PGMA condoles with families of Maguindanao massacre victims
At the Callado Funeral Homes, the President viewed the caskets of six reporters: Francisco Suhang and Leah Dalmacio of SOCKSARGEN Today, Gina dela Cruz and Matrife Montano of Saksi Mindanaoan News, and Maritess Cablitas and Russel Morales of News Focus.
A visibly grieving president then met with the families to hear their stories and comfort them.
In a separate interview, Presidential Assistant on Mindanao Affairs Jesus Dureza said the bereaved families are concerned about the schooling of the victims’ children and how to make ends meet now that the breadwinner in the family is gone.
The president thus ordered scholarship grants to the victims’ children. She also handed each family a check for P100,000 as burial assistance.
Next stop was UNTV headquarters. Here, the president also paid last respects to journalists and staff members Daniel Tiamzon, Jolito Evardo, Victor Nunez, and MacDelbert Arriola.
The journalists were part of the convoy that accompanied the wife and other close relatives of Buluan, Maguindanao Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu to the Comelec office. The whole group, plus all motorists that happened to be passing by, was waylaid, herded to a grassy knoll, and killed.
So far, 57 corpses have been unearthed from a common grave.
“My deepest condolences to the families and the organizations of the victims of the massacre on Nov. 23,” said the president in a statement read at the entrance to the UNTV office.
The president promised to extend the same assistance to the slain UNTV personnel and the other victims.
“I am attending the wake of some of the victims of the Maguindanao massacre as a modest expression of the nation’s outrage and my personal grief and shock over the fate that has befallen these men and women,” she added. “It is a black mark on our nation.”
If there is something good that can come out of the tragedy, the president said, it is to prompt the nation to rededicate itself to the principles of freedom and to eschew political violence.
“I am grieved because I have fought everyday in office to bring peace to this island,” she said. ‘I will continue to do so until the last minute of my term.”
The president disclosed that we are looking forward to the peace talks, which Ambassador (Rafael) Seguis has told me, will resume, hopefully on Dec. 8 or 9.
“So let us pray for peace in
PGMA opens new facility in Region 12
SPDA Board Chairman Saeed Daof said the center, with the assistance of the national government, will attract more investors to this city.
After visiting the wakes of local media practitioners who were victims of the Maguindanao massacre last Nov. 23, the president cut the ribbon in front of the three-storey building signaling its formal operation.
Joining the president were SPDA Chairman Daof, South Cotabato Governor Daisy Avance-Fuentes, South Cotabato 2nd District Representative Arthur Pinggoy, and Koronadal Mayor Fernando Miguel.
In his welcome message, Daof told the President that the funds used for the construction of the business center came from the agency’s corporate earnings and savings.
“We at the new SPDA work together as a team in initiating a wide range of projects that you and your administration can be proud of,” Daof said.
After the inaugural rites, the President lowered the time capsule signaling the start of the 150-day construction for the proposed SPDA 18-room Business Inn/Apartelle. The project has a P12.438 million price tag.
The two-storey P10-million commercial building is expected to transform the sprawling SPDA compound into a prime business complex here.
The SPDA property is host to several government offices and lodging facilities. It is located about a kilometer away from the main commercial district of Koronadal, just beside the South Cotabato Productivity and
BizNews bestows on PGMA the Business Icon Gold Award
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is adjudged the best among the country’s chief executive officers.
The country’s largest newsmagazine, BizNews Asia, conferred the Business Icon Gold (BIG) Award on the president, who it said despite the global financial crisis, has rebuilt the economy and set the stage for the
The award is given to the country’s leaders, entrepreneurs, tycoons and taipans for their contribution to the growth of the economy.
The chief executive received the prized trophy from BizNews Asia publisher Tony Lopez during their 8th anniversary celebration Wednesday night at the Hotel Intercontinental in
During his welcome remarks, Lopez noted the President stimulated business, rebuilt the economy, and put the Philippines on the map as an investment, business process outsourcing (BPO), and travel destination.
With an unprecedented 35 quarters of consecutive growth that was even praised by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Lopez said, the President has created a strong Filipino middle class which is bolstering our march towards becoming one of the world’s 20 largest economies in the next 20 years.
“The President made the economy globally competitive. She doubled the per capita income, and chalked up an unprecedented 35 quarters of consecutive growth amid a regime of record low inflation rate, record low interest rates, and high savings rate,” Lopez said.
With a gross domestic product (GDP)of some P7 trillion, Lopez said the
“Many of you do not know it but the
Actually, Lopez said, this is the calculation of Goldman Sachs which believes that the
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., a primary dealer in the United States Treasury security market, is a bank holding company that engages in investment banking, securities services, and investment management particularly with institutional clients including corporations, governments and high net worth individuals around the world.
“According to Goldman Sachs, the
According to the World Bank, Lopez said the Philippine gross domestic product and purchasing power parity is currently estimated at $327 billion dollars.
“According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the figure is a little discounted, 319 billion dollars. Our foreign debt is 56 billion dollars. If we divide 300 by 50, we can pay our foreign debt more than five times,” Lopez said.
Lopez also said the
In October 2008, Lopez said the IMF classified the
From 2001 to 2008, Lopez said the
Lopez said the country’s 10 million expatriates or overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are supporting some 63 percent of the total households in the country.
“Sixty-three percent of total households in the country have an OFW, two of every three families. That means two of every three families in the
Because of our strong middle class, Lopez said, Philippine enterprises are among the largest and most profitable in
“Some of us do not know these things. It is because often we tend to focus on the negative,” Lopez said.
At the hotel, the President and Lopez also conferred the BIG Award to SGV founder Washington Sycip and the Business Excellence Awards to Megaworld CEO Andrew Tan, SM owner Henry Sy, San Miguel president Ramon Ang, and GMA 7 Network president Felipe Gozon.
The President also handed trophies to the Business News Asia Real Estate Who is Who (BREW) to Manila Water president Rene Almendras; AMA Group owner Amable Aguiluz; Surewell Equities chairman Bansan Choa; Delfin Wenceslao of DM Wenceslao and Associates; RII Holdings chairman Reghis Romero; Manuel Paolo Villar of Vista Land; Architect Jun Palafox; Vice President and HUDCC chairman Noli de Castro; DBP President Rey David; Citizens Oil Price Watch chairman Raul Concepcion; Elizabeth H. Lee of Campi, Tessie Sy of BDO, Tourism Secretary Ace Durano and Albay Governor Joey Salceda.
NBI in custody of another vital witness to Maguindanao massacre
MANILA, Dec. 3 --National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Nestor M. Mantaring said on Thursday the bureau has in its custody a vital witness in the Nov. 23 Maguindanao Massacre. Mantaring said the third witness had claimed that he was present during the massacre, where 57 people were killed.
He said the third witness was flown to
"One witness was flew in from
Mantaring said the third witness is very vital as he claimed to have been at the site during the massacre.
"He is very vital. From what I know, but this is not yet documented, he knows a lot of information regarding the incident. He was there," he said.
Asked whether he actually participated in the mass killing or just a witness, Mantaring said: "Let us not say yet what is his participation. What he is telling us right now is still being verified and validated. We must be able to check if this would corroborate the information from other sources. And if what he is saying is the truth. Yes (we want to make sure hindi ito pakawala)."
He further said: "That is why all that he is saying, we are trying to verify. At the same time was are validating this."
He said the third witness' family was also transferred to other place for security reasons.
This developed as bureau is now working in close coordination with the Hotel Security Management following reports that the some individuals from Mindanao have billeted in hotels and motels in
The NBI director said the agency was studying the possiblity to place the witness under the government's Witness Protection Program (WPP).
“We will evaluate his statement and validate the information given to us before we can decide on that. As compared to other witnesses, the third one is vital because he claimed that he was there at that time the crime was committed,” said Mantaring who refused to comment whether the third witness was just a witness or actually participated in the mass killing.
Mantaring also confirmed that the bureau was monitoring hotels and motels following reports that some individuals from
Earlier, Mantaring said two witnesses - a backhoe operator and a truck driver - are now in the custody of the bureau.
“The two are not in
“The NBI is gathering additional evidence to strengthen the case which the government already filed. There other focuses in the probe like to identify the other perpetrators. There are many who participated. We are trying to identify who really fired shots at the Mangudadatu and other victims,” he said.
Mantaring also said that the Nov. 23 massacre is a joint investigation conducted by the police and the NBI.
“I would like to stress that this is a joint investigation by the police, NBI and the military also helps. We need the support of the military because the situation there is difficult,” he said.
Mantaring cannot give specific time when the probe will conclude. “It depends on the follow-up investigation. We follow-up leads in
“The terrain in Mindanao is different from a terrain in
Another witness - a truck driver who brought the backhoe to a barangay near the site of the massacre, surfaced at the National Bureau of Investigation Region 12 and said the order came from a right-hand man of Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.
Ambassador Kenney Announces Additional $10 Million in Food Aid for Flood Relief
U.S. Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney announced on Thursday an additional $10 million in food aid as part of the U.S. Government’s disaster relief and recovery assistance to the
Immediately after Tropical Storm Ondoy, Typhoon Pepeng, and Typhoon Santi ravaged the
The WFP logistics hub is part of the U.S. Government effort to address accessibility concerns in the northern areas of
“I commend Filipinos and our international partners for their long-term commitment to help those most affected by the storms. As we move our efforts from relief to rehabilitation and recovery, logistics will increasingly become a key component in future undertakings,” said Ambassador Kenney.
Ambassador Kenney will visit Barangay Little Kibungan in La Trinidad Municipality of Benguet Province, one of the hardest hit areas in the Cordillera Administrative Region due to a landslide that killed 77 people on October 8. Ambassador Kenney will also participate in the handover of relief items provided with U.S. Government logistical support to 142 Little Kibungan residents still displaced from their homes.
