WELCOMES KUWAITI AMIR
[PHOTO(OPS) - AQUINO 'VERY'
BUSY]
MANILA, MARCH 24,
2012 (STANDARD) Written by Christine F.
Herrera - PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has mounted a PR campaign to make it
appear he is a "working President to counter the "noynoying" label that is
hurting him, but his act of desperation betrays his real intent by going on a
"junket abroad" while the country is reeling from an economic crisis, Kabataan
Rep. Raymond Palatino said Thursday.
"It is an act of desperation," Palatino told the Manila Standard.
"Who would believe the President is not noynoying? The PR spin to make him
look busy is not being bought by the public. What the people want to see are
concrete actions.
"The President is hurting over the noynoying poses that symbolize his
inaction and insensitivity because they accurately describe his actuation and
behavior toward the public's sentiments. He is anti-poor. He does not lift a
finger to free the people from hardship."
Mr. Aquino laughed off a tweet from actor-TV host Edu Manzano that he and his
current flame, Grace Lee, shared a "leisurely stroll" on Thursday.
Emerging from a six-hour meeting of the National Economic and Development
Authority, Mr. Aquino he should probably give jobs to people who didn't have
anything better to do than spread gossip.
"That was laughable," he said.
"Somebody tweeted that I was strolling the whole day in Greenhills with a
date."
Manzano apologized for his tweet later.
Palatino said the President should stop faulting the activists for coining
noynoying as a result of his inaction and insensitivity.
[PHOTO - AQUINO POSED TO COUNTER 'NOYNOYING]
"As the people are facing difficulties in making both ends meet, the
President is doing nothing, ignoring their demands to stop the almost weekly oil
price increases, remove the tax on oil, grant the 125-peso -across-the-board
[wage] increase, and bring down the prices of basic commodities," Palatino said.
Renato Reyes, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general, said the
President was showing his "insensitivity" by ignoring the demands of the public.
"The President is pissed over the label Noynoying, but then what did he do?"
he said.
"Instead of showing concrete output, he schedules 10 trips abroad and leaves
behind the people reeling from the crisis. He is more concerned about his image
than the people's suffering." With Joyce Pangco
Pañares
FROM THE INQUIRER
Aquino welcomes Kuwaiti Amir to Malacañang By
Norman Bordadora Philippine Daily Inquirer 12:11 am | Saturday, March 24th, 2012
[PHOTO - ROYAL VISITOR GRATEFUL President Aquino guides Kuwaiti Sheikh
Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah before trooping the line during the arrival
honors at the Malacañang grounds on Friday. The Kuwaiti ruler is in the country
on a five-day state visit. He thanks the Filipinos for their help to liberate
Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. EDWIN
BACASMAS]
Kuwaiti Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, on Friday night
expressed his country's appreciation for the Philippines' participation in the
multilateral effort to liberate the oil-rich state when it was occupied by Iraq
several years back.
Meeting with President Aquino in Malacañang on the first day of his state
visit, the Amir said he was happy to be in the Philippines and extended his own
invitation to the Filipino leader to visit Kuwait.
"We would like to commend highly the excellent relations that exist between
Kuwait and the Philippines," Sheikh Sabah said in his opening statement during
the bilateral meeting.
"(The Philippines) participated (with) other countries in liberating Kuwait…
Therefore, I would like to extend my appreciation and thanks for this act," he
added.
President Aquino welcomed Sheikh Sabah in Malacañang, where the visiting
dignitary was greeted with a 21-gun salute.
A state dinner was also tendered for the Amir in the Palace.
The five-day state visit of the Kuwaiti Amir is expected to intensify
economic relations and boost investments in the Philippines, Malacañang said on
Friday.
Sheikh Sabah is scheduled to unveil the marker for the Sabah Al Ahmad Global
Gateway Logistics City, at the Clark Export Processing Zone on Tuesday.
The Palace said Kuwaiti investments in the Philippines include the $2 billion
Kuwait and Gulf Link Co. investment in Clark Field, Pampanga; the
recently-acquired shipping company Negros Navigation. Kuwaiti businessmen have
also expressed interest in investing in the Metro Rail Transit system, and
Intishar's 500-hectare banana plantation in Davao, Primavera said.
The government said Kuwait currently hosts more than 140,000 Filipino
workers.
Among the agreements scheduled to be signed by the two countries are a
memorandum of understanding on agricultural and fisheries cooperation, an
agreement on the waiver of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic, special
and official passports, a cultural agreement, a memorandum of understanding on
cooperation in the recruitment and employment of Filipino household service
workers, and an another in the field of labor cooperation.
FROM ABS-CBN
Edu: I won't pass blame to my 'source'
ABS-CBNnews.com Posted at 03/23/2012 12:47 PM | Updated as of
03/23/2012 3:22 PM
MANILA, Philippines – After drawing flak for his wrong tweet about
President Aquino III and Korean TV and radio personality Grace Lee, Edu Manzano
took full responsibility for his mistake instead of blaming his "source."
On Twitter, Manzano said he is not making any excuses.
"To those offering 'palusots' (excuses): Thanks, but I'll pass. Wala pong
palusot kapag nagkamali ka. I own up to it. I won't pass blame to my 'source,'"
he wrote.
"And to those who have posted personal attacks against me, I sincerely
understand. Lord knows I've given you a lot of material to work with," he added.
On Thursday, Manzano said on Twitter that President Aquino was spotted on a
date with Lee in Greenhills, San Juan.
The President denied this, saying that he was at the Palace presiding over
the board meeting of the National Economic and Development Authority.
Lee, meanwhile, said she was in Makati at that time.
Manzano earlier apologized for his Twitter post, saying that it was
"unconfirmed gossip."
He did not say where he got the rumor.
Aquino ratings drop; Binay, Enrile's improve BY
JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
[PHOTO - Noynoying plays on the widespread perception that Mr. Aquino –
who is widely known by the nickname Noynoy – might not be the most hands-on
president to have led the Philippines. Since being elected in a landslide in
2010, Mr. Aquino has sometimes been caught laughing it up with celebrities
instead of attending to the impact of typhoons and other disasters. It also taps
into old Philippine folk tales about Juan Tamad, or Lazy Juan, who manages to
get by doing the least amount of work to get by.]
THE first quarter Pulse Asia survey showed that President Aquino's approval
rating dropped two percentage points from 72 percent in its 2011 fourth quarter
survey last November to 70 percent.
The President's disapproval rating remained at 9 percent, according to the
February 26 to March 9 Pulse Asia Ulat sa Bayan survey which had 1,200
respondents.
The approval ratings of Vice President Jejomar Binay and Senate
President Juan Ponce Enrile were higher than that of Aquino at 84 percent and 71
percent an improvement from the 83 percent and 60 percent ratings in the fourth
quarter Pulse Asia survey.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Malacanang is not concerned if
Binay's approval and rating is higher than that of President Aquino.
"Number one, we're very happy with the numbers of the Vice President. Number
two, the President has continued to maintain his popularity and trust ratings in
spite of the situation. So it means that the people continue to trust the
President and that's important for us because so far majority of the people
believe in the President," he said.
Aquino's trust rating dropped to 69 percent from 74 percent, while that of
Binay dropped to 80 percent from 83 percent.
Enrile's trust rating improved from 59 percent in November to 63 percent.
Binay's disapproval rating dropped from 4 percent to 3 percent while Enrile's
disapproval rating dropped from 11 percent to 7 percent.
The approval rating of Speaker Sonny Belmonte and Chief Justice Renato Corona
dropped 4 to 24 percentage points from 45 percent and 38 percent to 41 percent
and 14 percent respectively.
Belmonte's trust rating dropped from 41 percent to 32 percent. Corona's trust
rating dropped from 29 percent in November to 11 percent in February.
Belmonte's disapproval rating remained at 16 percent while that of Corona's
worsened by 34 percentage points from 24 percent in November to 58 percent in
the latest Pulse Asia survey.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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rights reserved
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