Aquino declares February 27 as special non-working day in General Santos City
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared February 27 which falls on a Monday, as a special non-working day in General Santos City in commemoration of its 73rd Foundation anniversary and the 23rd Kalilangan Festival.
In Proclamation No. 331 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. on February 7, President Aquino issued the declaration to give the people of General Santos City the full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.
Every year, General Santos City marks its foundation anniversary on February 27 with various activities culminating the weeklong celebration of Kalilangan Festival.
Kalilangan is derived from the Maguindanaoan word “kalilang” which means “festival” or “celebration.”
The anniversary celebration commemorates the landing of the city’s founder, General Paulino Santos, along with the first settlers from Luzon, at the shores of Sarangani Bay on February 27, 1939.
Organized under the National Land Settlement Administration (NLSA) of the Commonwealth Government headed by President Manuel L. Quezon, Gen. Santos led the relocation of 62 Christian settlers with the mission to industriously cultivate the city’s fertile expanse of land.
Thousands of settlers from Luzon and the Visayas have subsequently migrated into the area.
The theme of this year's festival is "Convergence in Divergence Enriching Heritage, Bridging Cultures" which will highlight the unity and diversity among peoples of various faiths and ethnic origins which have made Gen. Santos their home. (PCOO)
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Land distribution ‘on target,’ Malacañang says
Malacañang assured farmer beneficiaries that the Department of Agrarian Reform was expeditiously working towards distributing land to them as mandated by the Comprehensive Agrarian Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER) Law.
In a press briefing on Wednesday in Malacanang, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte gave the assurance a day after farmers conducted a lightning rally in front of Malacañang’s Gate 3 on Tuesday to protest the slow pace of the agrarian reform program.
She said that DAR had already distributed 56 percent or 113,196 hectares of targeted land holdings to farmer beneficiaries in 2011 as opposed to the 41 percent claimed by the protestors.
She added that a significant amount of land area was set to be distributed for 2012.
“…for 2012, we have 25,933 hectares in the advanced stage of acquisition targeted to be distributed or delivered by March 2012,” Valte said.
“We have 28,857 hectares at the middle stage of acquisition to be delivered after June 2012,” she added.
“So the DAR is on target to deliver and distribute the land holdings,” Valte said. (PCOO)
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Malacanang expresses appreciation of coalition’s recognition of proposed Freedom of Information bill
Malacanang expressed appreciation over the move of the Right to Know, Right Now coalition to welcome the submission of President Benigno S. Aquino III's administration of its proposed substitute Freedom of Information (FOI) bill to the Lower House.
"We undertook our task in good faith, and we very much appreciate the coalition recognizing this," Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) Undersecretary Manuel L. Quezon III said in a statement which was read by Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte during the regular press briefing in Malacanang on Wednesday.
The Right to Know, Right Now coalition, a network of 150 civic and media groups, is pushing for the passage of an FOI law.
"From the very start, as we who comprised the Study Group told the coalition, we hoped that the process of engaging civil society and media as we undertook our work, would serve as a confidence-building exercise," Quezon said.
"Together with the coalition, we look forward to the House and the Senate in turn doing their part to make FOI legislation one of the crowning achievements of the 15th Congress," he added.
Last February 3, President Aquino said his administration has submitted a substitute FOI to their allies in the lower house for the eventual passage of the legislation aimed at having wider public access to government information.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition welcomes the recent public endorsement by President Aquino of the passage of the FOI law and the release of the executive’s final proposed bill.
The coalition said the President’s endorsement of the proposed FOI bill achieves two things -- First, the President’s endorsement removes the main reason why the bill has been stalled in the legislative wringer, particularly at the House of Representatives.
Second, President Aquino’s endorsement resolves the “concerns” about the bill, thereby reducing the danger of a Presidential veto.
"Yet most important of all, the endorsement reaffirms the Aquino administration’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and good governance, and clears the way for the long-overdue passage of the FOI law as part of the larger struggle to advance our human right to information," the FOI advocates said. (PCOO)
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared February 27 which falls on a Monday, as a special non-working day in General Santos City in commemoration of its 73rd Foundation anniversary and the 23rd Kalilangan Festival.
In Proclamation No. 331 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. on February 7, President Aquino issued the declaration to give the people of General Santos City the full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.
Every year, General Santos City marks its foundation anniversary on February 27 with various activities culminating the weeklong celebration of Kalilangan Festival.
Kalilangan is derived from the Maguindanaoan word “kalilang” which means “festival” or “celebration.”
The anniversary celebration commemorates the landing of the city’s founder, General Paulino Santos, along with the first settlers from Luzon, at the shores of Sarangani Bay on February 27, 1939.
Organized under the National Land Settlement Administration (NLSA) of the Commonwealth Government headed by President Manuel L. Quezon, Gen. Santos led the relocation of 62 Christian settlers with the mission to industriously cultivate the city’s fertile expanse of land.
Thousands of settlers from Luzon and the Visayas have subsequently migrated into the area.
The theme of this year's festival is "Convergence in Divergence Enriching Heritage, Bridging Cultures" which will highlight the unity and diversity among peoples of various faiths and ethnic origins which have made Gen. Santos their home. (PCOO)
.
Land distribution ‘on target,’ Malacañang says
Malacañang assured farmer beneficiaries that the Department of Agrarian Reform was expeditiously working towards distributing land to them as mandated by the Comprehensive Agrarian Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER) Law.
In a press briefing on Wednesday in Malacanang, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte gave the assurance a day after farmers conducted a lightning rally in front of Malacañang’s Gate 3 on Tuesday to protest the slow pace of the agrarian reform program.
She said that DAR had already distributed 56 percent or 113,196 hectares of targeted land holdings to farmer beneficiaries in 2011 as opposed to the 41 percent claimed by the protestors.
She added that a significant amount of land area was set to be distributed for 2012.
“…for 2012, we have 25,933 hectares in the advanced stage of acquisition targeted to be distributed or delivered by March 2012,” Valte said.
“We have 28,857 hectares at the middle stage of acquisition to be delivered after June 2012,” she added.
“So the DAR is on target to deliver and distribute the land holdings,” Valte said. (PCOO)
.
Malacanang expresses appreciation of coalition’s recognition of proposed Freedom of Information bill
Malacanang expressed appreciation over the move of the Right to Know, Right Now coalition to welcome the submission of President Benigno S. Aquino III's administration of its proposed substitute Freedom of Information (FOI) bill to the Lower House.
"We undertook our task in good faith, and we very much appreciate the coalition recognizing this," Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) Undersecretary Manuel L. Quezon III said in a statement which was read by Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte during the regular press briefing in Malacanang on Wednesday.
The Right to Know, Right Now coalition, a network of 150 civic and media groups, is pushing for the passage of an FOI law.
"From the very start, as we who comprised the Study Group told the coalition, we hoped that the process of engaging civil society and media as we undertook our work, would serve as a confidence-building exercise," Quezon said.
"Together with the coalition, we look forward to the House and the Senate in turn doing their part to make FOI legislation one of the crowning achievements of the 15th Congress," he added.
Last February 3, President Aquino said his administration has submitted a substitute FOI to their allies in the lower house for the eventual passage of the legislation aimed at having wider public access to government information.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition welcomes the recent public endorsement by President Aquino of the passage of the FOI law and the release of the executive’s final proposed bill.
The coalition said the President’s endorsement of the proposed FOI bill achieves two things -- First, the President’s endorsement removes the main reason why the bill has been stalled in the legislative wringer, particularly at the House of Representatives.
Second, President Aquino’s endorsement resolves the “concerns” about the bill, thereby reducing the danger of a Presidential veto.
"Yet most important of all, the endorsement reaffirms the Aquino administration’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and good governance, and clears the way for the long-overdue passage of the FOI law as part of the larger struggle to advance our human right to information," the FOI advocates said. (PCOO)
