Malacañang today urged Filipinos to take part in the government’s drive to eradicate measles through the Department of Health’s (DOH) “Iligtas sa Tigdas ang Pinas” program.
Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ramon Carandang told a news conference in Malacañang on Tuesday that the program’s “targeted” families should take this opportunity as the vaccine is administered free of charge.
The DOH launched this month-long, nationwide, door-to-door measles vaccination campaign on Monday to vaccinate about 18-million children between nine months to about eight years of age.
The campaign aims to reduce the number of children at risk of getting measles or being susceptible to measles that have built up since 2008 and to achieve at least 95 percent measles immunization coverage of all targeted children.
This campaign also aims to immunize children against measles-rubella particularly those children who were missed by the routine measles immunization and give booster doses to those who have already received measles immunization in order to reduce the number of those susceptible to the disease.
“We just want to reiterate to the families that are targeted for this: libre po at wala po kayong gagastusin dito so hayaan po ninyong pumasok ang mga health workers sa mga tahanan ninyo at ipa-bakuna ang mga anak ninyo,” Carandang said. (PCOO)
Palace hopes for the peaceful resolution of hostage crisis in Agusan del Sur
Malacañang expects that the hostage-taking incident in Prosperidad, Agusan Del Sur would be resolved peacefully following the release of a 13-year old boy on Monday.
“Yes, the crisis would be resolved peacefully,” Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang said in a press briefing on Tuesday at Malacanang.
Carandang said the release of Marvin Corvera,13, is a welcome development that in the soonest possible time the crisis would end and the local crisis management committee would be able to save the hostages from the hands of their abductors.
Carandang assured the public that the government headed by the local crisis management committee are continuously exhausting all possible means to settle the hostage crisis.
He noted that the safety of the hostages is the government’s primary concern adding that the negotiators are very patient in dealing with the hostage takers.
Five armed men allegedly from the forest-dwelling Manobo tribe forcibly abducted 15 teachers and children on Saturday in a bid to get the government to free a jailed relative.
Of the total victims, two were released on Sunday, and another one on Monday night. (PCOO)
Aquino to witness signing of agreement augmenting salaries of workers in judiciary
President Benigno S. Aquino III will witness on Wednesday the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the judges associations that will allow the executive branch to augment the salaries of workers in the judiciary.
In a press briefing at Malacanang on Tuesday, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ramon Carandang said that the details of the agreement will be announced by Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad also on the day of its signing.
“The details of the MOA will be announced by Secretary Abad tomorrow, but it is something meant to fix the discrepancy between salaried workers in the judiciary and other areas of the bureaucracy…”, Carandang said.
“Medyo lumalamang po kasi ngayon ang sweldo ng mga ibang empleyado sa burukrasya, sa executive doon sa judiciary”, he added.
Carandang said that the MOA was made after conducting consultations with the judges associations during an assembly last March 18 to discuss the details of the agreement where 90 per cent of them gave their approval.
The MOA is part of the efforts of the government to help and reform the judiciary. (PCOO)
Aquino issues E.O. No. 32 instituting the Public Transport Assistance Program
President Benigno S. Aquino III issued Executive Order No. 32 granting the temporary assistance to the transport sector to cushion the impact of continuing increases in fuel prices.
The EO institutes the Public Transport Assistance program (PTAP) aptly called as the Pantawid Pasada program of the government that initially allots P450,000 million to assist jeepney and tricycle operators in the country.
The program partially subsidizes the average consumption of identified public transport group provided that they have legitimate franchises under the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). The Energy Department will also be using “smart cards” to ensure the integrity of program.
In the case of the tricycles, the PTAP will subsidize a portion of their average consumption while the remaining portion will be funded by local government units through counterpart allocations.
After one-month of implementation, the DOE will submit a report to the Inter-agency Energy Contingency Committee (IECC) on the status of the PTAP implementation which will then prepare a recommendation to the President who will decide whether to continue or scrap the program.
According to E.O. 32, the initial P450,000 million will come from the special account in the general fund (SAGE) of the DOE to be released by the Department of the Budget and Management (DBM).
“The goal here is to ease the burden on the public transport operators so that they can also pass on the saving to the regular commuters,” Secretary Ramon Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
Carandang expressed hope that with the implementation of the EO, some transport groups are still asking the government for more fare hikes will reconsider their plans.
The government has not included the farmers and fisherfolks in the relief assistance noting however that this proposal is now being studied, he said.
For other sectors who ask for similar assistance, Carandang said, the government doesn’t have unlimited source of money that is why it came up with the Pantawid Pasada Program as a way of targeting a segment of the transport sector that needed the most assistance.
“There is limitation of fund, we can’t afford permanent subsidy for everybody. So given what we have, we target it where we feel it is most effective,” he said. (PCOO)
ES Ochoa: Steps being taken to address security problems in Mindanao
Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa on Tuesday said that steps were being taken to address the peace and order situation in Mindanao as he assured that the kidnapping incident in Agusan del Sur was an isolated case.
Malacañang is continuously monitoring the situation to ensure a peaceful end to the stand-off between authorities and abductors of 16 teachers and students in Prosperidad town, Agusan del Sur, Ochoa told a radio interview.
According to the Executive Secretary, the present administration is firm in its determination to put an end to kidnapping activities and other security problems in Mindanao.
These security concerns, Ochoa said, highlight the need for the government to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and strengthen the crime prevention policy of the Philippine National Police.
He added that crime prevention will remain a policy of the government on top of crime solution.
“Of course, if a crime is committed we have to solve it; but crime prevention is more important, more than anything else. Our focus is on crime prevention,” Ochoa said.
Crime prevention is any initiative or policy which reduces or eliminates the aggregate level of victimization or the risk of individual criminal participation.
It includes government and community-based programs to reduce the incidents of risk factors related with criminal participation and the rate of victimization, as well as efforts to change perceptions. (PCOO)
Aquino appoints Pulido-Tan, Mendoza as chairman/commissioner of COA
President Benigno S. Aquino III has appointed former Finance undersecretary Ma. Gracia Pulido-Tan and erstwhile state auditor Heidi Mendoza as chairman (ad interim) and commissioner (ad interim) of the Commission on Audit (COA) respectively.
Before her appointment, Pulido-Tan was undersecretary of Finance for Revenue Operations until February 15, 2005. She likewise became a consultant for Chinese government’s tax policy under the auspices of the Asian Development Bank.
Pulido-Tan, a lawyer, will be replacing COA chairman Reynaldo Villar.
Pulido-Tan finished her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the University of the Philippines, where she also completed her Bachelor of Laws. She then took her Masters of Law at New York University, as a Gerald L. Wallace Scholar.
Mendoza will be taking the post vacated by Evelyn San Buenaventura, according to Secretary Ramon Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning office.
Mendoza led a team of state auditors that looked into military transactions between 2004 and 2006. She testified in the plunder case against the plunder case of retired Armed forces comptroller general Carlos Garcia.
Mendoza also opposed the prosecutors’ decision to enter into a plea bargain deal with the retired major general and testified in a Senate inquiry on the Garcia plea bargain.
She finished her master’s degree in national security administration in 2003 at the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP). A daughter of a police officer, and a military reserve officer herself, Mendoza has a rank of lieutenant colonel.
Pulido-Tan will remain at COA until February 2, 2015, while Mendoza will serve until February 2, 2018. (PCOO)
