PGMA orders early completion of irrigation projects
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has instructed the Department of Agriculture to rush completion of farmland irrigation projects in anticipation of El Nino next year.
The President issued the instruction during the Joint National Economic Development Authority and National Anti-Poverty Commission Cabinet meeting held at the Aguinaldo State Dining Room of Malacanang this morning.
NEDA Deputy Director General Margarita Songco, had earlier reported that, based as scientific studies, a long dry spell would most likely hit the country early next year. She said that data gathered in the past several months showed that the weather phenomenon, characterized by extreme temperature rise with little rainfall, has begun affecting various areas of the country.
She also said that the Visayas and Mindanao regions have been experiencing below-normal rainfall conditions despite the three typhoons hitting
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) noted that in Southern Leyte, Agusan Del Norte, and Surigao Del Norte,
PGMA to keynote Tourism Congress
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be the keynote speaker tomorrow (Nov. 25) at the Tourism Congress to be held at the Marriott Hotel in Newport City, Terminal 3, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Parañaque City.
Some 35 organizations representing different sectors of the tourism industry nationwide are expected to attend, as required by Republic Act 9593, otherwise known as the National Tourism Policy Act of 2009.
Under the law, the Department of Tourism (DOT) shall convene the Tourism Congress to allow participants to elect the nominees to fill the five seats for the governing board of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority ((TIEZA), Tourism Promotion Board (TPB), and the Duty Free Philippines Corp.
It is the three agencies that will implement the government’s tourism programs.
Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said the DOT’s sole responsibility under the law is to convene the Tourism Congress. He said the task of organizing and electing officials rests on the members of the tourism industry.
Durano further explained that members of the tourism industry taking part in the Nov. 25 Tourism Congress will draft the constitution and bylaws of the governing body.
The Tourism Congress is mandated by the law to serve as the private sector consultative body to assist the government in the development, implementation and coordination of the country’s tourism policy.
PGMA orders preparations to cushion El Nino impact
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered today the Department of Agriculture (DA) to fast- track all irrigation infrastructure projects as the government intensifies preparations to help the agricultural sector deal with the El Nino weather phenomenon.
The president issued the order during the joint National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)-Cabinet meeting held at the Aguinaldo State Dining Room in Malacanang this morning.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo, in a press briefing in Malacanang, said the President also ordered the Pro-Performance Team to work with the private sector to monitor the progress of the president’s State-of-the-Nation commitments projects.
She added that the Department of Agriculture since September has been pushing upland rice production in anticipation of the dry spell that is threatening the agriculture industry.
The DA is also prioritizing farm-to-market roads, irrigation systems, extension services, loans, dryers, and certified seeds.
It is widely held that El Niño will “put pressure on the agriculture sector,” even as the country rebounds from the global financial crisis.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration announced that El Niño had already started its course, with the dry spell expected to run until the first quarter of 2010.
PAGASA based its prediction on the El Niño/Southern Oscillation discussion.
The impact of El Niño will be felt, PAGASA said, during November 2009-January 2010, with heavy rains over the central tropical Pacific Ocean and a drier-than-average condition over
El Niño may significantly diminish ocean productivity by changing weather patterns that cause nutrient circulation in the ocean, which could affect fish, birds and marine mammals.
PGMA orders arrest of Maguindanao killers
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered today the Armed Forces of the
“I order all units to pursue the perpetrators, to restore order and secure affected areas in Maguindanao,” the President said in a statement at the opening of today’s joint National Economic Development Authority-Cabinet meeting at the Aguinaldo State Dining Room in Malacanang.
The Cabinet meeting was originally scheduled in the world-famous Boracay island. It was moved to Malacanang due to the Maguindanao incident.
Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III had earlier said the president and her cabinet will study if there was need to declare a state of emergency in Maguindanao.
The chief executive ordered Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales and Lt. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang, acting AFP Chief of Staff, “to personally oversee military action against the perpetrators of these dastardly acts that occurred yesterday.”
She said “no effort will be spared to bring justice to the victims.”
The president also announced the establishment of checkpoints and chokepoints, with elements of Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade already in place to preserve peace and secure the area.
She appointed Presidential Adviser for Mindanao Jesus Dureza as the head of the Crisis Committee for Maguindanao.
The bodies of 22 kidnap victims, out of the 44 reported abducted, including the wife and relatives of Buluan town's vice mayor Ismael Mangudadatu, a gubernatorial aspirant in Maguindanao, were recovered by the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade Monday afternoon.
The bodies, recovered in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town, reportedly showed "signs of mutilation."
Reports said Mangudadatu’s wife, Genalyn, his sister, some relatives and members of the media were on their way to file his certificate of candidacy for governor of Maguindanao province when a group of about 100 armed men abducted them.
PNP chief sacks five Maguindanao police officers
MANILA, Nov. 24 -– Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa sacked five ranking police officials in Maguindanao province following the massacre of more than 20 civilians, including media practitioners, in Ampatuan town on Monday.
PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina said Verzosa immediately ordered on Monday night the relief of Chief Insp. Sukarno Dichay, detailed at the Maguindanao Provincial Police Office (PPO), who was reportedly sighted in the scene of the incident along with members of the civilian armed auxiliary (CAAs).
Aside from Dichay, Espina said the PNP chief Tuesday morning ordered the sacking of Maguindanao PPO officer-in-charge Supt. Abusana Maguid and three other Maguindanao police officers.
Espina said the sacked police officers were placed under the custody of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in
Verzosa this morning flew to Maguindanao to personally oversee ongoing investigation and pursuit operations against the armed men who abducted more or less 40 individuals, more than 20 of whom were recovered dead, in a remote area in Ampatuan town.
”Investigation and hot pursuit operations are going on now for Maguindanao massacre. In fact, PNP chief Verzosa has flown to Maguindanao to oversee the investigation,” Espina said.
On Monday morning, more or less 40 people, led by Genalyn Mangudadatu, wife of Buluan town Mayor Ebrahim Mangudadatu, and his younger sister and incumbent Vice Mayor Eden Mangudadatu of Mangudadatu town, and some media practitioners, were held by more or less 100 armed men manning a checkpoint along Sitio Crossing in Barangay Saniag in Ampatuan town.
Mangudadatu’s group was on their way to file the certificate of candidacy of Ismael Mangudadatu for the governorship of Maguindanao when stop by the armed men, some of whom were identified as personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP), and then led to remote
Ismael Mangudadatu immediately accused members of the Ampatuan clan as responsible in the gruesome massacre.
Latest update from the PNP showed 24 bodies were recovered from the site. Clearing operations by combined police and military units are also ongoing.
