Malacañang assures police retirees release of
their pension benefits
Malacañang assured retired personnel from the
Philippine National Police on Thursday that their pension benefits would be
released soon.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda gave
the assurance in a press briefing at Malacanang after Budget Secretary
Florencio Abad said that funds for the pension benefits of some 62,000 PNP
retirees were already available.
Lacierda,
however, said the release of said funds would depend upon the submission by PNP
top brass of its “cleansed pension roster,” a PNP-led program to determine
qualified and eligible retirees who will receive their benefits.
He added
that these retirees should also comply with the PNP requirement of securing and
submitting ATM (automated teller machine) accounts to which their pension
benefits will be sent directly.
“Nakatanggap po kami ng text kay Secretary
(Florencio) Butch Abad. Ito ang sinabi niya ---makakasiguro sila na tiyak na
mari-release ang funds. Available na po ang funds but the release is subject to
PNP’s submission of its cleansed pension roster,” Lacierda said.
“So we
are aware that, at this point, the process of cleaning the pensioners’ list is
80 percent complete. This means that of the 62,000 pensioners about 50,000
pensioners have been vetted at meron na silang registered ATM accounts,” he
added.
He
pointed out the need for PNP retirees to secure ATM accounts in order to verify
their legitimacy as pensioners and to cleanse the pension roster of those who
have already passed away.
“The
delay in the past was the refusal of some pensioners to secure their ATM which
is an effective way of cleaning up their roster. Kaya required po sila ngayon
na magbukas ng ATM account para, unang-una, i-verify po na sila po ay
legitimate, at pangalawa po, para masigurado na sila ay buhay pa rin,” Lacierda
said, underscoring that one effective way of cleansing the roster is through
the ATM,” he added. PND (rck)
President Aquino appoints new officials in
various government agencies
President
Benigno S. Aquino III has appointed new officials in various government
agencies, a Palace official said.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda
announced the appointments during the regular press briefing in Malacanang on
Thursday.
The Chief
Executive signed the appointment letter of Tomasito S. Villarin as Undersecretary
of the Office of the Political Adviser which is under the Office of the
President. His appointment is co-terminus with the appointing authority.
The other
presidential appointees are as follows:
- Rodolfo
T. de Ocampo as member representing the transport and motorist organizations of
the Road Board, Department of Public Works and Highways
- Felix
Roberto M. Oca as member of the Governing Board representing the sea-based
sector, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration under the Department of
Labor and Employment
- Eulogio
T. Castillo as member of the Board of Administrators representing Luzon,
Cooperative Development Authority under the Department of Finance
-
Herminio C. Runas Jr. as Acting Director III of the Department of Finance
- Johann
Carlos S. Barcena as Acting Director III of the Governance Commission for
Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations
- Henry
Roy T. Abella and Katrina M. Manahan as Directors IV and Rafael Victor L.
Ignacio, Immanuel Cedrik L. Forbes and Nancy Auroa D. Quimpo as Directors III,
of the Presidential Management Staff
-
Maribeth C. Pilimpinas as Acting Director III and Annabelle C. Langbayan as
Acting Director II, both of the National Statistic Office under the National
Economic and Development Authority
- Ma.
Lourdes F. Rebueno as member of the Board of Directors of the National
Development Company and Virgilio A. Yuzon as member representing the private
sector of the Board of Directors of the National Development Company
- Oliver
Butalid as member representing the government sector of the Board of Governors,
Board of Investments under the Department of Trade and Industry
- Julius
H. Cainglet as member representing the labor sector of the Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprise Development Council under the Department of Trade and
Industry
- Ma.
Celerina G. Afable and Resty C. Osias as Acting Directors III of the Department
of Agrarian Reform
- Ma.
Lilia O. dela Rea as Regional Agrarian Reform Adjudicator and Renato P.
Borromeo as Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator
- Lourdes
G. Ramirez-Zapanta as Prosecutor V, Office of the Provincial
Prosecutor-Batangas, National Prosecution Service under the Department of
Justice. PND (js)
Government ready to handle Typhoon Auring’s
entry
Concerned
government agencies are prepared to handle any situation with the entry of
Typhoon Auring in the country, a Palace official said on Thursday.
In a
regular press briefing in Malacanang, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda
said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) is on
top of the situation. He added that the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD) has already been informed about the new typhoon.
“Our
standard operating procedure is to identify areas that will be hit by the path
of the LPA (low pressure area) and so we have pre-positioned goods already in
those areas, and also the local government units have already been warned,”
Lacierda said.
“I think,
our level of preparedness has improved, and the local government officials are
more than aware of what they need to do in times of a storm,” he stressed.
As a
country being visited by more than 20 typhoons a year, Lacierda said a group of
foreign scientists would come to the Philippines to observe the country’s
climate.
Lacierda
also said that the government has been working on a more understandable storm
warning system so that the public could do the necessary preparations if
there’s an incoming typhoon.
The
President issued a directive a few months ago calling on government agencies to
make their storm warnings more comprehensible to ordinary people after noting
that the NDRRMC and Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical
Services Administration’s (PAGASA) reports were too technical to be understood,
he said.
Among the
basic information that should be given and must be understood by the public
during times of weather disturbances are wind gustiness and the amount of
rainfall affecting a locality, Lacierda added.
According
to Lacierda, the Palace’s Communications Group, the NDRRMC and PAGASA are the
agencies working together to improve the country’s storm warning system. PND
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Palace welcomes ceasefire 're-extension' by
communist insurgents
Malacanang welcomed the re-extension of the
ceasefire by communist rebels until January 15 this month noting that this will
benefit combatants on the ground.
“The
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has declared
a re-extension of the ceasefire to January 15, 2013. The government welcomes
this change of heart from their earlier position. This gives our soldiers and
members of the CPP-NPA-NDF more time with their loved ones, which becomes
difficult in times of conflict,” Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in
a statement on Thursday.
“Despite
unilateral statements to the contrary, the government is fully committed to
honoring this ceasefire—a clear indication of our sincerity and determination
to maintain peace and stability.”
Representatives from the government and the
Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front
(CPP-NPA-NDF) met in The Hague, Netherlands, last month and agreed on a holiday
truce that would last from December 20, 2012 to January 15, 2013.
Lacierda
also said the Aquino administration is looking forward to resuming a fruitful
dialogue with the CPP-NPA-NDF, with the vision of fostering a true and lasting
peace in the country.
The rebel
group cut short its declared ceasefire with the government this week. Instead
of January 15, ceasefire ended effectively Wednesday.
The
CPP-NPA-NDF said it had shortened the duration of the ceasefire because
President Benigno S. Aquino III failed to issue a reciprocal declaration
indicating said ceasefire would end on January 15. PND (as)
