Aquino receives United States Pacific Command
Commander in Malacañang
President Benigno S. Aquino III received United
States Pacific Command (USPACOM) Commander and his party to discuss various
issues of mutual interest between the two countries.
In a courtesy call on President Aquino at the
Music Room of the Malacanang Palace on Monday, US Pacific Command Commander
Admiral Samuel J. Locklear discussed with the President and other senior
government officials the issues on maritime and regional security and the
developments in the US-Philippine bilateral defense alliance that marked its
60th anniversary last year.
Admiral Locklear was accompanied by US
Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas Jr.; Steve Weston of the US
Embassy, Major Gregory Beaulieu, USPACOM Philippine Desk; Ambassador Marc Wall,
political advisor of USPACOM; Colonel Rocky Carter, senior defense
official-Philippines and Colonel Sean Jenkins, executive assistant to USPACOM
commander.
Among those present during the event for the
Philippine side were Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Foreign Affairs
Secretary Albert del Rosario, Presidential Communications Development and
Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ramon Carandang, Armed Forces of the
Philippines Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gregorio Macapagal and National
Defense Undersecretary Honorio Azcueta.
The four-star Admiral Locklear is on his first
visit to the country since taking command of the USPACOM in March. As the
senior military authority in the Pacific Command area of responsibility,
Locklear overseas an area that encompasses about half of the earth’s surface,
including 36 nations that is home to more that 50 percent of the world’s
population, several of the world’s largest militaries and two of the three
largest economies.
The USPACOM is committed to enhancing stability
in the Asia-Pacific region by promoting security cooperation with allies and
partners, encouraging peaceful development, responding to contingencies and
deterring aggression.
Admiral Locklear is a graduate of the United
States Naval Academy in 1977. His career as surface warfare officer includes
assignments aboard USS William V. Pratt (DDG44), USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), USS
Callaghan (DDG 994) and USS Truxtun (CG 35), among others.
He is a graduate of the Industrial College of
the Armed Forces and holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the
George Washington University. (jcl/11:10 a.m.)
Mining Executive Order underwent proper
consultation with stakeholders, Malacañang insists
Malacañang belied criticism from certain
quarters that Executive Order No. 79 did not undergo the proper consultation
with stakeholders before President Benigno S. Aquino III affixed his signature
to his directive harmonizing mining policies and regulations in the country.
In a press briefing in Malacañang on Monday,
Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Secretary Ramon
Carandang insisted that all stakeholders – nongovernmental organizations,
environmental groups and local government units – were represented in
discussions leading to the drafting of the new Mining EO.
He added that the reason why the Executive Order
took some time before its formal implementation last July 9, was because “we
had been discussing this with stakeholders.”
“So there was ample consultation on the Mining
EO and I think that on the whole, most reasonable stakeholders in mining have
agreed that perhaps, while it is not ideal from their point of view, it is
something most stakeholders can live with,” Carandang said.
He pointed out that the new Mining EO struck a
balance between allowing the industry to flourish without too much of an impact
on the environment.
“This is an EO that, we believe, strikes a
balance between the different interests in the country,” Carandang said.
Executive Order No. 79 identifies zones closed
to mining applications – either for contracts, concessions or agreements –
including areas in the National Tourism Development Plan, critical areas and
island eco-systems, prime agricultural lands covered by RA 6657, strategic
agriculture and fisheries development zones or fish refuge and sanctuaries
declared as such by the Department of Agriculture. Mining is not allowed in
areas already identified under the existing laws on mining, agrarian and
protected areas, as well as in sites that may be determined by the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources.
The presidential order was based on the joint
resolution of the Cabinet clusters on climate change adaptation and mitigation,
and economic development dated March 16, 2012 to improve environmental mining
standards and increase revenues to promote sustainable development and social
growth, both at the national and local levels. (rck)
Aquino government steps up efforts to locate all
Filipinos in Syria, Malacañang says
The Aquino administration has stepped up its
efforts to locate all Filipinos in the conflict-torn Syria in line with the
government’s mandatory evacuation program.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Laciarda
announced during the regular press briefing in Malacanang on Monday that the
crisis alert level in Syria remains at Number 4, which means the mandatory
repatriation of all Filipinos in the country is underway.
"Some of our nationalities are already
intermarried with Syrian nationals..... We continue to repatriate them, we will
find them pero kung may pamilya na po sila, medyo mahihirapan po tayo
i-repatriate sila," Lacierda said.
Reports said the Philippine government is doing
its best to fast-track the extraction of all Filipinos in the conflict-torn
country. However, the operations are being hampered because of the refusal of
some Filipinos to leave Syria.
Lacierda said the latest batch of repatriates
arrived in the country last week. "The latest number of Oveseas Filipino
Workers who have arrived is around 17," he said.
As of July 12, a total of 1,775 Filipinos have
been repatriated since the Philippine Government started carrying out its
mandatory repatriation plan for Syria in December 2011 in light of the ongoing
crisis in the said country.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is
urging the families of Filipinos in Syria to provide the Office of the
Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs with the latest information
regarding their next-of-kin’s current location and their contact details in
Syria by calling (02) 834-4996 or (02) 834-3333. (js)
Aquino to inaugurate 2nd phase of MWSS water
supply project Tuesday
President Benigno S. Aquino III will inaugurate
the second phase of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System’s (MWSS)
Angat Water Utilization and Aqueduct Improvement Project (AWUAIP) that will be
held at the La Mesa Dam Portal in Quezon City on Tuesday, July 17.
During the inauguration rites, the President
will push the ceremonial button located at the Stilling Basin area that will
signal the formal launching of the AWUIAP Phase 2.
Built at a cost of P1.3-billion, the AWUAIP
Phase 2 involves the construction of a new 9.9 km aqueduct (Aqueduct No. 6) and
the rehabilitation of the deteriorated section of Aqueduct No. 5 that will
allow the more efficient conveyance of raw water from Angat Dam to the La Mesa
and Balara water treatment plants.
The AWUAIP, which consists of three development
project phases, aims to recoup losses of 394 million liters of water a day due
to leakages.
The first phase, which was completed on February
2006, involved the construction of a 5.5 km by-pass of the deteriorated section
of the existing Aqueduct No. 5.
The amount of P1.5-billion was invested for
Phase 1 which was financed by the Philippine Government.
The second and third phases include the
construction of the 9.9 km. section of Aqueduct No. 6, the rehabilitation of
the Aqueduct No.5 and the construction of interconnection facilities. The total
investment of P5.2-billion for the AWUAIP was financed thru the Preferential
Buyer’s Credit of China Export-Import Bank.
Once completed, the AWUAIP will ensure the
safety and integrity of raw water conveyance from Angat Dam to the La Mesa and
Balara treatment plants, thus maintaining security of water supply for the MWSS
service area covering 12 to 14 million people.
Joining the President will be House Speaker
Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr.; Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson; MWSS
chairman Ramon B. Alikpala; MWSS Administrator Gerardo A.I. Esquivel; Manila
Water chairman Fernando Zobel De Ayala; and Maynilad Water chairman Manuel V.
Pangilinan. (rck)
US vows continuing support for developing
defense capability of the country
The United States renewed its commitment for the
Philippines to develop its “minimum credible defense posture” with the recent
visit of the chief the US Pacific Command in the country.
On Monday, President Benigno S. Aquino III
received US Pacific Command (USPACOM) Commander Admiral Samuel J. Locklear and
his party to discuss defense cooperation.
In a press briefing in Malacanang, Secretary
Ramon Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic
Planning Office (PCDSPO) said that one of the issues discussed by President
Aquino and Locklear was the commitment of both countries to their military
tie-up.
“There was also a reiteration of the assistance
that they’re willing to provide us so that we can build a ‘minimum credible
defensive posture’ for the country,” Carandang added.
“So those were the broad strokes of what were
discussed. The details of those broad strokes will be discussed further in a
meeting this afternoon between (Foreign Affairs) Secretary Del Rosario and
Admiral Locklear.”
Pressed on the minimum credible defense issue,
Carandang said the defense strategy has been adopted by the Aquino
administration even before the tension in the West Philippine Sea had
developed.
“Since we came into office, before we had any
issues with China, the President has always said that we need to develop a
minimum credible defense posture. I think that’s been consistent whether or not
we had had issues with China. That was a need that we had recognized from day
one of this administration,” he said.
Accompanying Admiral Locklear was US Ambassador
to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas Jr., along with Steve Weston of the US
Embassy, Major Gregory Beaulieu, USPACOM Philippine Desk; Ambassador Marc Wall,
political advisor of USPACOM; Colonel Rocky Carter, senior defense
official-Philippines and Colonel Sean Jenkins, executive assistant to USPACOM
commander.
On the Philippine side also present were
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., del Rosario, Carandang, Armed Forces of
the Philippines Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gregorio Macapagal and National
Defense Undersecretary Honorio Azcueta.
It is Locklear’s first visit to the Philippines
since taking command of the USPACOM in March.
The USPACOM is committed to enhancing stability
in the Asia-Pacific region by promoting security cooperation with US allies,
encouraging peaceful development, responding to contingencies and deterring
aggression. (as/3:15pm)
Aquino asks Judicial and Bar Council to allow
him to designate his representative to the Council as substitute for Justice
Secretary Leila De Lima
President Benigno S. Aquino III has requested
the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to allow him to designate his representative
as a substitute for Justice Secretary Leila de Lima in the Council in the
selection process for the next Chief Justice.
The Justice Secretary, as one of the nominees
for the position of the Chief Justice, had to inhibit herself as an ex-officio
member of the JBC.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda made
the announcement during the regular press briefing in Malacanang on Monday.
Article VIII Section 8 (1) of the Constitution
provides that the JBC should be composed of the Chief Justice as ex-officio
chairman, the Secretary of Justice and a representative of the Congress as
ex-officio members and four regular members composed of a representative of the
Integrated Bar, a professor of law, a retired member of the Supreme Court, and
a representative of the private sector.
"The nomination of Secretary of Justice
Leila M. De Lima and her acceptance of this nomination similarly leaves the
Council with no one to represent the President in the selection process for the
next Chief Justice," Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. in his July
13, 2012 letter to the JBC.
"Thus, the President requests the gracious
consent and kind consideration of the Council in his designation of a
substitute for Secretary De Lima as His Excellency's representative in the
Council in the selection of the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The
Secretary of Justice is the sole alter ego and representative of the President
in the Council, and her absence would do away with the equal representation of
the Executive, Legislative and the Judiciary in the Council intended by the
Constitution," Ochoa said in his three-page letter.
"The essence of the membership of the
Secretary of Justice in the Council is not because she is the Secretary of
Justice, but she is the alter ego of the President in the Council," Ochoa
said.
“While it may be true that the President
appoints other members of the Council—that is the rest, the representatives of
the academe, the Integrated Bar, the retired Justices, and the private sector,
these appointees are not alter-egos of the President and do not represent the
Executive Branch," Lacierda said, quoting Ochoa.
"The Executive Branch is assured of
representation only through the Secretary of Justice. Thus, whereas, in this
instance the Secretary of Justice is herself one of the nominees and therefore
has to inhibit herself, the executive branch will not have a representative in
the council during the deliberations for the selection of the nominees for the
Chief Justice," Lacierda quoted Ochoa in his letter to the Judicial and
Bar Council. (js)
