The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) drew the ire of Filipino netizens after they posted a “photoshopped” photo/image/picture on their official Facebook Page.

The said photo shows DPWH Undersecretary Romeo Momo, Metro Manila Regional Director Reynaldo Tagudando, and South Manila District Engineer Mikunug Macud talking and assessing typhoon Pedring’s aftermath on the seawall in Baywalk along Roxas Boulevard. Civil engineer Pierre Albert San Diego was the one who first took notice and posted his analysis on his blog. “If they [DPWH] can fabricate simple things like this, just imagine what these guys can do to progress billings and acceptance of projects.” part of his blog post said. The picture has been taken down as of this posting with DPWH posting a public apology on their FB page.

President Benigno S. Aquino III announced on Wednesday that the Philippines had a budget surplus of P9-billion for the month of August.

The President made the announcement in his speech at a meeting with the Filipino community held at the Fairfax Hotel here.

He said that the reason for the surplus was because the government was underspending.

President Benigno S. Aquino III has sworn into office a group of newly-appointed government officials led by Tourism Secretary Ramon Reyes Jimenez Jr. as well as several generals and flag officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

In simple ceremonies held at the Rizal Ceremonial Hall of the Malacanang Palace, Monday morning, Secretary Jimenez took his oath of office before the President as acting Secretary for the Department of Tourism (DOT) followed by several newly-appointed officials of the government.

Here is the current and complete list of cabinet members of Philippine President Noynoy Aquino this 2011:

Executive Secretary – Paquito Ochoa, Jr.
Secretary of Agrarian Reform – Virgilio De Los Reyes
Secretary of Agriculture – Proceso Alcala
Secretary of Budget and Management – Florencio Abad
Secretary of Education – Armin Luistro
Secretary of Energy – Jose Rene Almendras
Secretary of Environment & Natural Resources – Ramon Paje
Secretary of Finance – Cesar Purisima
Secretary of Foreign Affairs – Albert Del Rosario
Secretary of Health – Enrique Ona
Secretary of Interior and Local Government – Jesse Robredo
Secretary of Justice – Leila de Lima
Secretary of Labor and Employment – Rosalinda Baldoz
Secretary of National Defense – Voltaire Gazmin
Secretary of Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning – Ricky Carandang
Secretary of Presidential Communications Operations Office – Herminio Coloma
Secretary of Public Works & Highways – Rogelio Singson
Secretary of Science & Technology – Mario Montejo
Secretary of Social Welfare & Development – Corazon Soliman
Secretary of Tourism – Ramon Jimenez Jr.
Secretary of Trade & Industry – Gregory Domingo
Secretary of Transportation and Communications – Manuel “Mar” Roxas II
Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) – Patricia Licuanan
Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council – Vice-President Jejomar Binay
Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority – Cayetano Paderanga, Jr.
National Security Adviser – Cesar Garcia
Presidential Adviser on Peace Process – Teresita Deles
Head of the Presidential Management Staff – Julia Andrea Abad
Presidential Spokesperson – Edwin Lacierda
Chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority – Francis Tolentino
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel – Eduardo de Mesa

President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared August 16, 2011 as a special non-working day in the city of Tuguegarao in celebration of the fiesta dubbed as “Pav-vurulun Festival 2011.?

By virtue of Proclamation No. 214 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. on August 4, this year, the President declared Aug. 16 which falls on Tuesday as a special non-working day in the city.

The Social Security System (SSS) plans to open this year a savings window for members so they can look forward to more benefits on top of their retirement pension, a top official said.

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio de Quiros, Jr. said the voluntary provident fund program offers members guaranteed retirement earnings that are higher than savings deposit rates.

The provident fund would be open to employers and members who are less than 55 years old, including self-employed (SE) workers, voluntary members (VM) and overseas Filipino workers (OFW).

SE-VMs and OFWs must be paying at maximum amount of contributions under the regular SSS program — now pegged at P1,560 — for at least six months immediately prior to the month of enrollment. For employees, payments in the provident fund would be on top of their regular SSS contributions.

The provident fund savings are intended for retirement and total disability (65 percent), medical (25 percent) and general purpose (10 percent) and funds withdrawn within the five-year retention period from the medical and general purpose portion will be subjected to penalties and charges.

Savings for retirement can be withdrawn in lump sum, as monthly pension, or a combination of both when the member is separated from employment at age 60 or onward.

SSS, however, would guarantee earnings based on the five-year Treasury-bond rate for the 65 percent earmarked for retirement and total disability, and the remaining 35 percent component would be guaranteed to earn at the 364-day Treasury-bill rate, De Quiros added.

Part of the program is to set up an online provident fund account system at the SSS website to enable members to monitor their investment earnings through the Internet.

The Aquino administration targets to generate one million jobs a year to encourage Filipinos to stay in the country in midst of labor instability overseas particularly in the Middle East.

“Palagi po itong sinasabi ng ating Pangulo: we are creating conditions in the economy para nga po makapag-generate tayo at least one million new jobs every year. Para po ma-arrest na yung trend that was established decades ago na labas nang labas ang ating mga kababayan,” Coloma told the “No Holds Barred” media forum of the NPC.

He likened the present Saudi Arabia situation to the condition after the Luneta hostage crisis with some people perceiving the incident will result in mass layoffs of OFWs in Hong Kong but that didn’t happen, Coloma said.

In previous interviews, Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Palace is confident that there are alternative destinations that can absorb OFWs wanting to go to Saudi Arabia but are affected by the ban.
Valte said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has programs for displaced OFWs such as Balik-Pinay!Balik-Hanapbuhay! Project, a livelihood training and assistance program for returning Filipino workers.
Saudi authorities announced the new policy called “Saudization” that prioritizes hiring of local workers instead of foreign laborers. Aside from the Philippines, other Asian countries are affected by ban.

Malacanang announced on Saturday the appointment of two ambassadors, as well as officials for the Land Registration Authority (LRA), National Transmission Corporation (TRANSCO) and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

In an interview over government-run Radyo ng Bayan, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte announced the presidential appointment of Wilfredo D. Maximo as Ambassador to the Republic of Cuba with concurrent jurisdiction over the Dominican Republic, Republic of Haiti and Jamaica.

Valte said Constancio R. Vingno Jr. was appointed as Ambassador to South Africa with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Angola, Republic of Botswana, Kingdom of Lesotho, Republic of Mozambique, Republic of Namibia, Kingdom of Swaziland, Republic of Zambia and Republic of Zimbabwe.

The other appointees were Robert Nomar V. Leyretana as Acting Deputy Administrator of the LRA and Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. as member of the Board of Directors representing Luzon for TRANSCO. TRANSCO is under the Department of Energy (DOE).

Valte said Eleazar E. Ricote was appointed as Director IV for Capacity Building and Knowledge Management Service under Public- Private Partnership Center (PPP center) of the NEDA while Atty. Alfredo S. Vitangcol III was appointed as Director IV for Policy Formulation and Evaluation Service also of PPP Center of the NEDA.
Also appointed were Lelina A. Quilates as Director IV for Administrative Service and Rina P. Alzate as Director III for Project Development Services-PPP Center under NEDA.

Kabataan Partylist National Capital Region asked President Benigno Simeon ‘Noynoy’ Aquino about his campaign promises of ‘Daang Matuwid’. As the PNoy adminstration turned one, the group launched its cyber campaign to address the issues faced by the sector and the people. ‘Dear PNoy, ano na?’ is a page created to further register dismay and condemnations of the president’s dismal performance to uplift the condition of the youth and the people.

“We are really disappointed. In his first year as president, PNoy failed to uplift the condition of the youth and the people. More even, PNoy’s policies put us in deeper conditions of poverty and hunger.” Stated Mark Louie Aquino, 2nd Nominee and Spokesperson of Kabataan Partylist NCR.

“Exactly one year ago, he has left the people hoping for his rhetorical change and promises of good governance. And here we are now, asking PNoy, ano na ba talaga? Since day one, we are giving PNoy a failing mark” he added.

The youth group said that they based the mark on PNoy’s over-all performance as leader of the country. And if he dramatically failed, it is due to his systematic habit of implementing anti-people, anti-poor and anti-youth policies. Firstly, they cited the still freedom of former President Arroyo and Aquino’s incapability to put her behind bars as the main perpetrator of huge corruption and human rights’ violation cases.

The group also added Aquino’s inutile programs for the country’s economy as it reflected an increasing rates of unemployment and inflation while wages remained depressed and small local markets continued to fall down. They cried over budget cuts on education, health and social services in exchange of large funds for foreign debt services, military and short-termed social service programs.

They condmened the government’s Private-Public-Partnership (PPP) as ‘patung-patong na pahirap (ppp)’ since it brought people paying for what was supposed to be free as subsidized by the government. They also condmened Aquino’s Conditional Cash Transfer, they said it was a ridiculous program for the condition of extreme poverty in the country. ###

The facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dear-PNoy-ano-na/214016778635645

Below is a press statement from Secretary Joel Villanueva, Director General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA):

Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo missed an important point when she heaped criticism on President Benigno Aquino III’s “nobody home” leadership.

The more accurate state of affairs when she stepped down from office last year after her nine-year stint could be aptly described as “Nothing Left at Home.”

The former President left the Aquino administration not only with empty coffers, but heavy in debt as in the case of the P2 billion scholarship vouchers that the previous TESDA administration purportedly distributed despite the absence of funds.

The more accurate and truthful depiction is Nothing Left at Home. The Arroyo administration left us with a bad image, bad personnel habits and empty coffers.

If things are moving slowly from their perspective, it is because the Aquino administration is preoccupied with cleaning the mess they left while attending to the people’s needs.

In TESDA, we are doing our share of house-cleaning, while pursuing programs that are pro-active and relevant to our constituents.

Trainings actually happen, and modules of courses are reviewed and retrofitted to suit the needs of the market. Our assessment of workers, returning OFWs, trainers, and students are ongoing and those who pass are given certificates that become their pass to employment.

At the larger plane, we recently received an upgrade in our credit rating and unemployment rate is down.

We acknowledge that there is lot of work to be done. But we won’t take sitting down unfounded criticisms, especially from the one who caused all the country’s misery.