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| 03 AUGUST 2007 | ||
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| 03 AUGUST 2007 | ||
| Statement of Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye Re: Emergency Powers |
| On a scale of one to ten, I would put the possibility of the President resorting to emergency powers to address the situation at zero point five. |
| Possibility of PGMA using emergency powers vs. drought nil -- Palace |
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Stressing that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
is on top of the situation and the government has carried out mitigating
measures to cushion the effects of the long dry spell on agriculture and
energy supply, Press Secretary and concurrent Presidential Spokesperson
Ignacio R. Bunye said today speculations that the President would use
emergency powers to confront the looming crisis must end now. "On a scale of one to ten, I would put the possibility of the President resorting to emergency powers to address the situation at zero point five," Bunye said in a statement. According to Bunye, the President is not keen on asking Congress for emergency powers and that the government has started undertaking measures to prevent a major water and power shortage in the face of a drought threatening Luzon. Bunye said the President has alerted all concerned agencies to take steps to mitigate the effects of the abnormal weather situation, including cloud-seeding operations, particularly in Northern and Central Luzon and the Metro Manila areas. The President ordered on Tuesday the release of P664 million from the budget of the Department of Agriculture for cloud-seeding operations, planting of alternative seedlings that do not need much water, and for irrigation. The President has also asked the public to conserve water and energy. The Department of Agriculture said the dry spell in Northern Luzon had not reached “critical level” yet even as it allayed fears that there would be food shortage or skyrocketing of food prices as farmers could not plant due to lack of irrigation water. |
| PGMA extends life of MidEast Preparedness team |
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Alarmed by the reported smuggling of Filipino workers and violations of the
deployment ban in Iraq, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has extended the
life of the Presidential Middle East Preparedness Committee (PMEPC) to
ensure the security and safety of Filipinos working in the Middle East. The decision to extend the operation of the PMEPC up to Dec. 31 this year, contained in Executive Order No. 640, was also triggered by the continued tension, political instability and armed conflicts in some Middle East countries, according to Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita. The term of the PMEPC, headed by former Armed Forces Chief of Staff and now Ambassador Roy Cimatu, should have expired last June 30, pursuant to E.O. 597 dated Jan.12, 2007. The EO cited the urgent need for the PMEPC to continue to assess and monitor development and update contingency measures to ensure the safety of Filipinos in the Middle East, Ermita said. Ermita announced in a press briefing in Malacañang on Wednesday the President’s directive to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to send a probe team to the Middle East and verify reports that 51 overseas Filipino workers were duped to go to Iraq from Kuwait and forced to work in the construction of the United States embassy in Baghdad. The President, according to Ermita, reminded Ambassador Cimatu to prepare and establish a specific contingency plan each for the potential crises in some countries, and strictly uphold the current ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Iraq and Lebanon. The President, who signed EO 640 last July 25, has approved the release of P5 million as additional fund allocation for the PMEPC’s administrative and operational expenses. Under the new directive, all PMEPC members are retained and directed to continue to exercise their functions and responsibilities as provided for under EO 159 dated Dec. 23, 2002, in relation to EO 194 and EO 195, both dated April 14, 2003. The President also tasked the PMEPC to provide continuing assistance to the DFA, as well as to other government agencies concerned with OFW safety, security, and protection, and in the formulation and implementation of policies, plans, and modes of coordination. |
| PGMA drinks treated Panay River water |
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PASLANG, PANITAN, Capiz – She came, she saw, she tasted. And she found it good! “Oo, masarap,” exclaimed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as she gamely tasted and drank mineral water that had its origins from the chocolate brown waters of the Panay River. President Arroyo drank the mineral water from a goblet while Sen. Manuel A. Roxas II and provincial and local officials looked on in the P701.112-million water treatment plant. On her way to the control room cum taste-test area where she pushed the button to activate the coagulation machine, President Arroyo -- wearing an ensemble of light-brown pants and short-sleeved blouse that was just a little lighter in color than the brown Panay River – unveiled the gleaming metal marker for the Metro Roxas Water Supply System Improvement & Expansion Project (MRWSS-IEP). The walk-through atop the filtration tanks also afforded the President a view of how the pumped-up brownish Panay River water practically turns colorless after undergoing the various steps of treatment. The Metro Roxas Water District (MRWD) -- which was earlier taken over by the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) under an interim board of directors headed by Engr. Pablo Bercilla – had bottled the “bacteria-free” mineral water and labeled it “compliments of the MRWD” just for the unveiling ceremonies. The President arrived by land transport in this new water treatment facility at 10:50 a.m. while a helicopter circled the area, and frogmen in orange diving suits from the Presidential Security Group (PSG) patrolled the Panay River in a pumpboat. The river flows northward right alongside the treatment facility to the west. Aside from Senator Roxas, the President unveiled the marker with Governor Victor Tanco, Rep. Antonio del Rosario (1st District), Panitan Mayor Katherine Belo, Roxas City Mayor Vicente Bermejo, MRWD Interim GM Pablo Bercilla, MRWD Board Chairman Antonio Magtibay, LWUA Administrator Orlando Hondrade, and Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas Rafael Coscolluella. The Water Treatment Plant here, some 15 kilometers from the Roxas City proper, is part of the second phase of the two-phase MRWSS-IEP. It was funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Bercilla said the water district is also planning to rehabilitate the old water-distribution system at a cost of P20 million. The MRWD covers Roxas City and the towns of Ivisan, Panitan, Sigma and Panay. The treatment plant produces 30,000 cubic meters of potable water per day, and serves some 200,000 individuals in the water district’s service area. The MRWD started with the old Roxas City Water District (RCWD) which was formed on Oct. 29, 1976, and which obtained its Conditional Certificate of Conformance from the LWUA on Jan. 20, 1977. The LWUA says the water supply system of Roxas City was originally constructed in 1929 with the Catao Dam and Sibaguan Deepwell as (its) main sources of water. The Catao Dam was improved in 1955 while the Sibaguan Well was abandoned due to saline intrusion. It was then that the Panay River was tapped to augment the water supply, and new distribution lines were laid. Water meters were installed in 1977, while the original 8 cu.m./day treatment plant was built in 1981. By March 1987, a pumping station, a reservoir and 28 kilometers of pipelines were built. The LWUA says the MRWSS-IEP came about because of the increasing water demand of the concessionaires just as the old water district started experiencing “inefficiencies” with the old pumping station and the old transmission lines, portions of which would burst during brown-outs because of “water hammering.” Also, the old treatment facility could no longer cope with the increasing number of connections and water demand. Its filtration process had also become ineffective, with colloidal particles already passing through, thus accumulating silt in the water system. The first phase of the MRWSS-IEP kicked off in January 2002, with the laying down of the 10-kilometer long 600-mm main transmission line, plus a 700-cubic meter reservoir, and repair of the old 1,000 cu.m. reservoir. The said first phase was completed in April 2003. Meanwhile, Phase II was started in January 2003, with the ground-laying of a kilometer-long 500-mm transmission line, plus a 300-cu.m. reservoir, and 108 kilometers of transmission/distribution lines. The now 100-percent completed water-treatment plant (WTP) weathered several storms, so to speak, including the 14-month suspension of the project because of lack of a building permit, plus the inclement weather last December, and “variation orders” in the sludge lagoon, river revetment, and automatic transfer switch. The MRWD said “the idea of constructing a new WTP is the best alternative MRWD has taken. It solved water supply problems on both quality and quantity.” The new WTP produces treated water with turbidity of less than one NTU (nephelometric turbidity unit), which is a mean accomplishment considering that the treated water had come from the “very turbid” Panay River whose turbidity reaches 1,300 NTU. The MRWD mineral water’s “less than one NTU” is even much less than the acceptable potable water standard of the Department of Health of 5 NTU, according to MRWD Secretary Maximino Concepcion. |
| PGMA releases P25-M for P50-M AFP housing project |
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LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu - True to her commitment in her State-of-the- Nation
Address (SONA), President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo turned over today a check
for P25 million representing the first tranche of the P50-million housing
project of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for enlisted personnel
in Camp Lapu-Lapu, Lahug, Cebu City. The President presented the check to Lt. Gen. Cardozo Luna, AFP Central Commanding general, at a brief turnover ceremony held at the MIP Lounge of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Lapu-Lapu City. The AFP housing project consists of housing units for 90 enlisted personnel and their families. It is a three-bedroom, two-storey apartment unit type. Among those who witnessed the turnover rites was Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Head Cerge Remonde. The President, during her informal interaction with the media here, disclosed that part of her meeting with the Cebu local officials upon her arrival this afternoon, was the proposed transfer of the AFP Central Command from Cebu City to the Mactan Island. "Mactan Island will be the headquarters of the Central Command and some other services like, for instance, the engineering, will move to Tuburan. But the Central Command headquarters will move to Mactan," she said. She said the AFP housing project in this province will also be located in Mactan. She noted that the choice of Mactan as Central Command headquarters was recommended by AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon. "It’s because of communication purposes. Because it is a command center, it has to be near as possible to the metropolis. Mactan is quite very, very urban," she said. |
| PGMA inaugurates Accenture call center facility in Cebu |
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CEBU CITY—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated here today Accenture
Cebu Facility, an American multinational consulting, technology and
outsourcing company with 158,000 employees in 49 countries and generated net
revenues of US$16.65 billion. "We are here in Accenture, which is one of the leaders in the higher value-added segment of cyber services,” the President said. Accenture Cebu Facility, which is part of Accenture's Global Delivery Network, will initially provide application management, systems development and other services to clients on an outsourced basis. Its first delivery center was established in Manila in 1985. It has nine other facilities in Metro Manila. The President, in at least two of her State-of-the-Nation Addresses (SONAs), had mentioned Cebu not only as a center of tourism but also a center of cyber services. "I said many times that we are very famous in the call centers. But what I would like to have now is to have the higher value-added segment. And here, in the Accenture, we have the highest value-added of all which is the software development," she stressed. The President cut the ceremonial ribbon, signalling the opening of the Accenture Cebu Facility at the ground floor of the Pioneer House Bldg. in Cebu Business Park, Cebu City where the Accenture company is holding its offices. Accenture Country Managing Director Beth Lui and Accenture Delivery Center Network for Technology Managing Director Keith Haviland both thanked the President for taking time out in inaugurating their call center facility and giving importance to this industry. She toured the Accenture facilities at the ground floor and proceeded to the fourth floor where she had informal interaction with the 30 newly-hired call center workers who are undergoing a four-month call training course. The Chief Executive also witnessed the turnover of the certificate of donation of 50 computers by Accenture Country Managing Director Beth Lui to Anecita Ponce and Diosdarlin Cabreras, representatives of the Don Vicente Rama National High School for the computer literacy program of the said school. Among those who witnessed the brief rites were Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Head Cerge Remonde, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano, Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Cebu Reps. Raul del Mar and Antonio Cuenco. |
| PGMA names Puno to Cocochem; Ray Anthony Roxas to CICT |
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CEBU CITY—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo bared here today the
appointments of outgoing Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman
Carlito Puno as president of the United Coconut Chemicals Inc. (Cocochem),
and Rey Anthony Roxas Chua as chairman of the Commission on Information and
Communications Technology (CICT). The President made the announcement during her informal interaction with the local media after the Accenture Cebu Facility inauguration held at the Pioneer House Building in Cebu Business Park in Cebu City. The President expressed gratitude to Chairman Puno for his utmost dedication and good work as CHED head. She said she hoped that Puno would accept the post as president of Cocochem due to his vast pharmaceuticals experience and background. "I would like to take this opportunity to thank Chairman Carlito Puno for the good work that he has done over these past several years. He has a background on pharmaceuticals and I hope he will accept our offer to become the president of Cocohem," the President said. She also announced the appointment of Rey Anthony Roxas Chua as the new chairman of the CICT, vice Ramon Sales who resigned last May. Chua is the grandson of sugar and rice trading magnate Antonio Roxas Chua. |
