President Aquino declares February 12 as special
non-working day in Kidapawan City, Cotabato in celebration of its 15th
Foundation Day
President
Benigno S. Aquino III has declared February 12, which falls on a Tuesday, as a
special (non-working) day in the city of Kidapawan in the province of Cotabato
in celebration of its 15th Foundation Day.
The Chief
Executive issued the declaration through Proclamation No. 539 signed by
Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. on January 28 to give the people of
Kidapawan City the full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the
occasion.
Kidapawan
became a city on February 12, 1998 by virtue of Republic Act No. 8500 signed by
then President Fidel V. Ramos.
Kidapaweños overwhelmingly ratified the
cityhood in a plebiscite on March 21, 1998. PND (js)
Palace announces new appointments in various government
agencies
President
Benigno S. Aquino III has appointed new officials to various government
agencies, a Malacanang official said.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte
made the announcement during the regular press briefing at Malacanang on
Friday.
The Chief Executive appointed Roberto P. Cabrera
III as Executive Director, under a co-terminus status, of the Land
Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board under the Department of
Transportation and Communications.
He also named Jose Marlowe S. Pedregosa as
Executive Director of the Dangerous Drugs Board also in a co-terminus status.
The President also signed the appointment papers
of Evangeline de Castro-Cruzado as member of the Career Executive Service Board
(CESB) with a term of six years.
The Chief Executive, likewise, appointed five
new members of the board of directors of DBP Data Center Inc. namely: Gil A.
Buenaventura, Alberto A. Lim, Cecilio B. Lorenzo, Marietta M. Fondevilla and
Roberto F. Viray. Their term will expire on June 30, 2013.
He also appointed two new officials in the
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority namely: Francisco B. Jucar
Jr. as Director IV, and Florencio F. Sunico Jr. as Acting Director IV.
Other presidential appointees include the following:
-Estrelita S. Hizon, as member of the governing
board representing the private sector, Philippine Overseas Employment Agency,
Department of Labor and Employment;
- Jennifer Santiago Oreta, as Executive Director
IV of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process;
-Ronald Castillo, as Acting Assistant Schools
Division Superintendent of the Department of Education;
-Gerelyn Balneg, as Director III, Department of
Social Welfare and Development;
-Remedios S. Espinosa, as Acting Director III,
Bureau of Customs, Department of Finance;
- Daniel A. Ariaso Sr., as Assistant Secretary,
Department of Energy; and
-Sheirwin H. Taay, as Executive Director of the
National Youth Commission with a term of three years. PND (jb)
President Aquino wants his legacy to be an
improved bureaucracy
President
Benigno S. Aquino III intends to leave the government in 2016 with a reformed
bureaucracy better than he assumed office in 2010, a Palace official said.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the
President can’t stamp out corruption within his six-year term of office.
Although the President has the good intentions
to eradicate or reduce corruption in the country it is impossible to do so in a
very short time, he told reporters at a press briefing of the Global
Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) on Thursday.
But in a press conference in Malacanang on
Friday, Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the President never
promised to completely eliminate corruption in the bureaucracy.
“The President never promised to stamp out
corruption completely, totally, at least from the point of view of the
President he wants to do the best that he can, at least when he steps down in
2016… to leave the government in a better shape than it was when he arrived,”
Valte said.
The President had previously said that reforming
the government didn’t solely rely on his shoulders. He said his administration
wants to set the momentum for a better government so that future leaders could
sustain the reforms that he had initiated with the support of the people.
In his speech Thursday during 5th GOPAC held in
Manila, the Chief Executive offered his administration’s policies on combating
corruption to participants attending the global convention on anti-corruption.
President Aquino highlighted the importance of
attacking corruption “strategically” and “always with the long-term in mind” in
order “to usher in an enduring mainstream of good, honest governance.”
“The problem of corruption must thus be
approached strategically, always with the long-term in mind. Reforms cannot be
mere blips in the radar—they must usher in an enduring mainstream of good,
honest governance,” he said.
Aside from airing his views on the President’s
fight against corruption, Enrile acknowledged the Aquino government’s success
in impeaching former Chief Justice Renato Corona as one of its major
anti-corruption feats.
Among other anti-corruption achievements of the
administration is the designation of a new Ombudsman and the appointment of well-respected
individual to key positions in government.
Enrile also said the important thing is that the
cases are investigated, evidence are gathered and analyzed, and cases are filed
against the wrongdoers.
Eradicating corruption in society will take a “long,
long time” and it will require the effort not only by the President or by the
government but also by the people, he said. PND (as)
