Palace appeals to Filipinos not to go to Syria
Malacañang appealed to Filipinos to forego any
decision to work or accept work in Syria as civil strife in this Middle Eastern
country continue to escalate.
The appeal was issued by Deputy Presidential
Spokesperson Abigail Valte during a press briefing aired over government radio
dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Sunday.
She said the government was concentrating its
efforts on getting overseas Filipino workers out of Syria as soon as possible
to prevent putting any of our countrymen in any harm’s way.
“Sana ‘wag po tayong dumagdag doon sa mga
iniintindi po ng ating…mga kasamahan dahil delikado po ang sitwasyon,” Valte
said.
"Ayaw po natin kayong maharap naman sa
sakuna o sa hindi magandang pangyayari,” she added.
Valte assured OFWs that personnel from the
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration and the Department of Labor and Employment were ready to assist
Filipinos in getting back home and finding alternate work locations in other
countries.
“…kung lumapit po tayo sa POEA or sa OWWA pwede
or lalo na sa DOLE mahahanapan naman po kayo ng ibang lugar kung saan po kayo
pwede i-deploy at hindi kailangan kung saan delikado,” Valte said.
Despite an ongoing ban for OFWs to go to Syria,
Labor Attaché Angel Borja said, in a recent report to Labor Secretary Rosalinda
Baldoz, that around 100 Filipinos arrive in Syria every month.
Borja pointed out that Syria had remained under
crisis alert level 4 which the Department of Foreign Affairs declared in December
2011.
“Under this alert level, there is a continuing
mandatory repatriation of Filipino nationals from Syria,” Baldoz said. (rck)
Palace lauds record-high gross income of the
Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation for May 2012
Malacañang has lauded anew the latest
record-high 3.72-billion pesos gross income posted by the Philippine Amusement
and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) for May 2012 that would allow the government to
apportion more funds for its nation-building programs.
In her regular weekend briefing over dzRB Radyo
ng Bayan Sunday, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said this is
already the third time the PAGCOR has posted a new revenue record breaking its
previous highs of 3.56-billion pesos in February and 3.67-billion in March.
Valte said this is significant because PAGCOR’s
earnings would eventually be funneled towards the different agencies and
programs of government.
The National Treasury which represents 50
percent of the government share from PAGCOR’s gross income will get
1.12-billion pesos out of the 3.72-billion while the President’s Social Fund
will have the same 200-million pesos.
The Philippine Sports Commission will have a
share of 56-million pesos to fund the country’s programs and 40-million pesos
will go to PAGCOR’s casino host cities for their community development
programs; 70-million will be used for social civic programs while the remaining
6.64-million pesos will go to the Board of Claims to help victims of injustice.
Valte also announced that the country garnered
some 850-million US dollars in its cumulative net foreign direct investment
inflows for the first quarter of 2012 which is 72.4 percent higher from the
493-million dollars net inflows it has posted for the same period last year.
She, moreover, stated that the United States
government has already waived the 23-million dollar debt by the Philippines in
exchange of green projects like planting trees as part of its debt-for-nature
swap program.
She said this assistance was apart from the
30-million dollars that will be donated by the US government under the
Partnership for Growth Program that supports the Aquino administration’s agenda
to alleviate poverty in the country.
These developments were among the results of
President Benigno S. Aquino III’s successful official working visit to the
United States just recently.
Wrapping up the good news she had for the week,
Valte mentioned that the country’s coconut oil outbound shipment volume
increased to 70,600 metric tons in May this year compared to the 58,753 metric
tons it had in the same period last year. (hdc)
