PGMA off to
Under the invitation of U.S. President Barack Obama, President Arroyo and the 43 other Heads of State will sit down for the two-day summit to discuss the threat posed by illegal diversion of nuclear materials and to develop steps to secure vulnerable nuclear materials; combat nuclear smuggling; and deter, detect and disrupt attempts at nuclear terrorism.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the group will also focus on “promoting nuclear security at the national, regional and global levels.”
The
“As President Arroyo remains fully committed towards protecting its nationals abroad, she intends to actively cooperate with other leaders to squarely face the challenge posed by nuclear terrorism,” the DFA said.
“The
The NSS comes ahead of the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference which the
The President, who was accompanied by Trade Secretary Jesli Lapus and Press Secretary Crispulo Icban, Jr., boarded a chartered Philippine Air Lines flight PR-001 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 at around 8:40 a.m.
She was sent off by Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza and Armed Forces of the
4 injured as grenade explodes amid Lakas-Kampi rally in Zamboanga Sibugay
Senior Supt. Federico Castro, Zamboanga Sibugay police director, said that the incident took place around 7:15 p.m. Sunday in Kabasalan town.
Castro identified the victims as Steffanie Cabasin, 12; her younger brother, Jose, 8; Rosie Binauro, 14; and Ernesto Casil, 36.
Castro said initial investigation showed the grenade was lobbed by one of four men riding on two motorcycles that passed in front of the Kabasalan town gymnasium where the rally was being held.
He said the suspects were seen to have sped towards the direction of
Sunday night's incident was the fourth election-related violent incident that took place in the
Reduce your prices – DOH to drugstores
Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral reiterated today that all drugstores and hospital pharmacies should comply with the Government-Mediated Access Price (GMAP) program of the government to help ease the burden of the poor in accessing medicines.
In August 2009, the DOH through its regional Centers for Health Development and in coordination with various agencies and institutions, implemented the first round of GMAP and the Maximum Drug Retail Price (MDRP).
On March 31, another set of 98 products were offered for price cuts under the GMAP initiative by eleven (11) manufacturing firms.
Penalties imposed on violators are based on Republic Act No.9502 (Cheaper Medicines Law) and its Implementing Rules & Regulations.
As of April 6, 123 drug retail outlets and hospital pharmacies in Metro Manila (78 drugstores and pharmacies) and other regions (45) were found to have violated the MDRP and GMAP since their implementation in August last year. As a consequence, these outlets have already been issued Cease and Desist Orders. Administrative fines ranging from P1,000 – P50,000 per drug violation for the GMAP and MDRP have been imposed. Repeated violations of the GMAP and the MDRP can incur penalties of as much as P50,000 to P5,000,000 with accompanying suspension or revocation of their Licenses to Operate, depending on the gravity and extent of the violation.
“The DOH will not hesitate to penalize any drugstore or pharmacy should they continue to defy the implementation of the GMAP and MDRP program of government”, warned Secretary Cabral.
The Health Secretary reiterated that drug retail outlets and hospital pharmacies have no excuse not to reduce their prices since manufacturers that have joined the DOH by offering their medicines for GMAP are already selling the listed medicines to the drugstores and hospitals at reduced prices. For the first round, manufacturers have been selling to retail outlets at the new prices since August 2009. For the March 31 implementation, manufacturers have been selling at reduced prices since February this year.
Lowest at 4.08%
Cebu III Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CEBECO III) has once again topped the list of ECs with the lowest single digit system loss as it registered 4.08% in 2009, the lowest ever recorded since the restructuring of the power industry. For three consecutive years, CEBECO III has maintained its record of attaining the lowest single digit system loss – 6.42% in 2007 and 5.17% in 2008.
“This shows the consistent effort of CEBECO III to further reduce its system loss and this is what we mean when we say ‘raising the bar of excellence’. We continue to challenge ourselves to perform better than what we have already achieved and this is something which every electric cooperative should emulate,” said Administrator Edita S. Bueno.
For 15 years, CEBECO III has retained its system loss level at single digit. The reduction in system loss ultimately redounds to the benefits of the member-consumers of CEBECO III as the equivalent peso savings will be returned to them in terms of quality service and lower power rate. As of December 2009, the effective unbundled power rate of CEBECO III for residential consumers is at Php6.9574/KwH.
Reducing the system loss is a common endeavor of NEA and all the electric cooperatives (ECs). ECs continuously invest on programs and projects to reduce their system loss while NEA provides them with financial and technical assistance. To date, 23 ECs registered single digit system loss level, an increase from 19 in 2008, while 66 other ECs pegged their system loss within the cap of 14% set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
CEBECO III, along with other excellent performing ECs, will be awarded by NEA in its annual recognition dubbed as the EC Lumens Awards, which will be held in
NFA sustains support to government anti-hunger programs
National Food Authority administrator Jessup P. Navarro said the NFA for the first quarter this year has issued to Tindahan Natin (TN) and Bigasan sa Parokya (BP) outlets a total of 2.2 million bags of rice amounting to P2 B and noodles worth P 47,837.00 to support the government program of eliminating hunger and alleviating poverty in the country.
Navarro cited the TN and BP projects are focused on helping the marginalized sector, particularly the poor by giving them access to quality rice of NFA which is being sold at a subsidized price of P18.25 per kilogram. Twenty percent of the agency’s targeted rice sales per month is exclusively allocated for the said projects.
At present, a total of 13,247 TN and 1,548 BP outlets are actively operating nationwide. Each outlet can serve 250 to as many as 1,000 beneficiaries wanting to buy NFA rice. Some 14 million consumers mostly from the marginalized sector benefit from the program daily.
The NFA jointly implements the TN program with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The DSWD is the agency that identifies qualified TN operators and the area where the outlet was established giving priority to depressed communities with high incidence of poverty. The NFA accredits the TN operator and supplies the rice requirement of the outlet.
To make the program more effective, Navarro said, the provinces vulnerable to hunger including the National Capital region were reclassified into Priority-1, Priority-2 and Priority-3 areas based on their poverty incidence level.
NCR tops other ten provinces under the Priority-1 areas where there are 3,346 TN outlets. Meanwhile, there are 20 provinces in the Priority-2 areas with 3,031 TN outlets and 24 provinces comprising the Priority-3 areas with 4,479 TN outlets.
To assure that most of the poor will benefit from the program, the sale of subsidized rice in NCR was limited only to families with Family Access Card issued by the DSWD and those included in the TN Rice Allocation Ledger in the provinces.
Meanwhile, Navarro also said the NFA’s rice inventory is continuously increasing due to the arrival of imported rice and the on-going intensive palay procurement.
As of the first week of April, the agency has some 30 million bags rice inventory sufficient for 42 days food security requirement based on the country’s daily rice consumption rate of 726,000 bags. Present inventory will even be enough for 509 days based on the agency’s average daily sales of 58,811 bags.
He informed that a total of 1.29 million metric tons (MMT) of imported rice has arrived with 1 MMT already in the agency’s warehouses. Some 299,653 metric tons (MT) are presently being unloaded in several ports across the country and another 328,851 MT are already in transit to the
On palay procurement, Navarro informed the NFA has already bought a total of 1.29 million bags of palay as of the first week this April. The NFA buys an average of 21,604 bags of palay daily which will even go up as summer harvest peaks this month.
With the procurement season normally extending until the middle of May and the arrival of rice imports to be completed by June, Navarro is confident the NFA is amply prepared for the coming lean months. “Our inventory may even surpass the mandatory 30 days requirement at the start of July,” said Navarro.
With the El Nino affecting the country’s palay production, Navarro said the NFA’s inventory will serve as a safety net against the possibility that grains traders may not buy sufficient volume of palay to meet the demands during the lean production months starts.
For more information on NFA’s program, the public may send inquiries via Text NFA Program through mobile number 0917-6210927. (DA-NFA)
