Aquino cites role of peace advocates
President Benigno S. Aquino III has cited the important role of peace advocates in his administration’s resolve to sustain development and achieve lasting peace particularly in the troubled parts of Mindanao.
In his message in celebration of the 7th National Peace Consciousness Month this September, the President said all the successes in the peace and development efforts in Mindanao have been achieved through the concerted efforts of peace advocates from the communities, civil society, non-government organizations, down to the common, compassionate Filipino “who believes in equality, good will, and the power of positive discourse.”
“Their solidarity demonstrated through active involvement in the dialogues, consultations, and other spaces for peace has provided us a staunch brace to sustain our work for peace and development,” he said.
The President said he will ensure that the collective voices of peace advocates will continue to be heard through responsive governance particularly in the revival of the talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which is set to take place this month.
“We have finally embarked on a journey of transformation—and this is a journey that necessarily entails the active involvement of every Filipino,” he said. “Together, let us break barriers and foster gains that will surely be remembered in the next peace months to come.”
The government peace panel, according to the Chief Executive is now ready to go back to the negotiating table with the MILF after the feast of Ramadan which ends this Friday.
In his State-Of-the-Nation Address (SONA) last July, the President said the voice of affected communities will be included in the peace efforts with the MILF and other rebel groups.
The theme for this year’s National Peace Consciousness Month is “People Power at the Heart of the Peace Process.” (PCOO)
Aquino vows to pursue fight vs corruption
President Benigno S. Aquino III vowed this morning to achieve the conditions set forth in the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals by vigorously pursuing his government’s fight against corruption.
In his speech keynoting the Stakeholder’s Step-Up Campaign Forum on the Philippines Millennium Development Goals at the DusitThani hotel in Makati City Wednesday, the President said that by combating and eventually eradicating corruption, the MDG funds are ensured of being effectively used for its intended purpose.
Upon entering the 21st century, leaders from both developed and developing countries gathered and agreed to achieve a set of concrete, measurable development objectives by 2015 through the adoption of the Millennium Declaration.
These objectives, known as the Millennium Development Goals are focused on addressing extreme poverty, lack of gainful employment opportunities, hunger, low access to education, gender inequality, prevalence of diseases and environmental degradation, among others.
The eight MDGs are: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership for development.
“We will do all these by remaining committed to our promise to fight corruption. Better governance, transparency and accountability will ensure more efficient use of funds for MDGs and will minimize leaks and waste in the use of public funds,” the President said.
He acknowledged, however, that the government cannot do all these alone.
“An aggressive effort in accomplishing the MDGs is vital. But we cannot do it alone. Reducing poverty, reaching universal primary education and improving maternal health are three areas that demand more attention, not just from the government, but from every Filipino citizen,” he added.
The President said that in his administration’s quest to end poverty, government agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development have come up with programs such as the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) and the Kapit-BisigLabansaKahirapan- Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) to help augment the Filipino family’s income.
He pointed out that both government programs have received staunch support from multi-national companies such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
The Chief Executive called on all Filipinos “to remain vigilant in serving as watchdogs of the government, keeping our campaign battle-cry alive: the end of corruption is the end of poverty.”
He appealed for their commitment in achieving the MDGs which he said “will help us free ourselves from the chains of poverty and fulfill the great potential of our nation.” (PCOO)
President Aquino receives progress report on UN’s Millenium Development Goals
President Benigno S. Aquino III received from Socio-Economic Planning Secretary CayetanoPaderanga, Jr. the fourth Progress Report on the Philippines’ compliance to the United Nations Millenium Development Goals during ceremonies held at the DusitThani Hotel in Makati City Wednesday morning.
In his speech keynoting the event, President Aquino underscored the importance of the MDGs and complying with its development objectives.
“The United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals have served as a blueprint for progress for many countries since the year 2000. The millenium goals are a reflection of humanity’s aspirations – to break the chains of ignorance and disease, poverty and injustice. To end in our new millennium, the millennia-old scourges of humankind,” he said.
The Philippines Fourth Progress Report on the Millenium Development Goals, according to President Aquino, is an important instrument in assessing where the country now stands as far as the MDG’s are concerned. This report, which contains data from 1990 to 2009, identifies the threats that remain, how to address them, and other efforts needed to focus on to fulfill the county’s commitment of realizing the MDGs by 2015.
In his report, Paderanga highlighted the need to accelerate the efforts to realize the goals that the country is lagging behind in, namely: poverty reduction, education and maternal health.
He stressed that the country has high probabilities of meeting the targets on reducing child mortality; promoting women empowerment; reversing the incidence of malaria and tuberculosis; and providing access to sanitary toilet facilities, which the country has already surpassed.
President Aquino said the government, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development has begun implementing poverty reduction programs such as the Conditional Cash Transfers and the Kapit-BisigLabansaKahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services to help augment a Filipino family’s income through the distribution of cash grants and livelihood projects, respectively.
The Fourth Progress Report will be presented by the President to the United Nations during the High Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs in New York on September 20-22.
The Summit was called by UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon to take stock of proven MDG initiatives and for governments to commit to a concrete action agenda to achieve the goals in the next five years. (PCOO)
Aquino to host dinner for Eid’lFitr on Sept.13
President Benigno S. Aquino III will host a belated dinner in celebration of Eid’lFitr in solidarity with Muslim Filipinos. The delay in holding the dinner is to give the Muslim leaders time to celebrate the feast with their families.
The President’s general relationship with the estimated 4.7 million Muslim Filipinos is based on the fact that majority of the Muslims nationwide voted for him during the 2010 presidential elections.
His parents, too, share a special closeness with the Muslims. Ninoy was the one who exposed the Jabidah Massacre while President Cory enshrined in the Philippine constitution the autonomy of Muslim Mindanao through the establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The dinner will be attended by national and local legislative and executive officials, civil society leaders and diplomats where halal (in conformance with the Koran) meal will be served.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the main celebration of Eid’lFitr is done during the Eid itself.
However, celebrations extend a few days after the end of Ramadan and this will be the first formal sit down dinner by President Aquino, Lacierda explained.
Ramadan is the month when Muslims observe a strict fast for a period of 12 hours daily, from sunrise to sunset. By fasting, the Muslims hope to strengthen their self restraint and develop piety. It is also a month of sacrifice and purification as the Muslims worldwide fast, pray and act with kindness towards the poor and less fortunate.
Eid’lFitr is the end of Ramadan. It is a great festival for Muslims when they visit their relatives and friends to celebrate the happy occasion much like Christmas for Christians.
Eid’lFitr is also called Hari Raya, a Malay term for “day of celebration. It is derived from Hari Raya Puasa, commonly used in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei but Eid’lFitr has a more universal application, Lacierda said.
Eid’lFitr is one of two Eids the Muslim world celebrates. Eid’l el Adha celebrates the performance of Hajj, which indicates compliance of two of the five pillars of Islam: fasting and pilgrimage. The other three are bearing testimony to the oneness of God, through five times daily prayers and giving of zakat, the Islamic tithes.
The Philippines recognizes Eid el Fitr as a regular holiday nationwide under Republic Act 9177 of Nov. 13, 2002. The law was enacted in deference to the Muslim Filipinos and to promote peace among major religions in the country. (PCOO)
Not all Cabinet men part of Aquino campaign -- Palace
Malacanang said today that President Benigno S. Aquino III cast a wide net in selecting members of his official family, pointing out that not all of them were part of his presidential campaign.
In a press briefing at Malacanang today, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda debunked critics’ claims that the President used cabinet positions to pay back political debts.
“Many people believe in his mission and his advocacy and it so happened that people who were in the campaign shared that same vision. It is very logical for a person to appoint people of like mind,” he said.
Lacierda cited Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo and Acting Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz who were not involved in any way in the campaign.
“So the president cast a wide net in looking for his cabinet officials, not necessarily related to him or who had helped during the campaign,” he stressed.
The Presidential Spokesperson stressed that the President with the help of the Search Committee looked for the most qualified person to head a particular department.
In another development, Lacierda assured that the Chief Executive will appoint a new Philippine National Police (PNP) chief who he believes will carry out the mandate of the PNP.
PNP Director-General Jesus Verzosa is set to retire on Sept. 14, or three months ahead of his mandatory retirement date. (PCOO)
MRT fare hike to depend on public consultation – Lacierda
The decision on how much fare increase should be imposed in Metro Rail Transit (MRT), one of the busiest social transport systems in the country, will depend on the result of the ongoing public consultation being conducted by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC).
In a press briefing on Wednesday, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda disclosed that there is an ongoing public hearing on the proposed MRT fare hike after the national government announced that it cannot forever subsidize the transport system’s low income performance.
Lacierda reiterated that the government move is an attempt to “even out” MRT’s resources as it is currently being subsidized by the government through the taxpayers’ money.
He assured however that any amount to be added in the existing MRT fare should be acceptable to the commuting public.
Lacierda stressed that the consensus of the riding public together with transport groups in a series of consultations will be carefully studied before they come up with a final decision.
The DOTC is already conducting a review on the mulled fare increase while Transportation and Communication Secretary Jose “Ping” de Jesus is holding a separate audit review of the MRT revenues from advertisements and its daily operations. (PCOO)
Aquino issues EO No. 7 rationalizing compensation for GOCC’s, GFI’s
In line with President Benigno S. Aquino III’s promise of transparency, accountability and prudence, the Chief executive issued Wednesday executive order no. 7 “directing the rationalization of the compensation and position classification system in government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC’s) and government financial institutions” (GFI’s).
The order indicated that supervision there will be strengthening in the supervision on the compensation level of GOCC’s and GFI’s “in order to control the grant of excessive salaries, allowances, incentives and other benefits”
The EO shall be guided by the following principles:
• All government personnel shall be paid just and equitable compensation in accordance with the principle of equal pay work of equal value
• The compensation of the government personnel shall generally be comparable with those in private sector doing comparable work in order to attract, retain and motivate a corps of competent civil servants
• The Compensation for government personnel shall be standardized and rationalized to create an enabling environment that will promote social justice, integrity, efficiency, productivity, accountability and excellence in the civil service.
• A performance based incentive scheme which integrates a personnel and organizational; performance shall be established to reward exemplary civil servants and well performing institutions
• A periodic review of the compensation and position classification system shall be conducted taking into account the changes in skills competency requirements and the possible erosion in the purchasing power due to inflation, and other factors
• The compensation of government personnel shall be kept fair and reasonable in recognition of fiscal realities and the personal services cost shall be maintained at a reasonable proportion of overall expenditures.
EO no. 7 also creates a task force on corporate compensation (TFCC) “to undertake the review of all remuneration granted to members of the board of directors/trustees, officers and rank and file employees”.
The task force is designated to prepare an updated inventory of the salaries, allowances, incentives of members of the board of director’s/trustees, officers and employees, likewise, categorizes all remuneration granted to members of the board of director’s/trustees, officers and employees of all GOCC’s and GFI’s and to recommend measures to rationalize the compensation system and the use of discretionary funds in specific GOCC’s and GFI’s.
The TFCC will be composed of the office of the President as chair with the department of budget and management, the department of finance and the civil service commission as members.
All GOCC’s and GFI’s are also expected to submit information on salaries, allowances, incentives on all of their personnel to the task force.
The EO also states that allowances, Bonuses and incentives of members of the board of directors/trustees of GOCC’s and GFI’s are suspended until December 31, 2010.
There will also be a Moratorium on increases in salaries, allowances, incentives and other benefits.(PCOO)
