President Aquino meets US Rep. Joseph Kennedy
III
(BOSTON, Massachusetts) President Benigno S.
Aquino III met on Monday morning (Boston time) with United States Rep. Joseph
Kennedy III at Bill’s Pizzeria in Newton.
Kennedy, who recently visited the Philippines,
invited the President for a meeting if he travels to Massachusetts.
Kennedy is the grandson of the late US Sen.
Robert Kennedy and grandnephew of US President John F. Kennedy.
The President's 30-minute meeting with Kennedy
will be followed by business meetings with several American companies Monday
afternoon based on his official schedule.
After that, the President will give a speech at
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Aside from meeting Kennedy, the President
visited their former home here in Massachusetts located at 175 Commonwealth
Ave. in Newton. The house is now owned by American Ione Malloy.
The Aquino family stayed at the residence
starting 1980 to 1983 while former senator Benigno Aquino Jr, the President's
father, was in exile during the Marcos dictatorship.
In his speech at Boston College on Sunday, the
President recalled his fond memories in their house in Newton such his first
winter in Massachusetts.
The President is expected to go to New York
Monday evening after delivering his message at the John F. Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University. PND (as)
Government empowering people through education,
better health care, says President Aquino
(CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts) The ultimate goal of
the government is to empower the people through education, and better health
care and social services so that they would enjoy equal opportunities,
President Benigno S. Aquino III said at the Harvard University’s John F.
Kennedy School of Government here Monday.
"The budget for most of our social services
had been increased in multiples from the time we started in 2010," the
President told students during a question-and-answer session after delivering a
policy speech to discuss the present situation in the Philippines and the
reform measures being undertaken by his administration.
"The Department of Health, for instance,
has had something like a three-fold increase of their budget from the 2010 levels,
precisely to shield our population from catastrophic illnesses that will
devastate them," he added.
In terms of providing good education to the
marginalized members of society, he said there is an alternative learning
system that caters to the needs of migrant communities.
Teachers are embedded in these communities so
that education is not stifled and could continue in those areas, he said.
Regarding the out-of-school youth, the President
said the government is carrying out the Conditional Cash Transfer Program to
ensure that young people stay in school.
"The Conditional Cash Transfer Program’s
principal condition is that children should be kept in school, not just on the
elementary level, but also on the secondary level. We have expanded the program
this year to cover the secondary level," he explained.
He further said that the technical vocational
sector of the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) gives
young people skills that would land them good jobs in the job market, even if
they merely completed high school.
The government tries to provide incentives to
out-of-school youths to motivate them to continue their schooling, President
Aquino said. PND (as)
President Aquino: West Philippine Sea claimants
must adhere to rule of law
(CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts) President Benigno S. Aquino
III, in a policy speech he delivered here Monday, underscored the importance of
following the rule of law in resolving the dispute in the West Philippine Sea
(South China Sea).
The question the Philippines is facing is
whether the consensus of the international community, as embodied by laws such
as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) would be
upheld in resolving these claims, President Aquino told students of Harvard
University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
All signatories to the UNCLOS have bound
themselves to the equitable delineation of maritime entitlements, he said,
adding that this UN convention grants countries equal rights as well as
obligations.
"As a founding member of the United
Nations, we believe that its covenants, such as UNCLOS, and institutions, such
as its International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, provide the most
rational, just, and respectful mechanism for countries to find harmony, despite
their differences," he noted.
Based on this principle, he said, the Philippine
government drafted two tracks of action in addressing the dispute in the West
Philippine Sea.
First, by continuously calling for the
formulation of a binding code of conduct for the South China Sea, and second,
through arbitration to clarify the maritime entitlements for all countries
concerned.
"International law allows for a dignified
and sustainable resolution to competing claims, as demonstrated by the recently
concluded Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration," President Aquino
said.
The Philippines is one of the claimant countries
in the West Philippines Sea. Other countries with competing claims include
China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, and Malaysia.
This year, the Philippines filed a memorial
before the International Arbitral Tribunal to strengthen its case.
China, which has refused to participate in the
arbitration, has been given until December 15 this year to submit a similar
memorial to the international tribunal. PND (as)
President Aquino: It is not time to discuss
politics
(CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts) President Benigno S.
Aquino III said it is not time to talk about politics and that he would rather
focus on addressing the needs of his people rather than think about the 2016
presidential elections.
"I still have about a year and nine months
to go," the President said during a question-and-answer session after
delivering a policy speech at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in
Harvard University here Monday.
"If we are all concentrated just on the
next elections rather than doing the things that we have to do now, we
shouldn’t allow the distraction of the election to interfere with our
obligations to our people," he said.
He noted that since he left Manila for an official
tour of Europe and the United States, two typhoons have struck the country and
Mayon Volcano has become restive.
“I think those have to be attended rather than
jockeying for position in 2016," he pointed out.
The President also fended off criticisms hurled
against his allies, saying that if his critics think his allies are dishonest
and corrupt, they could charge them in court.
The Ombudsman in particular is ready to
investigate complaints, even those coming from anonymous individuals, he said.
On naming a successor, the President said he
believes there are a lot of individuals in the country qualified to become
president.
He however indicated that he is not ready at
this time to announce the candidate he will support in the country's next
presidential polls. PND (as)
Young leaders would hopefully learn from the
Philippines' transformation, President Aquino says
(CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts) President Benigno S.
Aquino III on Monday expressed hope that students of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy
School of Government would learn from the transformation of the Philippines
realized through good governance.
Delivering a policy speech at the school,
President Aquino said he is determined to make the most of his six-year term
that ends in 2016.
"Our challenge today is to make the gains
even greater, and to ensure that the transformation becomes an enduring
mainstream of justice and inclusiveness," he said.
"It is my hope that our experiences will
motivate those like you, from the other side of the world, to be influencers,
who in turn will inspire the communities and institutions with whom you will
interact."
He emphasized that though leaders will be
criticized for what they did, for what they did not do, and even for what they
are about to do, they must always do the right thing.
They should persevere because giving up would
mean allowing the shameless and the unscrupulous to have free reign over the
fate of everyone, he said.
The President also mentioned the men and women
in his government who came from the JFK School of Government: Budget Secretary
Florencio Abad, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, Presidential Assistant
on Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Francisco Pangilinan, and
Presidential Management Staff Secretary Julia Abad.
Chief Executive Officer of the Bases Conversion
Development Authority Arnel Casanova, as well as the late interior and local
government secretary Jesse Robredo were also fellows of the prestigious school.
PND (as)
Authoritarianism does not solve a country's
problems, says President Aquino
(CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts) Dictatorship is not
the solution to a country's problems, President Benigno S. Aquino III said
during a discussion with students of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of
Government here Monday.
President Aquino was responding to an Indonesian
student, who asked him about his views on authoritarianism.
The President said Indonesian President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono is a close friend, who advises him when he is confronted with
complicated problems.
Indonesia serves as a role model for him, he
said, adding that this is because Indonesia’s population is larger than that of
the Philippines.
"Having said that, a dictatorship can never
be a good solution. The person, no matter how good, good-intentioned, how
thoroughly prepared, will have an absence of a check and balance; and, again,
man is an imperfect being so his good will happen right away and his bad will
be exacerbated," he said.
The President's father, former senator Benigno
Aquino, Jr., defied the Marcos dictatorship and it cost him his life.
He also recounted the healing process that the
nation has been undergoing after the dark years of martial rule, especially the
granting of compensation to victims of human rights abuses.
The country's lawmakers have passed the Human
Rights Compensation Bill, in which the state recognizes its obligation to
nurture and protect its citizens, the President said.
"And after that, there is an award for
recognition of the same, so that there is compensation for what was inflicted
upon our people," he said, adding this state recognition also puts on
record individual accounts of what rights were violated during the dark days of
Martial Law.
"The end point being, we learn the lessons
so that we do not have a situation that repeats itself, that really brought our
country to the depths that it had entered into," President Aquino said.
PND (as)
Palace confident 2015 National Budget will be
passed within the year
The Palace has expressed confidence that the
2015 National Budget will be passed within the year.
“We are confident with the leadership of (House
of Representatives) Speaker Sonny Belmonte that the House will be able to pass
the budget based on the calendar… for the approval of the 2015 National
Budget,” Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters during
Tuesday’s press briefing in Malacañang.
Lacierda said that the Palace is thankful that
the House was able to muster a quorum on Monday.
“Hopefully, the quorum will continue until the
last day of the plenary session on the approval of the budget in the lower
house,” he said.
Lacierda was commenting on reports that Navotas
Representative Toby Tiangco has threatened to continue questioning the quorum
of the day if Budget Secretary Florencio Abad fails to release the detailed
report on which legislators received funding through the Disbursement
Acceleration Program (DAP).
Speaker Belmonte on Thursday called on Liberal
Party leaders to ask their members to attend the budget deliberations to
prevent a reenacted budget. PND (ag)
President Aquino welcomes ‘new blood’ in
Philippine politics
(CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts) President Benigno S.
Aquino III has said he welcomes the thought of having new people in government
as he remains positive toward signing the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill into law.
“At the end of the day, new blood has to bring
new ideas, new methodologies, new energies that perhaps can improve on that
which was already set,” President Aquino told students of Harvard’s John F.
Kennedy School of Government during a forum held here Monday.
The President was responding to a student’s
question on the presence of political dynasties in the Philippines and how
people who do not come from such dynasties could have a fair shot at winning in
the polls.
“First of all, there are already measures before
Congress and I’m about to pass the Anti-Dynasty Law in furtherance of the
Constitution,” he said.
The President also reiterated his previous
observation that some politicians may be put at a disadvantage, even if they
are doing something right and not just relying on the good reputation attached
to their famous name.
“To forestall the possibility that there will be
abuse of situations, then perhaps we should make sure that, at some point—if
not, perhaps after their term limits—there is a whole new set (of leaders) who
will be bringing in ideas that hopefully will build upon that which is already
developed,” he said.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate
are deliberating on their respective versions of the Anti-Political Dynasty
Bill, which has recently gained steady backing from other politicians as well.
PND (hdc)
