by magnolia_eic | Feb 26, 2010 | Election 2010, Headlines, National News
Five of the members of Pres. Arroyo’s Cabinet have resigned in order to prepare for the May 10 elections.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said he filed his resignation on Tuesday, a day after the Supreme Court ruled that appointed officials running for the elections were deemed resigned.
Joining him were Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, Presidential Management Staff chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya and Ed Pamintuan, Malacanang’s point person in the urban Luzon beltway project.
Ermita said Augusto Syjuco of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) had informed him on Wednesday night that he, too, was stepping down.
Click here for full article from Inquirer.net
by magnolia_eic | Feb 24, 2010 | National News
Government disbursement of foreign aid for public projects rose sharply last year because of the huge funding released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB) for crisis mitigating programs, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Data from NEDA’s project monitoring staff showed that the amount of official development assistance (ODA) that was disbursed last year went up by 132 percent to $2.4 billion.
Disbursement from project loans amounted to US$795 million, while program loans reached US$1.64 billion.
Foreign-funded projects, which generally deal with infrastructure upgrade or improvement, require counterpart funds from beneficiary governments. Lack of counterpart funds can lead to a delay in implementation or outright cancellation of the foreign aid.
NEDA said the significant increase in disbursements, amounting to $1.475 billion, is largely attributed to tranche releases of five program loans funded by ADB and WB. (PIA-Bohol)
by magnolia_eic | Feb 24, 2010 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita, National News
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will kick off today (February 22) her Central Philippines super-region tour with an inspection of tourism projects in four provinces in Central Philippines, the region mapped out as the country’s tourist corridor under her five-growth region development strategy.
Press Secretary Cris Icban Jr., said the President’s Super Regions travels are meant to underscore her milestone achievements over the past nine years which she intends to turn over to the next President “who will build on them further.”
The Central Philippines – Tourism Super Region spans Regions 4B, Regions 5 to 8, and the provinces of Romblon, Palawan, Camiguin and the island of Surigao, where most of the country’s top tourist destinations are spread and now enjoying unprecedented business boom.
Central Philippines accounts for over 50 percent of the country’s tourism industry. (PIA-Bohol)
by magnolia_eic | Feb 24, 2010 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita, National News
POTENTIAL losses of the agriculture sector from a prolonged dry spell are expected to increase in the coming months, according to the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras over the weekend said that a “mild” El Niño the Philippines has been experiencing could cost the sector at least P15 billion. Initial projection put the damage at P9 billion at most.
Losses from a tame El Niño, according to the Agriculture department, could reach P8 billion to P9 billion or 264, 940 metric tons of rice worth almost P4 billion and 174, 224 metric tons of corn valued at P2.26 billion.
Paras said his department is projecting bigger losses as the country has yet to reach the dry season, which will start in March and last until May.
A “severe” dry spell, Paras said, could lead to P20.46 billion in losses to agriculture.
The El Niño phenomenon is expected to last until July this year. (PIA-Bohol)
by magnolia_eic | Feb 24, 2010 | Headlines, National News
Manila, Philippines — The Department of Health has declared that it would continue giving away condoms “to people who need them” despite the angry reaction of the Catholic church.
According to health secretary Esperanza Cabral, the condom distribution is one of the “very many things that, if we actually do them, is going to remarkably reduce the spread of HIV-AIDS in the Philippines. she added that other than the distribution of condoms, the DoH also includes in their strategy the education of young people, children in school, those in the workplace and Filipinos who go overseas, as well as tourists and transients.
On Valentines Day this year, the DoH handed out condoms which angered the Catholic Church, prompting Bishop of Lipa, Ramon Arguelles to call for the health secretary’s resignation.
The bishops claimed that the way to stop the spread of HIV-AIDS was to follow the teachings of the Church and to respect the sanctity of the human body.
Commenting on the Catholic bishops’ opposition to the condom distribution program, Cabral said: “Di naman yan tago, di ba (It’s very obvious, isn’t it)? They are very open about it.”
“[But] we are not a religious state [like] Iran. We are a secular state where there is separation of Church and State,” she pointed out.
Click here for full article from Inquirer.net
by magnolia_eic | Feb 23, 2010 | Election 2010, Headlines, National News
Manila, Philippines– With a 10-5 vote, the Supreme Court has reversed its December 1, 2009 ruling on the status of those who filed their certificate of candidacy who are at the same time, appointed officials. The SC now rules that these individuals are deemed “resigned”.
Midas Marquez, Supreme Court spokesman said the ruling contained in the 44-page resolution is “effective immediately” since the prevailing law is that all appointive officials running in the May 10 elections are automatically considered resigned.
The decision, penned by Chief Justice Reynato Puno, will affect four Cabinet members who are seeking congressional posts: Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, and Presidential Management Staff chief Hermogenes Esperon.
Click here for full article from Inquirer.net
