“Don’t build bridges without connecting roads,” says PGMA
DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Shariff Kabunsuan ---Works on the access road for the Quirino Delta Bridge in Poblacion 1 in Cotabato City starts tomorrow with the release last night of P63 million for the project.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was here Tuesday and today for a two-day visit to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Region 12 has ordered the release of the said funds to complete one of her legacy projects to the ARMM and Region 12 residents.
''Don't build bridges without connecting roads,'' the President said during Tuesday's National Anti-Poverty Commission Cabinet meeting here.
Surprisingly, this morning, during the President's inspection of the United Kingdom-assisted bridge project under the President's Bridge Program, Public Works ARMM Secretary Razul Abpi said work on the access road will start Thursday with the release of the funds.
''Thank you to the President,'' he said.
The 210-lineal meter Qurino Delta Bridge was completed on Dec. 31 last year but until today, it is not yet used as there are no access roads due to some problems on the acquisition of right of way.
But with the President's visit here where she held consultations with the stakeholders, Sec. Razul Abpi said they were able to talk to some 15 families whose houses stand the way for the acquisition of the right-of-way.
When completed, the Qurino Delta Bridge is expected to lift the levels of living in the locality,
The access road will serve as an alternate road towards the northern portion of Cotabato City, onwards to Lanao, Bukidnon and Davao provinces as the existing Delta Bridge is already weak.
The President also inspected the Rio Grande de Mindanao which overflowed during the recent onslaught of Typhoon Frank because of its heavy concentration of water lilies.
The President said she will issue an executive order for the creation of a task force that will come up with a comprehensive plan to stop flooding in the Mindanao Basin.
PGMA mixes with 500 evacuees in Cotabato City
COTABATO CITY -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited today the evacuation center at the Notre Dame Village here where some 500 victims of the flooding caused by typhoon Frank are temporarily housed.
The President saw for herself the plight of the flood victims and was glad to learn that they are being taken cared of by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The President went around each tent put up at the Notre Dame Village Elementary School.
The activities of the People's Government Mobile Action (PGMA) that include medical and dental missions were on-going at the evacuation center.
Family food packs were also distributed to the flood victims who were delighted to see the President personally looking after their welfare.
PGMA to inaugurate RP’s first Landfill Gas-to-Energy project in Rodriguez
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will visit Rodriguez (formerly Montalban), in Rizal tomorrow to inaugurate and lead the commissioning of the first Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project in the country.
The methane power plant will capture the landfill gas particularly methane from Montalban Sanitary Landfill to produce electricity for the town.
On her arrival at the Montalban Landfill Methane Recovery and Electricity Generation Project at Barangay San Isidro, the President will inspect the facilities and to lead the ceremonial switch-on signaling the start of operation of the power plant.
This US$ 33 million (P1.65 billion) project is a Build-Own-Operate Project of the Montalban Methane Power Corporation (MMPC).
Based on today’s oil price of about US$130 per barrel, the country will have a foreign exchange savings of US$94 million over the 10-year project life.
It is also expected to benefit the environment as the Flaring component of the Project breaks down methane gas, which is a green house gas (GHG) 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
This methane gas facility of Montalban Methane Power Corporation (MMPC) follows the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) initiative and provides carbon credits for developed countries under category of projects that reduce emissions in developing economies under the Clean Development Mechanism.
The power plant project in Montalban is a candidate for a Gold Standard (GS) Clean Development Mechanism status.
PGMA appoints former Senator Ralph Recto as NEDA Director-General
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has appointed former senator Ralph Recto as the new director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita made the announcement at his weekly press briefing in Malacanang.
Recto will take over the post left by Romulo Neri, who was appointed by the President as Commission on Higher Education (CHED) before he was appointed to head the Social Security System (SSS).
NEDA Deputy Director-General Augusto Santos was appointed acting director-general of NEDA until Recto's appointment.
Recto, an economist, run for reelection in the Senate in the May 2007 senatorial elections but lost.
He is known to be the author of the Expanded Value Added Tax Law.
Ermita also announced the appointment by the President of Antonio L. Romero II as undersecretary of the Department of National Defense (DND) and the;ma G. Santos as assistant secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).
Government moves to address shipping industry concerns
CEBU CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo met this afternoon with some 20 representatives of the shipping industry at the Malacañang sa Sugbo (MSS) to come up with recommendations and solutions to the nightmare the halting of operations of transport and cargo service provider Sulpicio Lines, Inc. (SLI) has caused to the shipping industry.
Pending an investigation by the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI), SLI operations, the second largest ship operator in the Philippines, was stopped shortly after its M/V Princess of the Stars capsized and sunk off the waters of Sibuyan Island in Romblon at the height of typhoon Frank's (international codename: Fengshen) onslaught of the Visayas region last June 21.
More than 800 passengers and crew of the ill-fated ship lost their lives in what has been called one of the worst maritime disasters in the country’s history.
Department of Transportation and Communication Secretary (DoTC) Leandro Mendoza who was among the Cabinet secretaries who joined the President in the closed-door meeting said that the "issues" discussed touched on the transport and cargo ship shortage, the resulting increase in cargo transportation fees and labor concerns such as the possible closure of SLI offices, layoffs, retrenchment.
"These issues were discussed together with proposed solutions," Mendoza said.
On the transport and cargo ship shortage, DoTC undersecretary Ma. Elena Bautista, who together with Trade Secretary Peter Favila and Presidential Management Staff Head Cerge Remonde joined Mendoza for the closed-door meeting, said that the President wanted to ensure businessmen that the government was doing everything to maintain the movement of domestic and international cargos despite the halting of SLI operations.
Bautista said that several shipping companies had "committed" to "fill the vacuum" left by SLI's absence.
She said Aboitiz Transport System Corporation (ATS) and NMC Container Lines will be fielding two ships each with 500 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) each for ATS and 300 TEUs for NMC.
Negros Navigation Company, Inc., Bautista said, will be fielding one ship that can service 2,500 TEUs.
Twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals. It is based on the volume of a 20-foot long shipping container, a standard-sized metal box which can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains and trucks.
"So, itong mga barko na ito ay tutulong para maikot ang mga kargamento sa buong bansa at hindi ma-apekto dahil sa grounding ng vessels ng Sulpicio," Bautista said.
She added that once these three shipping companies field in their commitments, cargo and transportation fees will go down accordingly.
On labor concerns, Remonde said that the President has instructed the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to provide "safety nets" to SLI employees who might be laid off as a result of the shipping company's grounding of operations.
"The President has directed the Department of Social Welfare and Development to give some sort of welfare benefits to SLI employees in the interim that they will be laid off," Remonde said.
He assured the employees that the President was concerned about their plight and that they would not be left alone to face it.
He added that employees of SLI are "fortunately" members of associated labor unions and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and are thus entitled to benefits stated within their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
"So we reminded SLI management of their obligations under the CBA," Remonde said.
PGMA to inspect operational NAIA Terminal 3 tomorrow
NAIA TERMINAL 3, Pasay City -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will dis-embark here at around 10 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday (July 24) to inspect the now operational terminal which opened for domestic flights the other day, Tuesday.
President Arroyo will be flying in from the South where she inspected jathropa and rubber plantations in central Mindanao, among other activities.
It would be the second time for the President to inspect the third terminal of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA-3). The first time was upon her arrival from the United States at month-end last month.
President Arroyo’s PR Flight # 105 last June 30 aboard a Philippine Air Lines (PAL) plane was the first-ever flight to be serviced by the ‘NAIA-3’ which is just across the Base Operations Center of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) where the President had immediately sent off planes-load of relief goods for the then victims of super typhoon Frank.
The President shall be checking on the improvements in the terminal almost a month after her first dawn inspection following her successful 10-day visit to the United States where she was able to request instant assistance from the United States government for areas battered by typhoon Frank which struck just as the she was already on her way to the US.
For this second inspection, the President shall be joined by some 50 ambassadors to the Philippines, and by leaders of foreign chambers of commerce, and representatives from travel agencies.
The President shall be received at the NAIA-3 by Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Alfonso Cusi, Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza, and NAIA-3 Task Force head Mike Defensor.
With its total floor area of 240,000 square meters that can accommodate 13 million passengers annually, NAIA-3 is now “the Philippines’ most modern airport terminal today,” according to the MIAA.
In an earlier press release for the opening of the NAIA-3 for domestic operations, the MIAA related that the new terminal was built to “address the congestion in Terminal 1, the (NAIA’s) first international passenger terminal… which opened in 1982 with a design capacity of 4.5 million passengers per annum, (and which) level was reached in 1991.”
“Improvements raised its design capacity to six million passengers per year but with the traffic passenger volume growing at an annual rate of nine percent, a peak level of 7.7 million passengers was reached in 1997, causing an overflow of passengers that year.
“In 1990, the NAIA Master Plan Study conducted by Aeroports de Paris included the construction of a much bigger and far modernized international passenger terminal to accommodate the increasing volume of passengers going in and out of the country. This became the rationale behind the construction of a new international passenger terminal,” the MIAA added.
Gov't adopts measures to avoid rice supply disruption
DAVAO CITY -- To avoid disruption of the supply of rice, the Arroyo administration has adopted three fundamental responses such as: First - ensuring adequate supply by reaching out to its ASEAN neighbors who happens to be big rice-exporting countries.
Under the heading of adequate supply, the government is investing heavily on rice production efficiencies, such as agricultural training and extension, and the shift to hybrid rice seeds.
Second - the government ensures the distribution of rice to people who really need the staple food "most effectively and cost-effectively"; and
Third - the President has ordered maximum vigilance in the sustained vigilance of government's rice stock to avoid hoarding and the diversion of the cereal to commercial market.
While the high price of oil is beyond the control of any government, the administration has reduced the tariff on imported oil as part of an overall effort to moderate drastic increases in the price of commodities, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said.
The government is working hard to make sure that our country's food supplies remain stable and we put food on the table, the President said.
To date, we have been able to keep the situation from becoming a crisis through shift interventions to ensure the supply of rice, effective distribution and enforcement of laws against hoarding, the President said.
The President also ordered the Agriculture department to help farmers restore their farmlands, especially for those heavily affected by the recent Typhoon Frank" through the provision of good quality rice seeds and monetization for fertilizers through the internal revenue allotment from 2001-2004 arrears of local government units, which she ordered released.
Fertilizers are expensive so we have to subsidize, the President said. (PIA)
PGMA meets with shipping industry stakeholders to solve cargo problems
By Minerva BC NewmanCEBU, PHILIPPINES (23 July) – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo instructed MARINA today to fast-track the re-auditing of the Sulpicio Lines vessels that have already complied with the requirements and safety standards after MARINA suspended all its cargo vessels in the aftermath of the Princess of the Stars tragedy.
President Arroyo met with the owners of big shipping companies and officials of shipping associations as well as other agencies and stakeholders in the shipping industry at the Malacañang sa Sugbo (MSS) this afternoon to solve some of the nagging issues on cargo movements in the country.
Dept. of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) secretary Leandro Mendoza, in a press briefing said that the consultation-dialog with the maritime industry and other stakeholders discussed among others how to solve the cargo vacuum created with the grounding of the Sulpicio vessels and its effects on the workers.
Mendoza said that the meeting also tackled how can government and the shipping industry help alleviate the plight of the workers; its effects on trade, transport costs and impact on the allied services i.e. trucking operators and stevedores.
In the same media interaction, DOTC undersecretary Elena Bautista reported that only the movements of cargoes in RORO ports operations of Sulpicio Lines have been affected.
However, three shipping companies pledged their commitment to President Arroyo that they will help in the cargo movements by fielding some of their ships to ease the problem.
Bautista said that the Aboitiz Transport Systems (ATS) committed two (2) boats; Negros Navigation (NN), one (1) and National Marine Corporation (NMC) committed two (2) to ply the routes where Sulpicio vessels have been grounded.
Bautista further said that MARINA had completed the audit of eight (8) out of the 14 Sulpicio ships that were grounded for safety requirements and standards. She added that according to Sulpicio Lines officials, they have complied with the deficiencies and safety requirements that MARINA recommended for them to do.
“The President instructed MARINA to re-audit today and tomorrow those vessels that have complied with its first audit and it found okay, they can now sail,” Bautista said.
According to Bautista, President Arroyo also gave instructions to MARINA, “na dapat ayusin ang shipping industry” and to look at the standards and requirements of the seafarers, specifically on the disparities of salaries and wages in the domestic vis-à-vis salaries of seamen working abroad.
The President also told the DOTC to look into the insurance coverage of ships in the country and how it can negotiate with the international insurance club to include the country’s vessels in their coverage.
“It insures boats but has high standards,” Bautista added but further said that they are looking at the GSIS for this issue, at least when boats are totally and insured, all expenses for recovery and disaster-related are covered.
Bautista concluded that the DOTC has also acquired a $300T grant from a foreign government for the preparation of the Omnibus Shipping Act and that the President instructed them to make it as part of the committee report. (PIA-Cebu)
US-funded information system seen to reduce case management delays in RP courts
A US$ 650,000-worth information system that is seen to help Philippine courts improve their efficiency in handling cases, was launched jointly today at the Supreme Court by U.S. Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney and Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno.
Known as the Case Management Information System (CMIS), it is an automated system that will allow the courts and their officials to closely and effectively monitor and manage cases pending in their dockets.
In line with the Philippine judiciary’s ongoing program of easy access to justice, the CMIS also promotes greater public transparency and accountability because the system allows for regular updating of information on the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals, and Sandiganbayan caseload and litigation performance, according to the U.S. embassy in Manila.
The US$ 650,000 grant includes the cost of developing the software, building the information structure, computer equipment, technical assistance and training for the justices and court personnel.
The system designed in partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Supreme Court.
Kenney described the project as one that strengthens the judiciary’s management information system processes and capacities by ensuring accurate, up-to-date, and adequate information that is useful in court management and oversight monitoring, policy and planning, and evaluation.
“CMIS is a tool that on its own will not solve the problem of docket congestion and case delay, but it is a good tool that, if maintained, will certainly provide greater efficiency to the judiciary’s management information system,” Kenney reiterated at the event.
She emphasized that “this is a great example of U.S. and Philippine partnership, but there must be a strong commitment from the court leadership to ensure the success of computerization.”
She also turned over 50 computers and related equipment such as scanners, computer-aided transcription machines, and servers as part of the CMIS program.
CMIS is one of the many reform programs of the judiciary that the U.S. Government, the largest foreign grant donor to the SC, sponsors. Since 2001, the U.S. has granted approximately US$ 12 million to the Philippines for a variety of training programs and equipment that seek to enhance judicial efficiency, strengthen judicial capacity, improve access to justice, and promote greater transparency and accountability. (PNA)
PGMA optimistic peace and development in Mindanao will be achieved soon
COTABATO CITY (PNA) -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is optimistic that Mindanao will soon achieve peace and development in the region.
In her speech during the launching of "Katas ng VAT" (value added tax) program in Shariff Kabunsuan Province where she turned over P2-million check to Secretary Tahir Sulaik of the Department of Health-Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (DoH-ARMM) for the upgrading of the Dinaig Municipal Hospital from primary care to secondary care hospital, the President said that despite having large agricultural land and high productivity rate, "Mindanao has six or seven of the 10th poorest provinces in our country."
She attributed this to the "endless conflict" in the region which has affected its economy for many years.
"For decades, a comprehensive peace alluded us. But I am proud that (peace) talks will soon resume (between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front)," she said.
"We are on the threshold of peace," she added.
President Arroyo noted that if the Mindanaoans "can truly move from arms to farms, we can give a gift of peace and prosperity to Mindanao and to the entire country."
"Kaya inaasahan ko ang tulong ninyong lahat para sa kapayapaan at tagumpay ng ating peace talks," she said.
Meanwhile, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said despite having problems with regards to peace and security situation in the region, Mindanao has improved its poverty incidence ratings based on the latest result of the survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS).
"If you looked at the data, Mindanao improves at a low 12.3 percent as compared to previous rating of 16 percent," he said.
"Alam nyo naman, Mindanao is supposedly troubled with poverty and conflict or both. Pero yung results (in the latest SWS survey) is indicative of a positive result," he said.
Dureza credited this to various government interventions in addressing the challenge to improve the lives of the Mindanaoans.
"Ang focus ng Pangulo -- with all interventions she has ordered implemented and are ongoing right now -- we hope as we overcome this challenge, eventually this will also improve peace and order in the region that would lead to progress," he said.
Dureza earlier announced that members of the GRP-MILF peace negotiating panel will be meeting again on July 24 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to finalize the memorandum of agreement (MoA) on ancestral domain that they will sign that would signify the resumption of formal peace talks.
Ancestral domain has been the key and thorny issue in the negotiations between the government and the MILF since December 2004.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon Jr. has said the three remaining contentious issues on territory and governance of the Bangsamoro ancestral domain were resolved by both panels.
He said both parties have agreed to meet again on July 24 to finalize the draft MoA on Ancestral Domain and its signing before the end of July. (Lilybeth G. Ison/PNA)
DA eyes 10% hike in rubber production to 450,000 tons
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking at a 10% expansion in the country’s natural rubber production to 450,000 tons this year as part of a 15-year plan to make the Philippines a major player in the global rubber industry and generate nearly a million jobs from this promising, dollar-generating sector.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said this growth target will help meet the growing demand of the domestic tire and footwear industries, which absorb 70% of the country’s production, and raise rubber exports to $56 million this year from $42 million in 2007.
“In all, the rubber industry forms a major component in our bid to develop new opportunities for rural progress and agricultural growth,” said Yap in a keynote speech read for him by DA Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras during the 4th ASEAN Rubber Conference at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Mandaluyong City.
“We would like to unlock the vast domestic and export potentials of natural rubber, in tandem with industry stakeholders led by the Philippine Rubber Industries Association (PRIA), United Rubber Producers & Processors Association (URPPA) and local government units (LGUs),” he said.
Yap is currently attending the High Level Conference on World Food Security hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, where he had proposed the establishment of a global food reserve or stockpile as an immediate and long-term measure to help resolve the global food crunch.
The agriculture secretary said the DA’s sustained initiatives to increase rubber production is part of its 15-year Rubber Development Program (RDP), which was launched in 2006 to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the Philippine rubber industry—in partnership with PRIA, URPPA, Filipino and foreign investors, LGUs, and farmers’ groups.
As part of the RDP, Yap said the DA is aiming to expand the current area planted to rubber to one million hectares and increase production and exports to $960 million by 2020, which, in turn, is projected to create at least one million jobs for plantation workers, tapers and processors.
“Some of the fundamentals for developing a strong, competitive and sustainable local rubber industry are already well established in the country,” said Yap in stressing that the Philippines can become a major player in the global rubber industry.
He said that the country possesses three fundamentals for developing “a strong, competitive and sustainable” local rubber sector, which are: favorable agro-climatic resources; availability of suitable areas for rubber farming even outside of Mindanao; and market and industry dynamics that allow growth for smallholder operations
He said that under the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani-High Value Commercial Crops Program (GMA-HVCC), the DA will undertake the following tasks within the medium term in pursuit of the 15-year RDP:
• Intensify production of planting materials through investments in bud wood gardens and nurseries, and strengthen nursery certification systems, and provide needed support in the establishment of foundation groves/scion groves;
• Intensify transfer of technology through trainings and publications;
• Establish vital facilities in production areas to enhance product quality, including common service facilities at the village level; and
• Put up a rubber testing laboratory in Zamboanga Sibugay.
“All these efforts form part of our initiatives under the 15-year Rubber Development Program (RDP) we launched in 2006 to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of Philippine rubber industry—in partnership with the PRIA, URPPA, Filipino and foreign investors, local government units, and farmers’ groups,” Yap said.
“As part of the RDP, we are aiming to expand the current area planted to rubber to one million hectares, and increase production and exports to $960 million all by 2020. Such expansion is expected to create at least one million jobs for plantation workers, tappers and processors,” he added.
Paras, for his part, said that through the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) High Value Commercial Crops Program, the DA is aiming to open 21,600 hectares of additional rubber areas this year, in addition to the 20,500 hectares developed last year.
He said that these expansion efforts, which are being carried out without affecting the vital rice farms and prime irrigated lands in the midst of the global supply crunch, are taking place in the South Cotabato-Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat-Saranggani-General Santos City region or Soccsksargen (10,000 has), Zamboanga Peninsula (8,200 has), Caraga (1,000 has), ARMM (1,000 has), Northern Mindanao (500 has), Davao Region (500 has) in Mindanao; and (400 has) in Palawan.
To support the expansion program and the implementation of other intervention measures, Paras said the DA needs to invest at least P300 million over the next two years in this sub sector—at least P70 million this year, and another P226 million in 2009.
This year’s conference – whose theme emphasizes knowledge sharing on industry trends and prospects as a foundation for future growth and modernization—is therefore very auspicious amidst the prevailing global economic currents, he said.
In particular, he added, it gives the country a venue we hope to convince potential investors, Filipinos and foreigners, to seriously consider and put their stake in the Philippine rubber industry.
Paras said prospects are bright for rubber farmers around the world as global consumption has been increasing by approximately 208,000 tons since 1995, and is expected to reach 31.8 million tons by 2020.
In 2007, the Philippines exported roughly $42 million worth of latex, rubber plates and other rubber products, mostly to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia.
The growth of the rubber sector was sustained during the first three months of 2008, as harvests increased by 6.8%, to 65,000 tons. The Top 3 rubber-producing regions are Soccsksargen (35,700 tons), Zamboanga Peninsula (2,700 tons) and Davao Region (2,800 tons).
Last year, the national production of natural rubber from 111,000 hectares of farms expanded by 15% to 404,000 MT worth P15.4 billion, from 351,000 tons valued at P12.3 billion in 2006.
At least 190,000 Filipinos are directly and indirectly dependent on rubber farming as a major source of livelihood and incomes.
Of this number: 700 are employed as buyers and traders, and another 600 work in the country’s 30 processing centers; around 38,000 families work as planters who are predominantly smallholders, with each family owning an average of 3 to 5 hectares of rubber farm; and another 38,000 families are employed as part-time off-farmers and tappers.
A Situationer: Filipino deportees from Malaysia, a sustained cycle since 1995? 13 years in existence….
By JP AlvarezZAMBOANGA CITY –Only a few may know but what could have been an ant hill before now a “mountain” of problem on Filipino deportation from Malaysia that started in 1995 and is getting “sturdier” with increasing number of Filipinos being deported each year. Good… if its’ economic progress, but no, it’s not something that we can be proud of... Nobody then thought of nipping it in the bud 13 years ago…
Based on statistical record of DSWD 9, the trend on the deportation of Filipinos from 1995 to June 28, 2008 has dramatically spiraled.
The number of deportees served in 1995 was only 96 or 0.12% against the total outreach for 13 years & 6 months. The number has almost tripled in 1996 with 217 served. The number of deportees started to spiral in 1997 and thereafter registering an uphill trend.
Year 2007 registered the highest number of served deportees with 11, 963 or 14.82% of the total number served followed by year 2006 with 10, 469 or 12.97%
The trend indicates the political will of the Malaysian government to sustain and firmly enforce the Immigration Act, with the steady and regular number of deportees and repatriates reached out by the DSWD Processing Center.
DSWD field office 9 said that from January 2008 to date, the office has already recorded & served 7,296 deportees who arrived here in the city.
“These are undocumented Filipinos, illegal migrants, expired passport holders,” Ms. Fe De La Cruz, DSWD 9 information officer said.
Ms. De La Cruz said the government has roughly spent P5.8M for the first semester alone of this year for the assistance of the deportees broken down as follows: food-P1.5M; transportation-P4.1M; personal effects-P44, 000; medical expenses-P12, 000; clothing-P169, 000; burial expenses-P8, 000.
“Of the 7,296 deportees, only 12 were left & housed at the DSWD processing center, the rest were already sent back to their places of origin.” She added
“We are expecting the arrival of some 269 deportees this afternoon” De La Cruz said.
Arrival of Filipino repatriates from Malaysia is scheduled every Wednesday & Saturday.
It can be recalled; Mayor Celso Lobregat on July 10 presided over the Inter-Agency members and partners meeting to tackle measures on how to confront the expected arrival of thousands of deportees through the local port within the next few weeks as a result of the ongoing massive crackdown of undocumented Filipinos in Malaysia.
Lobregat said representatives from the different agencies that participated in the meeting resolved to undertake several measures and one of which is request for immediate government –to-government negotiation for orderly and properly coordinated deportation.
Background
Historically, Sabah, Malaysia has been a destination for the people of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. It has always been a haven for Filipino job seekers because of its geographical location/proximity to South & Western Mindanao and the opportunities it offers.
Due to the limited opportunities & low salaries here in the Philippines, Filipinos are prompted to take the risks of going to Malaysia, via backdoor Tawi-Tawi, the Southern frontier of the Philippines.
Because of the increasing number of Filipinos in Malaysia, the Federal government of Malaysia strictly enforced the implementation of its Immigration Act last January 1997, to regularize and register illegal aliens, who are deemed ineligible for permanent residence in Malaysia.
The regularization program harshly affected thousands of Filipino workers and their families, who established residence in Malaysia but have entered the country illegally.
Government intervention
To address the situation, the DSWD Processing Center was established in 1989 to provide temporary shelter to deportees and appropriate basic services towards their reintegration with their families or return to places of origin.
In Zamboanga City, the Regional Task Force for Deportees established a One Stop Shop Processing Center (OSPC) with member agencies, DFA, DSWD, DOLE, DOH, NSO, OMA, POEA, OWWA, DTI, PNP, CSWDO, BOQ, WESMINCOM, TESDA, to facilitate processing of documents of deportees; accessing them to other service agencies
DFA Zamboanga City said the office used to give free passports to deportees way back in 2005 but for this year, 2008, DFA has set limitations. Free passports will only be given to deportees who shall comply with the legal process for proper documentation of migrant workers in Malaysia. This is a way of the foreign affairs office to ensure that deportees will be properly documented. But to date, none so far of the 7, 296 deportees have availed of the free passport. DFA added that it is hard to trace records of the deportees since most of them do not declare themselves as “halaw” or deportees and applied for a tourist visa instead.
Distribution of deportees by area
Since 1995 to June 28, 2008, DSWD has served 80, 707 deportees and 78, 974 or 97.85% are originating from the Mindanao areas with the highest coming from the province of Tawi-Tawi with 38, 213 or 48.39% followed with those coming from Sulu with 29, 733 or 37.65%.
Deportees served by places of origin
Across regions, deportees from ARMM registered the highest with 71, 355 or 88.41% followed by Region IX with 6, 987 or 8.56%, while the remaining 2, 364 or 2.93% are those from regions 10, 11, 12, CARAGA, Luzon and Visayas. (PIA ZC)
Chairman's Statement of the 9th ASEAN plus-3, Foreign Ministers Meeting
Singapore, 22 July 2008 THE 9th Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN and the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea was held in Singapore on 22 July 2008. The Meeting was chaired by H.E. George Yeo, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore.
Recalling the Ministers’ decisions at the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and the 8th ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers Meeting on 31 July 2007, in Manila, which recognized that relations among ASEAN Plus Three countries had reached a high level of comfort, the 9th ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers Meeting in Singapore was held in retreat format for the first time, to facilitate a frank, open and interactive discussion.
The Ministers exchanged views on regional and international issues and welcomed recent developments that have contributed to regional peace and security in East Asia. They reiterated their support for the Six-Party Talks toward the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the eventual normalization of relations between the relevant Six-Party members through the full implementation of the Joint Statement of 19 September 2005, including the resolution of outstanding issues of concern such as security and humanitarian concerns. In this regard, the Ministers emphasized the importance of the early establishment of an effective verification mechanism. The Ministers welcomed the upcoming first informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Six-Party Talks on 23 July 2008 in Singapore.
The Ministers welcomed the Myanmar government's decision to invite UNSG Special Advisor Professor Ibrahim Gambari to visit Myanmar again in August 2008, and noted that it was important for Professor Gambari to continue his work in helping Myanmar's efforts towards national reconciliation. They expressed their support for the Secretary-General's Good Offices mission and Professor Gambari's visits to Myanmar. They called on the Myanmar authorities to extend their fullest cooperation to Professor Gambari by giving him access to the highest levels of the SPDC and the government, and by facilitating meetings for him with the widest possible range of other contacts, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Ministers discussed developments in the Middle East, in particular the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran, and the continuing efforts in the Middle East Peace Process. The Ministers took note of the Ministerial Meeting of the New Asian African Strategic Partnership on Capacity-building for Palestine organized by Indonesia, and Japan’s Corridor of Peace and Prosperity in the Middle East.
The Ministers were briefed by both Cambodia and Thailand on the situation in the area around the Temple of Preah Vihear and noted this with concern. They urged both sides to exercise utmost restraint and resolve this issue amicably.
The Ministers discussed the growing challenges of rising oil and food prices, as well as climate change, which posed serious challenges to our peoples’ welfare and our countries’ continued economic development. They called for greater information sharing and collaboration among member countries.
The Ministers also expressed their concerns over the global financial situation. On enhancing regional financial stability, they welcomed the progress made at the ASEAN plus Three Finance Ministers Meeting in Madrid. In particular, they looked forward to further progress in the multi-lateralisation of the Chiang Mai Initiative and the Asian Bond Markets Initiative.
The Ministers reviewed the implementation of the Second Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation and the ASEAN plus Three Cooperation Work Plan (2007 – 2017). They noted with satisfaction the progress made, and discussed priorities for the future direction of ASEAN plus-3 cooperation, which will continue to support ASEAN’s efforts to realize the ASEAN Community. They reaffirmed that the ASEAN plus Three processes would continue to be the main vehicle towards the long-term goal of building an East Asian community, with ASEAN as the driving force. At the same time, they recognized and supported the mutually reinforcing and complementary roles of the ASEAN plus Three process and such regional fora as EAS, ARF, APEC and ASEM to promote East Asian community building.
They noted that ASEAN plus-3 cooperation had grown from strength to strength over the past 11 years to encompass 14 Ministerial processes covering cooperation in 20 fields. In this context, they took note of the many cooperation initiatives in areas such as disaster management, food and energy security, finance, ICT, free trade arrangements, health and youth.
ASEAN Ministers expressed their appreciation for the Plus Three countries’ contributions and support for the ASEAN-led mechanism on humanitarian assistance for the victims of Cyclone Nargis. The Ministers called for the enhancement of information sharing and collaboration among the national disaster relief focal points. Drawing from the lessons learnt from recent disasters, they directed officials to improve disaster relief coordination and management through training, capacity building and improved systems and procedures. The Ministers expressed their sympathy to Myanmar and China in view of the massive and tragic loss of life in the Cyclone Nargis and the Sichuan earthquake disasters.
The Ministers launched the ASEAN plus Three Cooperation Fund with an initial contribution of USD 3 million. China, Japan and Korea would each contribute USD 900,000, and ASEAN would contribute USD 300,000. This would provide the needed resources to implement more projects as envisaged by the Second Joint Statement and the Work Plan.
The Ministers expressed their best wishes to China for a successful Olympic Games in Beijing.
The Ministers looked forward to their next meeting in Thailand in 2009.
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