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| 27 SEPTEMBER 2007 | ||
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| 27 SEPTEMBER 2007 | ||
| PGMA shares limelight with Clinton, Gore, other world figures at CGI meet |
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NEW YORK (via PLDT ) – President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo shared the limelight with former United States President
Bill Clinton, former US Vice President Al Gore and four other leading world
figures at the opening Wednesday morning (NY time)of the three-day session
of the 2007 meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) at the Sheraton
New York Hotel and Towers. The only woman member of the six-man panel discussion on climate change with Clinton acting as moderator, the President discussed her government’s efforts to tap the Philippines’ vast geothermal resources to ease the country’s dependence on imported, ozone-depleting fuel and preserve the environment. Aside from President Arroyo and Gore, the other panelists on the stage overlooking the jampacked crowd at the CGI session hall were Afghanistan President Hamid Karsai, Wal-Mart President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) H. Lee Scott, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and World Bank President Robert Zoellick. At least 16 heads of state -- past and present -- and hundreds of supporters and advocates of the movement to stem the “global weather climate crisis” made up the audience at the CGI session hall. Several others set to speak during the different sessions of the CGI are leading cinema, media, political and business personalities from different parts of the world, among them Angelina Jolie, co-chair of the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez. In his introduction of President Arroyo, Clinton said she was his classmate at Georgetown University in 1968 and repeatedly referred to her efforts to develop clean energy for the Philippines, win the peace in Mindanao and fight poverty. Saying the prospects of developing her country’s geothermal resources are not only bright but profitable, the President said that in the past two weeks alone, build-operate-transfer (BOT) operators of two geothermal projects have turned over to the government their facilities following the expiration of their BOT franchise. Asked about her government’s strategy to end the conflict in Mindanao, President Arroyo said she hoped a permanent settlement of the decades-old strife would soon be achieved. The government’s new paradigm of “soft-hard” approach to the conflict in southern Philippines has been making a remarkable headway in improving the peace and order situation in the area. The soft approach policy involves the development of the area as part of the government’s efforts to fight poverty, the construction of roads and bridges and other infrastructure facilities, improving healthcare services, and mass access to education, among other human resources programs, she said. The President added that the hard approach refers to the use of the military to preserve peace and order and counter other anti-government activities. Organized by the former US President in 2005, the CGI is a “non-partisan catalyst for action, bringing together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.” Its membership base is highly diverse covering a full spectrum of religious, ideological, ethnic and geographical backgrounds and includes current and former heads of state, leading scholars, representatives of non-government organizations and top business leaders. |
| Top BPO exec cites RP's favorable business climate |
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NEW YORK (via PLDT) -- The top executive of one
of the world’s leading business processing outsourcing (BPO) firms on
Wednesday cited the Philippines as the place to be for investors looking
forward to cash in on business havens in Southeast Asia. Kenneth Tuchman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TeleTech, one of the world’s leading BPO firms, described Teletech’s Philippine operations as his company’s “biggest success story.” Tuchman made the glowing remarks on Philippine business conditions during the luncheon he hosted in honor of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her economic team at the Louis Suite of the Waldorf Astoria Towers. Invited to the noontime gathering were top leaders of US businesses, who had signified their interest in learning more about business prospects in the Philippines. Also present during the luncheon-meeting were Finance Secretary MargaritoTeves, Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo. Saying that Teletech’s Philippine investment has paid off handsomely, Tuchman urged his fellow American businessmen to explore the investment opportunities that abound in the country. In her response, President Arroyo told the US business leaders that the Philippines offers an environment that is highly conducive to growth, citing the world-renowned reputation of the Filipinos as hardworking, easy to get along with, and versatility in the English language. TeleTech first expanded into the Philippines in 2001. Since that time, the country has become TeleTech's fastest-growing geography, boasting unprecedented growth from several hundred employees five years ago to 13,000 employees in 10 delivery centers today. It is now the biggest BPO company operating in the country with the number of employees expected to reach 30,000 by next year. TeleTech's centers in the Philippines offer front-to-back-office business process support to Global 1000 clients. The company's Filipino employees handle a variety of complex business transactions including technical support, claims and loan processing, online sales, and lifecycle customer management for leading companies in the telecommunications, retail, technology, insurance and financial services industries. |
| PGMA holds reunion with Filcom leaders of Northeast United States |
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NEW YORK (via PLDT) -- The atmosphere was
distinctly Filipino, the conversation was a mix of Tagalog, Taglish and
English, the greetings were warm, the general mood was tinged with an
unspoken sense of homesickness. On this “special night,” as Vice Consul Elena Maninigat described it, leaders of the Fil-Am communities in New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia, some of whom have not visited their old country for years, gathered at the Waldorf Astoria Towers for a reunion with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The get-together started promptly at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday (Sept. 26, New York time) with the arrival of the President who was immediately engulfed by an eager crowd of kababayans, some of them she personally knew from way back, through the government bureaucracy, from her native Pampanga as well as other parts of the Philippines. After having finally made her way through the throng to the elevated platform after several minutes, the President gamely greeted everyone and thanked them for their presence even if the event “comes at an inconvenient time for you.” She expressed eagerness to know how things were going with the Filipinos in northeast United States. As for things back home, the President said the economy has reached a new level of “maturity and stability with some of the strongest macroeconomic fundamentals in 20 years.” Her administration, she added, has achieved what it had intended to attain, notwithstanding the widespread cynicism. “Six years ago, no one though we could get more revenues, cut down on tax cheats, strengthen the peso and move the stock market. And no one thought we could bring our budget into balance, as we did last year, pre-pay our debts and raise employment. But we did,” she said. The President said the country is well on the way to permanent stability and economic growth as she pointed out that investments are flowing in, the stock market has reached historic highs. Six million jobs have been created over the past six years at the rate of a million a year. “The surge of investments has been anchored by the billion-dollar investments in our country of several major international companies,” among the leading companies operating in various parts of the world, she said. She said that with government finances vastly improved, her administration is pouring billions of pesos into education, healthcare, human and physical infrastructure. “We take pride in our overseas Filipinos,” she said. “You are honored by the government and the people for your sacrifice and dedication to your work, your family and your nation,” the President said. She pointed out, however, that she looks forward to the time when going abroad for a job would be just an option for Filipinos, and not their only choice to earn a living. |
| PGMA cites outstanding Filipinos in Northeast United States |
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NEW YORK (via PLDT) – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
conferred on Wednesday evening (Sept. 26, New York time) presidential awards
on members of the Filipino-American community in northeast United States who
have distinguished themselves in their respective fields of endeavor. Conferred the Order of Lakandula Award, rank of Grand Officer, was Philippine Consul General Cecilia B. Rebong of the Philippine Consulate in New York. The presidential awardee was the Chief Presidential Protocol Officer in 2002-2004 before her posting here. The awarding ceremony was held at the Waldorf Astoria Towers during the President’s reunion with the core leaders of the Filipino communities in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Bestowed the Presidential Medal of Merit Award was noted Filipino playwright Alberto Florentino. Florentino, whose first work as a playwright won the Palanca Award in 1954, is also credited with helping six major Filipino writers join the ranks of National Artists for Literature. The President also presented a certificate of recognition to the members of the Philippine Nurses Association of America (PNAA) task force for the National Council Licensure Examination (NLEX) for its “initiative and efforts in campaigning at the US National Council for State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) for the Philippines to be declared an international testing site for Filipino Aspirants to the nursing profession in the United States.” The PNAA was also cited for “undauntingly carrying on the cause, in spite of the long wait and the disappointments, never giving up hope but instead soliciting partners and supporters, traveling regularly to the Philippines and back, campaigning vigorously for success.” On the other hand, Filipino veterans of World War II living in the United States, handed the President a letter of appreciation for her “constant support for their quest for US recognition.” The Filipino WWII veterans, who were stripped of their benefits in 1946, have finally triumphed over adversity after the veterans committee of both Houses of the US Congress passed the Veterans Equity Bill. “The Filipino veterans are closer than they have ever been to having their rights and privileges restored,” through the support of the President who had personally brought their problem with US President George W. Bush. |
| President Arroyo empowers DND-NDCC chief to suspend classes in emergencies |
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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has issued
Administrative Order No. 196 empowering the Secretary of National Defense
and concurrent Chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC)
to declare the suspension of classes in times of disasters or calamities.
Under the AO she signed last Sept. 11, the President empowered the DND secretary and NDCC chair to suspend classes at any and or all levels nationwide as well as in specific localities during times of disasters or calamities, whether natural or man-made. These include typhoons, earthquakes, floods, conflagrations and the like. The concurrent DND secretary and NDCC chair, Gilberto Teodoro, is also authorized to direct all the appropriate agencies for the implementation of the suspension of classes. In signing the AO, the President said she is giving importance on quick and speedy decision-making in the suspension of classes which, according to her, is necessary in times of disasters or calamities “to spare the pupils, students and the public from unnecessary troubles as well as dangers to their lives and limbs.” “The secretary of National Defense (SND) as concurrent chairman of the NDCC is in the best position to readily assess whether there is a need to suspend classes in times of disasters or calamities,” the President said in her order. It also tasked the SND and concurrent NDCC chairman to immediately inform the Office of the President through the Executive Secretary of his decision to suspend classes. The AO, the President emphasized, does not nullify the powers of other government officials and school heads and administrators to suspend classes for the protection and safety of the students, faculty and personnel of the school. |
| PGMA regales heads of state at the Plenary of the Clinton Global Initiative meet in New York |
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NEW YORK (via PLDT) -- President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo regaled heads of state who gathered Wednesday morning (New
York time) at the Sheraton New York Hotel for the third annual meeting of
the “Clinton Global Initiative” (CGI) with her administration’s development
paradigm and the country’s vision of becoming energy independent. President Arroyo was one of the six panelists in the three-year-old CGI’s opening plenary whose theme revolved around “the need for global action.” Aside from President Arroyo – who was introduced by former US President William Jefferson Clinton as “my college classmate, Batch 1968 of Georgetown University” – the other prominent panelists cum interviewees were Al Gore, former vice president of the USA; Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan; H. Lee Scott, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Wall Mart; Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa; and Robert Zuellick, president of the World Bank. Clinton -- who founded the said non-government organization three years ago -- acted as moderator/interviewer in the elaborate stage set-up at the Metropolitan Ballroom of Sheraton New York Hotel in downtown Manhattan. Very much like a talk show host, Clinton interviewed each of his guests about their development plans, and dealt lengthily on climate change and the participants’ contributions to arrest the depletion of the ozone layer. When it was President Arroyo’s turn, Clinton told the jampacked ground-level ballroom that he and President Arroyo have been “friends a long, long time… but not very long ago, people were writing her off, saying she is in terrible trouble, the Philippines is in terrible trouble…” “She took a lot of tough economic positions, and the (Philippine) economy has completely turned around – and she’s on the way up now, and she is in very good shape, and I am happy to see her here.” The 42nd President of the United States of America then delved on conflicts that are “rooted in religious and other differences, especially in Mindanao,” and asked President Arroyo about how she is “dealing with this in trying to promote reconciliation.” Clinton added and clarified, thus: “What is your experience about the role of economic opportunities in helping to bridge the silly conflicts within your country?” Pretty in a brown dress suit, President Arroyo – who was seated in the very middle of the stage and who was the only female panelist -- told the world leaders gathered, thus: “In a world where hard power has not proven its worth totally, in the Philippines there is a paradigm for peace that (consists of) soft and hard power (which) meld together confidence-building measures.” The President said the measures include “inter-faith dialogue and cultural awareness,” where the (Christian) bishops and (Muslim) ulamas “have been very active… to promote religious understanding.” Alternately dubbed by the moderator as “President Arroyo” and simply “Gloria,” the President explained that achieving religious understanding “is also a part of our Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP).” “Second is the promotion of basic infrastructure and economic development, and I would like to thank the World Bank because they have a very good project – the Mindanao Trust Fund for Peace and Development (MTFPD) where the project partners are the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front)…” Aside from the MTFPD, the President revealed that the World Bank also has a separate trust fund for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which is “managed together by the national government and the autonomous government.” “You know, when we have these projects, they build more than bridges and roads and schools – they build trust.” The President also revealed to the assembly of world leaders that her administration is close to finalizing a peace agreement with the MILF which, she said, has had a taste of the benefits of working with the World Bank. “The WB is also managing a big initiative for when the peace agreement finally comes… then it will really take off… We find that this investment in people is paying off… because peace does not come from the barrel of a gun… that’s what we found…” “We have to give a person human dignity, food on the table, a job… We have to invest in people…” President Arroyo – who went on to earn her doctorate in economics at the University of the Philippines – later got to talk about her latest economic project, the setting up of economic zones around geothermal areas, when moderator Clinton told the assemblage that the Philippines has the biggest geothermal power fields in all the world. “… Would you develop more of it? Is it just an accident of geography, or you turned it into something positive for you?” Clinton asked “Gloria.” “Well, we are endowed with geothermal power. And it fits very well with our Green Philippines program. We want to use clean energy and have energy independence; and geothermal energy gives us clean energy and energy independence,” replied President Arroyo. The President then made a pitch for possible geo-power investors, telling them about the government’s build-operate-transfer (BOT) arrangements, and assuring them that investors are able to recover their investments and more before they turn over projects to the government. “The private sector was able to get their money back before they turn it over to the national government…” She further explained the benefits of going natural with the country’s geothermal fields, with the biggest wetfield in the world located in Leyte island in the Visayas: “They not only give us power, they also give us jobs…” And the host local governments earn royalties which are plowed back to their constituents via subsidized power rates. The mandated ecozones around geothermal areas would also attract power firms to “locate there with the usual investment incentives, and areas far from Metro Manila will now have industries and power.” Clinton – who told the crowd that “everybody in the Philippines is scared of Gloria” – then gave each of his interviewees five minutes to say their parting shots, and the President used this opportunity to tell the world about the country’s 7.5 percent growth. “We would like to share this paradigm with the world and thank you for giving us the opportunity to share this with the world… We believe explicitly or implicitly that we can do it right from Day One, we want to create jobs and take care of our environment… “Our investment in people is paying off. Peace does not come from the barrel of the gun – that’s what we found. We have to believe in the person, (give him) human dignity, food on the table…” The CGI now counts some “13 hundred members” from NGOs, academia, among others, including some 52 current and former heads of state, according to Clinton who joked during the plenary that “everybody in the Philippines is afraid of Gloria.” |
| Super body ready to monitor all contracts amounting to P100-M or more |
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The Procurement Transparency Group (PTG), a
super body created by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to monitor and
evaluate all proposed and awarded contracts amounting to P100 million or
more, is now ready to function to increase transparency in the awarding of
government contracts. The PTG was directed by the President to evaluate and monitor all big contracts entered into by all national government agencies (NGAs), government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), government financial institutions (GFIs), state universities and colleges (SUCs) and local government units (LGUs). The President created the super transparency body by virtue of Executive Order No. 662 entitled, “Enhancing Transparency Measures Under Republic Act No. 9184,” the Government Procurement Reform Act, the NGAs, GOCCs, GFIs, SUCs and LGUs, through their respective Bids and Awards Committees (BACs), to post in the appropriate government website the following procurement reports as required under the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of R.A. 9184: • Annual Procurement Plan; • Procurement Monitoring Report; • List of non-government organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations, or professional associations invited as observers; and • Blacklisting orders against suppliers, constructors, and consultants. All NGAs, GOCCs, GFIs, SUCs and LGUs, through their respective BACs, were likewise directed to post in the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) all their procurement opportunities, results thereof, and other related information as required under the IRR of R.A. 9184. Empowered by R.A. 9184, the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) would then maintain in the PhilGEPs website a database of proposed and concluded public sector contracts involving an amount of P100 million or above. The GPPB would also head the PTG which is tasked to evaluate, comment on, record and monitor the said contracts. Members of the PTG are the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Bishops-Businessmen Conference for Human Development, Transparency and Accountability Network, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), and two other NGOs involved in training procurement observers and/or procurement reforms. The PTG shall make timely recommendations of remedial actions, improvements in procurement, contract implementation and monitoring processes to ensure compliance with contractual terms and to safeguard government and public interest. Upon findings of non-compliance, the PTG shall recommend to the PAGC the imposition of sanctions, implementation of remedial measures, and the filing of criminal, civil and/or administrative charges if warranted. |
