Palace: No increase in private hospitals' fees
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CABATUAN, Iloilo –There will be no increase in private hospital fees, after all.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo made the announcement here Thursday night following an agreement
reached between government authorities and private hospital administrators.
In a regional media interview hosted by John Sapio of the Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC) Aksyon Radyo,
President Arroyo said that Health Undersecretary Alex Padilla was able to persuade administrators of private
hospitals to forego their service fee increases.
In return, they will be given discounts and rebates from pharmaceutical companies.
Padilla, accompanied President Arroyo here along with Executive Secretary Ermita, Press Secretary Cerge
Remonde and other members of the cabinet.
He said that his meeting yesterday with the Philippine Hospitals Association (PHA) and the drugstores
association took place last Wednesday.
Private hospitals has warned the public of the of the increase, saying they need to recoup their losses arising
from the implementation of the Cheaper Medicines Law.
Prompted by Tuesday’s action of private hospitals, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III challenged private
hospitals to open their financial books to back up their claims.
Last August 15, the government implemented a 50-percent reduction in the prices of selected medicines under
the maximum drug retail price (MDRP) system and a 10 to 50percent price cut on other drugs through the
government-mediated access price (GMAP) program. The programs were fully implemented last September 15.
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Palace cites gains from PGMA's trips, economy
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Press Secretary Cerge Remonde today described the gains from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s recent
global engagements and the rise of the balance of payments surplus in the first six months as the “green
shoots from which the verdant landscape of economic recovery will eventually sprout.”
In a statement read to Palace reporters by Deputy Presidential Spokesperson for the Economy Gary Olivar,
Remonde reported on the President’s trips to Turkey, London and Saudi Arabia. He also noted the Central Bank’
s report that the country’s balance of payments surplus for the first half of the year rose to $484 million or nearly
15 percent over the same period last year.
He said that at the emerging markets summit sponsored by The Economist, President Arroyo spoke forcefully
on behalf of Southeast Asia and the Philippines which jumped from 23rd to ninth among the most favored
emerging markets for UK investors.
This, he added, is “another win for the country’s most successful salesman abroad.”
In Turkey, on the sidelines of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations with the Philippines, the President
continued to press the country’s case for observer nation status in the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC)
with no less than the secretary general of OIC.
“This status will enhance the standing of our government within the global Muslim community and the prospects
for success of the peace process in Mindanao,” Remonde stressed.
The President, according to Remonde, met with the Filipino communities in the countries she visited to inquire
on their welfare and update them on the progress in their homeland.
In Saudi Arabia, she asked the King to grant scholarships to the children of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)
for the newly-inaugurated King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Remonde said.
Most importantly, according to Remonde, she brought home with her over 100 OFWs who had been charged
with various offenses.
With all these “green shoots in the verdant landscape,” Remonde said Filipinos should ponder who among the
presidential choices will be the “best gardener to bring in the fruits of the harvest: talent and knowledge, not just
good intentions; executive experience, not just family pedigree; solid achievement, not sloganeering and
moralizing and a real platform of governance, not incessant negativism and criticism.”
“Let us look for someone whom we can trust to lead us into the battles of the future, not just endlessly replay the
nostalgic battles of the past,” Remonde said.
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PGMA elated over Lubao's solid waste management programs
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LUBAO, Pampanga -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today expressed satisfaction over the solid waste
management programs of this town and the whole of Region 3, which, she was told, were higher than the
national average compliance rate of 13.1 percent.
Environment Secretary Jose Atienza and Presidential Assistant for Climate Change Heherson Alvarez briefed
the President during her visit at the Prado Saba Elementary School in Barangay Sto. Nino here.
Among those present were Trade Secretary Peter Favila, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque , Deputy Presidential
Spokespersdon Lorelei Fajardo; and Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda, president of the Pampanga Mayor's League.
Atienza informed the President that Lubao has a high 54 percent compliance with one very useful materials
recovery facility (MRF) serving 24 out of its total 44 barangays.
Region 3, on the other hand, has a 17.4 compliance rate with 289 MRFs serving 541 barangays out of the total
3,100 barangays in the provinces of Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Bataan and Aurora.
However, Atienza said the province has a low compliance rate of only 3.3 percent with 17 MRFs serving the
same number of barangays out of its total 505 barangays.
Because of this, it was recommended that the province needs to establish an additional 488 MRFs and 20
common facilities for charcoal briquetting to help reduce the province's 660 tons of generated waste by as much
as 85 percent.
For Lubao, recommended was the establishment of an additional 20 MRFs particularly for upland barangays
and one common facility for charcoal briquetting to help reduce by as much as 85 percent its generated waste of
10 tons per day.
It was reported to the President that Region 3 produces 30,000 tons of waste daily that produce some 675 tons
of methane per day, which is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide, the main contributor to global warming
and climate change.
At the United Nations (UN) Leadership Forum on Climate Change held in New York last September 22, Alvarez
submitted a draft UN resolution, “Declaring November 19-25 and Every Year Thereafter as Global Warming and
Climate Change Consciousness Week.”
The President directed Alvarez to attend the forum to strengthen awareness in combating climate change.
Upon the President's directive, the country has embarked on a voluntary emission reduction program, first with
the “Carbon Cutting Congress” last November declaring the country’s support for an 80 percent global
emissions reduction by 2050, and the launching of a “Carbon-Cutting Coalition” last April, which rallies the
nation to voluntarily mitigate its carbon emissions.
Beginning December last year, the Philippines has been actively participating in the UNFCCC negotiations, with
the Philippine delegation, led by Alvarez, calling for “deep and early cuts” of carbon emissions by industrialized
countries of more than 30 percent from 2013 to 2017, more than 50 percent from 2018 to 2022, and at least 95
per cent by 2050, all from 1990 levels.
This submission drew the support of ASEAN and Asia-Pacific delegates, as well as UNFCCC officials, Alvarez
said.
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VFA review in hands of Commission - Palace
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Malacañang is leaving the review of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) in the hands of the VFA Commission
headed by former Commodore Edilberto Adan.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Gary Olivar said in a press briefing he concurs with the view of Defense
Secretary Gilberto Teodoro to postpone until after next year’s elections a renegotiation for the VFA, saying the
issue might be used by certain politicians to advance their respective agenda.
“We have already initiated the review process through the Visiting Forces Agreement Commission, headed by
former Commodore Adan,” he said.
Olivar admitted that timing for the review is a bit awkward. “I think that is why Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro
recently suggested the postponement maybe for after the elections to prevent mixing it with politics as it is truly
an important matter for national sovereignty and national security,” he said
Olivar said the Commission has to balance the concerns of the Senate and the timing of the abrogation of the
treaty.
“The Commission obviously is taking appropriate action to review the treaty. But this has not reached the level
for President Arroyo to issue a statement. The Commission is doing what it is supposed to do with respect to
the review of the treaty,” he added.
As to how the US will react to the review, Olivar said the US sees it as the right of the Philippine government or
any other government to review their agreements from time to time.
“I don’t believe they have indicated if they have problem with the timing. They respect our right to do this (review),”
Olivar said.
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