Archive for December 2008
9 of 10 Filipinos hopeful for new year
MANILA, Philippines — Despite the dim economic prospects, nine out of 10 Filipinos are entering the new year with hope, rather than with fear, according to results of an independent survey released Monday.
A total of 1,500 respondents nationwide were asked how they were welcoming 2009, 92 percent said they would usher in the new year “with hope,” while only eight percent said “with fear,” the Social Weather
Stations (SWS) said.
This year’s results were similar to 2006 and 2007, wherein 91 percent said they were welcoming the coming year with hope, the SWS said.
“We have much to be hopeful about and grateful for, we have triumphed over the difficulties of this year, from which we take away many valuable lessons that strengthen and make us more prepared for the challenges that lie ahead,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said in a statement.
“We are a country of strong, hardworking and kind people and hope springs eternal in the Filipino heart,” she said.
The study was conducted from November 28 to December 1. It had a margin of error of 2.5 percent.
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
Intelligence beefed up vs MILF renegades
MANILA, Philippines — Security forces will intensify intelligence gathering as part of efforts to halt a fresh wave of attacks by renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Central Mindanao, a top adviser of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Monday.
At the same time, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said the government was checking whether the mainstream MILF, which is negotiating peace with government, was involved in the attacks.
On Christmas Eve, MILF rogues attacked civilian communities in Senator Ninoy Aquino town, Sultan Kudarat province, killing at least seven people. The attacks continued until Sunday, with the rebels targeting villages in Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato, according to reports.
“To stop these attacks, we will increase police and military activity. We will intensify our intelligence operation,” Gonzales told radio station Radyo ng Bayan.
On reports that the mainstream MILF was involved in the fresh attacks, Gonzales said in Filipino: “We are studying that. MILF officials said they were not behind it… but it seems their members did it, that’s why we’re studying it carefully.”
In August, MILF commanders Umbra Kato, Abdurahman Macapaar alias Bravo and Aleem Pangalian burned houses, killed civilians, and seized farm lands in the provinces of North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte, grounding formal peace negotiations to a halt.
The renegade commanders were protesting a Supreme Court ruling that the declared the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) unconstitutional.
The MoA-AD would have paved the way for the expansion of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) into the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE).
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
Palace monitoring Gaza situation
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang is closely monitoring the situation in the Gaza strip, which has been gripped by fresh violence between Israeli and Palestinian forces, and will “act when necessary,” a spokesman for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Monday.
On Sunday, the Palace reported that there have been no reported
casualties among the estimated 100 Filipinos in the Palestine area, and the 31,000 others in Israel.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs is closely monitoring the situation and is ready to act when necessary,” Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said in a statement.
Over the weekend, Israeli warplanes dropped bombs on the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip, killing hundreds, according to reports.
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
Palace orders probe of golf brawl
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday to investigate the brawl at a golf club in Antipolo City that allegedly involved Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman and businessman Delfin de la Paz.
“The Department of Justice has been directed to investigate the golf course incident and file proper charges against those responsible for any violation of law,” Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said in a statement.
“The families of Pangandaman and Dela Paz will equally have their day in court based on the facts and the law,” he said.
According to reports, Pangandaman and his son, Nasser Jr., were
playing at the Valley Golf and Country Club in Antipolo City when the young Pangandaman allegedly beat up De la Paz and his 14-year-old son.
Pangandaman allegedly did not stop his son from attacking the Dela Pazes but has denied any wrongdoing.
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
Arroyo condemns Iligan blasts
Vows capture of suspects
MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo condemned the twin bombings in Iligan City on Thursday as she ordered security forces to run after the culprits, her spokesman said.
“The President condemns the ruthless and violent acts of terrorism against our communities. The PNP [Philippine National Police] and AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] will be relentless in their pursuit against the perpetrators,” deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said.
“We condole with the families of those killed in this tragedy and the different government of agencies will support those who have survived,” he said in a statement.
Two explosions hit as many shopping centers in the Mindanao city, leaving at least two people killed and over a dozen others wounded.
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
Arroyo shuns election talk
MANILA, Philippines — As the political scene starts to heat up ahead of the 2010 general elections, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo once more stressed that she would focus on work, not politics.
“I will not engage in any [political] debate because our focus is [on] our programs that are pro-poor and our economic programs,” Arroyo said in an interview aired on state-run Radyo ng Bayan.
Asked about Task Force 2010, a voter education drive spearheaded by the Roman Catholic church and civic groups, Arroyo said in the Cebuano dialect: “We support efforts to move our democracy and anything that contributes to fair and clean elections.”
Earlier this week, business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. said the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) party, which he founded, would field either Senator Loren Legarda or Senator Francis Escudero in the 2010 presidential race.
A few months back, Senator Manuel Villar and Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando also declared their intention to run for president in 2010.
Other reported presidential aspirants are Vice President Noli de Castro and Senators Panfilo Lacson and Manuel Roxas II.
Arroyo won a six-year term in May 2004 under a cloud of doubt amid allegations she used the military to defeat popular movie actor Fernando Poe Jr., who died of a stroke in December of the same year.
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
CARP resolution ‘adequate, realistic’
MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE) Malacañang welcomed as an “adequate and realistic” compromise, the passage of a joint congressional resolution that would extend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for six months, or until June 2009.
Farmers groups and even some lawmakers have assailed the resolution as watered down, since it made the sale of land voluntary, not compulsory.
“We believe it is an adequate and realistic compromise solution for the time being, given the proximity of the CARP term’s expiration. We thank and congratulate the House and the Senate for their effort,” Presidential Political Adviser Gabriel Claudio said in a text message.
“The six-month extension will give Congress, in consultation with the farming sector and other stakeholders, time to come up with a final CARP extension law that hopefully embodies a consensus that will do justice to the purpose and spirit of agrarian reform for our country,” he said.
The Senate and the House of Representatives passed the resolution on Wednesday evening, before going on recess for the Christmas holidays.
Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he was not aware of a reported meeting between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Bishop Broderick Pabillo, who joined farmers who went on hunger strike to press for the CARP extension.
“I’m not in a position to confirm or deny that,” he told a news conference at the Palace.
But Bello assured the farmers that government was “always prepared to address or respond” to their concerns.
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
It’s up to Congress
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang has once again passed the controversy over Charter change to Congress, saying lawmakers alone can determine the mode and timing by which the Constitution would be amended.
The Palace, through Presidential Political Adviser Gabriel Claudio, issued the statement Thursday despite a call by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to abandon Charter change until after the 2010 general elections.
“We leave the manner and timing of effecting Charter change to
Congress, which alone, except in the case of a people’s initiative, is empowered to set off mechanisms for proposing Charter changes either by calling for a constitutional convention or sitting as a constituent assembly,” Claudio said in a text message Thursday.
Nonetheless, Claudio said the Palace “respects” the “admonition” of the CBCP, which issued its stand on Charter change for the first time since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s allies in the House of Representatives moved to convene themselves into a constituent assembly.
“We are heartened that, at least, the Church, as do we, together with the many sectors of society, recognizes the need for constitutional reforms that will redound to the economic, social, and political well-being of our country,” he said.
In a statement issued for the CBCP, its president, Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said that the new set of leaders that would be elected in 2010 should decide on Charter change.
Lagdameo said government officials should instead focus on solving the “real problem” of corruption, citing two massive corruption scandals besetting Arroyo’s administration — the alleged bribery and overpricing in the $329 national broadband network agreement between the government and China’s ZTE Corp. and the alleged diversion of P728 million in fertilizer funds to the President’s 2004 campaign chest.
Last Friday, senators, congressmen, clergymen, and former Arroyo Cabinet executives joined thousands of protesters in a march against Charter change in the Makati City financial district, saying such moves are a ploy to extend the President’s stay in power beyond 2010.
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
Arroyo certifies CARP resolution urgent
MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has certified as urgent a joint congressional resolution that will extend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for six months, Malacañang said, as it appealed for understanding from farmers who have gone on a hunger strike to press for legislation on the matter.
Presidential Political Adviser Gabriel Claudio said calling for a special session to pass the resolution was a “very distinct possibility.”
Both houses of Congress will go on recess starting Thursday. The CARP will end on December 31.
“The President has certified as urgent a joint resolution extending CARP in its present form for six months to at least forestall the termination of the program,” Claudio told reporters.
Claudio said lawmakers would consult with farmer-beneficiaries under the CARP to draft a “commonly acceptable” bill for its extension.
“What’s important is that CARP is extended and we hope that in that period they would come up with a better deal. We cannot allow the program to lapse and maybe a new law can take its place. Congress needs more time,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of holding a special session to pass the joint resolution, he said: “That is a very distinct possibility. The urgency of the matter is not lost to the Executive branch and Congress.”
Farmers who demand for new legislation on the CARP have been on hunger strike for over two weeks outside the House of Representatives. Several Catholic bishops have joined them.
“It is understandable that the farmers feel that way. But let’s be realistic, Congress goes on recess tomorrow [Thursday] and the resolution extending CARP is a stop gap measure to give lawmakers, the farmers and other stakeholders to come up with a better bill or a set of amendments that could be agreed upon by all,” Claudio said.
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
Govt sets P300-B ‘sustainability plan’
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – The government has set a P300-billion “sustainability plan” to fuel economic growth and to protect and generate jobs in the face of the global economic crisis, the full impact of which is expected to hit the country early next year, officials said.
The plan, presented to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, includes building and rehabilitating infrastructure, increased spending for social services,
and an expected increase in capital and consumer spending as a result of reduced corporate and individual income tax rates, Economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto said.
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya said the government would give priority to “quick-moving” infrastructure projects that have no right-of-way and other legal issues.
“We presented an economic sustainability plan,” Recto said at a news conference in Malacañang. “It is not a contingency plan. It is not a recovery plan—there is nothing to recover from.”
He said the plant was for “continuing what we have been doing and stretching every peso in the budget to ensure that we save and create as many jobs as possible.”
Recto noted that while millions of jobs were being lost in the United States and China, the Philippines generated about 800,000 jobs this year.
He said Cabinet members were instructed to ensure that the infrastructure projects, such as rehabilitation of roads and construction of hospitals, school buildings and irrigation facilities, would have a multiplier effect so that “more jobs are saved, secured, and
created.”
Local government units will also be encouraged to spend on infrastructure development, he added.
Recto said that despite the global recession, the worst-case projection of the government’s top economic officials was a 3.7-percent growth in the gross domestic product next year, and the high end of the projected range was 4.7 percent.
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
