 |
||
| 04 JANUARY 2008 | . | |
|
|
||
| 04 JANUARY 2008 | . | |
|
|
| President bats for 'lean, mean, but well-paid' gov't personnel |
|
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today that she would ask the
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to study the proposal to exempt
non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education (DepEd) from the
Rationalization Law. But she said outright that she prefers a “lean but well-paid bureaucracy” to a bloated government bureaucracy. The President was reacting to the statement of Manila Schools Superintendent Lourdes Quinones that public schools were suffering from a shortage of janitors and clerks. The problems hounding the country’s education system were brought up during the meeting the President held this morning with Manila city schools and other education officials at the cramped principal’s office of the Maceda Integrated School along Buenos Aires St. in Sta. Mesa, Manila. Also present during the consultations were Education Secretary Jesli Lapus and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim. Garbed in her favorite color – a blue pants and short-sleeved blouse ensemble–the President arrived a few minutes before the scheduled 10 a.m. visit. The Manila City School Band played the lively traditional welcome march for dignitaries as she shook the hands of parents who waited for her at the entrance of the school gymnasium, where she later distributed one-kilo packs of rice to elementary school students. Only teachers, military men and policemen are exempted from the no-replacement rule of the Rationalization Law which calls for the trimming down of the government bureaucracy. She said with the ongoing government computerization program, teachers and other school officials would have less need for clerks. During the meeting, the President suggested that the city school officials assign redundant employees to positions vacated by retiring employees, and to areas needing more personnel. The President explained to the teachers and other education personnel, who thanked her for granting them a performance bonus, that a bloated bureaucracy will only reduce the bonuses due them. The teachers agreed that last year’s “performance bonus” was the biggest-ever Christmas cash gift that they received from the government. |
|
|
| PGMA bats for 11 yrs of basic education with formalization of one level pre-school |
|
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wants Philippine “basic education” to
expand from 10 to 11 levels – not with an additional high school level but
with the formalization of one level of pre-school. This was revealed by the President when she visited the Antonio Maceda Integrated School in Sta. Mesa, Manila this morning in the company of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim. In a private meeting with local education officials and the school’s heads and teachers, the President explained that her administration wishes to “transform five-year-olds” into “pre-school graduates” as it is the latter who later survive in private schools. The President let known her plans about basic education when the school reported that it now has a total of 24 pre-school sections. The President said she prefers pre-school to the clamor for an additional year in high school (HS), stressing that “parents need their children to work with them right away.” For this, Congress shall be requested to pars a law that will expand basic education from 10 years to 11 years – one pre-school, the six elementary grades and the four HS levels. And to already prepare for this, the President said day care center teachers should henceforth be trained to teach their wards how to read the alphabet, and how to count. |
|
|
| Statement of Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye: On staggered water rate hikes |
|
The President extends her appreciation to Manila Water Company, Inc. for
voluntarily taking the initiative in further lessening the impact of new
water rates for East Zone customers and pursuing the pro-poor policy of this
Administration. The published rates for average residential consumers of P2.08 per cubic meter which was supposed to have been implemented by Manila Water last January 1 was reduced by two-thirds. Manila Water will only collect P0.69 for January. An additional P0.69 will then be added for February and another P0.70 for March bill. The full increase will be implemented by April 2008. The President would also like to explore additional mitigating schemes in current and future tariff adjustments. She is hereby directing the Regulatory Office of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System currently headed by Government Corporate Counsel Alberto C. Agra, OIC-Chief Regulator, to study other schemes such as but not limited to extending the life of the existing Concession Agreement between MWSS and the two concessionaires -- Manila Water and Maynilad. |
|
|
| Statement of Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye Re: Energy Summit |
|
The President has instructed Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Angelo
Reyes to call a summit of energy stakeholders to enhance policies and
programs, attract investments in technology, launch development projects
that would impact favorably on energy supplies and prices while helping
significantly arrest climate change. The President also instructed the DOE to coordinate with the Department of Trade (DTI) and Department of Finance (DOF) to come up with recommendations on a possible reduction of tariff on oil. |
|
|
| PGMA calls for summit of energy stakeholders amid new surge of crude oil prices in world mart |
|
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called today for the holding of a summit
of energy stakeholders as crude oil price hit a record $100 per barrel in
the world market Wednesday. Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye said the President directed Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes to coordinate with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Finance (DOF) to come up with recommendations on a possible reduction of tariff on oil. He said the energy summit would tackle measures to “enhance policies and programs, attract investments in technology and launch development projects that would impact favorably on energy supplies and prices while helping significantly arrest climate change.” Among the items to be discussed at the summit are measures to cushion the impact of the new surge of the world oil price increase on basic consumers items. During the summit, the President is also expected to instruct the DOE to intensify the development of alternative sources of energy including the largescale planting of jatropha. The oil soared to triple-digit price Wednesday amid tight energy stockpiles, a weaker US dollar, violence in Nigeria and heightened speculative buying. However, Filipino businessmen, including Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (PICI), said the new increase in crude prices in the world market would have little impact on consumers who have already anticipated the increase. |
|
|
| PGMA cites Manila Water's initiative to mitigate the impact of new water rates |
|
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has extended her appreciation to Manila
Water Company, Inc. for voluntarily taking the initiative in further
lessening the impact of new water rates for East Zone customers and pursuing
the pro-poor policy of her Administration. Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye said the published rates for average residential consumers of P2.08 per cubic meter which was supposed to have been implemented by Manila Water last Jan. 1 was reduced by two-thirds. Manila Water will only collect P0.69 for January. An additional P0.69 will then be added for February and another P0.70 for March bill. The full increase will be implemented by April 2008. In support to the administration’s pro-poor policy, Manila Water, the concessionaire of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) in the East Zone of Metro Manila and parts of Rizal and Bulacan provinces has agreed to implement staggered rate increases for its residential customers instead of the full P2.08 increase. Bunye said the President also directed the MWSS to study other schemes so that its water concessionaires could provide further relief to Metro Manila water consumers. “The President would also like to explore additional mitigating schemes in current and future tariff adjustments. She is hereby directing the Regulatory Office of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System currently headed by Government Corporate Counsel Alberto C. Agra, OIC-Chief Regulator, to study other schemes such as but not limited to extending the life of the existing Concession Agreement between MWSS and the two concessionaires -- Manila Water and Maynilad. |
|
|
