PIA Dispatch - Tuesday, August 25, 2009

PGMA orders DOTC to implement necessary preventive measures

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday, expressed anger the deaths caused by bus accidents, the latest of which was the accident on Sunday in Lucena.

In a statement read for her by Press Secretary Cerge Remonde in a press briefing here, the President also issued marching orders to Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza to implement immediately necessary preventive measures.

“A lot of accidents caused by buses have happened this week, including that of a mother and child and the incident that took place in Lucena, claiming lives. I would like to express my very serious concern about these incidents. I am very angry because of unnecessary loss of lives,” the President said.

The President added that it is really sad to lose lives, especially of loved ones on these kind of accidents that could have been prevented.

At the same time, the President called on all stakeholders to a dialogue to discuss preventive measures. The Press Secretary also said the President will visit the victims of the Lucena bus accident after the 33rd full cabinet meeting here.

An update from the Lucena police said that another passenger who was critically injured in the head-on collision of two buses in Lucena past midnight Sunday died Monday evening, raising to nine the death toll in the bloody accident.

Shortly after midnight Sunday, a Lucena-bound Lucena Lines bus collided with Manila-bound A. Bragais Liner along the diversion road of the Maharlika Highway in the village of Domoit in Quezon province.

Eight bus passengers died on the spot and 41 others were injured.

A week ago, a bus ran over a mother and child along Edsa, resulting to the death of the child while the mother was seriously injured.


Sarangani folks welcome PGMA's visit

Residents of Alabel,Saranggani lauded efforts by President Gloria Arroyo to resolve a recurring problem of inundation in Mindanao that has affected thousands of residents and destroyed millions of pesos worth of crops and properties.

The President arrived here Tuesday to preside a cabinet meeting along with local and regional officials.

Speaking in the vernacular, jeepney driver Renato Paz said with the President herself coming over to look into the problem of flooding, speaks about the seriousness of the problem.

“Its nice to have her around and see for herself our situation,” remarked Luviminda Gellos, a resident of Malapatan, Sarangani.

Only last month in Kiamba, Sarangani, surging floodwaters swept away and drowned a four-year old boy from the grip of his mother who was also clutching an infant as they fled their home.

Four other siblings drowned in nearby Malapatan town due to flashflood.
In the agenda of the cabinet meeting are measures to mitigate inundation and prevention of further destruction of forests.

Also expected to be taken up are proposals for the rehabilitation of rivers and waterways to include those along Liguasan Marsh and the clearing of silts at the Rio Grande de Mindanao in Cotabato City.

An estimated P9-billion is needed to rehabilitate Liguasan Marsh which deterioration in its vegetation was among the factors blamed for the recurring flooding in the region.

Cotabato Archbishop Orlando B. Quevedo, chairperson of the Task Force on the Mindanao River Basin Rehabilitation and Development (TFMRBRD, earlier warned of “far-reaching negative social, economic and political effects," if the problem is not immediately addressed.

The task force has recommended the need by experts to identify the critical areas of siltation along the river that needs to be dredged, from the river delta in Cotabato City up to Liguasan Marsh.

The task force has also earlier cited the need for new equipment to deepen and declog major waterways.

Efforts to resolve the perennial flooding in the region, particularly along Liguasan Marsh in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato provinces, have been hampered by old and dilapidated equipment.

Specifically, the bishop said a new dredger is needed to avoid overflowing and inundation from Rio Grande de Mindanao which traverses the provinces of Cotabato and Maguindanao and empties through its delta in Cotabato City, which usually take the brunt of inundation during heavy rains.

A dredger being used to extract silt at the delta of Rio Grande de Mindanao is more than 30 years old and could only work for four hours at any given time.

Last month Cotabato City was again submerged in flood waters, sending schools to stop classes and severely affecting the city’s economy.

Last year, some 20,000 people were displaced when the Rio Grande overflowed and inundated its banks along Cotabato City.


PGMA goes to London to speak at forum of 'The Economist' media group

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has accepted an invitation to speak at a forum in London organized by the London-based newsmagazine, “The Economist,” in mid-September, it was confirmed today.

This is a private invitation by the media outfit — a leader in financial and business reporting in the industry - and is not a State Visit to the United Kingdom, sources clarified. The date of her appearance is on or before September 19, sources added.

It s not known what topic the President of the Philippines has been assigned to speak on, the sources said, but “most possibly it will be on emerging markets,” the sources said.

The invitation clearly indicates that the President is acknowledged for how she steered the Philippine economy out of the global financial crisis. It will be recalled that her Finance Secretary, Gary Teves, was given a special award early this year as “Financial Man of the Year.“
The Economist is a media leader in the field of economics and financial reporting.

While in London, it is only natural that the President might want to meet the Filipino community in the United Kingdom as well as have private talks with businessmen and key politicians. These are now being arranged, sources said.

The President may decide to proceed to Saudi Arabia for another visit, the sources said.


Better growth for RP in Q2 ‘09- Moody

Moody’s Investors Service projects a better performance from Philippines economy in the second quarter this year noting the same trend in other countries in the region.

In its Asia Spotlight report today, Moody’s, on the other hand, said the figure will be lower than the 0.4 percent output registered by the domestic economy in the first quarter this year.

Moody’s Economy.com forecasts a 0.1 percent year-on-year output for the Philippines from April to June this year, within the -0.1 to 0.9 percent projection of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

“But this drop stems from a strong result for the second quarter of 2008,” it said.
The report added that “output is expected to have risen compared with the previous quarter.”

Philippines registered a 4.6 percent output, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), in the second quarter of 2008. The GDP in the first quarter this year is lower than the 3.9 percent in the first three months last year.

Moody’s economist Alaistair Chan, the report said, almost all member-economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) “have emerged from recession” as shown by the reports of each country respectively.

The report said Thailand registered a 9.5 percent year-on-year growth for the second quarter this year from 6.2 percent in the previous quarter; Singapore by 20.7 percent from -11.5 percent in the first quarter; and Indonesia by four percent from 4.4 percent in the previous three months.

Although Indonesia posted lower growth, Moody’s said that in general “output was lower than in the same period a year earlier but higher than in the first quarter—spectacularly so in some countries.”

Figures for the Malaysia and Philippines are yet to be released. For the Philippines the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) are set to report the 2009 second quarter output of the domestic economy on August 27, 2009.

Economic managers see a better performance for the economy in the second quarter this year due to the continued resiliency of the remittance from Overseas Filipinos (OFs) and the expected pick-up of infrastructure projects among others.

Moody’s noted that rebound of the economies in the region was first seen in the industrial production.

It said that “after reaching a bottom around January, production growth has rebounded in an almost perfect V shape.”

“Fiscal and monetary stimulus measures have played a large part, but one big factor in some economies has been inventory restocking,” it said.

It added that “the scale of the inventory reduction among ASEAN producers will boost growth in subsequent quarters, especially in Thailand, where inventories continued to fall in the second quarter.”

However, it stressed that “the pace of improvement is already slowing” now that “producers have a clearer idea of final demand and are producing at a level that does not induce large changes in inventories.”

“If this moderation continues, it will suggest that the rebound in GDP growth in the second quarter is unlikely to be repeated in coming quarters,” it added.


Release of 14 NDF consultants legally 'doable'--Bello

MANILA, Aug. 25 —A Malacanang official on Tuesday said that the demand of the National Democratic Front (NDF) for the release of 14 peace panel consultants is legally ‘doable’.

Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a radio interview, said the only thing needed to settle was the mechanics of the release of the NDF consultants so that they could take part in the peace process of the GRP-NDF.

”That is not a problem, legally it can be done. It is a question of discussing and agreeing on the terms of reference of the release of the NDF consultants,” Bello, a lawyer and a former Justice Secretary, said.

But Bello did not elaborate on what steps should be done and what would be needed to arrange the release of the NDF consultants.

Earlier, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Avelino Razon Jr. had alluded that the new demand might be a sign that the NDF was not serious in pursuing peace negotiations.

"The NDF must "speak clearly" on whether it is still interested in the peace negotiations. The government remains open to pursuing the peace negotiations. We invite the NDF to speak clearly on whether or not they are returning to the peace table," Razon said in an interview over the weekend.

The NDF has set a meeting with the government on Sept. 5, results of which would make or break its decision on whether or not to continue talking peace with President Gloria Arroyo’s government, or wait for the next administration.

But Bello said the Arroyo administration considered peace as one of the most important goals, saying it was a “condition sine qua non" to progress.

He also said that NDF consultant and Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison’s new conditions for the resumption of talks dismayed him.

Bello reminded Sison that when the government and the NDF signed a joint declaration in The Hague, both agreed that "the peace negotiations should be conducted without any preconditions."

”Let us talk without such conditions, we will talk until we reach a consensus on how to achieve lasting peace for our country," Bello said.


RP won 102 medals in 5th International Mathematics contest

A total of 102 medals were bagged by Filipino students including 16 golds in the 5th International Mathematics contest which was held at Global Indian International School in Singapore from Aug 20- 24.

According to Dr. Simon Chua, head of the delegation and president of the Mathematics Trainers Guild-Philippines (MTG), all of the 104 participants won a medal except for two who received merit certificates. RP won 16 gold medals, 27 silvers and 59 bronze medals for a total of 102 medals. The country also placed second overall in the competition behind China, which fielded 228 contestants and bagged 32 golds.

Chua also said that this is the best performance of the students in the said competition. The country only won 75 medals last year.