Communities RP Government Updates Philippine Economy Posts a Respectable 4.6% GDP Growth in Second Quarter. And Other News.
| Philippine Economy Posts a Respectable 4.6% GDP Growth in Second Quarter. And Other News. |
Philippine Economy Posts a Respectable 4.6% GDP Growth in
Second Quarter
The 4.6% GDP recorded on the second quarter is still respectable given the
threats to global economy. In a larger view, our growth output only mirrors
what the rest of even major economies in the world are experiencing due to high
food and oil prices which induced inflation and held back consumer demand. The
government is addressing the impact of these by accelerating expenditures on
pro-poor programs while cutting back on non-essential ones. These measures and
other reforms laid by President Arroyo which kept the country on even keel in
spite of global factors, are part of the pump-priming activity of the
government to generate jobs and demand for goods and services.
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Delegates to 4th regional forum on corruption calls on PGMA
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo welcomed today to Malacañang the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) delegates to the 4th annual meeting of the
parties to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Preventing and Combating
Corruption held on Aug. 26-28 at the Philippine International Convention Center
(PICC).
The President said the Philippines was happy to host the three-day meeting of
the heads of anti-corruption agencies from Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The delegation, led by Ambassador Said Hamdan of
The delegates shared their best country practices and benchmark strategies on
fighting and preventing corruption during the three-day meeting.
On the third day, Ombudsman Gutierrez and other key Philippine officials,
including Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Diosdado Peralta, presented the
country’s experience in asset recovery.
In her address during the opening of the meeting at the PICC, Guttierez said
that the gathering of the delegates from the ASEAN countries was an indication
of that level of collective understanding and resolve required to fight
corruption and recover ill-gotten proceeds.
She added: Indeed, your presence, a presence that seems to grow each time we meet,
is yet another public acknowledgement not just of the need to fight corruption
but the need for nations to band together in order to effectively fight
corruption on a regional, even global, scale.
The first MOU on fighting corruption region-wide was signed on
The ASEAN member parties that hosted past annual MOU meetings were
In forming the group, the member agencies recognized the need to strengthen
collaborative efforts among them to fight corruption, which is transnational in
nature.
Among the areas of cooperation among the parties to the MOU are the following:
exchange of information in respect to methods and means of criminal acts of
corruption and corrupt practices; conduct training,
courses, exchange of expertise and human resource personnel; host and
participate in forums, workshops, seminars, conventions and conferences;
provide technical assistance in operational activities;
and share information on relevant intelligence data, statistics, and corruption
crime records.
RP admired for forging IHR covenants
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) 6 Regional Dir. Atty. David Bermudo said that
the
Bermudo said that the government through the CHR is continuously and regularly
reporting to the international bodies about the compliance of the covenants and
have even asked an independent rapporteur to observe and review the state of
human rights protection and promotion in the country.
The CHR chief said that the government is trying its best to deliver and
fulfill the rights of the people, and when the efforts are found weak in some
aspects based on reports and reviews, the international community are bound to
assist because this is part of the protocols.
Up for review, Bermudo said, is the performance of the country along economic,
social and cultural rights promotion, that include civil rights, political
rights, economic, and social security rights.
Civil rights are measured on the rate the government has pursued the rights of
people to express their beliefs, opinions and redress of grievances among
others; political rights which are expressed in freedom to vote and participate
in political activities; economic which include the right to work, to engage in
livelihood; social security through social welfare agencies; while cultural, on
the extent the government is working to promote the rights of Indigenous
peoples and other cultural minorities in the country.
Bermudo said the promotion of human rights also need resources, money to
fulfill its mandates to perform well based on the covenants and protocols it
had signed.
PGMA’s Speech during the 100th Anniversary of the
Philippines Free Press Magazine
Captain’s Bar, Mandarin Oriental Hotel,
Press Freedom
“The struggles of our nation are interwoven with the work of
the Philippines Free Press’ people: the publisher who steered it over decades,
ensuring its survival against economic and political threats; the editors and
writers who made sure it not only gave people the news accurately and in timely
fashion each
week, but also helped cast the information and analysis in a
manner that inspires and illuminates in a manner that encourages discernment
and inspired action.”
“Freedom in the hands of such as these who want the freedom
without the responsibility degenerates into a callous license to aspire to
little more than gossipy headlines and inflated circulation numbers, no matter
what cost must be paid in the debasement of public discourse. That’s why in
times like this, we need institutions like the Philippines Free Press to stand
like pillars of our most important freedoms and our most important
responsibilities.”
“The lifelong cause of the Philippines Free Press has been,
not just to chronicle the most important moments of the republic, but to
articulate the sharpest insights and deepest aspirations of its people. In
having done these tasks so well, the Philippines Free Press itself is worthy of
being chronicled.
The Philippines Free Press has lived for a hundred years,
but worthy as it is to be chronicled we cannot even begin to quantify the debt
that the Filipinos owe the Philippines Free Press for all the triumphs over
evil, over ignorance, over despair. “
“We welcome all the cooperation that media can provide;
especially we welcome the cooperation from such a fine paper as the Philippines
Free Press.”
Justice
“I deplore the killings, be they from left or right, against
journalists. We aim to break this sad historical cycle. We are focused on
bringing perpetrators to justice, working with Congress to pass new laws to
protect victims and jail criminals, and exhort the nation to leave behind its
terrible legacy of political violence and clan vendettas.”
“We’ve been making progress in stopping the tragic killings
of journalists. Our law enforcement agencies have been achieving success in
bringing to justice those who carry out these crimes. I established a task
force to especially pursue the cases of the killings of journalists with
Administrative Order 211. That’s why the
task force is called Task Force 211. It is a body established specifically to
address these terrible crimes against journalists, and the head of this right
now is the Undersecretary of Justice Ric Buenaflor.”
“It only shows that crimes such as these cannot be resolved
by the government alone. Task Force 211 and our various law enforcement
agencies need the support and cooperation of all stakeholders if we are to end
these killings once and for all. Individuals who provide vital information
against criminals who prey on journalists will be placed, if they choose, in
the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection program for their security and
protection.”
Full text of Speech at http://www.op.gov.ph/speeches.asp
This was the statement of US Deputy Ambassador to the Philippines Jon Lindborg
in an interview during his visit here yesterday.
He said the
Lindborg also believed that the MILF problem could be resolved through
negotiation, as "it is the only way to achieving peace."
He, however, made it clear that the
Lindborg was here to represent Kristie Kenny,
Lindborg, who also serves as the mission director of the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID), went to Mutia town for the turnover of
the Computer Literacy and Internet connection (CLIC) project at
The CLIC project was implemented under the USAID's Growth with Equity in
Mindanao (GEM) program, which has already assisted 674 schools in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and other conflict-affected areas
of
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