DOLE seeks tripartite efforts to boost global demand for Filipino seafarers

To sustain the country's status as manning capital of the world, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will push for tripartite efforts to immediately address various issues and difficulties confronting the Philippine maritime sector, especially in expanding the sea-based sector as source of overseas employment for Filipinos.

"The DOLE will vigorously support its partners in the Maritime Industry Tripartite Council (MITC) not only in addressing common problems in the maritime sector but also in their target of capturing at least 50 percent of the total global requirements for Filipino seafarers in the next six years," Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said, adding "this is part of efforts to expand the sea-based OFW sector amidst the turmoil in the Middle East which has led to the repatriation of OFWs from Libya."

Baldoz initiated the establishment of the MITC early this year to provide the tripartite partners in the maritime sector a venue where common concerns can be addressed to ensure the country's capability to produce competent seafarers and port workers. Members include the Joint Manning Group (JMG), the umbrella organization of manning agencies.

JMG leaders, in a meeting with POEA Administrator Carlos Cao Jr., said the country's seafaring industry is aggressively targeting to increase global requirements for Filipino seafarers from 30 percent at present to 50 percent until 2016. To achieve this, the industry has invested heavily in putting up world class training modules and facilities for Filipino seafarers to enhance their competitiveness and employability in the international maritime industry.

Baldoz thanked the seafaring industry, saying that the DOLE, through the MITC, is prepared to support the industry's efforts in capturing a larger portion of the international market for seafarers.

Meanwhile, the Associated Marine Officers' and Seamen's Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP), the largest organization of seafarers in the Philippines and the whole world, has joined the DOLE in tripartite efforts for the advancement of the Philippine maritime sector.

Baldoz said the AMOSUP has declared full support to the MITC as means through which stakeholders can address problems in the maritime industry, particularly those affecting Filipino seafarers and port workers.  

Founded 50 years ago by the late Capt. Gregorio Oca, AMOSUP is internationally recognized leader of seafarers' organizations, being the largest union of marine officers and seamen in the world with around 90,000 members.

"The support of AMOSUP to the MITC is an affirmation of tripartism as an effective means of building consensus and collaboration of social partners in mutually beneficial activities that will drive the growth of the maritime industry and promote the welfare, employability, and competitiveness of Filipino seafarers and port workers," Baldoz said.

AMOSUP president Dr. Conrado F. Oca, son of Capt. Oca, who expressed the AMOSUP's appreciation to Baldoz for jumpstarting the establishment of the MITC, also underscored the importance of tripartism in achieving industrial peace, in protecting the rights and promoting the welfare of seafarers and port workers, and in pushing for the ratification of the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) 2006. The latter provides for comprehensive rights and protection at work for the world's more than 1.2 million seafarers.

"The MITC will be venue for the tripartite partners to craft policies and regulations, including a national action plan for the ratification of the MLC 2006," Baldoz said. End/laa

OFWs, groups all set for March 17 protest

Global alliance of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) Migrante International today held a press conference with returned OFWs from Libya, families of OFWs in Saudi and other OFWs in distress to announce their grievances and demands to the Philippine government in light of the series of crisis and calamities that have wrought havoc to the lives of Filipino migrant workers and their families in recent months.

Migrante International announced that OFWs, their families and other progressive sectors of society are all set for national and international protests on March 17, death anniversary of Flor Contemplacion, against government neglect and attacks on the rights of welfares of OFWs around the world.

OFWs from Libya air complaints

Around 30 returned OFWs from Libya expressed their grievances over the absence of assistance from Philippine authorities in evacuation and repatriation activities, and what they called "government misinformation"  on the present situation of their co-workers who are still left in Libya. The returned OFWs expressed concern for the safety of at least 15,000 Filipinos who are still in Libya.

They are also gravely worried that they would not be able to get their unreleased salaries and other benefits and demanded government assistance for their claims.

Some OFWs who have only been in Libya for three months have also complained that they were made to pay the costs and premium of the mandatory insurance coverage by their recruitment agencies. Republic Act 10022 or the amended Migrants' Act imposed a mandatory insurance coverage effective late last year for all agency-hired OFWs. It is stated in the Act that costs of the mandatory insurance should be paid by employers and in no way shall be charged to OFWs.

Transparency in gov't plans for Saudi crisis

Meanwhile, Migrante International chairperson Garry Martinez called for transparency from the Philippine government in light of escalating protests in Saudi Arabia and other areas in Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Since end of January, sporadic protests have erupted around the Saudi region and are expected to intensify. March 11 marked Saudi protesters' 'Day of Rage' calling for government reforms from the ruling monarch. Thousands of protesters were violently dispersed by the Saudi National Force upon orders from the King.

"Kung sa Libya na 30,000 ang Pilipino ay nagkumahog ng gobyerno, ngayon pa lang ay dapat handa na sila sa anumang scenario dahil 1.8 milyon ang Pilipino sa Saudi. Hindi na uubra ang tsamba lang dito, nasaan na ang konkretong plano?" said Martinez.

Martinez said that until now there is still no appointed Philippine Ambassador in Saudi. He also urged the government to immediately announce and inform OFWs of viable evacuation plans and details. "We are not alarmists. It is always better to safe than sorry, and judging from the way the government handled the crisis in Libya, the government should be transparent in their plans. Hindi dapat para bang secret ito na hindi pwedeng malaman ng publiko. Our chapters and members in Saudi can even help in the information-dissemination and the families of OFWs here have the right to know."

Martinez said that the Philippine government should start off by facilitating the immediate repatriation of stranded OFWs who have been awaiting government assistance even before the protests erupted, among them, 1,000++ OFWs in the deportation center in Al-Mina terminal in Jeddah; 3,500++ stranded over-staying  and runaway OFWs, mostly women and children, with expired or cancelled work visas Kingdom-wide; 600++ OFWs in deportation center cell numbers 14 and 16 in Jeddah; 1,000++ in Dammam, Eastern region of KSA; 1,200++ OFWs who have already finished their sentences but are still in jail.

"Sagip-Migrante"

Martinez also called on the Philippine government to act in haste to inform the public and families on the state of OFWS after the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. There are 305,00 Filipinos in Japan and 250,000, including undocumented OFWs, in Tokyo alone, according to Migrante-Japan.

Migrante and its chapters worldwide are coordinating via "Sagip-Migrante" with the aim to coordinate efforts from Filipino communities and families here and abroad for disaster-preparedness and information dissemination in light of war, calamities and other emergencies. "Sagip-Migrante" is the same network that launched coordinative efforts from migrants and families after typhoon Ondoy.

SPARE THE LIVES OF KIDNAPPED ICRC WORKERS – CHIZ

Press Statement

I appeal to the captors of the three Red Cross workers to spare the lives of these humanitarian advocates.

Eugenio Vagni, Andreas Notters and Marie Jean Lacaba do not deserve to be where they are now. They are non-combatants and should be treated as neutrals by everyone. I urge their captors to show compassion. I call on them to immediately release the hostages.

I appeal to our armed forces to do everything possible to ensure the safety of the lives of the three Red Cross workers. Let us show the world our willingness to sacrifice gains, which our soldiers have won at great cost, in order to ensure a peaceful resolution of this unfortunate episode in the life of our nation.

Use the Crisis to Revive, Strengthen Local Industry, Farms and Jobs

We, at the Fair Trade Alliance (FairTrade), would like to express our collective concern on the great uncertainties facing the nation, now that it is clear that the global recession-depression will be a prolonged and painful one for virtually all countries of the world. The country’s major trading partners – United States, Japan, Western Europe, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and China – are all reeling from the recession and are cutting down on imports, which explains the social and labor dislocations being felt today in Regions IV, III and VI, the base of the Philippine electronics, garments and other export industries. On the other hand, declining OFW remittances and deployment are slowing down our remittance-dependent consumption-led economy.

This is why, we are somewhat relieved that our government technocrats, after a long period of denial in 2008, now openly admit the adverse impact of the crisis on the economy and employment. DOLE has been organizing job summits and layoff prevention and mitigation conferences left and right. NEDA, after flippantly ignoring the call for economic bailouts, is suggesting an unemployment insurance scheme for all affected, something that has not been tried in the country. As it is, the country has three (3) million unemployed, six (6) million underemployed, one (1) million annual labor entrants and a large number of workers being displaced at home and in the overseas labor market.

However, we are dismayed that the Philippine stimulus package is a badly packaged one. Not only has it been delayed by the usual budgetary wrangling in Congress, it also misses the central role of what a stimulus package is supposed to do -- that is, to stimulate or stir a slumbering national economy in order to spur growth and preserve and create jobs at home. This means saving and strengthening critical industries at home. This is what “industry bailouts” really means, or in the words of France’s Sarkozy, “saving our national champions”.

And yet, the Philippine Economic Resiliency Plan (PERP) says nothing on how local industry and local agriculture can be revived and strengthened to perform the task of creating national wealth and jobs. In contrast, the $787-billion 1,000-page stimulus package of Barack Obama requires public-funded infrastructure projects to source their steel, iron and other needed supplies from American producers, precisely because the package is directed at reviving and strengthening American industry and employment.

In Asia, it is widely recognized that there are three countries that are well positioned to withstand the global recession, namely: China, Indonesia and India. These three populous countries happen to have a uniform program of sustaining growth by relying on the continued growth of their home markets and home industries. China’s $586-billion bailout package, announced November of last year, is directed at stimulating domestic demand for the output of their own domestic industries. Even as it is openly denouncing the so-called “American protectionism” in Obama’s “Buy America” bailout package, China is requiring its huge state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to buy Chinese. China’s State Council has also crafted stimulus package for ten (10) industrial sectors – machinery, textile, shipbuilding, auto, steel, electronics, ICT, light industry, petrochemical, non-ferrous metals and logistics. This is guided capitalism in the guise of economic stimulus!

In the case of Indonesia, a great part of its $6.15 billion stimulus package is really aimed at supporting Indonesian industry and agriculture. Its Minister of Industry, Mari Elka Pangestu, has refused the calls of free-traders to withdraw the government policy requiring public servants to wear Indonesia-made uniforms and footwear. In the run-up to the ASEAN Leaders’ Summit in Thailand last February, a number of Indonesian cabinet members also opposed the early signing of the ASEAN free-trade agreement with Australia-New Zealand (AANZFTA) on the ground that Indonesia is not fully prepared to handle the likely surge of Australian industrial and agricultural products such as automotive, electronics, sugar, milk, meat and so on.
As to India, it has one of the highest industrial and agricultural tariff structures in the world.

Subsequently, India’s strong home industry and agriculture have enabled it to provide jobs for its teeming millions as India’s famous ICT sector is able to create only four million jobs out of a labor market of 400 million. Thus, while it also denounces Obama’s so-called protectionism, India has been reticent in its refusal to give up its tariff space as reflected in its continuing opposition to the WTO’s liberalization proposals for NAMA (industry) and AoA (agriculture). In the recent ASEAN meeting, India also pushed for another postponement (the third time!) of the proposed ASEAN-Indian Free Trade Agreement (AIFTA). In 2005, the AIFTA signing bogged down on the Indian insistence to exclude 1,414 tariff lines.

In the case of the Philippines, we are shocked to see how the DTI and other government agencies are going with their usual business oblivious or unmindful of the earth-shaking adjustments the big countries, both developed and developing, are adopting to preserve and strengthen their domestic industry and agriculture through various bailout and assistance schemes. Most in fact have openly abandoned the policy of untrammeled free-trade neo-liberalism in favor of outright support to critical industries, which is what the United States, Europe, China and other countries are now doing.

And yet, we see the Philippines endorsing wholeheartedly in the February ASEAN meeting the AANZFTA and the ATIGA (consolidated free trade agreement in goods) despite the objections raised by the Fair Trade Alliance (FairTrade) and concerned industry groups last year (during the Tariff Commission hearings). To date, the government has not given the local stakeholders any copies of their studies on how the Philippines will come out as winners under these new agreements. And if there are any losers, the track record of the Philippine government in assisting failed enterprises, both employers and employees, has not exactly been sterling.
Returning to the PERP, we hardly see anything in the said program that will stimulate, much less preserve local industry and agriculture. In fact, we do not see and do not feel the crucial leadership role that the DTI and the agriculture cabinet cluster (DA, DAR and DENR) should play in charting the nation’s survival and growth path under a prolonged global recession.

Instead, we are treated to a sad spectacle where DTI technocrats are naively projecting higher export performance for this year and next when it is abundantly clear that global export demand is falling and that the next best option is to look inward. Note, for example, how a 50 per cent devaluation of the Korean won has failed to stimulate a sagging Korean economy.
Clearly, we need a Cabinet shakeup, especially in the economic cluster. We need a bold re-focusing of the PERP. We need a long-overdue overhaul of an imbalanced economic program dependent on only the OFW and export sectors. We need a balanced economy based on a strong agro-industrial base. And in times of crisis, we need to take advantage of our own strength – a large market of 90 million Filipinos.

It is accepted wisdom that a crisis also presents an opportunity. Let us take this opportunity to build up our agro-industrial base and set the foundation for faster growth that will lift the majority of our people out of poverty.

A Better World Is Possible, A Better Philippines Is Attainable

An adopted resolution in the National Forum on "Bailing out the Philippine Economy" last December 18, 2008 at PRRM Headquarters, Mo. Ignacia cor. Dr. Lascano, Quezon City


The US financial meltdown, which has precipitated a full-blown global recession, is rooted in the neo-liberal dogma that markets are self-correcting and work best for the common good when left unregulated. Neo-liberalism worships on the altar of an imaginary global free trade system and frowns on any government market regulation as harmful to growth, investment and employment. Such narrow thinking allowed a greedy few in Wall Street to create toxic bubbles in the financial markets and make fabulous earnings out of unproductive speculative investments everywhere. Such thinking is also the weapon used by a few global corporations and neo-liberal economists from Washington in imposing on the world an asymmetrical trading arrangement based on equal rules for unequal trade partners. The result is predictable: a crisis-prone and imbalanced global economic order as demonstrated by the global food crisis, the deteriorating global climate, and the global financial meltdown.

The above neo-liberal thinking, now widely denounced in the developed world, has been the guiding philosophy in Philippine economic governance, no thanks to the IMF-World Bank and their structural adjustment programs and no thanks to a succession of unrepentant neo-liberal economic technocrats, from the Marcos era to the present.

In the last three and a half decades of neo-liberal economic governance, the Philippines managed to shrink its industry and agriculture through a blind program of deregulation, import liberalization and government neglect. This erosion of the country's agro-industrial base is at the roots of Philippine joblessness and is the singular reason why one after the other, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, China, India and now Vietnam have left the Philippines behind. Without the remittances of over 8 million overseas Filipinos the country would have been in a much more terrible shape.

And yet, now that many of our overseas Filipinos are facing threats of forcible expulsion from their host countries and that some of our so-called export winners are likely to shrink in 2009, it is incomprehensible to see our government technocrats pushing for more economic liberalization such as 0-5 tariff rates for domestic industries such as steel, auto and cement. In the WTO, the Philippines is even abandoning the NAMA-11 coalition of developing countries seeking trade flexibility. It is also pushing for more free trade within the ASEAN, with America and with the pan-Pacific region under APEC. All this is happening at a time when there is a global re-thinking of the unbridled laissez faire economic model, which is at the roots of the financial Armageddon and our own prolonged economic stagnation.

We, at the Fair Trade Alliance, therefore, would like to add our voice to those calling for a new and just global economic order. The primary purpose of finance is to serve productive capital in creating jobs and wealth for society. The primary purpose of trade is to link economies based on mutually beneficial arrangements. The WTO, IMF-WB group and other so-called development agencies should be remodeled based on these rules. There is no room for a one-size-fits-all rule for not all countries are created equal. Each developing country must be given maximum flexibility to deepen its agro-industrial capacity and accelerate growth based on its level of development.

We, at the Fair Trade Alliance, also call on our government and policy makers – Take a pause, a historic pause in this mindless program of pursuing unilateral, bilateral, regional and multilateral liberalization. The present global crisis and the re-thinking going on in many capitals of the world present our country a historic opportunity to overhaul the neo-liberal development program that has miserably failed Philippine society. Instead, we urge our government and policy makers to immediately put in place the much-needed safety nets for our working people, including our industrialists and entrepreneurs. One effective safety net, to preserve jobs and industry, is to adjust our industrial and agricultural tariffs toward our maximum bound tariff commitments to the WTO.

We also demand that the government immediately put a halt to the senseless automatic appropriation of two-thirds of the national budget for debt servicing. We should instead adopt the Argentinian budgeting system, which makes allocation for debt servicing only after urgent adequate allocations have been made for urgent and priority social spending. Like the other countries, the Philippines need a large stimulus package directed at the domestic market to preserve and create millions of jobs. The government should be able to spend as much as it can on productivity-raising infrastructures such as school buildings, renewable energy, communal irrigation projects, farm-to-market roads, harvest silos, barangay health clinics, public transport systems and so on.

Finally, we call on all Filipinos to join us in the movement to cast aside the bankrupt neo-liberal economic model of governance and promote instead our vision of Nationalist Development. based on our five-point agenda composed of the following: one, a coherent, balanced and pro-Filipino trade-development economic governance structure, two, a program of re-calibrating our agro-industrial fences to give our industry and agriculture a breathing space for survival and growth; three, a program of enhancing our national productive capacity through the all-out mobilization of domestic resources in support of industry, agriculture and entrepreneurship; four, a program to unleash our people's productivity capacity through a rounded program of human resources development and completion of asset reforms; and, five, a program for the inculcation of the culture of industrialism, tangkilikan, excellence and economic nationalism.
Walang sasagip sa Pilipino kundi Pilipino rin!

A Better World Is Possible! A Better Philippines Is Attainable!

FAME Press Statement

Press Statement
Eduardo T. Mahiya
President, Federated Associations of Manpower Exporters Inc.
Friday, November 7, 2008

"I would like to clarify reports coming out in the media attributed to Mr. Vic Fernandez of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (PASEI) that the "entire overseas employment sector supports the Workers Enhancement Insurance Program of the PASEI" which Mr. Fernandez is covertly pushing to be adopted by the government.
"The reports are patently false, big lies, and amount to a classic misrepresentation by Mr. Fernandez of the position of the sector.
"The Federation, the umbrella organization of 11 Associations of licensed overseas employment service providers (OESPs), is proposing an Emergency Repatriation and Legal Liability Insurance Program (ERLIP), an OFW protection system which is over and above the existing protection measures of the government for overseas Filipino workers and will not cost the OFW and the government any.
"The ERLIP is being proposed at this time when the overseas employment sector is facing a lot of uncertainties and because we believe that OFW protection is the best strategic approach toward ensuring Philippine competitiveness in the global employment market.
"We have informed Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque about our proposal.
"To promote the ERLIP, the Federation has signed a manifesto and had merely invited Mr. Fernandez, as PASEI president, to sign it.
"He indeed signed the manifesto, but used the occasion of the signing, as well as the document, to promote his own insurance program. Worse, he did not inform his fellow stakeholders in the sector about his actions prior to signing the manifesto—a regrettable behavior which confused the public about the OFW protection proposal of the Federation.
"The Federation has nothing to do with Mr. Fernandez’s insurance program which is optional, very limited, and is costly to the OFWs. This is the reason why even the PASEI insurance program has not gained wide acceptance.
"Because of his misrepresentation, the Federation dissociates itself from Mr. Fernandez’s past and future actions with regards the ERLIP and takes him accountable for his continued acts of self-promotion and misrepresentation even at the highest levels of government.

10th Anniversary Celebration of Luntiang Pilipinas

SPEECH SEN. LOREN LEGARDA
10th Anniversary Celebration of Luntiang Pilipinas
October 14, 2008
Kweba, Rizal Park

Isang Luntiang umaga sa inyong lahat! Ako po ay taos-pusong nagpapasalamat sa inyong pagdalo ngayong umagang ito sa ating pagdiriwang ng ika-sampung anibersaryo ng Luntiang Pilipinas, the greening movement which I organized in 1998 in the hope of raising the level of consciousness and awareness of our people about the value of trees. I must admit that when Luntiang Pilipinas was first conceptualized, the greening project was taken very lightly by those around us. But over the years, over the past decade, with the valuable assistance of our institutional partners and corporate sponsors, the greening movement has been steadfast in achieving its goal of establishing forest parks, or pockets of trees, in numerous towns and cities, schools and universities as well as along major highways and thoroughfares nationwide. Since then, we have planted over two million trees nationwide.

In the past, caring for the environment and protecting our natural resources has had to be put aside to give priority to the demands of the development efforts of the government. Only recently has this been given importance and priority – only after we have realized that the threat of global warming is more real than we can ever imagine and that we shall continue to suffer from the devastating effects of climate change, if we do not take the necessary steps to address this impending threat to our lives and security. While we welcome the fact that the government has in fact included environmental protection among its priorities under the proposed 2009 budget, we are all aware that no one, not one sector in our society holds the key towards addressing this problem.

As an ecological warrior and environmental advocate, this has become my personal mission – to impart with our fellow citizens not only the importance of being aware and understanding what is going on around us but, more importantly, spur them into action and participate, even in small and simple ways, in this huge undertaking.

A few months ago, I took the opportunity to deliver a privilege speech in the halls of the Philippine Senate entitled "A Call to Build Capacities to Combat Global Warming". In my speech, I highlighted the fact that climate change should be declared as the greatest scourge of our generation – its destructive power so enormous and great that the whole world has experienced droughts, massive flooding, snow-less winters, summers of baking heat, all within a few months time. The effects of erratic climate shifts have recognized no boundaries nor spared any race or territory.

That is why, too, we in Luntiang Pilipinas, along with other environmental organizations and movements, have not only sought to raise the level of awareness of the importance of trees, but more particularly, of how these plants shall become the much-needed agents of nature that will help strengthen our country's capacity for carbon sequestration through natural processes.

Today, I am grateful to each and every one of you for supporting Luntian's newest project called "10 @ 10". In celebration of its 10th anniversary, we are undertaking this 10 million trees online campaign to complement the already ongoing tree-planting activities of the organization as well as other government efforts in minimizing the risks caused by this global phenomenon. Similar to the United Nations Environment Programme enjoining the planting of 7 billion trees by the end of 2009, this nationwide campaign encourages the valuable contribution of individuals, private corporations and businesses as well as national and local government agencies in planting as many trees as they can in areas of their choice by 2011 to help strengthen the country's capacity for carbon sequestration through which carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is absorbed by trees, plants and crops through natural processes.

Interested parties may enter their pledges to plant as many trees as they can online and once their pledges are registered into the database, Luntiang Pilipinas will acknowledge their participation in the form of a pledge of commitment card to be issued in their name. Such pledge cards may also serve as discount cards in selected establishments, courtesy of Luntiang Pilipinas' merchant partners. Pledgers shall also be responsible for the actual tree-planting and shall be encouraged to send in photos or videos to document their activities and to monitor the progress and growth of the trees to be planted. Luntiang Pilipinas has entered into memoranda of agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Bureau of Plant and Industries-Department of Agriculture which shall serve as the monitoring networks in implementing this campaign. Logistical support will be provided by Intel Philippines while the World AgroForestry Foundation will provide technical assistance for this campaign. The mechanics, ongoing tally of pledges and documentations submitted shall be posted in our official website, www.luntiangpilipinas.com.ph.

Incidentally, today, I shall also be launching my new official website, www.lorenlegarda.com.ph and I am making this known to the public. In this age of information technology, the internet has become a prime source of information for almost everyone of us, regardless of our profession, craft, or expertise. In fact, the internet has become a vital tool for easily accessing millions, if not hundreds of millions, of sources of information on almost everything – the arts, business, the sciences, entertainment, etc. Yet again, while the internet provides us easy access to information, many have cautioned us of the veracity of such pieces of information that we source or download from the internet. Because, in reality, the internet has also become a venue for some members of our community, whether local or international, to engage in dubious or fraudulent activities.

A few months ago, in fact, I delivered a privilege speech in the Senate citing my personal experience of what may be considered a case of identity theft. If you search my name in the internet, several websites would appear, supposedly containing information about me, my advocacies or even my personal life. What alarmed me was that many of the information uploaded in the net, in these fake websites, were half-truths, if not outright malicious lies. And this is what I want to address. But officially, publicly-launching my website, I would like the public to know that, should there be a need for them to look up any information about me or my advocacies, they can always access my website for accurate and truthful information.

In any case, let me express once again my sincerest appreciation for your presence here today. Luntiang Pilipinas has once again embarked on a very timely and very important endeavor. While we do not claim this to be an overnight, instant solution to the environmental problem that our community and our country face, we all agree that this is the right step to take towards our aim to continually conquer the challenge of reviving and revitalizing our environment for the benefit of the Filipino people and the future generations. With your continued support and cooperation, along with the responsible participation of the stakeholders in this campaign, I am confident that we shall soon again enjoy the Earth's bounty.

Maraming salamat po at isang Luntiang Umaga sa inyong lahat!

Philippines Receives $250 Million ADB Loan to Strengthen Fiscal and Governance Reforms

The Asian Development Bank is extending a $250 million loan to strengthen the policy reform initiatives of the Philippine government for fiscal management, investment climate and social sectors.

The loan is a second of a three-part Development Policy Support Program aimed at helping the Philippines achieve its medium-term development goals. The first DPSP loan was approved in February 2007.

Since then, the Philippine government has implemented a series of measures to address the fiscal imbalance, resulting in improvement in the fiscal situation and macroeconomic stability. These measures provided much needed funds for increased spending on the social sector and infrastructure in 2007. The measures also contributed to the Philippines’ best macroeconomic performance in over 30 years.

However, the surge in commodity prices in early 2008, volatility in US financial markets, and the economic slowdown in developed economies have negatively affected the Philippine economy, with a sharper-than-expected slowdown in GDP growth and a spike in inflation to a 17-year high level in August.

“Despite the negative impact, the Philippine economy has weathered the external shocks well compared to some of our other member economies, and also compared to previous external shocks to the Philippines economy,” said Kelly Bird, an Economist in ADB’s Southeast Asia Department. “This resiliency is due to the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline and key reforms including tax reforms, especially on VAT, the absence of fuel subsidies in the national budget, previous trade reforms and synchronized fiscal and monetary policies.”

The external shocks will challenge the government’s resolve to maintain fiscal and macroeconomic stability and performance. At the same time, it is important to protect spending in the social sectors to help poor and vulnerable families, and achieve the country’s longer term development objectives.

“Responding to the recent developments in the global economy, the second loan addresses these issues through greater flexibility in fiscal policy in 2008 and 2009, further enhancement in tax revenue collection, and support for the government’s conditional and targeted cash transfer program currently piloted as a way to mitigate the worst effects of these shocks to the poor,” Mr. Bird added.

The conditional cash transfer program and broader social protection reforms are important as ADB preliminary research shows only about one third of the poor have access to social assistance.

The DPSP also includes a set of measures to strengthen the investment climate with focus on reducing red tape, support for infrastructure policy and rural development.

A policy and advisory technical assistance grant of $800,000 is included in the loan, to support public expenditure reform initiatives at the Department of Budget and Management. This will be a multi-year exercise over a three-year period.

The third DPSP loan is expected to be processed in 2009 and submitted for ADB Board consideration upon the completion of the second loan.

SSS Statement on its Financial Condition

Pension fund Social Security System said on September 17, 2008 that all its investments are in the local market, which has been profitable, and it expects to earn a record of P26 billion income from investments this year.

Although the pension fund is allowed to invest abroad, it has not done so because of the unfavorable investment climate, SSS spokesman Joel Palacios said.