Aquino says Filipinos innate talent fuels nation’s progress
President Benigno S. Aquino III cited the innate talent among Filipinos, particularly their creativity which, he said, fuels the progress of the nation.
In his keynote address during the 13th Cycle Philippine Quality Awards (PQA) Conferment Ceremony on Thursday at the Rizal Hall of Malacañang Palace, the Chief Executive noted the Filipino workers’ natural talents that make them exceptional among others in the world.
“Our inventiveness and attentiveness to our respective crafts are our core competence that sets us apart from the world and gives us advantage over others”, the President noted.
The President expressed gratitude to the awardees for their efforts that paralleled the programs of the government in preserving and utilizing the positive traits of every Filipino worker giving them a good reputation they deserve in the eyes of the world as well as in the eyes of local entrepreneurs.
“In effect it takes us closer to our goal that progress is felt by all, across every strata of society”, he added.
In congratulating the awardees, President Aquino challenged them to aim higher towards a level that every Filipino is capable of reaching.
The President assisted by Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo and the PQA officers, awarded the 2010 PQA Recognitions to three recipient organizations, namely, Sunpower Philippines Manufacturing Limited, Mariwasa Siam Manufacturing, Inc. and RCM Manufacturing, Inc.
Khun Surasak Kraiwitchaicharoen, president of Mariwasa Siam and Khun Jiraphat Oebchokchai, vice president for manufacturing received the PQA Recognition for Commitment to Quality Management (Level 1) for Mariwasa Siam Ceramics, Inc. while Dr. Joel Beltran, country manager of Philips Healthcare and Ellison John Centeno received the PQA Recognition for Commitment to Quality Management (Level 1) for RCM Manufacturing.
Surinder Bedi, vice president for global quality and customer satisfaction together with Ralph Robinett, managing director received the PQA Recognition for Commitment to Quality Management (Level 2) for Sunpower Philippines.
The three companies have proven that Philippine organizations can attain the highest level of quality and business excellence comparable to world-class organizations here and abroad.
The PQA is a national performance excellence program that recognizes achievements of public and private organizations in their journey towards organizational performance excellence. Patterned after the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program of the United States, the PQA is the highest award given to a Philippine organization. It sets a global standard to help local organizations achieve a world-class performance and serve as a template for competitiveness based on the principles of Total Quality Management. (PCOO)
Economic team flies to Japan for investment road show next week
The economic team of President Benigno S. Aquino III flies to Japan next week for a road show presentation to attract Japanese businessmen to invest in the Philippines.
This was disclosed by Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo in an ambush interview at the side lines of the Philippine Quality Awards at the Rizal Hall in Malacanang where he also noted a very high level of interest among foreign investors in the Philippines.
Aside from Domingo those joining the road show are Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and newly-confirmed Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras and one representative of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco.
Domingo said the road show will just be a general presentation to the investors on the benefits of investing in the Philippines, including the attractive business environment and level playing field for businesses; the priority sectors that are being pushed and how we could increase our exports to them and increase their investments in our country.
He said there are six priority sectors to be pushed in the road show; namely, tourism, the business process outsourcing call centers; electronics, manufacturing, mining, agriculture and housing. (PCOO)
No need for ‘crime czar’ – Palace
Malacañang on Thursday said it saw no need for President Benigno S. Aquino III to appoint a crime czar to address the recent spate of criminal activities in the country.
In a press briefing in Malacañang this afternoon, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the President was satisfied with the performance of local authorities in addressing criminality.
“We don’t need a crime czar. We have PNP Director General Raul Bacalzo overseeing the (country’s) peace and order, we have the AFP (under Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ricardo David, Jr.), we have the National Security Adviser (Cesar Garcia),” Lacierda said.
“Everybody reports to the President,” he added. (PCOO)
Palace urges Filipinos to rally behind Aquino gov’t
Malacañang appealed to the public to rally behind the administration and ignore the noisy minority that politicizes issues to discredit the government.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda made the appeal in a press briefing on Thursday in Malacañang amid statements hurled by critics of the Aquino Administration that it ignored earlier warnings on terror attacks.
“Remember and review the past and stop politicizing the issue here,” Lacierda said.
He added that the best way to answer the “noisy minority” is through statistics that show a general decrease on the crime statistics.
Lacierda noted that in terms of the crime volume, in 2009, there were 502,665 recorded cases compared to 2010, when the number of cases were down to 296,059, or a decrease by 41.1%.
On index crimes, in 2009, there were 301,703 cases compared to 2010 statistics that showed the number of cases were down to 187,190, or by 37.96%.
For kidnap for ransom, in 2009, there were 57 cases while in 2010, there were 41, or down by 28.07%. On murder cases, in 2009, there were 9,348 while in 2010, 8,759, or down by 6.3%.
Carnapping incidents went down by 37% in 2010.
Lacierda stressed that the government did not ignore the warning although the information was raw.
“The government took certain measures to make sure these attacks will not happen,“ he said.
Lacierda said that immediately after travel advisories were issued on Nov. 3, 2010, target hardening measures were in place --- the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines were on heightened alert while the National Capital Region Police Office has increased police visibility and deployed police in malls, hotels and commercial establishment, and additional foot patrols and K-9 units have also been deployed in LRT and MRT lines.
In view of the recent bus bombing incident at the Edsa-Buendia on Tuesday, Lacierda said the PNP will put marshals in public transport to ensure public safety. (PCOO)
Ochoa: Gov’t coordinating efforts in the war against terror
Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. on Thursday assured that the government was doing every effort to keep the public safe and urged the people to do their share by staying vigilant.
“While we are seriously concerned about the bombing, which definitely by design or not is terrifying, the Philippine National Police together with other agencies concerned like the intelligence community and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are already on top of the situation as they have been in the past,” Ochoa said.
“Rest assured that these will be resolved with reasonable dispatch and expediency. No cause for panic. Our citizens should be more vigilant though in assisting in every way the government in these efforts,” Ochoa added.
Ochoa said the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), which he chairs, had been updating policies since the Aquino Administration took over last year to better address the current terror threats, as well as the historical facts that prompted these activities.
The Executive Secretary also disclosed that he had started the reorganization and reengineering of ATC offices to conform to a program-based approach and enhance the performance of the agency’s mandate under the Human Security Act.
Under the new setup, ATC will be managed by a program management center headed by an executive director, whose primary task is to focus on “enhanced intelligence fusion, target hardening and consequence management,” Ochoa said.
The council will have a lean structure and will be composed of key program offices, where specific government agencies shall coordinate all government efforts in the war against terror, he said. (PCOO)
