PIA Dispatch - Friday, April 1, 2011

Deputy ombudsman dismissed over Quirino Grandstand hostage-taking incident

Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzalez III has been dismissed by the Office of the President (OP) for gross neglect of duty and gross misconduct in handling the dismissal complaint against hostage-taker former P/Sr. Insp. Rolando Mendoza, on recommendation of Palace lawyers who reviewed the findings of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC).

This is the first time that the Aquino Administration has taken a direct action against an official in connection with the August 23 hostage-taking following the review of the IIRC report by the Palace legal team headed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr.

The decision was issued on March 31, 2011.

“This decision reflects this Administration’s commitment to hold those responsible for the hostage-taking incident accountable,” Ochoa said.

“Those of us who serve government must be cognizant of the fact that people are affected by our failure to fulfill our responsibilities. In this case, lives were not only affected, they were lost,” Ochoa added.

In the15-page decision, the OP found an inordinate and unjustified delay in the resolution of the motion for reconsideration timely filed by Mendoza on his dismissal from police service – a clear neglect of performance of official duty.

It said that the delay in the resolution of Mendoza’s appeal that spanned nine months constituted “a flagrant disregard” of the Office of the Ombudsman’s Rules and Procedure, which provide that a motion for reconsideration must be acted upon within five days from the submission of the documents.

The OP also said that there was substantial evidence to prove that Gonzalez committed gross misconduct for showing undue interest in taking over the administrative case filed against Mendoza, which was then pending investigation with the Philippine National Police-Internal Affairs Service.

It further noted that the delay in the resolution of Mendoza’s appeal was “all the more unjustified” since no opposition was ever filed against the former Manila police officer’s motion for reconsideration.

“The circumstances surrounding the charges of gross neglect of duty and gross misconduct lent credence to Mendoza’s accusation during the hostage-taking incident that Gonzalez was extorting P150,000 from him in exchange for a favorable decision,” Ochoa said.

Gonzalez had challenged the authority of the OP to charge him administratively, asserting that it had no judicial or quasi-judicial jurisdiction over him.

The Executive Secretary, however, explained that both transgressions – gross neglect of duty and gross misconduct – amounted to arbitrary and tyrannical exercise of authority and betrayal of public trust, which are grounds for the dismissal of Gonzalez from service by the President.

In accordance with the Constitution and Republic Act No. 6670, or the Ombudsman Act of 1989, Ochoa said, the President has the power to discipline Gonzalez “even to the extent of meting out the supreme administrative penalty of dismissal.” (PCOO)


AG&P considers hiring Filipino engineers displaced in Middle East, Libya

The Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Co. of Manila (AG&P) is now considering hiring Filipino engineers displaced by conflict in the Middle East particularly in Libya after President Benigno Aquino III asked the company to employ those workers.

“They talk about the possibility of absorbing workers displaced in Libya. As you know many Filipino workers in Libya were working on oil rigs, oil refineries and AG&P is now looking at hiring thousands of those workers who were displaced from Libya,” Secretary Ramon Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning office said in a press briefing on Friday in Malacanang.

“So that’s good news for some of those people who left their jobs behind. They can find jobs here in the Philippines,” he added.

President Aquino talked with some executives of AG&P on Thursday, who said that the company is in need of as many as 4,000 engineers who have experienced working in oil refining facilities.

Carandang said there are 25,000 Filipinos who used to work in Libya and around 22,000 have to leave the country because of the unrest there. Not all of these workers however are engineers who are qualified for the AG&P job but he added that a substantial number of them are hoping that they could be absorbed by the company.

While AG&P obviously can’t match the compensation of Filipino engineers in Libya, Carandang said company officials made assurances to the President that these engineers could have compensation levels that are competitive.

“They are highly skilled workers [engineers] and I visited the AG&P facility, they provide housing, they provide food, they are caring at AG&P and I think its certainly a better alternative than going back to Libya (which is) certainly not a place that we recommend for our engineers to go,” Carandang said.

While visiting the company facility in Bauan, Batangas on Thursday, President Aquino III thanked AG&P for its contributions to the local economy and asked it to absorb professionals displaced by the turmoil abroad.

The President witnessed a ceremony for shipping out oil refinery modules for the British Petroleum modularization project.

The chief executive also told AG&P officials that his administration is doing everything it can to build an environment where business can thrive and prosper and create jobs. (PCOO)


Government to ask China for commutation of sentence of Filipinos facing death penalty

The Philippines will ask the Chinese government for the commutation of sentences of other Filipinos facing death penalty because of drug-related offenses.

“As a country without death penalty, we would make representations to countries that do have death penalty if they could commute to life sentence the death penalty of Filipinos in China,” Secretary Ramon Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning office, said during a press briefing on Friday at Malacañang.

Carandang was responding to a question whether the Philippines will ask the Chinese government to commute the sentence of a Filipino who is also facing a death sentence.

According to the Foreign Affairs Department, only one case of a Filipino on death row remains pending at China’s highest court while 73 others have received a reprieve.

China has recently executed three Filipinos charged of drug trafficking despite several attempts of the Philippine government to save them.

China is very reasonable when it comes to their laws, Carandang said adding that the Philippines had had a number of cases reviewed after it made a request. Certain cases of death sentences have already been commuted to a number of Filipinos there, he said.

“I guess it’s really subject to their review” Carandang said.

It depends on the Chinese courts’ appreciation of the facts and cases. In some instances, Chinese courts are willing to hand commutations and in some cases they are not, Carandang said.

Asked if the Palace sees the recent execution of three Filipinos as a national disgrace that destroys the image of the country and the Filipino people, Carandang said he didn’t think so.

“I don’t think anybody sees that as a reflection of the Philippines as a country,” Carandang said noting that these are isolated cases that happen to other nationalities. (PCOO)


Aquino inaugurates coal fired power plant in La Paz, Iloilo City

LA PAZ, Iloilo City - President Benigno S. Aquino III underscored the significance of having a reliable source of energy to a nation’s progress as he encouraged the locals here to explore other sources that will lure more investors and eventually uplift the economic development of the province.

In his keynote speech during the inauguration of the 2x82 mega watt coal fired power plant at the Multipurpose Hall of the Panay Energy Development Corporation, Barangay Ingore, here on Friday, President Aquino stressed the important contributions the new power plant will bring not only to Iloilo City but also to its neighboring provinces.

“Indeed, this newfound security in energy will eventually spur both investments and tourism, thus, uplifting the economic stature of the localities”, the President said.

“This is both a good sign and a challenge. With this power plant in place, the next step forward is to augment the projected power requirements in the whole Visayas grid with new and appropriate energy technologies. We should also start exploring and harnessing the potential of renewable sources such as solar, wind, and hydro power, among others that are abundant in your area”, he added.

The Chief Executive said reliable source of energy is a foundation of progress. “Lack of access to sustainable energy is a drawback to economic and social development of a country,” he added.

“Without energy, government cannot deliver the most basic of its services—clean water, health, shelter, and education. Today, as we switch on this power plant, we are also switching on our capability to empower our countrymen,” President Aquino said.

The President expressed gratitude to the Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC) for investing in the 20-billion peso worth coal fired power plant.

The new power plant, the President said, heralds a new era of electric generation in Panay for it will serve as a great boost to the entire Visayas grid, providing reliable, secure, and reasonably-priced electricity to the region.

For the year 2011, there are some 23 new hotels that will open shop in the Visayas region. It will offer almost 1,200 additional rooms for the visitors to choose from, just one of several new businesses opening in the country this year. Such investments were based on the premise that investors will have access to sustainable energy.

During the inaugural rites, the President was joined by Senator Franklin Drilon, Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim and local officials that include Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, Governor Arthur Defensor Sr., and Iloilo City Rep. Jerry Trenas.

The construction of the newly-inaugurated coal fired power plant began in January 2009, utilizing “clean coal” technology. It is also the first successful base-load power plant to be operated in the country.

The said power plant uses the latest circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler technology which ensures practically negligible levels of emissions (95% and higher efficiency in removing sulfur dioxide and practically zero nitrogen oxide) and capture of total solid particles at 99.9% efficiency.

PEDC’s power plant is in line with Global Power’s campaign for cleaner transitional technology to effectively address electric power shortfall in the Visayas and the Island’s need for power reliability, stability and reasonably priced power while renewable energy sources are being strengthened and identified. (PCOO)


Iloilo governor thanks Aquino for delivering social services to Ilonggos

ILOILO CITY: Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor hailed President Benigno S. Aquino III on Friday for delivering the basic social services to the marginalized sector that uphold national government commitment to help uplift the lives of the people particularly those residing in the far-flung areas.

“Thank you, Mr. President, your visit here in Iloilo underscores the value of how deep your commitment to deliver social services to the marginalized sector,” Governor Defensor said in his welcome remarks.

This is the first visit of the President in Iloilo since he was elected as chief executive last year.

The President awarded at the main lobby of the provincial Capitol Building checks amounting to P780,000 for the Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) program, PhilHealth Cards for the 50 indigent beneficiaries, checks worth P50,000 each (of 10 recipients for the 100 families of Barangay Lantangan, Gigantes Island, Carles, Iloilo) for the modified shelter assistance program, certificate of project completion to three barangays under the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) and certificate of land ownership awards (CLOAS) and emancipation of patent (EP) to 163 farmer beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program of the Department of Agrarian Reform.

In his speech, the President said the basic social services he delivered in Iloilo is a program of his administration aimed at helping the marginalized sector and not part of “papogi points” of his leadership.

“Hindi po ito pagpapapogi. Ganap na pagtulong po ang hatid natin,” he said noting that he decided to expand the coverage of PhilHealth in the province to ensure that majority of the poor beneficiaries to avail of free medical check-up, hospitalization, among others.

He assured them that his administration is really working to help 40% of the total population in the country are not capable to see and visit health professionals regularly.

For this reason, he revealed that almost P3.5 billion was allotted by the Department of Health (DOH) to finance the health insurance premium of health cards to be distributed nationwide.

For his part, Governor Defensor informed the President that the provincial government allotted P13 million to finance the health program for the province volunteer workers, barangay health workers, day care workers, nutrition workers, among others. (PCOO)


Government exhausting efforts to spare Filipinos in the death penalty abroad - Aquino

ILOILO CITY: President Benigno S. Aquino III assured the public on Friday that the national government is exhausting all its efforts to be able to spare Filipinos in the death penalty not only in China and Middle East but also in other countries where similar cases were recorded.

The Chief Executive made this statement during a press briefing at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol Building here in reaction to a question on whether the government will make another appeal after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed that another Filipino is facing the death penalty in China.

“We will continue to make appeals with regards to our citizens. We will try to exhaust all possible remedies so that they will be spared from death penalty,” the President stressed.

The President said the government is not only concentrating in China and in the Middle East but also in countries where Filipinos have similar offense committed.

To further strengthen the government anti-drug campaign, the President divulged that he tasked Justice Secretary Leila De Lima to assign a permanent undersecretary who will be in charge of reviewing all drug cases filed at the criminal courts in the country.

He added that the said official will also be tasked to investigate a certain provincial prosecutor who allegedly favored suspected drug trafficker.

“The provincial prosecutor is now under investigation and we will go through the process and if he is proven guilty every sanction intended for him will be done. So that it will be the first case na talagang to show everybody how serious we are in dealing with this (drug problem),” he said. (PCOO)


AG&P responds to Aquino’s call for support of displaced OFWs

The Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Co. of Manila (AG&P) started to hire engineers, welders, and mechanics after bagging a contract with a US engineering firm for the construction of a liquefied natural gas facility in Australia.

AG&P secured a contract with Bechtel (BEK tl), an American company engaged in engineering, construction, and project management. It has projects in dozens of locations worldwide, from Alaska to Australia.

According to Edith Torres of AG&P’s human resources department, AG&P has deployed personnel at the major airports to hire returning Filipino for the job openings at its fabrication yard in Bauan, Batangas.

In a visit to the company’s dockyard on Thursday, the President asked AG&P to absorb professionals particularly engineers displaced by the recent turmoil abroad.

The President was in AG&P’s dockyard in Bauan, Batangas on Thursday for the company’s load out ceremony for its British Petroleum North America Modularization project.

The Bechtel project, which will start operation June 2012, costs $10 billion. The company already got an initial $130 million for the project.

Torres said the total man power for Bechtel could peak at around 4,000 workers as announced by Malacanang on Friday. Torres also said they are doing the hiring in staggered basis. Aside from engineers from Libya, jobs at AG&P are also open to local engineers.

At this time, AG&P is working on British Petroleum North America modularization project which has a peak work force of 3,700 workers, according to an AG&P press release.

The BP modularization projects started April 2009 and will be completed May 2011.

Torres said that currently, AG&P has an active force of 1,000 and will hire more or will call inactive workers as the company gets new contracts and expands overseas. The company will prioritize sending abroad the current active workers and hire new ones to replenish its pool of workers.

The company has been employing Filipino workers and sending them to the Middle East, Africa, Russia, New Caledonia, and many other countries.

AG&P, with expertise in civil/structural, architectural, mechanical/piping, electrical, instrumentation, has been in operation in the country for more than 100 years.

Aside from its projects abroad, it also played a significant role locally, specifically in the Malampaya Offshore Gas Field project, the largest source of natural gas in the Philippines. (PCOO)