by aimee | Mar 31, 2014 | Headlines, National News
The government continues to expand its employment programs to provide jobs for thousands expected to graduate this year and those who remain unemployed, Malacañang said on Sunday.
In an interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary (PCOO) Herminio Coloma said 95,935 positions in different private and public corporations and agencies are currently up for grabs.
This is according to the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) www.phil-job.net, an internet-based job and applicant matching system, which aims to fast track the jobseeker’s search for employment and the employer’s search for manpower.
Coloma added the government is also providing financial aid to self-employed individuals, landless farmers, non-wage domestic workers, young workers with dependents, low-income earners, and those who do not have permanent employment due to calamities through the Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program.
He said this program also covers those who are listed in the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s national household targeting system.
The Communications Secretary further mentioned that the DOLE, in cooperation with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), would conduct application caravan and e-services to bring their services closer to the fresh graduates of nursing and education courses in preparation for their licensure exams.
In a press briefing held in Malacañang last March 13, DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said there is an estimated 600,000 to 700,000 new entrants to the labor force this year, although they have not yet studied as to how many among those would immediately be looking for jobs. (PND)
by aimee | Mar 27, 2014 | National News
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Mar. 27, 2014 (PIA)–Nasulod ang Pilipinas sa 10 “new emerging” countries nga adunay positibong kaugmaon sa paglambo, sigun sa French trade credit and insurance group nga Coface.
Sa taho sa French credit body nga gi-ulohang “Coface identifies 10 emerging countries hot on the heels of the BRICS”, giingong makatala lamang og 3.2 percentage points nga average economic growth ang Brazil, Russia, India, China ug South Africa karong tuig.
Mas ubos kini kun itandi sa natalang paglambo sa ekonomiya sa maong mga nasud sa milabay nga 10 ka tuig.
Apan base sa taho, “at the same time, other emerging countries are accelerating their development. Among them, a ‘top 10’ emerges with good production prospects and sufficient financing to support expansion.”
Gi-base sa Coface ang pagtumbok sa top emerging countries sa nagkasaka nga paglambo ug “diversified and resilient economy” sa usa ka nasud bisan sa mga pagsulay ug katakos niining pondohan ang paglambo pa niini.
Gi-tunga ang 10 “new emerging countries” sa duha ka grupo: Colombia, Indonesia, Peru, Pilipinas ug Sri Lanka nga giingong adunay “sound business climate” (A4 or B), sama sa BRIC nga mga nasud sa kasamtangan.
Ang Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Bangladesh ug Ethiopia nga giingong adunay “very difficult o extremely difficult business environments”.
“With growth in developed countries being structurally weaker today, the “new emerging” countries may benefit less from trade towards these countries than did the BRICS in the 2000s. Their growth rates will depend more on their domestic markets and on exports to other emerging markets,” matud pa ni Julien Marcilly, hepe sa country risk sa Coface. (PIA7-Bohol/ECB)
by aimee | Mar 27, 2014 | National News
The Bureau of Customs starts to make public available data to ensure transparency in its transactions, the Palace said on Wednesday.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Bureau of Customs is part of the government’s Open Data task force and has started publishing new data for greater transparency.
“The one thrust of Commissioner John Sevilla is to open up all the data in the website, sa dashboard ng data.gov.ph at saka may sarili silang portal, ilalabas doon ang mga presyo, ang mga duties, kung sino ang nag-i-import,” Lacierda told reporters in a press briefing in Malacanang.
“All these for the purpose of the public to verify kung ‘yung mga Customs duties na binabayaran, for instance, specific consignees are correct.”
During the launching of the Good Governance Summit last January, when the Open Data was also launched, Commissioner Sevilla invited everyone to look into the BOC’s data and the bureau got good reception from the public, he said.
The new BOC thrust made a basis for everyone who’s interested on Customs data to visit either the Customs website or go to the Customs dashboard of data.gov.ph, Lacierda said.
The idea is to open to the public data and information to ensure transparency, he said.
“We follow the sunlight principle, ‘pag naarawan ‘yan, mas mabuti sa atin. So lahat ‘yan may plano ang Bureau of Customs na ilabas ang mga datos na hindi naman confidential ang nature. So ilalabas ‘yan for everyone to see kung tama ba ang binabayad ng mga consignees,” he added. (PCOO)
by aimee | Mar 26, 2014 | National News
The governments of Spain and the Philippines signed a four-year extension of development partnership with a EUR50 million grant allocation from 2014 until 2017, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan and Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation José Manuel García-Margallo yesterday signed the Statement of the VI Philippines-Spain Joint Commission on Development Cooperation at The Peninsula Manila Hotel, Makati City.
“This agreement is the latest in our long history of close and friendly relations towards more meaningful development cooperation,” said Balisacan, who is also NEDA Director-General.
Programs and projects of the grant extension are outlined in the Philippines-Spain Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Development Cooperation 2014-2017, focusing on good governance and the rule of law, and disaster risk reduction and management.
“We are honored that the Philippines is the only priority country in Asia under the Master Plan of Spanish Cooperation 2013-2016. We also appreciate the consultative approach taken by the Spanish Government in the crafting of the CPF. This approach reinforces Philippine ownership of the priorities of our cooperation in line with the Philippine Development Plan 2011 –2016,” said Balisacan.
The fund for this development cooperation will be coursed through the country’s national government agencies, multilateral cooperation through United Nations agencies, and cooperation through partnership of Spanish and Filipino non-government organizations. Additional funds for financial cooperation and program-based aid will also be considered.
The signing of the statement also came after the Philippines–Spain Joint Commission on Development Cooperation Meeting convened in NEDA sa Makati. The meeting was co-chaired by NEDA Deputy Director-General for Investment Programming Rolando G. Tungpalan and Head of Spain’s Development Department Cooperation with the Arab World and Asia Mr. Antonio Gonzalez-Zavala. (NEDA)
by aimee | Mar 26, 2014 | Headlines, National News
MANILA, Mar. 26, 2014 (PIA)–Ang Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), pinaagi sa Listahan o ang National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTSPR), mang-hire ug mobansay sa 1,245 ka staff nga mopahigayon og special validations alang sa mga beneficiaries sa Social Pension alang sa Indigent Senior Citizens ug Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) Program.
Ipadala sila isip area coordinators, area supervisors, enumerators ug encoders.
Sa kinatibuk-ang gidaghanon sa nga staff nga e-hire, 878 niini ang ipadala nga mo-validate sa status sa 132,000 ka beneficiaries sa Social Pension nga wala sa listahan sa database, samtang 371 ang mo-assess sa mga potential beneficiaries alang sa MCCT Program. Target sa DSWD nga iapil ang naa sa 63,000 ka pamilya sa MCCT Program.
Ang Social Pension gi-implementar pinasubay sa Expanded Senior Citizen’s Act of 2010. Kini naghatag sa mga kwalipikadong beneficiaries og P500 nga binuwang stipend matag beneficiary aron idugang sa ilang pang adlaw-adlaw nga panginahanglan ug panginahanglang medical.
Samtang ang MCCT sa laing bahin, mohatag sa cash grants alang sa mga street ug displaced nga pamilya, nomadic indigenous peoples (IPs) o kadtong nagpuyo sa geographically isolated ug disadvantaged nga mga lugar basta lang kay mosunod sila sa mga kundisyon sa panglawas ug edukasyon.
“For the Social Pension, the purpose of the special validation is to verify the poverty status of its current recipients and ensure that only the poor senior citizens will continue receiving benefits,” pasabot ni DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman.
Ang DSWD Field Offices ang mo-facilitate sa recruitment ug screening sa mga aplikante sugod Abril 2014.
Ang mga interesadong aplikante mahimong moduso sa ilang aplikasyon sa pinakaduol nga buhatan sa DSWD o ngadto sa Social Welfare and Development Team Office.
Ang special validations magsugod sa ikaduhang kwarter sa 2014. (PIA7-Bohol/ECB)
by aimee | Mar 25, 2014 | National News
PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III wants an investigation into the alleged involvement of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) in the multibillion peso Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam which the Commission on Audit (COA) recently unearthed according to reports.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, President Aquino said he already tasked Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Jr., Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad to come up with a thorough report on the matter as soon as possible.
The NCMF is an agency under the Office of the President that reportedly received P515-million from two senators—named in a newspaper account as Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Gregorio Honasan—and 38 former and incumbent members of the House of Representatives based on COA’s findings.
“To be perfectly candid about it, there are so many functions embodied in their (NCMF’s) charter, which I reviewed today, and I was not clearly aware or immediately aware that they were a conduit or an implementing agency for various PDAF projects,” President Aquino told reporters.
He added they are still clarifying with COA whether the report can already be considered a “finding” or just an “observation audit memorandum” in which case the NCMF would have to respond to certain questions first.
“Even before we get their answers, I want to make sure exactly what went to whom, and why was it coursed through the NCMF… So I want to get as thorough knowledge as possible, and I have directed the concerned individuals—specifically the Executive Secretary, the Secretary of Budget and Management, and the Cabinet Secretary—to submit to me a thorough report on this particular issue,” President Aquino said. (PND)
