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| 07 MARCH 2008 | . | |
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| 07 MARCH 2008 | . | |
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| Memorandum Circular 151 revoking EO 464 & MC 108 |
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Following is the full text of Memorandum Circular No. 151 entitled “Revoking
Executive Order No. 464 and Memorandum Circular No. 108” released by the
Office of the Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye last night: Section 1. Following the pronouncement of the President, Executive Order No. 464 dated 28 September 2005 is hereby revoked. Section 2. Memorandum Circular No. 108 dated 27 July 2006 is hereby likewise revoked. Section 3. Executive officials and employees can no longer invoke Executive Order No. 464 and Memorandum Circular No. 108 as an excuse for not attending legislative inquiries in aid of legislation. Section 4. Executive officials and employees are advised to follow and abide by the Constitution, existing laws, and jurisprudence, including, among others, “Senate vs. Ermita, G.R. No. 169777, April 20, 2006,” when they are invited to legislative inquiries in aid of legislation. Section 5. This Memorandum Circular shall take effect immediately. By authority of the President: (Sgd.) Eduardo R. Ermita, Executive Secretary, Manila, Philippines, 6 March 2008 |
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| Statement of Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye |
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It is regrettable that Senate President Villar has
spurned the Supreme Court’s good intentions for a compromise on the use of
executive privilege. This is obviously an act motivated by personal ambition rather than statesmanship. The President has done her share by revoking EO 464 and Memorandum Circular 108. We invite our legislators to work with the Executive branch and have a fresh start towards better governance. |
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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s
speech at the International Women’s Day
celebration Rizal Hall, Malacañang March 7, 2008 |
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• Gng. Narda Camacho at ang Metro Manila Council of
Women’s Balikatan Movement, salamat sa pag-organisa ng pagdiriwang natin sa
walang sawang pagkilos upang gunitain taon-taon ang Women’s Day. • Maligayang Araw ng Kababaihan sa ating lahat! • Congratulations to all of us: the Philippines is number six in the world in closing the gender gap. • Nangunguna lamang sa atin sa pagsarado ng gender gap ay iyong apat na bansang Scandinavia at New Zealand. Tayo lang sa Asia at isa sa anim lang sa mundo na nasarado ang gender gap kapwa sa edukasyon at kalusugan. • Lamang pa nga tayong mga babae sa mga lalaki sa simple literacy rate at functional literacy rate. • Lamang din ang mga babae sa pag-enroll sa eskwela habang mas mababa ang drop-out rate ng mga babae. • Lamang din ang mga babae sa pagiging honor student. • Mas mahaba ang buhay ng mga Pilipina kaysa sa mga lalaking Pilipino. • Kaya on schedule ang Pilipinas na abutin ang UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) sa pagtataguyod ng gender equality pagdating ng 2015. • Laman ng Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 2004-2010 ang mga UN MDGs. Kaya sabi ng development guru na si Jeffrey Sachs, ito na ang pinakamagandang national development plan na nakita niya. • Tinutupad natin ang mga importanteng batas para sa kababaihan. Nagtatabi tayo ng limang porsyento ng budget para sa gender and development. • Noong senador ako, nagtakda ako ng batas para sa partisipasyon ng kababaihan sa maliliit na negosyo. • Noong Women’s Day ng 2004, pinirmahan ko ang Republic Act (RA) No. 9262 “An Act Defining Violence Against Women and Their Children, Providing for Protective Measures for Victims and Prescribing Penalties Therefore.” • To help enforce this, we have increased the number of policewomen to be hired from 300 to 400 yearly, or 20 percent of the total. • Ngunit marami pa tayong dapat gawin dito sa maternal mortality rate bagamat bumaba na ito. • Dalawa ang ating estratehiya para ibaba ang maternal mortality ratio: 1) health services to pregnant women for safe motherhood, and 2) natural family planning services. • Sa ating Early Childhood Care and Development System, isa sa mga layunin ay tiyakin na makakaabot sa sapat na serbisyong pangkalusugan at nutrisyon ang mga nanay bago pa sila manganak. • For safe motherhood, we now encourage facility-based delivery instead of home-based delivery which causes many maternal deaths. • Pregnancy now qualifies for public health insurance, para ma-charge ng mga kababaihan sa PhilHealth ang panganganak sa ospital. • Kahit na-devolved ang kalusugan sa mga pamahalaang local, tinutulungan natin silang gawing secondary hospital ang kanilang mga primary hospital. Ibig sabihin, tinutulungan natin silang magkaroon ng gynecological, obstetric and surgical services para manganak ang nanay sa ospital at hindi sa tahanan. • Sa family planning, in 2006, 50.6 percent of currently married women aged 15-49 used contraceptives. Maraming ayaw dahil Katoliko sila. Kaya itinutulak natin ang natural family planning para dumami ang nagtutupad ng responsible parenthood sa 60 percent pagdating ng 2010. • Ikinakabit natin ang breastfeeding sa natural family planning, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. • Today we launch HATAW (Harnessing Appropriate Technology to Assist Women) and POWER (Projects for Women Entrepreneurs). HATAW seeks technology-based solutions to community-based problems, in general, and lack of women’s economic opportunities, in particular. It will mesh local knowledge system with modern technology to create value added products and services out of available and abundant resources in the area. For example, if a women’s group would like to lessen janitor fish infestation by harvesting them for fuel, then HATAW will make their dreams come true. If some women will tap safe biotechnology practices to boost food production, HATAW will nurture their plans. New food preservation techniques can be bankrolled by HATAW. Kasama dito ang virgin coconut oil na noon pa ay sinabi ko kay Secretary Nina Alabastro na itaguyod para maging kasing kilala ang virgin coconut oil ng olive oil. HATAW is for bold, innovative and inventive women who will see the development through the prism of science. We have the means to bankroll their vision. The 2008 budget of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) includes P340 million for technology innovation and commercialization. • In addition, we currently have P50 billion in loan facilities in various lending windows for micro, small and medium enterprises. On top of this is P43 million in the 2008 budget for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for microfinance. I now instruct DOST and DSWD to carve out from these funds the HATAW endowment facilities. These agencies are led by women. This underscores HATAW’s feature as a project for and by women. Secretary Cerge Remonde will be the token male in the troika. Is there a market for HATAW projects? There is. Let me cite just one with government as customer. • This year we will buy millions of pesos worth of science laboratory equipment for our schools. Many of these can be fabricated locally using indigenous materials. If women’s cooperatives may wish to venture into these then they will be giving life to the dictum, it takes a village to teach a child. The Department of Budget and Management‘s procurement service buys detergents by the trucks yearly. They are shopping for biodegradable soaps. • As to the POWER program, this will be for women entrepreneurs who need additional capital infusion. Those who need bridge financing, those whose expansion plans are blocked by the lack of wherewithal, don’t worry, POWER will power up your dreams. Government will be making a wise investment because there is a flood of empirical data, from here and abroad, about the steely credit discipline of women so what will be lent will be recouped. Neither HATAW nor POWER is a handout but each is a hand up, to give a woman the right break so she can go as far and as fast as her talent can bring her. • POWER can be used to start up Botika ng Barangays, of which we are planning to put up about 3,200 branches this year. Or it can underwrite the initial inventory requirements of a Tindahan Natin outlet, the number of which is programmed to reach 14,000 before December. • It is an essential marker of human rights that all men and women be free and equal not just before God, but before the law and the judgment of society. Too often in poorer nations, women bear a double burden of economic immobility and political disenfranchisement. We are proud to say that political and economic parity is the cornerstone of the Philippine agenda. |
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| PGMA launches 2 women empowerment programs; adequate funding assured |
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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo launched today two
programs aimed at giving the Filipino woman the “right break so she can go
as far and as fast as her talent can bring her.” The President announced the two pro-Filipino woman programs –HATAW and POWER – in her message before representatives of women’s groups nationwide during the celebration of International Women’s Day held in Malacanang this morning. HATAW stands Harnessing Appropriate Technology to Assist Women, while POWER is the acronym of Projects for Women Entrepreneurs. The President said that the two programs are dedicated to further strengthening the empowerment of Filipino women. During the same occasion, the President instructed the two women members of her Cabinet -- Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro and Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral -- to set aside funds for HATAW and POWER. HATAW, according to her, “seeks technology-based solutions to community–based problems, in general, and lack of women’s economic opportunities, in particular.” “It will mesh local knowledge system with modern technology to create value added products and services out of available and abundant resources in the area,” she explained. The President cited what she said were interesting HATAW projects Filipino women can engage in, such as harvesting janitor fish for fuel, tapping safe biotechnology practices to boost production, and the development of the virgin coco oil so it could reach the level popularity that olive oil now enjoys. “We can make their dreams come true…HATAW will nurture their plans…HATAW is for bold, innovative and inventive women who will see the development through the prism of science,” she said. The President said the government has funds to “bankroll their vision” since P380 million has been earmarked in the 2008 budget of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for technology innovation and commercialization. There is also a P50-billion loan facility in various lending windows for micro, small and medium enterprises, and another P34 million for microfinance in the 2008 budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), she said. “I now instruct DOST and DSWD to carve out from these funds the HATAW endowment facilities,” she said, adding that the two lady Cabinet members “underscores HATAW’s feature as a project for and by women.” On the other hand, POWER, according to the President, would be for women entrepreneurs who need additional capital infusion. “Those who need bridge financing, those whose expansion plans are blocked by the lack of wherewithal; don’t worry girl, POWER will power up your dreams,” the President said. The President said funds poured by the government into these programs are “wise investment” if only because women have steely credit discipline “so what will be lent (to them) will be recouped.” The President said the prospective POWER projects include the Botika ng Barangay and Tindahan Natin. She added that the government will establish 3,200 Botika branches this year, while the Tindahan program will be expanded. “It is an essential marker of human rights that all men and women be free and equal not just before God, but before the law and judgment of society.Too often in poorer nations, women bear a double burden of economic immobility and political disenfranchisement but we celebrate with pride that political and economic parity is the cornerstone of the Philippine agenda,” the President said. |
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| Palace revokes EO 464 and MC 108 after consultations with church leaders |
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Malacañang has issued Memorandum Circular No. 151 revoking Executive Order
464 and Memorandum Circular 108 which had earlier required prior
Presidential approval for Cabinet members to appear before legislative
bodies if only to spare them from verbal abuse in the said chambers. The full text of MC 151 – entitled “Revoking Executive Order No. 464 and Memorandum Circular No. 108” – was released by the Office of Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye last night (March 06). By authority of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, MC 151 was signed by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita yesterday (March 6). It takes effect immediately. Following consultations with church leaders and her supporters, President Arroyo earlier announced last Wednesday (March 5) the revocation of EO 464. EO 464, dated Sept. 28, 2005, had intended to ensure the observance of the separation of powers between co-equal branches of the government, adherence to the rule on executive privilege, and respect for the rights of public officials appearing in legislative inquiries. Late the following day, Thursday (March 6), MC 151 was issued, revoking both EO 464 and MC 108. MC 108, dated July 27, 2006, prescribed guidelines on the appearances of department heads and other officials of the executive department before Congress. With the revocation of EO 464 and MC 108, executive officials and employees can no longer invoke the two earlier executive issuances “as an excuse for not attending legislative inquiries in aid of legislation.” When invited to legislative inquiries in aid of legislation, the said government personnel are henceforth “advised to follow and abide by the Constitution, existing laws, and jurisprudence, including, among others, ‘Senate vs. Ermita, GR No. 169777, April 20, 2006’…” The two revoked Presidential issuances were based on the 1987 Philippine Constitution’s Article VI, Section 22, which provides, thus: “Heads of departments may, with the prior consent of the President, appear before and be heard by either House of Congress on any matter pertaining to their departments and, when the security of the State or the public interest so requires, and the President so states in writing, such appearance shall be conducted in executive session.” |
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| RP to host 2-day int’l conference on women’s rights set in Sept. |
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The Philippines will host this year’s International Conference on Gender,
Migration and Development: Seizing Opportunities, Upholding Women Migrant
Workers’ Rights” that will tackle the impact of migration on developing
countries and the new issue of “feminization of migration.” In her address during the celebration of the International Women’s Day at the Rizal Hall in Malacanang today, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said that the international conference will be held on Sept. 25-26 in Manila. “Myrna Yao, the chair of the National Commission on the Role of the Filipino Women (NCRFW), arrived at 1 a.m. today from the United Nations and she has good news… four institutions will help the Philippines host the women’s conference on migration,” the President said. They are the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), United Nations Fund for Children, International Labor Organization (ILO), and the Migrants Forum for Asia, a non-government organization (NGO). Senior officials of UN member states, who are directly involved in policy making, particularly on women, migration and development matters; women and migrant advocacy groups, non-government organizations, religious groups, federations, trade unions from UN member states and members of the academe, are expected to attend the two-day conference. The President said the Philippines is an appropriate venue for the conference because “many Filipino women are migrant workers” and that the Philippines ranked sixth in the world in closing the gender gap. She said four Scandinavian countries -- Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland -- have won international recognition for successfully closing the gender gap in education and health; New Zealand, 5th slot, and the Philippines, 6th. The President added that the data from the conference in Manila would serve as an important input for the UN conference on global migration. |
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| Malacanang: Villar’s rejection of Puno’s proposal motivated by personal ambition |
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Malacanang said today that Senate President Manuel Villar was obviously
motivated by personal ambition rather than statesmanship when he rebuffed
Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno’s compromise proposal to break the
Executive-Senate impasse on the issue of executive privilege. “It is regrettable that Senate President Villar has spurned the Supreme Court’s good intentions for a compromise on the use of executive privilege,” Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said in a statement. Villar’s action was obviously motivated by “personal ambition rather than statesmanship,” Bunye said. The Senate chief is reportedly among several political personalities gearing up this early for the 2010 presidential elections. “The President has done her share by revoking EO 464 and MC 108,” Bunye said. Villar rejected the Chief Justice’s proposed compromise despite strong demands by some senators for officials of the executive branch to waive executive privilege and testify on the national broadband network (NBN)-ZTE probe. In an effort to break the deadlock between Malacanang and the Senate on the issue of executive privilege and avoid the controversy from dragging all the way to the 2010 elections, Puno proposed that Commissioner on Higher Education (CHED) chairman Romulo Neri face the Senate investigators. Under this proposal, Neri could still invoke executive privilege and refer individual questions of the senators to the high court. The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the executive privilege issue case filed by Neri. In rejecting the Supreme Court’s stalemate-ending proposal, Villar was quoted by a morning daily as saying: “We cannot agree to a compromise. We reached a consensus to reject the offer. I am really against that because it would show the Senate has no balls, we don’t want to look like we’re being trampled on.” However, some senators who favored Puno’s compromise proposal were reported to have deplored Villar’s failure to put the issue to a vote instead of unilaterally rejecting it. The executive privilege of the President is mandated in the Constitution. In her effort to finally break the impasse over the issue of executive privilege, President Arroyo revoked yesterday (March 6th) both Executive Order 646 and Memorandum Circular 108 which required prior presidential approval before officials of the executive branch could testify in legislative investigations. “We invite our legislators to work with the executive branch and have a fresh start towards better governance,” Bunye said. |
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| Palace says agreement with China not a sellout of RP sovereignty |
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Malacanang asserted today that the agreement on Joint Marine Seismic
Undertaking (JMSU) on the contested Spratly Islands is consistent with the
Philippine Constitution and the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct
of Parties on the South China Sea (DOC). Reacting on reports published in the January/February issue of the Far Eastern Economic Review, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said the agreement on JMSU “manifests responsible diplomacy to ease tension and promote confidence building” in the disputed islands chain. “The JMSU is an example of a confidence-building measure that aims to transform the South China Sea from a region of conflict to a region of peace and cooperation,” Romulo said in a statement. The agreement also serves as the country’s commitment to prevent any possible conflict in the South China Sea. Romulo noted that the JMSU agreement is a positive endeavor for all the claimants to the Spratly islands and not a sellout of Philippine sovereignty contrary to the allegation in the published article that the signed deal was a clear sign that the Philippine government gave up its natural resources. Romulo insisted that the agreement on Spratlys is limited only to scientific surveys and joint evaluation and has nothing to do with oil exploration as claimed by the opposition. For his part, Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo challenged former Senate President Franklin Drilon to test the validity of the signed agreement in a proper venue, like the Supreme Court, and not in the media through press releases or partisan hearings in Congress. “Topnotch lawyers like former Justice Secretary Drilon know how to test the validity of any agreement. Not by citing hearsay evidence, but by raising the matter in the Supreme Court,” Saludo said in response to Drilon’s claim that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commited a serious violation of the Constitution after she approved the signing of the DOC in September 2004. “Does the opposition resort to press statements and partisan hearings because of its fear of impartial process?,” Saludo asked. |
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