PIA Dispatch - Monday, June 22, 2009

PGMA's four-day state visit to Brazil focuses on deepening bilateral relations

RECIFE CITY, Pernambuco, Brazil - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to arrive Monday night (7p.m. Brazil time) to this northeastern city of Brazil, for the first leg of her four-day, three-city visit to the world’s 10th largest economy.

The President will also visit Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro.

The President’s state visit to Brazil is expected to deepen further 49 years of diplomatic and bilateral cooperation between the two countries. They established diplomatic ties in 1960.

In her departure statement before she left for a working visit to Japan and state visit to Brazil last Wednesday (June 17), the President expressed hopes that her visit here will “provide impetus for enhanced relations with Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America and an emerging major global player.”

The President said that her mission to Brazil, it being one of the four new economic giants(the other three being Russia, India and China) to whom the world looks today to stimulate economic recovery, “represents the full breadth of our nation’s interests in the world.”

“Brazil is a developing nation that has burst onto the international scene the last decade. Brazil has become a voice for the special challenges of a developing nation as well as an innovator in biofuels. Brazil also faces many of the same challenges experienced by the Philippines, so developing a closer relationship with this South American powerhouse affords our two nations a chance to learn from each other’s experiences,” the President said.

The President hopes to establish greater alliances in the areas of bio-fuel production and agri-business during her visit.

“I am confident we will return with new alliances that will benefit both our public and private sectors and support our efforts to promote food and fuel self-sufficiency,” the President added. 

The President will be hosted dinner by Pernambuco Governor Eduardo Henrique Accioly Campos at the Governor’s Palace upon her arrival here Monday night.

On Tuesday, the President will visit what is touted to be the biggest Filipino investment in Brazil -- the Tecon Suape, S.A. (TSSA), the Brazilian subsidiary of Filipino company International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI).

Nine years ago, in May 2000, ICTSI won the bid to manage and operate Suape Container Terminal (SCT) at the Suape Industrial Complex in Ipojuca, Pernambuco at the northernmost tip of Brazil, for a period of 30 years.

Two years later, in April 2002, TSSA officially took over the operations of the SCT.

Suape is an industrial and port complex strategically located at the convergence of the main commercial routes of long distance shipping, linking the east coast of South America with other continents, and the coastal traffic of the southern region with northern and northeast regions of Brazil. 

The President’s next stop is the capital city of Brazil—Brasilia, where she will be rolled-out the red carpet for making history as the first sitting Philippine President to visit the Federal Republic of Brazil upon the invitation of Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva..

The President said she will discuss with the Brazilian President “ways and means to enhance our bilateral cooperation and people-to-people linkages.”

During the visit, it is expected that Brazil and the Philippines will seal agreements in the fields of agriculture and bio-energy, development of stronger and better linkages between the Philippines and Brazilian business communities.

The President’s last stop will be the city of Rio de Janeiro, the capital city of Brazil from 1763 to 1822, famous for its natural settings, carnival celebrations, samba and tourist beaches, to meet Brazilian investors and invite them to look into opportunities the Philippines could offer them.

The President will fly back to Manila from Rio de Janeiro on June 25.

The Latin American country is now the Philippines' largest trade partner in that region and the 25th globally. The Department of Foreign Affairs said that trade balance has always been in favor of Brazil because of Philippine importation of iron ore.


RP gov't. gets USD 500 million assistance from Japan – Remonde 

MANILA, June 22 – The Philippine Government was able to acquire USD 500 million worth of development assistance from the Japanese Government following the successful four-day visit of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Japan which ended Saturday, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said this morning. 

Remonde said over radio station DZXL that in addition to that, there were many agreements that the President signed with the Japanese private sector during her trip to Japan, including the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). 

”I can assure that the President had a worthy trip to Japan because this was an official and working trip. This is not a holiday vacation. As your Press Secretary, I am so tired because of plenty of work,” Remonde said who is already in Brazil with the President. 

The Press Secretary was reacting to Senator Panfilo Lacson’s accusation that more than P1 billion has been spent on the Presidential trip abroad wherein administration lawmakers were included in the delegation, which added up to the expensive trip. 

”Senator Lacson’s accusations are untrue. The President has to ask help from other countries to create trade and development opportunities as well as find labor markets for our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). She’s helping us to survive and make our economy strong in the face of the global economic crisis,” Remonde said. 

”Senator Lacson should understand what’s going on in our country and other parts of the world. Our economy is already global and the crisis is already global. That’s why our President should be more active in the interest of national development,” Remonde said. 

”In addition, Mrs. Arroyo has opened doors for the jobless market especially for the nurses, caregivers and other Filipino professionals in Japan,” Remonde added. 

Remonde also cited the accord between the Philippines and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) which was signed last Friday, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the Philippine’s planned issuance of up to billion worth of 'samurai' bonds. 

”The agreement was signed by Finance Secretary Margarito Teves and JBIC president and CEO Hiroshi Watanabe at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo,” Remonde said. 

Under the MOU, JBIC would provide guarranty on USD 1 billion of samurai bonds that the Philippines will issue to finance its budget deficit and cushion the effect of the global crisis. 

The yen-denominated bonds will be issued in the Japanese financial market by a foreign government or company. 

Remonde also said that the President assured the first batch of Filipino nurses enrolled at the Japanese language training center here that more Filipino nurses will be sent to Japan under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). 

”The Filipino nurses are the first beneficiaries of the implementation of JPEPA which took effect last December. In her visit to the Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS) Language Training Facility in Tokyo, the President congratulated the select nurses whom she called “the cream of the crop” after being sent here for the free scholarship training,” Remonde said. 

Of the total 93 Filipino nurses sent in Japan, 39 are undergoing training in Tokyo and 54 in Kansai. The nurses are currently training in Nihonggo, a prime requirement before being deployed in the different hospitals over there. 

After their six-month training, which started last May 11, the Filipino nurses will have to take and pass the Japanese board examination before they can formally work here. 

After passing the board examination, Japanese employers will provide the Filipino nurses with salaries and benefits that they accord to Japanese nationals. 

There are presently 283 health workers undergoing free language training in Japan including the 93 nurses and 190 caregivers. The President said these 283 health workers are the first beneficiaries of the implementation of JPEPA, the main focus of her four-day official working visit to Japan. 

More than five hundred Filipinos composed of different Filipino organizations and associations in Japan gathered together at Hotel Mariners' Court in Tokyo to warmly welcome President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who was in her third day of a workingl visit to Japan. 

Aside from the advantages of Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) which will help provide important economic and trade opportunities for Philippine businesses during the period of global economic slowdown, Remonde said. 

He added that President Arroyo also met with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Saturday. “We learned that Japanese Diet has already passed the law wherein Japan will open its aircraft and sea craft defense forces to other countries. In this way, not only the Japanese vessels are being protected from piracy,” Remonde said. 

”Even other foreign vessels, including the Philippine vessels, will be safe from the kidnappings in Somalia. This will benefit the 38,000 Filipino seafarers in Japan and other maritime workers all over the world,” Remonde said. 

Meanwhile, Remonde said the official Philippine delegation’s trip is shouldered by the government, “If there are senators or congressmen in the travel, especially the concerned committees like Senator Miriam Defensor - Santiago because she is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.” 

If there is somebody who wants to tag along, then they will shoulder their own travel expenses. 

The number of the official delegation is 10. “But there is also what you call company delegation of the lawmakers which is 10 to 15,” Remonde said.


NEDA expects a 'better' economic growth in Q2 

MANILA, June 22 - The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) expects a "better" economic growth in the second quarter boosted by higher government spending and remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). 

Rolando G. Tungpalan, deputy director general of NEDA, told reporters on Monday that "things are looking better now. I can't imagine that the second quarter will be worse [than the first quarter]." 

In the first quarter, the economy as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) grew by only 0.4 percent from 3.9 percent in the same period last year. 

From April to June last year, the economy expanded by 4.6 percent. 
Tungpalan said the increased government spending and the continued inflow of OFW remittances would be the main drivers of the economy in the second quarter. 

To further stimulate economic growth in the second half of the year, Tungpalan said the government is pressing agencies to spend their budgets in the third quarter of the year. 

The government programmed P1.489 trillion in expenditures this year, lower than the original P1.495 tillion due to a reduction in economic growth target but higher than last year's P1.27 trillion. 

Of the total spending program, capital outlays would amount to P289.3 billion this year from P273.2 billion last year. 

Dennis Arroyo, director of NEDA's national planning and policy staff, had blamed the worse-than-expected GDP growth in the first quarter to the delay in the passage of budget, which led to the failure of the Economic Resiliency Plan to kick in during the period. 

Arroyo, however, said the ERP spending would kick in during the second and third quarters. 

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo earlier unveiled a P330-billion stimulus package or ERP to pump-prime the economy by quickly disbursing the P1.4-trillion 2009 national budget amid the global economic crisis.


DOH reports 35 more recovered A(H1N1) patients sent home
By Bradley de Leon

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III announced on Monday that 35 A(H1N1) patients have fully recovered from the said virus bringing the total number of recovered patients to 374. This number constitutes 84% of the total cases.

Duque also reported that there are17 more cases recorded on Monday. These new cases bring the total number of confirmed cases to 445. These 17 new cases involved 8 males and 9 females with age ranging from 11 to 58 years old, with 19 as median age. 

Duque also noted that 15 of the new cases are Filipinos and 2 are foreigners.

Meanwhile, Duque also reported the death of a 49-year old female who is known to have a pre-existing chronic heart disease was also found to be positive for A (H1N1). He said that the patient presented with flu-like symptoms starting on June 17 consisting of dry cough, fever and chills and difficulty of breathing just before death on June 19. 

Duque said that post-autopsy findings disclosed that the death was caused by congestive heart failure secondary to acute myocardial infarction aggravated by severe pneumonia either bacterial, viral or both. He said a throat-swab revealed that she was positive for A (H1N1).

“Given the available information, we cannot conclude that the death is due to A (H1N1). But in other countries which have reported A (H1N1) deaths, majority have pre-existing medical conditions. We condole with the family of the patient as we mourn her untimely death,’’ Duque said. 

Because of this first reported case of death in a patient with an incidental finding of A (H1N1) in the country, Duque said that the Department of Health will be more aggressive in targeting segments of patients with a high vulnerability to fatal flu complications saying that they should be the ones receiving the most care and attention by healthcare professionals.

“We want to make it clear that high-risk groups, once they have the flu symptoms, should immediately go to their doctor. They should not wait for their symptoms to worsen because they are prone to many infections other than the novel virus such as our seasonal flu strains. These are patients with uncontrolled diabetes, frank cardiovascular disease, COPD, organ transplant recipients, those who are immunocompromised, those with chronic liver and kidney disease, people suffering from other infections like HIV/AIDs and TB, pregnant women and the very young and the elderly,” Duque clarified.

At present, the DOH is revising the interim guidelines for managing and treating A (H1N1) cases to ensure that vulnerable populations are prioritized and receive immediately the appropriate modicum of care. This is in accordance with the Pandemic Alert Level 6 declaration of the World Health Organization which recommends to its member states to focus on managing cases, especially severe ones, rather than containment to prevent the spread of the virus.

“We would like to reemphasize that, globally and locally, the overwhelming majority of cases only experience mild symptoms and, eventually, make a rapid and full recovery, often even without any form of medical intervention,” Duque stressed. 

“It is prudent for parents to seek professional care for children with rapid breathing, excessive drowsiness or dehydration. In adults, chest pain, prolonged fever or labored breathing should prompt warnings to see a doctor,” Duque reminded the public.
 
“We need to make sure that our resources are efficiently used and that they will give us the best outcomes by targeting people who are at risk for developing complications,’ Duque said.

Meanwhile, Duque advised the public to continue heeding the recommendations of the DOH on proper handwashing, cough etiquette, and other hygiene practices.

“The best defense against A (H1N1) and other diseases is to boost your immune system. Most people can fight off this virus without special medications or hospitalization. You can stay at home and take supportive care like plenty of fluids, vitamins and bed rest,” Duque stressed.  


Contracts of 15 disgruntled workers in Sabah uncleared by POEA 

MANILA, June 22 — The contract of 15 disgruntled Filipino plantation workers in Sabah did not pass the scrutiny of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), exposing them to possible unfair treatment by their employer, it was learned today. 

Following this discovery, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that if the workers so desire, they can opt for repatriation to the Philippines. 

The DFA said that through one of the workers, identified as Butch Pastolero, the embassy has offered to assist in the group’s repatriation via Sandakan, which is south of the border in Mindanao. But Pastolero himself reportedly expressed reluctance to leave Sabah. 

Quoting reports from Ambassador Victoriano Lecaros Jr. in the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur, the DFA said that conciliation talks between the workers and the management of Hoy Chan Plantations broke down this morning, leading to a hardening of stance of either party. Further talks are postponed indefinitely. 

Lecaros also denied allegations of negligence of the plight of the Filipinos, who have complained of unequal pay rates, inadequate food and arbitrary detention. The company is engaged in palm oil production. 

The Filipinos were among a group of 50 Filipinos who went in two batches to Sabah in December 2008 and January 2009 to work as harvesters in the palm oil plantation, according to the records. 

Their contract stipulated a monthly pay of between RM800 to 1,000 (Malaysian Ringgit), based on actual individual output. As it turned out, they departed for Sabah without clearance from the POEA, making them vulnerable to possible exploitation. 

Lecaros said that on May 13, it received reports about the plight of the workers and has since “been assisting” them with management. He quoted company sources as alleging that the 15 Filipinos did not meet the minimum required output and were thus paid lower than their companions. 

Earlier, a militant overseas-based Filipino group, Migrante International, claimed having visited the plantation and meeting with the Filipinos, and reported the situation to Philippine media as it accused the DFA of ignoring the workers. 

Lecaros reported that workers and management “have been engaged in talks and were nearing resolution until a third party stepped in and painted the company badly in the media.” 

Contrary to Migrante’s accusations of DFA indifference, Lecaros was in Sabah last week to look into the workers' conditions and other issues pertaining to Filipino nationals there. A four-man consular mission from the Embassy, headed by Consul General Rene Villa, is still in Sarawak. 

There are presently two consular teams in Sabah providing assistance to Filipinos. One is a five-man team in Kota Kinabalu and another a team of four in Sandakan, the DFA said. 

Following the unfortunate incident, the DFA renewed its reminder that all prospective overseas workers ensure that their work contracts are reviewed and approved by the POEA.