July 04 2007

GOCC, GFI officials considered resigned -- Ermita

Presidential appointees in Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) and Government Financial Institutions (GFIs) are considered to have tendered their resignations whether or not they had complied with Malacanang’s June 30 deadline for the submission of courtesy resignations, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said today.

In his weekly press briefing in Malacanang this afternoon, Ermita said it was up to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to accept or not to accept the resignation of the GOCC and GFI officials.

Even if the GOCC and GFI officials failed to comply with the June 30 deadline for the submission of courtesy resignations, "we will consider that they have submitted their resignations," Ermita said.

He said 268 presidential appointees from 42 GOCCs and GFIs have submitted their courtesy resignations.

Among these government entities are the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Philippine Postal Corporation (PPC), Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), Philippine Heart Corporation (PNC);

Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), National Power Corporation (Napocor), Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC), the National Transmission Corporation (Transco) and the Philippine Reclamatioin Authority (formerly Public Estates Authority).

Ermita said Malacanang’s search committee has been instructed to evaluate the performance of the GOCCs and GFIs and their respective officials as part of the impending reorganization of these government agencies.

"Whether the GOCC and GFI officials submitted their courtesy resignations or not, the search committee shall continue to look at their status because the status of some officials are either they are on hold order, their terms have expired or that there are vacant positions in the board of these agencies," Ermita said.

He explained that the courtesy resignations were intended to give the President a free hand in reorganizing the management of GOCCs, GFIs and government-sequestered companies.

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Palace evaluating sincerity of CPP-NDF pronouncements

While the government is willing to go back to the negotiating table, Malacanang is evaluating the sincerity of the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF) leadership in the light of reports that it is wiling to resume the stalled peace talks.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita stressed this today in response to reports that CPP-NDF founding chairman Jose Maria Sison has agreed for the resumption of the talks on condition that the New People’s Army (NPA), its armed wing, be delisted as an international terror organization.

"It is very difficult for the Philippine government to make actual commitments because in the first place the European Union is a sovereign group and so with the US and Canada," Ermita explained at his regular weekly press briefing this afternoon in Malacanang.

In the meantime, he said, the government will verify the veracity of Sison’s statement while the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will observe the attitude of the European Union and the United States.

In 2002, the US government, along with the EU and Canada, declared the NPA as an international terrorist group.

Ermita said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has likewise tagged the NPAs as communist terrorists after they conducted a series of attacks against civilians, military and police detachments.

"So for the moment it stands like that. Let us see what happens in the light of these developments. But I’m not in a position to say that right now we are removing the label because, at present, the NPAs are labeled as communist terrorists," he explained.

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Malacañang tackles gov't deficit woes

In order to attain its full-year deficit target of P63 billion, the government decided today to step up the disposal of some of its assets and carry out administrative reforms on tax collections in the second half of this year.

This was announced by Finance Secretary Margarito Teves during a media briefing this afternoon after a command conference of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC)-Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)-Bureau of Customs (BOC) presided over by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacanang.

Also present during the briefing were BIR Officer-in-Charge Lilian Hefti and BOC Chief Napoleon Morales.

Teves said the deficit target could be achieved by disposing government assets and through aggressive collections from tax and non-tax revenue items.

"There is enough room for us to arrive at our destination of reaching the total revenue target and at the same time supporting the 2007 expenditure program and live within the P63 billion deficit that we have targeted for the year," Teves said.

In the first semester, Teves said there was an estimated P53 billion cumulative tax revenue shortfall in relation to target by the BIR and the BOC, roughly estimated at P40 billion and P13 billion, respectively.

Teves said the BIR and the BOC are tasked to collect this year P730 billion and P228 billion, respectively, to deliver the programmed infrastructure and social services for the people.

He said the strategy is to increase the non-tax revenue collections of the BIR and the BOC and step up government privatization efforts.

By October, Teves said the government expects to generate about P100 billion from its 24 percent interest in San Miguel Corporation, and at least P50 billion from selling about 20 percent of its remaining 60-percent stake in the Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development Corporation (PNOC-EDC).

During the command conference, Teves said President Arroyo also reminded them to further intensify their campaign and convert the cases against smuggling and tax evasion into conviction.

"Both the BIR and the BOC would be more proactive in translating and relating with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) to facilitate and expedite the conversion of these cases into prosecution," Teves said.

Morales said the BOC is now updating its database to international standards and has acquired modern X-ray machines to detect smuggling, underdeclaration and misdeclaration of goods.

On the other hand, Hefti said the BIR is also verifying the correctness of income tax payments, huge purchases, and sharing information with other government agencies to detect erring taxpayers and eventually increase collections in the second half of the year.

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PGMA names 3 gov't officials

Malacanang announced today the appointment by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of three highly-qualified individuals to government posts.

In his weekly press briefing in Malacanang this afternoon, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the three newly-appointed government officials were Pedro R. Cabuay, Jr. as Deputy National Security Adviser under the National Security Council (NSC); Rebecca J. Calzado, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); and Virgilio A. Mortera, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

At the same time, Ermita said the President has issued three presidential issuances, including Executive Order No. 630 transferring the Council for the Welfare of Children from the Office of the President to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Also issued were Administrative Order No. 179 revoking A.O. 175 entitled "Strengthening the Powers of the Secretary of Justice Over the Bureau of Immigration," and Administrative Order 180 prescribing guidelines to fill temporary vacancies in local elective offices in certain areas to prevent paralyzation of local government operations.

A.O. 179, signed by the President last June 27, takes effect immediately following its publication in a national newspaper of general circulation.

A.O. 180 states that in the event that the Commission on Elections has not proclaimed by noon of June 30, 2007 the winning candidates for all local elective offices of a local government units (LGUs) or has declared a failure of election in said LGU, "the President may designate Officers-in-Charge (OICs) for the offices of the governor, vice-governor, mayor, vice-mayor and the members of the sangguniang panlalawigan, sangguniang panlungsod and sangguniang bayan, provided that the OIC must possess all the qualifications prescribed for the corresponding elective office."

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04 JULY 2007		.