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| 23 AUGUST 2007 | ||
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| 23 AUGUST 2007 | ||
| Statement of Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye Re: Economic Growth and Peace |
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The agenda of economic growth and peace must
prevail over attempts to pull us back from winning these goals. The President urges Congress to start working on the budget bill. She seeks the Senate’s cooperation in the ratification of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). The bill for affordable, quality medicines certainly deserves urgent attention. Let us work together to help the people the best way we can. Gridlock must not stand in the way of our collective right to a brighter future. |
| Gov't bent on ending insurgency problem by 2010 -- National Security Adviser |
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TAGBILARAN CITY, BOHOL--- The government is
determined to end the 35-year-old communist insurgency before President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo bows out of office as part of the administration’s
program to move the country into a First World economy by 2010, National
Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said this morning. In his opening statement during the opening of the two-day Local Peace and Security Assembly (LPSA) for Central Visayas at the Bohol Tropics Hotel here, Gonzales said the President has given the National Security Council (NSC) “a marching order” to end communist insurgency during her term. “We will end armed rebellion within her term. That means our deadline is sometime in June or July 2010. We will do it through whatever means…we will continue with the peace talks. Yes, we will continue with dialogues,” Gonzales said even as he challenged any armed group “not to ever threaten the national government.” “Any ideological group, any armed group in the Philippines will not be allowed to threaten this government anymore. If you want a fight, we will give you a fight. If you want peace, we will give you peace. We will have dialogue. We will have understanding but never, never in the premise of threat,” Gonzales stressed. Gonzales further said that the Arroyo administration is “duty-bound not to allow threats to be the basis of our peace efforts.” The National Security chief said the national government’s sincere support to the initiatives of local government units in pursuing peace-building programs in their own areas would be best gleaned in the holding of the LPSA. At the LPSA, the President wants that achieving peace and development, and resolving the insurgency problem through approaches other than armed conflicts must be a “shared responsibility” by all major stakeholders. Gonzales expressed doubts on the sincerity of the National Democratic Front- Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (NDF-CPP-NPA) in negotiating peace with the government. The latest doubtful act of the NDF-CPP-NPA was the order of NDF Chair Jose Maria Sison to launch attacks while the military is preoccupied in wiping out the Abu-Sayyaf elements in Basilan and Sulu. “This order is a clear equivocal statement on terrorism,” Gonzales stressed, adding that “action speaks louder that words,” which means that the NDF is not really bent on talking peace with the government but instead wants to pursue its agenda of being in power not through democratic processes but through the “barrel of a gun.” “Be full-fledged democrats,” Gonzales challenged Sison. |
| Palace open to proposed amnesty to NPA rebels -- Gonzales |
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TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol – National Security
Adviser Norberto Gonzales said today Malacañang is open to the proposal for
the grant of amnesty to communist rebels who have been fighting the
government over the last 35 years. Gonzales made the statement during the launching here of the Local Peace and Security Assembly (LPSA), a gathering of local government and sectoral leaders and experts designed to find solutions to various peace and security problems in their localities. He said the government will seriously consider calls for the grant of amnesty to the rebels as part of an overall government’s strategy to put closure to the 35-year-old communist insurgency, bring peace to the troubled areas and accelerate the development of the country. Gonzales was reacting to the proposal of Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado who said that amnesty to the NPA rebels would hasten the collapse of the communist insurgency in the country. Citing Bohol’s experience in surmounting the local NPA rebellion, Aumentado stressed that many insurgents are eager to end years of hardships in the underground and leave normal lives but are afraid that they would be prosecuted for political crimes. Gonzales said he will submit an amnesty proposal to the Cabinet, as suggested by the Bohol governor, for its study and consideration. If approved by the Cabinet, the proposal will be forwarded to Congress for its consideration, he added. Following the overthrow of the Marcos government in 1986, then President Corazon Aquino granted general amnesty to political opponents of the dictatorship, including Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison and other top leaders of the communist movement, who later took refuge abroad. Gonzales said that on various occasions, the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had sought a peaceful resolution of the communist rebellion, but Sison had consistently rejected the resumption of the peace process. He said Sison has opposed a cessation of the armed hostilities as he accused the self-exiled rebel leader wanting to gain the leadership of the country through the barrel of the gun. Commenting on the proposed amnesty, Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said that a selective amnesty would be worth considering to bolster government efforts to finally end the insurgency. He said that based on Bohol’s experience, the campaign against the communist-led uprising in the countryside could be won sooner than later. The host of the first LPSA, Bohol, under the leadership of Aumentado has been cited for its successful campaign to end the local NPA rebellion through an integrated program of fighting poverty, military intervention, economic development and high-profile government social services. From 305 in 2001, Bohol’s insurgency-influenced barangays have dwindled to 24 in 2005. As Bohol’s peace initiatives continued to gain ground, insurgents moved to other vulnerable provinces in the Visayas, effectively reducing the rebels’ fighting force to just one island-command. “Most of all, we have given our constituents what they always longed for, a peaceful environment ripe for economic growth and development,” Aumentado said. |
| Gov't determined to achieve goals despite politics of destruction |
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Political gridlock will not in any way deter
the government from securing a brighter future for the Filipino people, so
says Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye. In a statement, Bunye called today on all Filipinos to help the Arroyo administration achieve its goal of economic growth and peace and brush aside efforts to derail such a bid. “The agenda of economic growth and peace must prevail over attempts to pull us back from winning these goals,” he said. “Let us work together to help the people the best way we can. Gridlock must not stand in the way of our collective right to a brighter future,” he added. Bunye was referring to fresh attempts by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s critics to revive past issues which, he said, was only meant to nullify whatever gains the country had achieved in the past. The President had earlier even described these critics as “titans of hate” who have nothing to bring but a politics of destruction. While opposition to her administration seems bent on pulling the country back, the President, according to Bunye, is working harder to let the benefits of her economic reforms trickle down to the grassroots. He said the President is asking Congress to approve the proposed 2008 national budget of P1.227-trillion and pass several very important bills that will help the government perform its duties for the people more efficiently. “The President urges Congress to start working on the budget bill. She seeks the Senate’s cooperation in the ratification of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA),” Bunye said. “The bill for affordable, quality medicines certainly deserves urgent attention,” he added. |
| PGMA orders the granting of extra pay for soldiers in combat assignments |
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CAMP NAVARRO, Calarian, Zamboanga City –
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the payment of extra allowance
for members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in actual combat
assignments over and above the measly “monthly pay” that they are presently
receiving. This was one of the four-point “command guidance” that the President gave today to the top echelon of the Department of National Defense (DND) and the AFP as she presided over the joint AFP and Philippine National Police Command Conference here this morning. The giving of actual combat pay to soldiers -- particularly to members of the Philippine Army and to the Marines, a special combat unit under the Philippine Navy (PN) -- is under the President’s first guidance for Filipinos to honor soldiers, both the dead and the living. During the command conference, President Arroyo ordered the DND and the AFP to study her proposal and to start preparing the paper work for the additional pay for soldiers in actual combat assignments. The President’s “actual combat pay” proposal comes barely a month after she also increased the “subsistence allowance” of all military members starting last July. The present combat pay of soldiers, whether fighting in battle zones or not, is P240 a month on top of their regular monthly pay. Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro shared the President’s “command guidance” to the media after the command conference, with the President to his left, and the local officials of the area in attendance at the media briefing in The Mansion’s garden. The second presidential “guidance” is the intensification of the government’s humanitarian efforts in the area. Here, the “AFP’s participation” would be the deployment of engineering brigades, and medical missions care of doctors from the AFP Medical Center. The third guidance has the President reiterating the government’s commitment to the peace talks, which made even the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) agree to withdraw from some areas so that government forces could continue their operations against the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) whose members are believed to have decapitated and mutilated 10 of the 14 Marines who were killed in ambush in Basilan on July 10. The fourth presidential guidance calls for “continued vigilance” on the part of the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) against any “terrorism spillover” to other areas in the country. The President shared her “command guidance” to the top officials of the AFP and the PNP after listening to situation reports from Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, commander of the Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom), who gave a situation update on Jolo and Basilan; Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Obaniana, commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom), who discussed the situation in his area of responsibility; and Director General Oscar Calderon, head of the Philippine National Police (PNP), who discussed the PNP’s role in Jolo and Basilan. During the media briefing, the President denied media reports that the number of evacuees from the Sulu-Basilan area is increasing; and asked the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Peace Process (OPAPP) to give media the updated figures. The OPAPP representative said there are a total of 5,007 evacuees for both provinces. Meanwhile, Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar announced that the President had ordered the holding of the examinations for teachers right in Basilan, and some 2,000 teachers will be taking the tests this coming Sunday, Aug. 26. Akbar also thanked the President for her administration’s development efforts in Basilan; a motion that Sulu Gov. Abdulsakur Tan, seconded, thanking the President for the medical missions and other humanitarian efforts in his province. Before starting with the command conference at 10:45 a.m., the President met the surviving relatives of the late 2nd Lt. Roldan Somera of Armor Village, San Roque, Zamboanga City. She also gave them the financial assistance from the President’s Social Fund for soldiers who fall in battle. Before leaving for Basilan -- where she held a lunch-hour interaction with the soldiers stationed in the fields while boodle-fighting – the President herself served lunch to the media members present in the press conference here. |
| PGMA flies to Basilan to touch base with soldiers |
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ANDREWS AIR BASE, Zamboanga City – President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo flew to Basilan by helicopter today to touch base
with the soldiers stationed on the island province and assure them of
logistical and operational support in the fight against lawless elements in
the south. The President, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, took the flight after presiding over the AFP Command Conference and a media briefing at The Mansion at Camp Navarro, the headquarters of the Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) in Zamboanga City. In Isabela, Basilan, the Chief Executive went to the headquarters of the First Marine Brigade in Barangay Tabiawan and assured the soldiers of her administration’s commitment to support the military’s requirements – by releasing funds for the procurement of ammunition – so that the soldiers in the fields could perform their jobs well. She also boosted their morale by having lunch with them via the traditional military “boodle-fight” of fish, crabs, fruits and “pancit.” The President assured the men in the field that the offensive against the lawless elements who killed 14 Marines and even mutilated 10 of them last July 10, will continue; and that her government will not give in to the demands of some sectors to halt the offensive and instead negotiate with the perpetrators of violence. Speaking in Filipino, President Arroyo told the soldiers that the AFP has the support of the people and even of local executives in its ongoing operations against the Abu Sayyaf terrorists. She pointed out that side by side with the AFP’s military offensive will be the government’s “humanitarian offensive” to rehabilitate and help out affected communities. Already, the AFP is sending an engineering brigade to the province of Basilan, plus a “CB” or Construction Brigade, according to AFP Chief of Staff, Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. Before flying to Basilan, the President told the Department of National Defense and the AFP during the Command Conference at Camp Navarro that she wants to give “actual combat pay” to the soldiers. She ordered the DND and the AFP to immediately study her proposal and prepare the necessary paper work. |
| 61 disaster-affected families in Bicol to get housing shelters from gov't |
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DARAGA, Albay – In line with the government's
program for the rehabilitation of areas affected by typhoons in the Bicol
region, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will distribute on Friday (Aug.
24) certificates of occupancy to 61 housing beneficiaries here. The President will award a certificate of occupancy to Bingelen Antivola, one of the 61 beneficiaries during brief awarding rites at the Anislag Resettlement Site Phase 2 in Anislag, Daraga, Albay. As part of the Department of Social Welfare Development (DSWD) Self-Employment Assistance Program or SEA-K, she will also hand over three checks – one for P150,000 to Salvani Ayos; another for P75,000 for Nagkakaisa SEA-K Association to be received by Ma. Victoria Lo, and P125,000 for Malubago Settlement SEA-K to be received by Ma. Rosemarie Jacob. After the awarding ceremony, she will tour and inspect the DSWD core shelter housing project at the Anislag Resettlement site and will have informal interaction with the beneficiary-residents. She is also set to hold “pulong bayan” with six barangay officials from various parts of Albay and an informal interaction with the local media to be held also at the resettlement site. The DSWD has implemented the Bicol Rehabilitation shelter cluster program/projects for the 229,655 families or 1,174,063 persons affected by typhoons in the region. The agency has released to Albay province P35.551 million as relief assistance to 134,079 affected families and P11.5 million for the construction of 478 housing units. Among the officials expected to be present tomorrow are Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal, DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral and Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Head Cerge Remonde. |
