PGMA lauds PNP for role in law enforcement
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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today lauded the Philippine National Police (PNP) for making itself a highly
capable and effective law-enforcement agency.
Speaking at the 19th anniversary celebration of the PNP, the President said the police agency has become a
dependable source of peacekeeping force for the United Nations, maintaining law and order and conducting
rescue operations in countries hit by a calamity such as Haiti. She said she is sending more peacekeeping
forces to that earthquake ravaged country.
“With your vigor and determination, crime volume has gone down and people feel safer now more than ever,”
the President said of individual policemen.
“You stood by the Constitution all these years without resorting to force and with all professionalism. You have
handled various coup attempts and mass actions with utmost restraint, thus making mass actions less violent,”
she added.
The President also commended the PNP for vigorously working for the passage of a bill that will add teeth to
existing laws against illegal possession of firearms. She noted that the bill includes a provision that makes
possession of three or more firearms a non-bailable offense punishable by life imprisonment.
She praised the PNP for its efforts to purge its ranks of bad elements, adding it has relieved all 1,092 personnel
of the Maguindanao Police Provincial Office, filing multiple murder charges against those involved in the
massacre of 57 people either as principal or accomplice and placing them under restrictive custody.
The PNP, President also said, is instrumental in maintaining peace and order in areas under the watchlist of
the Commission on Elections, thus ensuring a peaceful, orderly, and clean elections so that the people’s will
prevails.
In grateful appreciation, the current administration, the President added, increased the salaries and allowances
of uniformed men five times since 2001, and provided more housing projects and healthcare services to them
and their families, as it did for the rest of the citizenry.
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Firm thanks PGMA for helping BPO sector
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Hinduja Global Solutions Inc. (HGSI) today thanked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for nurturing the
business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, thus enabling it to grow from just 4,000 workers in 2001 to half a
million workers last year.
The President led the ribbon cutting and unveiling of the marker opening HGSI’s 3,000-seat facility located at
1880 Building in Eastwood Center, Libis, Quezon City.
In a press conference, Partha de Sarkar, chief executive officer, said HGSI is expanding this year to other urban
centers of the country, notably Clark, Tarlac, Cavite, Batangas, and Laguna, all in Luzon; Cebu and Iloilo in the
Visayas; and Cagayan de Oro and Davao in Mindanao.
Last year, the company’s operations grew by 20 percent and generated revenues of $16 million. It is projecting
higher growth this year, with the economy recovering in most parts of the world, said HGSI Manila chief executive
officer Pushkar Misra.
HGSI’s investments in the Philippines stand at $35 million, including the cost of acquiring the facility of another
BPO in 2003. With additional investments this year, the company expects to double the number of its employees.
The company currently has 80 clients in different industries around the world. It employs 14,500 people in the
US, Canada, Europe, Mauritius, India, and the Philippines. It also has a working relationship with partners in
Colombia, China and Japan, all employing over 1,800 people.
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Foreign financial institutions see RP economy improving this year
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Foreign financial institutions project a 3 percent growth or better for the Philippine economy this year,
significantly better than the 0.9 percent growth last year.
Director Dennis Arroyo of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) said the projection dovetails
with the forecast made by the country’s economic managers, which is between 2.6 percent and 3.6 percent.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) see the country growing by 3.1 percent and 3.5
percent, respectively. The United Nations’ Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
projects a 3.5 percent growth. Even more bullish are Singapore-based Development Bank of Singapore and
New York-based think tank Global Source, which see the economy growing by 4.8 percent and four percent,
respectively.
The NEDA economist points to several drivers of growth.
One, the Arroyo government remains committed to its Economic Resiliency Program (ERP) or stimulus program
aimed at cushioning the impact of the global financial crisis on the most vulnerable sectors of the country. As a
result, increased expenditures in government construction and services, coupled with the May national
elections, are expected.
Last year, government spent P330 billion for ERP. This year, government is targeting to spend anywhere from
P100 billion to P300 billion.
Two, double-digit growth is expected in sectors such as business process outsourcing (BPO), mining, and
tourism. The Philippines is now the second largest BPO destination next to India.
Benefiting from “sustained world price increases in metals”, the mining industry grew by 21 percent last year.
Domestic tourism, which was bolstered by the President’s “holiday economics”, rose by 21 percent in the first
nine months of 2009.
Three, strong remittances from overseas Filipinos will push up retail and wholesale trade as well as the capital
and property markets.
Arroyo, however, cautioned the economy may be adversely affected by the El Nino phenomenon, which may put
pressure on food prices. In particular, Arroyo said the widespread drought in India may force upwards rice
prices in the global market. The Philippines is the major buyer of rice in the world market.
Also affecting the economy this year is the 2009 budget deficit. While the official data will be released only next
month, the deficit is expected to go “over the target ceiling of P250 million”, because of government’s stimulus
program, on the one hand, and government’s lower revenue collection base, on the other hand.
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Poverty alleviation program benefits 3M Pinoys
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Nearly three million indigent Filipinos have benefited from government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program
(4Ps), a poverty alleviation strategy implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) National Planning and Policy Director Dennis Arroyo said
the list of 2,955,215 beneficiaries is based on the program’s September 2009 report.
The report cited that:
• 39,650 pregnant women visited health centers and availed of preventive check-ups and health care;
• 789,446 children 0-5 year old availed of immunization/preventive check-ups;
• 401,644 children 3-5 years old enrolled in day care centers and pre-school;
• 1,073,935 children 6-14 years old enrolled in elementary and high school; and
650,540 or 93 percent of grantees are women.
The 4Ps was piloted in 2007 in four municipalities in the provinces of Misamis Occidental and Agusan Del Sur
and two cities in Metro Manila.
In 2008, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo expanded the implementation of the program to the 27 poorest
provinces covering about 320,000 extremely poor households with a corresponding annual budget of P5 billion.
Because of the program’s successful implementation, the number of beneficiaries increased to 700,000 in mid-
2009. Before the year ended, the President increased the target beneficiaries to one million and ordered DSWD
to allocated a budget of P15 billion for the expanded 4Ps.
To date, some 17 regions, 80 provinces, 644 municipalities, and 60 cities are covered by the 4Ps.
The program provides cash grant packages to the beneficiaries such as: 1) health and nutrition cash grant
package of P500 per month per household or P6,000 per year for health checkups, vaccines and foods; 2) an
educational cash grant package of P300 per month per child for school needs or P3,000 per school year.
Overall, a household with three children is given a subsidy of P1,400 per month. The cash grant subsidies are
released every three months through a Land Bank cash card.
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