Legal Affairs office assumes PAGC functions, says Ochoa
In line with the administration’s policy of stamping out corruption in the government and streamlining the bureaucracy for better efficiency, President Benigno S. Aquino III has signed Executive Order No. 13 formally transferring the functions of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) to the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs (ODESLA).
Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. said on Wednesday that the EO, which was signed Nov. 15, formally abolished the PAGC, one of 10 offices under the Office of the President (OP) which did not get any funding in the P4.075 billion budget it submitted to Congress for next year.
The other offices under OP which did not receive funding for next year because they duplicate the functions of line agencies and departments include the Mindanao Development Council, Office of the North Luzon Quadrangle Area, Office of External Affairs, Minerals Development Council, Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group, Luzon Urban Beltway Super Region, Bicol River Basin Watershed Management Project, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change, and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on New Government Centers.
“The PAGC is an example of the kind of redundancies we want to eliminate in government to allow us to better allocate our limited resources. It doesn’t make sense to have two or more government offices doing the same thing,” Ochoa explained. “It’s wasteful and inefficient.”
He said that personnel to be affected by the abolition of the PAGC would be able to avail of benefits under existing laws, and that his office would work with the Department of Budget and Management to ensure the smooth winding up of the PAGC’s activities, the deadline of which has been set for Dec. 31.
In addition to its Legal and Legislative Divisions, EO 13 creates the Investigative and Adjudicatory Division under ODESLA which shall be responsible for the investigative and adjudicative functions of the PAGC.
Assistant Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs Ronaldo A. Geron is the officer-in-charge of ODESLA. Geron has served the government in various capacities for over 20 years, including provincial administrator of Batangas and member of the provincial board.
Geron graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1987 and was admitted to the Bar in 1988. He also taught local governments, labor law and constitutional law at the University of Batangas. (PCOO)
Aquino joins call for sobriety between North, South Korea
President Benigno S. Aquino III has joined other nations today in calling for sobriety and an end to the renewed tension between North and South Korea which exchanged artillery fire Tuesday.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda echoed the President statement during a press briefing where he assured families and relatives of Filipinos working and residing in both countries that the government is closely monitoring the situation there.
The President, according to Lacierda has ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and other agencies concerned with migrant workers to implement precautionary measures to protect and ensure the safety of thousands of Filipino migrant workers in the Korean Peninsula.
“We are closely monitoring it and I have tasked the relevant agencies to review their plans concerning the safety of our citizens there,” the President said in a text message he sent to Malacanang reporters.
Lacierda said Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Louie Cruz has informed them that there are no plans yet of evacuation but certain precautionary measures had been undertaken.
DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Esteban Conejos informed the President that the DFA is prepared to evacuate all 60,000 Filipinos in South Korea if and when needed.
Lacierda noted that the constant tension in the Korean Peninsula that started with North Korea’s nuclear testing two years ago prompted the Philippine government to draw up a contingency plan that includes mobilizing an extensive network of Filipino community leaders in dangerous situations.
He admitted that the Chief Executive is convening his security officials, which include the National Security Council and the Department of National Defense this afternoon, to discuss in the Cluster meeting the immediate possible response of the Philippine government to the concerns of the Korean situation.
There are sixty thousand Filipino nationals in South Korea and only nine are working in North Korea. Of the nine Filipino nationals, five are working for the United Nations, and four are working for a foreign international tobacco company. (PCOO)
Malacañang says no need for Cabinet performance check
There is no need to conduct a performance check on the Cabinet nor set a date to assess performance in various government agencies.
Thus said Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda in a press briefing on Wednesday (Nov. 24) at Malacañang even as he emphasized that President Benigno S. Aquino III is in constant communication with his Cabinet officials on a daily basis to ensure that their performance are on track.
“Ang Pangulo naman patuloy ang trabaho, patuloy rin ang pag-a-assess niya at pagpupulong sa mga cabinet secretaries, on a daily basis nakikipag-usap sa kanyang mga kalihim. So, alam niya po kung ano ang ginagawa ng kanyang mga kalihim”, Lacierda said.
“May daily trabaho ang Pangulo, may daily assessment rin na ginagawa ang ating Pangulo, hindi po natin kailangan ng one final date, it’s being done on a regular basis and the President is aware of what each cabinet official is doing”, he added.
Lacierda was reacting to calls from critics to conduct a performance assessment of cabinet officials.
He said that critics will always find fault with the cabinet officials adding that they are exerting necessary efforts to ensure the delivery of services to the people.
“There are some people who will always find fault with the cabinet, as far as the cabinet members are concerned, we are performing our best”, Lacierda noted.
In fact, he said, the economy is doing well under their concerted efforts to push the Aquino administration’s programs particularly those that will address poverty and promote good governance.
Lacierda added that by next year, more programs on poverty alleviation will be in place pending the budget approval.
“Hopefully the budget will be approved within this year, once it is approved we can move forward and address all these concerns specifically on poverty reduction and promotion of good governance”, he stressed.
Lacierda also expressed commitment for Cabinet members to do better than their present standing.
“It’s always a constant call for us to improve and to serve better the needs of the Filipino people. We are fully aware of that, iyan po ang aming trabaho and that’s a commitment we intend to keep”, Lacierda said. (PCOO)
Aquino to SingTel execs: Support BPO industry
President Benigno S. Aquino III today urged top officials of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (Singtel) and its Philippine affiliate, Globe Telecom to support the country’s information and communication sector to further the growth of the business process outsourcing industry.
The President made the appeal during the courtesy call of the two firm’s top executive at the Premier Guest House of Malacañang.
Among his callers were Chua Sock Koong, group CEO; Paul O’ Sullivan, Chief Executive of the Sing Tel Optus Mobile; Hui Weng Cheong, CEO International (Designate); Jeann Low, Group Financial Officer; Koh Kah Sek, Group Treasurer, all of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. And Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman/CEO of Ayala Corp. and Ayala subsidiary, Globe Telecom Inc. president/CEO Ernest Cu.
Chua assured the President that Sing Tel remains committed to building its presence in the Philippines. For one, its local affiliate, Globe, is currently testing the Long Term Evolution (LTE), broadband technology a high performance air interface for cellular mobile’s that run at higher speeds and capacity.
The Sing Tel group’s footprint covers over 2 billion people across Asia and Africa, serving 36 million mobile customers in 25 countries. Aside from Globe, Sing Tel affiliates and subsidiaries include Australia’s Optus, Advanced Info Service (AIS) of Thailand, India’s Bharti Airtel and PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel) of Indonesia.
The LTE trials demonstrate the strong cooperation among companies in the Sing Tel Group to develop products and services for the region. LTE will open doors to new and more powerful mobile solutions that will transform the way customers connect to each other. The regional trials underscore Sing Tel and its affiliates’ commitment to provide customers with more innovative and relevant services, Chua said.
Given the reality that 90 percent of the Philippine population use mobile phones, the broadband medium bears great potential to bridge the digital divide, where fixed line tele-density is a mere 5 percent and only 30 percent of Filipinos have access to the internet (largely via internet cafes) and barely 10 percent own personal computers that would enable such access, said Globe president Cu.
The LTE trials have had successes among equipment suppliers like NEC of Japan and Alcatel-Lucent of France and the United States. Vendors around the world can be expected to join the fray and compete for operators’ business by setting up or strengthening their local presence and operations, thereby creating jobs and knowledge.
The Philippines, being a recognized leader in the global BPO community, prompts companies like Globe to invest heavily in addressing the telecommunication requirements of BPO giants in various economic zones. Globe is well prepared to serve the local and international connectivity requirements of the BPO industry through its current two fiber-optic backbones nationwide.
Globe said it has so far invested several undersea cable systems like TGN-IA worth $90 million and SJC amounting to $60 million as well as cable landing stations. It said its partnership with foreign operators gives the company flexibility and capacity to provide customers with competitively-priced, reliable, top-class international connectivity. (PCOO)
Aquino gets Lee Kuan Yew book from Anvil officers
President Benigno S. Aquino III received on Wednesday a book authored by Singaporean statesman Lee Kuan Yew after inducting the officers of the 2010-211 Anvil Business Club at the Rizal Ceremonial Hall of Malacanang.
The Anvil Business Club, founded by 17 Filipino Chinese entrepreneurs in 1981, and had grown to 150 members made up of young, successful businessmen who espouse private enterprise, economic progress and traditional Confucian values.
The inductees said they gave President Aquino Lee’s personal memoirs of his rule in Singapore entitled “From Third World to First World” because they find several similarities between Lee and the President.
As one of Anvil’s founder, Wilson Lee, also a columnist of the Philippine Star and three-time president of the Club said: “President Noy is just like Lee Kuan Yew who is incorruptible and led his country from poverty to prosperity.”
Flores said President Aquino is incorruptible just like the Singaporean statesman, who was the first prime minister of the port state from 1959 to 1990.
Those inducted were: Daniel Ching, chairman; Stefan Tong, president; Roy Chua, executive vice president; Henry Ong, VP-Finance; Kenneth Hung, Warren So, Barnaby Chong, Jorge Ting, all vice presidents; and board of directors namely Jensen Chan, Marcelo Co, Kenneth Dee, Henry Kho, Jovenson Ong, Robert Marie Sy, William Villanueva and Reginald Yu. (PCOO)
