PIA Dispatch - Wednesday, August 12, 2009

PGMA inaugurates Atherton bridge in QC

MANILA, Aug. 12 - Residents of Fairview, Lagro, Novaliches and as far away as Bulacan can now get to and from Quezon City and neighboring cities with relative ease following the inauguration by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the recently completed Atherton bridge connecting barangays North and East Fairview Wednesday morning.

In her short remarks during the event, President Arroyo cited the invaluable contribution of three organizations in helping realize the completion of Atherton Bridge -- the QC government led by Mayor Sonny Belmonte, the office of QC Rep. Annie Rosa Susano and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair Bayani Fernando.

Residents of both barangays were effusive in giving their utmost gratitude for the President's “Tulay ng Pangulo” bridge program which they said would boost economic development and ease traffic congestion in the area.

Manolo Lumentigar, a 47-year old resident of Bgy. East Fairview personally thanked the President for the program that provided him and his family a source of income after he was hired as a carpenter for that particular project.

Built at a cost of P62-million, the Atherton Bridge is a 10-bay, double-lane superstructure made out of steel and concrete. It was completed earlier this year.


Philippine Army prepares to declare Aklan as insurgency-free before end of 2009

ILOILO CITY, Aug. 12 – The Philippine Army is now gearing to hand over the responsibility on internal security in Aklan to the concerned local government unit (LGU) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in line with its proposed declaration of the province as insurgency-free before end of 2009.

Col. Gerardo T. Layug, Brigade Commander of the 301st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) of the Philippine Army (PA) based in Dingle, Iloilo said in a press conference Wednesday that Major Gen. Vicente Porto, commanding general of the 3ID is “exploring the possibility of handing over the responsibility of Aklan to the local peace and order council and the PNP by end of 2009.”

He cited that there have been great changes in the insurgency situation in Aklan compared with other provinces in Panay.

He attributed the successful campaign to the support coming from the LGU of Aklan and the PNP.

“We will not totally abandon Aklan, our presence will still be there; we will maintain our holding forces in the area,” he assured.

Aklan and the northern portion of Antique were once covered by the Northern Front Committee but Layug disclosed that based on the information that they gathered from rebels availing of the Social Integration Program (SIP), the group was already neutralized two years ago.

There were smaller affectations though in the hinterland portions of the town of Libacao, which is situated almost at the boundary of Tapaz, Capiz.

The first province to be declared as insurgency free on Dec. 1, 2008 was Guimaras. At present, the internal security is being handled by the LGU and the PNP.


PGMA orders creation of Local Anti-Hunger Task Force

MANILA, Aug. 12 — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued on Wednesday Executive Order No. 825 creating the Local Anti-Hunger Task Force.

During his weekly media briefing today at the New Executive Building in Malacanang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the President ordered the creation of the Local Anti-Hunger Task Force in line with her commitment to eradicate all forms of deprivation, including that related to hunger, by pursuing the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The latest quarterly survey on hunger conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) in the first quarter of 2009 showed that hunger incidence in the country declined dramatically from 23.7 percent (estimated 4.3 million families) in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 15.5 percent (estimated 2.9 million families out of 86 million Filipino population).

According to Ermita, the Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program (AHMP) is the landmark program of the Arroyo government to address hunger both on the aspect of supply, or the unavailability or insufficiency of food to eat, and on the aspect of demand, or the lack of money to buy food.

The AHMP is implemented by national government agencies based on the hunger-mitigation program framework, in cooperation with local government units.

Ermita said the National Anti-Hunger Task Force was created through EO 616 on April 3, 2007. It is composed of 29 national government agencies and faith-based organizations which implement one or more AHMP component programs and headed by the Secretary of Health to ensure the hunger-mitigation measures of the government.

Ermita explained that President Arroyo ordered the creation of the Local Anti-Hunger Task Force from the regional and provincial levels as counterpart of the National Anti-Hunger Task Force.

The regional/provincial anti-hunger task force shall be created in provinces covered by the AHMP to facilitate coordination, complementation and convergence of services and resources, and to widen the reach of the program among the poor and hungry households in the identified priority areas in the country.


Comelec set to hear petition to nullify Lakas-Kampi merger on Thursday

MANILA, Aug. 12 - An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) revealed on Wednesday that the merger of President Arroyo’s parties -– the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) and the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) -– could have been approved if former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. interfered after filing a motion for nullification of the union.

Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, the presiding officer of the Second Division of the Comelec, said the case was already submitted for resolution.

“Yes (it was approved already)… kasi walang opposition noon. The way we looked at it, it was an ordinary petition for accreditation. They just have to prove na they exist throughout the Philippines. E ang dami naman nila (members) e,” he said.

In June, President Macapagal Arroyo announced the official merger of the two parties, and to be known as Lakas-Kampi CMD. The petition for accreditation was filed in July.

De Venecia, Lakas’ former president last month filed the nullification petition of the highly-publicized merger of the two parties of the administration bloc.

He said that the merger was done against the Constitution of the political party as there was no national assembly called for the purpose of ratifying the merger proposal.

Ferrer explained that despite the first case already being resolved, they decided to consolidate the cases since they are inter-related by nature.

“So that the resolution (on the case) will be consolidated… we also have to give a chance to de Venecia to prove his opposition,” the poll official said.

On Thursday, the Second Division is set to hold its first hearing on the Lakas-Kampi merger petition.

The Comelec is looking to resolve the case before the end of the month.


Invitation to the Signing of Letter of Cooperation between ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and Partnership in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA)
Thursday, 13 August 2009, 1 pm, Tagaytay Highlands Club,
Cavite City

PEMSEA and ACB agreed to trade information with each other to promote regional cooperation in biodiversity conservation.

PEMSEA, headed by Former Energy Secretary Raphael P. M. Lotilla, aims to protect life-support systems and enable the sustainable use and management of coastal and marine resources through regional cooperation and partnerships.

ACB is an intergovernmental regional centre of excellence established through the agreement between governments of ASEAN Member States, for policy formulation, capacity development, awareness raising and links with the international donor community for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.