Official Gazette for June 20, 1973: THE PRESIDENT called on the country’s boy and girl scouts to help in the “salvaging operation” of some five million out-of-school youths. The President said these two youth organizations can accomplish much in improving the lots of the young men and women who are out of school. Addressing the nation from Maharlika Hall at Malacañang, the President also appealed to all Filipinos to extend all possible support to the scouting movement. The Chief Executive made the appeal on the occasion of the golden jubilee celebration of Philippine scouting, which coincides with the anniversary of the birth of Dr. Jose Rizal.
INCREASING demands for Philippine products have resulted in a $83 million trade surplus last May, the Central Bank announced. The May 1973, trade surplus is $51 million higher than the surplus registered in May 1972. As a result of this favorable foreign exchange transactions, the country’s international reserve climbed by $83 million to $601 million last May as compared to the increase of $47 million a year ago. The Central Bank attributed the significant improvement in receipts to the Government’s aggressive exports promotion campaign, the sharp increase in world prices for most of the Philippines’ products, and the rising demand for Philippine exports from the country’s trading partner.
THE PRESIDENT urged rural bankers to extend credit to farmers in the most expeditious way to help the Government in its intensified rice production program. Speaking at the induction of officers of the Rural Bankers Association at the Malacañang reception hall, the President said rural bankers have a pivotal role in the supervision of credit for various Government programs such as Masagana 99. In view of this, he said the Government will fail in its agricultural development efforts unless rural bankers helped the country’s farmers with more loans. He said he was happy to hear that rural bankers so far have already extended some P45 million in loans to Masagana 99 farmers. He later assured the rural bankers that, the Government is ready to extend all necessary assistance to ensure the success of their undertakings.
GOVERNMENT agencies involved in land reform have integrated their efforts to insure faster implementation of the program. This resulted froma conference of representatives of these agencies hosted by the Philippine Constabulary at Camp Crame. To hasten implementation of the program, the conferees agreed on the following: 1) No new ejectment cases will be accepted by the courts of agrarian relations on lands within the purview of Presidential Decree No. 27. This decree directs that no tenant-farmer should be ejected from his landholdings; 2) All pending cases in courts between tenant-farmers and landowners shall lie held in abeyance upon petition of any party litigant; 3) With regard to rentals to be paid by tenant-farmers and landowners, the Department of Agrarian Relations regional directors shall still determine and fix the provisions of Section 34 of R.A. 3844 as amended pertinent presidential decrees, letters of instructions and directives.
AMOUNT of P29 million in Philippine National Bank funds has been earmarked as initial capital for rehabilitation and reconstruction work of 11 flood-damaged Luzon provinces. PNB President P. O. Domingo announced that the PNB has authorized the release of the amount for the reconstruction of roads, bridges and irrigation systems in the provinces heavily devastated by last year’s floods. The loans, which carry 11 per cent annual interest, will form the non-revolving credit lines by provincial governments for their initial capitalization in the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure projects estimated at P200 million. The PNB program is part of the government’s Project “Disaster Recovery”, an agreement signed last year by USAID and the National Economic and Development Authority.
THE GOVERNMENT’S campaign against business irregularities has been expanded to cover repair shops following numerous complaints on defective repairs, poor workmanship and cannibalizing of spare parts of several of these establishments. Department of Trade Secretary Troadio T. Quiazon Jr, placed priority on the investigation of these complaints which also included those against known and erstwhile reputable automotive and appliance repair shops. Mr. Quiazon ordered a study on the feasibility of requiring management and owners of these repair shops to issue guarantee slips for every job, work or repair undertaken and to require them to list their service fees (at least on major repair works) and have them posted for ready reference. The trade secretary directed agents of the customs bureau and the Fair Trade Board to look into the licenses of automotive and appliance repair shops done by understudies.
SECRETARY of Information Francisco S. Tatad advocated the democratization of the mass media and revealed that the Department of Public Information has launched a community newspaper network project. Under this plan, residents of particular region or province will be organized into cooperatives which will produce community
The value of real estate specially in the urban areas has gone up. This is one of the principal problems in Hongkong and Japan.
So I am having the plan to freeze land values or expropriate land needed by the government for its programs reassessed.
And while encouraging Boy Scouting from 8 to 18 years I am intending to lower the age for compulsory military from 20 to 18, thus placing the young under disciplinary control during the formative years.
I am studying the plans for the cattle industry. I intend to invite the Management Service of King Ranch to help us out.
newspapers. The information secretary said he is advocating the democratization of the mass media in order that no media information will merely serve a certain sector without serving all the other sectors in the society. Secretary Tatad revealed his plan in a speech at the seminar of the Knights of Rizal at the National Library Auditorium.
DEPARTMENT of Trade directed the Securities and Exchange Commission to draft the implementing guidelines for the setting up of regional headquarters of multi-nation companies in the Philippines. Secretary of Trade Troadio T. Quiazon Jr. said that any foreign business entity wishing to establish regional or area headquarters in the Philippines has to secure a license from the SEC. In order to avail of the incentives provided for under the decree, the multi-national company will, within 30 days from receipt of the SEC certificate of registration, submit to the SEC a certificate of inward remittance from a local bank. The inward remittance will show that the applying firm has remitted to the Philippines at least $30,000 or its equivalent in other countries and converted the same to Philippine currency. Annually, the firm will submit proof to the SEC of inward remittance amounting to at least $50,000 or its equivalent in other foreign currencies during the past year.
COMMISSION on Elections clarified an announcement that there will be two lists in the registration of barangay members. Comelec Chairman Leonardo Perez made the clarification during the TV program Pulong pulong sa Kaunlaran. The Comelec chairman said that there will be only one list to be accomplished in Comelec Barangay Form No 2 but there will be two groupings. These groupings are 1) Those who are 15 years old or over but less than18 years old and 2) Those who are 18 years old or over. When the barrio captains or barangay heads prepare the list of barangay members registered during the period June 19 to July 4, the segregation of the two groupings will be made.