President Aquino declares April 27 as a special
(non-working) day in Lapu-Lapu City in celebration of 492nd Battle of Mactan
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared
April 27, which falls on a Saturday, as a special (non-working) day in the city
of Lapu-Lapu in celebration of the 492nd Battle of Mactan, known locally as
“Kadaugan sa Mactan."
The Chief Executive issued the declaration by
virtue of Proclamation No. 563 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa
Jr. on March 13, to give the people of Lapu-Lapu City the full opportunity to
celebrate and participate in the occasion.
Kadaugan sa Mactan literally means "Victory
at Mactan" used to be called Bahugbahug sa Mactan.
The celebration commemorates the battle between
Mactan Island Chieftain Lapu-Lapu and Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan on
April 27, 1521. Magellan died in the hands of Lapu-Lapu during the battle.
"The Battle of Mactan is among the
significant events in Philippine history and serves as testimony to the rich
cultural and historical heritage of the Filipinos," the President said.
PND (js)
President Aquino to attend 22nd ASEAN Summit
from April 24 to 25 in Brunei Darussalam
President Benigno S. Aquino III will join his
counterparts at the 22nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit
that will be held in Brunei Darussalam from April 24 to 25, the Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced on Wednesday.
In a briefing in Malacanang, DFA Spokesperson
Raul Hernandez said this Summit, which also marks the 46th year of ASEAN’s
existence, will serve as a follow up to the 21st ASEAN Summit and Related
Summits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from November 17 to 20, 2012.
Among the topics the Philippines will continue
to advocate during the Summint, Hernandez said, include maritime security and
cooperation, the full implementation of the Declaration of the Conduct of
Parties in the South China Sea, the early conclusion of a substantive and
legally binding Code of Conduct and the review of the ASEAN Charter “with the
objective of streamlining the work and meetings of ASEAN.”
“In the 22nd ASEAN Summit, the Philippines will
continue to advocate maritime security and cooperation, to push for the full
and effective implementation of the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in
the South China Sea, for the early conclusion of a substantive and legally
binding Code of Conduct, and to review the ASEAN Charter with the objective of
streamlining the work and meetings of ASEAN,” Hernandez said.
He said the Summit will begin on the evening of
April 24 with a working dinner hosted by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal
Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam. The following day will have the Summit’s Retreat
Session which Hernandez said, “will revolve around the following agenda items:
the ASEAN community 2015; the ASEAN’s central role and the regional architecture;
ASEAN’s future direction; and exchange of views on regional and international
issues.”
Aside from the Summit, the President is expected
to meet with leaders from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia comprising the East ASEAN
Growth Area for the 9th BIMP-EAGA Summit. PND (rck)
Aquino witnesses signing of lease agreement
between PHIVIDEC and Filinvest that offers long-term solution to Mindanao's
energy problems
President Benigno S. Aquino III witnessed the
ceremonial contract signing of PHIVIDEC and Filinvest Development Utilities
Inc. in Malacanang on Wednesday on the lease agreement that paves the way for
the construction of a power generation facility in Misamis Oriental.
“This contract signing today demonstrates a new
face of Philippine governance: We are witnessing a great step in our shared
pursuit of bequeathing to succeeding generations a Philippines that meets its
full potential,” the President said in his message after the signing ceremony.
“Through the collective efforts of forward thinkers
in public service, and of our partners in Filinvest, we are showing our
commitment to sustainable, inclusive growth whose impact will be felt by
Filipinos even decades from now.”
Mindanao’s energy situation did not arise
overnight and the solution also requires cooperation among stakeholders, which
is also expected to take some time, the President said.
The energy problems of Mindanao stemmed from the
intentions of politicians to be exempted from the Electric Power Industry
Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) and the region’s heavy reliance on the use
hydro-powered plants, the chief executive said.
He said previous leaders assumed that cheap
hydro power could last forever neglecting the fact that the hydropower plants
are machines that need to be maintained, improved and replaced.
And instead of actively protecting the source of
hydropower, illegal logging was allowed to continue, destroying watersheds and
was compounded by the effects of climate change, he said.
But with the construction of cleaner coal-powered
plants in Mindanao, President Aquino said he expects the region’s energy woes
to be a thing of the past. Since taking office in 2010, he said his
administration immediately began making the structural changes that encouraged
the private sector to come in and put up power plants.
For instance, last year, Aboitiz began a project
to build two coal-fired power plants in Davao, which will provide a total of
300 megawatts. The project will be finished by late 2015, he said.
“By then, with all the projects we have lined
up, we fully expect that this problem will be a thing of the past. And
hopefully, the thinking that led us to this problem will also be a thing of the
past,” he said.
Also, the President said the Sultan of Brunei,
who visited the country this week, expressed his serious intention to bring
natural gas to Mindanao. The memorandums of understanding have already been
signed for this project, he said.
Filinvest’s Misamis Oriental project is a
significant part of the long-term solution for Mindanao’s energy problems,
according to the President.
“This signing gives us peace of mind that the
permanent solutions are being put in place. By 2016, these three plants, by
themselves, will be providing 405 megawatts of coal power to the Mindanao grid.
(The figures, I think, should be checked a little.) With the energy these
plants will be producing, by 2016, we expect production capacity to be almost
470 megawatts above peak demand,” he said.
The government, in cooperation with the private
sector, not only increases Mindanao’s maximum capacity but also reinforces the
region’s entire energy supply with more reliable and stable sources.
“We are making their energy infrastructure much
more competitive. We should also not forget that in constructing these power
plants, Filinvest will be injecting P29-30 billion into Mindanao’s economy,
while giving jobs to two thousand workers in the process.”
PHIVIDEC and Filinvest signed Wednesday a 28-year
lease contract for an initial 84.4 hectare of land within the PHIVIDEC’s
industrial state in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental. Filinvest will construct a
coal-fired power plant that is expected to support Mindanao’s energy needs.
Filinvest said it is adopting clean coal
technology in its Misamis Oriental power plant with a circulating fluidized bed
(CFB) boiler. This technology reduces the sulfur dioxide emission as well as
nitrogen oxide to negligible levels, thus also reducing its impact on the
environment. PND (as)
