President Aquino declares June 21 as special
non-working day in Tagaytay City in celebration of its 75th Araw ng Tagaytay
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared
June 21, which falls on a Friday, as a special (non-working day) in Tagaytay
City in the province of Cavite in celebration of the "75th Araw ng
Tagaytay."
The Chief Executive issued the declaration
through Proclamation No. 601 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr.
on June 14, to give the people of Tagaytay the full opportunity to celebrate
and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.
On June 21, 1938, Tagaytay became a chartered
city by virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 338.
The city is one of the country's most popular
tourist destinations because of the Taal Volcano located in the middle of the
Taal lake. PND (js)
Malacanang calls on victims of alleged
‘sex-for-repatriation’ scandal to file complaints
Malacanang is calling on overseas Filipino
workers who have been victims of an alleged “sex-for-repatriation” scam in the
Philippine Embassy in Kuwait to come forward to file appropriate complaints in
order for authorities to get to the bottom of this scandal.
In a press briefing in Malacanang on Tuesday,
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Department of Foreign
Affairs has stepped in and has already instructed the Head of the Embassy in
Kuwait and act on this.
“The DFA is already looking into this. The Head
of the Embassy in Kuwait has been instructed to act on this,” Valte said.
“To this date, we have not received any formal
complaint from the alleged victims which is why we are encouraging those with
information or those who have been victimized by these alleged practices to
come forward and to file complaints because the DFA is more than willing to act
on them,” she added.
Reports of the alleged sex-for-repatriation
practice of officials and personnel in the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait
surfaced this week when an unidentified female OFW who was part of a group of
46 housemaids deported from the Kuwaiti Deportation Center aired a complaint
that an "embassy official" allegedly demanded a sexual favor to facilitate
her repatriation. PND (rck)
President Aquino holds Cabinet meeting to assess
government’s midterm performance
President Benigno S. Aquino III held a meeting
with members of his Cabinet to assess his administration’s accomplishments and
the work that still needs to be done to sustain the sterling economic
performance of the country as he enters into the third year of his term,
Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said on Tuesday.
In a press briefing in Malacanang, Almendras
said the President pooled his Official family on Monday (June 17) to conduct a
“midterm review of the economic considerations of the Republic of the
Philippines.”
“The President ordered that, as we are
approaching the middle of his term, he wanted a very detailed and a full-blown
review of the past three years, looking at questions about the economy,”
Almendras said.
“We started with a lot of data gathering, some analysis
that was done by NEDA (National Economic Development Authority), and then we
shifted into a review/planning mode sometime in February,” he added.
He said the economic cluster as well as
appropriate agencies met with the President “to really just understand some of
the things that have transpired in the past three years.”
Yesterday was the first meeting with the
President to discuss and report to him what the findings were, what the
analyses were, and to begin the discussion on how do we move forward from here
on and all the way to the end of 2016,” Almendras said.
“It was attended by members of the economic
cluster and a few members from the human development cluster as well as the
security cluster that had direct impact or coordination with some of the
economic concerns,” he said.
“We had so many things to talk about. We had 11
agencies to go through and we had to integrate some of the programs that were
being discussed moving on from here to the future,” Almendras said. PND (rck)
President Aquino appoints Padilla as president
and chief executive officer of Philhealth, other officials to various
government agencies
President Benigno S. Aquino III has appointed
lawyer Alexander Padilla, Government chief negotiator for talks with the
Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army/National Democratic Font
of the Philippines (CPP/NPA/NDF) as president and chief executive officer of
the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth), a Palace official
announced on Tuesday.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte
announced the appointment of Padilla during the regular press briefing in
Malacanang on Tuesday.
In a transmittal letter dated June 13, Executive
Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. Informed Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona that
the Chief Executive, likewise, appointed Padilla as member of the Board of
Directors of the Philhealth, replacing Eduardo P. Banzon.
Born to former Senator Ambrosio Padilla and
Lourdes De Las Alas Padilla, he is a strong advocate of peace, justice and
human rights as manifested by his able leadership in several peace and human
rights bodies such as the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG-Metro Manila),
Institute of Political and Electoral Reforms (IPER), Initiatives for
International Dialogue (IID), and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights
Advocates (PAHRA).
He served as Undersecretary for External Affairs
and Regulations at the Department of Health and Philhealth Chief Operations
Officer. He occupied various positions such as Commissioner of Customs;
Assistant Secretary for Local Governments (DILG); Assistant Secretary for Legal
Affairs (DOH); Special Prosecutor (Ombudsman); and as Senior State Prosecutor
(DOJ).
He has represented the Philippines since 1982 as
a Delegate in numerous international conferences where he participated in
multisectoral discussions on human rights, justice peace and health in the
International Visitors Program of the US Information Service on Conflict
Resolution and Preventive Diplomacy Program, Torture and Human Rights Violations
in the Philippines, Weapons of Mass Destruction Crisis Response Management, and
on Movement for Peace and Democracy.
In 1987, he graduated from the UP College of Law
(rank 8th). He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree on AB History-Political Science
(Cum Laude) from De La Salle University. He served in the academic field as
Associate Professor of Law at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines
from 2002-2004 and as a Guest Lecturer at the University of the Philippines
College of Law in 2004.
The other presidential appointees are as
follows,
- Paz Lucido as vice chairperson of the Board
for Professional Teachers, Professional Regulation Commission
- Paraluman Giron and Nora Uy as members of the
Board for Professional Teachers, Professional Regulation Commission
- Architect Augusto F. Villalon as member of the
National Museum Board of Trustees, representing the private sector.
- Brando Cabalsi as Director IV of the
Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines, National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA)
- Abdullah Mamacotao as Director IV of the
Philippine Information Agency, Presidential Communications Operations Office
- Ma. Josefina Abilay, Tomas Brinas and Rowen
Gelonga as Directors IV of the Department of Science and Technology
- Ma. Victoria Castro as Director III of the
National Security Council
- Galuasch Ballaho as member of the Regional
Human Rights Commission, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
- Maria Amihan Abueva as Philippine
representative, representing Children's Rights, ASEAN Commission on the
Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children, Department of
Foreign Affairs
- Annabelle Echavez as Acting Director IV of
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Mae Chua, Irene Gahid, Jesusa Dimpna
Lejos, Eligio S. Mendoza, Ruby P. Muro and Ricky Sanchez as Acting Directors
III of the DBM. PND (js)
