Aquino issues AO No. 6 organizing the Inter- Agency Energy Contingency Committee
President Benigno S. Aquino III issued Administrative Order (AO) No. 6 organizing the Inter-Agency Energy Contingency Committee (IECC) tasked to ensure the continuous adequate and stable supply of petroleum and other energy sources in the country.
The President signed AO No. 6 on Thursday, in view of recent developments in the Middle East specifically in oil-rich Libya, a factor considered as one of the causes of the soaring oil prices in the world market.
AO No. 6 states that although there is no imminent danger of oil supply disruption in the country, the President deemed it prudent to organize the IECC as a “precautionary measure to ensure that the necessary preparations are in place in the event the situation deteriorates.”
It further states that the coordination among all government agencies is essential in the evaluation of the country’s existing contingency plan and its effective implementation in case the need arises.
The IECC will be composed of the Departments of Energy, Finance, Budget and Management, Justice, Trade and Industry, Agriculture, National Defense, Interior and Local Government, Transportation and Communications, Foreign Affairs, the National Economic and Development Authority and the National Security Council.
The Department of Energy shall be the lead agency and the Secretary shall be the IECC Chair. The departments and the government agencies will be represented by their respective heads or an alternate representative with the rank of undersecretary.
The IECC shall perform the following responsibilities with regard to the evaluation and enhancement of the existing contingency plan to undertake a comprehensive audit of available resources of their respective agencies; validate its viability; assess the need to operationalize the proposed plan; and, submit reports to the Office of the President.
The President likewise directed the IECC members to perform the following responsibilities:
The Department of Energy shall provide the over-all direction in the enhancement of existing policies and guidelines while the Department of Finance shall ensure that proposed plans are consistent with the government’s fiscal policies.
The Department of Budget and Management shall identify procedures for the utilization and reallocation of funds consistent with existing rules and regulations of the Commission on Audit.
On the other hand, The Department of Justice shall ensure that the proposed plans are consistent with existing laws, rules and regulations while the Department of Trade and Industry shall monitor the effects of prices of other commodities as a result of any supply disruption and provide measures to remedy the same.
The Department of Agriculture shall provide information and represent the concerns of the agricultural sector with respect to the effects of any supply disruption.
The Department of National Defense shall integrate the proposed IECC plans with that of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and the Department of Interior and Local Government shall consult and coordinate with all local government units and the Philippine National Police relative to the proposed plans.
The Department of Transportation and Communications shall be responsible for providing effective representation of the transport sector and coordination with all transport organizations.
The Department of Foreign Affairs shall provide linkages with the international community for up-to-date information on global developments while the National Economic and Development Authority shall give advise on the possible socio-economic impact of the IECC plans and ensure its alignment with the country’s economic policy.
The National Security Council shall advise on matters affecting national security and energy security.
The other departments and government offices and agencies, including government-owned and controlled corporations shall also extend assistance and support to the IECC. (PCOO)
Ochoa: PCGG remits P100-M to National Treasury
Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. said on Friday the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) had remitted a total of P100 million to the Bureau of Treasury under its six-month-old leadership.
Citing a report by PCGG Chairman Andres Bautista to President Benigno Aquino III, Ochoa said the amount turned over to the National Treasury was for the account of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), which funding, under the law, is sourced from cash and proceeds from recovered ill-gotten wealth amassed by the Marcoses and their cronies.
The Executive Secretary noted that the PCGG’s remittance came from the various accounts of the commission that were no longer subject of any pending litigation.
“The Commission is now led by a new batch of brilliant lawyers who comprise a young, dynamic and courageous team. Taking cue from this positive development, we are confident that our pursuit of plundered wealth, stashed away everywhere and anywhere in this country and the entire world, can be recovered and be returned to the collective purse of our country,” Ochoa said.
According to Bautista, the money was remitted to the Bureau of Treasury on February 28, in time for the commission’s 25th anniversary celebration, and came from certain escrowed deposit accounts, “which upon our review are not subject of any pending cases and as such may now be rightfully remitted to the National Treasury.”
“A new day has definitely dawned on the PCGG, and we have seen the signs of a reinvigorated commission which has recaptured the organization’s original vision and energy for good governance,” Ochoa said.
“The PCGG’s task as a commission, therefore, has a futuristic value. Then PCGG will be needed more than ever. It shall have proven to everyone that it has not outlived its usefulness,” he added. (PCOO)
Aquino thanks people of Silay-Bacolod for overwhelming support in May 2010 polls
SILAY, Negros Occidental: President Benigno S. Aquino III returned to Silay City, this province to thank the local residents for giving him their overwhelming support during the last May 2010 elections.
As a token of his appreciation, the President packed his schedules here with activities dedicated to the poor people of Western Visayas with whom he will interact such as the distribution of livelihood loans, conditional cash transfer certificates, Philhealth cards, the ground breaking and lowering of the time capsule for the expansion of the Teresita Jalandoni Hospital and the distribution of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino (PPP) loans to poor families.
In his speech before the business forum on Friday at the L’Fisher Hotel, the Chief Executive said the recent years has been very good to the province, better known as the “city of smiles” and that its people has every right to be all smiles.
The President said the sugar industry has had a resurgence and has been doing very well; the business process outsouring industry has been growing quite quickly including an unprecedented growth in the small and medium enterprises.
But, he said, the biofuel program, harnessing ethanol from sugarcane, requires a balance between sugar for food or fuel.
On the fuel-energy program, the President said he inherited a big mess in the jathropa program, where a lot of local government units have borrowed loans and “we have to fix up this mess.”
“As everyone here knows, the jathropa industry has not been proven as such in any part of the world,” the President said stressing that he inherited a lot of wasted funds on this program.
Joining the President in the economic forum at L’Fisher Hotel here, were Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Trade and Industry Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, Health Secretary Enrique Ona, and Social Welfare, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Diwa Gunigundo, NEDA Regional Director Roan Bacal, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo and Development Secretary Corazon Dinky Soliman and the President’s chief trouble shooter, Mar Roxas and Chairman Bitay Lacson of the Government Service Insurance System.
According to the President, the economy is booming because of a clear vision by his team, which is to create an environment where businesses rise and the economy continues to grow. “But we must make sure that the growth is more widely felt,” he said.
“Simply put, private sector empowerment plus a government that is committed to growth and programs is equal to a vigorous growth.” He noted that the government is working overtime to ensure a business environment that allows even more economic investments and growth.
“We want to make it easier for businesses to grow. So we have reviewed the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s tax rulings; we have reduced the requirements for the processing of transactions at the DPWH from 15 documents to just 8. This is what we do for businesses on a very general level,” he said.
In Bacolod for instance, businesses are more concerned about specific areas like sugar, biofuels, BPOs, aquaculture, SMEs, cooperative empowerment.
The government has expressed its commitment to the bioethanol industry which is why DOE Secretary Almendras has been consulting with ethanol producers to be blended with gasoline. “We are doing this in a way that will benefit both producers and consumers,” the President said.
Likewise, the government will invest in post harvest such as drying and warehouse facilities to ensure better returns for cane and other agricultural crops produced in the region. The President mentioned the agri-finance program, which he said, will finance the rehabilitation of existing irrigation facilities and the construction of new ones.
“In this project, we expect to produce an additional 1.56 million metric tons of palay every year, significantly increasing our annual production,” he said.
The President pointed out that the administration is doing everything it can to sustain the growth but the favorable figures in the economic report can only be meaningful when the hungry are fed, children are sent back to school and improved educational facilities that would meet the labor market requirements.
“Economic progress is just the first step. The more meaningful step is to remove the millions of Filipinos from poverty and ignorance and provide them with a lot of opportunities to grow and improve their lives, through the conditional cash transfer program (which has been expanded from 1.1 million families last year to 2.3 million by the end of 2011), expanding the Philhealth coverage of an estimated 4.3 million poor Filipinos of which only 40 percent being able to see a doctor or visit a health center in a year, upgrading and building more schools and classrooms, hiring more teachers and other initiatives,” he said.
This administration will spend every waking hour to ensure that democracy works for everyone, the President concluded. (PCOO)
PHL asks China to explain recent incident in West Palawan
The Philippines has asked the People’s Republic of China to explain Wednesday’s incident in the west Palawan area involving two Chinese patrol boats entering Philippine territorial waters and ordering an oil exploration vessel to leave.
“We are in conversation with our Chinese friends and we are seeking an explanation from them. I would prefer to leave it at that,”
Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto del Rosario said in a press briefing in Malacanang Friday.
Del Rosario stressed the area was well within the Philippine territory.
The Philippine military said that the Chinese patrol boats approached the oil explorers, and ordered them to stop and leave the area claiming it was supposedly Chinese territory.
Reports said there was no armed confrontation and the oil survey crew was unharmed. (PCOO)
Aquino tells Western Visayas to dialogue with DOE on power supply
SILAY, Negros Occidental: President Benigno S. Aquino III on Friday asked the people and communities of Western Visayas to hold more dialogues with the Department of Energy and explore possible power sources so the region does not have to depend on the main grid from the mother islands of Cebu and Panay.
During the open forum of the Philippine Economic Briefing at the packed convention hall of L’Fisher Hotel, Sulpicio Lagarde Jr., president of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative, said the government must invest more on the power program for Western Visayas since its power supply comes from the mother island, Cebu and Panay.
Lagarde said the communities must explore with the DOE the possible sources and costs of using alternative fuels like coal, nuclear, ethanol and biofuels “so that we can determine which alternative would give you the fastest benefits and prospects for economic growth.” He said coal takes five years, nuclear 10 years and ethanol is still mostly imported as local sugarcane planters would rather sell their produce as food instead of fuel.
Roberto Abello, president of a sugar planters’ association, asked if the government intends to put price controls on sugar or will it continue to adhere to free enterprise to which the President said “we would have to consider that we can not impose price controls or subsidize certain sectors as this would run counter to our commitment to the World Trade Organization.”
He said the government is more focused on the prevailing prices of oil and the volatility of reserves and “we are more focused on mitigating the price shocks as far as oil is concerned.”
Another question from Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, chairperson of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines was about the difficulty of call centers to find skilled agents and the inadequate human resource build-up. She said the Philippine BPO industry has only 500,000 agents while the actual requirement has grown to 800,000 seats a year.
The President said he has asked the state universities and colleges, the Commission on Higher Education, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Department of Education to come up with a collaborative and comprehensive program on the human resource build up program for the thriving BPO sector.
“In fact, I will be proposing to the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) to help the BPO industry, through legislation, achieve its growth potentials” through English and communication skills programs to be given to younger children, the President said. (PCOO)
Aquino distributes assistance to Bacolod indigents
BACOLOD CITY: President Benigno S. Aquino III on Friday distribute basic services assistance to various indigent beneficiaries here as part of government efforts to uplift the lives of the marginalized sector.
The assistance distributed by the President at the provincial multi-purpose gymnasium were composed of the following: P9.4 million worth of PhilHealth Capitation Fund for Negros Occidental and PhilHealth Cards for Negros “First” Family Health Cards; Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) to Magkaisa SEA-Kaunlaran Association from BArangay TAculing, Bacolod City (worth P20,000 check for 20 beneficiaries);
Various Muslim Traders SEA-K (worth P150,000 check for 30 beneficiaries), Core Shelter Assistance Program worth P70,000 each to the towns of Don Salvador Benedicto and Pontevedra, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) cash cards to the residents of Barangays Mansilingan, Alijis, Pahanocoy, Handumanan, Felisa, Punta Taytay and Cabug; and Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) to farmers Jose Nolito Pacturan of Binalbagan town and Virgilio Gonzales of La Castellana town.
“Nakatutok tayo sa ating responsibilidad para mapaunlad ang ating edukasyon, trabaho, at kalusugan ng ating mamamayan lalo na dito sa Negros Occidental,” the President said.
He assured the people of Negros Occidental that his administration is working doubly hard to implement reform measures.
After the awarding of assistance, the President met his volunteers and supporters at the Carmelites Monastery in Barangay Mandalagan to personally thank them for their help extended especially during his candidacy last year.
Cabinet officials who joined the President in his visit here were Proceso Alcala of Agriculture, Jesse Robredo of the DILG, Enrique Ona of the DOH, Corazon Juliano-Soliman of the DSWD, Virgilio Delos Reyes of the DAR, Presidential Spokesperson Atty. Edwin Lacierda and chief presidential troubleshooter and former Senator Mar Roxas III. (PCOO)
Aquino elated no casualty happened in Surigao quake
BACOLOD CITY: President Benigno S. Aquino III thanked the God Almighty that there was no reported casualty in the Thursday night’s 5.7 magnitude earthquake that hit province of Surigao Del Sur in Mindanao.
“We thanked God that there was no damages nor casualties during the strong earthquake that hit Surigao del Sur,” the President said in his speech on Friday after his meeting with volunteers and supporters at the Carmelites Monastery here.
According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvocs) the magnitude-5.7 quake was tectonic in origin which was recorded at around 11:11 p.m. on Thursday.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) also reported to the President that the quake caused a power blackout in the coastal towns of Cantillan and Carrascal in Surigao Del Sur and prompted the preemptive evacuation of the residents. However, power resumed at around 1:30 a.m. Friday. (PCOO)
