Palace: Government remains hopeful on peace
talks with communists
Malacanang said the government remains open to
restarting the discussions with the communist rebels insisting however that the
Aquino administration will sit and negotiate without preconditions.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte
said in a radio interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan Saturday that the
administration has been waiting for the Communist Party of the Philippines-New
People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) to continue the peace
discussions.
There are suggestions calling for the government
to abandon the regular track or the formal talks because it has been
ineffective in dealing with the rebels in the past 27 years.
But Valte said the Palace is leaving this issue
to the President’s peace adviser whether to change the current track for peace
talks.
“Matagal na tayong nakaupo at matagal na tayong
naghihintay na sila ay makipag-usap sa atin,” the Palace official said.
“Pero katulad nang inanunsyo natin noon sa
simula ng panunungkulan ng Pangulong Aquino, umupo tayo dito at nagsimula
tayong makipag-usap nang walang pre-conditions doon sa mga negotiations,” she
added.
The CPP-NPA-NDF has been insisting for the
release of its consultants according to the Joint Agreement on Safety and
Immunity Guarantees.
Asked if the possible change in approach in the
discussions was a result of the ambush of Gingoog Mayor Ruthie Guingona by the
NPA, Valte said these things are not related.
“Wala namang kinalaman ang new approach sa
ambush kay Mayor Guingona,” she said. PND (as)
Government, public must work together to ensure
credible may polls, Palace says
Close cooperation between government agencies
and the public is the most effective way to thwart any plan by groups or
individuals wanting to sabotage the May 13 polls, a Palace official said on
Saturday.
Authorities warned the public this week that
using signal jammers aimed at disrupting the May 13 midterm elections next
month is a criminal offense and punishable by law.
In a press conference at Camp Crame on Thursday,
Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes said the use of signal
jammers near polling centers during the May election can delay the transmission
of election returns.
During a radio interview Saturday over dzRB
Radyo ng Bayan, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the joint
press conference on Thursday of the Comelec and the Department of the Interior
and Local Government made the public aware about the effects of signal jammers
on the automated election especially during the transmission of results.
“Now everybody is aware and everybody is on the
lookout for these devices. Ang lahat ng kampanya, ang kakampi talaga ng
pamahalaan ay ang ating mga kababayan,” Valte said.
“Ngayong alam na ng marami na merong mga
ganitong device at puwede itong gamitin sa ganitong paraan, ini-encourage natin
ang ating mga botante na mag-report ng mga ganitong suspicious devices to the
police para maaksyunan agad ng ating kapulisan at ng Comelec.”
Brillantes said the use of signal jammers near
polling centers is an act of interfering with the transmission process of votes
and it is a criminal offense punishable with eight to 12 years of imprisonment.
The Comelec eyes to finish the transmission of
election results at the local level in 48 hours. The use of jammers would delay
the transmission and might affect the credibility of the polls, Brillantes
said.
The National Telecommunications Commission said
signal jammers are considered smuggled items and the agency clarified that it
didn’t issue any permit for the sale of these gadgets in the country. PND (as)
Aquino visits major road project in General
Santos City
GENERAL SANTOS CITY: President Benigno S. Aquino
III visited Saturday the P1.1 billion Circumferential Road Project in General
Santos City that the government expects to complete next year.
In briefing the President about the project,
Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson said the goal of the
project is to build a major road infrastructure that will develop the SOCSARGEN
(South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, General Santos City) area
and decongest General Santos City.
Project planners also want the city to make use
of its fishing port, as well as the General Santos City airport, Singson said.
The major project in the decongestion plan is the Circumferential Road in
General Santos that the President visited.
During the briefing, Singson said the road
project has two segments: the Northern Section and the Western Section. The
circumferential road project has a total of 27.6 kilometers, according to
Singson.
The total length of the northern portion is 10.5
kilometers and it includes two bridges. Singson said they hope to fully fund
and complete the project by 2014. The Department of Public Works and Highways
(DPWH) has to complete a bridge by 2014 so that vehicles coming from Davao will
no longer enter downtown General Santos City and instead use the Northern
Section of the Circumferential Road.
And then next year, the DPWH aims to finish the
Western Section of the project to complete the Circumferential Road that will
connect the city’s airport and fishing port, Singson said. The Western Section
has a total cost of P1.1 billion, the secretary said. The DPWH will be
constructing a 17.1-kilometer road and three bridges.
The government was able to fund a total of more
than P700-million and with some savings the government will spend less than
P300 million next year instead of the original price tag of P387 million,
Singson said.
Singson also reported the continuous widening of
roads leading to General Santos City, converting the roads from two lanes to
four lanes. The road widening project will continue as part of the high
standard highway connecting General Santos City, Davao and Tagum.
“By next year, this should all be completed all
the way to the fishing port and the airport. So made-decongest din ‘yung sa
loob ng GenSan. We hope to get the same support from the local government so
that we can complete the acquisition of some right of ways that are in certain
segments of the Circumferential Road,” Singson told the President.
“We’re confident that we will deliver the
Circumferential Road by next year,” he added.
The Circumferential Road project was originally
crafted 25 years ago during the time of the President’s mother, the late
president Corazon Aquino, Singson said.
The project was part of the mini-Marshall Plan
that included the developments of the CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas,
Rizal, and Quezon), Pavia in Iloilo, and the SOCSARGEN.
Also part of the project is the construction of
the fishing port, which was funded by the Japan International Cooperation
Agency. The city’s airport and the Fil-American Friendship Highway, on the
other hand, were funded by the USAID (United States Agency for International
Development), Singson said. PND
Government working hard to fill Mindanao’s
energy needs, says Aquino
GENERAL SANTOS CITY) The government continues to
work to solve the energy problems confronting Mindanao and it is hopeful that
before the end of the year it could deploy diesel generators that will ease
power shortage in the region, President Benigno S. Aquino III said on Saturday.
In his message during his meeting with the local
leaders and the community here, the President said the law prohibits the
National Power Corp. to purchase power generating sets.
The administration doesn’t want to violate the
law so it is working on a process to fix Mindanao’s energy needs by acquiring
generators through legal means, he said.
“Inaayos po ang proseso para hindi na tayo
maghintay ng kabuuan sa 2015. Bago pa siguro matapos ang 2013 may makukuha na
tayong pandagdag na diesel generators dito sa Mindanao. Naninigurado lang tayo
na sumunod sa lahat ng batas at proseso,” he told the people of General Santos
City.
Building base load plants for the long-term use
in Mindanao isn’t easy and takes some time, between three to five years, the
President said. Based on experts’ estimates, the investment for every megawatt
generated is around $2 million, the chief executive said.
In building a plant, an application has to
undergo many processes such as approval for an environmental compliance
certificate and proponents must hold public consultations and must also comply
with many other requirements, he said.
But the good thing is there are already ongoing
projects and investments that will solve the energy problems of Mindanao, he
noted, adding that the Aboitiz group is already building a 200-plus megawatt
plant that will be operational by 2015.
“Pero ang pinakaimportante diyan, tuloy na tuloy
na ‘yung mga ginagawa ngayon. Maski wala na ako sa puwesto, padagdag nang
padagdag ang kuryente ng Mindanao. Ang pagkaintindi ko 2015, hindi na natin ito
problema, at 2017, sobra-sobra na ang inyong kuryente,” he said.
The government is more effective in addressing
this problem because of the current bureaucratic reforms, the President said,
noting that money isn’t a concern to have an immediate remedy to Mindanao’s
power crisis.
The President also asked the people of the
General Santos City to support pro-reform candidates this coming May polls so
that his administration could continue pushing other development projects in
the region. PND
