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‘Hate campaign against Gawad Kalinga will not succeed’

Ian Magallones — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 06:10:54 +0000

By Jose Montelibano

I am not an official spokesman of CFC or GK, but I am an involved member and a GK advocate. Allow me to share my knowledge and perspective.

In the center of controversy are 1) fundamentalism that is triggered by sudden growth and, 2) hypocrisy which is a constant presence in the halls of hierarchy and bureaucracy.

Real story
The real story is somewhat hidden from the article. (Ed. See Related Article) It is about the breakaway of a small splinter group from mainstream CFC – and it was led by the leader of CFC for almost 26 years. Seen by many CFC leaders as a reaction to the sudden success of GK in both numbers and popularity which in turn propelled another CFC leader into the limelight of both CFC and non-CFC audiences, the traditional conjugal leadership of CFC began to make moves that made it difficult for GK to grow. Imposing policies that would limit the participation of CFC members into a work that was sweeping the nation, the traditional conjugal leadership of CFC at the same time mandated other work like “pro-life and special ministries” where they actively encouraged members to join.

The P50M DOH contract
Taking on the pro-life work seemed like a move towards religious adherence because the Church is quite active in it. But many saw the pro-life work also as a way to get access to government funds – specifically, the P50 million contract from DOH to promote natural family planning. While the contract was on-going, the funds gave the traditional conjugal leadership the capacity to spend without fiscal prudence and making their favored few enjoy perks usually not available to workers of Christian renewal communities like CFC. What is noteworthy is the absence of the same pro-life work before the contract and its disappearance after the contract was terminated ahead of schedule upon the insistence of other members of the CFC Council. Today, many await the detailed post-audit of the way the funds of the contract were spent because it is suspected that there had been grave abuse and misuse of government funds towards personal interests at the expense of the effective promotion of a natural family planning program.

CFC’s former ‘conjugal leadership’
The history of CFC includes the formal leadership through a 7-man Council which, in fact, was one man who could overrule the others – if they at all attempted to get in his way. Behind the formal leadership of one was the informal leadership of the spouse. It is not a strange situation in renewal communities and many painful transitions have occurred in communities when traditional leaderships begin to experience growing resistance to the absolute rule of one from the other members. Breaking away after being spurned by a community they had long ruled absolutely is part of a pattern, not an exception. History is full of failed leaders, and they are so many that we do not know of them anymore. History is kind only to the victors, or remembers the ones who went berserk and inflicted massive damage to others.

Poaching by CFC breakaway group
Because the breakaway of the splinter group is relatively new, actually less than one year, there is a lot of aggressive poaching on the ground so that their small numbers will grow the fastest way. Usually, renewal communities grow as a result of evangelistic work, where people renewed by the influence of the community would often ask to join, or be invited to join. But that takes a lot of work, and a lot of time. CFC had peaked to a reported 1.4 million circa 1996-1997, but I discovered when I had joined that there was a steady decline in membership from the late 90′s till the breakaway last year. To my friends, I had shared my personal view that the declining numbers signified a waning spirit and commitment to the community because of a leadership that did not know how to take the community to the next level. Again, this is not a strange occurrence but a pattern for most organizations like CFC. The history of charismatic/renewal communities in the Philippines will bear me out – beginning with the Cursillo to all who have followed. Any charismatic/renewal group that went “massive” in membership ultimately diminished, and sometimes by infighting and breakaways.

The aggressive poaching does not limit itself to just trying to win old friends and asking them to join the breakaway group. It can also involve trying to put down CFC and especially GK which is now the fresh spirit that perks up the community and much of the Philippines. Many moves have been engineered to “contain” GK, or to remove it from CFC formally. These moves were not spiritual in context – they were political. It was a matter of control. So what else is new?

But with the traditional conjugal leadership rejected by the same community that had for a long time looked at them with great reverence and submission, what else could they have done to recover what they lost? What else could they have done to hide their abject failure? And how do they get back at forces they believe caused their downfall? For others like them in history, what had they done?

The familiar pattern has found an interesting nuance, however, because a failed leader who used to be unafraid to lead the community to new territories with new ways turns around, 180 degrees, and goes against his very words, or what he had written about in books which were treated like the Bible by CFC members. One of the most distinct features of CFC was its independence from the parishes; in fact, it was proud to describe itself as “trans-parochial” and I believe the Vatican officially gave this recognition and its blessing. But this “trans-parochial” status irked many bishops and parish priests who were long used to controlling religious lay communities. However, the leadership of CFC was able to withstand the reluctance or outright objection of many parish priests and bishops and still managed to grow CFC in many of these unfriendly areas. In one book entitled “Friend Or Foe,” the oftentimes uneasy relationship between CFC and the bishops is clearly seen, and the actuation of the CFC leader quite obvious.

Role of Bishop Gabriel Reyes
When they had lost control, however, the traditional conjugal leadership sought the active help of key bishops including Bishop Gabriel Reyes, the head of LAIKO in the Philippines. Of course, one does not complain and make it appear that one is jealous, that one is vengeful, and that one wants control. With that as one’s motivations, even if it were true, which I believe to be so, the public stance must be something that the Church can openly support. Anything and everything that could be thrown at GK in order to weaken the present CFC leadership and erode the public trust and support of GK has been dished out. The present issue is one of these that had been offered as “proof” that Tony Meloto has “veered away” from spiritual to social work, and the partnerships with pharmaceutical companies who may have anti-life products as defined by the Church as further proof to the same. It did not matter that the complainant stood as witness to the very partnership used later as evidence of wanton disregard for Church values. After all, one only says “I am sorry” and he can be forgiven, according to Church practice.

GK’s work with pharmaceutical companies
The insistence of Cardinal Rylko of the Vatican for CFC to terminate the partnership of GK with a supportive pharmaceutical company and to publicly apologize for the “scandal” it caused is supposed to be a trade-off for the Vatican’s formal instructions to the breakaway group to stop using the CFC name as the Vatican recognizes only the authentic CFC which is identified with the GK work. Perhaps, in their fear of losing a recognition that is valuable to a Catholic community, the present leaders of CFC gave in, caved in, or whatever they will call it in the privacy of their consciences.

The letters that were written about this transaction, because it could not be anything but a transaction, were then leaked to the media. By whom is open to speculation, but maybe the party benefited is more suspect than the party aggrieved. Well, anything is fair in love and war, and it is Christian on our side to simply shrug off the malice and spite of people who anyway have no longevity and legacy to sustain their lifetime’s work. This is called Christian forgiveness, or more popularly known as “consuelo de bobo.”

Now, what? In the latest article in the front page today of the Inquirer, Bishop Gabriel Reyes is trying to temper what has been sensationalized, perhaps because he himself was party to it and wants like Pontius Pilate to appear uninvolved. Of course, the Church should temper it. The spirituality and love for fellow man is oozing in Gawad Kalinga The hundreds of thousands who have been personally involved in building up the work to what it is now and to what it will be tomorrow will resent the implication that their motive is less than admirable, or less spiritual when it faithfully complies with the primordial Christian obligation to feed the hungry, to heal the sick, to shelter and clothe the naked, to free the oppressed.

Pope Benedict doing it the GK way
What we speak of here in the current brouhaha with the actions of the concerned Church personalities is a matter of Church protocol or even hypocrisy, not Church dogma. As Cardinal Rylko and Bishop Gabriel Reyes smear, deliberately or consequently, the most noble work that has emerged from Christian hearts on a collective mode, Pope Benedict XVI eagerly prepared for his visit to the United States, the most anti-life nation in the world by Church definition of anti-life, host to legal abortion, massive divorce, manufacturer and promoter of anti-life products and services, as defined by the Church, same sex unions, and others that I miss because I have not been a rabid follower of the anti-life list of definitions of the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI also happily accepted the formal welcome of President George W. Bush, the most anti-life president of the world, not only because he is president of an anti-life nation as defined by the Church, but because he personally pushed for the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan which the Church condemns and defines as anti-life.

Pope Benedict XVI is doing it the Gawad Kalinga way, engaging rather than condemning, evangelizing by witnessing rather than spreading hate by being judgmental and fundamentalist. Pope Benedict XVI said that his visit will result in much good, and Gawad Kalinga shares that conviction with its own work.

Just as Pope Benedict XVI justifies his visit to the US, for the objectives of the Church, GK justifies its partnerships, for the objectives of nation building by returning human dignity to the poor, the weak, the neglected who have lived sub-human lives as a matter of social inheritance. The Church calls that social justice. Cardinal Rylko and Bishop Reyes call it an “overemphasis” on the social instead of the spiritual. That is not only a spiritual distortion, it is contrary to Church teachings. But in the case of Cardinal Rylko, I will call it only ignorance of the truth, or the human weakness of believing a source without sound basis. Cardinal Rylko can come to the Philippines and see the love and sacrifice of tens of thousands of Christians and be amazed that he has insulted the nobility of Filipinos who have done more than most of Christendom in collectively manifesting the virtues of their faith. He can then say, “Shame on those who misled me!”"

I truly appreciate the courage of Pope Benedict XVI. He went to the lions’ den because he wanted to validate a fundamental fact – that Christ was here to save and not to condemn, and that those who are to be saved are the lost, not the found. Being head of the Catholic Church is an august position and responsibility. He is trying his best to share the love and the good news even as underlings sometimes do their best to be High Priests and Pharisees out to kill the Jesus who exposes them for their hypocrisy. Thank goodness for Pope Benedict XVI, and thank goodness for the late Pope John Paul II. To these two, evangelization is witnessing the love of Christ to all, not to convert or control them, but to liberate them from poverty, from corruption, from oppression, from fundamentalism and hypocrisy, from the clutches of the evil that lurks of those who claim to be spiritual and moral leaders.

Gawad Kalinga will move on, stronger because the hate campaign against it by those who share no love for the poor as their primordial obligation cannot succeed, not in the Philippines where the poor are the majority and are seen as the weak stones of a weak nation. Gawad Kalinga will move on to build a strong nation because its love for the poor, the weak, the sick, and the oppressed will transform the rejected stones to become the cornerstones of a new Philippines that we and our children can be proud of. The social work is an inner work, the formation of character grounded on faith and patriotism. What better spiritual work is there in the Philippines?

Protest actions against Arroyo govt still going strong

Ian Magallones — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 06:08:36 +0000

here is no truth to the statement that the protest moves against President Arroyo and the current administration are losing steam, a youth group said.

Youth Revolt, a youth social reform advocacy group, said such an allegation was a desperate move to quell the protest movement against the Arroyo government.

It said the government’s claim that there has been a lull in protest actions against the administration is deceptive.

Mark Aquino, the group’s spokesperson, said the calls have been mounting contrary to the government’s claim of a slow down in a calls for the President to step down due to allegations of anomalies and corruption during her watch.

To prove that the youth’s quest for truth continues, the members of the group staged Sunday a fun run, dubbed “Takbo para sa Katotohanan, Takbo para sa Kalikasan”, along Roxas Boulevard in Manila.

“The summer break didn’t mark the end of the journey of the youth and people onwards (sic) a corruption-free, transparent and moral society. (This) rather became our moment to further strengthen and consolidate our ranks for a more decisive battle ahead against the Arroyo government,” said Aquino.

He also vowed that their group would not let up in staging similar protest rallies to pressure President Arroyo to resign her post.

‘We are further sending a strong warning to the present administration to prepare itself for the intensification of protests from the broadest number of youth and students in the opening of classes in June up to her state of the nation address in July,” Aquino said.

Several cause-oriented and religious groups had been conducting protest rallies in a bid to force the President to vacate Malacañang for the anomalies involving her administration.

One of the controversies is the botched $329 million national broadband network project awarded by the government to China’s ZTE Corp.

Senate star witness Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr. appeared earlier before the Blue Ribbon Committee, testifying that the NBN contract with the Chinese firm was overpriced.

He claimed that the overpriced cost of the project was supposed to go to the kickbacks of resigned poll chief Benjamin Abalos Sr. and his close associates.

Businessman Joey de Venecia III, son of former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., and Dante Madriga, also testified before the joint Senate investigating body on the NBN-ZTE deal.

The two men claimed the involvement of the President’s husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, in the controversial contract.

OIC: Solution to troubled MNLF peace accord in sight

Ian Magallones — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 06:06:56 +0000

The Philippines and former Muslim separatists are making progress towards implementing a peace accord granting autonomy to Filipino Muslims in the south, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) said Saturday.

OIC envoy Sayed El-Masry told reporters there was “light at the end of the tunnel” for a peace accord signed in 1996 between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

El-Masry said that the OIC was now counting on the government and the MNLF to come up with proposals on amending the 1996 peace agreement which ended decades of fighting and led to the creation of an autonomous region for Muslims, headed by MNLF officials, in the southern Philippines.

The MNLF has complained that the peace agreement was not fully implemented and that the autonomous region was not given enough power and are seeking amendments.

Critics meanwhile say the autonomous region has been mismanaged by the MNLF and that the group has been preoccupied with in-fighting rather than governing.

El-Masry, who had met with MNLF and government representatives during his visit here, said a joint working group would submit a report to the OIC in May on possible amendments for autonomy to be fully realised.

“Now they are just finalizing these documents. We hope that there will be a combined report,” El-Masry said.

The OIC had fostered the peace talks between the government and the MNLF, and has monitored the ceasefire in place between the two sides.

However El-Masry declined to comment on an MNLF-breakaway group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is not covered by the peace accord with the MNLF.

Although the MILF has signed a ceasefire with the government to negotiate for peace, they are seeking the creation of their own Muslim autonomous region, a demand that might conflict with the MNLF’s own autonomous region.

There have been efforts to reunite the MILF and the MNLF but the two rebel groups remain separate.

In previous conferences between the OIC, the government and the MNLF, all parties had agreed that there was a need for joint working groups to be formed by Manila and the MNLF to examine provisions of the 1996 peace agreement that have not been fully implemented.

Mayors act to get NFA rice to Metro’s poor

Ian Magallones — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 06:04:28 +0000

The Philippine Star

Mayors of several cities in Metro Manila are enacting measures to ensure that the rice supplied by the National Food Authority (NFA) actually reach their constituents, in the wake of reports of that sacks of government-subsidized rice are being diverted by unscrupulous traders.

In Quezon City, the city government’s market administration division reported to Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. during a recent executive staff meeting that the 100 rolling stores deployed by the NFA allow residents in the city’s 142 barangays to buy rice without lining up at NFA outlets.

Leslie Villorente, operation officer of the city’s market administration division, said that aside from the rolling stores, President Arroyo’s “Tindahan Natin” outlets have also allowed residents easy access to NFA rice.

“Churches in various parts of the city have also helped in the selling and distribution of rice,” Villorente said.

The market administration official also reported that despite the looming rice crisis, prices of basic commodities in the city have remained stable.

He said except for the price of pork, which increased following the epidemic that hit hog farms in Bulacan, the prices of vegetables and fish remain stable.

Rice access cards, passbooks

In San Juan, the local social welfare office will give out a “family access card” to at least 5,000 of the 12,000 poor families in the city next week for them to gain access to NFA rice in rolling stores since NFA rice would no longer be available in the public markets.

Jessica Tor, head of the city Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), said a “poverty mapping” conducted by her office pinpointed some 12,000 families or 30 percent of the city’s population as recipients of “family access card.” The city has a population of 148,000.

However, the DSWD-National Capital Region (NCR) has allocated only 5,000 families or 15 percent of the city’s population to have access cards.

“We have yet to appeal for the head office to raise the number of families to have access to the low-priced rice for fear that those left out would complain,” Tor said.

Based on the local DSWD’s assessment, the beneficiaries of the access card are mostly informal settlers who earn less than the minimum wage, jobless or with irregular incomes.

The poor families are residents of Barangays Corazon, West Crame and St. Joseph. The covered basketball courts in the three barangays will serve as stations of the rolling stores, where families can line up for the state-subsidized rice.

The city government of Valenzuela, on the other hand, will issue a family passbook to qualified recipients after conducting poverty mapping to identify the poorest families in the city’s 32 barangays. The poverty mapping may be complete by next week.

The passbook is a log sheet wherein the quantity of rice purchases by family is recorded. Buyers shall present it when buying rice.

“Families panic during crises like this and would tend to buy more than they actually need. We will issue these family passbooks to make sure that no domestic hoarding will happen,” said city chief of staff Jing Hernandez.

Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian said they are moving to reach their goal of distributing 14 kilos of rice per week to each poor family.

He said they also plan to double the NFA’s allocation of 20 sacks per week to each barangay.

“We know that 20 sacks is insufficient to meet the demand. But we are working to raise that number, especially in the more populous barangays and in depressed areas,” city administrator Anicia Marquez said.

Gatchalian has also raised a red alert against hoarding by commercial distributors in the city. It has been reported that NFA rice are being re-bagged and passed off as commercial rice, which sell at higher prices.

“We assure that violators will be apprehended,” he said.

In Caloocan City, Mayor Enrico Echiverri seeks to have a “bigasang bayan” or rice store per barangay to ensure that all residents have access to NFA rice.

Binay blames national gov’t

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay said the rampant hoarding of rice could have been prevented if the government had been consistent in enforcing the law.

“Rampant hoarding would not have happened had the government effectively enforced the laws against hoarding. But hoarding has become a systemic problem because the government has not been enforcing the law,” he said.

Earlier, Binay said the government should not pull out NFA rice from public markets, describing such a move as prejudicial to the working poor.

“Many Filipinos can hardly make ends meet with their meager wages even if they work long hours. By pulling out NFA rice from public markets, the government is depriving these working Filipinos of outlets where they can purchase cheap rice,” he said.

Binay has directed all the leaders of the city’s 33 barangays to report the presence of rice hoarders in their respective communities.

He directed the barangay officials to monitor warehouses and residences to see if rice is being hoarded, and to report immediately to the city’s Liga ng mga Barangay Affairs Office. The city will file the appropriate charges against the hoarders.

In Las Piñas City, Mayor Vergel Aguilar has ordered the creation of a composite team to conduct inspections and ensure that the NFA rice is directly sold to the residents and not sold as commercial rice at higher prices.

Aguilar said he will not hesitate to impose the necessary sanctions against business owners, even to revoke their business licenses, should they be caught hoarding or manipulating rice prices.

“Rice is the basic staple food in every home. In times of crisis we should be responsible enough to provide the necessary relief to our people, to prevent unnecessary chaos detrimental to business and our country,” he added.

Aguilar warned grains retailers to unload their rice stocks to the public or face the full force of the law. He also urged them to properly put a tag price on their retail grains to guide the buying public.

He, however, assured residents that there is no reason to panic as the city government is exerting all efforts to prevent unscrupulous traders from manipulating rice prices.

‘Swim protest’ vs JPEPA set

Ian Magallones — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 06:01:40 +0000

A coalition of organizations against the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) announced on Saturday they will hold a protest action in front of the Senate when session resumes on Monday.

The NO DEAL! Movement, an umbrella organization against the JPEPA, said organizations of fishers, farmers, workers, nurses and health workers, and environmentalists, among others will stage a “swim protest” in Manila Bay near the Senate building.

“The JPEPA will facilitate the wanton exploitation and plunder of the country’s agricultural lands, fisheries and marine wealth, and mineral resources by Japanese corporations. All this will result in worsening food insecurity, more displacement of Filipinos who rely on these resources for livelihood, as well as environmental destruction,” NO DEAL! spokesperson Arnold Padilla said in a statement.

Padilla said that the social, economic, and environmental costs of JPEPA “far outweigh” its benefits, including the projected P365 billion in Japanese investments.

Food security at risk?

“What use will we have for these investments if the viability and sustainability of our own food production, environment, and overall economic development are put at risk?” Padilla said.

“The treaty’s provision on ‘national treatment’, for instance, gives Japanese businesses the license to plunder our farmlands and seas, as if they own our country,” Padilla said.

“It has already been pointed out during the Senate hearings on the JPEPA that this provision violates the Constitution and more importantly, it seriously undermines our patrimony and sovereignty,” he added.

The Senate is set to debate and vote on the ratification of the agreement in the following weeks.

In order to be ratified, the agreement needs at least 16 votes. Only eight votes are needed to reject the treaty.

Arroyo urges Senate ratification

President Arroyo on Monday urged the Senate to ratify the controversial free trade deal between Japan and the Philippines.

“We hope the Senate will ratify the JPEPA when Congress convenes next week,” Mrs. Arroyo said after outlining the benefits of the treaty in a speech in Laguna.

Despite raining criticisms on the treaty, Mrs. Arroyo insisted that “JPEPA is worth it.”

“We cannot afford not to ratify, because with everyone else but us on board, dadalhin ng Hapon ang negosyo sa kanila (Japan will bring business to other countries),” she said.

Japan has similar agreements with Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei.

Rice crisis traced to environmental degradation

Ian Magallones — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 06:00:04 +0000

The current rice crisis in the country shows the extent of “unabated exploitation of the country’s natural resources,” an environmental group said Saturday.

Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan People’s Network, said conversion of agricultural lands and lack of genuine agrarian reform led the country to the current problem in rice supply.

“The current rice crisis affecting the country is also reflective of the fast diminishing number of agricultural lands due to degradation and land conversion. The government continues to resort to massive importation as a solution to the food crisis instead of embarking on genuine agrarian reform”, Bautista said.

The group also named President Arroyo as the “worst polluter,” saying that eight years under her administration only resulted in “more devastation, depletion and pollution.”

Bautista said the Arroyo administration has “been directly complicit” in passing laws and policies that led to the exploitation of the country’s natural resources in favor of foreign interests.

“Instead of protecting and defending our patrimony, this administration is engaging in a grand clearance sale of Philippine forests, lands, mineral ores, agricultural produce, biodiversity, water, and marine wealth to the highest foreign bidder,” he said.

He also pointed out that, of more than a hundred victims of extrajudicial killings since 2001, 23 cases were related to environmental issues, particularly mining.

“The government neglects its responsibilities to major ecosystems through massive deforestation, degradation of agricultural lands, depletion of freshwater resources, diminishing marine and coastal resources, looming waste and pollution crisis, lack of mitigation and adaptation efforts to address the global warming,” he said.

Arroyo to lead Earth Day Mass

President Arroyo is set to lead an ecology Mass on Sunday to usher in Earth Day, which will be celebrated worldwide on April 22.

Mrs. Arroyo had earlier issued Presidential Proclamation No. 1276 calling on Filipinos to celebrate Earth Day by planting trees and other acts to protect the environment and maintain the balance of nature.

After the Mass, six “champions of the environment” – three of them from the clergy — shall be given the 2008 “Father Neri Satur Award,” according to former senator and Environment secretary Heherson Alvarez, founding chair of the EarthSavers Movement.

This year’s awardees are: Dipolog Bishop Jose Manguiran, Nueva Vizcaya Bishop Ramon Villena, Fr. John Couvreur, CICM, Parish of Saint John Evangelist in Quirino, Isabela;

“Ecology-friendly” business firm SM Group of Companies, Kongreso ng Komiks chairman film/TV Director Carlo J. Caparas, and scientist-artist-educator Professor Tomas Ongoco, president of Quezon City Academy.

DOE urged to publish data on oil prices

Ian Magallones — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:58:38 +0000

The Philippine Star

With the continued volatility in world crude prices, industrialist Raul T. Concepcion is urging the Department of Energy (DOE) to keep the public informed of oil price trends.

Concepcion, who is also chairman of the Consumer Oil and Price Watch, is requesting the DOE to publish data on oil prices every Monday, noting that there is an existing rule on the disclosure of oil prices.

“Three years after the enactment of the oil deregulation law, then Energy Secretary Camacho issued a circular requiring oil companies to notify the DOE on the details of oil adjustments, whether upwards or downwards, at least one day in advance,” he said.

According to Concepcion, this price monitoring scheme would help ease public concerns amidst the continuing rise in domestic pump prices.

“The notices will show the actual inventories of the oil companies that will be the basis for determining if they have under-recoveries or over-recoveries on their oil prices, 60 to 90 days inventory for refiners and 15 to 30 days inventory for importers,” he said.

He said this reporting scheme would also give the oil companies reasons to adjust their prices.

“This will also determine if there is a need to increase local pump prices,” he said.

Concepcion said this reporting system will also apply to all price movements of oil firms.

“As for oil price reductions, the same system applies. Again, oil companies are tasked to submit the same data to the DOE one day in advance,” he said.

The COPW head said he is insistent in institutionalizing this reporting and disclosure process to remedy the problem of perceived lack of transparency to the public on oil price adjustments.

“As it is now, the oil companies are quick to raise pump prices and yet slow when lowering them,” he said.

As this developed, Concepcion said the COPW has changed its earlier position to the Senate committee on trade to lower the value-added tax from 12 percent to six percent as proposed because this would cushion the impact of the food and energy crisis.

“The government can use the VAT proceeds to grant the Department of Agriculture a higher budget to subsidize the NFA rice, the LPG 11-kg tank per household,” he said.

Noli welcomes RP-China $500-M investment accord

Ian Magallones — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:56:55 +0000

The Philippine Star

Vice President Noli De Castro welcomed Friday an estimated $500-million investment agreement signed recently between a Guangxi business group and Philippine business groups.

Among the projects signed include ore marketing, grain and oil processing, dock construction, knitting craft, cooperation and trade, EXP trade contract and chromite development engineering.

At least six companies from Guangxi entered into a contract with Philippine business firms, he added.

Speaking before the Chinese and Filipino-Chinese businessmen at the Guangxi-Philippine Trade and Economic Cooperation and Promotion Conference at the Manila Hotel, De Castro said the event is a strong signal that the Philippines and Guangxi are truly determined to promote economic cooperation and development for the benefit of both the Chinese and Filipino people.

He said that the government views its relations with China as among its most important ties with the international community.

“Trade and economic cooperation has emerged as the driving force of Philippine-China relations,” De Castro said.

Citing data from the National Statistic Office (NSO), De Castro said bilateral trade between the two countries has been growing at an average annual rate of more than 41 percent since 2001.

“On the other hand, total approved Chinese investments in the country amounted to $381.5 million in 2006, accounting for 14.4 percent of the total investments in the country on the same period based on the records of the Philippine Board of Investments,” he added.

Two immigration officers face probe for alleged human trafficking

Ian Magallones — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:55:28 +0000

The Bureau of Immigration has relieved one of its officer assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for alleged links to the trafficking of undocumented overseas Filipino workers abroad.

In a statement, BI acting commissioner Roy Almoro suspended Immigration Officer 1 Vic Ferrer after being implicated in the case of 17 illegal recruiters who were recently arrested by police.

During a TV interview, Vice President Noli de Castro had mentioned Ferrer as one of the immigration officers at the NAIA who have been receiving part of the money allegedly demanded by the illegal recruiters from their victims.

De Castro also named a certain Rolando Virtusio, an immigration officer previously assigned at the NAIA but now assigned to his mother unit at the BI main office in Intramuros.

Virtusio is allegedly in the payroll of the recruitment syndicate, De Castro said.

Almoro said Ferrer will be suspended until pending the result of the probe by the Department of Justice on the allegations.

“They will, however, be afforded due process during the investigation. But we will make sure they cannot influence the investigation,” he said.

In a letter to De Castro, Almoro requested for the names of other BI personnel who might be involved in the racket at the NAIA so that the bureau can begin its formal investigation.

The move stemmed from the recent arrest of 17 suspected members of an illegal recruitment ring, purportedly run by a Filipino-Chinese businessman.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said the suspects were nabbed due to complaints from relatives of the victims who sought De Castro’s help.

A certain Luciano Lim, owner of the Excellent Travel Agency based in Ermita, Manila, was tagged as the brains of the syndicate.

Police are set to file violation of Anti-Human Trafficking Act against the suspects.

Pakistan’s ambassador held by Taliban: TV

Ian Magallones — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:52:24 +0000

Reuters

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan, who went missing in February in the Khyber region, appeared on Arabic television on Saturday saying he was being held by the Taliban and urged Islamabad to meet their demands.

Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin appeared in a video tape on Al Arabiya television surrounded by armed militants to make his first public statement since going missing.

“We were kidnapped by mujahideen from the Taliban,” the ambassador, wearing an open-necked shirt and looking calm, said in the remarks which were translated from Urdu into Arabic.

“I suffer health problems such as high blood pressure and heart pains,” said the bespectacled and grey-bearded ambassador, who gestured to his armed captors in an arid, hilly region.

Scores of people have been kidnapped in the dangerous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the ambassador’s disappearance highlighted instability in nuclear-armed Pakistan — a major ally in the U.S.-led crackdown on militants.

The Pakistani government had not publicly confirmed he had been kidnapped but a senior government official said on Saturday Azizuddin was being held by militants who were demanding the release of their arrested colleagues.

In a message to Pakistan’s foreign ministry undersecretary, its envoys to China and Iran, and his brother, Azizuddin said:

“Because of my health condition I … appeal to them to do all they can to preserve our lives and meet the demands of the Taliban mujahideen as soon as possible.”

The ambassador was on his way to Kabul from the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on February 11 when he disappeared along with his driver and bodyguard in the Khyber tribal region.

Azizuddin said he, his driver and bodyguard had been held for 27 days at the time the tape was filmed.

According to a senior Arabiya journalist, the ambassador said in the tape that Azizuddin spoke about “the release of any Muslim held in Pakistan whose release is demanded by Taliban”.

This remark appeared to refer to Taliban commander Mullah Mansour Dadullah held by Pakistan, the Arabiya journalist said, adding the tape was sent to the offices of Dubai-based Arabiya.

Two days after he went missing, a spokesman for Pakistani Taliban militants denied they had kidnapped Azizuddin and the Foreign Ministry denied media speculation that the Taliban had demanded the release of Dadullah in exchange for the envoy.

Dangerous border region

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said there was no mention of any demands in the four-and-a-half minute tape he had seen and he was not aware of any demands.

“Yes, it is him, but … we’re not in a position to verify if he’s in the custody of the Taliban,” Sadiq said.

Azizuddin’s captors wore traditional baggy trousers and tunics and two of them held assault rifles but were not pointing them at him as he spoke.

“We have been here for 27 days and we are in a comfortable condition and are being taken care of and respected,” he said.

A Pakistani security official said at the time the envoy was to have changed cars at the border but did not show up. Afghan President Hamid Karzai had said he was sure the envoy had been snatched.

The historic Khyber Pass is the main road link to landlocked Afghanistan in northwestern Pakistan and a main supply route for foreign forces in Afghanistan.

Khyber is notorious for smugglers and bandits, but unlike other parts of the tribal belt on the Afghan border it has been relatively free of violence linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban, though militant activity has picked up in adjoining regions.

Scores of people were killed late last year in clashes between militants loyal to rival clerics in Khyber, and there have been more clashes in recent days.

The security situation in Pakistan has deteriorated markedly since mid-2007, mainly in the northwest, with militants linked to the Taliban and al Qaeda carrying out suicide bombings.

More than 600 people have been killed in militant related violence since the beginning of this year.