Palace on 'missing' SONA items: PNoy can't include everything

 News
Jul 232013
 
Palace on 'missing' SONA items: PNoy can't include everything

PNoy: Napakasarap maging Pilipino sa panahong ito. President Benigno Aquino III delivers his State of the Nation Address at the House of Representatives on Monday, July 22. Joe Galvez Several issues were obviously left out of President Benigno Aquino III’s fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), but a Palace spokesperson on Tuesday said this was only natural. “Given the limited amount of time… Meron nga pong suggestion na baka daw po dapat mag-checklist na lang si Pangulo, tapos banggitin lahat ng sektor. Pero kung gagawin po natin ‘yon ay baka dalawang araw din po tayong nagso-SONA,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told reporters during a press briefing on Tuesday.   She likewise said it was the “judgment” of the President which items can and can be mentioned. But she quickly noted that non-inclusion in the SONA does not mean that the issue is being ignored by the administration. “Hindi naman po ibig sabihin na hindi nabanggit ay wala po tayong ginagawa o kaya’y hindi po ‘yan importante din sa atin. Binanggit po ‘yon ng Pangulo, in reference to the supposed MRT scam and ‘yung PDAF scam. Malinaw naman po ‘yung sinabi ng Pangulo na iniisip ‘nung iba na wala tayong ginagawa kasi hindi natin nababanggit, pero hindi naman po totoo ‘yon,” she said. Among the issues which were not mentioned by Aquino in his speech is the country’s row with China, which Foreign Affairs Sec. Albert del Rosario said was a good call. —KG, GMA News

Palace defends decision to keep Biazon as Customs chief

 News
Jul 232013
 
Palace defends decision to keep Biazon as Customs chief

(Updated 3:17 p.m.) Malacañang on Tuesday defended President Benigno Aquino III’s decision not to accept Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon’s resignation despite the President’s negative comments about the bureau on his State of the Nation Address (SONA). “As Commissioner Biazon had already shared on his Twitter account yesterday, the President’s response that the confidence remains, as both gentlemen know the challenges and as well as the limitations that are being faced by… Biazon in the Bureau of Customs, and that the confidence in the commissioner remains,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said at a press briefing. The Bureau of Customs (BOC) was one of the three government agencies scolded by Aquino during his fourth SONA for supposed mediocre work. The others were the Bureau of Immigration and the National Irrigation Administration. Right after the SONA, Biazon, on his Twitter account, said he offered his resignation to Aquino but that the President said his confidence in him “remains the same.” The heads of the other agencies that were publicly berated by the President had either resigned or had not been reappointed. Biazon, for his part, said he will stay with the BOC as long as Aquino’s confidence in his remains. “Kung nandiyan pa ang kumpyansa ng pangulo, mananatili tayo,” he said in an interview on GMA News TV’s “News To Go” on Tuesday. Sacrificial lamb But he also expressed ambivalence, noting that he is thinking if keeping the post “is all worth it.” “Pinag-iisipan ko rin if this is all worth it Read More …

VP Binay: HUDCC to lead study on new settlements

 News
Jul 222013
 
VP Binay: HUDCC to lead study on new settlements

The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) will lead a study on establishing new settlements that would encourage economic opportunities outside Metro Manila, Vice President Jejomar Binay said. Binay, who chairs the HUDCC, said creating investor-friendly and safe settlements nationwide will help realize the administration’s goal of inclusive growth. “We shall identify future settlements using new technologies on climate change, such as geohazard maps and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), to protect our people and ensure that our communities would be out of danger from the effects of climate change,” Binay said on his Facebook page. “This study will entail a long and very comprehensive urban planning but I believe that it is doable,” he added. LiDar is the country’s first three-dimensional mapping technology that gives accurate topographical information. Binay also said the study aims to correct a misconception that the best economic opportunities are in Metro Manila. The misconception may have made Metro Manila reach its carrying capacity in a short time, he said. “We need to reverse this trend. Instead of people going to one location to seek for greener pastures, we should bring the opportunities to them through these new settlements,” he said. Binay noted the Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change chaired by Environment Secretary Ramon Paje had approved the study on the establishment of new and safer settlements. He said Paje asked the HUDCC to lead the proposed study group. Meanwhile, Binay said the proposed study will support the initiative of government officials to find Read More …

PAGASA: Cloudy, rainy Tuesday throughout the country

 News
Jul 222013
 
PAGASA: Cloudy, rainy Tuesday throughout the country

The early morning rain that fell on parts of Metro Manila on Tuesday was due to the inter-tropical convergence zone and not to any weather disturbance near the Philippine area of responsibility, state weather forecasters said “Ang ITCZ ang umiiral. Ang habagat, sa ngayon, hindi siya nakakaapekto sa Pilipinas. Nasa West Philippine Sea ang habagat,” PAGASA forecaster Samuel Duran said in an interview on dzBB radio. PAGASA’s 5 a.m. bulletin said the ITCZ was presently across southern Luzon and Visayas. Metro Manila, Ilocos, Cordillera, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Visayas and Caraga will experience “cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms.” The rest of the country will be “partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms,” it added. Meanwhile, moderate to occasionally strong winds from the southwest will prevail over Palawan and its coastal waters will be moderate to occasionally rough. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the southwest to southeast with slight to moderate seas. — DVM, GMA News

7 CDO flights canceled due to bad weather – DOTC

 News
Jul 222013
 
7 CDO flights canceled due to bad weather - DOTC

At least seven flights to and from Cagayan de Oro City were canceled late Monday due to bad weather, the Department of Transportation and Communications said. In posts on its Twitter account, the DOTC said the affected flights included those of Philippine Airlines Express, Cebu Pacific, and Zest Air. The canceled flights were: PAL Express:– 2P-525 (Manila to Cagayan de Oro)– 2P-526 (Cagayan de Oro to Manila) Cebu Pacific:– 5J-389, 5J-391 (Manila to Cagayan de Oro)– 5J-390, 5J-392 (Cagayan de Oro to Manila). Earlier, the DOTC said a Zest Air flight was also canceled. It identified the flight as Z2-349 from Cagayan de Oro to Manila. PAGASA had said rain would fall over Luzon, Visayas and parts of Mindanao in the next 24 hours due to the inter-tropical convergence zone. “Luzon, Visayas and the regions of Caraga and Northern Mindanao will experience cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms,” said the PAGASA forecast. The rest of Mindanao would be “partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.” — DVM, GMA News

Lack of mention of China during SONA ‘good judgment’ – DFA

 News
Jul 222013
 
Lack of mention of China during SONA ‘good judgment’ - DFA

Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario on Monday said he was glad President Benigno Aquino III made no mention of the territorial disputes with China in his fourth State of the Nation Address. “I think it was good judgment on the President’s part not to mention it,” Del Rosario said on the sidelines of the SONA at the Batasan Complex. “It’s like when you’re in dispute and you’re already in court, you really don’t discuss the issue.” “I think the plans are clear, because the train has left the station. We filed for arbitration and we’re waiting for the process to continue,” he added. The Philippines sought arbitration under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) last January to have China’s nine-dash claim declared “illegal.” China’s territorial claims cover almost all the South China Sea, including sections that have been declared as the West Philippine Sea. Del Rosario also said he saw no need for the president to mention the issue of disputed territories, as the decision of the UN Arbitral Tribunal would be final. Also, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda echoed Del Rosario’s sentiments. “Ngayon gumagalaw sa UNCLOS na ngayon, so there’s really nothing to discuss na, nasabi na rin ng Pangulo at ng Department of Foreign Affairs [lahat ng dapat sabihin,]” he said. The International Tribunal convened last week in the Netherlands to look at the complaint lodged by the Philippines. The Philippines and China have been locked in a territorial dispute over the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal Read More …

After being scolded by PNoy, Customs chief Biazon offers resignation

 News
Jul 222013
 
After being scolded by PNoy, Customs chief Biazon offers resignation

(Updated 1:43 a.m., 23 July 2013) Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon on Monday night said he “offered” his resignation from government, following President Benigno Aquino III’s statement against the Bureau of Customs during his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA). Aquino, however, did not accept his resignation, Biazon tweeted. The Bureau of Customs (BOC) was one of the three government agencies berated by the President in his mid-term SONA. The other two were the Bureau of Immigration, whose head Ricardo David resigned last week, and the National Irrigation Administration. Later, Biazon expounded more on the matter through both his Facebook account and his blog. He thanked the President for his appreciation of the difficulties involved in trying to reform the BOC, recalling that he took on the commissioner’s job “motivated by the President’s will and vision to reform the entire government, which makes it possible to the break the ‘kalakaran’ which has ruled Customs for generations.” However, ever present was the possibility a failure which would leave him “frustrated and damaged.” Also, after he had offered his resignation, Biazon said that he received reactions and advice through social media. Some of the feedback asked him to stay at his post, while others advised him to resign despite the President’s message of confidence. The matter is still up in the air, according to Biazon. He remains on the job, but “all of these I have to absorb and process.” Meanwhile, during an interview on Monday night’s episode of GMA News TV’s Read More …

3 Filipino fishers hit by storm to be repatriated from Taiwan—PCG

 News
Jul 222013
 
3 Filipino fishers hit by storm to be repatriated from Taiwan—PCG

By Jerry E. EsplanadaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 1:06 pm | Monday, July 22nd, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The government will repatriate shortly three Filipino fishermen who were rescued Saturday by Taiwanese coast guard about 80 nautical miles off Kaohsiung port in southern Taiwan days after they were caught in storm last week, the spokesman of the Philippine Coast Guard said Monday. Commander Armand Balilo, also chief of the PCG Public Affairs Office, told the Inquirer on Monday that they were “coordinating with the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (in Taipei) for the repatriation of the rescued fishermen.” He identified the fishermen as Ronald Dumaran, Edwin Zoilo and Gener Mendoza, all residents of Sta. Ana, Cagayan. Citing a report from the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office in Makati City, Balilo said the fishermen “encountered a storm last July 15.” “On board a fishing boat, they drifted for five days until they were rescued by a Taiwanese Coast Guard vessel,” he said.  “They are in good condition and currently under the custody of the TCG in Kaohsiung.” However, “another Filipino fishing boat (with an undisclosed number of crew) is still missing,” said Balilo. In May, a Philippine fisheries patrol vessel manned by the PCG shot at a Taiwanese fishing boat near Balintang Channel in northern Philippines. The PCG had admitted that its personnel shot at the vessel in an incident that left Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-chen dead. The Coast Guard shrugged off an Inquirer report that the National Bureau of Investigation had recommended the filing Read More …

Fil-Ams at high risk of hepatitis-B; free testing in SF Bay Area

 News
Jul 212013
 
Fil-Ams at high risk of hepatitis-B; free testing in SF Bay Area

By Rose PaquetteINQUIRER.net US Bureau 12:14 pm | Monday, July 22nd, 2013 BLOOD-DRAWING. Mark Nagales (right), Field Representative from the Office of Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco-San Mateo), who wants to set an good example to the Fil-Am community, volunteers for a free hepatitis B screening being conducted by Samson Ku (left), Lab Assistant of the North East Medical Center clinic in Eastmoor St., Daly City. PHOTO BY ROSE PAQUETTE DALY CITY, California—Among Asians, Filipinos are the third-most chronically infected with the deadly Hepatitis B disease, next only to Chinese (first) and Vietnamese (second), reported Genevieve V. Jopanda, executive director of the San Francisco Hep B Free Campaign. At the launching of the Free Hep B test clinic at the North East Medical Services (NEMS) in Daly City on Thursday, Jopanda explained that as many as 1 in 10 Asian and Pacific Islanders are infected with Hepatitis B worldwide. “Of these, two out of three don’t know they are infected, and one in four will develop liver cancer or liver disease if untreated,” Jopanda said, noting that nearly 80 percent of all liver cancers is directly associated with chronic hepatitis B. The campaign started in San Francisco in coordination with the city’s Public Health Clinic, Asian Week Foundation and the City of San Jose. Daly City Mayor Raymond A. Buenaventura encouraged the Filipino-American community to participate in the free hepatitis B testing. “Get tested and be a hero to yourself and family members by getting tested.” Silent killer “Hepatitis B Read More …

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