 |
||
| 20 FEBRUARY 2008 | . | |
|
|
||
| 20 FEBRUARY 2008 | . | |
|
|
| PGMA accepts credentials of new Brazilian envoy |
|
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accepted in Malacanang this morning the
credentials of the new ambassador of the Federative Republic of Brazil to
the Philippines who congratulated her for her recent achievements in the
economic front. Ambassador Alcides Gastao Rostrand Prates – who invited President Arroyo to visit Brazil once again -- was escorted through the palace honor guards by Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Protocol Jerril Santos. Ambassador Prates signed the guest book for all incoming ambassadors before he was led to the Rizal Hall where he presented his credentials to the President. The Brazilian diplomat pledged to President Arroyo that he would “do the utmost to fulfill my duty” as ambassador to the Philippines. In accepting Ambassador Prates’ credentials, the President, who was in an all-copper pants suit, said she looked forward to working with the latter. In their conversation at the Music Room later on, the President enthused thus to the new Brazilian ambassador: “You come at a time when Brazil has become one of the most important economies in the world.” For his part, Ambassador Prates congratulated the President for her achievements, to which the Chief Executive replied: “We are trying to emulate Brazil.” “You should go back to Brazil – your father (former President Diosdado Macapagal) went there twice,” the ambassador told the President who recounted that she was with her late father during one of the said two trips to Brazil. President Arroyo recalled that they had wanted to go to a place in Sao Paolo, but they didn’t know the way, and so they asked for help from a biking passerby who not only pointed the way for them, but guided them all the way to where they wanted to go. “What hospitality!” the President exclaimed. The President, for her part, invited the Brazilian president through Ambassador Prates to visit the Philippines which, she enthused, could become one of the economic partners of the prosperous Latin American country. Ambassador Prates said relations between Brazil and the Philippines could indeed “create opportunities” for both countries, and thanked President Arroyo for her invitation, saying that Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has expressed his desire to visit Asia, including the Philippines, “because the year 2008 is the year of Asia.” |
|
|
| Spain’s Chief Justice calls on PGMA in Malacanang |
|
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo welcomed in Malacanang this morning the
Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Spain who is on his first official visit to
the Philippines as president of the Spanish General Council of the
Judiciary. Spanish Chief Justice Francisco Jose Hernando Santiago was accompanied to Malacanang by Spain’s Ambassador to the Philippines Luis Arias and Juan Pablo Gonzales, magistrate president of the International Relations Commission of the General Council of the Judiciary of Spain. Chief Justice Santiago was also escorted to the Palace by Philippine Supreme Court Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna and Assistant Secretary Rey Carandang of the Office of American Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs (OAA-DFA). The President, who was in an all-copper pants suit, welcomed Justice Santiago and his party at the book-lined Study Room of the Palace. President Arroyo was feted by the Kingdom of Spain last December to a state visit – the first time that a modern-day Philippine President was given such an honor some quarter of a century after the state visit to Spain of her late father, former President Diosdado Macapagal, in the early 1960s. |
|
|
| Malacañang denies rumors of impending Cabinet revamp |
|
Malacanang assured the public today that the Official Family of President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo remains unified, solid and intact and there is no
truth to reports of impending Cabinet revamp. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita made the assurance as he belied reports that circulated early Tuesday night alleging that former Senator Ralph Recto was being groomed to replace Secretary Margarito Teves as Finance chief. “That news is not true. The Cabinet is intact. There will be no Cabinet shake-up and Secretary Teves would remain as secretary of the Department of Finance,” Ermita told reporters during his weekly press conference this afternoon at the New Executive Building in Malacañang complex. “No offer was made to Recto,” Ermita also said in his text message to media last night immediately after the rumors started to circulate that the President offered the former senator the Finance secretary post. Ermita strongly believes that it is highly probable that certain quarters are trying to shake up the economic team as an attempt to destabilize the administration and force the President to step down from her office. He said some of the administration’s detractors would like to weaken the economic team so that if one of them is sacked, it would be easier for them to recruit and convince the said official to join in the calls for the resignation of the President. “They think they might succeed and it could very well start the signal. So they’re starting with the economic team members who are behind the economic figures and the economic performance of our President, who’s known to be a very good economist,” Ermita added. Ermita said that despite many attempts to destabilize the government, the leadership of the President remains strong and the economy unaffected by the current political circus. He also noted that because of the successful implementation of the fiscal economic measures of the administration, a 7.3 percent economic growth rate had been recorded in 2007 as the largest in 31 years. “The figures do not lie. We take pride of the data about the overseas Filipino workers remittances, low interest rate, low inflation rate and therefore it’s very important that we maintain our economic policies and fiscal policies sustained,” Ermita said. |
|
|
| PGMA names ex-Mayor of Angono as DENR Asst. Secretary; 3 others to various gov’t posts |
|
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has appointed former Mayor Gerardo V.
Calderon of Angono, Rizal as assistant secretary at the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Before his appointment to the DENR post, Calderon served as Angono’s mayor for nine years or for three consecutive terms as allowed by law. The President also reappointed Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) Acting Executive Director Editha Demetria and Acting Chairman and Administrator of the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Georgina P. Yu. Also appointed as assistant secretary at the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) was Sali H. Wali. The list of the new presidential appointments was released by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita during his weekly conference in Malacañang this afternoon. |
|
|
| PGMA orders relief and rehabilitation operations in flood-devastated E. Samar |
|
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered today immediate relief and
rehabilitation operations in Eastern Samar after it was hit by destructive
floods that left 11 people dead, displaced some 9,000 families, and caused
P50 million damage to agricultural products and other properties. “Ipinag-utos ng ating Pangulo ang madaliang relief operations sa mga affected areas kasama na rito ang pagre-release ng calamity funds,” Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye said. He said that the President wanted to release and use previous funds already extended, including those resources released through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and related government agencies. “Nais ng ating Pangulo na gamitin na rin iyong mga naunang resources na naka-deploy sa DSWD, DPWH and other related agencies malapit sa lugar,” he said. Bunye added that the President also ordered the immediate rehabilitation of the damaged infrastructure facilities as weather permits it, using local labor. “Ipinag-utos ng ating Pangulo ang pagsasagawa ng kagyat na rehabilitasyon sa iba’t-ibang perwisyong idinulot ng baha sa public works kung ipahihintulot ng magandang panahon,” Bunye said. He said that the Chief Executive also instructed all government agencies to use local river basin and to tap local labor and apply “food for work program” in the rehabilitation works and operations. “Ipinag-utos din ng Pangulo na hangga’t maaari ay gamitin ang local river basin at “food for work” sa isasagawang relief and rehabilitation work,” he said. Landslides and floods caused by nine days of incessant rains have isolated most areas of Eastern Samar that affected 9,000 families, caused the death of 11 people, with three others still missing. A total of 640 people were evacuated in Samar and several roads in the island are impassable due to the floods and landslides. |
|
|
| PGMA leads groundbreaking rites for school building in Mandaluyong, road project in Pasig |
|
In line with her “surge in infrastructure spending” policy this year,
President Gloria Macapagl-Arroyo led today the groundbreaking ceremonies
signaling the start of construction works for a school building in
Mandaluyong City and a road widening project in Pasig City. The President ordered a surge in infrastructure spending in the early part of this month “as a firewall against the effects” of an expected economic slowdown in the United States, and “a springboard for further growth” of the country’s economy. The President's directive includes the disbursement of P200 billion of government funds for the construction of 3,000 kilometers of roads and 10,000 classrooms nationwide. First on the agenda of the President this afternoon was the groundbreaking for the construction of a four-storey, 39-classroom annex building of the Pedro P. Cruz Elementary School (PPCES) in Barangay Barangka Drive, Mandaluyong City. Arriving earlier than the 1:30 p.m. schedule, the President was welcomed by Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Jesli Lapus, Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, Mayor Benhur Abalos and PPCES Principal Janet Mariano. The President was then escorted to the site of the soon-to-be constructed school building where she, together with Lapus, Gonzales and Abalos, laid the time capsule signaling the start of construction of the project. Mariano said that the school building, once completed in a year's time, will complement the school's existing four-storey, 28-classroom building which will benefit PPCES’ 2,496 strong student population. Costing P74 million, the PPCES school building annex will bring down the student-classroom ratio from the current 50:1 to 45:1. After having light snacks with the school and local government officials, the President went outside the school's premises to witness an ongoing medical and dental mission that included the distribution of grocery packs to local residents. From Mandaluyong, the President, together with her convoy, then motored to Pasig City to break ground for the start of the Ortigas Avenue (Phase II) rehabilitation and road widening project. She was met by Pasig City Mayor Robert Eusebio, Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo and Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Ramon Aquino, who assisted her in lowering the time capsule for the project. The P155-million project aims to widen the area of Ortigas Avenue from the Rosario Bridge to Manggahan Floodway by adding an additional lane to the existing two lanes on both sides. Once completed, the project will decongest traffic movement in the area and directly benefit residents coming from Cainta, Taytay, Angono, Binangonan, Antipolo, Montalban and other Rizal towns by lessening the travel time to and from these areas. |
|
|
| San Beda College priest official raps CBCP for calling on PGMA to resign |
|
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) should be the last
to join any call for the resignation of government officials or mass action,
particularly if such is based only on hearsay and not proven by evidence. This is what Fr. Ranhilio Callangan Aquino, the dean of the San Beda Graduate School of Law, said in his letter dated Feb. 20, 2008 that was read in part by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita during his weekly press briefing this afternoon in Malacanang. “The CBCP should be the voice of sobriety. It should not jump the gun on investigations. It should be the last to join the bandwagon of popular sentiment. In fact calls for resignation, to my mind, lack any moral moorings at all. What moral precept is it that justifies such a call?,” Fr. Aquino said. Fr. Aquino said only when a government is “utterly lawless, tyrannical, despotic and oppressive,” and only when there is a viable and workable alternative, would such a call be justified, which he, added, have not been both presently established with moral certainty. Fr. Aquino said the call, particularly by Archbishop Oscar Cruz, for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is quite “disturbing” and based only on the noise created by the Senate testimony of former environment officer Rodolfo Lozada Jr. about the long-canceled ZTE broadband contract. “Till now, I have not found anything in his (Lozada’s) statements – which I have followed with assidiousness – that assigns culpability to the President. In fact it is even difficult to construct any semblance of a case built on circumstantial evidence against the President. So what do the calls for her resignation rest on?” Fr. Aquino asked. Fr. Aquino said the rest of the country appears to be not convinced by the call of the few in Manila, particularly the farmers, fishermen, and other poor people in the countryside. A few days ago, Fr. Aquino also wrote an open letter saying that the Senate lacks prosecutorial powers and that investigations on the NBN-ZTE issue should just be left to the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to ensure that those found guilty could be meted with criminal or administrative liability. “The CBCP erodes its own credibility when it takes precipitous political postures that are not grounded in uncontestable evidence. I still have to listen to evidence that points to the culpability of the President in processes that have been established precisely to establish this – and what has gone on at the Senate thus far is not such a process,” Fr. Aquino said. Despite the political noise, Ermita said the President continues with her governance and the past seven years would show that the national leadership has taken the country to new grounds to uplift the lives and deliver vital government programs for the poor. |
|
|
| PGMA wants Lakas/Kampi merger to be fast-tracked |
|
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called today on the leaders of Lakas and
Kampi parties to fast-track their merger with Lakas as the survivor
political party. “Moving towards the National Directorate Assembly of Lakas, we have instructions from President Arroyo to the leadership of Lakas and Kampi to hasten the process of merger of the two parties with Lakas as the survivor party,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said during his weekly press conference this afternoon. Ermita expressed the belief that this will strengthen further the administration political party through the merger of the Lakas and Kampi parties. “So, we are now in the process of making together the joint committees of Lakas and Kampi in order to look out on the details of meeting the processes for the merger,” he said. The Lakas National Directorate Assembly has been reset from the scheduled meeting in January or February to the first week of March, Ermita said. He cited the importance of the presence in the meeting of the two former Philippine presidents, the availability of the regional leaders, and also the attendance of the newly installed House Speaker Prospero Nograles. He also cited the importance of coordinating with the local government leaders for their inputs on the merging process. |
|
|
