Palace asks the public to watch President
Aquino's State of the Nation Address on Monday
The Palace invited the public to watch and take
part as the President delivers his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) on
Monday.
"We invite everyone to watch the SONA and
take part in the national discussion on the state of our country, as we reflect
on future endeavors and the gains we have collectively achieved these past four
years," Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a statement
over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Saturday.
Valte also said that as the Palace prepares for
the State of the Nation Address, it also wants to invite the public to view its
special Official Gazette page for the 2014 SONA at http://www.gov.ph/sona-2014.
"It contains links to the transcripts of
all previous SONAs, as well as to our SONA history page, which features
enlightening trivia on past presidents," she said.
The SONA will also be streamed live on the
website on Monday, after which the Palace will upload the transcript and the
corresponding technical reports, according to Valte.
The President is still doing his preparations
for the SONA together with his speechwriters, the Presidential Management
Staff, the Office of the Cabinet Secretary, and Office of the Executive
Secretary, Valte added. PND (as)
Government to continue investing in people, says
Palace official
Malacanang said the government will continue to
prioritize uplifting the lives of the people following the release of UN
Development Report that assesses income, education and life expectancy of the
nation.
"When it comes to that, it’s really in
continuing to invest in human capital," Deputy presidential spokesperson
Abigail Valte said in an interview on Saturday over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan.
Valte said that the general perception is that
investment only means money going to infrastructure to attract businesses.
But she said there is also investments on human
capital, which means strengthening the capabilities of the country's citizens, she
said.
This includes investment in education, health
care, social services and others, she added.
According to the recently released UN report,
the Philippines improved slightly in its assessment. The UN Development Report
measures income, education and life expectancy.
The report was released in Tokyo by the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP) covering 187 countries, with the Philippines
ranking No. 117, up one notch from 118 in the previous edition.
The Top 10 countries in UNDP's ranking from No.
1 to 10, are Norway, Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United
States, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, and Denmark.
The UN Development Report pushed for wider
access to basic social services like education, health care, water supply and
sanitation, and public safety, full employment, disaster risk reduction and
management, and responsive institutions. PND (as)
Palace renews commitment to fight poverty as
country's population hits 100 million Sunday
The government will strive hard to bring the
poorest of the poor out of poverty after population experts said the country's
population will hit 100 million on Sunday.
"Ang importante is kahit palaki na tayo
nang palaki, we must be able to tailor fit our programs to help the fifth
quintile of the population to be able to get out of that demographic. Ito naman
ang importante sa pamahalaan," Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail
Valte said in an interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Saturday.
Government interventions must be at the fifth
quintile of the population or the poorest of the poor, the Palace official
said.
Majority of government programs are aimed at
helping this portion of the population, according to Valte. This include the
conditional cash transfer program, and the universal healthcare.
This is to ensure that they will be 100 percent
covered by PhilHealth especially indigent citizens, Valte added.
The Philippine population will reach 100 million
at 12:06 a.m. or thereabouts on Sunday, according to population officials.
The figure of 100 million was based on
population projections by the Philippine Statistics Authority, which says three
babies are born in the Philippines every minute.
This event would bring hope as well as
challenges to the country as it struggles to give its people a better quality
of life, according to experts.
Pro-life advocates said reaching the 100-million
figure is actually good news and a blessing for the country because it would
mean more human resources to advance the economy.
Other countries with 100 million population or
more include Mexico, 122.3 million; Japan, 127.1 million; Russian
Federation,142.8 million; Bangladesh, 156.6 million; Nigeria, 173.6 million;
and Pakistan,182.1 million. PND (as)
