Aquino approves setting up mechanism to complete
objectives of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program
Reiterating to farmers of his government's
unwavering commitment for agrarian reform, President Benigno S. Aquino III
approved the setting up of a multi-stakeholders mechanism to complete the
objectives of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms
(Carper) before it expires in 2014.
The Chief Executive met on Thursday with farmers
who sought an audience with him for a dialogue on agrarian reform. Consultations
between the cabinet secretaries and the farmer groups were subsequently held
with the aim to come out with measures that will systematically and efficiently
address their concerns.
"We had a very fruitful meeting between the
President and the farmer representatives and also members of the church,"
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said during the regular press briefing
in Malacanang on Thursday.
During the meeting, President Aquino also
reaffirmed the government’s vigorous support for the development of our
countryside.
"A multi-stakeholders mechanism convened by
the President and composed of representatives from Department of Agrarian
Reform and other CARP-implementing agencies of the government, the church, NGOs
(non-government organizations), peoples’ organizations, and other farmer groups
and federations shall immediately be established to monitor the implementation
of the CARP," Lacierda said.
The Chief Executive and the farmers agreed to
fast track the distribution of land to legitimate farmer beneficiaries,
according to Lacierda.
"Between now and June 2014, all
agricultural lands shall be covered and distributed to qualified beneficiaries.
Priority shall be given to landholdings 25 hectares and above and notices of
coverage would be issued on or before December 2012. This will include peaceful
and orderly installation of farmer beneficiaries of all lands under the
program. The Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of Philippines and
Department of Interior and Local Government shall be mobilized for this
purpose," Lacierda said
"To put all landholdings under the program,
notices of coverage or NOCs of lands 10 hectares and above shall be issued on
or before December 2012. For landholdings under 10 hectares, notices of
coverage shall be issued not later than July 2013," he said.
Lacierda said Republic Act 9700 mandated the
allocation of at least P150-billion for the program to successfully complete
the implementation of agrarian reform.
"With respect to support services, as
mandated by Section 37 of RA 9700 on support services, the provision on initial
capitalization for new agrarian reform beneficiaries and socialized credit for
existing agrarian reform beneficiaries shall be implemented. To this end, the
Department of Budget and Management has committed the immediate release of one
billion pesos to be allocated for support services," he stressed.
Lacierda said the Land Bank of the Philippines
shall review its policies, rules, and regulations on providing credit to
farmers to make it more accessible to agrarian reform beneficiaries.
"In addition the DAR and the Department of
Agriculture with assistance from DBM will develop a socialized credit program
solely for agrarian reform beneficiaries that is mutually acceptable to both
parties. Socialized credit program shall enable the farmers to maximize the
productivity of their land and utilize the resources available to them,"
he said.
The multi-stakeholders mechanism will monitor
the implementation of the CARP especially on the coverage and distribution of
agricultural lands, movement and performance of DAR personnel, delivery of
support services to the beneficiaries, budget allocation, utilization, among
others.
"Then there will be continuing
consultations on administrative orders. There will be a fast tracking of
resolutions of pending cases on stock distribution options and leaseback
arrangements before the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council or PARC," he
said.
"Sec. Robredo also said the government will
review the tasking of PNP and refer to the Department of Justice the proposed
changes in 2009 guidelines as it applies to DAR orders, establish PNP outposts
in critical areas where installed farmers are being harassed; and lastly
establish a direct line of communication with the DILG," he said.
"Present in that meeting were—just to give
you some of the members—from the government side: the President, Secretary
Butch Abad, myself, Secretary Alcala, Secretary Gil de los Reyes, and Secretary
Julia Abad; from the farmers, the agrarian reform advocates: former Senator
Aquilino Pimentel, Atty. Christian Monsod, Atty. Armando Jarilla of Task Force
Mapalad, and some of the farmers themselves: Mr. Alberto Jaime, the Task Force
Mapalad president; Ms. Edna Sobrecaray, Task Force Mapalad spokesperson,"
he said.
"Among the church people we had Bishop
Ledesma, Bishop Bernardino C. Cortes, Fr. Marlon Lacal, the executive secretary
of the AMRSP, and Fr. Anton Pascual of the Caritas Manila," he said. (js)
Civil case against Coloma and his Undersecretary
dismissed by Quezon City Court
A Quezon City judge dismissed the civil case
filed against Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary
Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. and his undersecretary by a taxpayer who asked the
court to halt the operations of a government-owned and managed printing
company.
Judge Evangeline C. Castillo-Marigomen of the
Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 101, dismissed the petition on
May 9, 2012.
The judge said the petition filed by Richard G.
Oderon has no ground to convince the court to resolve the case against
Secretary Coloma and his co-respondent Undersecretary Eduardo C. Visperas.
In filing the petition for prohibition and
mandamus in Civil Case No. Q-11-69389, Oderon represented himself as a taxpayer
and not as an employee of the National Printing Office (NPO). He claimed in his
suit that the Filipino taxpayer is the loser with the continued operations of
APO Production Unit, which has been printing security and accountable forms for
government.
APO is explicitly categorized as a
government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC) by virtue of Republic Act
No. 10147 otherwise known as An Act to Promote Financial Viability and Fiscal
Discipline in Government-Owned or Controlled Corporation and to Strengthen the
Role of the State in its Governance and Management to Make Them Responsive to
the Needs of Public Interest and for Other Purposes." The said Act was
signed into law by President Benigno S. Aquino III last June 6, 2011.
On December 7, 2010, Republic Act No. 10147 of
the 2011 General Appropriation Act (GAA) was signed into law by President
Aquino, recognizing and including APO, along with NPO and Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas, as one of the government's printing unit.
The petitioner said that APO is a private
corporation since it was organized under Philippine Laws (Corporate Code of the
Philippines). He further said it was registered with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. However, the respondents countered that the APO is a GOCC.
The court agreed with the argument of the
respondents who claimed that APO, a non-stock corporation, is vested with the
functions of printing security and accountable forms for government. As
stipulated by the parties, APO is presently and directly under the control and
supervision of the PCOO which is under the Office of the President of the
Republic of the Philippines.
"The APO is categorized and recognized as
GOCC and as such is publicly accountable by being subjected to audit by the
Commission on Audit," the court said.
The APO can legally solicit and accept jobs to
print government accountable forms and sensitive high quality/volume printing
requirements of the government, the court said in the decision.
"The petitioner has no legal standing to
assail the constitutionality of RA 10147 as he has not established any direct
injury that he has sustained or may sustain by reason of the assailed law.
Neither has the petitioner established that public funds (derived from
taxation) are being misspent or illegally disbursed," the court said.
"Although the instant petition is styled as
a petition for certiorari, in essence, it seeks the declaration by the court of
the unconstitutionality or illegality of the GAA. It thus partakes of the
nature of a petition for declaratory relief," the court said. (js)
Malacanang says government agencies prepared for
onslaught of Tropical Storm Butchoy
Concerned government agencies have been alerted
and are currently on standby in preparation for the possible effects of
Tropical Storm Butchoy particularly in Luzon, Malacanang said on Friday.
Those agencies are also monitoring a low
pressure area that is affecting several provinces in Mindanao, Deputy
Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said during the regular press briefing
in Malacanang.
“The agencies have been preparing ahead of time.
The warnings have been given, have been thoroughly disseminated. From what we
understand, the regional and the field offices of DSWD, the local DRRMCs as
well as the teams of DOH are all ready,” Valte said.
She added that the Department of Public Works
and Highways has also prepositioned its equipment for possible road clearing if
the storm made a landfall.
Standby funds are also available for each
region, Valte said adding that several teams have been activated and monitoring
of several areas has been ongoing.
“Dalawa po ‘yung ongoing situations: first, it’s
because of the low pressure area which affected Sarangani, GenSan, and other
provinces in ARMM and ‘yung papasok po na tropical storm. But all the agencies
have been alerted and have been on standby already,” she said.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Tropical Storm Butchoy
slowed down and maintained its strength as it moved west-northwest at 15
kilometers per hour.
As of 4 a.m. Friday, the storm was seen 620
kilometers east-southeast of Guiuan Eastern Samar with maximum sustained winds
of 100 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 130 kph.
Although Pagasa’s forecast models said that
Butchoy wouldn’t make landfall, the bureau continues to monitor the weather
disturbance. (as/1:44pm)
Palace reports increased tax collection of the
Bureau of Internal Revenue
Malacanang reported Friday the increase in tax
revenue collection by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as its regional
offices recorded enhanced collections as well as improvements from the large
taxpayer service.
“We have been informed that the collection of
the BIR from May 2012 stands at 95.55-billion which is 7.26 percent from May of
2011. In May 2011 the collection was 89.15-billion, now it stands at
95.55-billion in tax revenues,” Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte
said in a press conference in Malacanang on Friday.
Asked by reporters where the BIR attributes the
rise in tax revenue collections, Valte said collections from the regional
offices have consistently showed double digit growth for the first five months.
Aside from this, the collections from the large taxpayer service also
increased.
The BIR has stepped up its efforts to meet its
collection target this year, which for the first time has reached the
P1-trillion mark. (as/2:04pm)
Aquino declares June 19 as special non-working
day in Calamba, Laguna in marking birth anniversary of Rizal
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared
June 19 which falls on a Tuesday as a special (non-working day) in the city of
Calamba in Laguna in celebration of the 151st birth anniversary of national
hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal.
The Chief Executive issued the declaration
through Proclamation No. 399 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr.
on June 6 to give the people of Calamba the full opportunity to celebrate and
participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies
Born on June 19, 1861, José Protacio Rizal
Mercado y Alonso Realonda became the most prominent Filipino nationalist for
advocating reforms by peaceful means rather than by violent revolution in the
Philippines during the Spanish colonial era.
Rizal’s execution on December 30, 1896 made him
a martyr of the Philippine Revolution.
Rizal was the seventh of eleven children and
belonged to a wealthy family in the town of Calamba, Laguna.
He attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila and
graduated Bachelor of Arts. He took up medicine and Philosophy and Letters at
the University of Santo Tomas (UST).
Rizal traveled alone to Madrid, Spain, where he
continued his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid and earned the
degree of Licentiate in Medicine. He also enrolled at the University of Paris
and earned a second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg.
Aside from being conversant in at least 10
languages, Rizal was a poet, essayist, diarist, correspondent, and novelist.
His most famous works were his two novels, Noli
Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
As a prominent political figure, Rizal was the
founder of La Liga Filipina in 1892, a civic organization that subsequently led
to the organization of Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng̃ mg̃á
Anak ng̃ Bayan led by Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo. (js)
Bidding for construction, rehabilitation of
airports by the DOTC is underway
The Aquino government has invited bidders for
the construction and rehabilitation of some airports in the country as part of
the administration’s efforts to address air-transport related concerns of the
public apart from increasing the tourism potential of the Philippines.
At the regular press briefing in Malacanang
Friday, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte noted that these
multi-million peso-worth infrastructure projects is expected to improve the
passenger and airport traffic handling capacity of the airports.
“As part of the administration’s campaign to
increase the tourism potential of the Philippines, the Department of
Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has invited prospective bidders for
the construction, rehabilitation, and/or expansion of seven airports across the
archipelago. The infrastructure package amounting to 303 million pesos is a
welcome boost for the improvement of Philippine transportation facilities,”
Valte said.
“This initiative seeks to improve passenger and
airport traffic handling capacity, open up areas for tourism and commercial
growth within the country, and to further encourage the influx of foreign and
domestic visitors,” she added.
Valte further noted that such DOTC initiative
will balance the interests of the carriers and the riding public concerning
flight bookings and ticket refunds.
“This goes hand-in-hand with the balancing of
interests between carriers and the flying public by the Civil Aeronautics Board
(CAB) regarding overbooking and ticket refunds. While the industry standard for
overbooking is ten per cent, a new CAB directive limits this to a maximum of
five per cent. Moreover, rebooking and refunding for all fares, including
low-cost fares, have also been allowed,” Valte said as she stressed the Aquino
government’s commitment to improve the nation’s infrastructure and effect reforms
within the transport sector.
“These changes are part of a systematic,
overarching initiative of the DOTC to develop a more comprehensive Passenger
Bill of Rights that efficiently addresses the air transport-related concerns of
the public,” Valte noted. (jcl/2:00 p.m.)
Message of Secretary Sonny Coloma on Father’s
Day
17 June 2012
Today, we observe one of the most endearing
occasions in our lives - that of giving tribute to the man who taught us to
love, laugh and follow our dreams. The man who serves as our pillar of strength
and fountain of wisdom.
Today brings warmest thoughts of our Dad, and
all the way he brighten’s life for us all year through. Whose guiding hands on
our shoulders would remain with us forever.
Let us make this day special for him, for it is
one day of the year when we can fully express our appreciation to him for being
on call everyday of the year.
The PCOO family joins the whole world in
greeting the most wonderful man in our lives a Happy Father’s Day!
