President Aquino confers Order of Lakandula on
U.N. Resident Coordinator Luiza Carvalho
President Benigno S. Aquino III on Monday
conferred the Order of Lakandula, with the rank of Grand Officer, on United
Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Philippines Luiza
Carvalho.
The President gave the award to Carvalho during
her farewell call, held at the Music Room of Malacañang Palace.
Carvalho, who is also the resident representative
of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), was honored for
strengthening and deepening the relations between the Philippines and the UN;
for her outstanding and dedicated service in the field of humanitarian work,
peace and development; and for being an “exceptionally worthy and competent
representative” of the UN in the country.
She was also recognized for her “steadfast efforts
in promoting partnerships between Philippine private and public institutions,
with the end view of providing support to marginalized communities”.
The Chief Executive acknowledged her efforts in
mobilizing international support to the Philippines in sectors of crisis
intervention and emergency response, disaster risk reduction management, good
governance, education, and social welfare and development.
Carvalho was also praised for her contribution and
support to the Philippine initiatives in the domestic, regional and
multilateral arena, especially in the areas of human rights, empowerment of
women and peace building and conflict resolution.
Also present at the awarding ceremony were Foreign
Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, Social Welfare and Development Secretary
Corazon Soliman, and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
Carvalho was joined by her spouse and other UN
officials. PND (jb)
Philippine Army Dragon Boat Team calls on
President Aquino
President Benigno S. Aquino III received the members
of the Philippine Army Dragon Boat Team during a courtesy call at the
President’s Hall of Malacañang Palace on Monday.
Upon entering the room, President Aquino warmly
greeted the Philippine Army paddlers, led by team leader and president
Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc.
He shook hands with the team members, who were
proudly wearing their gold medals, which they bagged during the 9th
International Dragon Boat Federation Club Crew World Championships held in
Ravenna, Italy last September.
The team gave honor to the country for setting two
world records by winning the competition’s 200- and 500-meter small boat open
categories.
The members of the Philippine Army Dragon Boat
Team were: steersman Technical Sergeant Franco Tinoco; paddlers Senior Sergeant
Joemar Ocquiana, Sergeant Ronald Tan, Private First Class Ramie Llano, Private
First Class Gerald Dela Cruz, Private First Class Hardy Pabulayan, Private
First Class Cresmark Dayumat, Senior Sergeant Romy John Dionio, Senior Sergeant
Usman Anterola, Senior Sergeant Salvador Sumagaysay, Sergeant Rodrigo Tanuan
Jr., Private First Class Romel Donesa, Private First Class Rame Llano, and
Private First Class Gil Martin Gonzales; and drummer Private First Class Jayson
dela Cruz.
Also present during the courtesy call were
National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Armed Forces Chief of Staff
Gregorio Pio Catapang, and Army Chief Hernando Iriberri. PND (jb)
Palace acknowledges results of Social Weather
Stations survey on self-rated poverty
Malacañang on Monday acknowledged the findings of
the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on self-rated poverty and
self-rated food poverty, saying the government is focused on addressing poverty
alleviation.
In a statement sent to members of the Malacañang
Press Corps, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio
Coloma, Jr. however noted that a similar government survey showed a decline in
poverty incidence.
“While we take cognizance of the slight rise in
the self-rated poverty and self-rated food poverty, the government policies and
programs are pursued based on the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES)
of the Philippine Statistics Authority, which shows that poverty incidence has
eased to 24.9 percent for the first semester of 2013, compared to the 27.9
percent in the same period in 2012,” Secretary Coloma said.
He said the same FIES showed a decline in the
proportion of extremely poor Filipino individuals who could not afford to meet
basic food requirements from 13.4 percent in 2012 to 10.7 percent in 2013.
“Nonetheless, the government shall continue to
focus on intensifying programs for poverty reduction and social protection,
including increasing the budget and coverage of the Conditional Cash Transfer
program,” he said in the statement.
The government, he said, has earmarked the biggest
portion of the proposed P2.606-trillion 2015 national budget for social
services at P967.9 billion or 37.2 percent.
“The proposed budget also focuses on delivering high-impact
projects in 44 provinces with high poverty magnitude where more job
opportunities will be created: provinces with high poverty incidence that
require adequate social safety nets and those which are vulnerable to natural
calamities,” said Coloma.
The SWS survey on self-rated poverty, conducted
from September 26 to 29, showed 55 percent of the 1,200 respondents nationwide
considered themselves poor.
The survey said the figure, which is equivalent to
an estimated 12.1 million families, is unchanged from June and three points
above the 52 percent average for the four quarters of 2013. PND (ag)
