The Manila Times


A 2


news TUESDAY August 10, 2010


Asean Charter translated into Filipino T


BY BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON REPORTER


HE translation of the charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) into Filipino


affirms the importance of clearly communicating the country’s aspirations, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said on Monday.


“The translation into Filipino of the Asean Charter, Asean’s main in- strument for the pursuit of our goals, affirms the immense importance of clearly communicating our purposes, our principles, our objectives to our respective peoples’ national lan- guages,” Romulo said during his wel- come remarks at the Asean’s 43rd foundation day celebration at the main office of Department of Foreign Affairs in Metro Manila. It was during that occasion that the book “Ang Saligang Batas ng Asean” was launched.


President Benigno Aquino 3rd,


who was at the launch, said that the book will be distributed to school libraries through an order to the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education. All the Asean member-countries


have already translated the charter into their national languages. Romulo said that President


Aquino’s presence during the cel- ebration of Asean’s 43rd founding anniversary “ushers in a new phase of engagement with Asean.” “The 43rd birthday of the Asean and the inauguration of our Presi- dent initiate a new dialogue be- tween Asean and the Philippine gov- ernment on new directions and is- sues of mutual interest. To President Aquino, the Asean is an important


■ SEA FROM A1 MANILA SEES NO NEED FOR US HELP IN SOUTH CHINA SEA ROW “It’s Asean and China. Can I make


myself clear? It’s Asean and China. Is that clear enough?” he added. China insists it has complete sov- ereignty over the potentially re- source-rich Spratly and Paracel Is- lands in the South China Sea.


■ PILFERAGE FROM A1 AFP admits arms pilferage


we have prosecuted several person- nel in this regard,” Mabanta said. The guns, he added, were sold not only to the MILF but to criminal ele- ments and other enemies of the state. When asked if some of the pil- fered firearms were also being sold to private armies, Mabanta replied, “That’s also a possibility.” On the MILF acquiring the pil-


fered weapons and ammunition, the Armed Forces spokesman said that the military would investigate the


■ BILLS FROM A1 All bets off on mad race to file first bills in Senate


the sponsoring committee will have the authority to decide who would get principal authorship based on merit. Many senators do not even attend committee hearings on their measures but get top billing nonetheless because their bills were filed ahead of similar ones. “We should stop this practice that gives pre-eminence to a bill filed


■ DAM FROM A1 Manila Water limits Maynilad’s access to La Mesa dam


which says that the split will be 60- 40,” Oreta said. “If we do that, it will be commen- surate to increasing their allocation. Our 40 percent goes to La Mesa dam, so sharing the use of [the dam] is like increasing their share,” he added. Oreta said that it will be too ex-


pensive for Maynilad to access the reservoir since La Mesa dam is lower than its treatment plant, which will mean the water utility firm will have to use a pump. “It may be possible but it will be


very expensive,” he added. Oreta said that there were no pre- vious discussions with Maynilad on the joint use of the dam.


Contrary to a statement of


Maynilad that it had previous access to La Mesa dam, Joemar Emboltorio, Manila Water supply department manager, said that Maynilad only shared the operation of the dam for


the protection of the watershed, not for the use of the reservoir. Angat dam releases about 4,000 million liters of waters a day for Maynilad and Manila Water in a 60- percent to 40-percent sharing, re- spectively. This sharing was included in the 1997 concession agreement when the government privatized the operation of the water utility firms. Maynilad supplies areas in the


western part of Metro Manila while Manila Water supplies the eastern part.


It has said that it would seek joint use of La Mesa to alleviate the West Zone’s water shortage, which the company blamed on its lack of a storage facility amid the low water levels at Angat dam. Meanwhile, Manila Water said that its net income grew by 34 per- cent in the first six months of 2010 to P1.97 billion on the back of an


increase in customer base and the recovery in consumption. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, it reported that its revenues increased by 18 percent to P5.5 billion as water sales grew by 5 percent to 203.3 million cubic meters (mcm) from 194.4mcm. Manila Water’s customer base also increased, growing by 64,039 to 1.2 million. Of this number, around 1.6 million people come from low-income communities. The company’s non-revenue wa-


ter level declined by 3 percent to 13.5 percent from last year’s 16.4 percent, allowing the company to provide its customers uninterrupted water services despite the tighter raw water supply situation brought about by El Niño.


Outside of the East Zone, Manila


Water’s operating units in Laguna province in Luzon and Boracay Is-


land in Aklan province in the Visayas continued to post gains with Laguna Water’s net income growing by 263 percent to P7.43 million on the back of a 15 percent increase in revenues and improved operating efficiencies. Boracay Water registered an 81 percent decline in net income to P5.5 million because of a one-time adjustment resulting from the im- plementation of IFRIC 12 account- ing standard. Revenues actually increased by 33 percent on the back of strong tour- ist inflows during the summer sea- son. Boracay Water started opera- tions in January 2010. In the first half of the year, Ma-


nila Water spent P4.3 billion, almost half of its P10 billion capital ex- penditure for 2010.


Its shares fell from P17.38 on Fri- day to P17.36 each on Monday.


first even if it has just one page and contains nothing of substance,” Sotto said. The amendment of the Senate rule


came after Sen. Pia Cayetano urged the Committee on Rules to replace the “antiquated system” of filing bills in the Senate. She noted that staff of senators line up for several hours before the Bills and


Index Section just to be able to be first in filing bills and be recognized as “principal authors.” Sotto, however, said that there is nothing that the Committee on Rules could do on the filing of similarly worded bills. Cayetano earlier said that a senator


who copies the bill of another should acknowledge the true author.


Sotto said they would leave this


issue to the conscience of individual senators. According to him, the Rules


Committee has decided that its rules of procedure on congressional inquiries will take effect seven days after publication “and will remain in force until amended or repealed.” Sotto said that this new phrase


would make it unnecessary for the Senate to republish its rules. He recalled that in the Neri case, the Supreme Court cited the failure of the Senate to publish its rules of procedure on inquiries. The senator said that the addition of the new phrase “ will remain in force until amended or repealed” is the only change in the Senate rules on inquiries.


matter if there were really a basis. “The thing is we need data on this [pilferage] so that this will help us in determining really if there is truth to the report or not,” Mabanta added. The war materiel finding their


way to MILF has bolstered belief that stolen government-owned firearms and ammunition from the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police (PNP) also ended up on the hands of private armies of influen- tial politicians, such as the


But the Philippines, Vietnam,


Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have competing claims.


Clinton said at the Asean Re-


gional Forum in Hanoi in July this year that the United States had an interest in guaranteeing open navi-


gation and free trade in the South China Sea.


She called for multilateral talks to


resolve the issue, a position long opposed by China, which wants to negotiate competing claims with each individual country.


Ampatuans of Maguindanao prov- ince in southern Mindanao. According to the PNP Directorate for Intelligence, there are still 107 pri- vate armed groups all over the coun- try, but only 65 of them are active. It is also believed that some of the firearms and ammunition used in the November 23, 2009 massacre of 57 people, including 30 journalists, in Maguindanao came from the gov- ernment armory.


Joint raids conducted by the Armed Forces and the national po- lice on known Ampatuans resi- dences and bailiwicks in December 2009 yielded some 900 high-pow- ered firearms and thousands of pieces of ammunition, including a


Romulo said that Asean con- tinued to push for implementa- tion of the “code of conduct,” an agreement signed with China in 2002 calling for peaceful settle- ment of the issue between all contending parties.


truck loaded with 330,000 bullets for M-16s, the standard firearm of the police and the military. The pieces of ammunition were marked “Government Arsenal DND” and “Philippine National Police Camp Crame, Quezon City, Philippines.”


DND is the Department of Na- tional Defense.


The ammunition boxes were also found to have markings of Amscor, indicating that they came from the government arsenal in Bataan prov- ince, north of Manila.


Armscor supplies ammunition not only to the military and the po- lice but also to civilians upon au- thorization of the government.


The code of conduct, however,


was a non-binding accord and Asean has been pressing China to make it binding. “We will continue to discuss it and that has always been in our agenda,” Romulo said.


AFP


The head of the Bureau of Gov- ernment Arsenal, Director Andres Pepito Bauto, earlier reported that in 2009, 9.4 million rounds of 5.56 ammunition, the standard govern- ment-issue bullet for M-16 rifles, have been deposited with the Armed Force’s logistics office or J-4. The Armed Forces has “operational


control” over the ammunition even if it is the Defense department that has administrative powers over the production of the bullets. The military and the police have conducted separate investigations on how the guns and ammunition landed on the laps of the Ampatuans but they are yet to come up with their respective reports on the matter.


cornerstone of Philippine foreign policy,” he added.


The Asean member-nations are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, In- donesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.


Roots of Asean Romulo said that Asean started 43


years ago with an aim of achieving regional peace and stability, economic development and social progress. “On August 8, 1967, the Philip-


pines’ Narciso Ramos, Indonesia’s Adam Malik, Malaysia’s Tun Abdul Rasak, Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam and Thailand’s Thanat Khoman founded the Asean, with a collective aspira- tion to realize a peaceful, stable and prosperous region for our nations and our peoples. Today, the Philip- pines joins the rest of Asean in cel- ebrating this reality,” he added Through the Asean, Romulo said that the country has “taken a greater role in the community of nations.” “Our foreign policy, as articulated


by the Chief Executive in his cam- paign platform and his major ad- dresses, hinges on the exercise of re- sponsibility and international coop- eration. Our role in global diplomacy will grow as President Aquino fulfills his mission to introduce a new era of change, reform and renewal in Phil-


■ Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan (left), Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa (middle) and Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the Asean Vu Dang Dung blow the candles on the cake signifying the age of the regional bloc. AFP PHOTO


ippine society,” he added. The Asean charter’s translation into Filipino, according to Romulo, is an important medium for facili- tating Asean integration since it brings the member-states closer to the Filipino people. “The Asean Charter serves as a firm foundation in achieving the Asean community by providing le- gal status and institutional frame- work for Asean. It also codifies Asean norms, rules and values; sets clear targets for Asean; and presents


accountability and compliance,” a statement from the Foreign Affairs department said.


The Asean Charter came into force on December 2008. Among the principles set out in the charter are: centrality of Asean in regional cooperation; respect for territorial integrity, sovereignty, non-interference and national identities of Asean members; devel- opment of friendly external rela- tions; and adoption of a position with the United Nations and up-


holding international law with re- spect to human rights, social jus- tice and multilateral trade. Asean was established in Bang- kok with the signing of the Bang- kok Declaration (also known as the Asean Declaration) by the found- ing fathers of Asean, namely Indo- nesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singa- pore and Thailand.


Brunei Darussalam joined Asean in January 1984; Vietnam, July 1995; Laos and Myanmar, July 1997; and Cambodia, April 1999.


■ TOLLS FROM A1


Higher tolls for motorists


P22 for class 1 vehicles like cars; P43 to P170 for Class 2 vehicles like buses; and P65 to P255 for Class 3 vehicles like trucks.


SLEX is the main artery that con- nects export processing zones in Southern Luzon with Metro Manila. This is the first time that SLEX will implement higher fees by 250 per- cent, excluding the 12-percent VAT. The original schedule of the SLEX toll hike was on June 30 but this was deferred because of a gov- ernment request. For NLEX, the motorists will pay P195 from P174 for class 1 vehicles entering through Balintawak to Santa Ines; P435 to P487 for class 2; and P522 to P585 for class 3. From Subic to Tipo, the new rates will be P20 from P18 for Class 1; P50 from P45, class 2; and P60 from P54, class 3. For Mindanao Avenue to North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), the fees will be P40 from P36 for class 1; P102 to P91 for class 2; and P122 from P109, class 3.


Motorists plying the Skyway or from Santo Tomas to Balagtas, Batangas, the rates are P60 to P67 for class 1; P120 to P134, class 2; and P179 to P200, class 3. For R1 Expressway of the Manila-


Cavite Toll Expressway, the new fees will be P8 to P9 for class 1; P43 to P48 for class 2; and P65 to P73 for class 3. Tolls from Tipo to Tarclac of the


SCTEX will be adjusted to P181 from P203 for class 1; P363 to P407 for class 2; and P544 to P609 for class 3.


■ COMMUNICATIONS FROM A1


Aquino signs EO 4


President and the executive.” It was expected to coordinate and


cultivate relations with the private media as well as manage and ad- minister the Office of the Presi- dent’s website and the web devel- opment office.


The PCOO will be headed by former columnist Herminio “Sonny” Coloma and former broadcaster Ricky Carandang. Both will have Cabinet-secretary rank.


Coloma is the head the Presiden- tial Communications Operation (PCO), which will disseminate infor- mation to private media entities and supervise operations of government- run media entities, such as Philip- pine Information Agency and gov- ernment broadcast stations. Carandang will head the Presiden- tial Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, which is in charge of communications strat- egies and speeches and statements of the President as well as the conduct of market research and polling. Carandang’s deputy is former tel- evision host and columnist Manuel “Manolo” Quezon 3rd. Quezon, as the director of Strategic Planning, will also be editor in chief of the Of- ficial Gazette. Quezon has undersec- retary rank. According to EO 4, there is “vital need to reorganize and effect func- tional changes within the Office of the Press Secretary and create an of- fice to systematize, rationalize and complement the existing structure to achieve a more efficient and system- atic interaction between the people, the Office of the President and the executive branch.” It said that it is also “imperative for


government to redefine its efforts to integrate and harmonize its message conceptualization, formulation and development policies and programs in order to fully utilize the opportunities arising from the rapid development of existing and emerging media.”


»In The Manila Times


August 10, 1987 Aquino cracks down on crime PRESIDENT Corazon Aquino said the government will crack down on violence and terrorism with sterner peacekeeping measures, even as she stressed that constitutional rights must be safeguarded at all times. At rites celebrating the 86th anniversary of the Philippine Constabulary, President Aquino said “in the next few days, the Armed Forces and the police will adopt sweeping measures aimed at eliminating the alarming proliferation of firearms and impunity of criminals in our society.”


August 10, 1967 LPs set to proclaim Astorga, 9 councilors LIBERAL Party (LP) President Cornelio Villareal assured the nine reelectionist LP Manila councilors that they will be proclaimed and automatically included in the Liberal Party slate. Mayor Antonio Villegas, who accompanied the councilors in their meeting with Villareal, revealed the party president’s assurance to newsmen.


August 10, 1946 Roxas won’t usurp lawmakers’ powers MOVED by public apprehension over the intentions of the administration with regard to the government reorganization bill, President Manuel Roxas said that he “has no intention of seeking to deprive Congress of any of its fundamental legislative prerogatives.” The question involved is purely one of economy and of administrative management,” he said.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16