P-Noy swears in 33 new officials
President Benigno S. Aquino III this afternoon swore in 33 new officials of the executive branch in mass oathtaking held at the Rizal Hall of Malacañang Palace.
Among those who took their oaths were: Trade and Industry Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr.; Acting Assistant Secretary Jesus Lorenzo R. Mateo; Deputy Director General Margarita R. Songco of the National Economic and Development Authority for the National Development Office; Chief of Staff Benjamin Martinez Jr. of the Office of Vice President Binay; Vivian Sarabia, member of the Professional Regulations Commission, Optometry Board;
From the Department of Justice, sworn in were: Undersecretaries Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Antonio Fleta, Joel Rudinas, Claron Alcantara and Assistant Secretaries Dennis Araullo; Salvador Salacup, Eduardo Nolasco and Allan Quimson Umali.
From the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, those who their oaths were Undersecretary Atty. Ernesto Adobo Jr. and Peter Anthony Aguinaldo Abaya, General Manager/CEO of the Philippine Reclamation Authority.
From the Department of Transportation and Communication, the inductees were: Antonio Buendia Jr., president of the Philippine Aerospace Development Corp.; Atty. Rafael Rodriguez, Administrator of the Light Rail Transit Authority; Emerson Benitez, Deputy Administrator LRTA and Aproniano Boongaling Jr., board member of the Manila International Airport Authority.
For the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, inducted were: Francisco Manuel Gatmaitan Joaquin III, member of the board of directors; Jose Ferdinand Rojas, general manager.
For the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, sworn in were: Filinila Balitaan, assistant director general and Zenaida Brosas, assistant director general of the National Security Council.
For the Philippine Sports Commission who were accompanied by president Peping Cojuangco, sworn in were: Chairman Ricardo R. Garcia and Gillian Akiko Thomson-Guevarra, Salvador Andrada and Joaquin Loyzaga, commissioners.
The last to be inducted was Ambassador Miguel Alvarez Perez-Rubio, presidential chief protocol.
Palace ready to defend Truth Commission before SC
Malacanang today welcomed the petitions filed before the Supreme Court questioning the legality of the Truth Commission, saying the Solicitor General is ready to defend the case before the High Tribunal.
In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda expressed optimism that the government has sufficient legal basis to defend the commission’s existence and that the Aquino administration did not violate the 1987 Constitution.
“We welcome them. It’s a natural course for the opposition to do it and we are prepared to defend our case,” he said.
Lacierda was reacting to reports that members of the minority bloc, headed by Representative Edcel Lagman, has filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition asking the High Tribunal to nullify the Executive Order that created the Truth Commission.
Lacierda explained that the main objective in creating the Truth Commission, as mandated by Executive Order No.1, is to look for the total closure of all scandals in the past administration and identify the officials behind the Hello Garci tape and ZTE national broadband anomaly, among others.
“Let us put a closure to all of the controversies. This is the time for us to put all controversies behind. Hanapin natin kung sino ang mga may sala at kung ano talaga ang nangyari sa mga malalaking scandal at para matuto po ang pamahalaan na huwag ng ulitin ang mga ginawa noong nakaraang administrasyon, (Let us identify those behind the big scandals during the previous administration so that we can learn from these)” he said.
Lacierda told reporters that even during the last presidential campaign the President vowed for a resolution of the big scandals during the past administration.
He noted that the EO creating the Truth Commission was the very first order issued by President Benigno S. Aquino III when he assumed the presidency.
P-Noy declares Ninoy death anniversary a non-working holiday
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared Saturday, August 21, as a special non-working holiday in observance of the death anniversary of his father, the late Senator Benigno "Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr.
In a media briefing, Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Presidential Proclamation No. 13, which President Aquino signed last Aug. 11, adjusted the observance of Ninoy Aquino Day which should have been on Monday, August 23 following the Holiday Economics law.
Monday will remain a regular working day.
Lacierda said the President is not keen on modifying the Holiday Economics law but issued the proclamation, after consultations with his Cabinet officials to promote productivity and observe the solemnity of the late senator’s martyrdom.
Ninoy Aquino was assassinated at the airport tarmac upon his return from Boston on August 21, 1983.
“Observing Ninoy Aquino on August 21 instead of August 23 will avoid the imposition of unnecessary financial burden upon the employers, continuity of government, business and commercial transactions promote productivity, while at the same time preserve the solemnity of the observance,” the proclamation said.
Holiday economics was introduced by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2007 with the passage of Republic Act 9492 to allow Filipinos to spend more time with their families and spur domestic tourism.
Under R.A. 9492, a holiday that falls on a Wednesday will be observed on the Monday of the same week. If the holiday falls on a weekend, the holiday will be observed the following Monday.
Businessmen, however, have complained against the government's holiday economics policy as it requires them to double the pay of employees especially during holidays that were moved on Mondays.
Expected to benefit from the new proclamation are the more than three million non-regular workers employed during weekdays who fall under the “no work-no pay” policy of the private sector.
Aquino gov’t determined to put an end to Mindanao conflict
Malacanang expressed its determination to put an end to the decades-old conflict in Southern Philippines and finally achieve a long-lasting peace for Muslim-Filipinos.
In a press briefing on Thursday at Malacanang, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda stressed that the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III will definitely sit at the negotiating table to resume the stalled peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, after the Holy Feast of Ramadan or after Sept.9.
“There is no hesitancy on the part of government to pursue the peace talks after the Ramadan. We would like to assure the MILF that the government is sincere in its efforts to resume the peace talks. It’s just a matter of time. Let’s wait after the end of Ramadan and we assure the MILF that we are serious about pursuing the peace process,” Lacierda stressed.
According to Lacierda the Aquino administration is in the process of studying all the agreements concluded with the MILF and “from there the peace talks resumes.”
“Let me be clear, we are not starting from scratch. We recognized the past agreements; we are reviewing them; we are conducting due diligence on these agreements. So, we would like to tell our Muslim brothers that we are not starting from scratch,” he said.
Lacierda noted that the composition of the government peace panel will be completed by September, before the peace negotiations resume.
Earlier, Lacierda pointed out that the move of the President to appoint UP College of Law Dean Marvic Leonen as government’s chief negotiator signified his strong determination to resume talks with the MILF.
Peace negotiations between the government and the MILF were stalled in August 2008, following the aborted signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOAD) .
In his first State of the Nation Address before the joint session of the 15th Congress last July 26, the President expressed hope the peace talks would resume after the Ramadan and stressed that putting an end to the conflict in Mindanao is one of his priorities.
The Chief Executive had underscored the importance of seeking peaceful settlement to armed conflict that have hobbled development for the past 40 years.
