PIA Dispatch - Tuesday, July 21, 2009

3,000 govt. workers to benefit from new housing project

Close to 3,000 government workers stand to benefit from the government housing project within the New Bilibid Prison reservation in Muntinlupa following its groundbreaking this morning by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro.

The new socialized housing project on the 41-hectare gently rolling property will be offered to employees of Office of the President, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Justice and its attached agency the Bureau of Correctional and the City of Muntinlupa.

Property developer, R-II Builders represented by its chairman Reghis Romero III and president/CEO Pol T. Sanchez were among those who witnessed the ground breaking and laying of the time capsule officially marking the start of project development.

Romero said the developers have until one year, from today, to finish the development of the property, the construction and selling of the housing units that the company builds. R-II is tasked with the first phase of development in 16.76 hectares covering 1,495 units.

Before the President arrived, Vice President de Castro instructed the housing agencies under him—the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, the Philippine Home Mortgage Finance Corp., PagIbig and the National Housing Authority—to offer the houses and lots to all other government employees if these are not taken by priority clients.

“Offer the houses and lots built to other government employees after four months that the OP, DENR, DOJ, the Bureau of Correctional and the City of Muntinlupa will not buy the units through their PagIbig Fund contributions,” the VP told developers RII Builders and its counterpart, the Baque Corporation which will develop 1,491 units in Phase 2 of the property.

R-II will be developing the property, build and sell the houses in its program area. The housing packages come in three types: floor areas of 24 square meters or 699 units in all; 40 square meters or 341 units in all and 60 square meter or a total of 455 units. All lots have uniform size of 74 square meters. The costs of these packages are: P310,000 for the 24 sq.m. houses; P400,000 for the 40 sq.m. houses and P600,000 for the 60 sq.m. houses, Romero said.

The Phase 2 development, to be undertaken by Baque Corporation come in same sizes of 20 square meters with a total of 697 units; 40 square meters or 340 units and 60 square meters or 454 units.


RP won’t fall into recession, says Global Source

MALAYBALAY, Bukidnon, July 21 — New York-based think tank Global Source said that the Philippines will likely avoid a recession this year but will have a snail’s pace growth through next year.

Socioeconomic and Planning Deputy Director-General Ricardo Tumpalan reported this during the weekly Global Recession Impact News (GRIN) and Position for the Rebound report at the first-ever full Cabinet meeting held in Bukidnon province today.

Global Source predicted that the domestic economy would grow by 0.5 percent to one percent this year, revising its previous forecast of a 2.5-percent growth. This new forecast is slightly more bearish than the government's latest official gross domestic product (GDP) forecast expansion of 0.8-1.8 percent.

The market's consensus forecast on Philippine GDP growth for this year has gone down to 1.2 percent from the 2.3-percent consensus before the meager first-quarter growth of 0.4 percent was announced.

In ruling out the possibility of an economic contraction, Global Source pointed out that remittances so far managed to hold steady, which meant that any decline in 2009 would be minimal, while export and import numbers slowly evened out, improving the trade balance.

It added that the effects of higher fiscal spending may soon start to become perceptible, especially as the elections near, while expectations of a global recovery should help revitalize consumers somewhat later in the year.

But looking ahead, Global Source said an upturn in the world economy, especially a weak one, might not mean much for the Philippines.

Coupled with likely weak recovery in advanced economies, Global Source sees only a three to 3.5 percent GDP growth in 2010.

Global Source also noted that the spread of the swine flu may be another dampener to economic activity, particularly for tourism-related sectors and businesses dependent on people coming out and converging such as in malls, hotels and restaurants," it added.

But Global Source said exports might have bottomed for the year, suggesting that external trade could even out further while the decline in manufacturing could slow.

"Services exports, especially of the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, will remain strong according to industry insiders we have talked to, likely growing at double-digit rates. Government spending, which had been delayed by the late signing of the national budget and allegedly held back for reasons of political strategy may begin to reflect in the national accounts beginning the second quarter of 2009," Global Source said.

Tumpalan said while there is progress in the economic recovery plan, having passed the midpoint of the year, government cannot be complacent — must end up strongly by working double–time in infrastructure so as to be ready for the coming rebound in the global economy.
NEDA also recommended that there is a need for the Philippines to engage China for more trade, investment, and tourism as China continues to post strong growth.

It also recommended that the government must determine what can be learned or replicated fro India’s plan to be slum-free in five years as well as rigorously promote the country leadership in green building standards and architecture and promote the development of price competitive sources of alternative energy.


Palace wages war vs. 'narco-politics'

MANILA, July 21 - Malacañang on Tuesday morning said the Philippine government is already waging a war against “narco-politics” which is reportedly happening in the country and rearing its ugly head towardsd the 2010 national and local elections.

Deputy presidential spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Malacañang are alarmed on the possible use of drug money to influence the outcome of the elections next year.

Fajardo said that President Arroyo was very much concerned over the possibility of “narco-politics” occurring in the country and showing its influence in the 2010 elections, particularly at the local level.

She added there are allegedly some corrupt politicians who are using drug money so they can push their political ambitions to be able to get a juicy government positions.

“Our political leaders, especially local government officials, should partner with President Arroyo or the national government in the all-out war against illegal drugs,” Fajardo said over state-run Philippine Broadcasting System (PBS)-DZRB National Radio.

“If there is evidence that politicians are behind these kind of sickening activities, they will not be spared no matter how far and wide their influence is,” she said.

“Mrs. Arroyo is serious in combating this spread of illegal drugs and we cannot discount the possibility that it could be a factor that drug money could be used in the coming elections and we have to do something about that,” Fajardo said.

She added that Mrs. Arroyo remains steadfast in her belief against the death penalty but nothing would prevent Congress from reviving it in light of the reported heinous crime. “The President remains pro-life,” the Malacañang official said.

Fajardo said President Arroyo is an anti-drug czar and has ordered all government agencies concerned to wage a campaign versus illegal drugs throughout the country.


PGMA cites importance of international engagement

IMPASUGONG, Bukidnon, July 21 (PNA) - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cited today the importance of international engagement in the country’s development.

“This is one of the fruits of international engagement,” the President said when she led the groundbreaking of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) -funded road project here that stand to benefit some four million Filipinos.

“This road project will benefit not only the people of Impasugong or Bukidnon but also the neighboring areas,” she explained.

The President, assisted by Bukidnon Governor Ma. Jose Zubiri Jr., Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, and Rep. Candido Pancrudo, lowered the time capsule containing the project’s plan.

Governor Zubiri informed the President that the AusAID project will cover some 160 kilometers of all-weather roads.

“This is something new for Bukidnon and this was made possible through the efforts of the President and our good relations with the Australian government,” he said.

Australian Charge d’Affaires Steve Scott said the Philippines is an “important partner of Australia,” adding that the funds were made available to the Philippines because of “good governance and good execution of AusAID projects.”

The road project is under the Southern Philippines Provincial Road Maintenance Program (SPPRMP) that covers 10 provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao and is funded with some 100 million Australian dollars or around P3.5 billion by the Australian government through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).

The program has a Provincial Road Maintenance Facility (PRMF) that provides P50 million each year to every beneficiary province for construction and repair of provincial roads over a five-year period.

It has been noted that provincial roads are the key links of rural communities to the national highway and eventually to the centers of trade and commerce, political administration, and health and educational services, among others.

By improving transport, the welfare of rural folks will significantly improve.

Apart from improving the road network, the program also seeks to strengthen each province’s institutional capacity and governance system related to the provision and maintenance of provincial roads.

Depending on the performance of each beneficiary province in carrying out the program, these could be eligible for another round of assistance.

The beneficiary provinces of the SPPRMP are Agusan del Sur, Bukidnon, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental and Surigao del Norte, in Mindanao; and Bohol and Guimaras in the Visayas.
Three more beneficiary provinces are still to be identified.

Within five years, the SPPRMP is principally expected to have rehabilitated at least 1,000 kilometers of provincial roads in the 10 provinces; improved access for over four million people to schools and health centers; and reduced transport costs.

The PRMF is said to be Australia’s single largest grant project in the Philippines to date; the bilateral agreement covering this was signed last March.

Australia is the country’s second largest bilateral grant aid donor after Japan. Its aid program has grown significantly in the last three years. For the fiscal year 2008-2009, its assistance portfolio is estimated at Aus 109 million dollars.