Palace keeps hands off impasse on Ombudsman case
Malacanang is keeping its hands off the impasse between the judiciary and the legislative branch anent the impeachment proceedings on Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
Newly-designated Deputy Spokesperson Abigail de la Fuente-Valte said in a press briefing that although the Palace is concerned with the issue between the two branches, it still respects their independence.
“Is not proper to intervene. As co-equal branches of the government, they’re separate and entitled to do what their leadership thinks is best,” she said
The Supreme Court yesterday, with a vote of 8-3, suspended impeachment proceedings against Gutierrez and asked for a status quo on the case.
Gutierrez filed on Monday a petition for certiorari and prohibition with prayer for a temporary restraining order or writ of injunction. She urged the High Tribunal to stop the committee on justice headed by Rep. NielTupas from hearing two impeachment complaints filed against her by former Akbayan representative RisaHontiverosBaraquel and the progressive group BagongAlyansangMakabayan (BAYAN).
Tupas, from reports yesterday, said that his committee would proceed with the impeachment hearings scheduled on Sept. 28 and 29 in defiance of the SC order and warned of a constitutional crisis.
De la Fuente-Valte said that it is still too early to consider that the impasse will lead to such a crisis as the leadership of both branches are open to talks. (PCOO)
Aquino optimistic over foreign investments
CEBU CITY: “There is renewed interest among foreign businessmen to invest in the Philippines,” President Benigno S. Aquino III told some 120 local business leaders and economic managers here.
In his message at the Regional Economic Managers’ Briefing and Dialogue held on Wednesday at the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Hotel here, the Chief Executive said the reinvigorated confidence of the international financial community and the bullishness of businessmen on the Philippines can be attributed to his determination to get rid of corruption, propel the economic engine to prosperity, and achieve political stability.
The President further said that some of the business leaders who were turned off by the corruption and uncertainty in the economy and politics over the last decade have expressed a desire to invest again in the Philippines as evidenced by the recent business trip of his economic managers in the U.S.
“The prognosis is very, very good, that we can offer a better business environment for the investors,” he stressed.
For one, the President said, there are positive signs of economic recovery early on in his administration as he cited the bullish performance of the Philippine Stock Market index Monday closed at 3,972.60, so far the highest in the Philippine Stock Exchange’s history.
The President also cited last week’s resounding success of the first-ever peso denominated global bond float where the government sold 44.109 billion pesos worth of 10-year Philippine Peso Global Bonds. He added the maiden issue was 13 times oversubscribed.
According to the President several portfolio investments are on the table such as investors who want to build an expressway from Manila that will pass through Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, until Cagayan Valley, thus will save government billions of pesos that can be used to fund needed social services.
For Cebu province and the rest of the Central Visayas region, the President said his administration continues to strive to enhance the business climate in the area.
He pointed out that the infrastructure projects to help boost the tourism industry in the region are among the potential public-private partnership projects. Among these are the redevelopment and upgrading of the Mactan International Airport, where a new instrument landing system will be installed in the next few months, and eight new air bridges will be bidded out in order to finally retire and replace the old ones.
A cold chain system from Mindanao to Cebu and Manila will also be established.
The President noted that with these projects coming to reality with the help of the private sector, tourist arrivals in the region will significantly increase and thus provide the country a more successful entrepreneurship.
For the power situation in the region, he assured them that the government is addressing the problem of the power shortage.
Plans are also underway for the possible liberalization of the air transport sector to make it easier for people to visit Cebu and other parts of the country.
“You can count on us to do our part,” the President empathically said.
The Regional Economic Managers Briefing intends to inform the industry leaders on the economic plan of the new administration and at the same time provide an opportunity for key business leaders to have a meaningful dialogue with the President. (PCOO)
Aquino vows to improve Conditional Cash Transfer program
CEBU CITY: President Benigno S. Aquino III vowed to improve the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program and make it more effective for the benefit of the most vulnerable members of society.
In his message at the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s PantawidPamilyang Pilipino Program on Wednesday at the Cebu Coliseum here, the Chief Executive said he is aware of complaints on payment issues such as lower-entitlement and no cash in card, missing names in the payroll list or delay in the delivery of cash grants---which are hindrances to the program’s objectives.
“I am happy to report that we are fine-tuning the mechanisms of this initiative. We will solve these problems, undo the bottlenecks, and make this program more effective,” the President said.
The President told the program beneficiaries that the DSWD is implementing the National Household Targeting System to identify the families that most urgently need assistance in order to ensure that social funds are spent wisely on the most vulnerable members of our society.
“A well-targeted CCT program will truly afford the poor’s opportunity to enjoy basic human services that were once extremely difficult to avail,” he added.
The President also said that the FY2011 proposed budget will fund urgently needed programs on education, health and job generation.
In the said budget, P 21.2 billion was allocated for CCT which will be distributed to 2.3 million household beneficiaries.
The 4Ps is a poverty reduction and social development program that provides conditional cash grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education, particularly of children aged 0-14.(PCOO)
Aquino urges volunteers to help in nation’s transformation
President Benigno S. Aquino III urged all his campaign volunteers in the May 10 elections, to work harder and share their time and energy in his efforts to bring success and development not only in the province of Cebu but in the entire country.
In his speech during a meeting with students and campaign volunteers at the Cebu Coliseum on Wednesday, the President said development should not only be focused in Manila but also in provinces like Cebu, by taking advantage of the booming export and Information and technology industry.
“We must work together to achieve this province’s great potential. I ask you to work harder and share your time and energy. I ask you to be volunteers, whose sole reward will be our success as a nation,” he said.
The President recalled that the spirit of volunteerism was greatly felt during the campaign—from the production of pins and fliers, to securing the ballots, to participating in different sorties while some volunteers even used money from their own pockets.
“I hope that these selfless deeds will carry on beyond the campaign period. Let us find more ways to help further our agenda,” he said noting that by doing simple things like paying taxes, following traffic rules, disposing of litter properly and not paying bribes are just some of the small things they can do.
He assured them that his administration is eager to cooperate with them in order to achieve the agenda of transforming the nation.
The President said that through their commitment, their partnership will not fail. “Let us build on what we have started. You can count on me to fulfill my mandate: I will lead you, and I will not fail the trust you have bestowed upon me, from which I continue to draw my strength,” he added.
The President reminded them that winning in the election is not the end of their victory but only the beginning of the Yellow Army’s battle to combat poverty and bring back the trust and confidence of the neighboring countries lost due to the rampant corruption of the past regime.
“There are many problems that we need to resolve. The corruption that we inherited from the previous administration needs to be eliminated. We must remain true to our slogan “Kung walang corrupt, walangmahirap.” As I have said, the real challenge lies in governance, which would translate our campaign promises into action,” the President said. (PCOO)
DOST beefs up systems capability for rainy season
The Department of Science and Technology said it has already beefed up its technical capabilities to forecast weather disturbances and floods.
The assurance was given by Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo during a media briefing in Malacanang where he said the weather bureau can now issue five-day forecasts that can be easily understood by the public.
Montejo said the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration-DOST is maintaining 59 synoptic stations, the most recent of which was installed in Sorsogon. Synoptic stations are manned weather observation stations doing 24/7 observations and reporting directly all information to the National Weather Forecasting Center.
Montejo said the DOST is confident about giving two-hour warning and that it already has a solution to prevent a flood similar to the one spawned by typhoon Ondoy last year. This he said is now in the final stages of validation. The system according to him will not cost billions of pesos to operate.
The technology he said is a rehabilitation of an old equipment with new components manufactured by the department.
Montejo claimed weather forecasting is an exact science because it follows the path of a low pressure. “We have to have the data as to where the low pressure is forming and its movement. Such data must be 6 to 12 hours before a storm makes a landfall.
The World Bank, recently granted the Philippine government a $50 million loan for the Marikina-Pasig River flood monitoring system, which can be fabricated locally.
Montejo said the current chief of PAGASA, Nathaniel Servando, is the number one weatherman.
Although a lot of weather forecasters have left for higher paying jobs abroad, the weather bureau was able to hire 10 new ones with masters degree from Ateneo. What the agency lacks are professors to train future meteorologists.
Right now, Montejo said, there are enough men to man the weather stations and the people manning the stations evaluate the data produced by the machines.
By end of 2010, seven Doppler radars will be completed to augment the two Dopplers already in operation, one in Baguio City and the other in Baler, Aurora. This month, the Doppler machine of Subic will be put in operation. SBMA Doppler will be used to monitor the weather system in the Metro Manila area and vicinity. This machine will be very useful when a tropical cyclone will directly hit Metro Manila in the coming months.
Montejo said that with the 43 automatic weather stations, the DOST can gather observational information as frequently as 10 minutes because of the existing communication system. It transmits automatically the observed weather parameters on real time to the national forecasting center. (PCOO)
