The low number of hungry Filipinos lifted the spirits of government workers.
“This dramatic decline in hunger incidence is really a result of the Arroyo Administration’s effort through the Anti-Hunger Mitigation Task Force led by the National Nutrition Council to identify the implementation of the package of anti-hunger projects and programs within the framework of the accelerated hunger mitigation program that will benefit the most vulnerable and the poor,” said Fajardo adding that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has always in mind the sectors most affected by on-going world financial slump.
“We know that the whole world is experiencing economic meltdown and malaking bagay na bumaba ang hunger incidence sa ating bansa (it’s a big thing for country to have a low hunger incidence) inspite of that,” said Fajardo.
The survey, conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) between February 20 and February 23, 2009, covered 1,200 adults in Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Likewise, those who experienced severe hunger (persons who often or always experience hunger) went down from 5.2% (around 940,000 families) in December to 4.4 % (estimated around 810,000 families) last month.
The rest have significant reduction too: 23.3% (estimated 570,000 families) to 17.3% (estimated 430,000 families) for Metro Manila, 20% (1.6 million families) to 15% (estimated 1.2 million families) for Balance Luzon and 20.7% (estimated 750,000 families) to 19.7% (estimated 730,000 families) for the Visayas.
Pagbaba ng nararanasang gutom sa bansa, katibayan ng epektibong ng mga pambansang program
Isang malaking inspirasyon ng mga manggagawa sa pamahalaan ang pagbaba ng bilang mga nagugutom sa bansa.
Sinabi ni Fajardo na ang dramatikong pagbaba ng bilang ng mga nagugutom ay bahagi ng pagpupursige ng Administrasyong Arroyo at ng mga kaalyado nitong mga organisasyon tulad ng Simbahan.
Kabilang sa mga sinasabing anti-hunger program ay ang Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, Malusog na Simula Yaman ng Bansa Program (Food for School), Healthy Start Feeding Program, Food for Work at Cash for Work Program.
“We know that the whole world is experiencing economic meltdown and malaking bagay na bumaba ang hunger incidence sa ating bansa inspite of that,” sabi ni Fajardo.
Isinagawa ng Social Weather Station (SWS) ang survey sa pagitan ng ika-20 ng Pebrero at ika-23 ng Pebrero, 2009 na sumaklaw sa may 1,200 katao na nasa wastong gulang sa Metro Manila , Luzon , Visayas at Mindanao .
Ang mga nakaranas ng matinding gutom naman (madalas makaranas ng gutom) ay bumaba mula 5.2% (940,000 pamilya) noong Disyembre tungo sa 4.4 % (810,000 pamilya) noong nakaraang buwan.
Nagsibaba rin ang kagutuman sa ibang lugar: mula 23.3% (570,000 na pamilya) tungo sa 17.3% (430,000 na pamilya) para sa Metro Manila, mula 20% (1.6 milyong pamilya) tungo sa 15% (1.2 milyong pamilya) para sa malaking bahagi ng Luzon at mula 20.7% ( 750,000 na pamilya) tungo sa 19.7% ( 730,000 na pamilya) para sa Kabisayaan.
Latest survey shows hunger incidence in RP down - Remonde
Malacanang welcomed today a recent survey showing that the hunger incidence in the country has gone down.
“I have very good news. Based on the latest survey, there was a huge decrease in the hunger incidence in our country during the first quarter of this year,” Remonde said in an interview over the Radyo ng Bayan program “Pilipinas! Pilipinas!” this afternoon.
He said that the drop in the hunger incidence in the Philippines, coming “in the face of the world crisis,” was “very significant.”
He explained that the details of the survey will be published tomorrow (Monday) in the Business World newspaper which has the prior right to print the survey results.
Remonde said the President received an advanced copy of the survey results Friday from the National Nutrition Council (NNC) and the Anti-Hunger Mitigation Task Force (NHM-TF).
“It is indeed inspiring that hunger incidence declined,” he said, adding that the survey result showed that the Arroyo administration’s anti-hunger emergency program is working.
The President, in partnership with the church, launched an anti-poverty project early this year which includes a feeding program for malnourished children identified by participating church groups.
Remonde said, “The results of the survey conducted are very impressive. It will surely inspire all Cabinet workers -- we will increase our efficiency and our dedication to help our countrymen, especially the poor.”
“The results of this survey are very timely, especially because fighting hunger is really one of the priorities of the government now.
“In fact, our President has just launched the joint anti-hunger program of the church and the government,” said Remonde, adding that “this is a good sign (the decrease in hunger incidence, in the midst of) the global crisis.”
Last year, when the global crisis started to sweep the world, President Arroyo made it her “personal mission to help the poorest among us survive this global economic meltdown.”
In a statement on Dec. 22, 2008, the Palace announced that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) “will get a P5-billion budget increase to support its pro-poor programs, particularly the 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program), a flagship project of the President which provides subsidies to poor families and is expected to help 321,000 households.”
It added that by Dec. 2008, over 200,000 households had benefited from the program that started in Jan. 2008.
Palace poised to double efforts to curb hunger
Manila (PNA) - The government will further double its efforts to curb hunger incidence in the country after being "inspired" with the latest results of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing that involuntary hunger in the country had gone down in the last three months.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo attributed this success to the government's pro-poor programs as she noted that the government will continue with its hunger mitigation projects.
"We will further pursue our efforts especially in the implementation of pro poor programs of President Arroyo," Fajardo said in a press briefing.
"The President always make it a point to address the problems of the most vulnerable sector of the society - the poor - in these times of economic slump," she added.
The survey showed that hunger incidence dropped from 23.7 percent to 15.5 percent in the past three months or equivalent to 2.9 million households.
"This is a major boost to the morale of government employees to continue with the programs that has been proven effective and working," Fajardo said.
"Meron din tayo iba pang programa na ni-launch ng DSWD at kung may iba pang measures na makakadagdag, we are open to that (We have other programs launched by the DSWD and if there are any other poverty measures that can be implemented, we are open to that)," she added.
The SWS survey was conducted from February 20-23 among 1,200 respondents.
PGMA & Blair meet at Malacañang's "Bahay Pag-asa"
Manila (PND) - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today received former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the 'Bahay Pag-asa' and talked peace with him for one and a half hours.
Blair, who arrived at 11:40 a.m., was welcomed by President Arroyo at the entrance steps of the Bahay Pag-asa in Malacanang Park across the Pasig River from the Palace.
The President led Blair to the covered lanai and there, exchanged notes for some 20 minutes about keeping the peace in England and the Philippines, and in the Middle East, before proceeding to the dining area for the luncheon prepared for the British leader.
"You have carved a niche for yourself in world affairs," the President told Blair as media cameras clicked and video cameras whirred during the brief photo opportunity allowed by the Palace.
Blair was accompanied by British Ambassador to the Philippines Peter Beckingham and another embassy official while the President was flanked by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Peace Process Adviser Avelino Razon, and Peace Panel Chair Rafael Seguis.
Blair talked about how his former administration had resolved the secessionist movement in Ireland, and shared one of its lessons: "face-to-face talk" brings about better understanding.
To this, President Arroyo talked about the government's pioneering inter-faith dialogue which has since been institutionalized, telling Blair that the dialogue among various sectors, including the religious sector, has brought "more understanding now."
Blair expected to expound on Mindanao peace strategy in Manila lecture
Manila, March 23 - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo' s meeting at Downing Street with then British Prime Minister Tony Blair in December 2007 on the Mindanao peace process climbs a notch higher Monday as Blair delivers a lecture on "Principled Negotiations" early this afternoon in nearby Pasay City.
Blair is expected to expound on his 2007 proposal that the Philippine government use expert negotiators of the Northern Ireland Peace Process (NIPP) and its modes of negotiations for the drawn-out Mindanao conflict.
Blair, who has been appointed Envoy of the Quartet (United Nations, United States, Russia and the European Union) since leaving Downing in 2008, is also scheduled to give a lecture on global leadership at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City during his one-day visit.
The NIPP eventually led to what is known as the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) of 1998, two years after the Philippines' own Final Peace Agreement (FPA) on the Mindanao conflict was signed in Manila and Jakarta.
Blair arrived late Sunday afternoon and is scheduled to have a lunch meeting with Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacanang today. He will proceed to the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel for the 2 p.m. lecture to a paying audience of the best and the brightest in Philippine government, the academe, diplomatic circle, business and civil society groups.
The GFA was the result of tenuous, and sometimes dangerous, cloak-and-dagger type of negotiations between the British and Irish governments of a 30-year conflict between Protestants and minority Catholics in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
British ambassador Peter Beckingham said the GFA, also known as the Belfast Declaration and enforced in 1999, has now brought high development to Ireland and without the menacing presence of the then-much feared Irish Republican Army.
The paramilitary IRA figured prominently in that conflict and has since metamorphosed into a political party.
It was Blair who posed the idea to Macapagal-Arroyo of a NIPP-style of negotiations as Britain's contribution to ending the conflict in Mindanao, which has gone on far longer and resulted in more deaths than that of Belfast.
Beckingham said the British offer involved the DDR (disarmament or decommission, demobilization, rehabilitation) steps to ending a long and tenuous armed conflict. DDR is a process endorsed by the United Nations.
The peace panel of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) has adopted the DDR stance and had, in fact, used disarmament as a precondition to the resumption of stalled peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Lately, GRP chairman Rafael Seguis declared that this precondition will be dropped to encourage MILF negotiators to come to the negotiations.
"It is a confidence-building measure," said Seguis.
Beckingham has conceded that not all elements in the NIPP negotiations apply to Mindanao, but the Philippines can employ what it can.
Blair was replaced by Gordon Brown, whose Security Adviser, Robert Hannigan, was the first such British expert to eventually fulfill Blair's promise of assistance and arrived in Manila in November last year.
Hannigan, Head of UK Security, Intelligence and Resilience, met GRP and the MILF peace negotiators but what transpired in the meetings were not made public.
Hannigan was the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the peace process during Blair's time at Downing.
Hannigan was followed by two more security experts who visited in February.
”The (Northern Ireland) peace process involved the resolution of highly contentious issues, including the release of paramilitary prisoners, the reform of policing, the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons, new measures to safeguard human rights and equality, and dealing with the legacy of a violent past," the UK embassy said. (PNA)
EU facilitation role on Mindanao, IMT participation asked
Manila, March 23 - The Strasbourg-based European Parliament has recommended that the Council of the European Union (EU) enhance peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) by coming in as a facilitator and pro-active participation in the International Monitoring Team (IMT) on ceasefires.
The Resolution, coded B6-0126/2009, was passed on March 12, but as of press time, it is not clear if it has been adopted for possible implementation.
Malaysia has headed the IMT since it was constituted in 2004 as a confidence-building measure on the long-running talks, but announced its withdrawal in November last year.
It had been four years after it first dispatched a 50-man contingent in October 2004. At present, Libya, Brunei and Japan continue in the IMT. Libya is an experienced facilitator of peace talks with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
The EU Resolution notwithstanding, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, mindful of their extensive grants and assistance to the region, has designated the EU and the United States, and even Japan, as Development Partners on Mindanao.
The President had also said that expanded foreign participation could get the negotiations moving faster.
Since August 2008, when the MILF beefed up its hostilities against mainly Christian villages, the EU has given euros 13 million in food and non-food aid to the beleaguered communities.
The EP "calls on the European Council and the Commission to support the GRP in its efforts to advance the peace negotiations, including by means of facilitation if requested, as well as through support for the International Monitoring Team responsible for overseeing the ceasefire between the military and the MILF," the Resolution said.
The EU, US, Britain, Japan and Australia are among the major donors who have called for the immediate resumption of stalled peace talks on Mindanao.
The Resolution apparently aimed at a higher-profile EU involvement in the talks, as it also expressed that fast-tracked dialogues between the GRP and MILF is "for the over-all development of Mindanao."
Malaysia remains as the facilitator of the talks, but has been coy about when they will resume, despite GRP's repeated announcement of its own readiness at any time.
GRP has dropped as a precondition for resumption the MILF's acceptance that the MOA-AD in its present form is unconstitutional and that renegade MILF field commanders first present themselves before the law.
"The ball (to resume) is now in the court of the MILF," said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, GRP panel chair, who emphasized that the decision to drop the preconditions are "confidence- building measures."
Malaysia had indicated a possible return to the IMT when the Philippines clarifies why the so-called Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was junked by the Supreme Court.
Putra Jaya was apparently humiliated by the sudden cancellation of the MOA-AD just before it was due to be signed amid fanfare last August in Kuala Lumpur and was to have been witnessed by third-party stakeholders US ambassador Kristie Kenney and the Southeast Asian Regional Representative of the Organization of Islamic Conference.
The EU Resolution also suggested "that the role of the International Monitoring Team could be enhanced through a stronger mandate for investigations and through an agreed policy of making its findings public."
The Resolution noted Malaysia's withdrawal from the IMT.
It also touched on peace negotiations between the GRP and the National Democratic Front (NDF) on one hand and the Moro National Liberation Front on the other and alleged human rights violations.
But in debates over the Resolution, EC member Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the European Union is "well aware" that the Philippines "still faces strong challenges of insurgency" and minority problems in Mindanao but that it "has made considerable progress in its international obligations to ensure and to protect human rights."
Ferrero-Waldner mentioned that 12 international human rights treaties have been signed by the Philippines and that it has abolished the death penalty.
The EC member, whose remarks Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita described as "fair and balanced," mentioned the progress of the Philippines in these areas as a counter to accusations, mainly by anti-administration sectors, that human rights are violated with impunity in the Philippines.
Ferrero-Waldner noted that the EU will soon launch the "EU-Philippines Justice Assistance Mission," a capacity-building measure for Philippine judicial authorities.
The project will involve "police and military personnel, to help them investigate cases of extrajudicial killings and to prosecute those guilty of murder." (PNA)
BI offers perks to foreign nationals who will hire locals
In an interview by Radyo ng Bayan, Immigration Commissioner Marcelo Libanan Jr. said foreigners who will hire at least 10 locals will be allowed to stay indefinitely under the special visa for employment generation.
“Kung beinte ang kanilang na-employ ay bigyan natin sila (foreign nationals) ng dalawa…ang kumpanya at ang kanilang pamilya, (If they hire 20, we’ll give them two…for the company and their families” Libanan said.
“Ito’y napakalaking bagay para sa atin dahil ang dami nating matutulungan (this is a big thing because we will be helping a lot of people,” Libanan added.
Mga dayuhang nasyunal na kukuha ng mga manggagawang Pinoy, may insentibo mula sa BI
Sa panayam ng Radyo ng Bayan, sinabi ni Immigration Commissioner Marcelo Libanan Jr., lahat ng mga dayuhang nasyunal na kukuha ng sampung Pilipinong manggagawa ay gagawaran nila ng indefinite stay sa ilalim ng special visa for employment generation.
Bukod pa sa indefinite stay, sinabi ni Libanan na magkakaroon pa ng exemption ang mga dayuhang nasyunal sa exit clearance.
“Ito’y napakalaking bagay para sa atin dahil ang dami nating matutulungan,”dagdag pa ni Libanan.
Optimism high for overseas jobs for Pinoys
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration is confident that more Filipinos will be hired abroad.
From the last three months, POEA has recorded more than more than 280,000 deployments which are higher by more than 60,000 as compared to the same period last year.
Manalili added that labor attaches are working out agreement with foreign governments for more employment opportunities for Filipino workers.
POEA, naniniwalaang tataas pa ang bilang ng mga Pilipinong makakakuha ng trabaho sa ibayong dagat
Tiwala ang Philippine Overseas Employment Administration na tataas pa ang bilang ng mga Pilipino na makakapag-hanap-buhay sa ibang bansa.
Sa nakalipas na tatlong buwan, nakapagtala ang POEA ng mahigit sa 280,000 deployment.
Idinagdag pa ni Manalili na nakikipag-usap din ang mga labor attaches sa mga dayuhang pamahalaan para maparami ang mga oportunidad sa hanap-buhay para sa mga Pilipino.
RP banks' profitability still positive -- BSP
Manila - Philippines' banks continue to be resilient to the global financial crisis with their profitability still intact amid the crisis, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said despite the recent negative outlook of Moody's Investors Service on the banking system in the country, the ratings agency continue to have stable outlook in each individual banks.
He explained that domestic banks continue to gain profit even minimal compared to previous years because banks are now better capitalized because of policy reforms made after the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Moody's said Philippine banks are not immune to the crisis, which Tetangco said, is also the assessment of monetary officials here.
He noted the analysis that banks' profitability will decline in times of lower interest rates is “probably correct” if you take into consideration the situation in the past years when borrowers rely solely in banks for funding, which in turn, is the source of income by the banks because of interest on loans.
“But now, our markets are equally active in fee-based activities and they generate income,” he said.
Bond issuances were high in 2008 and this helped banks generate additional income.
“There might be some downside due to lower interest rates, but there is upside in the form of greater fee-based services. Credit continues to grow at a healthy pace," Tetangco said.
Aside from the banks' effort to ensure income amid the financial crunch, the Central Bank also instituted several measures like increasing its peso repurchase facility fund to P60 billion from P20 billion and opening of dollar repurchase facility to address need for additional dollar requirements.
These measures provided about P500 billion additional fund in the economy that need not be sterilized since it is being used by the productive sector, which is the real intention of the measures, Tetangco said.
“And that is one of the strengths (of the economy),” he said.
And because the productive sectors continue to be active along with consumption activities of the people, primarily the beneficiaries of Overseas Filipinos (OFs), growth of the economy would be ensured even at a slower pace than in the recent years. (PNA)
PGMA signs P11.3-B supplemental budget for automation into law
Manila - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday signed into law the P11.3-billion supplemental budget for automation of the May 2010 polls.
President Arroyo signed Republic Act 9525 or the Supplemental Budget Law.
This would allow the Commission on Elections to fully automate the elections as it has been pushing for this to address cheating which is rampant during elections.
In a statement, Presidential Political Adviser Gabriel Claudio said: "We see no more obstacles to the implementation by Comelec of a fully automated election system that will ensure honest, efficient, and credible polls next year... With the enactment of the budget into law, the President is living up to her commitment to modernize the electoral process through automation in order to safeguard the true will of the Filipino electorate."
Claudio said the 2010 elections would be a landmark democratic exercise as this would be the first time that the country will adopt the automation system in elections. (PNA)
From Rags to OYSTER affiliation
Below a flyover somewhere in the city of Makati known as Area 8, Andrea Abella sweeps the streets with resolution and vigor. She is just one of the hundreds employed in the OYSTER Program or Out-of-School Youth Serving Towards Economic Recovery that is under the auspices of the Philippine National Police.
This group of streetsweepers is also known as Pulis OYSTER because in tandem with the police force, they help keep the environment and their areas of responsibility clean, safe, and orderly.
When Andrea was hardly a teenager, she married at the age of 13, the age when children still played with dolls and everything nice. Suffice it to say, the odds against this kind of marriage succeeding was slim.
With just an elementary education in her cap and no special skill or training to speak of, Andrea soon realized that she could not find a job. But she was welcomed in households that needed helps and care givers. She wounded up as a maid.
But being a maid was too confining and it paid only P2,000 a month, it was not enough to help pay for bills and expenses in their house where her husband contributes his earnings as a barker in jeepney terminals. The couple was also helping put through three of Andrea’s siblings in school.
OYSTER is the answer
Her mother enticed Andrea to join the OYSTER program since she herself had been with the program for years, Andrea agreed. At least this job paid a consistent P231 a day or at least P5,000 a month – a far cry from the salary she got as a maid.
And with perseverance, thrift and persistence, Andrea and her husband had slowly but surely equipped their humble abode with second hand appliances such as washing machine, television, DVD player, electric fan, and stereo. They could also afford to buy half sack of rice every month, a sure sign that the couple’s house will never be in want. And who could have predicted that their marriage would last this long.
Philippines’ permanent representative to ASEAN presents his credentials
Jakarta, March 23 - The Philippines’ Permanent Representative to ASEAN, Orlando S. Mercado, presented his credentials to the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan on Friday at the ASEAN Secretariat.
Ambassador Mercado’s presentation of credentials followed that of Permanent Representatives from Singapore, Vietnam, Lao PDR, and Cambodia.
As prescribed in the ASEAN Charter, all ten ASEAN Member States shall appoint Permanent Representatives to ASEAN which shall form the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR). Among other functions, the CPR supports the work of the ASEAN Community Councils and ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial Bodies and facilitates ASEAN cooperation with external partners.
On Ambassador Mercado’s arrival, Dr. Surin said, “We are now at a halfway mark towards establishing the CPR. I will be seeing the Permanent Representative from Myanmar next Monday. I am confident that the rest - Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand - will formally appoint their respective Permanent Representative shortly.”
Dr. Surin added, “There is much work to be done following the entry into force of the ASEAN Charter. In order not to delay matters, the CPR will hold an informal meeting on 25 March 2009 at the ASEAN Secretariat and I look forward to a productive consultation with them.”
Ambassador Mercado previously served as the Secretary of National Defense and a member of the Philippines Senate. (PNA)
