President Aquino to visit Japan next week
President Benigno S. Aquino III will visit Japan
on Tuesday (June 24) to deliver a keynote address at the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) International Conference in Hiroshima at the
invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Malacañang said.
Before heading to Hiroshima, President Aquino
will also hold a summit meeting over lunch with Prime Minister Abe in the
latter's official residence.
Presidential Communications Operations Office
Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said Tuesday that details on the agenda of the
meeting between the two heads of states will be released by the Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA), in accordance with diplomatic practice.
“We will have to await the statement from the
Department of Foreign Affairs because matters like this are made known to the
public on the mutual consent of both parties,” Coloma told reporters.
President Aquino will immediately return to
Manila after his speaking engagement in Hiroshima.
The forthcoming trip will be President Aquino’s
fifth visit to Japan since his election in 2010.
President Aquino previously visited Japan to
attend the 18th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’
Meeting (Yokohama, 2010); hold a one-on-one meeting with Moro Islamic
Liberation Front chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim (Narita, 2011); make an official
visit (Tokyo/Sendai, 2011); and grace the 40th ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit
(Tokyo, 2013). PND (hdc)
Government deploys rolling stores, keeps an eye
on hoarders to stabilize prices of commodities
In an effort to stabilize the prices of basic
commodities, the government has deployed rolling stores to sell rice, garlic
and ginger and is keeping suspected hoarders under surveillance, a Palace
official said Tuesday.
“The government is exerting all efforts to
ensure a stable supply of rice, garlic and ginger. Surveillance is being
carried out to discourage hoarding and other practices that could lead to
artificial shortage. Rolling stores have been deployed to sell these
commodities,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio
Coloma, Jr. told reporters during a press briefing.
Coloma said the National Price Council, led by
Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo, is closely
monitoring the movement of prices of rice, garlic and ginger.
“While there are no suggested retail prices
(SRPs) for these commodities, the National Price Coordinating Council may
prescribe indicative prices, if needed,” he said, adding that SRPs only apply
to manufactured goods.
Asked if the Department of Agriculture has met
its target to ensure rice sufficiency, he said, “Hindi natamo nang ganap ‘yung
rice sufficiency objectives. Pero ‘yung level of attainment ay mataas naman
dahil lampas sa 90 percent.” PND (ag)
Government to increase police visibility,
enforce gun-control measures to address criminality: Palace
Malacanang said Tuesday that the government will
address criminality by increasing police visibility and strictly enforcing
gun-control measures.
“We note the directives issued at a Command
Conference yesterday (Monday, June 16) by the Chief of the Philippine National
Police (PNP) to increase police visibility through intensified patrols and
checkpoints, stricter enforcement of gun-control measures, neutralization of
guns-for-hire and implementation of search warrants for loose firearms,”
Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr.
said during a press briefing.
Coloma noted that increased police visibility,
through patrols and setting up of checkpoints, would deter criminals,
especially if coupled with “heightened citizen vigilance”.
To improve the ideal police-to-population ratio,
he said PNP Chief, Director General Allan Purisima, has ordered the
fast-tracking of the processing of applications to fill up 18,568 vacancies for
Police Officers and 13,000 positions for Non-uniformed Personnel, as authorized
by the National Police Commission.
The hiring of additional police officers will
improve the ratio to one police officer for every 579 citizens from the present
ratio of 1:675, he added.
Coloma also cited the Quezon City Police
Department’s effort to set up mobile police desks in strategic points to give
citizens easy access to police assistance.
He further said that in Pangasinan, the PNP has
created a task force to oversee anti-criminality operations and neutralize
guns-for-hire.
“Another important move taken by the PNP is the
stricter enforcement of gun control pursuant to its duty as the chief
implementing agency for Republic Act No. Republic Act No. 10591 or the
“Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act”, passed in 2013,” Coloma
added.
Before the May 2013 elections, the PNP conducted
Oplan Katok, a nationwide door-to-door campaign to verify ownership of
registered firearms.
“This was also aimed at neutralizing partisan
armed groups or private armies. The successful conduct of this campaign
resulted in a significantly lower incidence of election-related violence,
especially in known hotspots,” Coloma explained. PND (ag)
