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| Gov’t operations remain stable; more new appointees |
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Press Secretary Cris Icban Jr. today assured that government operations
remain on track, with the new appointees to the Cabinet providing continuity
of services as they took over from those who resigned recently to seek
elective positions in the May 10 elections. “We have good reason to be confident that continuity of government operations and services to the people is sustained, if not enhanced, since most of the new appointees are career officials with impeccable track records as public servants,” Icban told Malacanang reporters during a media briefing this afternoon. “We are also highly confident that implementation of government projects, notably those enunciated by the President in her State of the Nation addresses, would push through without unnecessary delays despite changes in the Cabinet,” Icban added. He said the recent cabinet shuffle consequent to a Supreme Court ruling on the tenure of appointive officials running for elections “in all likelihood, would be the last in the Arroyo Cabinet,” During the same media briefing, newly appointed Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza announced that former Undersecretary Anneli R. Lontoc of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has taken over his DOTC post. Mendoza left the DOTC after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo designated him as replacement for Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita who is pursuing a bid for a Congress seat representing Batangas province. Mendoza also disclosed that Cebu Ports Authority chief Angelo Verdan was appointed as the Maritime Industry Authority administrator vice Ma. Elena Bautista who moved over to the Presidential Management Staff. Inducted on Monday were Office of the Government Corporate Counsel head Alberto G. Agra as Justice Secretary, replacing Agnes Devanadera; former Undersecretary Bernie G. Fondevilla vice Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap; former Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) Administrator Ma. Elena H. Bautista replacing Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Director General Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr.; TESDA deputy director general for fields operation Rogelio Peyuan vice TESDA Director Deneral Secretary Augusto Syjuco; Deputy Executive Secretary Joaquin Lagonera replacing Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr.; and Deputy Executive Secretary Natividad Dizon vice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, the President’s chief presidential legal counsel. Devanadera is vying for a congressional seat in Quezon province while Esperon is running as a representative of a district in Pangasinan. Yap is seeking to be a Representative of Bohol. Syjuco and Andaya are also candidates for congressional seats in their respective provinces of Iloilo and Camarines Sur, respectively, while Gonzalez is running for mayor in Iloilo City. |
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| PGMA orders quick, cheap solutions to Mindanao's power woes |
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President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo instructed today the Cabinet to come up
with quick and cheap solutions to end Mindanao’s power problems. Largely supplied by hydroelectric power plants, the country’s bread basket has been experiencing rotating power outages as a result of the El Nino phenomenon, which will likely delay the onset of the rainy season until late June. In a media briefing after the joint Cabinet-National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) meeting in Malacanang, Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza said Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes presented five options on how to address the problem. Mendoza said these options include among others, the lease of generators and the sharing of excess power from other areas to Mindanao subscribers. Press Secretary Crispulo Icban Jr., who was also at the briefing, said another short-term solution possibly is to move in power barges capable of generating additional 200 megawatts of electricity for Mindanao. Icban said another option discussed would be to enjoin interested companies in Mindanao to shift their industrial operations from day time to night time or from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. when power demand is off peak. “These options will be deliberated by a selected group of Cabinet members with instructions from the President to decide “within two or three days,” Mendoza said. The select group include the secretaries of the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of National Defense (DND), who also chairs the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC). Mendoza said the shortage in power supply is confined only to Mindanao, with the Luzon and Visayas grids having enough and even excess power. |
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| RP medical tourism: a $3 B industry by 2015 |
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Even the next administration will continue to gain from the growing medical
tourism industry which is expected to become a $3-billion industry by 2015. This was pointed out by National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Director Dennis Arroyo during the press briefing that followed the joint NEDA-Cabinet meeting held this morning in Malacanang. Arroyo said that around 200,000 foreign patients are expected to come to the Philippines every year which would tremendously help boost tourism into a $3-billion industry by 2015. In 2006, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo started promoting the Philippines as a medical tourism and retirement haven with the issuance of Executive Order 372 which aims to develop the Philippines communication industry, logistics and health and wellness. The Philippines now ranks among the top countries in medical tourism with the continuous renovation and upgrading of more hospitals to meet international standards. In the Central Philippines tourism super region, the base of the country’s tourism industry, there are now 44 hospitals and health facilities accredited for medical tourism by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Tourism (DOT). Three of these medical facilities have been accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), an international organization providing accreditation for hospitals and other healthcare facilities worldwide. Arroyo said among our advantages are our state-of-the-art facilities, competent health care professionals with excellent English communication skills, reasonably priced medical services, and the innate hospitality of Filipinos. |
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| PGMA orders relocation of Lupang Arenda settlers |
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President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo instructed today the Laguna Lake
Development Authority (LLDA) to immediately relocate almost 200,000 informal
settlers living along the shorelines of Laguna de Bay. Interviewed after today’s joint Cabinet-National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) meeting in Malacanang, LLDA General Manager Edgardo Manda said the President directed the LLDA to continue the rehabilitation of Lupang Arenda where some 30,000 families or 180,000 individuals are residing to prevent further pollution of Asia’s second largest freshwater basin. Originally designated as protected wetlands, the 200-hectare Lupang Arenda has been converted into a resettlement site after being used as a clandestine dumpsite until 2001. Manda said the relocation will take place during the summer months so that the informal settlers will also be moved to safer grounds before the onset of the rainy season. Manda said LLDA will coordinate with the office of Vice President Noli de Castro and the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) for the relocation of the informal settlers, possibly in Montalban and Baras, both in Rizal province. Last year, the President made surprise visits to the Manggahan Floodway and Napindan Spillway when both water channels overflowed during tropical storm Ondoy, and caused massive flooding in Metro Manila. Numerous structures in Lupang Arenda were found blocking the two water channels while the water level at Laguna de Bay remained dangerously high for several months. |
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| Naming of new AFP chief, an exercise of commander-in-chief’s power |
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Malacanang officials today said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s
appointment of Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit as new Chief of Staff of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines was an exercise of her powers and prerogative as
commander-in-chief of the armed forces, even as they expressed confidence
Gen. Bangit will have the support of the whole military. New Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza said the military is a professional organization with a discipline of its own, different from others, and thus he said, President Arroyo’s decision will be respected and followed. Press Secretary Crispulo Icban Jr., added that Bangit has passed all the criteria required for the appointment and the latter came out very qualified for the post. In a radio interview, Icban also sought to dispel apprehensions from some political quarters that Bangit’s appointment was connected to the forthcoming May elections, possibly to advance an election agenda of Malacanang. “These are unfounded fears. Even the President has indicated she will be focusing only on her congressional candidacy in Pampanga.” Mendoza, former chief of the 150,000-strong Philippine National Police and himself a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy like Bangit, said there should be no doubt about the loyalty of the incoming military chief. “Once you get into that post, loyalty no longer is personal. It its loyalty to the Constitution and the Republic. President Arroyo announced Monday her choice of Bangit, commanding general of the Philippine Army, as successor to the retiring AFP Chief Gen. Victor Ibrado. The President will preside over the turnover tomorrow of the AFP command in Camp Aguinaldo. Bangit is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1978 and has held many sensitive and significant postings since he became Army chief. He also held the post of Group Commander of the Presidential Security Group and Commander of the unified Southern Luzon Command (Solcom). Prior to his post as Solcom chief, Commander of the Southern Luzon Command (SOLCOM), he was also the commanding general of the 2nd Infantry Division, Philippine Army from September 2007 to May 2008; and Chief, Intelligence Service, Armed Forces of the Philippines from August 2006 to September 2007. |
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