TRADER'S SON TOPS PMA GRADS / P-NOY EMERGENCY POWER RESOLUTION FILED
[PHOTO - Top PMA graduates, led by (from right) Presidential Saber awardee Angelo Edward Parras, Rigor Guiang and Jayson Luna, pose during the Top Ten presentation at the academy in Baguio City.FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City , Philippines]
FORT DEL PILAR, BAGUIO CITY, MARCH 2, 2011 (STAR) By Artemio Dumlao - A son of a business supervisor drawn by youthful adventure to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) was this year's top graduate of the country's premier military school.
Angelo Edward Parras of Apalit in Pampanga, who is turning 22 on March 13, received the Presidential Saber from President Aquino at the Borromeo Field. He bested 195 others in the Laon-Alab class of 2011.
He said he had never imagined graduating at the top of his class. He said becoming a military officer was only a "naive dream of a carefree young man seeking adventure." In the end, he said, he found true challenge.
Angelo said his father Apolinario, a business supervisor at the Gateway Business Park in Cavite, gave him all the support when he decided to leave the University of the Philippines in Diliman where he was taking up Computer Science to become a cadet.
Angelo, who is joining the Navy, will also receive 12 other academic awards including the Jusmag Award for the Navy.
Trailing Parras is John Rigor Guiang of Zamboanga del Norte, who is the Class Baron or the brigade commander and top Army Man.
Guiang said he sought inspiration from his father who is a security guard in his hometown. He said he is "very willing to serve" in his troubled home, Mindanao.
Parras, Guiang and No. 6 Janice Matbagan will train in the US as Jusmag scholars.
Matbagan of Baguio City, the only female in the top 10, is the top Air Force cadet and also the Class Tarzan or recipient of the Athletic Saber.
Matbagan, who traces her roots from Sagada, Mountain Province, excels in marathon, swimming and judo.
"When I was an elementary student in Camp 8 (Baguio) and I was running very early, I would see the old PMA beacon and this inspired me to join the academy," she said. There are 22 women in her class.
Resolution to grant Noy emergency powers filed By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) Updated March 02, 2011 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - An administration lawmaker filed yesterday a resolution proposing to grant President Aquino emergency powers in preparation for a possible fuel and food crisis that may hit the country in the wake of the political violence in oil-producing nations in the Middle East.
Ang Kasangga party-list Rep. Teodorico Haresco filed House Resolution 1027 granting the President emergency powers for at least 90 days.
Haresco pushed to grant the President emergency powers to deal with the expected fallout of the political turmoil in oil-producing countries where millions of Filipinos are employed.
"If the situation in the Middle East and North Africa worsens, it could lead not only to a global oil crisis and but also the displacement of millions of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) worldwide, a million presently deployed in the Middle East and Africa," Haresco said.
Haresco pointed out the spate of political turmoil affecting key regions in North Africa and the Middle East would adversely affect the Philippine economy largely dependent on foreign remittances from OFWs.
He said the adverse political situation in the regions would prompt the OFWs to return home, resulting in high unemployment.
Haresco based his proposal on Article VI Section 23 (2) which states that "in times of war or other national emergency, the Congress may, by law, authorize the President, for a limited period and subject to such restrictions as it may prescribe, to exercise powers necessary and proper to carry out a declared national policy..."
"Once the situation in the Middle East intensifies, it could affect the Philippine economy resulting to higher power rates, higher core inflation that might necessitate fiscal managers to appreciate peso and at the same time seriously erode OFW purchasing power, resulting in deflation," he said.
Haresco cited reports from the Department of Energy (DOE) of alarming fluctuations in global prices of crude as well as near-record oil imports of major economies like China.
He said 81 percent of the country's oil imports come from the Middle East, adding in 2010, the Philippines' crude oil imports reached up to 342,300 barrels of oil per day (bbl/day).
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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