Black Eyed Peas artist calls on Aquino
Filipino-American rap artist Allan Pineda Lindo Jr., more popularly known as apl.de ap of the famous American group “Black Eyed Peas” paid a courtesy call on President Benigno S. Aquino III Thursday morning at the Premier Guest House of Malacañang and discussed several charitable projects which he intends to initiate.
One of these projects, he said, is the “Second Room Program” wherein additional classrooms will be built through his APL Foundation in cooperation with private entities for the Filipino school children particularly in Pampanga where he was born and raised.
Apart from the school buildings, the project will also provide reading materials to the students as well as other components in a formal library.
Lindo said he has allotted one hundred thousand US dollars (US$100,000) as initial funding for the project. Efforts, according to him will be exerted to find more sponsors to ensure its sustainability and success.
The US-based rap artist said he will be home anew on the 25th of February next year to take part in the celebration of the Edsa Revolution. Lindo expressed willingness to compose a song for the country’s historical celebration.
As a token of gratitude, Lindo gave a copy of his latest album entitled “It’s the Beginning” to President Aquino, who himself is a music lover.
At present, Lindo is conducting a series of benefit shows around the country in preparation for the said projects.
Apl.de.ap was born in Sapang Bato, Angeles City in Pampanga, to a Filipino mother and an African American father.
At age 14 he was adopted by an American family and moved to Los Angeles. Soon after, he met 13-year-old William Adams (will.i.am), and the two struck up a musical friendship that later became the foundation of the hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas.
The Black Eyed Peas eventually became internationally famous, winning Grammys in 2005, 2006, and 2007, making apl.de.ap the first Filipino to receive this honor. (PCOO)
Aquino to sign 2011 budget on Dec. 27
President Benigno S. Aquino III is signing on Monday, Dec. 27, the P1.64 trillion budget for 2011 in Malacanang. The President will deliver a statement after the signing in the presence of congressmen and senators.
This was announced by Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda in a media briefing in Malacanang on Wednesday.
The Senate and House of Representatives approved the budget on Dec. 13 and 14, respectively.
The early approval of the budget will enable the government to embark on its infrastructure and social projects as early as the first quarter of 2011.
The budget includes an additional allocation of P300 to P400 million to the Senate and another P50 million to the House, restoring their respective budgets in the 2010 General Appropriations Act (GAA). These were earlier slashed by the President as part of belt tightening measures.
It also includes P200 million additional funds for the Office of Vice President Jejomar Binay, which was earlier cut from P195 to P177 million.
The amount for maintenance and other operating expenditure of the state colleges and universities (SUCs) were restored to their 2010 levels—between P110 and P140 million. However the approved budget does not have allocation for capital outlay.
Called the Reform Budget, the 2011 GAA is said to mirror the President’s commitment to lift the nation from poverty through honest and effective governance, according to Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad earlier.
The education sector had the biggest increase of P750 million to enable it to hire 5,000 new teachers. The P83 million appropriation for the Truth Commission, which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, was retained pending the appeal of the executive branch.
The allocation for the Department of Health’s program to purchase contraceptives was slashed from P932 million to less than half of its original amount. The budget for the health secretary was reduced by P200 million along with the budget of the Philippine National Police, which was slashed by P60 million.
The conditional cash transfer program under the Department of Social Welfare and Development amounting to P21.9 billion passed through the bicameral committee without cuts.
The President earlier said that the spending plan was crafted after a thorough review of the government’s programs and projects, and after he and the Cabinet have arrived at priorities to address critical gaps in social services for the poorest of the poor.
“The 2011 National Budget focuses on funds where they are most needed and where these will yield the most benefits. We have redesigned the budget to ensure that every centavo will be put to good use,” he said, noting that the budgetary increase from 2010 is only 6.8 percent.
The President earlier stressed that the 2011 budget is anchored on these basic governance principles: transparency and accountability to make government productive; bias in allocating resources for the poor and the vulnerable; fiscal responsibility to reduce debt; public-private partnerships to spur growth despite lack of funds; and zero-based budgeting to prioritize activities with impact. (PCOO)
Cabinet men submit reports to PMS
In keeping with tradition, members of the Cabinet of President Benigno S. Aquino III were required to submit their respective “accomplishment reports” for the year 2010 by the Presidential Management Staff.
In a briefing on Thursday at Malacanang, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said many members of the Cabinet have complied with the requirement of PMS.
Lacierda told reporters that the Presidential Communications Group will come out with a yearend report and the President’s message for the New Year.
The President met with his communications group on Friday to discuss the various reports to be presented to the people, the New Year’s message and some sort of Ulat sa Bayan in January. The Ulat will detail what the Aquino administration will do for the entire 2011, Lacierda stressed.
He said there is no planned Cabinet meeting before the end of 2010 “because we already met during the Christmas party.”
The President prefers to divide the Cabinet into clusters instead of as an entire body “so as not to waste the time of other Cabinet members who are not involved in a particular cluster.”
The accomplishment report that Cabinet members are submitting to the PMS “will be a benchmark for what we did from the past six months.”
“It’s important for us to know where we came from, what we are doing now and what we are doing in the future because we need to also mesh the 16-point social contract of the President during the campaign with the medium-term priority development plan. That’s what we are working on,” Lacierda said.
Foremost among the rewarding experiences of the administration is the ability to help people directly which emphasizes on the eradication of graft and corruption and poverty alleviation. “We have an example in the person of the President, who really epitomizes honesty and integrity and that’s why we are inspired to serve in government.”
Lacierda also noted that the high rating of the President is due to the impact of his poverty alleviation projects such as the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.
“Our campaign platform of eradication of graft and corruption and poverty reduction have gained the respect of the public for the Aquino administration,” Lacierda said.
He added that the Department of Social Welfare and Development has identified the poorest of the poor where the CCT will be pushed. “In some areas, we are already delivering the CCT and it’s working. That could account for the rise also of the confidence of the D and E sectors to the administration,” Lacierda said. (PCOO)
Palace asks Supreme Court to reconsider decision on Truth Commission
Malacañang on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its December 7 decision declaring the Truth Commission unconstitutional, arguing that its creation does not violate the equal protection clause.
In the motion for reconsideration (MR) filed by Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz, he said Executive Order No. 1 is not in violation of the equal protection clause because (1) the language of executive order shows that there is no intent to unfairly discriminate against the previous administration, (2) the Truth Commission does not single out specific individuals but refers to questionable transactions in the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and (3) there is no invidious classification of the transactions during the previous administration since this is based on substantial distinctions that make for real differences.
The MR likewise argues that since the Supreme Court has already ruled that the President has the power to investigate to ensure that laws are faithfully executed, the high tribunal cannot prescribe the subject, purpose, and manner of such investigation.
Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. said Malacañang filed the MR because it wants to exhaust all legal remedies available before considering the other options raised by members of the Palace legal team.
“We will attempt to make our case before the High Court before we look at other options with regard to investigating the alleged acts of corruption mentioned in the said E.O.,” Ochoa said. (PCOO)
