Aquino says Palace drafting proposal for Freedom of Information Bill
Malacanang is in the process of drafting a Freedom of Information (FOI) bill that balances the interest of the government to withhold sensitive information and at the same time not curtail the right of the people to be informed, President Benigno Aquino III said.
“My administration is in the process of drafting, and suggesting, a Freedom of Information bill that we believe will balance legitimate needs for secrecy with the public’s right to know,” the President said in his speech speech during the 25th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Star newspaper in Makati City on Thursday.
“This right to know carries with it responsibilities—to use the information available in context; to present facts fairly; and to be conscious of some elements who may want to use the information not to inform the public, but to, rather, inflame them,” he added.
The Chief Executive said the Palace is carefully studying the details of such legislation in order to ensure that it serves the public interest without compromising it.
Malacanang is close to suggesting a legislation that balances the concerns of many stakeholders and at the same time truly empower the citizenry towards forming informed decisions, consistent with the Constitution, he said.
“Once this bill is passed into law, the media will have greater access to all kinds of sensitive information. It is incumbent on you to use this access carefully and responsibly,” the President said as he asked the media not to view his statement as an attack to free press.
According to the President, he believes that the press can continue strengthening its partnership with the people and with government to elevate the level of public discourse.
“Partnership does not mean that we want media to be lap dogs of government; at the same time, media shouldn’t allow themselves to be used as attack dogs either,” the President said adding that the media’s ultimate role is to be a watchdog of the government.
Last year, the House of Representatives failed to ratify the Freedom of Information bill because of the lack of a quorum to put the bill to a vote in the Lower House.
Malacanang maintains that pushing for the passage of the FOI bill is one of its top priorities, noting however that the President wants to ensure that the proposed law keeps a balance between providing information to the public, and at the same time protecting confidential government information.
Passing the FOI bill would concretize the President’s vision of stamping out government corruption by making the records of public transactions accessible to the public, especially to the press.
Aquino gov’t funds Rainfed Agriculture Program to boost food production
The Aquino administration is releasing P20 million through the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the third quarter of this year to fund a national rainfed program aimed at raising food production in more than one million hectares throughout the country.
DA has partnered with India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to carry out the Philippine Rainfed Agriculture Research and Development and Extension Program (PhiRARDEP).
DA will work on Rainfed Agricultural Research and Development through its staff bureaus, the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), together with its Regional Field Units (RFU)- Regional Integrated Agricultural Research Centers (RIARCS), Agricultural Training Institute Regional Training Centers (ATI-RTC) as well as selected State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).
The department will be implementing programs based on India’s agricultural production experience and will train technicians who will help marginal farmers in raising their incomes.
PhiRARDEP’s components are rainfed farming innovation, community-based watershed management and soil conservation, policy formation and capacity building, the DA said.
Through a watershed approach that harnesses rainwater in check dams, sunken pits, and mini percolating tanks, farmers in India were able to plant many other crops like corn, sorghum, and pigeon pea.
While the Philippine government has poured majority of its funding and policy support for irrigated agriculture, rainfed areas have been neglected despite its huge contribution to food production.
It is estimated that half of the country’s food supply comes from rainfed areas and once the program becomes fully developed, production could be raised up to 60 to 70 percent.
Around 20 million Filipino farmers depend in rainfed areas to sustain their livelihood. This limits their income especially if they only focus on producing rice so the DA plans to introduce drought-resistant commodities to them.
The importance of a rainfed agriculture program is expected to intensify due to the manifestation of climate change which poses a threat of reduction of water supply for agriculture along with the increasing temperature or hotter climate.
In his state-of-the-nation address (SONA) this year, President Aquino said the government’s ability to increase rice production was a result of good governance, use of better rice varieties, and efficient irrigation spending.
As a result, the government was able to irrigate 11,611 new hectares of land this year, the President said.
“Ang gusto nating mangyari: Una, hindi tayo aangkat ng hindi kailangan, para lang punan ang bulsa ng mga gustong magsariling-diskarte ng kita sa agrikultura. Ikalawa: ayaw na nating umasa sa pag-angkat; ang isasaing ni Juan dela Cruz, dito ipupunla, dito aanihin, dito bibilhin,” he said.
Coloma addresses seminar of public relations practitioners in Quezon City
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. shared with public relations practitioners from various private businesses and companies the communication strategies of the government in imparting to the Filipino people the “good news” that the Aquino administration are implementing to effect change towards progress and development.
In his speech during the Second Module of the Public Relations Seminar of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) at the GMA Network Corporate Center in Quezon City on Friday, Coloma meticulously explained to the seminar participants the President’s methods of communicating with the citizenry, an important tool that will help in ensuring the people’s participation in nation-building.
Coloma defined the scope of work and duties of the government’s communication group.
“What is presidential communication? It is to assure the citizens that a transparent and efficient government is working for them…,” Coloma said.
“Its goals also include promoting fruitful communication between the President and the people and to inspire them to actively participate in nation-building,” he added.
The PCOO chief explained the process being used by the agency in encouraging people’s participation that begins with the President informing the citizens about what government is doing for them followed by his receiving feedback from the people. As a result, the people build a common ground for working together with government.
Coloma also shared to the participants attending the seminar some remarks from prominent newspaper columnists regarding the Chief Executive’s signature style of addressing the public.
In the column of Neal Cruz’s in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) on July 26, 2011, the simplicity and delivery of the President’s latest State of the Nation Address was cited.
He also likened President Aquino to a painter showing the present state of the country.
Another journalist, Conrado de Quiros also of the PDI, stated in his column, published on July 27, 2011, that the President’s SONA speech was one of the best he has ever heard. He said that President Aquino has become the best public speaker among the Presidents of the last half-century.
“It was one of the best speeches I’ve heard. First off, I don’t know how anyone can fail to realize how P-Noy has become the best public speaker among the Presidents of the last half-century. Better than Marcos, better than Erap, better than Cory, and certainly better than Fidel Ramos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” De Quiros said noting the remarkable development of the President as a public speaker.
Secretary Coloma cited some of the projects that have been undertaken by the Aquino government namely, job generation: matching supply with demand, AFP modernization & housing for soldiers & police, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program: CCT, Synchronization of ARMM with national & local elections and Legislative priorities, among others.
The PRSP is the country’s premier organization for public relations professionals. In its roster are practitioners who represent business and industry, government, non-profit organizations, hospitals, schools, hotels and professional services among others.
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Malacanang cites increase of tourist arrivalsMalacanang cited the continued influx of tourist arrival in the country which according to the Department of Tourism (DOT) has reached 1.6 million visitors from January to May 2011.
In a regular press briefing in Malacanang on Friday, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the DOT expressed optimism that it can meet the target of 3.74 million arrivals this year.
“From January to May, 2011, na meet ng DOT iyong target nila for the number of visitors, umakyat po ito ng1.6 million at on track na po sila para ma-meet ang annual target na 3.74 million visitors. Posting a 12-percent growth from the same period last year, 170,000 more visitors almost midway into the year,” she said.
Valte said DOT representatives had a meeting with President Benigno S. Aquino III on Friday to present the Philippine National Tourism Development Plan for 2011-2016.
The 2011 State of the Nation Address (SONA) Technical Report said the continued growth in visitor volume is the result of sustained marketing and promotions efforts undertaken jointly by the public and private sectors in key source markets, such as attending to travel fairs, invitational programs and very selective advertising.
In 2010, visitor arrivals surpassed the 3.3 million target for the year reaching an all-time high of 3.52 million, 16.67% higher than the 2009 visitor arrivals of 3.01 million, according to the SONA Technical Report.
It was noted that in just the first year of the Aquino administration, a 15.60% increase in visitor arrivals was recorded from 3.2 million arrivals in the period July 2009-June 2010 to 3.7 million arrivals in the period July 2010-June 2011.
“More particularly, in the first six months of the Aquino Administration, visitor volume grew by 21%, faster than the first semester of 2010’s 12% growth. Total receipts from visitors increased by 11.3% from $2.24 billion in 2009 to $2.49 billion in 2010,” the report said.
The report added that the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) granted new permits to operate regular air services to Korean Airlines, Gulf Air, Continental Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, which are expected to provide weekly seat capacity of 12,090 from Korea, Bahrain, Guam, and Palau.
The CAB also granted permits to Jin Air, Jetstar Airways, Air Busan, Mandarin Airlines, Air Nippon Airways, and Jeju Air. These airlines are expected to bring in 1,498 and 2,265 tourists weekly from Japan and Korea, respectively.
The DOT further estimates that there will be an additional 37,623 potential Japanese tourists and 56,888 potential Korean tourists in the country with these additional seat capacities.
In 2010, Korean tourists accounted for the biggest chunk of visitor arrivals or 21.04% (740,622) while Japanese visitors accounted for 10.19% (358,744) of total tourist arrivals.
