President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the transfer of the Council for the Welfare of the Disabled from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to the Office of the President in a move to further strengthen the government programs for the welfare of disabled Filipinos.

The President issued the order upon her arrival last night from a five-day visit to China and India to affirm her administration’s commitment to be regionally and globally engaged -- politically, economically and diplomatically.  

Shortly after her arrival in China, the first stop of her two-nation swing, the President witnessed the opening of the Special Olympics World Summer Games 2007 at the Shanghai Stadium.

The 52-strong Philippine contingent was the biggest delegation to the international sporting event.

The President said the transfer of the Council for the Welfare of the Disabled from the DSWD to the Office of the President was “upon the recommendation of Philippines non-government organizations (NGOs) concerned with intellectual disabilities.”

She named Mrs. Lovely Romulo, the wife of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, as the chair of the Council, and Mateo Lee, a person with disability, as executive director.

DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral “shall continue to oversee the Council in my behalf,” she added.

She directed Chief Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol and the Presidential Management Staff to prepare the appropriate documents to effect the changes.

The President also announced that Dr. Timothy Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics chair, “offered to raise foundation money to support special education for Filipino children with intellectual disabilities.”

“We accepted his offer,” she said, adding that the Philippine government’s counterpart commitment was to build a school building to house the special education programs. 

“China’s hosting of the Special Olympics world games and the Global Policy Summit on the wellbeing of persons with intellectual disabilities gave us the opportunity to network for that sector in our society,” she said.

The President’s plane touched down at the Centennial Terminal 1 at 10:38 p.m.

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Filipino boxing great Manny Pacquiao once again buoyed the nation’s spirit with his excellent fighting form and indomitable spirit.

Our “Pambansang Kamao” is the Philippines gift to the world of boxing.

We join all Filipinos in celebrating his well-deserved victory!

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President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said last night that the government’s cyber education project must be protected “from unnecessary controversy” to ensure that the world-class information communications technology (ICT) program is implemented without further glitches.  

The President made the statement upon her arrival last night from a five-day trip to China and India.

The Cyber Education Project of the Department of Education (DepEd) is designed to make the country’s educational system globally competitive and the Filipino students at par with those of the rest of the world.

She directed the China Projects Oversight Panel chaired by Trade Secretary Peter Favila to “begin working out procedures to protect the cyber education project from unnecessary controversy, so that world-class ICT would reach 4^th to 6^th class municipalities and the least endowed schools.”

The President issued the directive to ensure that the cyber education project does not suffer the same fate as the aborted National Broadband Network (NBN).

The Cyber Ed Project uses satellite technology to provide an efficient and cost-effective solution to deliver educational services to public elementary and secondary schools throughout the country.

The project links these schools to a nationwide network that provides 12 video channels, wireless wide area networking, local area networking and wireless Internet connectivity.

Under the Cyber Ed program, a total of 37,794 schools or 90 percent of all public schools nationwide would be connected in the next three years. These schools would receive live broadcasts featuring lectures and presentations from master teachers as well as coursewares on demand and other valuable resource materials.

The technology — a satellite-based distance learning--- is widely used in such countries as the United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Thailand, India, Indonesia and China.

The DepEd's Cyber Ed Project is based on China's E-Education Project which covers some 500,000 schools and universities.

The project, an off-shoot of the ICT-based education agenda included in the economic cooperation agreement signed by the Philippines and China in June 2006, is being undertaken with the Tsinghua University, China's premier technology university and one of the world's pioneers in distance education.

About P5 billion was earmarked for the first phase of the project which will be operational early next year.

Although she expressed disappointment over the scrapping of the NBN project, the President said she was grateful that China “remains committed to our confident, mature and comprehensive relations.”

“We are disappointed with the broadband not being continued,” she said, adding that with the cancellation of the NBN project the government’s projected telecom savings of P3 billion a year from broadband may go down the drain.

She also reiterated her call on the private sector to fill the gaps in the telecommunications facilities and services, especially in the depressed areas.

“We reiterate our instruction to (DOTC) Secretary Leandro Mendoza to discuss with private telecommunication companies how government can cut its phone, fax and online expenses, so we can spend more on programs and projects. And once again we urge the private sector to fill the gaps in telecommunication facilities and services, especially in depressed areas,” the President said.

She pointed out that her program to seamlessly link the archipelago through the wonders of ICT could be implemented by either the government or the private sector.

“Whether government or business, we must invest in digital infrastructure to link the entire country all the way to the poorest villages,” the President said.

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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued last night several directives intended to ensure that the people, especially the poor, enjoy easy access to cheap quality medicines.

In a statement upon her arrival from a highly successful five-day visit to China and India, the President said expanding the coverage of the government’s half-priced medicines project is in anticipation of the passage by Congress of the Affordable Medicine Bill and the active participation of the private sector and the local government units (LGUs) in the pharmaceutical trade with India.

“Our massive spending on health care includes importing pharmaceuticals from India as part of our program to cut in half the price of medicines commonly bought by the poor, she said.

She explained that although the main importer of medicines from India is the government-owed Philippine International Trading Corporation, PITC need not be the exclusive agent.

For this reason, she had invited private drugstore owners, traders and LGUs interested in linking up with India’s pharmaceutical companies to join her entourage, the President said. 

The Chief Executive also voiced support for the proposal of Congressman Antonio Alvarez, chairman of the House Committee on Trade and Industry, to make Botika ng Barangays (BnBs) the country’s fastest growing drugstore network.

Alvarez is seeking an increase of the allocation for the BnBs branch expansion program from this year’s P98 million to P150 million in 2008. 

“That augmentation would increase the number of Botika outlets to be established next year to 6,000 from the planned 3,913,” the President said.

If this target is met, there will be 13,514 BnB branches by the end of 2008, she said.

“The common man’s access to quality affordable medicine can only be made possible if BnBs are spread throughout the land,” she added.

She stressed that medicines for common illnesses must not only be affordable but also accessible.

“And there is no better way to guarantee the latter than by letting the people themselves own and run their own pharmacies,” she said. 

The President pointed out that BnB is just one in the constellation of government-owned dispensaries as there are also privately-owned but state-supplied Botika ng Bayans. There are now 1,481 of these outlets nationwide, she added.

There are also drugstores run by cooperatives in military and police commissaries. 

To further accelerate the roll-out and widen the reach of the cheap quality medicines, the President issued the following directives:

1.    To the extent allowed by law, the Procurement Service of the DBM shall sell PITC Pharma products in its depots and commissaries. It shall serve as a drug central that will serve as a distribution point of cheap medicines. Henceforth, its inventory shall include pharmaceuticals.

2.    A variant of the BnB shall be set up in state universities and colleges (SUCs). To be called Botika ng Pamantasan (BnP), this will allow students to buy medicines not only for themselves but also for family members.

By locating these BnPs in tertiary educational institutions, students will also be educated on generic medicines, information which they can re-echo to their clan and community. By creating an army of generic drug converts out of the MTV generation, they will be empowered, and indirectly their families, with rights they can exercise on matters that affect the health of their loved ones.

Moreover, the President said the BnPs can serve as laboratories for business courses.

The BNPs can “provide employment to students who may wish to work there. BnP viability is secure as it has the financial backing of its host college, for the latter has no business offering a Commerce course if it cannot run a small enterprise,” she said.

“In these stores, probably our academics can practice what they preach. An ordinary SUC has a population bigger than an average barangay so it has a customer base for a drugstore,” she pointed out. 

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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo returned last night from a five-day visit to China and India, two of the fastest growing economies in the world, elated that she has achieved the key goals of her two-nation trip.

These are the strengthening of the Philippines diplomatic and economic relations with both China and India, paving the way for increased investments in the Philippines by businessmen of her host countries, and pushing for the resolution of the Myanmar crisis through peaceful means.

Likewise, her visit to India opened the way for closer cooperation and increased trade between the Philippines and India’s pharmaceutical sector on cheap quality medicines for her administration’s Affordable Medicines Program.

“Iyon ang apat sa mga hangarin sa pagdalaw natin sa Tsina at India—isulong and mapayapang diyalogo sa Myanmar, pagibayuhin and pagtutulungan natin sa Tsina, at mapansin tayo ng mga naglalakihang negosyo ng India, at palawakin and abot-kayang gamut,” the President said.    

“In our visit to China, we followed up large investment prospects coming from the fastest growing economy in the world, networked for the wellbeing of persons with intellectual disabilities and addressed the fate of concessional China loans for infrastructure the country needs,” she said.

On the other hand, her visit to India enabled the President to  address “urgent concerns over the situation in Myanmar and put the Philippines on the radar screen of the fourth largest economy in the world.”

In China, the President was able to establish an opportunity to network for the intellectually disadvantaged Filipinos through Dr. Timothy Kennedy Shriver, chair of Special Olympics, who offered to raise foundation money to support special education for Filipino children with intellectual disabilities. 

She said her China trip further strengthened already robust relations with that country despite the cancellation of the controversial National Broadband Network (NBN) project with ZTE.

“We believe we have further strengthened our robust ties with China by clarifying recent developments related to massive Chinese assistance for our infrastructure program,” she said.

Also in China, the President visited the Yantai Rising Dragon International Container Terminal in Shandong province, operated by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), the only Philippine port operator to penetrate the Chinese port services market.

The President’s three-day state visit to Mumbai and New Delhi yielded nine bilateral agreements and at least $2 billion in investments in the Philippines by Indian businessmen.

These agreements include:

        -Framework of Philippines-India Bilateral Relations.

        -Agreement to Establish the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation.

        -$50-million credit line from Export and Import bank of India.

        -Philippines-India Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism, to include exchange of military personnel and students and joint military exercises in non-combatant activities.

Memorandum of Agreement in the Field of Health and  Medicine: 

        -Agreement between the Philippine Trading Corp. and the Indian State Trading Corp. for the purchase of $35 million worth of quality but affordable medicines from India.

        -Memorandum of Agreement on Enhanced Cooperation in the Field of Renewable Energy.

        -Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the Foreign Service Institutes of the Philippines and India, and,

        -Memorandum of Agreement on the waiver of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic and official passports.

“We believe we have increased the economic potential of our ties with India,” the President said. 

The highlight of her Mumbai visit was the commitment of Global Steel of Mittal to invest $1.6 billion in an integrated steel mill in Iligan City.

“We encourage the Iligan City government to provide a welcoming climate for this investment the way that Olongapo and Zambales governments have done for the billion dollar Hanjin investment in Subic and the way that the Angeles and Pampanga governments have done for the billion dollar Texas Instruments investment in Clark,” she said.

“Hanjin and Texas Instruments have provided thousands of jobs in their investment locations and the integrated steel mill will do the same for the people of Iligan City and Lanao del Norte,” she added.

Sutherland Services of India will expand its call center operations in the Philippines by setting up a new call center in Camarines Sur in the next 45 days. The new call center is expected to create 500 new jobs for the Filipinos.

For Myanmar, the President encouraged India to initiate a peaceful dialogue with Myanmar which used to be a part of India.

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