PGMA orders LWUA and MWSS to provide water to Ondoy calamity areas
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo instructed last night the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to provide clean and potable water to calamity areas severely hit by tropical storm Ondoy.
The President issued the instruction at the 36th LWUA anniversary celebration at it’s headquarters on
According to the President, a large number of typhoon victims were still without basic necessities such as food, water and shelter.
In response, LWUA chair Prospero Pichay, Jr. said the agency had already distributed 3,000 food bags to the victims of Ondoy as part of its relief efforts that started last Monday.
He added that immediately after the celebration, LWUA officials would donate another 5,000 food bags with 1,000 going to the victims in Montalban, Rizal and the rest (4,000) to Malacañang which had been turned into an evacuation and relief center for typhoon victims.
Pichay pointed out that aside from the food bags, which contained rice, sugar, water as well as noodles and canned goods, the agency would also donate P1.5-million to the government’s relief efforts.
According to him, the P1-million would come from the LWUA while the P500,000 would come from the Davao Water District, which he described as the richest water district in the
PGMA shelters more evacuees from Tatalon at
On Tuesday at 10pm, President Arroyo personally led the evacuation of 20 families from Tatalon to the Mabini Hall, which houses the Office of the Executive Secretary. About 121 individuals are housed at the Palace, which was turned into a national relief operations and evacuation center for the victims of Ondoy.
The latest batch of evacuees were ferried last night from the
Personal and hygiene necessities blankets, pillows, tooth pastes, tooth brushes, face and body towels, soaps, shampoos were among those provided for the evacuees, where one of them is three-week old baby Irene Oclarit, who suffered rashes and slight fever due to the typhoon. Baby Irene was attended to and checked up promptly by a nurse at the Palace.
“We are addressing the overflow of evacuees from the evacuation centers,” Esperon told reporters.
He pointed out that their stay at the Palace would depend on how soon the situation would normalize so that they could return home.
The Malacañang-based
Young heroes have stormed the Palace by offering themselves as volunteers, which as of today, number nearly two thousand, majority of whom are students. The number of volunteers has actually doubled since Day 1 of the Oplan Sagip Bayan project. These young volunteers are mostly students from Malacañang nearby schools such as the
Anne Lasare, along with 200 others from the Metropolitan Hospital College of Nursing, volunteered to repack relief goods. She urged fellow youth to volunteer to the Malacañang project as a way of sharing care and love to the typhoon victims.
More than P7-million worth of foodstuffs and non-food relief from donors have been received as of this morning, October 1. The repacked donations, sent to severely affected areas, majority of which are in
According to Esperon, they shall be evacuating and accommodating more families in the next days. He said that the Mabini Hall can accommodate at least 100 families while the carpeted Ceremonial Hall may also be open to 50 people.
Esperon said that there are nine fire brigades, accompanied by volunteers, for dispatch to portions in Pateros, Caloocan, Quezon City, Navotas, Mandaluyong, Cainta, Antipolo, Tanay and Marikina for the delivery of drinking water and for clean-up. The Palace conducted a project clean up today, October
Esperon announced that there is an ongoing medical civic action at the Mabini Hall. The operations center at the Kalayaan Hall in Malacañang also serves as a “
Envoys extend sympathies to RP
Envoys from
All four ambassadors extended their respective countries’ sympathies when they presented their credentials to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at Bahay Pangarap in the Presidential Security Group Compound in
Ambassador Ahmed Mahmoud Maher Abbas extended Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak’s condolences “for the loss of lives in the tragic event.”
In return, President Arroyo asked Abbas to send her thanks to King Mubarak for the warm accommodation accorded her in her previous visits to
Ambassador Knut Solem, for his part, told President Arroyo that
Belgian Ambassador Christian Meerschman and Greek envoy Polyxeni Stefanidou likewise voiced their condolences to those who suffered in the typhoon.
“I am also expressing my own condolences to the country. I feel sad about what happened here. I am confident that the Filipino people, who are so industrious will rise from this again,” Stefanidou said.
President Arroyo told the envoys that she is looking forward to stronger relations with their respective countries
Razon says gov’t to pursue peaceful end to armed conflict
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Avelino I. Razon Jr. said this in reiterating the government’s policy to achieve a comprehensive agreement with two major rebel groups through peaceful means.
Razon stressed anew the government’s commitment to the peace process in a speech at the Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno Distinguished Lecture Series held at the Ateneo Law School Auditorium at
“Looking back on how the previous as well as the present government dealt the problem of armed conflict would reveal how our government had worked hard to address the structural causes of violent conflict and negotiated for a peace settlement with the rebels," Razon said.
The
Fighting between the military and the Muslim rebels in
Razon said the earnest effort to end the bloodshed by putting peace at the forefront is proof that the government is serious in ending the armed conflict as soon as possible.
“But the foremost manifestation of government’s commitment to peace through peaceful means is the government’s affirmation of the primacy of the peace process in spite of the legal setback, cycle of violence and political opposition, especially during the MOA-AD (Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain) debacle last year,” Razon said.
It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had struck down the MOA-AD as unconstitutional in August last year.
The aborted signing of the highly controversial document between the government peace panel and the MILF in
But the government pursued back-channeling talks even at the height of the renewed fighting to show to the MILF that it is ready to continue the peace talks.
Last month, the peace panels of both the government and the MILF agreed to tap an International Contact Group (ICG) for the resumption of the stalled negotiations.
Razon said hopes are bright for the government and the MILF peace panels to return to the negotiating table.
In fact, Razon said the Philippine government is just awaiting words from
In his speech, Razon said the government’s “peace policy was an offshoot of a nationwide and multi-sectoral consultation, spearheaded by the National Unification Commission (then) chaired by the late Atty. Haidee Yorac, to determine the root causes of the armed conflict and to formulate policy measures to address them.”
He assured that the peace policy of the government “is a product of consultation and dialogue with our people from the northernmost to southernmost parts of the Philippine archipelago.
In fact, the consultation and dialogue included the various rebel groups such as the CPP/NPA, MILF, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which later signed a peace accord with the government in 1996, and the military rebels known as the RAM-SFP/YOU, he said.
Razon enumerated the six paths to peace being pursued by the government. These are:
1. Pursuit of social and economic reforms;
2. Consensus-building and empowerment for peace;
3. Peaceful, negotiated settlement with the different rebel groups;
4. Programs for reconciliation, reintegration into mainstream society and rehabilitation of former rebels;
5. Addressing concerns arising from continuing armed hostilities; and
6. Nurturing a climate conducive to peace.
The lecture-forum was a joint project of the Supreme Court, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), and the
Among the guests were SC Chief Justice Renato S. Puno, Justice Consuelo Ynares Santiago, Justice Antonio T. Carpio, Justice Renato C. Corona, Justice Teresita De Castro, Justice Arturo D. Brion, Justice Roberto Abad, Chancellor Adolfo Azcuna of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PhilJa), PhilJa Chancellor Emeritus Ameorfina Herrera, and Courts of Appeals Justices Normandie Pizarro, Sixto Marella Jr. and Michael P. Elbinias.
