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CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK PROFILES THE PHILIPPINES’s 1st & ONLY FREE BROADSHEET NEWSPAPER 5 July 22-July 29, 2011 GOVERNANCE & CORPORATE POWER PROFILES Let’s settle Spratly conflict by peaceful means -- Evardone Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evard- one said that the conflict on the dis- puted Spratly Islands could be set- tled through peaceful means, which could benefit all claimant countries. Evardone visited Wednesday the disputed Kalayaan Islands with . Rep. Walden Bello (Akbayan par- tylist), Kaka Bag-Ao (Akbayan), Emmeline Aglipay of DIWA par- ty-list, and Teddy Baguilat of If- ugao. Their trip to the disputed islands, was allegedly financed by Filipi- no-Chinese businessmen as a “ci- vilian peace mission.” Evardone said the Philippine government should consider launching a diplomatic offensive and review its bilateral relations and agreement with China includ- ing its multi-lateral partners like Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei for the region’s peaceful co- existence and beneficial economic advantages to all claimants. “National security depends to a significant extent on the quality of our border relations with our neigh- bors,” he said. Negotiating table “This is the reason why we must exert every effort to bring the claimants to the negotiating table and discuss the way forward. We cannot indefinitely shelve the dis- putes as one country would want,” he said. Evardone said the Philippine government could initiate a review of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which could be used as a parame- ter in settling the Spratly issue. Under the UNCLOS, the East- ern Samar solon said, countries bordering an enclosed or semi-en- closed sea were mandated to coop- erate with each other in the exer- cise of their rights and in the per- formance of their duties. “Under UNCLOS, cooperation among the concerned countries could include the management, conservation, exploration and ex- ploitation of the living resources of the sea; protection and preservation of the marine environment; and joint program of scientific research in the area,” he said. Though the UNCLOS does not aim at settling territorial disputes, Evardone said, “it could be an in- strument for confidence building.” Limited measurement He also cited the proposal of Hasjim Ajalal, first president of the International Seabed Authority of Indonesia, who proposed that a more limited measurement of the EEZ of each littoral country in the South China Sea should be put in place so that a certain portion of the area would not fall into any exclusive economic zone. Evardone said some experts from the East-West Center in Hawaii also proposed the establishment of a Spratly Management Authority, which would act as body to admin- ister the disputed area. He also urged Congress to con- duct an inquiry to review the Phil- ippines’ legal claim over the Spratlys, the presence of Philippine troops in the Kalayaan Islands, and the efforts of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on the dip- lomatic front. EVARDONE WB leader says gov’t, civil society should join hands vs. criminality AN OFFICIAL of World Bank (WB) has said government and civil society should unite against political and criminal violence. “Today, 1.5 billion people live in countries af- fected by political and criminal violence,” said Ni- gel Roberts, World Development Report 2011 Co- Director. Roberts was the main speaker in a round-table discussion hosted by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) in partner- ship with the World Bank Office in Manila on Fri- day. Attended by members of civil society organiza- tions, Roberts presented the World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security and Development at the Taberna Barcelona Function Room in Lin- den Suites, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. The Report, which was launched last April 2011 by the World Bank, focused on strengthening effi- cient and legitimate institutions to provide citizen security, justice and jobs in order to gain stakehold- ers and escape the vicious cycle of violence. “It’s important to have a dialogue between the government and civil society. They cannot do with- out each other. It’s not enough to have a political agreement unless reinforced by intense work and social consciousness. And civil society can only do so much without the aid of the government,” he said. SAY ‘NO!’ TO DRUGS! Paje wants financiers, poachers of black corals, marine turtles jailed DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje has ordered the department's lawyers to start summary proceedings against personalities behind the smuggle try of some P35-million worth of turtles and corals seized from two container vans last May 1 aboard a vessel that came from Cotabato province. Paje gave the order as he condemned the poachers and their financiers who, he said, “have practically robbed the present and future generations of Filipinos” the benefits that would have come from these marine species in unquantifiable terms and should face the full extent of the law “in whatever way necessary.” The incident comes at a time when the DENR is shoring up its efforts to stop wildlife trade through stricter enforcement of wildlife laws and more aggressive legal actions against violators of the country's environmental laws through the prosecution in special courts – or green courts – that have been designated by the Supreme Court. “We shall certainly act with dispatch to make sure that the suspects face the punishment to the fullest extent,” Paje said. teachers are required to render a total of eight hours a day. “A shorter work day would be a great relief for the teachers. We are also proposing that any work per- formed in excess of six hours a day shall be paid an additional compen- sation of at least 25 percent of their regular remuneration,” he said. The bill seeks to exempt teach- ers from the generally established rule on 8-hour workday under the Civil Service Rules. Book V of the Administrative Code of 1987 also states that: “Officers and employ- ees of all departments and agencies except those covered by special laws shall render not less than eight hours of work a day for five days a week or a total of 40 hours a week, exclusive of time for lunch.” The proposed bill provides that co-curricula, out-of-school activi- ties and other activities of any teacher outside of their normal du- ties shall be paid an additional com- pensation of at least 25 percent of his/her regular remuneration after the teacher has completed at least six hours of work. Villar proposes... (From page 1) needed reforms in the housing sector. “We would like to solicit your support to push for the strict en- forcement of RA 7279 or the Ur- ban Development Housing Act (UDHA),” he said. “Furthermore, we would like to encourage volunteerism as a means to directly link the public sector, the private sector, and civil society or- ganizations in re-engineering our settlements and involvement of our civil society organizations and peo- ple’s organizations in estate manage- ment particularly in providing train- ing and livelihood assistance,” he added. The Vice President said the coun- try’s key shelter agencies are cur- rently formulating housing policies that are designed to significantly reduce the country’s housing gap by half in 2016. He also said that the government is seriously considering portions of the land previously declared as housing sites to be developed as commercial areas to make them the enabling component for socialized and low-cost housing. Gov’t eyes PPP... (From page 1) Chiz urges DepEd to insure school properties in disaster-prone areas WITH the onset of rainy season, Senator Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to immediately insure all school buildings and properties in the country’s northeastern seaboard where disasters usually strike. Escudero made his call as he pur- sued this plan together with the DepEd and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), who will serve as the education department’s insurance underwriter. “When disaster ravages the coun- try, one of the first to go down with the mud and water is our school buildings. Classrooms have always bore nature’s brunt. Different per- ils of disasters either damage or destroy these structures, which are supposed to be the bastion of knowledge for our children,” Escu- dero explained. “Insuring these structures is a guarantee that after a direct impact with disaster, damage control, repair or replacement is an outright order.” Thousands of Philippine National Police personnel are expected to be deployed on standby along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City leading to, and around the Batasan Hills area where the House of Representatives is located. Unaffacted by the recent allegation of massive poll cheating thrown at her by detractors, GMA said she will definitely attened P-Noy’s second SONA. Meantime, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) released a pre-SONA situationer. It is targetting and highly optimistic a seven to eight percent eco- nomic growth could be achieved by the P-Noy Administration in the next five years it said. “The 7 percent to 8 percent GDP growth is still our target in the next five years. We hope the increase in investment will continue. We saw an underspending midway to the second quarter but we will increase our infrastructure spending,” Socioeconomic Planning Sec- retary Cayetano Paderanga said. The NEDA chief said he expects the second quarter gross domes- tic product (GDP) to exceed the 4.9 percent growth in the first quar- ter of the year. Paderanga, however, said that GDP is likely to be “slower” than the 8.4 percent growth in the second quarter last year. In the first quarter, the country’s GDP grew by 4.9 percent amidst the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and North Africa, the rising oil prices, and the contraction in public spending. Compared with the performance of its Asian neighbors, Paderanga said the country’s GDP growth in the first quarter is higher than that of Thailand’s 3 percent, Republic of Korea’s 4.2 percent and Malay- sia’s 4.6 percent. He also said that the Development Budget and Coordinating Com- mittee (DBCC) will review the 7 percent to 8 percent economic tar- get this year after the second quarter numbers are out. “Growth would be higher in 2012,” said Paderanga. Earlier, Paderanga projected a stronger growth in the coming quar- ters in spite of the risks and uncertainties surrounding the country because of the timely and effective implementation of appropriate policies and reforms that are being undertaken. These include measures such as addressing corruption and making the bureaucracy more efficient by streamlining processes to lower the cost of doing business for the private sector as well as expediting the release and utilization of budget for a more efficient and timely implementation of programs and projects, Paderanga said. He said the GDP for the next five years would be boosted by the government’s public-private partnership initiatives. Paderanga added that the government is on track to bid out 10 infrastructure projects under the PPP scheme this year. The 10 PPP infrastructure projects lined up for this year include the P70-billion South Extension of the Light Rail Transit Line 1, P11.3-billion East Extension of LRT 2, P7.7-billion Privatization of LRT 1, P6.3-billion Privatization of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3, P11.8-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway, and P10.6-billion second phase of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway. the government’s Philippine Development Plan for 2011 to 2016, the 7-8 percent annual growth target will generate an average of one million new jobs annually and these will be found primarily in indus- try and services sectors. It added that the 7-8 percent GDP target per year implies a tripling of per capita income to about $ 5,000 in two decades. “This is a higher growth trajectory than the past decade’s and shall be attained through a higher contribution of physical capital to GDP growth, as well as through the increase in total factor productivity through massive investment in transport, water, energy and other infrastructure and through good governance,” the country’s econom- ic blueprint said. The PDP said sustaining growth in later year will require even higher investment ratios reaching 22 percent by 2016. The government approved a total investment of P3.796 trillion by 2016. Paderanga also said that the country’s Medium-Term Public In- vestment Program (MTPIP) for 2011 to 2016 is expected to be com- pleted this month or after President Aquino delivers his second state- of-the-nation address (SONA) on July 25. No ‘Bangkang Papel,’ ‘Mang Pandoy’ props in P-Noy’s 2nd SONA From page 1...
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Metro Express newspaper page 5
Transcript of Metro Express page 5
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
PROFILESTHE PHILIPPINES’s 1st & ONLY FREE
BROADSHEET NEWSPAPER
5July 22-July 29, 2011
GOVERNANCE & CORPORATE POWER PROFILES
Let’s settle Spratly conflict by peaceful means -- EvardoneEastern Samar Rep. Ben Evard-
one said that the conflict on the dis-puted Spratly Islands could be set-tled through peaceful means, whichcould benefit all claimant countries.
Evardone visited Wednesday thedisputed Kalayaan Islands with .Rep. Walden Bello (Akbayan par-tylist), Kaka Bag-Ao (Akbayan),Emmeline Aglipay of DIWA par-ty-list, and Teddy Baguilat of If-ugao.
Their trip to the disputed islands,was allegedly financed by Filipi-no-Chinese businessmen as a “ci-vilian peace mission.”
Evardone said the Philippinegovernment should considerlaunching a diplomatic offensiveand review its bilateral relationsand agreement with China includ-ing its multi-lateral partners like
Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia andBrunei for the region’s peaceful co-existence and beneficial economicadvantages to all claimants.
“National security depends to asignificant extent on the quality of
our border relations with our neigh-bors,” he said.
Negotiating table“This is the reason why we must
exert every effort to bring theclaimants to the negotiating tableand discuss the way forward. Wecannot indefinitely shelve the dis-putes as one country would want,”he said.
Evardone said the Philippinegovernment could initiate a reviewof the United Nations Conventionon the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),which could be used as a parame-ter in settling the Spratly issue.
Under the UNCLOS, the East-ern Samar solon said, countriesbordering an enclosed or semi-en-closed sea were mandated to coop-erate with each other in the exer-
cise of their rights and in the per-formance of their duties.
“Under UNCLOS, cooperationamong the concerned countriescould include the management,conservation, exploration and ex-ploitation of the living resources ofthe sea; protection and preservationof the marine environment; andjoint program of scientific researchin the area,” he said.
Though the UNCLOS does notaim at settling territorial disputes,Evardone said, “it could be an in-strument for confidence building.”
Limited measurementHe also cited the proposal of
Hasjim Ajalal, first president of theInternational Seabed Authority ofIndonesia, who proposed that amore limited measurement of theEEZ of each littoral country in the
South China Sea should be put inplace so that a certain portion ofthe area would not fall into anyexclusive economic zone.
Evardone said some experts fromthe East-West Center in Hawaiialso proposed the establishment ofa Spratly Management Authority,which would act as body to admin-ister the disputed area.
He also urged Congress to con-duct an inquiry to review the Phil-ippines’ legal claim over theSpratlys, the presence of Philippinetroops in the Kalayaan Islands, andthe efforts of the Department ofForeign Affairs (DFA) on the dip-lomatic front.
EVARDONE
WB leader says gov’t, civil society should join hands vs. criminalityAN OFFICIAL of World Bank (WB) has said
government and civil society should unite againstpolitical and criminal violence.
“Today, 1.5 billion people live in countries af-fected by political and criminal violence,” said Ni-gel Roberts, World Development Report 2011 Co-Director.
Roberts was the main speaker in a round-tablediscussion hosted by the Office of the PresidentialAdviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) in partner-ship with the World Bank Office in Manila on Fri-day.
Attended by members of civil society organiza-tions, Roberts presented the World DevelopmentReport 2011: Conflict, Security and Development
at the Taberna Barcelona Function Room in Lin-den Suites, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
The Report, which was launched last April 2011by the World Bank, focused on strengthening effi-cient and legitimate institutions to provide citizensecurity, justice and jobs in order to gain stakehold-ers and escape the vicious cycle of violence.
“It’s important to have a dialogue between thegovernment and civil society. They cannot do with-out each other. It’s not enough to have a politicalagreement unless reinforced by intense work andsocial consciousness. And civil society can only doso much without the aid of the government,” hesaid.
SAY ‘NO!’ TO DRUGS!
Paje wants financiers, poachersof black corals, marine turtles jailed
DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje has ordered the department's lawyers tostart summaryproceedings againstpersonalities behindthe smuggle try ofsome P35-millionworth of turtles andcorals seized fromtwo container vanslast May 1 aboard avessel that camefrom Cotabatoprovince.
Paje gave theorder as he condemned the poachers and their financiers who, he said,“have practically robbed the present and future generations of Filipinos”the benefits that would have come from these marine species inunquantifiable terms and should face the full extent of the law “inwhatever way necessary.”
The incident comes at a time when the DENR is shoring up its effortsto stop wildlife trade through stricter enforcement of wildlife laws andmore aggressive legal actions against violators of the country'senvironmental laws through the prosecution in special courts – or greencourts – that have been designated by the Supreme Court. “We shallcertainly act with dispatch to make sure that the suspects face thepunishment to the fullest extent,” Paje said.
teachers are required to rendera total of eight hours a day.
“A shorter work day would be agreat relief for the teachers. We arealso proposing that any work per-formed in excess of six hours a dayshall be paid an additional compen-sation of at least 25 percent of theirregular remuneration,” he said.
The bill seeks to exempt teach-ers from the generally establishedrule on 8-hour workday under theCivil Service Rules. Book V of theAdministrative Code of 1987 alsostates that: “Officers and employ-ees of all departments and agenciesexcept those covered by speciallaws shall render not less than eighthours of work a day for five days aweek or a total of 40 hours a week,exclusive of time for lunch.”
The proposed bill provides thatco-curricula, out-of-school activi-ties and other activities of anyteacher outside of their normal du-ties shall be paid an additional com-pensation of at least 25 percent ofhis/her regular remuneration afterthe teacher has completed at leastsix hours of work.
Villar proposes...(From page 1)
needed reforms in the housing sector.“We would like to solicit your
support to push for the strict en-forcement of RA 7279 or the Ur-ban Development Housing Act(UDHA),” he said.
“Furthermore, we would like toencourage volunteerism as a means
to directly link the public sector, theprivate sector, and civil society or-ganizations in re-engineering oursettlements and involvement of ourcivil society organizations and peo-ple’s organizations in estate manage-ment particularly in providing train-ing and livelihood assistance,” headded.
The Vice President said the coun-try’s key shelter agencies are cur-
rently formulating housing policiesthat are designed to significantlyreduce the country’s housing gapby half in 2016.
He also said that the governmentis seriously considering portions ofthe land previously declared ashousing sites to be developed ascommercial areas to make them theenabling component for socializedand low-cost housing.
Gov’t eyes PPP...(From page 1)
Chiz urges DepEd to insure schoolproperties in disaster-prone areas
WITH the onset of rainy season,Senator Francis ‘Chiz’ Escuderourged the Department of Education(DepEd) to immediately insure allschool buildings and properties inthe country’s northeastern seaboardwhere disasters usually strike.
Escudero made his call as he pur-sued this plan together with the
DepEd and the Government ServiceInsurance System (GSIS), who willserve as the education department’sinsurance underwriter.
“When disaster ravages the coun-try, one of the first to go down withthe mud and water is our schoolbuildings. Classrooms have alwaysbore nature’s brunt. Different per-
ils of disasters either damage ordestroy these structures, which aresupposed to be the bastion ofknowledge for our children,” Escu-dero explained.
“Insuring these structures is aguarantee that after a direct impactwith disaster, damage control, repairor replacement is an outright order.”
Thousands of Philippine National Police personnel are expectedto be deployed on standby along Commonwealth Avenue in QuezonCity leading to, and around the Batasan Hills area where the Houseof Representatives is located.
Unaffacted by the recent allegation of massive poll cheating thrownat her by detractors, GMA said she will definitely attened P-Noy’ssecond SONA.
Meantime, the National Economic and Development Authority(NEDA) released a pre-SONA situationer.
It is targetting and highly optimistic a seven to eight percent eco-nomic growth could be achieved by the P-Noy Administration in thenext five years it said.
“The 7 percent to 8 percent GDP growth is still our target in thenext five years. We hope the increase in investment will continue. Wesaw an underspending midway to the second quarter but we willincrease our infrastructure spending,” Socioeconomic Planning Sec-retary Cayetano Paderanga said.
The NEDA chief said he expects the second quarter gross domes-tic product (GDP) to exceed the 4.9 percent growth in the first quar-ter of the year.
Paderanga, however, said that GDP is likely to be “slower” thanthe 8.4 percent growth in the second quarter last year.
In the first quarter, the country’s GDP grew by 4.9 percent amidstthe geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and North Africa, therising oil prices, and the contraction in public spending.
Compared with the performance of its Asian neighbors, Paderangasaid the country’s GDP growth in the first quarter is higher than thatof Thailand’s 3 percent, Republic of Korea’s 4.2 percent and Malay-sia’s 4.6 percent.
He also said that the Development Budget and Coordinating Com-mittee (DBCC) will review the 7 percent to 8 percent economic tar-get this year after the second quarter numbers are out.
“Growth would be higher in 2012,” said Paderanga.Earlier, Paderanga projected a stronger growth in the coming quar-
ters in spite of the risks and uncertainties surrounding the countrybecause of the timely and effective implementation of appropriatepolicies and reforms that are being undertaken.
These include measures such as addressing corruption and makingthe bureaucracy more efficient by streamlining processes to lowerthe cost of doing business for the private sector as well as expeditingthe release and utilization of budget for a more efficient and timelyimplementation of programs and projects, Paderanga said.
He said the GDP for the next five years would be boosted by thegovernment’s public-private partnership initiatives.
Paderanga added that the government is on track to bid out 10infrastructure projects under the PPP scheme this year.
The 10 PPP infrastructure projects lined up for this year includethe P70-billion South Extension of the Light Rail Transit Line 1,P11.3-billion East Extension of LRT 2, P7.7-billion Privatization ofLRT 1, P6.3-billion Privatization of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3,P11.8-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway, and P10.6-billion secondphase of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway.
the government’s Philippine Development Plan for 2011 to 2016,the 7-8 percent annual growth target will generate an average of onemillion new jobs annually and these will be found primarily in indus-try and services sectors.
It added that the 7-8 percent GDP target per year implies a triplingof per capita income to about $ 5,000 in two decades.
“This is a higher growth trajectory than the past decade’s and shallbe attained through a higher contribution of physical capital to GDPgrowth, as well as through the increase in total factor productivitythrough massive investment in transport, water, energy and otherinfrastructure and through good governance,” the country’s econom-ic blueprint said.
The PDP said sustaining growth in later year will require evenhigher investment ratios reaching 22 percent by 2016.
The government approved a total investment of P3.796 trillion by2016.
Paderanga also said that the country’s Medium-Term Public In-vestment Program (MTPIP) for 2011 to 2016 is expected to be com-pleted this month or after President Aquino delivers his second state-of-the-nation address (SONA) on July 25.
No ‘Bangkang Papel,’ ‘Mang Pandoy’props in P-Noy’s 2nd SONA
From page 1...
