President Aquino declares August 2 as special
non-working day in Butuan City in celebration of ‘63rd Adlaw Hong Butuan’
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared
August 2, which falls on a Friday, as a special (non-working) day in Butuan
City northeastern part of the Agusan Valley, Mindanao, in celebration of its
“63rd Adlaw Hong Butuan.”
The Chief Executive issued the declaration
through Proclamation No. 618 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr.
on July 9 to give the people of Butuan City the full opportunity to celebrate
and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.
Adlaw Hong Butuan is the Charter Day celebration
of Butuan. On August 2, 1950, Butuan became a city by virtue of Republic Act
No. 523. PND (js)
GRP-MILF peace panels now set sights on last two
annexes of framework agreement on the Bangsamoro
After successfully coming to terms on the
revenue generation and wealth sharing annex of the Framework Agreement on the
Bangsamoro (FAB), members of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines
(GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels now set their
sights on agreeing on the last two remaining annexes of the FAB – power sharing
and normalization.
Together with revenue generation and wealth
sharing that was signed early Sunday (July 14), the other FAB annex is on
transitional arrangements and modalities that was signed last February.
In a press briefing in Malacanang on Monday
(July 15), Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary
Teresita Deles said that the same “extreme rigor” used by the parties to
finally come to terms and agree on the first two annexes would be employed once
again in order to hurdle any obstacle in achieving peace.
“This has been a truly very difficult time in
the negotiations but we come away with the affirmation, with the real strong
sense and proof that indeed things can be as difficult, as we know they will,
that the next annexes will also be difficult,” Deles said.
“But, as has been shown—and we have the proof
now—that it can be difficult: we go to the table, we talk about it; we, together,
look for solutions where there are problems. We don’t find our solutions in the
battlefield. We find it on the table,” she added
Philippine peace panel chair Miriam
Coronel-Ferrer, who joined Deles to brief reporters in Malacanang, said that
although this was one of the “toughest” rounds in the exploratory talks,
perseverance and clarity of purpose of both panels made the signing of the
wealth sharing annex possible.
“It was one of the toughest rounds that we have
been through since we signed the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro last
October. It was a close call. Both sides made difficult but also constructive
decisions. With perseverance and clarity of purpose, we returned home with the
signed annex on revenue generation and wealth sharing,” Ferrer said.
Comprised of eight pages, the wealth sharing
annex has 12 sections detailing the: taxation; other sources of revenue; fees,
and charges; grants and donations; fund transfers from central government;
contracting of loans and overseas development assistance; natural resources;
additional fiscal powers; auditing body; intergovernmental fiscal policy board;
Bangsamoro development plan; and, gender development.
Ferrer said that “under the taxing powers, the
parties have agreed that 25 percent of the central government taxes, fees, and
charges collected in the Bangsamoro, except for tariff and custom duties, will
go to the central government while 75 percent of it, including the shares of
the local government units, will go the Bangsamoro government.”
“The signing of the second annex is, indeed, a
breakthrough. We expect the discussions on the power sharing and normalization
annexes to be just as intense. But, when you’re halfway through, there is no
reason to turn back. The only way to go is forward,” Ferrer said. PND (rck)
