OVER JOMA'S RETURN'
[PHOTO - President Aquino (center) shares a light
moment with Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (right), chairman of Ayala Corporation
and Teresita Sy-Coson, chairman of Banco De Oro-Unibank, at the trading floor of
the Philippine Stock Exchange in Makati on Tuesday. Aquino rang the bell to open
the market which reached a historic closing level of above 5,000 points last
Friday.]
MANILA, MARCH
7,
2012 (ABS-CBN) Philippine trading began on a
jubilant atmosphere on Tuesday morning after the Philippine Stock Exchange index
(PSEi), the barometer of the country's economic health, hit a historic high of
5,030.80 points at the close of trading hours on Monday.
No less than President Benigno S. Aquino III spearheaded this historic and
joyous occasion by ringing the bell at the trading floor of the PSE in Ayala
Avenue, Makati City to formally open the stock market's business day.
The President was joined in expressing the nation's exuberance during the
historic event by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, PSE chairman Jose Pardo and
PSE director Eusebio Tanco.
In his welcome remarks, Pardo said this robust performance of the PSEi was a
direct result of the optimism the country's investors see and feel about the
Philippines under President Aquino's administration.
"This historic rise of the index is a strong testament to the growing
investor interest in the Philippines, the continued strengthening of our
macro-economic fundamentals, positive outlook on the growth of our listed
companies and more importantly, confidence in the administration's good
governance drive, among others, have been catching the attention of investors in
both local and global markets," Pardo said.
He added that since President Aquino took over the reigns of government in
2010, the PSEi's historic rise "marks the 11th time this year and the 19th time
under the present administration that the index has set new highs."
"Since the first day of the President's administration or in a matter of only
20 months, this index has already climbed by 52 percent," Pardo stressed.
He vowed to work towards inviting more investors to invest in the Philippines
in order to improve the index's performance to breach the 6,000 point mark.
"Moving past the 5,000 (mark) signals the beginning of our journey to what I
understand, Mr. President, was your requested commitment from our (PSE) Director
(Eusebio) Eusi Tanco for the index to breach, not the 5,000 (mark) but the 6,000
level," Pardo said.
PNoy 'HALLUCINATING' OVER JOMA'S RETURN / PRESIDENT NEEDS NEW
CAR by Maricel Cruz and Florante S. Solmerin MANILA STABDARD TODAY
Double talk.
Bayan Muna
president Satur Ocampo accuses President Benigno Aquino of endangering the peace
talks.
A LEFTIST leader accused President Benigno Aquino III on Sunday of
"hallucinating" on the whereabouts, ideology and political plans of Communist
Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison and said the "double-talk"
would damage the peace process.
"Never had Joma indicated any interest to join any government after Marcos,
or to run in any electoral exercise after such governments," said Satur Ocampo,
Bayan Muna president and a co-founder of the National Democratic Front, the
umbrella group of communist organizations.
"He might well be hallucinating," Ocampo said of Mr. Aquino, who had said
Friday that Sison, who is in self-imposed exile in The Netherlands, could run in
the 2013 elections.
"I wonder where he got such an idea."
Ocampo also slammed President Aquino for engaging in peace talks while
launching his own counterinsurgency program, Oplan Bayanihan, aimed at thinning
the ranks of the New People's Army.
"The peace talks have stalled since June 2011 but he hasn't lifted a finger
to prod it," Ocampo said.
"Instead, he pursues the counterinsurgency drive ... with the questionable
goal to reduce the NPA to irrelevance by 2013."
House Deputy Minority Leader and Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay, meanwhile,
twitted Mr. Aquino for acting like a spokesman for the communists. She also said
it was premature for him to talk about the elections when his administration had
not done anything substantial to address the country's pressing problems.
But an administration ally, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Brawner Baguilat Jr., defended
Mr. Aquino, saying his statement was a way of luring Sison to return and give up
the armed struggle to join the political process.
"It was actually a harmless, off-the-cuff speculation," Baguilat said.
Military officials said it would be better for Sison to join the elections
than continue waging an armed struggle that had already lasted for 43 years, the
longest communist insurgency in Asia.
Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil-Military Operations Rear Admiral Miguel Jose
Rodriguez said Sison's return would be "a good sign" and could end the armed
struggle.
"Their entry into politics is democracy in action and people can judge them
by their votes rather by fear of being liquidated by hit squads," Rodriguez said
of the communists.
Brig. Gen. Rolando Tenefrancia, head of the Armed Forces' Civil Relations
Service, said he also saw nothing wrong if Sison ran in 2013.
"Under our democratic processes anybody can run in any elective position for
as long as they are qualified under our existing laws," he said.
"If he [Sison] is qualified under our laws, it is better for him to be
aboveground and go through the legal process than be underground and pursue
armed struggle."
Tenefrancia also said the NPA, although still a force to reckon with, had
seen its numbers decline over the years from a peak of 24,000 combatants in the
1980s to about 4,000 now.
Anti-communist leader Rep. Pastor Alcover, who claimed last week that Sison
was already in the country, said his running in 2013 was preparation for the
dropping of all criminal charges against him or some form of Executive clemency.
The Palace denied his claims.
FROM PHILSTAR
House resolution approving bombproof car for Noy
lauded By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) Updated March 06, 2012
12:00 AM
[PHOTO COURTESY OF THE http://donavictorina.blogspot.com/
- The administration's allies in the House on Sunday demanded that the Budget
Department earmark funds to buy a bulletproof and bombproof car to replace the
flood-damaged unit being used by President Benigno Aquino III.]
MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang lauded yesterday the decision of the
leadership of the House of Representatives under Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.
to approve the budget for the acquisition of a bombproof and bulletproof car for
President Aquino.
"We welcome the resolution of the House to provide the President with a more
updated bulletproof car," presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said, following
news reports that nearly 200 lawmakers have signed the resolution.
Aquino had to forgo using the black bulletproof Mercedez-Benz presidential
car that his predecessor Gloria Arroyo used, after reports that it conked out in
one of Arroyo's official trips, and upon the advice of automobile experts.
The same luxury car was submerged in floodwaters in September 2009 during the
catastrophic tropical storm "Ondoy," when the Pasig River, along which
Malacañang complex is located, overflowed.
The three-vehicle official presidential fleet at Malacañang Palace –
consisting of two Mercedes- Benz W221 S-Class limousines acquired in 1998 and a
Mercedes-Benz S-Guard automobile bought in 2007- is "in a sorry state unfit for
use by the Chief Executive," the House resolution stated.
It noted that "the two 1998-model vehicles are already unreliable because of
wear and tear, and the relatively newer one bought in 2007 has been beset with
intermittent, computer-related engine failures ever since it was submerged in
floodwaters during the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy."
"The three vehicles' dealer – CATS Motors Inc. – that is also in-charge of
maintaining these cars, has given up on the 2007-acquired vehicle after
repairing it six times since Ondoy's attack, and already advised the
Presidential Security Group (PSG) against deploying it for the President's use
as it could malfunction anytime," the resolution added.
The PSG has revealed that it has stopped using the repair-prone 2007
limousine as primary or secondary backup vehicle for Aquino, from the time it
conked out on the road during a presidential trip to Baguio City last year.
"The PSG can better protect the President if he were to use as official state
car a new automobile equipped with the latest security features such as those
being used right now by other heads of state," it said.
"The governments of many countries, including most of those in our
neighbor-states, have already upgraded the official vehicles of their leaders in
consideration of the heightened global terrorist attacks that use IED bombs as
one weapon of choice," it added.
The House resolution cited the urgency for the government "to acquire a new
state car equipped with the latest security features, so the PSG can better
protect the President in the face of stepped-up attacks by international
terrorists who use improvised explosive device (IED) bombs to assassinate their
targeted dignitaries."
The lawmakers said the Department of Budget and Management could realign
funds from government savings for this long-needed acquisition of a state car
for the President, which will also be used by visiting heads of state.
The lawmakers pointed out that "the President's 'no wang-wang' (siren) policy
and his strict orders for his security detail to stop their convoy whenever the
traffic lights turn red has made the Chief Executive far more vulnerable to
possible terrorist attacks."
"Be it as it is hereby resolved, that Movement 188 urges the DBM to help beef
up security measures for President Aquino in the face of heightening global
terrorist attacks by setting aside funds from government savings for the
acquisition of a bulletproof and bombproof presidential state car to replace the
flood-damaged official vehicle that has been sidelined by the PSG for security
reasons," said the lawmakers comprising Movement 188, or those who signed to
impeach Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Given that the security of the President should have paramount concern in
view of his position as the highest elective official of the land, the lawmakers
said "the advent of IED bombs used by international terrorists necessitates the
use by the highest official of the land of a state car that is not only
bulletproof but bombproof as well."
They said IEDs were used in last year's separate attacks on the convoy of
Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo in Cotabato City and that of Maguindanao Gov.
Esmael Mangudadatu in Tacurong City.
Nobody was hurt in the Robredo incident but local media reports bared that
Maguindanao board member Russman Sinsuat Sr. and a passerby were killed when an
IED in a parked Kia car exploded and hit the third car in Mangudadatu's convoy.
Local police suspected that Basit Usman, who is on the US list of most wanted
terrorists with a $1 million price on his head, was behind Robredo's car bombing
incident, as he is known to be a maker of IEDs.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved
PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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