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| 18 FEBRUARY 2008 | . | |
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| 18 FEBRUARY 2008 | . | |
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| PGMA leads inauguration of new Labangan Bridge and groundbreaking of school bldg. in Bulacan |
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CALUMPIT, Bulacan - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated today the
newly-widened and upgraded four-lane Labangan Bridge in this town as part of
the overall improvement plan to improve traffic flow along the old Manila
North Road and decongest Metro Manila. The President arrived here at 11 a.m. and led the unveiling of the marker and inaugural drive-through at the Labangan Bridge No. 7 which was previously a narrow two-lane span and the most dilapidated among the seven Labangan Bridges along the Manila North Road, now popularly known as MacArthur Highway. The construction of the four-lane, 127-meter bridge at a cost of P120 million is part of the continuous widening and improvement of the Manila North Road section from Meycauayan City in Bulacan to Tarlac to decongest the North Luzon corridor and accommodate heavy vechicular flow diverted from the North Luzon Expressway. Earlier, the President also led the groundbreaking of the two-storey, four-classroom building that would benefit some 1,600 school children at the Bangkal Resettlement Site Elementary School in Barangay Taal, Malolos City. The construction of the Labangan Bridge No. 7 in Calumpit and the P4-million school project in Malolos are under the P200-billion infrastructure surge that the President earlier announced to blunt the effects of the threatening slowdown of the global economy and sustain the country’s economic growth. The two-storey Bangkal Resettlement Site Elementary School is also part of the 10,000 classrooms targeted for construction by the Arroyo administration this year in line with the President’s “Labanan ang kahirapan, isulong ang karunungan” slogan. The President was welcomed very warmly in Malolos and Calumpit by banner-waving residents and students and a show of force by the province's officials led by Gov. Joselito Mendoza, Vice Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado, 1st District Rep. Ma. Victoria Alvarado, 2nd District Rep. Pedro Pancho, 3rd District Rep. Lorna Silverio, 4th District Rep. Reylina Nicolas, Malolos City Mayor Danilo Domingo, and Calumpit Mayor James de Jesus. Among the National government officials accompanying the President were Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary Ramon Bacani. |
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| Statement of Cabinet Secretary Ricardo L. Saludo on NBN-ZTE Issue |
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Like Joey de Venecia before him, Jun Lozada has put words in Secretary
Neri’s mouth. Secretary Neri has denied calling the President evil. Lozada’s unproven claims must be scrutinized thru impartial, non-partisan due process. Hence, we welcome the Ombudsman’s public probe to find the whole truth, including aspects perhaps glossed over in the opposition dominated Senate. Let us not judge without due process. |
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| Bunye says NBN-ZTE case probe properly belongs to the courts |
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The Senate investigation into the long-cancelled National Broadband Network-ZTE
project should be handled by the courts so that once and for all, the truth
may reveal itself. Thus appealed Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye to lawmakers on Monday amid fresh calls for all Cabinet secretaries to denounce corruption in the government and resign their posts. In a radio interview this morning, Bunye said the judiciary or the courts would have the ability to determine if accusations being thrown out left and right have any basis and decide on the issue unbiased. “So, ang sinasabi natin, we’re not in favor of this investigation in the Senate because it is inevitably tainted with politics. But, kung ito ay idadaan sa korte kung saan maliwanag iyong nag-aaccuse ay pinatutunayan yung kanyang accusation, na iyong idinemanda naman ay may pagkakataon na ipahayag naman iyong sarili, eh iyon palagay ko ang dapat mangyari,” Bunye said. “It’s very easy to accuse but it is very difficult to prove an accusation. And this can be done in a court of law. Yan ang proper procedure. Kaya’t iyon ang aking panawagan: daanin natin sa wastong proseso. Yung mga panawagan na mag-resign ang ating Pangulo at mag-resign ang mga Cabinet members, ang palagay ko ay hindi angkop sa ganitong panahon,” he added. Bunye pointed out that like the millions of Filipino people who want to get into the bottom of the controversy, “the truth (on the issue) can be established through proper process, through due process.” “Hindi natin makukuha ito sa pamamagitan ng Senate investigation. Bagama’t kinikilala natin na ang Senado ay mayroong right to investigate in aid-of-legislation ay hindi naman ito prosecution arm. Mayroon tayong mga opisina, mga tanggapan na talagang sadyang may kapangyarihan para malaman itong katotohanan and that is the court of law,” Bunye stressed. He added that courts have the power to decide whether an individual is guilty or not guilty, while “in the case of Senate proceedings,” they (senators) can only recommend that an investigation should take place. “At the end of the day, mayroong decision: guilty or not guilty. In the case of a Senate proceeding, walang sasabihing guilty ito o sasabihing walang sala iyong mga naakusahan…dahil hanggang rekomendasyon lang yan eh,” Bunye said. |
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| Joint statement of the Cabinet members on resignation calls |
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Amid calls for us to resign, all members of the Cabinet are solidly behind
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. We in the Cabinet firmly believe that the
President is doing much for our country especially for the economy and she
deserves to finish her mandated term until 2010. The Cabinet members believe that all allegations by Mr. Lozada should be discussed in court, which is the proper venue in accordance with the due process of law. While the country’s problems are deeply rooted, we firmly believe that political, social and economic reforms are achievable under the leadership of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with the support and cooperation of political and social leaders. We in the Cabinet will stay with her and continue to focus on our work. We will not allow ourselves to be distracted by political noises. The Cabinet members take pride in working with the President in uplifting the lives or our people. |
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| Cabinet members remain solidly behind PGMA |
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Speaking as one, members of the Cabinet of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
declared today their unwavering support for the Chief Executive whom they
said “deserves to finish her mandated term until 2010” for “doing much for
our country especially for the economy.” In a joint statement read by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita during a press conference in Malacanang this afternoon, the Cabinet secretaries said that despite a clamor for them to resign amid the raging controversy over the scrapped National Broadband Network project, they would remain with the President and “continue to focus on our work.” “Amid calls for us to resign, all members of the Cabinet are solidly behind President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. We in the Cabinet firmly believe that the President is doing much for our country especially for the economy and she deserves to finish her mandated term until 2010,” the three-paragraph statement read. The Cabinet secretaries also called for the immediate transfer of the Senate hearing on the said project to a court of justice which they said is “the proper venue” to hear the case. “The Cabinet members believe that all the allegations by Mr. (Rodolfo) Lozada should be discussed in court, which is the proper venue in accordance with the due process of law,” the statement read. “While the country’s problems are deeply rooted, we firmly believe that political, social and economic reforms are achievable under the leadership of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with the support and cooperation of political and social leaders,” it added. The Cabinet members said they would not be swayed by the “political noises” and added they took pride in working with the President in “uplifting the lives of our people.” |
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| Neri denies Lozada's statements; says "I don't recall calling the President evil" |
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Former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General
and now Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Romulo Neri broke his
silence today to deny Senate’s ZTE-national broadband project star witness
Rodolfo “Jun“ Lozada’s statements at the ongoing Senate hearing. Neri, appearing in a press conference in Malacanang this afternoon, clarified several issues Lozada divulged at the Senate hearing, among which were a meeting with some senators where he allegedly called the President “evil,” and his approval of the ZTE-National Broadband Network (NBN) project. Neri confirmed meeting with Lozada, Senators Panfilo Lacson and Jamby Madrigal in November last year at the Asian Institute of Management, “not to discuss the ZTE-NBN project but political economy.” “The meeting has nothing to do with the ZTE project. We discussed political economy. I’ve lectured on it in other venues, at the House of Representatives, at the Cabinet. I could do the same with you now. I do that anywhere…it’s a long-time advocacy,” Neri said of the issue discussed in that confidential meeting. “I don’t know why it’s coming out now. We had a gentlemen’s agreement (not to divulge the discussion.)…I’m wondering why there are leakages….we agreed on the confidentiality of the meeting,” Neri said. Neri clarified that he didn’t divulge details of the meeting since he might be “accused of disloyalty” but was quick to qualify that meeting Lacson and Madrigal was something normal. “I talk to senators on a private basis,” he said. As to the reform process he has been advocating, Neri believed the “President could lead in this whole reform process…she could do it but with the cooperation of the whole society.” “The government could not do it alone. The church or the military could not do it. I don’t see it coming from the Senate, Black and White movement or any civil society organization…,” he said Neri also refuted Lozada’s statement that he called the President “evil” and “has no moral authority.” “I can’t recall that statement…I don’t recall frankly,” Neri stressed as he said that Lozada remains a friend and understands quite well the process he is going through the Senate hearings. He does remember saying “moderate the greed” which he meant to lessen the project cost as what the NEDA Board usually does in any government project. “Whenever we can, we try to bring down the project cost,” he explained. As to Lozada’s statement that the President asked him to approve the project, Neri stressed “I don’t approve a project alone.” He clarified that the President only told him “Don’t accept it” in reference to the alleged P200 million bribe from then Commission on Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos, adding that there was “no but” in the President’s statement. “Let’s put that straight. She did not tell me to approve the ZTE (project),” Neri stressed. He explained that it is not his sole prerogative to approve a project as “decisions are done on a collegial basis.” The process of approving a project, according to Neri, goes this way: First, it has to be endorsed by an agency and in the case of the ZTE project, it was endorsed by the Department of Transportation and Communications. “Joey de Venecia’s proposal was never endorsed by any agency. Project proposals have to be endorsed by an agency, not the supplier.” Then, the project proposal goes to the Technical Committee of the NEDA which is composed of about eight to 10 representatives of agencies before it goes to the NEDA‘s Investment Coordinating Committee (ICC) for further studies. The NEDA Board, chaired by the President, approves the project, Neri stressed. “I already told the Senate everything I know (about the ZTE-NBN project),” Neri said, adding he has no plan of leaving his Cabinet post as “I feel there is hope in the Cabinet.” |
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| Feb. 25 is Special Day nationwide to mark 22nd Anniversary of EDSA People Power Revolt |
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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued today
Proclamation No. 1462 declaring Feb. 25, 2008 (Monday) as a Special
(Non-Working) Day throughout the country in connection with the observance
of the 22nd anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Kapayapaan at Pagkakaisa Tungo sa Kaunlaran!” “Whereas, the historic event, which restored and ushered political, social and economic reforms in the country, serves as an inspiration to Filipinos everywhere as we continue to chart our collective course as a nation and as a people, it is fitting that the entire Filipino nation be given the opportunity to observe this milestone in our country’s history,” the President said in signing the proclamation. |
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