President Aquino welcomes top officials of
leading management consulting and business process outsourcing company
President Benigno S. Aquino III welcomed global
outsourcing company officials who expressed confidence in the local market in
Malacanang on Thursday.
Accenture Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Pierre Nanterme paid a courtesy call on the Chief Executive at the Music Room
of Malacanang Palace. He was accompanied by Chief Operating Officer Jo Deblaere
and Country Managing Director Manolito Tayag.
Also in attendance was Trade and Industry
Gregory Domingo.
Nanterme reinforced Accenture's confidence in
the the local market and the world-class capabilities of Accenture' Philippine
workforce who provide innovative information technology (IT) and business
process outsourcing (BPO) solutions and services to top global clients.
Accenture Philippines is the country's leading
management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with
approximately 30,000 employees working in 16 facilities in its Manila and Cebu
delivery centers.
The Accenture Philippines works with an
international client base in Europe, Asia and North America. It plays a
strategic role in Accenture's ASEAN growth strategy.
The officials reaffirmed their commitment to
partner with government in its advocacy to provide more jobs and spur economic
growth through its commitment to invest in the Philippines. PND (js)
President Aquino declares March 2 as a special
non-working day in La Union province in celebration of its 163rd Foundation Day
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared
March 2, which falls on a Saturday as a special non-working day in the province
of La Union, in commemoration of its 163rd Foundation Day.
The Chief Executive issued the declaration by
virtue of Proclamation No. 546 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa
Jr. on February 6, to give the people of La Union the full opportunity to
celebrate and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.
The province was created in 1850 when the
Spanish colonial government of Governor-General Antonio Maria Blanco merged the
southern towns of Ilocos Sur province, the northern towns of Pangasinan, and
the western towns of Benguet to the east.
The name La Union indicates the union of towns
from different provinces. PND (js)
DSWD, representatives of typhoon ‘Pablo’ victims
agree to validate list of relief beneficiaries
The Department of Social Welfare and Development
and the representatives of the victims of typhoon “Pablo” that struck Mindanao
last December have agreed to conduct a validation into the “inadequacy and
insufficiency” in the distribution of relief goods received in order to prevent
a repeat of the February 26 incident where alleged Pablo victims stormed the
DSWD Region 11 office in Davao City to press for the immediate delivery of
relief goods to typhoon victims, especially the sacks of rice pledged by the
DSWD.
In a press briefing in Malacanang on Thursday,
DSWD Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said that negotiations between the DSWD,
the Barug Katau-han, Balsa Mindanao, the provincial local government unit, and
the municipal government unit ended peacefully with all parties agreeing to
determine “the total number of families who did not receive enough goods as
basis for the distribution of relief goods.”
“The Barug Katau-han, DSWD Region 11, Balsa Mindanao,
the provincial local government unit, the provincial social welfare and
development office, the municipal government unit and the municipal social
welfare and development office, the barangay local government unit and Balsa
Mindanao have agreed to fast track the validation of the number of families who
did not receive enough goods, the sitios and puroks in the barangays that did
not receive or failed to receive sufficient relief goods; and Barug Katau-han
will provide the list if there are indeed areas that did not receive or which
obtained inadequate relief goods,” Soliman said.
Aside from this, Soliman said that the DSWD has
committed to conduct relief operations until June 2013 or “to even go beyond
June if necessary”
“Part ng aming stratehiya ay i-normalize ang
buhay ng ating mga kababayan the soonest possible time. Hindi nila inaasahan na
magfu-food pack palagi ng matagal. So gusto po nila talaga ng trabaho at doon
kami naka-tutok,” Soliman said. PND (rck)
Palace renews appeal for Kirams of Sulu to
persuade followers to leave Sabah
Malacanang once again appealed to the family of
Sultan Jamalul Kiram III of Sulu on Thursday to order its people in Lahad Datu
town in Sabah to end the two-week standoff with Malaysia Authorities by
returning to Mindanao.
Early this week, President Benigno S. Aquino III
appealed to the Sultan of Sulu to persuade his followers holed up in Sabah in
Malaysia to peacefully end the standoff there to avoid possible bloodshed. The
Sulu Sultan and his followers have been pressing their land claim in Sabah.
The Kirams expressed their concern on the plan
of the government to investigate them through the Department of Justice.
But in a press conference in Malacanang,
Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the government is doing everything
to have a peaceful resolution to the ongoing standoff.
“Paulit-ulit naming sinasabi sa kanila na hindi
tayo maaaring magkaroon ng isang sitwasyon na posibleng lumala habang meron
kayong mga armadong tao sa Sabah,” Lacierda told reporters during the press
conference.
“Whenever there is an armed group, there is a
potential for violence. So what are we trying to do? What the government has
been asking them to do is: Let’s take out that potential by asking your armed
people to come home.”
Lacierda said the government believes it’s a
reasonable request on the part of the state for them to leave Sabah. At the
same time, he said the government has sent emissaries to speak to them to
address the issue.
“Let’s defuse the tension in Lahad Datu. The
Kirams would like to speak to us. What we’re saying is: Let’s do it in a way
where the tense situation has been resolved and we can discuss in an objective,
prudent atmosphere and talk to you,” he said.
On the issue about some personalities inciting
people to pursue the Sabah claim, Lacierda said he can’t disclose some
information because of the sensitivity of the issue. But he added that the
government has been looking at people who may be collaborating with Filipinos involved
in the standoff.
The Philippine government is trying to protect
its national interest as well as to prevent possible eruption of violence, he
said.
The Kirams want the Philippine government to
negotiate with Malaysia, Lacierda said while their followers remain in Lahad
Datu. The government is anxious about this situation because if those people
don’t get the conditions they wanted violence may erupt. PND (as)
