Malacanang says President Aquino runs the
country even if he oversees operations against members of the Moro National
Liberation Front in Zamboanga City
President Benigno S. Aquino III still puts in a
full day of running the country even as he personally oversees the operations
against members of the Moro National Liberation Front-Misuari faction in
Zamboanga City, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said on Thursday.
In a press briefing in Malacanang, Lacierda said
the President, who has been in the province since Friday (September 13)
undertakes a three-meeting schedule with security forces, members of his
official family and local government unit where he issues his directives and
instructions.
He said the meetings of the President would be
held as early as seven in the morning and would end late at night.
“Just to give you an example of the schedule of
the President: he normally has a three-meeting schedule on a daily basis. At
seven in the morning, there’s a meeting with security commanders and Cabinet
Secretaries to discuss events of the previous night and then there’s a midday
meeting to discuss events that happened during the day and an evening meeting
with security again and the Cabinet Secretaries to discuss a broad assessment
of security and humanitarian concerns,” Lacierda said.
“So that’s the regular schedule of the President
in Zamboanga City and also he’s met on several occasions, for instance he’s met
with the Zamboanga local government unit and the business and civic leaders of
Zamboanga City. It was a three hour meeting held last Friday night,” he added.
Lacierda also said that regular updates from
Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II intimated that the
President was in close coordination with Zamboanga Mayor Beng Climaco and
Zamboanga Sibugay Governor Wilter Palma.
“And we understand, from Secretary Mar Roxas,
that the President has also met with Mayor Beng Climaco and Governor Wilter
Palma of Zamboanga Sibugay. So they met from around 9 p.m. til midnight of two
days ago,” Lacierda said.
“And then last night, after the evening meeting
with the security group and Cabinet Secretaries to discuss security and
humanitarian concerns, the President also called up Public Works Secretary
Rogelio Singson and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad regarding rehabilitation
and re-construction plans for Zamboanga City,” he added. PND (rck)
Palace welcomes high government satisfaction
rating in new SWS survey
Malacanang welcomed the high satisfaction rating
of the Aquino administration in a recent survey adding that it will continue to
remain focused on attaining inclusive growth as well as fighting corruption.
In a press briefing in Malacanang Thursday,
Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said they are glad that the recent Social
Weather Station (SWS) survey result came out, noting the result was no longer
news to the Palace.
“We have already said we were happy in June, we
will always be happy if the numbers are up. But then this is a challenge for
the government to always do better than what we did,” Lacierda said.
“Regardless of what the numbers will be, the
government is focused on addressing inclusive growth and addressing corruption
in the country,” he added.
The Aquino administration scored a high public
satisfaction rating in the survey, with three out of four Filipinos satisfied
with its performance. The survey was conducted in end-June by the SWS, and it
noted improvements on several areas.
Seventy five percent of adults were satisfied,
while 16 percent were ambivalent, and nine percent were dissatisfied with the
government’s general performance, according to the SWS.
The SWS conducted the survey before the standoff
in Zamboanga City between the government and Moro National Liberation Front
forces, Misuari faction. PND (as)
President Aquino signs bill recognizing
Philippine Statistical System into law to harmonize collection and compilation
of data by government agencies
President Benigno S. Aquino III has signed into
law a bill aimed at reorganizing the Philippine Statistical System (PSS) to
harmonize the collection and compilation of data by various government
agencies.
The Chief Executive signed on September 12
Republic Act No. 10625 or "An Act Reorganizing the Philippine Statistical
System, Repealing for the Purpose Executive Order 121, entitled 'Reorganizing
and Strengthening the Philippine Statistical System' and for other purposes.”
The Act is also known as the Philippine
Statistical Act of 2013.
Republic Act 10625, which originated in the
House of Representatives, was finally passed by the Lower House and the Senate
on June 6, 2013.
The newly-signed law aims to promote the orderly
development of a statistical system capable of providing timely, accurate and
useful data for the government and the public, and support decentralization
through the establishment of the statistical infrastructure necessary to
service the statistical needs of local development planning.
Prior to the passage of the law, the National
Statistics Office (NSO), the National Statistics and Coordination Board (NSCB),
Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), Bureau of Labor and Employment
Statistics (BLES), Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC), among others,
separately conduct collections, compilations and other statistical operations.
With the passage of the law, the PSS shall
consist of statistical organizations at all administrative levels, the
personnel therein and the national statistical program.
"This includes a policy-making body, a
coordinating body with primary data collection capability, a statistical
research and training institute, and all executive departments, bureaus,
offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the national and local governments
and all government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and their
subsidiaries that are engaged in statistical activities either as their primary
functions or as part of their administrative or regulatory functions," the
President said.
The law mandates the creation of the Philippine
Statistics Authority (PSA), attached to the National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) for purposes of policy coordination.
The PSA shall be comprised of the PSA Board and
offices on sectoral statistics, censuses and technical coordination, civil
registration and central support and field statistical services.
The NSO, the BAS of the Department of
Agriculture, the BLES of the Department of Labor and Employment, and the NSCB
are hereby abolished and their appropriations, records, properties and
personnel shall be transferred to the PSA.
The Department of Economic Statistics of the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will continue to take charge of banking and
financial statistics, including the balance of payments and flow of funds.
The National Statistician, as head of the PSA,
must possess experience in the management of data collection and at least a
Master’s Degree in Statistics. The National Statistician shall be appointed by
the President of the Republic of the Philippines from among a list of nominees
submitted by a Special Committee.
The law seeks the transformation of the
Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC) into the Philippine Statistical
Research and Training Institute (PSRTI). The new agency will be attached to
NEDA for purposes of policy coordination.
Violators may face a penalty ranging from three
months imprisonment to one year imprisonment and a fine of P5,000 to P500,000.
The amount necessary for the effective
implementation of this Act shall be taken from funds available to the NSO, BAS,
BLES and NSCB. Additional requirements shall be charged to the appropriations
under the current General Appropriations Act.
Thereafter, such sum as may be needed for the
continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General
Appropriations Act.
The PSA Board together with the PSA, the PSRTI,
the NEDA and other concerned agencies of government that may be determined by
the PSA Board, shall formulate the implementing rules and regulations of this
Act within ninety (90) days after its approval.
Such rules and regulations shall take effect
fifteen days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the
Philippines. PND (js)
Government doing everything to ease miseries of
Zamboanga City residents, says Palace
Malacanang appealed on Thursday for fair
coverage and reportage of the ongoing government relief efforts saying the
administration is doing everything to provide the necessities needed by
families affected by the ongoing Zamboanga City standoff.
There have been reports saying about families
not receiving food provisions after they left their homes as Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF) members entered their communities.
“We have addressed and attended to so many
families in Zamboanga City and we just ask for fair play, and for fair
coverage, and not to emphasize those who were not fed—100 persons who were not
fed,” Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing in
Malacanang on Thursday.
The public must look into the thousands of
people whom this government, through the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD), has been attending to, he said.
As to the latest situational report from the
DSWD, Lacierda said there is a total of 23,794 families with some 118,819
individuals that have been affected. Eighty nine percent of the affected
families were displaced and are staying inside evacuation centers, while 1,790
affected families opted to stay with their relatives or friends in safer
places, Lacierda reported.
There are 57 evacuation centers in Zamboanga
City with the total number of families 21,261 or 112,961 individuals. The
largest evacuation center is the Joaquin F. Enriquez Sports complex, also known
as the Grandstand, which holds 63 percent of the total number of families, he
said.
The DSWD, through a number of food service
providers, is providing 70,000 ready-to-eat packed foods for every mealtime:
breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Lacierda added.
The community kitchen of the City Social Welfare
Development Office is providing 12,000 foods three times a day. The Philippine
Red Cross, International Community of the Red Cross, with the help of Western
Mindanao State University also cook dinners for 10,000 individuals.
At the same time, he said the DSWD is also
conducting a computerized profiling of displaced families using the DSWD
Disaster Assistance Family Center, family access cards for validation, and
profile generation purposes to extend relief assistance.
The Palace official also thanked the people from
government and the private sector who help man the relief efforts to those
affected by the ongoing violence.
“We’d like to thank the many men and women who
have served the evacuees, the men and women of the DSWD, and also the men and
women who have volunteered their services to help the evacuees inside the
evacuation centers, and those who have volunteered to cook the foods that we
have just mentioned for the evacuees,” he said. PND (as)
Aquino: MNLF factions may choose war or peace
President Benigno S. Aquino III sent a strong
message Thursday saying that it’s up to Mindanao elements to choose between war
and peace, and underscored the government’s readiness to respond on whatever
their preference may be.
“’Yung patakaran natin, handang makipag-usap
nang mapayapa at makipag-dayalogo, ay talagang haharapin natin at ini-encourage
natin. Ang mga tao namang maglalagay sa lahat ng mga mamamayan sa panganib ay
talaga namang haharapin din ng estado,” the President said in an interview
during an assessment in Zamboanga City airport on Thursday.
“Kung mapayapa kang haharap, mapayapa kang
haharapin ng gobyerno para magkaroon ng kaayusan—sa English ‘permanent peace’.
Pero ‘pag ang gusto mo naman ay pairalin lang ‘yung sa iyo at maghahasik ka ng
lagim sa nakakarami, hindi rin papayagan ng gobyerno ‘yon.”
The President, who has been staying in Zamboanag
since last week to oversee the ongoing military operations and relief efforts,
said his administration has not abandoned the peace discussions even to groups
sowing terror in Zamboanga City.
He said his administration remains committed to
the tripartite dialogue on the implementation of the 1996 peace agreement with
the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) adding he encourages all the factions
of the MNLF to participate.
But for those who will choose violence as a way
to advance their interests, the President said his administration will always
be willing to use the full force of the state to subdue any threat to regional
peace.
The government and the MNLF was supposed to meet
in Indonesia this week, but MNLF leader Nur Misuari pulled out of the talks,
the President said, bolstering suspicions that Misuari really has a hand in the
ongoing Zamboanga standoff.
Indonesia facilitates the tripartite talks
between the Philippine government and the MNLF.
Only one group of MNLF has spearheaded violent
confrontations in Zamboanga, he said adding other factions of the MNLF have
denounced the actions of MNLF-Misuari faction.
The President also assured the people of
Zamboanga that the government will remain committed to extending assistance to
the conflict-victims as well as to rebuilding the city once the standoff is
over. PND (as)
Aquino dispels public fears of recurrence of
Zamboanga City violence
President Benigno S. Aquino III said the
government started rebuilding and reconstructing the communities affected by
the attacks of forces loyal to Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur
Misuari in Zamboanga City, dispelling public fears of recurrence of similar
violence.
"Hindi na mauulit muli.... Syempre,
pagbubutihin pa natin lalo na ‘yung intelligence services," the Chief
Executive said in a media interview in Zamboanga City on Thursday.
President Aquino is presently in Zamboanga City
to preside over a series of meetings with concerned cabinet secretaries and
officials, assess the situation and provide the needs of displaced residents.
"I ask them what is needed, authorize the
releases of funds; am talking to Bangko Sentral to ensure the cash supply, am
talking to Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Transportation and
Communications, and Department of Agriculture to ensure that basic food stuffs
are available from the time before I left Manila to the present—to include not
just Zamboanga City but also BASULTA (Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi)," he
said.
More than a week after the military launched its
operations against the MNLF-Misuari faction, the President said the violence
has dissipated.
"Nakita naman natin, imbes na mapalawak
‘yung teritoryong nababalot sa dilim ay napaliit nang napaliit mula ‘nung unang
araw," President Aquino said.
He assured the Zamboanga City residents that the
government continues to pursue peace and order, and provide assistance to the
locals in the affected areas. The government has also prepared food packs for
the displaced families.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is
stepping up its operations against lawless elements and to secure the areas
where skirmishes occurred.
He also said that he will remain in Zamboanga
City until the crisis ends.
"I am both Commander-in-Chief and the
President, therefore, at the end of the day, everything is my responsibility,
so I am very involved—from everything to getting briefed and putting some of my
inputs into the security operations," he said. PND (js)
