Palace renews commitment to protect media
practitioners, ensures press freedom
The Aquino government vowed to protect
journalists in the country as the world celebrates the World Press Freedom Day
today, May 3, a Palace official said.
“This is one of the freest in Asia and we have
not curtailed and we do not intend to curtail press freedom, and in fact you
are… the press is a necessary part of nation building, so it is something that
we would encourage,” Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said during the
regular press conference in Malacanang on Thursday.
“The media is partner of government in nation
building,” he said commenting on the state of the Philippine media today.
The President’s Spokesman also assured the
government’s commitment to ensure the safety of the members of press while
exercising their profession.
“With respect to safety, I can assure you that
we will not tolerate extralegal killings especially of journalists. Every time
we hear an attempt on media personnel, we immediately inform the Philippine
National Police. We will not tolerate extralegal killing of journalists,” he
said.
Every May 3 each year, the world celebrates the
World Press Freedom Day to revitalize the fundamental principles of press
freedom, to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from
attacks as well as to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives
doing their jobs.
May 3 was proclaimed World Press Freedom Day by
the UN General Assembly in 1993 following a recommendation adopted at the 26th
session of UNESCO's General Conference in 1991.
It serves as an occasion to inform citizens of
violations of press freedom - a reminder that in dozens of countries around the
world, publications are censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while
journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained and even murdered.
May 3 is a date to encourage and develop
initiatives in favor of press freedom, and to assess the state of press freedom
worldwide.
The celebration also serves as a reminder to
governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. It is
also a day of reflection among media professionals on issues of press freedom
and professional ethics. (PCOO)
Aquino witnesses MOU signing between DOST and
IBM to build research and development laboratory
President Benigno S. Aquino III witnessed the
signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Science and
Technology and IBM to build a research and development laboratory in ceremonies
held in Malacañang on Thursday.
The MOU, which was signed between Science and
Technology Secretary Mario Montejo and IBM president and Country General
Manager in the Philippines Mariels Almeda Winhoffer, specifies both entities’
willingness to work together to establish the first Philippine Systems and
Technology R&D Laboratory.
The laboratory aims to spur and sustain
Philippine economic growth by heeding calls for greater partnering between the
IT-industry and the government for the advancement of four critical areas for
the country.
These areas are business process outsourcing,
governance for anti-corruption, talent development, and innovation for a
knowledge-based economy.
In a statement, IBM said the new R & D
laboratory “will strive to contribute to the productivity of the Filipino
people and improve their quality of life through the generation and promotion
of strategic technologies and expertise.”
Montejo meanwhile expressed appreciation of the
IBM’s initiative saying the R&D center “will go a long way in building
domestic capacity to support continued economic growth and global
competitiveness.”
Under the MOU, the projects to be undertaken by
the laboratory shall be in line with the priority projects of the National
Economic Development Authority’s Medium Term Development Plan and may include
the following areas: Project audit system and database,E-governance services,
Landslide predictive analytics, Weather prediction and flood mapping, Crime
prevention, Traffic management, and High performance computing and business
analytics. (PCOO)
Malacanang says concerned government agencies
have joined forces to address smuggling of pork
Various concerned government agencies have
joined forces to address the smuggling of pork into the country, a Palace
official said on Thursday.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda issued
the statement during the regular press briefing in Malacanang on Thursday
following reports that several hog raisers will go on a week-long nationwide
“pork holiday” to protest the rampant smuggling of pork.
Lacierda said the Department of Agriculture, the
Department of Finance, the Bureau of Customs and other concerned government
agencies have started implementing measures to eradicate the reported technical
smuggling.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala will be
meeting with the hog and poultry raisers to address their concerns. Alcala
ordered the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) to check the markets for
smuggled meat.
Aside from smuggling, the hog raisers also
raised their concerns over pork importations that have led to the displacement
of some 20% of hog farmers in just three years. They said this development has
forced many backyard farmers to suspend and even close down operations.
Lacierda assured that the Aquino government is
addressing the major needs and concerns of the country's hog raisers and pork
producers.
"We assure the public that there is no pork
shortage," he said.
President Aquino earlier said the government and
industry stakeholders, along with farmers, should partner to reduce the cost of
producing hogs, particularly the cost of animal feeds and its main ingredient,
yellow corn in a bid to make the country’s hog industry competitive with the
export market.
The President said the hog raisers should have a
direct linkage or partnership agreement with corn farmers, and he assured that
the government continues to provide assistance to hog raisers by implementing
policies.
He also said that hog raisers can avail of the
needed capital from the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. (PCOO)
Palace says Philippines able to relax tension in
Panatag Shoal
The Philippines was able to deescalate the
tension in Scarborough Shoal contrary to some criticisms saying militarizing
the disputed territory will be disadvantageous to the Philippines, a Palace
spokesman said on Thursday.
In a press conference in Malacanang,
Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said recent government actions in
handling the stand-off with China have relaxed the tension between the two
countries.
Lacierda said it is wrong to assume that the
Philippines will end up losing the shoal stressing that this is the reason why
the Philippine government is elevating the issue to the International Tribunal.
“We have definitely deescalated the tensions in
the Panatag Shoal. Paano po mawawala sa atin? Klarong-klaro kaya natin inaakyat
sa International Tribunal because we believe that the way out from this situation
is to have a declaration mechanism as provided by international laws,” he said.
Insisting the country’s sovereign rights over
the Panatag Shoal, Lacierda said the Aquino government wouldn’t allow the
Chinese to put up garrisons there as what they did in Mischief Reef.
With respect to building relationships with
China, Lacierda said Filipino diplomats are vigorously exerting efforts to talk
with their Chinese counterparts.
“Marami tayong mga levels of exchange with the
Chinese government, not only the Chinese government but also the Chinese
community. So it’s not true that we have not repaired the relations in fact, we
have good relations with the Chinese Embassy dito sa Pilipinas,” he said.
Lacierda also said the President has been
receiving sufficient counsel from his advisers to deal with the issue.
“The President is very responsible and very
prudent. The policy here, as the President has categorically stated is we want
to de-escalate tensions in the Panatag Shoal,” Lacierda said.
With regards to the Chinese fishing vessels that
continue to operate in the area, Lacierda said, the Philippine government is
continuously documenting the actions of the Chinese before raising it to the
International Tribunal. (PCOO)
Aquino to address Asian Development Bank’s 45th
Annual Meeting
President Benigno S. Aquino III will lead Friday
morning the formal opening of the 45th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development
Bank (ADB) Board of Governors at the Philippine International Convention Center
(PICC) in Pasay City.
The President is expected to deliver his message
with the 66 governors of ADB in attendance.
Around 3,000 finance and economic planning
ministers of the ADB-member countries and representatives from the multilateral
development banking community are also expected to attend the ceremonies.
The Aquino government hopes that the annual
meeting of ADB Board of Governors will portray a positive image of the country
overseas that could result to its improved economic condition.
With the sluggish economic conditions in Europe
and North America, ADB’s annual meeting, which focuses on inclusive growth,
becomes very timely and significant.
The Philippines had hosted this yearly meeting,
including the first one in 1968. The ADB meeting was last held in the country
in June 2003.
Among those expected to join the President
include Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, ADB president and chairperson
Haruhiko Kuroda and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. (PCOO)
