President Aquino declares August 1 as special
non-working day in Kapalong, Davao del Norte in celebration of its 65th
Foundation Day
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared
August 1, which falls on a Thursday, as a special (non-working) day in the
municipality of Kapalong in the province of Davao del Norte in celebration of
its 65th Foundation Day.
The Chief Executive issued the declaration
through Proclamation No. 626 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr.
on July 18 to give the people of Kapalong the full opportunity to celebrate and
participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.
Kapalong became a municipality on August 1, 1948
by virtue of Executive Order No. 151 issued by then President Elpidio R.
Quirino. The municipality’s name came after the local dialect makapalong, which
means “can put out a fire”. PND (js)
Aquino assures that government continues efforts
towards achieving inclusive growth and in gaining confidence of business
partners
President Benigno S. Aquino III assured that his
government continues to make strides towards inclusive growth and in gaining
the confidence of its partners in business.
"Good governance has cleared the path for
our people’s resurgence. We remain firm on this principle, as we continue to
invest towards infrastructure and in our greatest resource: the Filipino
people," the Chief Executive said in his message to the delegates and
participants of the Manufacturing Technology Cebu 2013.
Machinery, technology, furniture and tourism
stakeholders gathered on Thursday at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel for a
three-day forum, "Manufacturing Technology Cebu 2013."
The event, hosted by Global-Link MP Events
International Inc. (GLMP), will end on July 27.
"May this occasion complement our
advancement with stronger partnerships that will herald our country’s thriving
economic and cultural landscape, and innovations that lend advantages for the
Filipino," the President stressed.
"With your support, we can translate our
gains into more opportunities and bring to fulfillment a more prosperous and
equitable tomorrow. I urge you to discover for yourselves the competence of our
citizens, the richness and diversity of our heritage, and the culture of
integrity and excellence that makes business more fun in the Philippines,"
he said. PND (js)
Aquino administration promoting new media
culture, encouraging quality public discourse on all matters of national interest, Coloma
says
The Aquino administration is promoting a new
media culture that aims at engaging the citizenry and the mass media to quality
public discourse on all matters of national interests, Presidential Communications
Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said on Thursday.
In his keynote speech entitled "Digital
Mass Media: The Orient Rising," during the "The 2013 Digital Asia
Conference: The Orient Rising" held at the One Esplanade, SM Mall of Asia,
Pasay City, Coloma urged the media to join the government in adopting the new
media culture.
"And this is a culture that is truthful,
fair and respectful. Everyday, we are bombarded with tons of information. I
believe that it is our responsibility to filter and verify the information that
we receive. We should not allow the use of advance techonology to propagate
confusion. It is important for us to verify facts, to respect privacy and
people's rights and to give all stakeholders the opportunity to reply or be
heard," he said.
"We promote civility and productive use of
social media platforms and channels. The PCOO manages and administers the
President’s official Facebook page as well as other social media sites to reach
out to Filipinos nationwide. The President has 2,925,501 friends in
facebook.com/presidentnoy and some 1,647,056 followers in
twitter@noynoyaquino," he said.
As the lead communications arm of the
government, Coloma said the PCOO serves as a tool for informing, educating,
enlightening the citizenry about matters of national importance and for
inspiring the citizenry to deepen their civic engagement.
The PCOO also serves as the primary vehicle for
consciousness-raising, constituency-building, and social mobilization in
support of the policies, programs, and projects of the Presidency.
"A well informed citizenry can make
decisions that will enable them to shape a better future for themselves, their
families and our country," Coloma said.
He also laid down the actions being undertaken
by the government to effectively communicate with the people.
"We have a President that places great
emphasis on getting feedback from the people. He would like to know the
sentiments of our people. Government is a primary source of information,"
he said.
"What can we do together? First, we can
generate feedbacks from stakeholders and work with clients in shaping
meaningful information. Another thing, we must ensure that information must
convey and propagate values. We must also provide information to the public
that inspire and prompts action," he said. PND (js)
Overhaul of Customs Bureau expected to resolve
alleged anomalies, says Palace
All the anomalies in the Bureau of Customs will
be addressed once the reform planned by the Aquino administration is carried
out, Malacanang said on Thursday.
In one interview, Customs Deputy Commissioner
Danilo Lim said some information about smuggling can’t be verified and remains
debatable because they are receiving it through informal process.
But whatever statements that some Customs officials
are saying, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that drastic changes
will be seen in the bureau once the Aquino government implements the reforms
mentioned by the President in his State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
“It’s up to the President. We will let you know.
But it was a very emphatic statement in the SONA, so action is being done, as
we speak," he said.
In his SONA, the President said the Bureau of
Customs has been competing with other reportedly corrupt government agencies and
the practice must be corrected.
Despite the administration’s thrust to clean up
the bureau, smuggling of goods, drugs and weapons remain unabated, the
President noted.
The Department of Finance estimated that
government loses some P200 billion as a result of rampant smuggling.
“Hindi maaaring ganito ang kalakaran sa
pamahalaan. Kung hindi mo nagagawa ang iyong trabaho, hindi ka karapat-dapat na
manatili sa puwesto,” the President said. PND (as)
