President Aquino administers oaths of office to
new officers of the league of municipalities and local government units
President Benigno S. Aquino III administered the
oaths of office to new officers of the League of Municipalities of the
Philippines (LMP) and the leagues of local government units in a ceremony held
at the Manila Hotel on Tuesday.
First to take oath before the President was the
22 new officers of the LMP led by Leyte Mayor Leonardo "Sandy" Javier
Jr.
The President then administered a mass
oath-taking to the new officers of the leagues of local government units
including the League of Provinces of the Philippines, League of Vice Governors
of the Philippines, League of Cities of the Philippines, Vice Mayor's League of
the Philippines, Philippine Councilor's League, Provincial Board Member League
of the Philippines, National Movement of Young Legislator, and Liga ng mga
Barangay sa Pilipinas.
Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, the national
president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, led his group. Manila
Vice Mayor Isko Moreno was also present leading the Vice Mayor's League of the
Philippines.
Joining the President during the oath-taking
ceremony were Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel
Roxas II. and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Dinky Soliman was also present.
The Chief Executive then proceeded to the
adjacent Fiesta Pavilion room where he attended LMP's general assembly this
year.
The LMP conducts an annual assembly attended by
over a thousand of mayors in the country. It is during the general assembly
that the LMP Executive Committee defines its objectives where issues affecting
the league are discussed. It also during this time that the President directly
addresses the mayors of the country. PND (jb)
Malacanang salutes OFWs for record remittance
Malacanang expressed its thanks and saluted the
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWS) for the increase in the remittances which he
said grew seven percent compared to the same period last year.
In a press briefing, Communications Secretary
Herminio Coloma, Jr. said total remittances for 2013 reached P23-billion
compared to P21.4-billion in 2012.
“We salute and thank our overseas Filipino
workers for the nearly seven percent increase in remittances made in January
2014 compared to the same period last year. Total remittances for 2013 reached
almost P23-billion for a 7.4-percent increase compared to P21.4-billion in
2012,” Coloma said.
“The government recognizes the importance of
these remittances in bolstering the country’s foreign currency reserves,
boosting consumer spending, and supporting overall economic growth,” he added.
He said that through the Philippine Overseas
Employment Agency, the “government continues to promote programs that will
create and increase employment opportunities for Filipino professionals and
skilled workers.”
“These are in tandem with similar programs in
country to create manufacturing-based and more highly remunerative jobs,”
Coloma said.
Aside from this, Coloma said, the Department of
Labor and Employment vigorously implements the P2-billion peso national
reintegration program administered by the Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration, which has already created 4,000 jobs for returning OFWs since
the inception of this program.
“Through Land Bank of the Philippines, this
program has granted and released total loans amounting to P632.5-million. Most
of which were used to fund businesses on general merchandising, groceries,
water purifying stations, auto supply, hardware, trucking, and ready-to-wear,
as well as agriculture-based enterprises such as grains trading, piggery,
poultry, agriculture supplies, post-harvest, bakery, fruits and vegetables
farming, copra trading, and fisheries,” he added.
“We affirm President Aquino’s vision of ‘a
government that creates jobs at home, so that working abroad will be a choice
rather than a necessity.’ And when its citizens do choose to become overseas
Filipino workers, their welfare and protection will still be the government’s
priority,” Coloma said. PND (rck)
Aquino tells local government units: Good
governance will be rewarded
President Benigno S. Aquino III challenged the
local government units to perform better and to continue the exercise of good
governance assuring them that such practices will be rewarded by the national
government through the Department of Interior and Local Government's Seal of
Good Local Governance.
Speaking before at least 1,500 local government
officials during the general assembly of the League of Municipalities of the
Philippines (LMP), the President underscored the importance of sustaining the
practice of accountability and transparency in local government units, which
play a vital role in economic growth and poverty alleviation.
“Kayo ang nasa lokal na pamahalaan; kayo ang may
malalim na pag-unawa sa mga pangangailangan ng inyong kababayan; kayo ang nasa
magandang posisyon para gumawa ng mga kongkretong hakbang upang tugunan ang mga
ito,” he said.
“Ang gusto ko pong bigyan ng diin: Ang
Performance Challenge Fund ay para sa lahat ng gustong tuparin ang kanilang
pangako bilang lingkod bayan. Hindi po kailangan ng palakasan at papogian.
Hindi ninyo kailangang sumipsip para mabigyan ng Performance Challenge Fund,”
he said referring to the incentive given to LGUs that pass the seal of good
governance.
The President shared that last year, 719 LGUs
were given Performance Challenge Funds with a total incentive of P1 billion.
President Aquino stressed that incentives were
not only given to allies but to all LGUs that will meet the requirements of
good housekeeping.
“Kahit saang partido pa kayo nanggaling, basta
nagpapakitang-gilas kayo sa serbisyo at tapat na sumusunod sa mga patakaran,
mabibigyan kayo ng kaukulang pondo at insentibo upang maiangat pa ang pamumuhay
ng inyong mga nasasakupan,” he said.
He likewise reported that a total of 1,372 LGUs
or close to 84 percent of the total number of LGUs, have complied with the good
housekeeping requirements.
He challenged the remaining 20 percent to keep
up and join in the government’s transformation.
“Sa bawat isa po sa ating mga LGU: Sana naman po
ay hindi lang minimum ang ating habulin; sa halip, talaga pong ibuhos natin ang
lahat ng ating makakaya, upang pagharap natin sa kanya-kaniyang mga salamin ay
masabi nating, ‘Tinupad ko ang aking sinumpaang tungkulin; naging kabahagi ako
ng pagbabago; tapat akong naglingkod sa kapwa ko Pilipino’” he said.
This year’s LMP general assembly was attended by
1,228 mayors coming from different provinces and cities in the country. PND
(jb)
Philippines’s Ayungin presence, lawful, says
Palace official
Malacanang said the country’s presence in the
Ayungin Shoal is lawful despite China’s pronouncements that the Philippines is
intruding in its jurisdiction in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).
It was reported that China warned the
Philippines to abandon its claims in the Ayungin Shoal, with its foreign
ministry spokesperson saying they are on high alert for the Philippines
possibly taking more proactive acts in the South China Sea.
As a response, Presidential Communications
Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr cited a Department of Foreign
Affairs statement on March 14 regarding the issue.
“The BRP Sierra Madre, a commissioned Philippine
naval vessel, was placed in Ayungin Shoal in 1999 to serve as a permanent
Philippine government installation in response to China's illegal occupation of
Mischief Reef in 1995. This was prior to the signing of the Declaration of
Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in 2002,” Coloma told reporters in a
press briefing citing DFA’s statement.
He said the Philippines reiterates that Ayungin
Shoal is part of its continental shelf over which the country has sovereign
rights and jurisdiction.
“Yan po ang malinaw na posisyon ng ating pamahalaan.
Lahat naman po ng pagkilos natin diyan ay ayon sa international law at in
accordance with our policy of pursuing only peaceful and diplomatic means to
resolve the disputes on territorial claims.”
China warned the Philippines against
provocations in the West Philippine Sea after two Filipino civilian vessels
were expelled from the Ayungin Shoal for allegedly bringing in construction
materials.
The DFA protested the expulsion of the two
Filipino civilian vessels in Ayungin Shoal, but China rejected the protest.
Filipino marines shelter in a rusted World War
II era ship, the BRP Sierra Madre,that was intentionally grounded on Ayungin in
1999 in response to China’s occupation of Mischief Reef in 1995.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea
through its nine-dash line that included parts of the Philippines 200-nautical
mile exclusive economic zone.
Tired of fruitless attempts to settle the
dispute diplomatically, the Philippines has filed for an arbitration case
against China before the United Nations International Tribunal of the Law of
the Sea (ITLOS). China has refused to take part in the proceedings. PND (as)
Coloma says he supports COA’s move to go after
officials with unliquidated cash advances
Presidential Communications Operations Office
Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said he supports the Commission on Audit’s move
to go after government officials and employees who have unliquidated cash
advances.
The COA said there is over P5 billion in
unliquidated cash advances recorded by the auditing body as of end-2011 and
could cover periods that go as far back as 20 to 40 years.
“Ang aking nabatid sa kanyang pahayag ay
kinakailangang maging accountable o pananagutin ang mga opisyal o empleyado ng
pamahalaan na responsable para doon sa mga cash advances na kinuha nila,”
Coloma said with regards to the statement of COA chief Grace Pulido-Tan.
“Ang aking batid sa kasalukuyan—at ito ay
pinapatupad ko mismo dito sa aking tanggapan—‘yung patakaran na no new cash
advance unless an existing cash advance has been fully liquidated,” he added.
His office is doing the practice to ensure that
funds being released by his office does not accumulate over time without
liquidation.
Tan said public money that remains unaccounted
for several years could be considered malversed funds and officials who
received the money could be charged.
“Kaya ang sinisimulan po ng Commission on Audit
ngayon ay ‘yung proseso ng pagpapanagot. A process of accountability has been
set into motion by the COA,” Coloma said. PND (as)
President Aquino to grace 2014 Pinoy Music
Summit on Wednesday
President Benigno S. Aquino III will grace this
year’s Pinoy Music Summit to be held March 19, Wednesday at the Diosdado
Macapagal Hall, Landbank Plaza Building, Malate, Manila in support of the
Philippine music industry.
With the theme “Basta Pinoy, Push Mo ‘Yan!” this
year’s conference aims to chart the state of the Philippine music industry and
develop a program involving various stakeholders towards strengthening and
promoting OPM (original Pinoy music) as an expression of culture and identity,
as well as making it an economic driver.
President Aquino’s attendance to the event comes
as no surprise to many since he is a self-confessed audiophile whose
preferences on music range from jazz, pop, classic, blues, and OPM.
The event is organized by the Filipino Society
of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, Inc. (FILSCAP), along with the
Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit (OPM), Philippine Association of
Recording Industry (PARI), Asosasyon ng Musikong Pilipino Foundation, Inc.
(AMP), Music Copyright Administrators of the Philippines (MCAP), and PhilPop
Music Fest Foundation.
Filipino music has been handicapped by music
piracy, technological advancement, lack of ingenuity among local artists, and
foreign competition that sales of the Philippine recording industry went on a
constant decline for almost a decade.
Cultural critic Don Jaucian even wrote in his
August 25, 2012 article published by the Philippine Star that OPM has been
“thrown into some bargain bin, upstaged by Korean girl bands, cover albums, and
bossa nova,” thus challenging both local artists and their listeners to move
towards innovation and creation of new works, instead of just resorting to old
repackaged tunes.
This year’s Pinoy Music Summit hopes to achieve
just that by gathering musicians, record labels, the government sector, media,
and various representatives of the music consumer groups in a single event.
“We want to bring in all the stakeholders,
record industry associations, networks, the singers, the academe and the
government, and challenge them to do something about the current situation of
the music industry,” FILSCAP president and acting conference director Noel
Cabangon said. PND (hdc)
President Aquino underscores role of LGUs in
attaining inclusive growth
President Benigno S. Aquino III on Tuesday
emphasized the importance of the role of local government units in attaining
inclusive growth in the country.
In his speech at the annual general assembly of
the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), President Aquino urged
local government officials to establish a friendly and easy business
environment for potential foreign investors citing his recent trips in Japan
and Korea.
“Pagdating ho ba nitong mga negosyanteng
tutulong sa atin magbigay ng mga trabaho para talagang maging inclusive growth
tayo. Sana po ay harapin natin silang lahat sa espiritu ng gabayan at
pagtutulungan. ‘Yung tutulong sa atin, tulungan na natin, huwag na natin
pahirapan,” he said.
President Aquino visited Japan and Korea last
year bringing home hundred billion pesos worth of investment pledges.
For more than three years, the Aquino
administration has been implementing reforms that will enhance the business
environment in the country.
Last year, the Philippines ranked 108th out of
189 nations in the World Bank Group's Ease of Doing Business report. This was
30 notches up from 138th in 2012.
The President said inclusive growth could only
be attained through the concerted efforts between the national and local
government, which starts in making the country more friendlier to local and
foreign investors.
“Para mangyari po ito, siyempre, kayong mga
punong-lungsod, kayo pong mga gobernador, pati na rin ang mga hepe ng barangay
ay malaking bahagi para maging kaganapan ‘yan at bawat isang dumating ay talaga
naman pong malaki ang maitutulong tungo sa inclusive growth,” he said.
The President addressed some 1,228 mayors of the
LMP and other local government officials coming from various provinces during
the general assemblyheld at Manila Hotel. PND (jb)
