Legarda Expresses Alarm over Declining Tuna Stocks Due to Overfishing

MANILA, September 14, 2012-Senator Loren Legarda today expressed alarm over reported declining tuna stocks worldwide primarily due to overfishing.

Noting the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which revealed that five of the eight tuna species in the world have been considered threatened with extinction, Legarda said that the issue is relevant to the Philippine fishing industry as the country is the fourth largest producer of fresh chilled and canned tuna products in the world.

“Overfishing has been a great challenge to the country’s fishing industry. Aside from declining tuna stocks, we have also received reports earlier in the year regarding the decline in the supply of galunggong and dilis. We have to immediately address this concern because continued marine degradation and weak enforcement of our fisheries law will further deprive our citizens of their basic needs,” she stressed.

In this light, the Senator said that she is hopeful that the Philippine ratification of the Agreement with the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) will produce significant improvements in the country’s fisheries and aquaculture sector.

She explained that the ICLARM has been working closely with a number of research institutions in the Philippines to increase fish production, improving resource management and equitable distribution of benefits in developing countries and protecting the environment.

“The presence of ICLARM in the country, through a duly established Office, ensures the continuity in its programs and joint initiatives with the Philippine government and other partner institutions for the development of the fisheries sector. However, our government has the greater responsibility to ensure that it faithfully and effectively implements the provisions of the Fisheries Code to balance the need for livelihood and food supply and the need to ensure continuous production of fish species for future yield and maintain ecological balance,” Legarda concluded.

RDC infra dev’t, Pampanga river basin committees meet with Sec. Singson

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Sept 13, 2012-Regional Development Council (RDC) committees on Infrastructure Development (SCID) and Pampanga River Basin Committees (PRBC) conducted a joint meeting with Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson to discuss immediate and long-term solutions to perennial flooding in Central Luzon.

The meeting came in the aftermath of the continuous southwest monsoon rains last month which inundated many parts of Region 3 causing damage to many rice fields and infrastructures including a tail dike which protects the city of San Fernando and towns of Minalin and Sto. Tomas in Pampanga.

RDC Chair and City of San Fernando Oscar Rodriguez warned, “If (the tail dike problem is) not solved immediately, the situation would be a big setback to the transportation sector in the area. It may also put to waste investments in national road projects, particularly the rehabilitation of the McArthur Highway and the North Luzon and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressways.”

For her part, Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda said that the, “The provincial government of Pampanga will assist Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for any action taken on the silted water flowing down the channel.”

Accordingly, Rodriguez presented the multi-sectoral resolution among the city government of San Fernando, Pampanga, Bacolor and Minalin, DPWH III, and private sector representatives recommending for the immediate and long-term solutions for the destroyed tail dike and
several river channels affecting the province.

In response, Singson acknowledged the need to immediately close the breached dikes. He also committed on the availability of the quick response fund o his Department to assist LGUs affected and involved in addressing the problem. He emphasized however, that in doing so, DPWH
and LGUs should work hand in hand.

Meanwhile, Bulacan Governor Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado recommended the revival of the Pampanga River Control System (PRCS) or the creation of a similar agency responsible for the periodic maintenance and repair of the drainage channels and dike in the region.

Singson noted that, “A river basin approach requires a multi-stakeholder organization treatment since water has no boundaries and can involve several provinces in the process.”

The Public Works chief, who was appointed as water czar by the President, revealed that the development of natural-impounding areas or catchments such as the Candaba Swamp is one of the medium to long-term solutions the DPWH have been studying.

According to Singson, these impounding areas will control the release of water in the downstream to prevent further damages but will also utilize water for irrigation, livelihood and domestic use.

Singson said they will also give priority to the desilting of the Orani Channel in Bataan where water from Samal, Abucay, Hermosa, and Dinalupihan drain to Manila Bay.

He also said the need to continue the implementation of the Pampanga River Delta Project.

Singson affirmed that the national government will provide whatever available assistance it can extend to alleviate the flooding in the region. (Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu)

Legarda: Phil Making Significant Strides in Protecting Filipino Workers

MANILA, September 13, 2012-Senator Loren Legarda today said that the country is making significant strides in protecting Filipino workers through relevant policies such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 189, the Maritime Labour Convention,2006, the Kasambahay Bill and the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said that the ILO Convention 189, or the Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers, will benefit the 3.4 million Filipino domestic workers in the Philippines and abroad by ensuring that, first and foremost, domestic workers, like other workers, enjoy the same mantle of basic rights, such as reasonable hours of work, weekly rest, clear information on terms and conditions of employment, and freedom of association.

“The Philippine ratification of the ILO Convention 189 was formally registered last September 5. What makes the Philippines’ ratification more important is that, as the second country to ratify the convention, it will pave the way for the Convention’s entry into force after a year,” Legarda explained.

The Senator added that another important measure that would further strengthen the protection of domestic workers in the country is the Kasambahay Bill, which has been approved already by both the Senate (Senate Bill 78) and the House of Representatives (House Bill 6144).

The proposed legislation seeks to increase the minimum wage of household helpers and require all household working arrangements between employers and helpers to be duly documented.

Meanwhile, the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 is the seafarers’ bill of rights. The right to a safe and secure workplace that complies with safety standards; right to fair terms of employment; right to decent working and living conditions on board ship; and right to health protection, medical care, welfare measures and other forms of social protection are clearly laid down as self-evident rights whose enforcement is demanded by the Convention.

The MLC, 2006 also covers basic rights such as freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor; the effective abolition of child labor; and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

“We aim to provide better protection for our workers in the country and those working in other nations. We do not want them to be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment and any form of abuse. Furthermore, we also want to prevent Filipinos from being victimized by syndicates whose aim is to earn at the expense of others. Thus, we are pushing for the approval of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking Act,” Legarda said.

Among the amendments to the present law are: the addition of a new section on acts that constitute attempted trafficking; the strengthening legal protection for victims in the form of custody and interim protection order; and, the establishment of a permanent secretariat within the inter-agency council for anti-trafficking.

“Trafficking today is heightened by the very processes of globalization that has facilitated our progress, like rapid information transfer and cheap travel. Thus, we need an effective legal framework if we are to achieve some degree of success. Our challenge is to harmonize our policies, build capacities of agencies, and strengthen enforcement and prosecution,” Legarda stressed.

“With the ratification of the ILO Convention 189 and the Maritime Labour Code, 2006, as well as the impending approval of the Kasambahay Bill and the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, the rights of Filipino workers will be better protected and their concerns will be better addressed,” Legarda concluded.

Drilon asks ARMM to slash personnel budget, put more funds to livelihood projects

MANILA, September 13, 2012-Senator Franklin M. Drilon has asked the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to review its organizational structure after it was revealed that 74 percent of the P13.99 billion proposed budget for the region in 2013 is allotted to pay for the salaries and benefits of its about 27,000 workforce.

“Of the nearly P14 billion budget of the ARMM, 74 percent, or roughly P10 billion, is earmarked for the payment of salaries. That is more than double the national average of 32 percent,” said Drilon, “there is a lot of fat there.”

This does not include the P49.72 million lodged under the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund which corresponds to the unfilled positions in the ARMM, added Drilon.

Drilon expressed concern that the huge allocation for personnel may also go to the salary of ghost employees believed to be rampant in the region.

“Assuming that these are not ghost employees, would you think that a staffing pattern review is in order so that you can devote more funds to projects to provide better service rather than the ARMM being an employment agency?” asked Drilon.

For the Department of Education office in the ARMM alone, it was revealed that 95 percent of its P8.25 billion budget for 2013 will go to the salary of teachers, noted Drilon.

ARMM governor Mujiv Hataman agreed to Drilon’s proposal.

“Yes, Sir. Actually, we scrutinize at gusto talaga naming i-review yung staffing pattern ng ARMM kasi very abnormal ang situation, even 50 percent. Parang magbubuhos ka na lang ng pondo para sa sweldo halos wala ng ginagawa, wala ng panggasolina. Tinitingnan din namin yung mga ghost employees,” Hataman told Drilon.

JINGGOY SAYS COPS NEED TO OUTWIT CROOKS, PUSHES FOR AN EFFICIENT POLICE ACADEMY

MANILA, September 12, 2012-Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada says the mandate of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to prevent crimes and to ensure public safety requires them to act proactively and outwit the criminals.

 

This developed as the PNP recently explained that the increased number of incidents of crimes in the National Capital Region (NCR) is due to the fact that the crooks have simply become “smarter.” The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) recorded 29,231 crime incidents in Metro Manila during the first half of 2012 – 57% higher than what is recorded during the same period of the previous year.

 

Sen. Estrada points out that an effective police training program equips the law enforcement authorities with potent tools, knowledge and principles to carry out their peacekeeping functions. The lawmaker also cites the high-profile case of the “kotong” cop showing that some members of the police may have joined the ranks of brazen criminals, instead of stopping them.

 

“I see the case of increased criminality not only a product of poverty, but also of ineffective police instruction and education. Some crooks do it for survival, while some continue to commit crime because they think they will not be caught and can get away with it.  Our cops must outwit the criminals, and not the other way around,” Sen. Estrada states. 

 

Meanwhile, Sen. Estrada is pushing for the strengthening of the police academies by placing them under the direct management, supervision and administration of the PNP.

 

Senate Bill 3218, authored by Sen. Estrada, seeks to amend the Republic Act 6975 or the Department of Interior and Local Government Act of 1990 to transfer the operations of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), the Philippine National Training Institute (PNTI) and the National Police College (NPC) from the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) to the PNP.

 

Sen. Estrada says that the measure seeks to streamline the skills training, continued education and specialization of the police. Among the problems observed with the current system include:

 

·         There is a mismatch between the PNP training expectations and requirements and the actual services provided by the PPSC;

·         It allows lapses in coordination of programs and makes it difficult to develop a system of plan and budget for trainings internal to the PNP;

·         It results in unnecessary cost and waste of resources because PNP would conduct its own re-orientation and specialization programs, duplicating those already undertaken by PPSC.

 

Earlier, the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture adopted the proposal of Sen. Estrada as an amendment of its committee report strengthening the PPSC, effectively removing police training under the PPSC. The report was then recalled by the Chairman, Sen. Edgardo Angara, for further amendments. The measure is now pending approval on second reading.

Legarda Alarmed Over High Rate of Unemployed Women; Urges DOLE and Philippine Commission on Women to Take Action

MANILA, September 12, 2012-Senator Loren Legarda expressed alarm over the high rate of unemployment among women in the country, and called for more gender-responsive development priorities that should be reflected in the 2013 budget.

“We must begin to evaluate the budget in a new light, taking into consideration our changing social landscape. According to statistics from an SWS survey last May, the percentage of unemployed women is 36.4% or 6.5 million, which is significantly higher than the percentage of unemployed men at 18.9% or 4.4 million. Taking into account the abilities unique among genders, the Department of Labor and Employment and the Philippine Commission on Women should begin addressing this situation especially now that we are planning next year’s budget,” she explained.

Legarda stated that there are two strategies that the government should strongly explore. The first is greater support for industries that women frequent, such as textiles, crafts, farming, and food-processing and helping women start their own businesses and cooperatives. The second is appropriate training that will build women’s opportunities in entering economic sectors such as telecommunications, tourism, leisure services, and traditionally male-dominated jobs.

  

“Women are a valuable yet vulnerable sector, and this alarming rate of unemployment is one of the key factors that fuels migration. Hundreds of thousands of Filipino women seek jobs abroad every year, and are then often subjected to exploitation. Away from loved ones and the government’s assistance, their yearning for better lives unfairly pushes them deeper into harm,” she remarked.

“We are at a crucial juncture in our growth as a nation, and we must consistently scrutinize our opportunities for progress, ensuring that development is equitable and gender-responsive,” Legarda concluded.

P4 billion lost to ghost pensioners in the past years, says Drilon

MANILA, September 12, 2012-At least P4.2 billion or more funds ended up in the pockets of ghost pensioners in the past years and would have continued to be lost to corruption each fiscal year had not the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) moved to clean its roster of pensioners, according to Senate Finance Committee chairman Franklin M. Drilon.

Drilon said that prior to the delisting and cleansing of pension list that PVAO undertook, the government’s budget for the payment of the pension of veterans would reach to P15 billion annually. But as a result of the clean up where ghost, fake and unqualified pensioner and deceased war veterans were delisted, the budget went down to P10.59 billion.

“The difference of about P4.2 billion saved on a yearly basis is made possible with the effort of PVAO to flesh out the fraudulent claims. Meaning, before the reforms, this P4.2 billion would be paid to non-existing veterans or fictitious claimants,” said Drilon.

“This has been corrected by shifting to bank system, by having the pension paid through the banks, instead of using the old system where pensioners get their benefits through cheques and the postal service,” added Drilon.

“By this simple transferring of disbursement from the postal system to banking system saved the government approximately around P4.2 billion,” stressed Drilon, “I commend the efforts they have undertaken to make sure that only the legitimate pensioners and veterans would be provided the benefits under the law.”

Under the 2013 budget, noted Drilon, the government has earmarked P10.59 billion to pay for 231,081 pension claims.

Still, Drilon said the government owes war veterans the amount of P3.5 billion to compensate for their total administrative disability benefits which were left unfunded in the past years. To address this, Drilon said the Committee will look into some items in the unprogrammed funds which can be cut to accommodate the P3.5 billion requirements.

Meanwhile, Drilon said the government is still studying the possibility of integrating the pension of uniformed personnel into the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to address the looming military and police pension crisis.

“About 53 percent, or P40 billion, of the budget of the Defense Department is for the payment of pensions. There is hardly any fiscal space for capital outlay and modernization program,” stressed Drilon.

Based on the initial study, said Drilon, the budget for the pension of uniformed personnel would grow up to P92 billion in 2017 from P71.58 billion next year.

“We have to resolve this before it reaches to a point where our budget for pension is much higher than our budget for the salaries of active personnel,” ended Drilon.

DND eyes P75B budget for AFP modernization, but source of funds to be determined, says Drilon

MANILA, September 11, 2012-At least P75 billion is needed to upgrade and modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines in order for the government to build a credible degree of defense at par with other neighboring countries.

But Senator Franklin M. Drilon has posed a challenged to the Department of National Defense (DND) to “think out of the box” as to where they can source out this huge amount of budget other than the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

At the hearing on their P120.32 billion proposed budget in 2013, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the P15 billion annual budget for the Armed Force Modernization Program (AFPMP) will be sourced from the GAA.

However, Drilon said the DND may face a budgetary-related problem since the GAA has limitations like the budget deficit and obviously cannot provide in full the P75 billion requirements for the upgrade of the AFP in order to balance internal security and territorial security concerns.

Under the 2013 budget, only P5 billion is earmarked for the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program. The other P10 billion is lodged under the Unprogrammed Fund portion in the budget in which the release is subject to the availability of funds, noted Drilon.

“The release of this P10 billion will depend upon the level of deficit we will be incurring. If there is enough fiscal space, that can be funded, but if not, we have to look for other means to fund this equally important endeavor,” explained Drilon.

“I challenge Secretary Gazmin and the rest of AFP officials to look for funds similar to the system in the Bases Conversion Development Authority where the sales of military lands were used to fund the modernization program,” said Drilon.

“We are looking at how the excess lands in the military camp can be made more productive to fund the modernization program in order that we can strengthen our defense system,” told Drilon.  

“It is not only the sale of the military assets that can be the source of funds. Military assets are vast of lands which can be made productive and be the source of modernization program,” he added.

Drilon, cited for example, the over 30,000-hectare Hamindan camp in Panay and the 43,000-hectare Fort Magsaysay which need not be sold, but can be made productive.

KIKO TO JBC ON REFORMS AND RETOOLING: REVIEW PREVIOUS PERFORMANCE OF JBC UNDER CJ PANGANIBAN AND LEARN FROM IT

Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, former chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and former ex-oficio member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), says that a re-tooling of the process in filling up court vacancies by the JBC is hardly needed. "All that the JBC needs to do is to look at the process implemented by the council under the leadership of then-Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban."

"Under his leadership, the JBC was able to reduce the vacancy in the judiciary to 16 percent from a high of 32 percent," he explains.

According to Pangilinan, the JBC then was able to reduce court vacancies to half through an "aggressive recruitment effort and an even more aggressive interview process so that all vacancies will have the necessary list of nominees submitted to Malacanang and that there are no backlog of nominations pending in the JBC."

The current vacancy is now back to 25 percent. Pangilinan says that the process regressed under succeeding Chief Justices, causing the vacancy rate to balloon back to what he calls "unacceptable levels."

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno has called for a workshop to review the JBC process.

"The workshop should review the minutes of previous JBC meetings held during CJ Panganiban's time," Pangilinan suggests. "Here they will discover that at one point the JBC interviewed up to 30 applicants daily for a period of four months, thereby speeding up the nomination process tremendously. If we in the JBC were able to reduce the vacancy rates from 32 percent to 16 percent then, there is no reason why the JBC cannot do it now. We slashed the vacancies in half. The JBC today should be able to accomplish this and more. The target should be to reduce the vacancy rate to single digits in a year's time. This will require an aggressive recruitment effort where the JBC goes to the provinces to urge lawyers to take on the challenge of public service."

"Chief Justice Sereno, who is young and energetic, should lead the charge and undertake an all encompassing search for the best and the brightest to join the judiciary and help in putting in place the reforms it so urgently needs," Pangilinan stresses.

Legarda Pushes for “World Interfaith Harmony Week”

MANILA, September 11, 2012-Senator Loren Legarda has filed a bill that aims to establish the first week of February as “World Interfaith Harmony Week” in the Philippines, following a 2010 United Nations resolution declaring the same.

“I filed Senate Bill 3276, or the World Interfaith Harmony Week Act, because I believe it will help ease any conflict or tension caused by differing religious beliefs in the country,” said Legarda.

“The rationale of the UN resolution is a need to find genuine understanding among people of different faiths and belief systems. This finds resonance in the Philippines, a country that will certainly benefit from dialogues among leaders and representatives of religious institutions. The harmony we are pushing for is democratic, and built on effective communication and mutual respect,” she explained.

The proposed measure will mandate all government agencies and instrumentalities to carry out the observance of activities designed to advance the message of harmony and goodwill in accordance with religious traditions and practices during the Interfaith Harmony Week.

“Gatherings and activities for World Interfaith Harmony Week have been held in various countries across the world with diverse backgrounds, including Pakistan, Indonesia, Italy, and Jordan. Even in our country, the National Ulama Conference of the Philippines (NUCP) staged a gathering in Zamboanga City in honor of inter-religious cooperation. Beginning in 2013, we can conduct nationwide immersion programs and educational discussions geared towards forging lasting friendships,” she remarked.

“Senate Bill 3276, as it concurs with the resolution of the UN General Assembly, will go a long way in promoting cooperation and understanding among all Filipinos, and will hopefully aid in establishing a country of empathy and a culture of peace,” Legarda concluded.

Ghosts roam in ARMM, says Drilon

MANILA, September 11, 2012-Following the revelation of Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Mujiv Hataman about the numerous irregularities they have unfolded, Senator Franklin M. Drilon has only one question in mind: do ghosts prefer to wander around a poor region like the ARMM?   

“In ARMM, there are a lot of ghosts: ghost employees, ghost teachers, ghost students, ghost internally displaced persons, ghost voters, ghost contractors, ghost gasoline stations, and many more,” said its chairman Senator Franklin M. Drilon, referring to fictitious and non-existing persons and transactions which were used to cover up for various anomalies in the region.

“All of these contributed to the corruptions in the past which continue to haunt people in the ARMM,” stressed Drilon, during the Senate Finance Committee's hearing on the P13.99 billion proposed budget of the ARMM in 2013 on Monday. 

Drilon, cited for instance, the P1.6 billion unpaid premium payments, including interests and penalties, to the different insurance agencies particularly to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). These payments were deducted from the salaries of the ARMM employees, which the GSIS claimed were not remitted to them from 2001 to 2010.     

"We must emphasize the deficiencies in premium contributions are the major source of continuing frustration and disappointment among government personnel including the thousands of teachers," added Drilon.

“Thousands of teachers sometime could not avail of their GSIS benefits like housing and salary loans because the premiums were collected, but per GSIS record, were not remitted to the agency,” explained Drilon.

In a move to help resolve the issue, Drilon said his committee and the Senate Blue Ribbon chaired by Senator Teofisto Guingona III will conduct an investigation on where these funds went.

“We will look into this to finally address the plight being faced by the thousands of government personnel in the ARMM,” he added.

Meanwhile, the efforts and the political will shown by the officer-in-charge governor to eliminate these anomalies earned praises among the Senators.   

“We have confidence in the leadership of Hataman. The OIC governor is our new ghost buster,” said Drilon.

“We are pleased that under the leadership of Governor Hataman, these ghosts are starting to vanish and the corruption is being firmly addressed,” ended Drilon.

ACCUSED EMPLOYERS SHOW UP

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada and National Bureau of Investigation Director Nonnatus Caesar Rojas listen to the statement of Analiza and Reynold Marzan who appeared Monday afternoon before the NBI. The couple was accused of physical abuse and illegal detention by their kasambahay Bonita Baran, whose case is also the subject of a Senate investigation. Due to the order of arrest issued by the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development for their non-appearance before the inquiries, Sen. Estrada requested the Department of Justice and NBI to turn over the couple to the Senate. The committee is set to conduct its last public hearing on the case on Wednesday. The couple through their legal counsel (not in photo) deny the accusation. 

INT'L FOOTBALL COACH TRAINS YOUNG PLAYERS FROM AURORA

Over 300 students from the different municipalities of Aurora province have participated in the first Aurora Plays Football (APF) program, a three-month workshop which was successfully concluded last Saturday.

Said workshop which began last July was headed by Coach Maor Rozen, a PRO-level National Football Coach from Spain who was invited by Senator Edgardo J. Angara to provide training to the youth of Aurora as part of his comprehensive grassroots sports development program. 

Coach Maor also holds a PRO license from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and has participated in several Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).

Angara saw the potential of football to become the country’s leading sport as it gives emphasis on agility, strength, mental skills and strategy which our young athletes possess. He felt that we have better chances of excelling and succeeding in this kind of sport given our distinct advantage. 

“If there is one sport that we have to strengthen and refocus our energies on, it must be football. Filipino athletes possess the kind of talent – size, strength and speed – to compete internationally. Moreover, the physical attributes of internationally-renowned soccer stars compare favorably with the physical stature of the Filipino athlete of today.”

Field football and beach football were offered to participants aged 11 and below. An inter-municipality league for the 11-and-under category was also part of the program, with matches being held in the Baler Central School every Saturday of August.

One of the most important elements of the leagues, according to Coach Maor, was that every single player from each of the six competing teams was required to play for at least 15 minutes. This way, he says, they can familiarize themselves with the competitive atmosphere of the actual games which is quite different from the pressure during training sessions.

Angara, who had spearheaded the initiative together with Representative Edgardo "Sonny" Angara and Aurora Governor Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, encouraged the participants of the workshop to stay in school as model student athletes during the culminating program yesterday.

"I am very proud to see these young student athletes show such dedication to the sport, which is arguably one of the most popular in the world. The province of Aurora is also very lucky to have such an experienced international coach at the helm of this activity, and my hope is that they learn to apply the discipline they learned from this workshop to all their endeavors," he said. 

APEC Should Be More Relevant to Filipinos – Legarda

MANILA, September 10, 2012-In light of the conclusion of the Vladivostok APEC Summit 2012 and the upcoming Manila APEC Summit in 2015, Senator Loren Legarda today said that efforts should be made in order for APEC to be more relevant to all Filipinos, emphasizing that APEC is ultimately about people.

“We hosted the APEC Leaders’ meeting in 1996.  It was a time when many did not understand what trade and investment liberalization and facilitation meant.  Sixteen years, hence, can we say our people now understand how APEC was able to improve their lives?” she said.

APEC, or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, accounts for approximately 40 percent of the world's population, 54 percent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product, and about 44 percent of world trade. This year’s priorities were trade and investment liberalization, regional economic integration, strengthening food security, establishing reliable supply chains, and intensive cooperation to foster innovative growth.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign relations, stressed that the value of APEC does not rest on trade and investment statistics, but on how much its benefits trickle down to the poor.

“APEC should strive to pursue its goal of trade and investment facilitation to generate more jobs, provide food on the table, enhance capacities, promote education, harness sustainable development, and promote inclusive growth in the region.  At the end of the day, APEC is not about business nor is it about trade; it is about its people,” she explained.

The Senator also said that there is a pressing need to make sure that Filipinos are able to develop competitive advantage in key economic sectors in order for the Philippines to make a substantial contribution to the level of trade between and across APEC economies.

“We need to capacitate our farmers, our industries, and other sectors.  We need to strengthen them, including our MSMEs so they can equally become competitive in meeting the region’s needs for goods and services,” she detailed.

“We need to take advantage of the vast opportunities that APEC’s economic and technical cooperation offers to prepare us for a more intense level of competition in an era of free trade,” Legarda stressed.

On the issues of environmental conservation and sustainable development, Legarda said that promotion of low-emission energy strategy needs to be enhanced and the Philippines can be a showcase in this area by fully developing its renewable energy resources of which it has abundant supply.

Furthermore, Legarda welcomed leaders’ initiatives to ensure sustainable management of marine ecosystems. She also lauded the relevant and timely cooperation toward improving disaster prevention, response and recovery, including support for people affected by disasters and emergencies.