“After due deliberation, the Comelec resolves to approve report of Special Bids and Awards Committee confirming Total Information Management-Smartmatic as bidder with lowest calculated bid and award contract to them for the automation of elections on May 10, 2010,” Comelec chairman Jose Melo announced, quoting an en banc resolution.

“Upon SBAC’s recommendation, the bidder has the lowest calculated responsive bid after it passed the bid evaluation of its eligibility, technical and financial proposal of P7.2 billion and has complied with all 26 technical criteria during the evaluation and end-to-end demonstration of its poll machines,” Melo added.

SBAC is set to issue a notice of award to representatives of Smartmatic and TIM over a short ceremony on Wednesday morning, aside from sending the notice via fax, post and e-mail, said Melo.

After receiving the notice of award, the bidder must submit to Comelec a performance security or bond in the form of a manager’s check worth at least five percent of the total winning bid of Smartmatic-TIM or P360 million to ensure that the bidder will perform according to contract terms and provision of machines.

“Everything is now on line for the 2010 elections. We are all set and there will be no hindrance for the 2010 polls, let us hope and pray we will have peaceful elections then,” said Melo.

Melo added although he was at first doubting the lengthy day-to-day bidding last month, he said, “I realized it was for the better. Even with the one month delay, everything was transparent so walang naki-criticize [nothing will be criticized] – this is a shield against attacks on our automation project. We can also catch up with the timetable for the implementation calendar.”

Melo noted that aside from Commissioners Lucenito Tagle, Rene Sarmiento, and Armando Velasco who signed the resolution, Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer who was on business trip, issued a sworn statement that he fully approved SBAC’s recommendation to award the automation project to Smartmatic-TIM.

He added that even bypassed Commissioners Leonardo Leonida and Elias Yusoph concurred with resolution.

The Comelec is drafting the contract that will formalize the agreement between Comelec and the winning automation bidder, said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.

“The contract has been drawn up, we have a ‘padron’ or the template for the contract while it is being reviewed by our legal team. Before it is signed, it will pass another review to be done by retired Supreme Court Justices Vicente Mendoza and Hugo Guttierez – we want them who are known for integrity and meticulousness to peruse the contract before it was signed by the bidder and the Comelec as another precautionary measure,” said Jimenez.

Only temporary restraining orders (TROs) from third parties can prevent the promulgation of the contract, said Melo.

“TRO not from bidders but third parties – that is the more dangerous ones kasi yung kinakatakot namin is may mag challenge sa [we are afraid we will be challenged in the] Supreme Court based simply on their belief that the poll body is doing a wrong thing or that they know better than Comelec how to implement an automated election,” said Jimenez.

Transparency throughout the whole procurement process, especially the opening of eligibility, technical and financial bid proposals will help prevent legal challenges in court.

Melo also allayed fears by groups like the Philippine Computer Society, which expressed concern that Smartmatic might not give the source code that contained instructions to run the precinct count optical scan machines and its automated election system due to “intellectual property issues.”

Melo stressed in 2008 – when Smartmatic provided poll machines for the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao – that the firm gave its source code for configuration of the voting machines, which has remained with the Comelec until today.

The contract signing between Comelec’s poll chief and the bidder is set on Thursday. This will be followed a week after by the issuance of notice to proceed, which will authorize the winning bidder to start manufacturing and customizing poll machines and related equipment, said Melo.

Article source: Inquirer.net

The President told reporters in an informal interaction in Clark Free Port that the LRT North extension project, linking the LRT Line 1 end station in Monumento, Caloocan City, to the MRT Line 3 station in North Avenue, will commence civil works next month.

She said she ordered concerned officials to “close the loop” using “VAT revenues” because “a loan takes time.”

Edgardo Pamintuan, Luzon Urban Beltway super region champion, said the President decided to focus on completing the North extension project to link all extant metropolitan railways. She, thus, also “scrapped for the meantime” the other components of the Edsa North Transit (ENT) project.

The ENT was to stretch from North Avenue to Malabon and connect the MRT 3 and the planned MRT 7 via a rail depot, providing a link to the south rail and north rail lines.

Pamintuan said the President wants to see the operation of the MRT-LRT Loop while she is still in office, and to just let her successor deal with the rest of the ENT.

He said the civil works for the project would be carried out as the Light Rail Transit Administration bids out the contract for the electro-mechanical component of the elevated railway. There had been two previous biddings. Both failed.

Article source: Business Mirror
by: Mia Gonzalez
photo by: middlegrey (Flickr)

The project will expand the existing floor space in the terminal and the construction of additional passenger lounges and bays to accommodate more aircraft, including the wide-bodied long-haul airlines.

Airport general manager Danilo Francia said consultants are drafting engineering drawings on the new floor plan and passenger bays, adding bidding could be launched by the end of the year.

The entire project is expected to be completed in 2009.

The 20-year-old airport on Mactan Island handles close to 80 international and some 300 domestic flights a week, excluding cargo planes and military aircraft.

“The face of the terminal will change as we plan to increase the standards of our airport. This terminal is still useful for the next several years and we plan to maximize it,” he told the BusinessMirror.

Francia said the four existing passenger bridges and its single tube will be expanded to two tubes each, so aircraft can dock left and right of each bridge.

Two more bridges with two tubes will be constructed on both ends of the terminal. The bridges can accommodate large aircraft with two tubes facilitating simultaneous disembarking of passengers.

The waiting lounges will also be expanded while new ones will be built for budget airlines.

Francia said inside the building, administration and support services offices will be transferred to give more space for passengers and airline offices.

The airport authority is also set to increase the standard of stores inside the airport and will give way to bigger shops.

Francia said the existing single runway and the supporting taxiway and aprons are still world-class and could accommodate the biggest aircraft, including the Airbus 380s.

“The capacity of the runway is still just over 50 percent. It can still accommodate a lot of increased traffic,” he said.

Article source: Business Mirror
by: Wilfredo Rodolfo III

THE Philippines and Thailand successfully negotiated an amended air pact over the weekend.

Under the amended air services agreement (ASA) between the two countries, the seat entitlements for Manila-Thailand route went up by 1,700 more from the current 3,700, said Civil Aviation Board (CAB) deputy executive director Porvenir Porciuncula in an interview.

The CAB is one of the members of the panel. The others are from the departments of Transportation and Communications, Foreign Affairs, Tourism and Trade and Industry, and representatives from the airline companies.

The successful air talks held on July 24 and 25 also led to the opening of new points outside of Manila, added the CAB official.

Carriers mounting flights to Thailand from Clark have been allotted a total of 8,700-weekly-seat entitlements. From Thailand to Clark, both panels agreed to grant another 8,700-seat entitlements.

“We agreed that both sides should be allocated 8,700 seats per week. In total, there are 17,400 seats per week in Clark,” said Porciuncula.

For air cargo, the new ASA allows up to 700 tons per week for Clark-Thailand route.

“For Clark, everything is new. That is for both passenger and cargo. We do not have an agreement in place before. The same in Davao, which is also a new point outside of Manila. Davao-Thailand route can field up to 2,110-seat entitlements every week,” added the CAB official.

Seat entitlements for Cebu-Thailand route was also increased by 1,250 from the current 850-weekly- seat entitlements.

“We can already apply the new entitlements administratively.

This means that we can now process the applications of our airlines that are interested to increase its flights or would want to service Thailand from Clark or from Davao,” added the CAB official.

He said Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines and Asian Spirit have already informed the board of their respective plans to mount additional flights to Thailand.

“For Asian Spirit, which has never flown to Thailand before, it is waiting for the arrival of its new aircraft. Cebu Pacific has informed us it would add flights, while PAL, I think, plans to add more flights there in two months,” added Porciuncula.

Next month, the panel will pursue similar negotiations with Iran and Malaysia.

“Iran air talks is set on August 4 and 5. This will be a new ASA. For Malaysia, we have proposed August 19 and 20, but we have yet to send our invitation,” he said.

The Philippines-Thailand air pact is the fifth since the start of the year.

On July 10 the Philippines and the Netherlands have agreed to amend the ASA.

From the current four weekly flights, carriers operating the Manila-Netherlands route have been allowed to mount seven flights per week, or an increase of three flight entitlements.

Carriers flying to new points such as Clark, Cebu and Davao can now mount seven weekly flights to the Netherlands.

In June the air pact between the Philippines and Hong Kong was amended.

Under the new air pact, Philippine carriers can fill up to 15,000 seats per week for flights to Hong Kong from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, up to 6,300 weekly seats for Clark to Hong Kong flights; and up to 2,500 seats per week from Cebu and other airports outside of Manila.

Previously, seat entitlements between Manila and Hong Kong stood at 13,000 per week. For Cebu to Hong Kong flights, only 2,300 passengers per week were allowed.

There were also no flights from Clark and other remaining airports then.

The Philippines secured last month 32 flights per week, eight of which went to Clark, during the concluded RP-Cambodia air talks held in Manila in June.

In May the country’s air panel was granted two more passenger flight entitlements to Vancouver in Canada.

The additional entitlements will help PAL mount more flights and eventually operate to the East Coast, and even possibly revive its San Diego route.

Article source: Business Mirror
by: Lenie Lectura

Transcript of the State of the Nation Address of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the 2nd Regular Session of the Congress of the Republic of the Philippines on July 28, 2008.

Thank you, Speaker Nograles. Senate President Villar. Senators and Representatives. Vice President de Castro, President Ramos, Chief Justice Puno, members of the diplomatic corps, ladies and gentlemen:

I address you today at a crucial moment in world history.

Just a few months ago, we ended 2007 with the strongest economic growth in a generation. Inflation was low, the peso strong and a million new jobs were created. We were all looking to a better, brighter future.

Because tough choices were made, kumikilos na ang bayan sa wakas. Malapit na sana tayo sa pagbalanse ng budget. We were retiring debts in great amounts, reducing the drag on our country’s development, habang namumuhunan sa taong bayan.

Biglang-bigla, nabaligtad ang ekonomiya ng mundo. Ang pagtalon ng presyo ng langis at pagkain ay nagbunsod ng pandaigdigan krisis, the worst since the Great Depression and the end of World War II. Some blame speculators moving billions of dollars from subprime mortgages to commodities like fuel and food. Others point of the very real surge in demand as millions of Chinese and Indians move up to the middle class.

Whatever the reasons, we are on a roller coaster ride of oil price hikes, high food prices and looming economic recession in the US and other markets. Uncertainty has moved like a terrible tsunami around the globe, wiping away gains, erasing progress.

This is a complex time that defies simple and easy solutions. For starters, it is hard to identify villains, unlike in the 1997 financial crisis. Everyone seems to be a victim, rich countries and poor, though certainly some can take more punishment than others.

To address these global challenges, we must go on building and buttressing bridges to allies around the world: to bring in the rice to feed our people, investments to create jobs; and to keep the peace and maintain stability in our country and the rest of the world. Yet even as we reach out to those who need, and who may need us, we strive for greater self-reliance.

Because tough choices were made, the global crisis did not catch us helpless and unprepared. Through foresight, grit and political will, we built a shield around our country that has slowed down and somewhat softened the worst effects of the global crisis. We have the money to care for our people and pay for food when there are shortages; for fuel despite price spikes.

Neither we nor anyone else in the world expected this day to come so soon but we prepared for it. For the guts not to flinch in the face of tough choices, I thank God. For the wisdom to recognize how needed you are, I thank, you Congress. For footing the bill, I thank the taxpayers.

The result has been, on the one hand, ito ang nakasalba sa bayan; and, on the other, more unpopularity for myself in the opinion polls. Yet, even unfriendly polls show self-rated poverty down to its 20-year low in 2007.

My responsibility as President is to take care to solve the problems we are facing now and to provide a vision and direction for how our nation should advance in the future.

Many in this great hall live privileged lives and exert great influence in public affairs. I am accessible to you, but I spend time every day with the underprivileged and under represented who cannot get a grip on their lives in the daily, all-consuming struggle to make ends meet.

Nag-aalala ako para sa naka-aawang maybahay na pasan ang pananagutan para sa buong pamilya. Nag-aalala ako para sa magsasakang nasa unang hanay ng pambansang produksyon ng pagkain ngunit nagsisikap pakanin ang pamilya. I care for hardworking students soon to graduate and wanting to see hope of good job and a career prospect here at home.

Nag-aalala ako para sa 41-year old na padre de pamilya na di araw-araw ang trabaho, at nag-aabala sa asawa at tatlong anak, at dapat bigyan ng higit pang pagkakakitaan at dangal. I care for our teachers who gave the greatest gift we ever received - a good education - still trying to pass on the same gift to succeeding generations. I care for our OFWs, famed for their skill, integrity and untiring labor, who send home their pay as the only way to touch loved ones so far away. Nagpupugay ako ngayon sa kanilang mga karaniwang Pilipino.

My critics say this is fiction, along with other facts and figures I cite today. I call it heroism though they don’t need our praise. Each is already a hero to those who matter most, their families.

I said this is a global crisis where everyone is a victim. But only few can afford to avoid, or pay to delay, the worst effects.

Many more have nothing to protect them from the immediate blunt force trauma of the global crisis. Tulad ninyo, nag-aalala ako para sa kanila. Ito ang mga taong bayan na dapat samahan natin. Not only because of their sacrifices for our country but because they are our countrymen.

How do we solve these many complex challenges?

Sa kanilang kalagayan, the answer must be special care and attention in this great hour of need.

First, we must have a targeted strategy with set of precise prescriptions to ease the price challenges we are facing.

Second, food self-sufficiency; less energy dependence; greater self-reliance in our attitude as a people and in our posture as a nation.

Third, short-term relief cannot be at the expense of long term reforms. These reforms will benefit not just the next generation of Filipinos, but the next President as well.

Napakahalaga ang Value Added Tax sa pagharap sa mga hamong ito.

Itong programa ang sagot sa mga problemang namana natin.

Una, mabawasan ang ating mga utang and shore up our fiscal independence.

Pangalawa, higit na pamumuhunan para mamamayan at imprastraktura.

Pangatlo, sapat na pondo para sa mga programang pangmasa.

Thus, the infrastructure links programmed for the our poorest provinces like Northern Samar: Lao-ang-Lapinig-Arteche, right now ay maputik, San Isidro-Lope de Vega; the rehabilitation of Maharlika in Samar.

Take VAT away and you and I abdicate our responsibility as leaders and pull the rug from under our present and future progress, which may be compromised by the global crisis.

Lalong lumakas ang tiwala ng mga investor dahil sa VAT. Mula P56.50 kada dolyar, lumakas ang piso hanggang P40.20 bago bumalik sa P44 dahil sa mga pabigat ng pangdaigdigang ekonomiya. Kung alisin ang VAT, hihina ang kumpiyansa ng negosyo, lalong tataas ang interes, lalong bababa ang piso, lalong mamahal ang bilihin.

Kapag ibinasura ang VAT sa langis at kuryente, ang mas makikinabang ay ang mga may kaya na kumukonsumo ng 84% ng langis at 90% ng kuryente habang mas masasaktan ang mahihirap na mawawalan ng P80 billion para sa mga programang pinopondohan ngayon ng VAT. Take away VAT and we strip our people of the means to ride out the world food and energy crisis.

We have come too far and made too many sacrifices to turn back now on fiscal reforms. Leadership is not about doing the first easy thing that comes to mind; it is about doing what is necessary, however hard.

The government has persevered, without flip-flops, in its much-criticized but irreplaceable policies, including oil and power VAT and oil deregulation.

Patuloy na gagamitin ng pamahalaan ang lumalago nating yaman upang tulungan ang mga pamilyang naghihirap sa taas ng bilihin at hampas ng bagyo, habang nagpupundar upang sanggahan ang bayan sa mga krisis sa hinaharap.

Para sa mga namamasada at namamasahe sa dyip, sinusugpo natin ang kotong at colorum upang mapataas ang kita ng mga tsuper. Si Federico Alvarez kumikita ng P200 a day sa kaniyang rutang Cubao-Rosario. Tinaas ito ng anti-kotong, anti-colorum ngayon P500 na ang kita niya. Iyan ang paraan kung paano napananatili ang dagdag-pasahe sa piso lamang. Halaga lang ng isang text.

Texting is a way of life. I asked the telecoms to cut the cost of messages between networks. They responded. It is now down to 50 centavos.

Noong Hunyo, nagpalabas tayo ng apat na bilyong piso mula sa VAT sa langis-dalawang bilyong pambayad ng koryente ng apat na milyong mahihirap, isang bilyon para college scholarship o pautang sa 70,000 na estudyanteng maralita; kalahating bilyong pautang upang palitan ng mas matipid na LPG, CNG o biofuel ang motor ng libu-libong jeepney; at kalahating bilyong pampalit sa fluorescent sa mga pampublikong lugar.

Kung mapapalitan ng fluorescent ang lahat ng bumbilya, makatitipid tayo ng lampas P2 billion.

Sa sunod na katas ng VAT, may P1 billion na pambayad ng kuryente ng mahihirap; kalahating bilyon para sa matatandang di sakop ng SSS o GSIS; kalahating bilyong kapital para sa pamilya ng mga namamasada; kalahating bilyon upang mapataas ang kakayahan at equipment ng mga munting ospital sa mga lalawigan. At para sa mga kalamidad, angkop na halaga.

We released P1 billion for the victims of typhoon Frank. We support a supplemental Western Visayas calamity budget from VAT proceeds, as a tribute to the likes of Rodney Berdin, age 13, of Barangay Rombang, Belison, Antique, who saved his mother, brother and sister from the raging waters of Sibalom River.

Mula sa buwang ito, wala nang income tax ang sumusweldo ng P200,000 o mas mababa sa isang taon - P12 billion na bawas-buwis para sa maralita at middle class. Maraming salamat, Congress.

Ngayong may P32 na commercial rice, natugunan na natin ang problema sa pagkain sa kasalukuyan. Nagtagumpay tayo dahil sa pagtutulungan ng buong bayan sa pagsasaka, bantay-presyo at paghihigpit sa price manipulation, sa masipag na pamumuno ni Artie Yap.

Sa mga LGU at religious groups na tumutulong dalhin ang NFA rice sa mahihirap, maraming salamat sa inyo.

Dahil sa subsidy, NFA rice is among the region’s cheapest. While we can take some comfort that our situation is better than many other nations, there is no substitute for solving the problem of rice and fuel here at home. In doing so, let us be honest and clear eyed - there has been a fundamental shift in global economics. The price of food and fuel will likely remain high. Nothing will be easy; the government cannot solve these problems over night. But, we can work to ease the near-term pain while investing in long-term solutions.

Since 2001, new irrigation systems for 146,000 hectares, including Malmar in Maguindanao and North Cotabato, Lower Agusan, Casecnan and Aulo in Nueva Ecija, Abulog-Apayao in Cagayan and Apayao, Addalam in Quirino and Isabela, among others, and the restoration of old systems on another 980,000 hectares have increased our nation’s irrigated land to a historic 1.5 million hectares.

Edwin Bandila, 48 years old, of Ugalingan, Carmen, North Cotabato, cultivated one hectare and harvested 35 cavans. Thirteen years na ginawa iyong Malmar. In my first State of the Nation Address, sabi ko kung hindi matapos iyon sa Setyembre ay kakanselahin ko ang kontrata, papapasukin ko ang engineering brigade, natapos nila. With Malamar, now he cultivates five hectares and produces 97 cavans per hectare. Mabuhay, Edwin! VAT will complete the San Roque-Agno River project.

The Land Bank has quadrupled loans for farmers and fisherfolk. That is fact not fiction. Check it. For more effective credit utilization, I instructed DA to revitalize farmers cooperatives.

We are providing seeds at subsidized prices to help our farmers.

Incremental Malampaya national revenues of P4 billion will go to our rice self-sufficiency program.

Rice production since 2000 increased an average of 4.07% a year, twice the population growth rate. By promoting natural planning and female education, we have curbed population growth to 2.04% during our administration, down from the 2.36 in the 1990’s, when artificial birth control was pushed. Our campaign spreads awareness of responsible parenthood regarding birth spacing. Long years of pushing contraceptives made it synonymous to family planning. Therefore informed choice should mean letting more couples, who are mostly Catholics, know about natural family planning.

From 1978 to 1981, nag-export tayo ng bigas. Hindi tumagal. But let’s not be too hard on ourselves. Panahon pa ng Kastila bumibili na tayo ng bigas sa labas. While we may know how to grow rice well, topography doesn’t always cooperate.

Nature did not gift us with a mighty Mekong like Thailand and Vietnam, with their vast and naturally fertile plains. Nature instead put our islands ahead of our neighbours in the path of typhoons from the Pacific. So, we import 10% of the rice we consume.

To meet the challenge of today, we will feed our people now, not later, and help them get through these hard times. To meet the challenges of tomorrow, we must become more self-reliant, self-sufficient and independent, relying on ourselves more than on the world.

Now we come to the future of agrarian reform.

There are those who say it is a failure, that our rice importations prove it. There are those who say it is a success-if only because anything is better than nothing. Indeed, people are happier owning the land they work, no matter what the difficulties.

Sa SONA noong 2001, sinabi ko, bawat taon, mamamahagi tayo ng dalawang daang libong ektarya sa reporma sa lupa: 100,000 hectares of private farmland and 100,000 of public farmland, including ancestral domains. Di hamak mahigit sa target ang naipamahagi natin sa nakaraang pitong taon: 854,000 hectares of private farmland, 797,000 of public farmland, and Certificates of Ancestral Domain for 525,000 hectares. Including, over a 100,000 hectares for Bugkalots in Quirino, Aurora, and Nueva Vizcaya. After the release of their CADT, Rosario Camma, Bugkalot chieftain, and now mayor of Nagtipunan, helped his 15,000-member tribe develop irrigation, plant vegetables and corn and achieve food sufficiency. Mabuhay, Chief!

Agrarian reform should not merely subdivide misery, it must raise living standards. Ownership raises the farmer from his but productivity will keep him on his feet.

Sinimula ng aking ama ang land reform noong 1963. Upang mabuo ito, the extension of CARP with reforms is top priority. I will continue to do all I can for the rural as well as urban poor. Ayaw natin na paglaya ng tenant sa landlord, mapapasa-ilalim naman sa usurero. Former tenants must be empowered to become agribusinessmen by allowing their land to be used as collateral.

Dapat mapalaya ng reporma sa lupa ang magsasaka sa pagiging alipin sa iba. Dapat bigyan ang magsasaka ng dangal bilang taong malaya at di hawak ninuman. We must curb the recklessness that gives land without the means to make it productive and bites off more than beneficiaries can chew.

At the same time, I want the rackets out of agrarian reform: the threats to take and therefore undervalue land, the conspiracies to overvalue it.

Be with me on this. There must be a path where justice and progress converge. Let us find it before Christmas. Dapat nating linisin ang landas para sa mga ibig magpursige sa pagsasaka, taglay ang pananalig na ang lupa ay sasagip sa atin sa huli kung gamitin natin ito nang maayos.

Along with massive rice production, we are cutting costs through more efficient transport. For our farm-to-market roads, we released P6 billion in 2007.

On our nautical highways. RORO boats carried 33 million metric tons of cargo and 31 million passengers in 2007. We have built 39 RORO ports during our administration, 12 more are slated to start within the next two years. In 2003, we inaugurated the Western Nautical Highway from Batangas through Mindoro, Panay and Negros to Mindanao. This year we launched the Central Nautical Highway from Bicol mainland, through Masbate, Cebu, Bohol and Camiguin to Mindanao mainland. These developments strengthen our competitiveness.

Leading multinational company Nestle cut transport costs and offset higher milk prices abroad. Salamat, RORO. Transport costs have become so reasonable for bakeries like Gardenia, a loaf of its bread in Iloilo is priced the same as in Laguna and Manila. Salamat muli sa RORO.

To the many LGUs who have stopped collecting fees from cargo vehicles, maraming, maraming salamat.

We are repaving airports that are useful for agriculture, like Zamboanga City Airport.

Producing rice and moving it cheaper addresses the supply side of our rice needs. On the demand side, we are boosting the people’s buying power.

Ginagawa nating labor-intensive ang paggawa at pag-ayos ng kalsada at patubig. Noong SONA ng 2001, naglunsad tayo sa NCR ng patrabaho para sa 20,000 na out of school youth, na tinawag OYSTER. Ngayon, mahigit 20,000 ang ineempleyo ng OYSTER sa buong bansa. In disaster-stricken areas, we have a cash-for-work program.

In training, 7.74 million took technical and vocational courses over the last seven years, double the number in the previous 14 years. In 2007 alone, 1.7 million graduated. Among them are Jessica Barlomento now in Hanjin as supply officer, Shenve Catana, Marie Grace Comendador, and Marlyn Tusi, lady welders, congratulations.

In microfinance, loans have reached P102 billion or 30 times more than the P3 billion we started with in 2001, with a 98% repayment record, congratulations! Major lenders include the Land Bank with P69 billion, the Peoples’ Credit and Finance Corporation P8 billion, the National Livelihood Support Fund P3 billion, DBP P1 billion and the DSWD’s SEA-K P800 million. For partnering with us to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit, thank you, Go Negosyo and Joey Concepcion.

Upland development benefits farmers through agro-forestry initiatives. Rubber is especially strong in Zamboanga Sibugay and North Cotabato. Victoria Mindoro, 56 years old, used to earn P5,000 a month as farmer and factory worker. Now she owns 10 hectares in the Goodyear Agrarian Reform Community in Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay, she earns P10,000 a week. With one hectare, Pedro and Concordia Faviolas of Makilala, North Cotabato, they sent their six children to college, bought two more hectares, and earn P15,000 a month. Congratulations!

Jatropha estates are starting in 900 hectares in and around Tamlang Valley in Negros Oriental; 200 in CamSur; 300 in GenSan, 500 in Fort Magsaysay near the Cordero Dam and 700 in Samar, among others.

In our 2006 SONA, our food baskets were identified as North Luzon and Mindanao.

The sad irony of Mindanao as food basket is that it has some of the highest hunger in our nation. It has large fields of high productivity, yet also six of our ten poorest provinces.

The prime reason is the endless Mindanao conflict. A comprehensive peace has eluded us for half a century. But last night, differences on the tough issue of ancestral domain were resolved. Yes, there are political dynamics among the people of Mindanao. Let us sort them out with the utmost sobriety, patience and restraint. I ask Congress to act on the legislative and political reforms that will lead to a just and lasting peace during our term of office.

The demands of decency and compassion urge dialogue. Better talk than fight, if nothing of sovereign value is anyway lost. Dialogue has achieved more than confrontation in many parts of the world. This was the message of the recent World Conference in Madrid organized by the King of Saudi Arabia, and the universal message of the Pope in Sydney.

Pope Benedict’s encyclical Deus Caritas Est reminds us: “There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love for neighbour is indispensable.”

Pinagsasama-sama natin ang mga programa ng DSWD, DOH, GSIS, SSS at iba pang lumalaban sa kahirapan sa isang National Social Welfare Program para proteksyonan ang pinaka-mahihirap mula sa pandaigdigang krisis, and to help those whose earnings are limited by illness, disability, loss of job, age and so on-through livelihood projects, microfinance, skills and technology transfer, emergency and temporary employment, pension funds, food aid and cash subsidies, child nutrition and adult health care, medical missions, salary loans, insurance, housing programs, educational and other savings schemes, and now cheaper medicine-Thanks to Congress.

The World Bank says that in Brazil, the income of the poorest 10% has grown 9% per year versus the 3% for the higher income levels due in large part to their family stipend program linking welfare checks to school attendance. We have introduced a similar program, Pantawid Pamilya.

Employers have funded the two increases in SSS benefits since 2005. Thank you, employers for paying the premiums.

GSIS pensions have been indexed to inflation and have increased every year since 2001. Its salary loan availments have increased from two months equivalent to 10 months, the highest of any system public or private-while repayments have been stretched out.

Pag-Ibig housing loans increased from P3.82 billion in 2001 to P22.6 billion in 2007. This year it experienced an 84% increase in the first four months alone. Super heating na. Dapat dagdagan ng GSIS at buksan muli ng SSS ang pautang sa pabahay. I ask Congress to pass a bill allowing SSS to do housing loans beyond the present 10% limitation.

Bago ako naging Pangulo, isa’t kalahating milyong maralita lamang ang may health insurance. Noong 2001, sabi natin, dadagdagan pa ng kalahating milyon. Sa taong iyon, mahigit isang milyon ang nabigyan natin. Ngayon, 65 milyong Pilipino na ang may health insurance, mahigit doble ng 2000, kasama ang labinlimang milyong maralita. Philhealth has paid P100 billion for hospitalization. The indigent beneficiaries largely come from West and Central Visayas, Central Luzon, and Ilocos. Patuloy nating palalawakin itong napaka-importanted programa, lalo na sa Tawi-Tawi, Zambo Norte, Maguindanao, Apayao, Dinagat, Lanao Sur, Northern Samar, Masbate, Abra and Misamis Occidental. Lalo na sa kanilang mga magsasaka at mangingisda.

In these provinces and in Agusan Sur, Kalinga, Surigao Sur and calamity-stricken areas, we will launch a massive school feeding program at P10 per child every school day.

Bukod sa libreng edukasyon sa elementarya at high school, nadoble ang pondo para sa mga college scholarships, while private high school scholarship funds from the government have quadrupled.

I have started reforming and clustering the programs of the DepEd, CHED and TESDA.

As with fiscal and food challenges, the global energy crunch demands better and more focused resource mobilization, conservation and management.

Government agencies are reducing their energy and fuel bills by 10%, emulating Texas Instruments and Philippine Stock Exchange who did it last year. Congratulations, Justice Vitug and Francis Lim.

To reduce power system losses, we count on government regulators and also on EPIRA amendments.

We are successful in increasing energy self-sufficiency-56%, the highest in our history. We promote natural gas and biofuel; geothermal fields, among the world’s largest; windmills like those in Ilocos and Batanes; and the solar cells lighting many communities in Mindanao. The new Galoc oil field can produce 17,000-22,000 barrels per day, 1/12 of our crude consumption.

The Renewable Energy Bill has passed the House. Thank you, Congressmen.

Our costly commodity imports like oil and rice should be offset by hard commodities exports like primary products, and soft ones like tourism and cyberservices, at which only India beats us.

Our P 350 million training partnership with the private sector should qualify 60,000 for call centers, medical transcription, animation and software development, which have a projected demand of one million workers generating $13 billion by 2010.

International finance agrees with our progress. Credit rating agencies have kept their positive or stable outlook on the country. Our world competitiveness ranking rose five notches. Congratulations to us.

We are sticking to, and widening, the fiscal reforms that have earned us their respect.

To our investors, thank you for your valuable role in our development. I invite you to invest not only in factories and services, but in profitable infrastructure, following the formula for the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway.

I ask business and civil society to continue to work for a socially equitable, economically viable balance of interests. Mining companies should ensure that host communities benefit substantively from their investments, and with no environmental damage from operations.

Our administration enacted the Solid Waste Management Act, Wildlife Act, Protection of Plant Varieties, Clean Water Act, Biofuels Act and various laws declaring protected areas.

For reforestation, for next year we have budgeted P2 billion. Not only do forests enhance the beauty of the land, they mitigate climate change, a key factor in increasing the frequency and intensity of typhoons and costing the country 0.5% of the GDP.

We have set up over 100 marine and fish sanctuaries since 2001. In the whaleshark sanctuary of Donsol, Sorsogon, Alan Amanse, 40-year-old college undergraduate and father of two, was earning P100 a day from fishing and driving a tricycle. Now as whaleshark-watching officer, he is earns P1,000 a day, ten times his former income.

For clean water, so important to health, there is P500 million this year and P1.5 billion for next year.

From just one sanitary landfill in 2001, we now have 21, with another 18 in the works.

We launched the Zero Basura Olympics to clear our communities of trash. Rather than more money, all that is needed is for each citizen to keep home and workplace clean, and for garbage officials to stop squabbling.

Our investments also include essential ways to strengthen our institutions of governance in order to fight the decades-old scourge of corruption. I will continue to fight this battle every single day. While others are happy with headlines through accusation without evidence and privilege speeches without accountability, we have allocated more than P3 billion - the largest anti-graft fund in our history - for real evidence gathering and vigorous prosecution.

From its dismal past record, the Ombudsman’s conviction rate has increased 500%. Lifestyle checks, never seriously implemented before our time, have led to the dismissal and/or criminal prosecution of dozens of corrupt officials.

I recently met with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US agency that provides grants to countries based on governance. They have commended our gains, contributed P1 billion to our fight against graft, and declared us eligible for more grants. Thank you!

Last September, we created the Procurement Transparency Group in the DBM and linked it with business, academe, and the Church, to deter or catch anomalies in government contracts.

On my instruction, the BIR and Customs established similar government-civil society tie-ups for information gathering and tax evasion and smuggling monitoring.

More advanced corruption practices require a commensurate advances in legislative responses. Colleagues in Congress, we need a more stringent Anti-Graft Act.

Sa pagmahal ng bilihin, hirap na ang mamimili - tapos, dadayain pa. Dapat itong mahinto. Hinihiling ko sa Kongreso na magpasa ng Consumer Bill of Rights laban sa price gouging, false advertising at iba pang gawain kontra sa mamimili.

I call on all our government workers at the national and local levels to be more responsive and accountable to the people. Panahon ito ng pagsubok. Kung saan kayang tumulong at dapat tumulong ang pamahalaan, we must be there with a helping hand. Where government can contribute nothing useful, stay away. Let’s be more helpful, more courteous, more quick.

Kaakibat ng ating mga adhikain ang tuloy na pagkalinga sa kapakanan ng bawat Pilipino. Iisa ang ating pangarap - maunlad at mapayapang lipunan, kung saan ang magandang kinabukasan ay hindi pangarap lamang, bagkus natutupad.

Sama-sama tayo sa tungkuling ito. May papel na gagampanan ang bawat mamamayan, negosyante, pinunong bayan at simbahan, sampu ng mga nasa lalawigan.

We are three branches but one government. We have our disagreements; we each have hopes, and ambitions that drive and divide us, be they personal, ethnic, religious and cultural. But we are one nation with one fate.

As your President, I care too much about this nation to let anyone stand in the way of our people’s wellbeing. Hindi ko papayagang humadlang ang sinuman sa pag-unlad at pagsagana ng taong bayan. I will let no one - and no one’s political plans - threaten our nation’s survival.

Our country and our people have never failed to be there for us. We must be there for them now.

Maraming salamat. Magandang hapon sa inyong lahat.

photo and text from Inquirer.net

Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said the DOF expects a significant windfall collection of about P18 billion because of the increase in the prices of oil and petroleum products.

Beltran said government’s collection in 2007 were slightly higher than the target collection of P88.883 billion also because of the rise in oil and petroleum prices.

Thus far, Beltran reported that EVAT collections amounted to P42.918 billion in the first five months of the year. About 23.895 billion of this was collected by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and P19.023 billion was collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

For the whole of 2008, Beltran reported that the P119.588-billion target was broken down into P83.983 billion that would be collected by the BOC and P35.605 billion that would be collected by the BIR.

This year’s target EVAT collection, however, includes the P73.086 billion that would be collected from the sale of oil and petroleum products. About P36.662 billion represented VAT on crude and the rest, amounting to P36.424, would come from VAT on petroleum products.

The DOF and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) both oppose the lifting of the VAT on oil and petroleum products, saying that such a move would only benefit high-income households.

Monetary officials said exempting oil products from the VAT would affect investor confidence, especially with credit rating agencies already wary of the Arroyo administration’s on-going fiscal reforms.

BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said over the weekend that investors and analysts alike remained watchful of the continuation of the government’s overall reform package.

Article source: Philippine Star
by: Des Ferriols

The partial opening comes after a couple of failed “soft openings” earlier set by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) after the agency’s P3-billion down payment to the builder of the terminal, the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) in 2006.

Alfonso Cusi, MIAA general manager, said he believed NAIA-3 is “more than ready” to service the five flights of Cebu Pacific.

“The terminal itself is more than ready for the intended initial use. It would be the start-up event in our effort to put our Terminal 3 to productive use,” Cusi told The STAR.

The first regular flight to take off from the NAIA-3 will be Cebu Pacific’s Manila to Caticlan flight departing for the gateway municipality to the world-famous island resort Boracay at 5:50 a.m.

Cusi said Cebu Pacific will start the transfer of their domestic operations to the new terminal with an initial nine flights of their Manila to Boracay (Caticlan), Manila to Laoag, Manila to Naga, Manila to San Jose, and Manila to Tuguegarao today.

After a few days the air carrier would evaluate and plan the transfer of flights for their other destinations, Cusi said.

The airport chief said that the other local carriers, Air Philippines and fledgling low cost carrier PAL Express, both owned by tycoon Lucio Tan, are expected to follow Cebu Pacific within the week.

“If not tomorrow, maybe by Thursday,” Cusi said.

He said MIAA signed “agreements” with Cebu Pacific for the servicing of their flights at NAIA-3, but said the contracts only tackled basic guidelines and involved the same rates charged the airline on their use of the old Manila Domestic Airport.

“We have agreements signed with them. It just dealt with the basic guidelines. It’s only temporary,” Cusi said.

MIAA will hold ceremonies to celebrate the start-up of the terminal to be graced by Presidential Task Force on Terminal 3 Michael Defensor, Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza, Cebu Pacific president and general manager Lance Gokongwei.

A send-off ceremony will be held for Cebu Pacific flight 5J898, the second Manila to Caticlan flight of the airline for the day.

The MIAA was supposed to hold a soft opening of the facility in March 2006 but a 100-square meter portion of the terminal’s ceiling at its arrival lobby hall area collapsed a few days before the event.

MIAA again scheduled a soft opening of the terminal March last year but this was called off when two foreign engineering firms, Ove Arup and TCGI Engineering, warned about the danger it posed to passengers, citing serious structural defects in a structural evaluation they conducted on the facility.

The government’s expropriation of the facility came after the Supreme Court nullified the build-operate-transfer contract of Piatco to build and operate an international airport for the country in December 2004, after which the government took over the terminal.

The takeover, in turn, resulted in Piatco filing a case against the Philippine government before the International Chamber of Commerce based in Singapore.

Its German joint venture partner, Fraport AG, filed a separate case for arbitration before the International Center for the Settlement of Investments Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, D.C. in the US.

Recently, the ICSID junked the case filed by Fraport AG.

The government has already paid a P3-billion down payment to Piatco in 2006 representing the proffered value of the NAIA-3.

The expropriation case, filed by the government before the Pasay City regional trial court where the issue on just compensation to be paid by the government to Piatco would be settled, is still ongoing.

Article source: Philippine Star
by: Rainier Allan Ronda

photo source: tisoy1234puti (Flickr)

FEDCO managing director Zosimo Sarmiento said the company and its partners from Iceland will pursue the construction of a geothermal plant in the area covering 22,394 hectares over a seven-year period.

The company estimated the capacity of the Biliran prospect at around 100 megawatts (MW) of geothermal energy.

FEDCO’s partner Envent is a renewable energy firm dedicated to the exploration and development of geothermal sources in the Philippines. It is currently working on several geothermal projects and is committed to contributing to the Philippine government´s target of 3,131 MW of geothermal power capacity by 2013.

Envent’s key shareholders are Reykjavik Energy Invest and Geysir Green Energy, both globally leading development companies in the renewable energy sector with specific focus on geothermal energy.

“Geothermal development and plant operation is usually done by owner. To have another partner usually adds another layer that will mark up the cost of electricity,” Sarmiento said.

However, he said Envent is not looking at bidding for the government’s geothermal power assets that will be auctioned in the next few months as there are “some issues that are disadvantageous to the bidders.”

Reykjavik and Geysir previously owned a combined 40 percent stake in Red Vulcan Holdings Inc., which won the bidding for the majority control of PNOC-Energy Development Corp. They eventually decided to unload their stake and sold it back to First Gen Corp. of the Lopez Group.

By Donnabelle L. Gatdula, Philippine Star Source

The construction of the 14-story hospital within a 1.6-hectare lot started in March last year led by real-estate developer Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. and engineering and construction company, First Balfour Inc.

“Our second St. Luke’s hospital will continue to be better-equipped than 95 percent of the hospitals in the United States as we aim to provide our clients the best facilities and medical treatment possible,” Jose Ledesma, SLMC’s president and CEO told the BusinessMirror in an interview.

When completed, the hospital will provide employment to 2,000 medical professionals and 700 physicians. “We will start hiring employees, mostly nurses, this August.” Ledesma said. Full operations are expected to start in July 2009.

Based on its structural plan, the hospital will have 600 beds and will have a medical arts building with offices for doctors, as well as parking space that can accommodate up to 1,400 vehicles and a helipad that can hold even a UH-1H large-sized helicopter.

“It is almost done, only finishing touches are necessary for its completion,” said Ledesma.

The hospital expects to serve patients not only from Metro Manila but also from other provinces as well as foreign patrons coming from Asia, Micronesia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States.

In an earlier interview, St. Luke’s chief medical officer, Joven Cuanang, vowed to adhere to the same standards and quality of services as in the first St. Luke’s hospital while adding more advanced facilities for future patients.

“We will have the first PET [positron emission tomography, which uses radioactive material to treat body abnormalities in tiny specs] scanning machine in the Philippines and [which is currently] only available in Singapore and Hong Kong hospitals,” said Cuanang.

With P5 billion revenues last year turned in by SLMC in Quezon City, Ledesma is optimistic the new SLMC in Taguig will post the same growth as he pointed out plans to increase SLMC’s operations.

“Having a total of 1, 200 patient beds will keep us growing. Yet we’re still planning to buy and create more hospitals to provide people more health access points,” he said, although he did not disclose details of the hospitals their company are planning to purchase.

The country’s premier hospital aims to be one of the top five hospitals in Asia by 2010.

Article source: Business Mirror
by: Louise M. Francisco

This was shown by a survey of real-estate firm Colliers International Inc., which released the results yesterday. But the comparison did not go into a parallel comparison, however, of the average per capita income of the countries surveyed to show the more realistic relative expensiveness of the rates.

The study showed that median daily rate of parking in Manila costs just under $4. Sydney has the most expensive parking rates in the Asia-Pacific region at $54 per day and $774 per month.

Colliers said the median unreserved monthly parking rate in Manila is at $69. In Mumbai, India, it’s $68 a month.

“Daily rates, which are more a function of the general economy and consumer spending, have also increased and this suggests that the sluggish retail environment and higher gas prices have yet to impact the ability of parking-garage owners and operators to charge more,” Colliers said.

The cheapest daily parking rate in the region is in New Delhi at $1.75, although that city’s monthly parking rate at $174 surpasses Manila’s. The second cheapest rate is in Jakarta at $1.89 and $26 a month.

Ayala Malls Group vice president Rowena Manhit-Tomeldan said in a franchise forum last week they don’t earn from car parks, while Cornelio Mapa of Robinson’s Mall said that is also the case with them.

Mapa added that while they charge fees for parking in highly urbanized areas, they don’t charge parking rates in provincial malls. “We can’t give free parking to those who would not patronize us,” he said, but did not explain what he meant since they also do not give free parking to those who patronize them.

In its outlook for 2008, Colliers said growth rates last year in the office-space market was directly linked to parking rates and could not be sustained in the long run.

“Rates could temper to 10 percent to 15 percent in the course of 2008,” the company said in its property market outlook for this year. Colliers said that it sees a direct correlation between monthly parking rates and the office real estate market.

As a matter of curiosity, the priciest parking space in the world is in London at $1,166 per month or $68 per day that, at P3,060 is nearly but not quite what 3 minimum wage earners in Manila would receive a day.

Article source: Business Mirror
by: Dennis Estopace

photo source: Flickr (fotobumbong)