PGMA inaugurates 2nd busiest footbridge
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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo formally inaugurated today one of the country’s busiest pedestrian
footbridges in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
The President led the ribbon cutting ceremony this morning marking the official public opening of the Alabang-
Montillano steel footbridge traversing the major streets of Montillano, Alabang-Zapote Road, and Radial Road 3
which crosses the busy intersection under the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) in Alabang.
The President congratulated the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) personnel led by its Chairman
Oscar Inocentes and Muntinlupa City Mayor Aldrin San Pedro for the early completion of the project which now
caters to almost half a million pedestrians per day.
Inocentes told the President that the steel footbridge is 2.4-meter wide with nine stairs that could serve some
449,848 pedestrians per day.
Inocentes thanked the President for infusing funds for the footbridge project which greatly reduced accidents
among pedestrians and the estimated 72,000 vehicles plying the busy intersection in Alabang.
Works on the P59.32-million footbridge started last year and was completed last March. The 403-meter
footbridge is the second longest footbridge constructed by the MMDA next only to that in Bicutan.
Inocentes said the Alabang-Montillano footbridge is the 60th steel footbridge put up by the MMDA since 2001 in
strategic intersections all over Metro Manila. These footbridges now cater to an estimated 2.2 pedestrians per
day.
Thanking the President was Modesto Dimacuha, a stall owner at the adjacent Alabang public market, who said
accidents and snatching incidents were greatly reduced with the establishment of the project.
Jonard Ocampo, a daily user of the footbridge who arrived jobless from Capiz last year,, also thanked the
President for landing a job as erector of Steel Center Company which helped put up the footbridge.
After the ribbon cutting ceremony, the President also witnessed the ongoing AH1N1 influenza vaccination of 20
barangay health workers at the Alabang health center.
Health Undersecretary David Lozada told the President the Department of Health (DOH) started the anti-AH1N1
flu vaccination for health responders last April 26 in Zamboanga City.
To date, Lozada said the DOH has undertaken 48,556 similar vaccinations in a bid to reach their target of 1.9
million vaccinations to protect health workers including social workers, police and military personnel nationwide.
Lozada said included in their target objective is to inoculate children six months to five years old; 60 years old
and above; and children five years old and above with chronic medical condition.
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Climate Change Commission appeals for real ‘clean’ elections
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As the nation braces for its first-ever automated election on Monday, the Climate Change Commission (CCC)
appealed for a ‘clean’ election, literally, by sparing public areas from sample ballots, flyers and other garbage-
bound election paraphernalia.
Climate Change Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez said less paper on election day would help save thousands of
trees that absorb carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and would help avert global warming.
“I am appealing to all running candidates not to load up more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” said
Alvarez explaining that cutting more trees for the sample ballots and flyers would mean more carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere.
He encouraged instead the texting or emailing of sample ballots and other election materials for a “paperless
and plastic-less” election day.
Based on the calculation of the US-based non-profit organization Conserveatree, 1 ton of uncoated virgin (non-
recycled) printing and office paper uses 24 trees, while 1 ton of 100% virgin (non-recycled) newsprint uses 12
trees.
Alvarez said that the Commission, chaired by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is expecting that election day
would generate garbage that is double than the daily truckloads of trashes collected all over the country.
He warned that the barrage of campaign materials during election day adds to the piling-up of more trash that
clog esteros and waterways, and add to the garbage that creates methane, a lethal greenhouse gas.
“Garbage produces methane that is 21 percent more disastrous than carbon dioxide,” said Alvarez urging all
politicians to act now and help lead the fight against climate change in their cities and municipalities.
He said climate change mitigation starts with good governance from the President down to the barangay level
and candidates vying for different positions in the country should show their real concern for the environment.
Furthermore, the Commission called on all candidates to properly dispose of the campaign materials that they
used during the campaign period to avert worsening the country’s waste problems.
“After elections, the candidates who produced these wastes should be the ones to move, or at least send their
supporters to clean up campaign materials posted in streets, and recycle those into other useful needs,” said
Alvarez.
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Arroyo-formed body reports dismantling 35 private armies
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In a pre-election report to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the Independent Commission Against Private
Armies (ICAPA) or the Zenarosa Commission disclosed that 35 out of the reported 107 existing private armed
groups in the country have been dismantled by the police and military.
ICAPA Commissioner Herman Basbaño said that military and police operations against private armed groups
resulted to the arrest of 130 members and confiscation of 127 firearms.
He said some 81 high-powered firearms have been surrendered to authorities for safekeeping.
The monitoring of the commission headed by retired Justice Monina A. Zenarosa said there remains about 72
active private armed groups in the country: Region I has eight; Region II has three; Region III has six; Region IV
has ten; Region V has seven; Region VI has six; Region VII has two; Region VIII has one; Region IX has two;
Region X has seven; Region XIII has one; and ARMM has 19.
These groups are the targets of continuing operations of the police and military mainly under the mandate of the
Commission.
Basbaño also reported that the Zenarosa Commission submitted to the President its latest report outlining its
action and policy recommendations to eliminate the existence of private armies in the country.
According to a copy of ICAPA’s report provided to Malacañang, the Commission recommended expanding an
earlier directive—Administrative Order (AO) No. 81-- which disbands/deactivates armed community defense
forces no longer needed for counter-insurgency operations.
“As you know, many cases where private armies have been involved are sourcing their manpower from these
para-military forces. These are not needed in some areas of the country; they must be disbanded,” Basbaño
said.
President Arroyo created the commission in the aftermath of the November 23 massacre of 57 people in
Maguindanao that has involved the Ampatuan clan and its private armies.
Aside from Zenarosa, other ICAPA members are Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, Mahmod Mala Adilao of
the Bishops-Ulama Conference, retired Police Deputy Director General Virtus Gil, broadcaster Herman
Basbano, Dante Jimenez of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption and former Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) Lieutenant General Edilberto Adan.
The Commission, likewise, recommended a more restrictive policy on the possession and carrying of firearms,
and stricter sanctions against holders of firearms who fail to comply with the mandated licensing and
registration.
“The repeal of Executive Order No. 194, which authorizes the possession and licensing of firearms of any type
and/or caliber and in unlimited quantity, is recommended,” Basbano said.
A new order should contain a declaration that there shall no longer be firearms amnesties and the possession
of unlicensed firearms and ammunition shall be dealt with the full force of the law, the report said.
For the long term, ICAPA recommended the legislation of a law against private armed groups, proposed to be
called “Anti-Private Armies Act.”
The moment the law has been passed, the Commission proposed the creation or designation of special courts
to hear, try and decide cases involving criminal activities of private armies.
It also recommended the creation of a Special Task Force under the Department of Justice (DOJ) that will
prosecute the maintainers and members of the private armies.
ICAPA said the proposed law should create an independent agency/ unit/commission that will monitor and
oversee the evaluation and approval of all applications for the issuance of firearms licenses and permits.
And to prevent partisan loyalty, the Commission wants the amendment of Section 63 of Republic Act No. 8551
which empowers local executives to (a) choose the chief of police; (b) discipline members of the Philippine
National Police (PNP); (c) recommend the transfer, reassignment of PNP members outside their city / town
where they reside; and (d) recommend whom to appoint as new members of the PNP.
The Commission also wants the passage of Senate Bill No. 2610 that will integrate all national, provincial, city,
municipal jails under a new bureau called the Bureau of Correctional Service which will be under the direct
control of DOJ.
“As of now, these jails are being run by respective local government units and there are problems because
some local and jail officials are being tapped for political interest,” Basbaño said.
He said the Zenarosa Commission also supports that passage of the Anti-Political Dynasty Law as candidates
related to incumbent elective official are forced to tap the private armies in order to perpetuate themselves in
power.
With Arroyo’s term ending on June 30, Basbaño expressed hope that the next President will take cognizance of
their work and adopt some of their recommendations to finally rid the country of private armed groups.
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Transport sector cites PGMA’s legacy in transport sector
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The transport sector today cited the gains of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s administration in the transport
sector during a retrospective forum where the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC)
presented its Transport Sector Performance from 2001-2009.
The forum was attended by the President and Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza, who used to head the
DOTC before assuming his current post. Participants included officials and representatives from the Philippine
RoRo (Roll-on, Roll-off) Operator Association, Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines (PBOAP),
Cebu Pacific Air, Cebu Provincial Government, and University of Asia and Pacific (UA&P).
UA&P professor Dr. Enrico Basilio said RoRo has enhanced the country’s competitiveness by providing inter-
island connectivity. He said it resulted to better passenger traffic and public access to tourism areas in the
country, and cheaper and easier means of transporting goods.
“The transportation cost is reduced to 10 percent to 20 percent,” he said.
Alex Reyes, vice president for commercial planning of the Cebu Pacific Air, said there is a “tremendous growth”
in the country’s civil aviation. For Cebu Pacific Air alone, he said, the number of passengers they accommodated
has increased by 30 percent in 2009.
Reyes said Cebu Pacific plans to acquire more planes to accommodate the increasing number of airline
passengers. Cebu Pacific currently has a fleet of 21 Airbuses and is targeting to get 22 more by 2014. “This, I
think, proves our confidence in the future,” he said.
Homer Mercado, President of the PBOAP, said Arroyo’s significant contribution to the road transport group is the
issuance of Executive Order 712 on March 2008 which protected bus operators from abuses of some local
government units.
With EO 712, a single ticketing system for traffic violations in Metro Manila was implemented
During the forum, DOTC Acting Secretary Anneli Lontoc said that from 2001 to 2009, the DOTC and its attached
agencies completed three nautical highways, 436 ports construction/improvement, six new airports, 71 airports
upgrading, two new light railways projects, two other railways rehabilitation projects, and five tollway projects.
“Following President Arroyo’s spatial framework for sectoral development, the DOTC has implemented various
transport infrastructure projects to enhance the various regions’ natural competitive advantages”, she said.
During the period, the DOTC generated P296.061 billion. By sector, the road transport sector accounted for the
collection of P86.209 billion in revenues, followed by the civil aviation sector at P81.385 billion, maritime
transport sector at P57.446 billion, the railway sector at P30.389, and the communications sector P32.097
billion. The DOTC Central Office contributed P8.533 billion to the total revenue collection.
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PGMA launches Heritages Month with visit to terno exhibit
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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took time out today to view the Department of Tourism’s exhibit on the
Philippine terno worn by the country’s former First Ladies at the Almacenes Reales in Fort Santiago.
The President, accompanied by Intramuros Administrator Anna Bambi Harper, went around the exhibit area to
view the ternos worn by Former First Ladies Loi Estrada, Imelda Marcos, Leonila Garcia, Luz Banzon –
Magsaysay, Trinidad De Leon- Roxas and her mother, Dona Eva Macaraig-Macapagal.
Dona Eva’s gown on exhibit were a crème terno with purple lace appliqué on bodice by Aureo Alonzo, and a
black camisa and patadyong. Both were preserved by Presidential Daughter Luli Arroyo-Bernas.
Two gowns of Imelda Marcos were eye-catching—a multi-colored terno with embroidered geometric designs
executed by Joe Salazar and a peacock design blue and green terno.
The terno is touted as one of the world’s most distinct and recognizable traditional dress identified only to the
Philippines. It is a long elegant dress with a signature butterfly sleeves.
Harper said the exhibit is part of the celebration of National Heritage Month, pursuant to Republic Act 100066 or
the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 which seeks to “protect, preserve, conserve and promote the nation’s
cultural heritage, and the ethnicity of local communities; establish and strengthen cultural institutions; protect
cultural workers and ensure their professional development and well-being.”
It is the first time the “Walled City”—the country’s premier heritage site—is hosting the launch of the Heritage
Month.
Harper said that holding cultural exhibits and presentations “creates a balance atmosphere where the historic
past coexists in harmony with modern society.”
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UP CONCERT CHORUS SERENADES AMBASSADOR GAA AND EMBASSY STAFF
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04 MAY 2010, WASHINGTON, D.C. – The world-renowned University of the Philippines Concert Chorus (UPCC)
serenades Philippine Ambassador to the United States Willy C. Gaa following their courtesy call at the Embassy
of the Philippines. The UPCC, now on the United States leg of its world tour, performed the popular Filipino
songs, “Sana’y Wala ng Wakas,” “Manila, Manila” and “Tong, Tong, Tong Pakitong Kitong”. UPCC is currently in
Washington, D.C. for a special one-day spring concert to be held on 6 May 2010, 8:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Good
Counsel in Vienna, VA. The event is sponsored by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association in
Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia and supported by the Embassy of the Philippines. END.
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