The Arroyo administration’s economic resiliency plan is on track. Since January alone, P91.3 billion has been obligated for the program, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said. In an interview over Radyo ng Bayan’s “Pilipinas, Pilipinas” program, Mr. Remonde said “puspusan (ang) implementasyon” of the government’s pump-priming plan.

Projects under the resiliency plan are being “front-loaded by the leading infrastructure agencies to promote development,” he said.

The leading infra agencies and their obligated funds are the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), P60 billion; Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), P13 billion, and the Department of Education (DepEd), P2.8 billion.

During the first quarter of 2009, P16 billion was obligated to the Department of Agriculture (DA) for the various projects of the agency, Remonde said.

He explained that the front-loading of the infrastructure funds for these agencies was to meet the funding requirements of their projects needed to “stimulate the economy and promote development.”

The government has announced a P330-billion fiscal-stimulus package known as the Economic Resiliency Plan or ERP. Of the total amount, P160 billion is earmarked for infrastructure spending.

Under the ERP, P100 billion will come from government corporations and financial institutions, as well as the private sector.

Secretary Remonde said that with the global crisis gripping two-thirds of the world, the Philippines will not only have to push its in-country pump-priming initiatives but must also “be very active internationally.”

“Sana maintindihan ng mga kababayan natin na ginagawa ito ng Pangulo to create markets for our products and to locate jobs abroad,” he said. 

* DOLE team to help OFWs in Korea find alternative jobs, other productive undertakings

MANILA (PNA) -- The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has sent a three-man team to Korea to help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in this country find alternative employment and other productive undertakings before the global crisis could hit their current employment.

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said the team has been directed to prepare the OFWs before they actually lose their jobs with alternative opportunities which they may undertake to ease the impact of the global crisis on them and their families.

The team consists of personnel from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO).

Roque said that under DOLE Administrative Order No. 42, series of 2009, the team would coordinate with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Seoul in identifying firms in Korea with OFWs workers who could lose their jobs due to the global crisis.

He said the team would immediately meet with vulnerable OFWs in the identified firms to profile their skills for appropriate job matching and referral to other companies, whether on site or in local firms in the Philippines, where their skills are needed.

OFWs who are in need of skills upgrading and retooling, on the other hand, would be issued onsite with scholarship training vouchers from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The DOLE Chief said the TESDA vouchers would enable the OFW-beneficiaries to train immediately upon their return to the Philippines in skills that are needed by industry, thereby, enhancing their prospects for employment locally and overseas.

At the same time, the three-man DOLE team would provide livelihood orientation to OFWs who may no longer want to work in Korea and instead opt to set up their own business enterprises in the Philippines.

Roque said the team would assist said OFWs in organizing themselves for livelihood projects and also in preparing their business proposals.

The Labor and Employment Secretary also said that another DOLE team will be sent to Korea to negotiate for the renewal of the country's participation in the Korean Employment Permit System (EPS) in line with national efforts in jobs preservation and generation for Filipino workers.

The last MOU on the EPS forged in 2006 between the DOLE and the Korean Labor Ministry expired last year.

Roque said the team would meet and discuss with their South Korean Ministry of Labor specifically the conclusion of a new EPS memorandum of nderstanding (MOU) between the Philippines and South Korea that would provide for the recruitment and deployment of OFWs to this country in the next two years.

He said that despite the raging global crisis that had displaced 74 OFWs in Korea, the Philippines is keen on renewing its participation in the Korean EPS in view of this country's continuing preference for OFWs.

He cited the initiative of the South Korean government to prioritize OFWs displaced by the global crisis for available new job openings under the EPS. POEA data also showed that in January this year, about 30 OFWs have been offered to work in Korea under the EPS.

At the same time, the DOLE team would confer and explore with the Korean Ministry of Education the prospect of deploying Filipino English teachers to Korea and also with appropriate authorities the prospect of sending OFWs to the Incheon Free Export Zone in Incheon which is a major Korean seaport near Seoul. The export zone is envisioned to become the center of international business, IT, biotechnology, logistics and tourism in Northeast Asia.

* Politicking does not help efforts to soften impact of global crisis on Filipinos – PGMA

CLARK, Pampanga (PND)- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today that politicking does not help the country`s efforts to soften the impact of the global economic turmoil on the Filipino people.

In her address before the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Pampanga Chapter at the Holiday Inn Clark, the President said that instead of engaging in political maneuverings, members of the lawyers` group are called upon to help the government meet the challenges posed by the economic meltdown.

Calling on her Cabalens to exercise ``public responsibility,`` the President said it was important that they contribute their share to the government`s efforts to maintain the positive momentum of the economy.

The Philippines would have been far worse off at this time of worldwide economic crunch had the government not made the tough decisions or failed to reboot the economy ahead of the debacle.

``We took our economic medicine through fundamental economic reform by raising taxes, cutting down on smugglers, and reforming our tax collection system and banking laws. Our reform moves paid off with revenue for investments in human and physical infrastructure,`` the President told the lawyers, judges, state prosecutors and other members of IBP in her province.

She said that part of her strategy is the acceleration of investments to further stimulate the economy, help majority of the Filipino people, and sustain the country`s economic growth.

The President said the government`s investment of $7 billion to pump-prime the economy amid the global crisis was bigger than Indonesia`s $6.3 billion, Malaysia`s $4 billion, and Thailand`s $3.4 billion.

On the employment front, she said the government is processing 3,000 jobs daily as it extends all possible assistance to Filipino workers here and abroad.

During her recent visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the President said that the government had launched a skills-retooling program for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) right in their places of employment abroad.

Under the retraining program, the professional regulation commission (PRC) will conduct licensure examinations for Filipino professionals, who have yet to take the examinations required for their profession, right in the countries where they are working.

In tandem with the government`s retraining program abroad, the Technical Education & Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has launched a massive vocational training and retraining program to further raise the level of the Filipino worker`s competitiveness.

* PGMA`s speech to highlight economic managers` proactive dialogue with investors

MANILA (PND) -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will address tomorrow (Wednesday) the ``Philippine Economic Briefing`` to underscore the need to sustain the country`s economic growth and uplift the lives of the poor.

The President will be the keynote speaker of the Briefing with the theme, ``Challenges and Opportunities in a Global Crisis,`` at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City.

To attract investments and create jobs, the President`s economic managers are conducting a continuing dialogue with domestic and international investors on the state of the country`s public finances and the economy.

Before the President`s speech, her economic managers will conduct separate presentations on the state of the country`s fiscal and economic situation.

Among the presentors are Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Ralph Recto, Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila, Budget and Management Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr., Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, and Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap.

In July 2001, the government created the IRO in response to investors` need for a coordinated approach to sourcing macro-economic information from the economic agencies of the government such as the BSP, NEDA, DOF, DTI, and DBM.

Through the proactive investor relations program, the country`s economic agencies provide macroeconomic information needed by analysts and investors in making critical business and investment decisions.# # #

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