Making Pinoy Police More Capable

The blaze of police transformation spreads here as the local cops led by PSSUpt Edgardo Ingking vowed never to succumb to political pressures hindering the growth of the culture of reform to make police render more capable, effective and credible service. 

During the culmination of the 11th leg of the Torch Run Relay, Ingking said that the transformation torch would be the beacon that carries the light signifying the transformation program the Philippine National Police (PNP) has to undergo to make itself an organization that would compete globally.

The Transformation Torch, which traveled all over Bohol according to reports came into Bohol last October 12 and was passed to every station to bring the beacon of transformation across the country, police sources explained.

From a sagging perception and a performance that scraped rock bottom, top leaders of the police organization has to push for the reforms that would unseat abusive, arrogant and unfit cops and ease them out of public service.

With police inefficiency reports hurting most of the men in uniform, the local officers welcome the move knowing that only with the reforms can the police reclaim its rightful seat as the people’s servants and protectors.

Briefing over three hundred men and women of the Bohol police manning town stations, Ingking, who claims the charges are only examples of the threats every police officer has to face and overcome to realize the real transformation also cited highlights and gains of the integrated police transformation which started in 2005.

During the briefing which took him an hour and a few minutes, Ingking shared to the police the vision of a police force in 2030: one that would be globally competitive, capable, effective and credible.

We hope that the torch inspire, motivate and encourage our men and women in the force never to lose hope, press ona nd run the race towards genuine police transformation, Ingking added.

The Integrated Transformation Program has done things, he said and cited that recent surveys results showed that the police has slowly gained immensely from a baseline performance.

Now, the PNP is the 6th best performing government agency, Ingking prided, adding that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has even commended the police force during their anniversary in January this year.

We are slowly regaining the claim and we are making sure that by 2030, every police officer in the service would be sitting side-by-side with their foreign counterparts, a police officer who asks not to be identified shared his vision. (PIA)

President Gloria Arroyo Stop Goods Overpricing

In the advent of some reported unreasonable price increases in basic commodities bought about by the effects of the calamities President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (PGMA) has issued a price freeze of selected basic commodities until the state of national calamity is lifted.  

The result is that prices of six basic commodities are frozen to their October 2 prevailing price levels.  

The basic commodities: canned fish, processed milk, coffee, detergent or laundry soap, bread and salt should remain at tight watch by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) monitors, says Jose Hibaya, consumer welfare and business regulatory division chief of the local office.  

DTI Regional Director Asteria Caberte also issued the advisory to all retailers in Central Visayas, notifying them of the price freeze order imposed until President Arroyo shall lift her declaration of the state of calamity over the country, upon the recommendation of the National Disaster Coordinating Council.  

Price freeze is based on the prevailing prices from DTI before the declaration of the state of calamity, Caberte warned retailers.   

Sharing the advisory during the recent Kapihan sa PIA aired live over DyTR, Hubaya said the advisory also forms as warning to retailers not to get advantage of the situation brought about by the devastating calamities that hit the country. 

The advisory also bears an accompanying sheet detailing that a 155 g sardine should not be sold in supermarkets at more than 11.80, the 370 ml Alaska condensed milk at 46.30 and the 305 ml condensed Milkmaid at P52.10.  

370 ml Alaska evaporated milk is at 41.50, Alpine at P44.30 while Nido and Alaska 150 g powdered milk should always be sold at P72.00 and 41.50. 

A 50 gram Nescafe refill is pegged at 35.95 in local supermarkets, 25 gram Blend 45 refill at P15.75 while Great Taste of the same weight is sold at 17.15. 

420 g Mr. Clean detergent bar and laundry soap should be at P20.50, 400 g Perla at P40.00 and Surf bar kalamansi is at P19.50. 

A 400 gram loaf bread is at P30.00, 500 gram at P45 and 20 gram pan de sal sells at P1.75 each. 

Iodized 250 g Fidel salt should not be more than 5.25 while 1 kg Fidel rock salt sells at P7.75.  

According to Caberte, anybody caught in violation of the price freeze can get a miximum of ten years and a penalty reaching P1 millon. 

Over this, DTI calls concerned citizens to help them and their deputized agents monitor any noticed price increases. Complaints and inquiries can be coursed through DTI-Bohol at 501 8260 or 411 3302, stressed Hibaya. (PIA)

Consultation on the National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRA)

Public Officials and partners from the executive agencies and civil society for regions 6, 7 and 8 converged in Cebu City recently for the 4th area consultation on the National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRA).

 

Executive secretary Eduardo Ermita, chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Committee (PHRC), in a statement read by USEC Severo Catura, said "the consultation will put in place the much-needed public policies, programs, and resources with human rights standards."

 

The Cebu leg is the fourth in a series of area consultations since August 2009 and is palnned to end by December via a national summit, Catura added.

 

Catura, the executive director of PHRC further said, the area consultation is a problem solving mechanism.  It aims to instill national ownership of the plan in as many stakeholders as possible.

 

"We are pushing for a new and a broader way of looking at human rights as it would impact the full development of our people and the nation as a whole," he said.

 

Ermita in his statement also said, the consultation hopes to address human rights issues at their roots.  It involves more than identifying wrongdoers and exhorting government to improve on its obligations.

 

"Largely, we will venture to capacitate and empower all sectors of Philippine society to claim and extend these human rights obligations and entitlements, bringing out genuine improvement at all levels of governance in the country," Ermita stated.

 

Ermita added that the NHRAP becomes the expression of "our political will" and perhaps, one of the legacies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to ensure that human rights protection and promotion becomes a matter of policy that will transcend politics. (PIA)

Bohol Peace Building Effort

Documentation on the highly successful counter-insurgency program as national peace building template starts.

 

The government brings in the Orientation Workshop on the Documentation of Peace Building Good Practices for Team Bohol at the Bohol Plaza this October 13-14.

 

Team Bohol, the unified team of implementers of the famed Bohol Peace Formula is composed of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, the church and the civil society and the local government, which converged resources for a singular goal.

Such is to dramatically reduce the incidence of armed conflict in the province, not just by the might of the arms but also by peaceful means.

 

The peace initiative which has resulted in Bohol's getting off the list of the country's 20 poorest provinces speak of good governance practice, one that needs to be made a template for replication.

 

In an invitation to participants sent by Governor Erico Aumentado, he told Team Bohol stakeholders "the efforts of the province to provide the lessons and good practices which can be evolved into models in peace building and can be replicated in other conflict areas.

 

With the move to keep the peace process forward, he added the government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) used the services of the Local Government Academy of the Philippines (LGAP) to facilitate the two day workshop.

 

With the LGAP is the project tem of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

The workshop hopes to come out with valuable policy and program recommendations for the national government to keep the peace process moving forward.

 

The ultimate goal is to create a snowball and multiplier effect of these good practices throughout the country by scaling up the process towards an adoptive replication process, Aumentado said. (PIA)

Philippine Rice Importation

The Philippines relies heavily on imports to feed its rapidly growing population of 92 million. In 2008, the country was forced to buy some 2.3 million tonnes of the crop despite record world prices. This year, it has so far imported 1.7 million tons from Vietnam.- Philippine Daily Inquirer

Jose Carillo's Comment on Reporting of Typhoon Ondoy

Understandably, major natural disasters like Typhoon Ondoy's killer floods take their toll in flawed grammar and syntax if not outright cockeyed news reporting. This was evident in the flood-disaster reporting of one of the major Metro Manila broadsheets, where a misplaced modifier reared its ugly head—to use an ugly cliché—right on its front-page headline story, followed by the paper's imprudent if not impudent decision to directly quote a high-ranking government official mangling his English while making a major announcement. It's really in the worst of times like this that reporters and editors could be a little more understanding of other people's flawed English and a little more compassionate in their reporting, but sadly, the propensity of some of them to put the country's high officials down appears to seethe unabated come hell or high water.