced the Sanito Barangay Government Code that include mandated fees that helped deliver basic services, including water and public works development, and improved solid waste management.

The City of San Fernando, Pampanga’s Public Governance System (PGS) was adopted from the Harvard-borne idea of the Balanced Scorecard that uses scorecards to monitor and track progress, mainly as a positive instrument to improve governance, cooperation and performance in making their city the foremost business center and tourist destination in Northern Luzon.

Cotabato Province first implemented its Children First Program (CFP) in 2003 to promote friendship and relations between its young Muslim populace, indigenous people and Christians. The program encouraged the youth to actively campaign for peace in their respective communities and provided self improvement through formal and technical education that opened more opportunities to becoming productive and pursuing a life of peace and prosperity.

Marikina City, now elevated to the Galing Pook Award for Continuing Excellence (ACE), proves its mettle in local governance once again with the establishment of the General Services Office (GSO) Warehouse that centralized supply management to one warehouse with a bar code system and wide area network that reduced labor costs to about P2.4 million or up to about P16 million in savings annually just by having resources immediately on hand.

Pampanga’s Turning Sand Into Cash program improved quarry tax collection from the volcanic ash and rock materials from Mt. Pinatubo eruptions that have made the province a rich source of building materials. To date, 10 towns and barangays of Pampanga have benefited from improved quarry tax collections amounting to P111 million for the first half of 2008 alone, a far cry from previous quarry tax collections that averaged only P22.5 million in previous years.

Quezon City received the award for the third time with its rehabilitation of the Payatas Dumpsite that ensured not only the continued safe operation of the site, but also its successful conversion into a controlled waste disposal facility. 

Almost 1,000 families living by the dumpsite were relocated and the Quezon City Controlled Disposal Facility Biogas Emission Reduction Project went into full gear with electricity from biogas emissions now powering streetlights in the community.

San Carlos City, Negros Occidental created a development board to oversee the implementation of the San Carlos Sustainable City Project, a master development plan (MDP) spanning 20 years to transform its traditional sugar-based economy to a more ecologically-oriented commerce and industry. Among its programs were the establishment of energy-efficient infrastructures, economic productivity, social development initiatives and environmental protection. San Carlos built an energy efficient city hall that does not need airconditioning, constructed a Translink Highway to connect to Bacolod , and expanded the Water Port.

Plagued with informal settlers, Taguig City decided to undertake the Family Townhomes Project to provide decent and affordable shelter in the hope to build 20,000 housing units for homeless families in various locations by 2020. Since its inception in 2006, the Family Townhomes Project has completed 322 housing units at the Pinagsama Village and FTI Compound in Brgy. Western Bicutan and in Brgy. Bagumbayan.

The President also conferred to Albay Province, Barangay Sanito, City of San Fernando, and Negros Oriental province the 2008 Special Citation on Local Capacity Incentive Mechanism (LoCIM) for Good Governance.

The citation, in partnership with the UNDP and the SNV Netherlands Development Organization, was given for exemplary practices that show how incentive mechanisms in internal governance systems can enable LGUs to function effectively and efficiantly. 

The President also conferred the Best Peace and Order Council Awards in the regional, provincial, city and municipal levels.

The Galing Pook Awards, conferred yearly by the President was launched in October 1993. It searches and recognizes innovative practices of local government units (LGUs) that can become models of good governance for adoption in other communities.


PGMA gets update on gov’t.’s efforts to mitigate adverse effects of climate change on Friday

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will get an update on government’s efforts to curb the adverse effects of climate change from Presidential Adviser on Climate Change Heherson Alvarez during her visit to this city tomorrow.

The President will arrive tomorrow morning in this capital city of North Cotabato with her visit focused on environmental protection and the peace process in Mindanao.

The President took over the chairmanship of the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change last January in a move to strengthen government’s efforts to urgently respond to the far-reaching effects of climate change to the nation’s food security, human health, water supply, and economic development.

Furthermore, the President wanted to consolidate all government efforts to move in one direction so the country will have a cohesive and integrated action framework against climate change.

The holding of the briefing on climate change in this city is significant as the province of North Cotabato has been one of the several areas in Mindanao that suffered massive flooding.

Experts said just like anywhere in the world, the Philippines has been experiencing temperature spikes brought about by climate change.

It has been observed that warming is experienced most in the northern and southern regions of the country (northern Luzon and Mindanao) while Metro Manila has warmed less than most parts.

Extreme weather conditions have also occurred more frequently since 1980. These include deadly and damaging typhoons, floods, landslides, severe El Niño and La Niña phenomena, drought, and forest fires.

Adversely affected sectors include agriculture, and marine resources.

The event is the second held outside Metro Manila. The first one was held in Nueva Ecija before she flew to Davos, Switzerland end of January.


PGMA leads dialogue with peace stakeholders in North Cotabato

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- The 17 municipalities and one component city in the province of North Cotabato strongly support President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s new paradigm for peace in Mindanao, specifically the holding of authentic consultations with the communities.

Kidapawan City Mayor Rodolfo Gantuango, in an interview, said the involvement of the communities in the peace process will let them “feel more their responsibilities in achieving peace and security in their areas of responsibility.”

“This is better now than before. With the new paradigm for peace, the concerns of the people who are most affected, will be included in the shaping of any peace agreement,” he stressed.

The President will lead the consultation with the various peace stakeholders in the province. They include the communities that will be represented by the mayors, Bishop Ulama Conference, indigenous people, the church, among others.

This is in line with her commitment to advance the peace process in Mindanao this year to finally put an end to the decades-old conflict in Southern Philippines and bring about progress and prosperity.

The President’s new paradigm for peace includes an interfaith dialogue, authentic consultations with the communities, and the principles of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration for armed rebel groups.

The President has said that when hard power has not proven its value in achieving peace, the new model for dealing with the flashpoint areas in Mindanao has focused on a new combination of soft and hard power to promote peace.

Thus, she said there must be confidence-building measures grounded on strong interfaith dialogue and cultural awareness, investments, and basic infrastructure development.

North Cotabato Gov. Jesus Sacdalan will update the President on the progress the province has done as regards to involving the communities in the peace process.

Several towns in North Cotabato were attacked last year by the armed group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) after the Supreme Court ruled that the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was unconstitutional.

The municipalities of Aleosan, Makilala, Midsayap, Pigkawayan, Pikit were among those attacked by the MILF. Hundreds of houses, several school buildings were burned and farm animals stolen. Civilians were killed as thousands were displaced.

Last Jan. 28, the President also led the peace dialogue with the stakeholders in Koronadal City.