AKO BICOL FILES BILL CREATING CIVILIAN PSG

LEGAZPI CITY— Ako Bikol partylist (AKB) has filed House Bill No. 3198 converting the Presidential Security Group (PSG) into a highly professional civilian security organization which will be re-named as the Government Protection and Security Service (GPSS).

AKB Cong. Rodel M. Batocabe explained that in said bill the GPSS will be created under the control and direction of the Office of the President and no longer as a military unit of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Currently, the PSG is a unit of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) with headquarters in the Malacañang Palace although police personnel and operators from the PNP Special Weapons and Tactics and Special Action Force are also assigned in the PSG.

Batocabe furthered that AKB sought the need to pass the bill in response to the unpopular perception that PSG posts are perceived to be the most sought-after assignment as they are closest to the seat of power – the presidency.

Military and police officers and personnel are designated to the PSG which serves as a spring board for their professional careers. It is also alleged that military or police personnel assigned to the PSG are politicized as they are promised high-ranking positions in the AFP or PNP and stay beholden to officials they have served.

To date, there had been at least three (3) PSG Commanders who had become AFP Chief-of-Staff or assigned to other high-ranking posts who are perceived, rightly or wrongly, to have been appointed because of their closeness to the President.

Batocabe believes that “this perception should be eradicated as it demoralizes the members of the armed forces and weakens the public’s confidence in its military.”

“The creation of an institutionalized civilian agency, independent from the AFP or PNP, ensures that the protective role of the agency, that is, ensuring the safety of national leaders, their families, the Malacañang Palace, and foreign visitors, shall be upheld and given utmost priority,” he stated. (AKB/PIA/mal)

ORIENTATION ON UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM CONDUCTED

SORSOGON CITY— The Department of Health (DOH and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), in collaboration with its partner agencies, spearheaded here on Tuesday (September 21) the one-day orientation and organizational meeting in preparation for the Nationwide PhilHealth Registration Day set on October 2, 2010.

The upcoming activity is in consonance with President Benigno C. Aquino’s priority agenda to ensure that all Filipinos, especially the indigents, to have access to quality health care services through universal health care in three year-time.

PhilHealth Bicol focal person for Sorsogon Jindra Mingoy said that membership coverage of the poor and the informal sectors remains inadequate due to poor targeting system, unsustained enrolment, inaccessible accredited facilities and poor awareness regarding PhilHealth entitlement and processes.

“With P-Noy’s priority now of ensuring quality health care services to all Filipinos, it is expected that these concerns will be addressed. In fact, in Sorsogon alone, some 40, 726 indigents identified through the National Household Targeting System – Proxy Means Test (NHTS-PMT) of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are likely to gather at the Sorsogon Provincial Gymnasium on October 2 to register,” she said.

She further added that interested registrants may still visit the nearest PhilHealth office, selected public schools or the local DSWD counterparts in their respective localities for further details.

Meanwhile, in support to the program, the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Sorsogon Information Center has crafted canned radio plug distributed to local broadcast media here.

The DOH as the lead agency, on the other hand, is helped by the DILG in engaging local chief executives in the enrollment of indigents identified by the DSWD in their respective jurisdictions, while the Department of Education (DepEd) helps conduct Information Education Campaign (IEC) among parents through their Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) to encourage them to register and become Philhealth members. (BARecebido, PIA Sorsogon/mal)

GOVERNMENT RESOURCES, CIVIL SOCIETY IN MASBATE
MOBILIZED FOR PHILHEALTH LIST-UP

MASBATE CITY—The office here of the Department of Health (DOH) and its partners kicked off Tuesday (September 21) preparations in support of the massive registration for the government’s health insurance program on Oct. 2, Saturday.

Norlinda Castillo of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) said some 46,900 families identified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development as the “poorest of the poor” in Masbate are targeted for the day-long registration which will be held in this city’s crowded corners as part of what is billed as “Nationwide PhilHealth Registration Day.”

In a briefing for representatives of agencies and non-government organizations that will take part in the event, Castillo said the national government has pledged to shoulder the cost of their insurance premiums—at least P1,200 yearly—as part of efforts to carry out President Aquino’s promise to provide health care coverage to the country’s poor within three years.

To be drummed into public awareness with the slogan “PhilHealth Sabado, Magseguro, Magparehistro,” the event aims to instill in every citizen the value of a PhilHealth membership, which assures him or her and their dependents proper health service.

According to DOH’s Pedro Lee who will oversee the registration in the three venues, the event also intends to enlist the self-employed under PhilHealth’s “Individually Paying Program.”

In a plan crafted during the briefing, the registration will be held in the local PhilHealth office, at the main public market here, and in the city’s main park.

The local government units, local offices of the Department of Education, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, Philippine Information Agency, DSWD and members of civil society and non-government organizations comprise the back-up team for DOH and PhilHealth.—(EA Delgado, PIA Masbate/mal)

NINE COMMUNIST REBELS SURRENDER TO ARMY IN ALBAY

LEGAZPI CITY – Fed up with a decade’s long arms struggle at least nine New People’s Army (NPA) rebels operating in Albay voluntarily surrendered to military authorities on Friday (September 17), a military official said.

Lt. Col. John Oberio, commander of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army based in Albay, said that rebels that are members of the Barangay Revolutionary Committee of the communist movement turned themselves in at around 10:00am Friday in his headquarters in Ligao City.

Oberio identified the surrenderees as Margie Bayle alias Cheryl, Marilon Orido alias Lay, Joe Morada alais . Boy, Santos Alcadeza alias Karantog, Edralyn Sodsod alias Chie, Nicanor Lambo alias Bugoy, Rolando Almojuela alias Joy, Homer Espana alias Lito and Jose Lupera alias Juan.

Oberio said the surrederees told him that they have realized that their fight against the government was an exercise in futility.

The former rebels have already undergone custodial debriefing by soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Battalion in Ligao City.

The civil-military operations (CMO) efforts initiated by the Army have remarkably led to the surrender of a big number of NPA rebels in various part of Bicol.

He said tactical offensives had been intensified due to the rising number of tipsters who pinpointed the locations of NPA rebels and its hideouts.

“It is now easier to find and capture these rebels with the valuable help provided by the local residents themselves,” Oberio added.

Recently, a series of brief firefights occurred in Albay that led to the killing of several NPA rebels and the capture of a ranking communist leader identified as a certain Alvin Orpiada.

The invaluable information provided by the civilian was attributed to the success of the military operations.

During his field visit to Army camps in Bicol on Wednesday (Sept. 15), Major General Arturo Ortiz, the Army Chief, awarded combat medals to soldiers who figured in the successful encounters against the bandit rebels in Albay. (PNA Bicol/PIA/mal)

ARMY TROOPERS UNEARTH GRAVESITES IN ALBAY AND SORSOGON

LEGAZPI CITY--- Army soldiers recently unearthed two gravesites of three civilians that were summarily executed by suspected New People’s Army (NPA) in Albay and Sorsogon, military reports said.

In Albay, Army soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Battalion, led by Lt. Col. John Oberio, exhumed the remains of two people who were killed by the NPA rebels in Cabarian village, Ligao City at around 2:30 pm Tuesday (September 14).

A former rebel, who is now helping the military in its campaign against the insurgents, pinpointed the exact location of the gravesite.

Oberio identified the victims as Manuel Harden, 46, and his brother Domingueto, 44, both members of the communist movement.

The victims were accused by the communist movement as military assets and were sentenced to death through the movement’s ‘kangaroo court’.

In Sorsogon Army soldiers also exhumed on September 9 the remains of Julius Escudero, a militiaman who was abducted and killed by the NPA sometime in 2006.

The remains of Escudero were exhumed in barangay Marinas, a remote village in Sorsogon City.

According to military intelligence the discovery of the various gravesites is an indication that the communist movement continues to purge its own ranks and resort of extra judicial killing against those members they believe are returning into the folds of the law.

Major General Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division, has called on various human rights groups and local officials to denounce the dastardly acts by the NPA bandits.

“The continuous killing spree perpetrated by the NPA in 2010 is the indication that the bandit group remains as the main violators of the International Humanitarian Law. It is high time that local leaders and human rights groups take a stand to condemn these senseless killings,” said Pabustan.

Meanwhile, a notorious gang member was s shot to death by suspected NPA rebels on Wednesday (September 15) in Pamplona town in Camarines Sur, a military official said.

LtCol Ernesto Cruz, commander of the Army’s 42nd Infantry Battalion based in Camarines Sur, identified the victim as Sonny Nollasco, 27, a resident of Tambo village, Pamplona town.

Cruz said that five armed men approached the victim near his house and dragged him to a swamp where he was shot in close range with Cal .45 pistol at around 10:20am Wednesday.

“The victim was tagged as a member of the notorious hold-up gang in the area. He was shot to death in front of his relatives who witnessed the crime,” said Cruz.

Lt. Col. Leoncio Cirunay, Commander of the 22nd Infantry Battalion also said that Nollasco was a former NPA rebel who asked for his help in going back to mainstream society.

“I was studying the possibility of letting him (Nollasco) join my CAFGU personnel. This is my own way of helping enlightened members of the bandit group to become peaceful citizens in our country,” said Cirunay.

Nollasco is the 35th victim of the bandit group’s policy of extra-judicial killing after the shooting of Rey Diolata, 24, in Gubat town in Sorsogon on September 10. Diolata was killed by NPA rebels in front of his wife and children. (PNA Bicol/PIA/mal)

10 ARB-MSMES GEARED-UP FOR BUSINESS

SORSOGON PROVINCE (Sept 20) – Consistent with the national and regional goals, the Department of Trade and Industry – Comprehensive Agrarian Reform program (DTI-CARP) Sorsogon has implemented programs and projects that capacitated agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to become entrepreneurs.

According to DTI Provincial Director Leah Pagao, this effort has resulted to the creation and development of new enterprises along food processing and handicraft making and the managerial and skills training programs resulted to the emergence of equipped ARB-entrepreneurs ready to produce quality products that will serve the demand of the market.

Pagao said that to make the assistance more comprehensive, product development programs were further provided to both food and handicraft sectors. “DTI-CARP succeeded in developing ten product labels to the food producers,” she added.

Mr. Andres De Dios, a freelance designer, was commissioned to come-up with designs, introduce innovations with consideration on the latest trends and colors particularly on the “bayong” so as to increase the marketability of handicrafts,

The twenty five designs provided were all executed into new prototypes.

“With this package of assistances ten ARCs are now taking off with their projects. Through market matching activities, they were able to realize sales amounting to P436,000,” said Pagao.

Among the MSME-ARBs, coops and groups who are geared - up to set its footprints on the road to success are: Juban and Casiguran Weavers, Macalaya Handicraft Association (Castilla), Boton Handicraft Workers Association (Casiguran), GK Poblacion Weavers (Castilla), LK Handicraft (Juban), Luna’s Food Products (Irosin), Edsun Pilinut Products (Prieto Diaz) and Teresa Lareza Food Products (Casiguran).

“In terms of bottomlines, the DTI-CARP contributed investments of P2,636,000, sales of P3,559,000, creation of 105 jobs, development of 28 entrepreneurs and provided assistance to 347 ARBs for the first semester of 2010,” Pagao also bared. (LJMapagdalita, FFSy & SCMalaya, DTI, Sorsogon/PIA/mal)

Aquino to meet Obama and other world leaders

MANILA — President Benigno S. Aquino III is looking forward to meeting with heads of state and heads of government from around the world including United States President Barack Obama while he is in New York to attend the 65th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The President left Manila on Monday (Sept. 20) for his first foreign trip as the country’s Chief Executive.

In an interview upon his arrival in New York, the President said his attendance at the UNGA will give him the opportunity to meet with his counterparts “to be able to resolve a lot of issues and we can get better cooperation amongst the concerns, especially in ASEAN.”

Some 150 world leaders are attending the 65th UNGA.

The President also expressed hope that his proposed one-on-one meeting with President Barack Obama will push through.

“If I get the chance to meet with President Obama, of course, that would be most welcome. There are a lot of concerns that have to be taken up with President Obama,” he said.

According to the President, the proposed one-on-one meeting with Obama had yet to be confirmed. However, they will have a chance to meet when the US President meets the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during the 2nd US-ASEAN Leader’s Meeting..

The President will be the coordinator for the 2nd ASEAN-US Leaders meeting in New York as the Philippines is currently the Country Coordinator for ASEAN-US Dialogue relations for 2009-2012. (PIA V Release)

Aquino shuns expensive dinners, stays at cheaper hotel in New York

MANILA — There will be no expensive dinners for President Benigno S. Aquino III and his official delegation while they are in New York.

The Chief Executive, who is on a weeklong working visit to the United States to attend the 65th United Nations General Assembly, said he was looking forward to eating hotdogs, pizza and chow mien in New York.

He recalled that his family used to eat pizza and chao mien when they were in Boston while his late father, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was in exile.

Shortly after his arrival in San Francisco, the President together with his delegation ate hamburgers at the “In and Out “.

The President noted that he and his cabinet secretaries were like kids as they enjoyed eating their burgers which were really huge.

The President, who shuns using sirens in his travels around the country, also said that his escorts in New York used sirens to take him from the airport to the Sofitel Hotel, where he is billeted during the duration of his stay in the city. He described it as something beyond his control as “we’re just visitors here.”

The President chose to stay at the cheaper Sofitel instead of the more elegant and expensive Waldorf-Astoria but the room he is occupying has likewise an ambience that befits a head of state. (PIA V Release)

Aquino to meet with business leaders in New York

MANILA — President Benigno S. Aquino III will meet with several business leaders in New York on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), in line with his efforts to attract investors to the country.

In a media briefing in Malacanang, Wednesday morning, Deputy Spokesperson Abigail dela Fuente-Valte said President Aquino is scheduled to meet with former US Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger and officials of the Synergos Institute and AES Corporation as well as World Bank president Robert Zoellick.

Also part of his itinerary is an interview with the Wall Street Journal and the conferment rights at the College of Math Saint Vincent where he will receive the Elizabeth Ann Seton medal, the highest honors given by the school.

Valte said that part of the topics the President will discuss with officials of the AES Corporation is a possible expansion of its power plant’s capacity. AES is an electricity generation and distribution company which has a plant in Masinloc, Zambales.

Valte said the President’s meeting with Zoellick will cover issues such as climate change, additional infrastructure funding and additional support from World Bank’s country assistance fund.

One of the highlights of the President’s US visit is his speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 24, Thursday, (Friday in Manila) where he is expected to appeal for greater cooperation not just between the developed and developing countries but among all nations. (PIA V Release)

Aquino to attend ASEAN Summit and visit Vietnam in October

MANILA — President Benigno S. Aquino III will go to Hanoi on Oct. 28 to 30 to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) Summit.

But prior to his attendance at the ASEAN Summit, the Chief Executive will first make a state visit to Vietnam upon the personal invitation of Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said, in an interview in New York, that the President was originally scheduled to visit Vietnam last September 13-14 but the hostage crisis took place at the Quirino Grandstand last August 23, which forced the President to stay and attend to domestic problems.

According to Romulo, when he informed President Triet of the postponement, the latter understood completely. “President Triet thanked President Aquino for congratulating Vietnam on the celebration of their 65th anniversary.”

Romulo said the two leaders talked about the ASEAN-US meeting that will take place this Friday (Sept. 24) and President Aquino, as the coordinator, just talked about their full agenda including the communiqué, which has been arranged by the senior officials.

He reported to the Vietnamese leader that President Aquino is looking forward to his visit to Hanoi in order to “deepen the relationship already existing between the two countries.”

The Vietnamese president also expressed his confidence in the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Vietnam.

President Aquino said he expects to sign in Hanoi the agreements on higher education, defense, maritime issues and disaster coordination, including oil spill and natural calamities, Romulo added. (PIA V Release)

More world leaders invite Aquino

MANILA — President Benigno S. Aquino III has yet to finish his official schedules in the United States but already invitations are pouring for him to visit other nations.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, in an interview Tuesday night in New York, said leaders of several countries including China want to cement their relations with the Philippines.

Romulo said a representative from China extended the invitation to President Aquino.

“There are invitations to him everywhere. But like he said, in accordance with tradition he will visit the Association of Southeast Asian nations first, which is in Hanoi for the regional ASEAN summit,” he said.

Expected to be discussed in President’s Aquino’s expected meeting with US President Barack Obama, according to Romulo, is the Asean US agenda pertaining to the regions and the continuation of the ASEAN-US Summit.

It should also tackle, he said, the Eminent Persons Group by which each country to the US would name an eminent person to discuss further how the ASEAN-US will continue to proceed as an important grouping.

The Philippines has been the coordinator of the ASEAN-US summit meetings since last year and will continue to do so until next year, he said.

Romulo said the meeting between President Aquino and President Obama will tackle future agenda in the Philippines’ role of coordinator, and the topics will be up for ASEAN members to agree on. The ASEAN chair now is Vietnam and the US and next year it will be Indonesia and the US.

According to Romulo, issues common to ASEAN and the US include the declaration of conduct in the South China Sea, of which there is a declaration between the Asean-10 and China.

Asked why the President was not scheduled to be among the first four speakers at the UN General Assembly, Romulo said “we have arranged it as such because he has so many other meetings to attend to. The first speaker is always Brazil then the United States then the country of the president of the General Assembly, Romulo explained. (PIA V Release)