PIA Dispatch (16 June 2010)

GMA inspects P180-M restoration project in Intramuros

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo today inspected the P180-million Maestranza Curtain Wall reconstruction work in Intramuros, one of government’s projects to draw tourists’ interest in historic Old Manila.

Expected to be completed in January 2011, the project consists of the reconstruction of Baluarte Hererias, Baluarte Sto. Domingo and other walls which served as storage and defensive fortifications for Manila during the galleon trade era.

The project is funded by the Japanese Government and implemented by the Intramuros Administration.

The President arrived at 10:15 a.m. and inspected the Maestranza Curtain Wall, the section of Intramuros wall along the Pasig River that was bombed by the Japanese forces during the World War II.

She was welcomed by Tourism Secretary Ace Durano, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and Senator and Red Cross chair Richard Gordon who helped the government in securing foreign funds for the project.

Arroyo walked through the chambers of the wall as she impressed upon officials the need for restoring the Spanish era relics.

Once completed, these chambers will host a museum, restaurants and other commercial establishments.

Durano said Maestranza will not only become a home to the country’s historical relics, but an income generating venture for the Intramuros Administration.


Jobless rate seen to drop this year – DOLE

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) sees the unemployment rate to go down in the coming months with the expected rebound in agriculture due to the onset of the rainy season.

In today’s media briefing in Malacañang, Labor Undersecretary Romeo Lagman said the dry spell brought by the El Nino phenomenon resulted to the loss of some 810,000 jobs in the sector in the first four months of 2010.

The latest Labor Force Survey released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) placed unemployment rate at eight percent as of April, compared to the 7.3 percent recorded from the previous quarter and the 7.5 percent in April last year.

The NSO placed the number of unemployed at 3.1 million last April compared to the 2.8 million recorded in the same period last year.

Lagman said the jobs loss, which mainly affected the agriculture sector, tapered the 822,000 jobs generated by the services sector.

Despite the loss of jobs in agriculture, Lagman said the employment level grew by 1.2 percent in 2010 as the number of persons entering the labor force increased from 34.9 million to 35.4 million.

“So this translates to an employment generation of over 400,000,” Lagman said.

Lagman said the services sector increased by 4.7 percent with an absolute figure of 822,000 employed, while the industry sector gained 7.8 percent or an absolute figure of 396,000 employment.

Lagman said the gains in the industry and services sectors despite the global financial crisis in the last quarter of 2009 were offset by the loss in the agriculture sector which was caused by the El Nino for several months.

“Perhaps in the next survey, we will picture a better perspective of the employment situation,” Lagman said.

At present, Lagman said the DOLE’s Jobs Fit Program is addressing the mismatch in jobs requirement for local and overseas employment up to year 2020.

The project guides students and new entrants to the labor force in identifying college and technical-vocational courses that they may pursue to land available industry jobs or to engage in self-employment undertakings required by the economy after graduation.

The Job Fit road map also serves as a basis of the education sector and other concerned stakeholders in providing training and educational scholarships and in developing appropriate curricula and career materials for job seekers.


Manufacturing growth not poll spending -- says NEDA of 7.3% Q1 GDP

The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), today at a news briefing in Malacanang, cited the job-rich manufacturing industry as one of the key contributors to the phenomenal 7.3 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth during the first quarter of this year

“Makikita natin ang isang nagpakita ng growth ay industry specifically manufacturing… isa sa mga tumulong para tumaas and ating growth sa first quarter (We can see that one sector that posted growth and helped us in the first quarter was manufacturing)” according to NEDA director for development information Victoria Quiambao.

In the same press conference, Presidential management staff head Elena Bautista Horn sought to dispel outside claims that the bulk of the 7.3 percent growth was driven mainly by pre-election spending leading to the May 10 polls.

Quiambao said the manufacturing industry grew by 20 percent during the first quarter after experiencing contraction in the previous quarters. She said the 20 percent contributed to the generation of 1.7 million jobs

According to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), the substantial rebound of the manufacturing sector contributed to the country’s sustained economic growth. The Industry sector grew by 3.8 percent last quarter.

Horn said ”kung talagang election spending yan yung nakadeklarang gastos sa BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) di katumbas sa halaga (If those were election spending, the expenses declared to BIR would have matched.)”

Horn also credited overseas remittances for fueling GDP’s domestic consumption.

She added that “we need to marry figures and the sectors that really help the 7.3 (percent growth)”

Because of the strong first quarter growth, the government upgraded the 2010 economic growth target to a range of 5 percent to 6 percent from the previous 2.6 percent to 3.6 percent.

Horn said international financial institutions also increased their expectations on the country’s GDP, citing JP Morgan chase, which adjusted its initial forecast on the country’s GDP growth form 4.5 percent to 6.8 percent

Horn said that foreign firms and the private sector in general have are affirming the government’s explanation.


Evangelists fete PGMA in testimonial lunch

Only a person who does not know her cannot see her achievements.

This in a nutshell summed up the sentiments of evangelists belonging to the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches who feted outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to a testimonial lunch today at the Manila hotel.

Dr. Jose Pascua, president of Joshua Generation, delivered the most touching prayer during the luncheon when he said: “Today we celebrate Her Excellency for what she has done in the past nine years. I believe that only a person who does not know her in a personal way can’t see these [achievements] and how the Holy Spirit is moving her in a higher role of influence globally.”

“The Spirit of the Lord was upon Her Excellency all through these years. Never mind what bad you hear, circumstances or other comments. But I can tell you we are here to thank the Lord because the Spirit of God was with Her Excellency all her nine years. No person could do that [achieve things] without the spirit of God,” Pascua said.

Bishop Ellie Mercado, president of Zion Christian Community Church and Dr. Andrew Liuson, chairman of the PCEC board delivered their own prayers while Neils Riconalia, chairman of the Fellowship of Christians in Government, Bishop Cesar Punzalan, deputy director of PCEC and Dr. Nora Lucero, general secretary of the Philippine Bible Society gave their testimonials.

Riconalia thanked the President for allowing the Fellowship of Christians in Government to minister spiritually to the needs of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police in 2005 and 2007 and in conducting moral values seminars to the men in uniform using as foundation Rick Warren’s “A Purpose-Driven Life.”

As a result, he said, many of the top officers of the two institutions have come to know Jesus Christ personally and healed marriages for some of them. The spiritual climate has also changed which led to the holding of the most peaceful, credible elections in May 2010, Riconalia said.

Bishop Punzalan thanked the Arroyo administration “for opening to the evangelicals a lot of opportunities to participate in the interfaith dialogues across religions and across cultures that promote peace; the opportunity to participate in the dialogues between the military, the police and the church on extra judicial killings, which enabled us to save lives and for the opportunity to participate in seeking the transformation of this nation and that our voices were heard. “

In the audio visual presentation of PCEC, Bishop Efraim Tendero, national director of PCEC, an active member of the Presidential Council on Values Formation, said the PCVF has been coordinating with non government organizations in promoting the foundation of a just and moral governance in 16 regions of the country in conducting seminars on values formation and it coordinated with different military and police units and government agencies, the bishops and others on the issue of extra judicial killings and the mysterious disappearances of religious leaders, which resulted in a rapid decline of these cases.

The PCEC is represented in the 50-man Citizens Consultative Commission or CONCOM that went around the country to consult and gather inputs from various sectors and review and craft various amendments to the Constitution.

President Arroyo initiated Executive Order 595 declaring September as peace month in the Philippines. She also helped in holding local and international interfaith dialogues in China, Amsterdam, Spain and in the United Nations,Tendero said.


Bibles and prayers for PGMA, FG

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo today received new copies of the Holy Bible, one for her and the other for First Gentleman Atty. Miguel Arroyo, who is due for a spinal column surgery this June 18. He checked in at the hospital today.

A gathering of evangelists at the Manila Hotel led by Bishop Tendero, national director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches also said prayers for the First Gentleman. The occasion was a testimonial lunch hosted by the PCEC in honor of the President.

Those assembled prayed for the healing of First Gentleman and success for his coming operation and for the President “that the Lord will strengthen her,” Tendero said.

Dr. Nora Lucero, general secretary of the Philippine Bible Society and the first woman and first Asian chairman of the United Bible Society, assisted Tendero and Dr. Jose Pascua, president of Joshua Generation, in handing the bibles to the President.

Aside from the bible, the President also received from the Philippine Bible Society and the PCEC a citation of appreciation for her steadfast faith and total support for the yearly conduct of the National Bible Week, which she proclaimed in January 2004.

The citation was signed by Bishop Lacanael P. Lazaro, president and chairman of the Philippine Bible Society and Nora Lucero, general secretary. The citation had the verse from Philippians 1: “I pray with joy because of the way in which you upheld the work of the Gospel and I am sure that God who began the good work in you will carry on until it is finished.”

“Madam President thank you for providing great support to the work of bible dissemination in the country and we pray that the Bible will continue to be your guide in the many and new challenges that you will face,” Lucero said.


USAID-funded survey affirms gains of PGMA’s tourism strategy

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s tourism development programs in her nine-year term have brought about P62-billion worth of investments into the country and generated three million jobs for Filipinos.

This is the conclusion of an independent study conducted by the Philippine-based Center for Research and Communication (CRC) and funded by the Asia Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

In a presentation during the Retrospective Seminar of the Department of Tourism (DOT) held today in Intramuros, CRC representative Cherry Rodolfo said that from 2000 to 2009, the tourism industry generated some P62-billion worth of investments from enterprises registered with the National Economic Development Agency (NEDA) and Board of investments (BOI).

Rodolfo cited a DOT survey that in May this year alone, the Central Philippines Super Region, one of the five themed growth corridors mapped out in President Arroyo’s 2004 strategic development program, has generated 28,629 employment from 2002 establishments.

“With a lot of activity going on, Central Philippines will have another 147 new establishments plus additional room expansion by existing establishments that will generate 14,376 new employment,” the CRC official added.

She said these achievements in tourism have made a significant impact on local area development in creating more jobs, generating more income and strengthening community partnerships.

The CRC credited these accomplishments to the various tourism investments that the Arroyo administration has made to provide greater mobility and accessibility.

Rodolfo cited Arroyo’s airport development projects, the nautical highway project (RoRo project) and road networks, such as NLEX and SLEX, as among the infrastructure projects that contributed in no small amount to stimulating domestic tourism.

She also noted an improvement in inbound tourism, citing the 311.84 percent growth in flight arrivals in Clark Airport, from 27,452 international flights in 2000 to 106,016 flight in 2008.

The DOT Retrospective Seminar was attended by DOT officials led by Tourism Secretary Ace Durano and representatives of The Asia Foundation, and USAID.

In his speech, Durano cited the important role of private sector in tourism development, saying their aggressive marketing strategies and constructive feedback on tourism have helped place the country among the major tourist destinations in Asia.