Aquino confers Order of Sikatuna on outgoing
Brazilian envoy
President Benigno S. Aquino III conferred the
Order of Sikatuna with the Rank of Datu (Grand Cross, Silver Distinction) on
outgoing Brazilian Ambassador to the Philippines, His Excellency Alcides Gastao
Rostand Prates during his farewell call, Friday.
In simple rites at the Music Room of the
Malacanang Palace, President Aquino gave the award to Ambassador Prates in
recognition of his valuable contributions to further strengthening the
bilateral partnership between the Republic of the Philippines and the Federative
Republic of Brazil.
The Brazilian envoy has played an important role
in cultivating and supporting mutually-beneficial and meaningful engagement
between the two governments through reciprocal high-level visits, the official
visit of Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary to Brazil, the convention of
policy dialogues under established mechanisms, the First Bilateral
Consultations Meeting in Manila, the First Joint Committee Meeting between the
Department of Agriculture of the Philippines and the Agriculture Ministry of
Brazil, and the Philippines’ participation in the Open Government Partnership
and Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency and the recent holding of the
Rio+20 Conference.
Ambassador Prates was also an advocate of active
economic development and technical cooperation between the two countries in
support of the Philippine development priorities in the areas of agriculture,
agrarian reform, bio-fuels and forest management through the facilitation of
the conduct of the Department of Agriculture’s technical mission on the
Benchmarking on Brazil Food Legislation, the Coffee Study Tour in Sao Paolo and
the Brazilian government’s continuing grant of educational and technical
courses and seminars through the Brazilian Technical Cooperation Program on
Agriculture, Food Security and Social Policy Courses.
The citation also recognized the Brazilian
Ambassador’s promotion of enhanced bilateral trade and cooperation through the
signing of several agreements covering the various sectors of the Philippine
economy during his tour of duty in the country.
These agreements include the Memoranda of
Understanding on Cooperation in Agriculture, Bio-energy Cooperation, Agrarian
Reform Cooperation and the Joint Declaration on Cooperation Against the
International Drug Problem and Connected Crimes, among others.
Also present during the event were Foreign
Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Chief Presidential Protocol Ambassador
Jose Miguel Perez-Rubio.
The Brazilian envoy was accompanied by Second
Secretary and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Brazil in the
Philippines Fabiana Arazini Garcia Kanadoglu. (jcl/11:00 a.m.)
Government continues power-rate discounts for
low-income electricity consumers
In line with President Benigno S. Aquino III's
anti-poverty programs, the government continues to implement the measure of
providing the power-rate discounts to “lifeline" or marginalized
electricity consumers.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda issued
the statement during the regular press briefing in Malacanang on Monday
following reports that various groups are appealing to the government to
provide electricity subsidy to the poor following the increase of Manila
Electricity Company (Meralco) electricity rates.
Lacierda reiterated the Aquino administration's
position to ensure that the poor and the underprivileged sector of society
would still be able to afford electricity services by giving discounts to
low-income users of electricity until 2021.
Last year, the Chief Executive signed Republic
Act 10150, an act that provides a ten-year extension of the lifeline rate
implementation under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) as a
socialized pricing mechanism that benefits the marginalized end-users of
electricity.
The EPIRA initially packaged the discounted
rates for the marginalized end-users for 10 years or until June 26, 2011. Under
the lifeline subsidy scheme, residential consumers in the higher consumption
bracket would have to pay extra cost as subsidy to their poorer counterparts.
Senate Joint Resolution No. 9, on the other
hand, sought to extend the existence of the Joint Congressional Power
Commission (JCPC) for another 10 years to "ensure that the goals and
objectives of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001 and the
Renewable Energy Act of 2008 are fully achieved.”
Last month, the Energy Regulatory Commission
(ERC) has approved Meralco's petition for a maximum average price of P1.6303
per kilowatt-hour for distribution, supply and metering charges to different customer
classes. (js)
Aquino government maintains its position not to
amend 1987 Constitution at this time
President Benigno S. Aquino III has maintained
his position that amending the 1987 Constitution is not necessary at this point
in time to improve the country's capabilities to protect its territory, a
Palace official said on Monday.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda issued
the statement during the regular press briefing in Malacanang on Monday
following reports that various groups are proposing the amendment of the
Constitution to strengthen the country’s security to fight foreign aggression.
"What we are doing right now is to create a
minimum defense position right. That’s why we are acquiring military hardware.
We have not made any discussions right now on Charter Change. The President has
made his position very, very clear on that point with respect to Charter
Change," Lacierda said.
News reports revealed that the Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP) military plans to acquire six jet fighters for
interdiction missions against intruders into Philippine waters and air space.
"If we can resolve problems or issues
without going through amending the charter, we will continue to do it that
way," Lacierda said. (js)
Aquino launches two medical programs in
Malacañang
Advancements in Philippine healthcare took
center-stage after President Benigno S. Aquino III formally launched two
medical programs aimed at improving and expanding healthcare coverage to
include diarrhea vaccines for children and cancer treatment for all Filipinos
in Malacañang on Monday.
The President, who was joined by Health
Secretary Enrique Ona and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation president and
CEO Eduardo Banzon, led the back-to-back inauguration of the DoH’s Rota Virus
Vaccine campaign and Philhealth’s “Z” Benefits package program.
In his speech, the President said the event
highlighted his Administration’s commitment to give equal importance to
alleviating poverty by focusing not on only the health of the country, economy
and government but also the overall health of all Filipinos as well.
“…to win this war on poverty, we must also turn
our attention to public health we want our people to be empowered individuals
capable of standing on their own two feet—strong, healthy, and skilled men and
women who can take advantage of the opportunities life affords them,” the
President said.
The President added that these two medical
programs “are expected to contribute to our goal of safeguarding the health and
well-being” of all Filipinos.
He said that 700,000 infants from families
listed in the National Household Targeting System of the Department of Social
Welfare and Development will be vaccinated from the rota virus, the most common
cause of diarrhea in infants and children.
The “Z” Benefits Package, meanwhile, expands the
coverage of Philhealth illnesses list to include “catastrophic illnesses” or
illnesses that are literally catastrophic not only to one’s health but also to
one’s financial situation and emotional and psychological well-being.
“For the first time in its history, Philhealth
now provides benefits that can cover the treatment of diseases that cost
roughly P100,000 to P200,000,” the President said.’
“This represents a change in the way Philhealth
does business. Instead of focusing on one claim or on one treatment alone, the
focus is on the patient himself: from the surgery to post-operation care and
even to therapy. The Z Benefit Package provides full coverage for our
countrymen suffering from dire illnesses, opening new doors to Filipinos in the
margins of society,” he added.
Under the benefit package, the catastrophic illnesses
that are initially covered are early stage breast cancer, standard risk
childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and low to intermediate risk prostate
cancer.
The President stressed that Philhealth will
further expand the coverage of this program in the coming months.
“This occasion represents the very goals of our
universal healthcare: to ease the burden of our countrymen already struggling
to put food on their tables by lending them a helping hand for their other
needs; and to support Juan and Juana dela Cruz from beginning to end, in the
most common of illnesses and in the most catastrophic,” the President said.
“Just as fighting corruption and poverty are the
means to ensure a healthier, fairer and more prosperous society, so too will
programs like these help improve our public health system, resulting in a
society where the vulnerable are made strong, and the weak are empowered to
contribute to the well-being and the happiness of the whole,” he added. (rck)
Aquino government welcomes 15-member contingent
from Indonesia
The Aquino administration welcomed the decision
of Indonesia to send a 15-member contingent to the country as part of its
contribution to a multinational team monitoring the ceasefire between the
Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
"We needed 60 peacekeepers. We only have
around 40 right now. And so it is good that Indonesia has offered to provide
peacekeepers to us. They sent around 15, so kulang na lang siguro ng lima....
So that’s why we welcome the offer of Indonesia to come in and be
observers," Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said during the
regular press briefing in Malacanang on Monday.
Last June 30, Indonesia deployed the contingent
to Central Mindanao where the International Monitoring Team (IMT) is presently
based, according to news reports.
The ceasefire-monitoring team from Indonesia
will join the delegates from Malaysia, Brunei, Japan, Libya and Norway.
The inclusion of Indonesia in the IMT contingent
was also a result of the request made in 2009 by Foreign Affairs official
Rafael Seguis and MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal for Jakarta to
send a contingent to the truce monitoring team.
Lacierda said the government is still hopeful
towards arriving at a peace agreement with the MILF during the administration
of President Benigno S. Aquino III.
Last August, President Aquino met with MILF
chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim in Tokyo, Japan as a show of government’s
sincerity to move the peace process forward. The President and Murad agreed to
fast track the negotiations to achieve a just and lasting peace in Mindanao.
(js)
