PIA Dispatch - Tuesday, July 28, 2009

PGMA’s no-term extension statement is clear, says Palace official

Malacanang said on Tuesday it is apparent that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will step down once her term ends in 2010.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Anthony Golez said the President made it very clear in her State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) before a joint session of Congress on Monday that she "never expressed the desire to extend myself beyond my term."

“So, with that statement alone, hindi na siguro kailangan na magsalita pa categorically ang ating Pangulo na bababa po siya (With that statement alone, I think there is no need for the President to speak categorically that she will step down)," he said.

Golez also cited a portion of the President’s statement in her 9th SONA which, he stressed, answered well the worries of the government critics about her possible term extension.

Golez quoted the President as stating in her SONA: “At the end of this speech I shall step down from this stage, but not from the Presidency. My term does not end until next year. Until then, I will fight for the ordinary Filipino. The nation comes first. There is much to do as head of state — to the very last day.”

He said what the government critics now need is to “digest well their interpretations on the President’s statements.”

Government critics have claimed that the Chief Executive did not categorically state in her SONA that she would relinquish power at the end of her term next year.

They cited two previous presidents -- Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos -- who made categorical statements in their last SONAs about turning over the presidency to their successors.


President Arroyo distributes P557 T cash incentives to coconut farmers in Iloilo

GUIMBAL, Iloilo (July 28) – President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo today distributed around P557,000 cash incentives to coconut farmers from southern Iloilo under the Participatory Coconut Planting Program of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).

PCA Administrator Oscar Garin said under the program coconut farmers are given P7-incentive/per piece at the moment coco nuts are being laid on the seed bed, another P7/coconut seedling once it grows to as high as two feet and P16 upon transfer to the open field and become stabilized for six months.

The provision of incentive is one way to boost the agency’s program to expand the coconut plantation in the country.

“The only way to sustain this industry is to plant and replant and this is the program of total assistance to the farmer if they are just diligent to plant coconut trees,” he said.

He said that the program although almost a ‘dole out’ is supportive of the government’s hunger mitigating program.

Garin said the checks that were distributed to farmers from San Joaquin, Igbaras, Guimbal, Tigbauan and Miagao already represent the second trance of the three phases of the incentive program.

Meantime, recipients were also thankful to the government for providing them support as they believed that such will also encourage other farmers to plant coconut.

“I am very optimistic because this is the first time in the history that the government has given this kind of service, Eddie Esmero from Igbaras said.
He added that as long as farmers continue to plant coconut then the industry will surely grow bigger.

Lamberto Sebuan, Jr. from San Joaquin also encouraged other farmers to join the industry because the coconut milk that comes from here is already competitive abroad.

“I am very thankful to President Arroyo in behalf of the coconut farmers of San Joaquin and first district of the province of Iloilo for helping us farmers and giving us incentives,” he said.

Ricardo Lamberto of Miagao also shared similar sentiment.

He stressed that the government is very concerned to farmers who have been engaging in coconut farming.

Meanwhile, PCA director for Western Visayas Joey Cruz disclosed that they almost reached 95 percent of their proposed one million coconut population to be planted in the region as part of their expansion program.

Almost 250,000 of the one million population are in Iloilo, he added.

Meantime, Garin encouraged other coconut farmers to avail of the incentive by registering at the PCA office.

During the distribution, President Arroyo also advised Administrator Garin to remind the Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CIIF) of the agency’s requested fund for its expansion program.


DSWD says hunger mitigation programs are continuously implemented

ILOILO CITY, July 28 (PNA) – The government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has been responsive to the needs of poor families and hunger mitigation programs are already in place and being continuously implemented to address their concerns.

This was the reaction of DSWD Regional Director for Western Visayas Teresita Rosales on the result of a survey by the Social Weather Station (SWS) showing that some 3.7 million families in the country experienced hunger in the past three months.

“I could not question the survey but the DSWD is involved in various hunger mitigation programs,” she said.

Rosales noted that the food-for-school program covers 27 municipalities in Western Visayas.

Under this program, an indigent student receives a ration of one kilo of rice for a day’s attendance.

This covers the entire province of Antique; municipalities of Carles, San Dionisio and Concepcion in Iloilo; Moises Padilla, Don Salvador Benedicto and Calatrava in Negros Occidental and Madalag and Makato in Aklan.

“These are municipalities identified by the National Nutrition Council to have a high incidence of hunger and malnutrition,” Rosales said.

Another program is the establishment of Tindahan Natin (TN) outlets in far-flung barangays that sell rice from the National Food Authority (NFA).

Rosales said one TN is supposed to serve 250 families.

To date, she added, more or less 450 TNs have been established all over the region.


Risk of RP financial crisis low – Moody’s

MANILA (July 28) – Moody’s Inve€tors System on Tuesday said possibility of a financial crisis in the Philippines is “low” amid the downgrade on six banks’ local currency deposit ratings.

In a statement, the debt ratings agency said it also scaled down the local currency subordinate debt ratings of three banks, the foreign currency long-term deposit rating of one bank and the foreign currency hybrid tier-1 ratings of two banks, with the outlooks on these ratings “stable.”

The nine banks affected with the ratings movements are Allied Banking Corporation (ABC), Banco de Oro Unibank (BDO), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (MBT), Philippine National Bank (PNB), Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), and United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB).

In particular, Moody’s said changes are as follows:

ABC -- local currency subordinated debt rating lowered from Ba3 to B1; foreign currency long-term deposit rating upgraded from B1 to Ba3; Stable outlooks

BDO -- local currency deposit ratings lowered from Baa2/Prime-2 to Ba1/Not Prime; foreign currency long-term deposit rating upgraded from B1 to Ba3; Stable outlooks

BPI -- local currency deposit ratings lowered from A3/Prime-1 to Baa2/Prime-2; foreign currency long-term deposit rating upgraded from B1 to Ba3; Stable outlooks

DBP -- local currency deposit ratings lowered from A3/Prime-2 to Ba1/ Not Prime; foreign currency long-term deposit rating upgraded from B1 to Ba3; Stable outlooks

LBP -- local currency deposit ratings lowered from A3/Prime-2 to Ba1/ Not Prime; foreign currency long-term deposit rating upgraded from B1 to Ba3; Stable outlooks

MBT -- local currency deposit ratings lowered from Baa2/Prime-2 to Ba1/Not Prime; local currency subordinated debt rating lowered from Baa3 to Ba2; foreign currency hybrid tier-1 rating lowered from Ba3 to B1; foreign currency long-term deposit rating upgraded from B1 to Ba3; Stable outlooks

PNB -- local currency deposit rating lowered from Ba1 to Ba2; local currency subordinated debt rating lowered from Ba2 to Ba3; foreign currency long-term deposit rating upgraded from B1 to Ba3; Stable outlooks

RCBC -- foreign currency hybrid tier-1 rating lowered from B1 to B2; foreign currency senior unsecured rating upgraded from Ba3 to Ba2; foreign currency long-term deposit upgraded from B1 to Ba3; Stable outlooks

UCPB -- foreign currency deposit rating lowered from B1 to B2; Stable outlook
Moody’s decision was made after its review of the deposit and debt ratings of nine Philippine banks last May 20 in relation to the bank’s systemic support assumption used in the agency’s Joint-Default Analysis (JDA) application.

However, the credit ratings agency stressed that the downgrade are “not related to the banks' operating performances, thus, “there was no change to the bank financial strength ratings (BFSR) of these institutions, which address their stand-alone credit profiles.”

Moody’s, on the other hand, said it upgraded the constrained foreign currency long-term deposit ratings of eight of the nine banks and constrained foreign currency senior unsecured rating of one bank, with the rating outlooks of these banks' deposits and debts are stable.

This came after the ratings agency recently upgraded the country’s credit rating after noting the resiliency of the domestic financial system.

Moody's vice president and senior credit officer John Tham said "consistent with adjustments to the systemic support to be in line with the government's local currency bond rating, and in light of the Philippines' current situation, Moody's concludes that the systemic support input for Philippine bank ratings is appropriate at Ba1 -- two notches above the local currency government bond rating of Ba3."

"The two-notch uplift above the local currency government bond rating also takes into consideration Moody's expectations that the risk of a system-wide banking crisis is low and the risk that the government "ring-fencing" its own position from the banking system is medium," he said.

Moody’s said downgrades on the banks’ deposit and debt rating was made in line with the impact of the global financial crisis on the government’s capability to provide financial support to the banking system if need arises.

It said that impact of the global financial crunch to the local front “has been muted” but noted that “credit fundamentals could experience some pressure in light of the economic slowdown.”

“Government resources are moderate and could face further pressure in a protracted downturn, although some support for the banking system should be forthcoming -- or at least the top 10 local banks, which are systemically important because they own almost 70 percent of system deposits -- through liquidity and capital assistance, as has previously happened,” it added.