Ochoa presents OP’s P2.7-B budget for FY 2013
Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. on
Tuesday submitted to the Senate Committee on Finance the P2.7-billion spending
plan of the Office of the President (OP) for fiscal year 2013, the bulk of
which will cover funding for the wage adjustments of state workers under the
Salary Standardization Law (SSL) and Malacañang infrastructure improvements.
Ochoa told the committee hearing that the OP
increased to P552.9 million the budget for personal services from P513.9
million to meet the funding requirements for salary increases under the fourth
tranche of the SSL that was implemented starting June of this year.
The Executive Secretary, however, said that
money earmarked for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) will be
slashed by 4.1 percent to P1.88 billion from P1.96 billion, as a result of the
improved system in the allocation of funds and enhanced expenditure assessment.
“Among these activities are the strict
implementation of the Procurement Reform Law, the installation of energy saving
devices, and the streamlining of processes within the OP,” Ochoa explained.
Capital Outlays for 2013, on the other hand,
will be increased to P300.4 million from P150.6 million to finance major
repairs, rehabilitation and improvement of various buildings and facilities,
some of which were built over a hundred years ago, within the Malacañang
Complex.
Aquino declares August 16 as special non-working
day in Tuguegarao City in celebration of ‘Pav-vurulun Festival’
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared
August 16 which falls on a Thursday as a special (non-working) day in the city
of Tuguegarao in celebration of its 288th patronal feast dubbed as “Pav-vurulun
Festival 2012.″
The Chief Executive issued the declaration,
through Proclamation No. 454 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr.
on August 10 to give the people of Tuguegarao City the full opportunity to
celebrate and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.
Tuguegarao City marks the celebration of
“Pav-vurulun Festival 2012″ with the
theme "Day wat Tam y Tuguegarao" (Let us visit Tuguegarao on Aug. 16.
Pav-vurulun is an Ibanag term that means unity.
Tuguegaraoeños celebrates the patronal feast in
honor of St. Hyacinth, the Tuguegarao City's patron saint. (js)
Aquino to lead launching of Lucky Chinatown
Center in Binondo
President Benigno S. Aquino III will lead the
grand launching ceremonies of the Lucky Chinatown Activity Center on Wednesday
in Binondo, Manila, as part of a major plan to boost tourism and trade in the
area.
During the launching rites, the President is
expected to paint a red dot on the eyes of the dragon puppet. The sleeping
dragon puppet will come to life and perform a dragon dance. After a confetti
shower, the dancing dragon will go downstage and dance around the mall.
The Lucky Chinatown launching is part of the
plan by Megaworld Corp., a leading real state developer in the country to
revive Binondo, Manila.
Setting a new standard in lifestyle development,
the Lucky Chinatown has five levels of shopping, dining and entertainment to
offer.
Lucky Chinatown, the first full-scale luxury
shopping center in Binondo, has an exciting mix of international and local
brands.
Food lovers will have a feast over the extensive
culinary offerings of Lucky Chinatown Mall. There are also state-of-the-art
cinemas equipped with the latest technology for superb cinematic experience.
Completing the Lucky Chinatown experience is the
Chinatown Walk reliving Binondo’s old roots and street concept recreating the
famed Chinatown.
The entire project aims to reinvent the
lifestyle of residents and tourists of Binondo, a tribute project to the
Chinese community.
It is Megaworld Corp.’s vision to develop a
heritage project in Manila. With the development of Lucky Chinatown, Megaworld
Corp. is helping boost the country’s economy and tourism as well as providing
employment for Filipinos.
One of the country’s leading property
developers, Megaworld Corp. also focuses on building office spaces for the
business process outsourcing sector.
Officials who are expected to accompany the
President during the Lucky Chinatown launching include Trade Secretary Gregory
Domingo, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and
Megaworld chairman and chief executive officer Andrew Tan. (as)
DSWD has provided P41.66-million worth of relief
assistance to flood victims
The Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD) has provided P41.66-million worth of relief assistance to families
affected by flooding and torrential rains in the country, a Palace official
said.
"The DSWD has provided a total of
P41,662,152.48 million worth of relief assistance to National Capital Region
(NCR), Region I, Region 3, Region 4-A, Region 4-B, and Region 6," Deputy
Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said during the regular press briefing
in Malacanang on Tuesday.
The DSWD has extended P16,951,252.00 worth of
relief assistance consisting of food and non-food items to the affected
families in the NCR; P1,063,593.46 to Region 1; P10,670,733.22 to Region 3;
P12,847,845.80 to Region 4-A, P100,000.00 to Region 4-B and P28,728.00 to
Region 6.
The repacking of relief goods by the DSWD staff
and volunteers is still ongoing at the department's National Resource
Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City as relief distribution continues in
areas affected by floods.
The NROC is the command center and national
warehouse of the DSWD where disaster operations are monitored, and relief goods
are stored and re-packed.
President Benigno S. Aquino III expressed on Sunday
his deepest gratitude to the hundreds of students and professionals who
willingly volunteered their time and industry by re-packing and distributing
family packs to help families displaced by the recent floods. (js)
Malacanang says government is working on
President Aquino’s directive for PAGASA to laymanize weather updates
Malacanang said that the government has been
working on the directive of President Benigno S. Aquino III for the Philippine
Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) to
use “layman-friendly” terms in their weather bulletins in efforts to let the
people easily understand the present weather condition and prepare the dangers
that it could bring.
In a press briefing in Malacanang, Tuesday,
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said that the President
commended the state weather bureau for keeping up with their responsibilities
of informing the public on the hourly weather conditions especially during the
occurrence of weather disturbances.
“The President did commend … DOST-PAGASA for its
effort to update and disseminate the weather updates from last week. The
President did also ask them to further work on laymanizing the weather
advisories,” Valte said.
“You have seen this happen already in the past
week, meron pong concerns about the rainfall signals… nung una po kasi yellow,
green and then red meron pong mga naging reactions from the public primarily
through the social networking sites that were sent to us and sabi po baka
pwedeng palitan yung green… kasi green exudes calm so hindi po siya appropriate
and it was changed midway last week,” she added.
“So, now its yellow, orange and red. We continue
to work with DOST-PAGASA on laymanizing their weather update,” Valte further
noted.
Acting on the orders of the Chief Executive last
week, PAGASA said that they will be using simplified terms in their weather
updates. It added that the agency will be avoiding the use of unnecessary
technical terms.
The DOST- PAGASA assured the public that the
presentation of their hourly reports, particularly the amount of rainfall, can
easily be interpreted by the common people. It further said that these reports
will be focused not only to inform the people but also to emphasize the
possible effects of the weather condition. (jcl/2:30 p.m.)
Palace says PhilHealth to cover cases of
Leptospirosis in flood-affected areas
Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth)
will cover cases of Leptospirosis in flood-affected areas to ease the burden of
the poor communities, Malacanang said on Tuesday.
“Doon sa mga naapektuhan ng baha, effective
August 7, all admissions of uncomplicated Leptospirosis shall be P11,000 for
all member types,” Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in the
press conference on Tuesday.
PhilHealth is also implementing the “no balance
billing policy” in covering Leptospirosis cases especially for sponsored
program members of PhilHealth.
For non-PhilHealth members who contracted
Leptospirosis in disaster areas, Valte said, that they will be automatically
enrolled as PhilHealth’s sponsored program members and will be accorded the
benefits.
The premium payment shall be waived and
membership validity period is from August 1, 2012 to July 31 of 2013, she said.
“That takes care of the problem of non-members
of PhilHealth belonging to the lowest na naapektuhan ng pagbaha kung sakaling
magkaroon man sila ng Leptospirosis. Mako-cover automatically, mae-enroll sila
sa PhilHealth,” she said.
Also, the period for filing of benefits for
PhilHealth members and dependents is extended to 120 days for discharges
covering the dates June 8 to August 21, 2012.
For the accredited institutional healthcare
providers whose claim documents may have been affected by the recent flooding,
they are advised to contact the local health insurance office of PhilHealth for
the necessary assistance, Valte said.
Healthcare institutions claiming for treatments
and other services that are considered emergency maybe reimbursed by
non-accredited facilities of PhilHealth as long as they are accredited by the
Department of Health.
Valte said that the deadline for the payment of
premiums has been extended to August 17, 2012. This is for the formal sector or
the employed members of PhilHealth.
Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that
affects humans and animals, according to the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). It is caused by a bacteria of the genus Leptospira. It can
cause a wide range of symptoms, some of which may be mistaken for other
diseases. Without treatment, Leptospirosis can lead to kidney damage,
meningitis (inflammation of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord),
liver failure, respiratory distress, and even death, the CDC said. (as/2:54pm)
