***two (2) stories***
story no. 1
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Camille P. Balagtas
People's TONIGHT
August 26, 2002
Save Philippine education from collapse
=======================================
A legislative-executive push to allocate at least P30 billion for
a five-year crash program to save Philippine education from
collapse.
Thus said by Senator Edgardo Angara as he asked new Education
Secretary Edilberto de Jesus to take into consideration the
future of the Filipino youth.
"The next five years may well be our last window of
opportunity to save Philippine education. If no crash program
will rescue the education sector from the deep hole where it is
now, we will only produce a generation of young Filipino
unprepared for the challenges of a competitive job or business
environment," said Angara.
Angara said that new education chief is probably aware of the
sorry state of the Philippine education.
"Filipino students are now one of the poorest performers in
Asia, ranking lowest in science and math tests in East Asia. The
drop-out and non-completion rates are also one of the highest in
the region," said Angara.
The P30 billion investment for the five-year "save the
education sector" program is actually detailed in two bills
filed by Angara in the Senate.
Senate bill 1447 proposes a five-year school building program to
end the perennial problem of classroom shortage.
Angara said that the five-year emergency school building program
needs at least P15 billion to adequately answer classroom
shortage.
Angara said that the bill also encourages the private sector to
build schools under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) law.
The other P15 billion should be spent for school
"modernization and innovation" fund which would pour
money into training of teachers, putting up modern science
laboratories , modern libraries and the computerization of
schools.
Senate Bill 2015, the School Modernization and Innovation
measure, said that globalization has placed an extreme pressure
on the government to produce highly specialized experts in
information technology and related fields.
Angara said that only a sustained modernization program in the
elementary and secondary levels will provide the viable framework
for producing graduates ready and equipped for the jobs in a
knowledge-based society.///camille p. balagtas
story no. 2
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Camille P. Balagtas
People's TONIGHT
August 26, 2002
TESSIE HITS OIL FIRMS FOR HIKING LPG PRICES, URGES CRACKDOWN ON
SUBSTANDARD TANKS
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Opposition Senator Teresa Aquino Oreta assailed local oil giants
Monday for increasing the prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
despite huge profits recorded this year even as she urged the
government to ensure that consumers get their money's worth by
intensifying its crackdown against violators of LPG safety and
quality standards.
Oreta asked why Pilipinas Shell needs to hike the prices of its
Shellane LPG by P8.80 per 11 kg. cylinder when it posted the
highest earnings among major oil companies this year, with a
reported unaudited net income of P1.5 billion compared to
Petron's P0.124 billion.
Following Shell's weekend move, Caltex Philippines, another major
profit hauler this year has also announced that it would increase
its LPG prices.
Said Oreta: "Despite the reported hike in prices of LPG in
the international market, these corporate giants should have kept
LPG rates stable given their higher profit margins this year.
With millions of household dependents on LPG for their cooking
needs, oil companies could have exercised their social corporate
responsibility by keeping LPG prices at their present levels and
could have offset the losses they would have suffered from high
prices in the world market with the profits they raked in when
LPG rates were lower during the first quarter."
Compoounding the woes of consumers, Oreta said, are sellers of
fake or substandard LPG who have been robbing their ustomers of
their hard-earned money and exposing them to risks with their
unauthorized and tampered LPG cylinders.
Oreta called on the Department of Energy (DOE) to save consumers
from these hazards by throwing the book at persistent violators
of the rules and standards set by the DOE on the refilling of LPG
cylinders and coordinating with the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI) in padlocking establishments selling fake LPG or
tampered cylinders.
According to reports, the DOE has already identified 10 continual
violators and have issued final warnings to them. LPG leaks and
explosions have been one of the major causes of fire in the
country. Records show that cases of fire incidents caused by LPG
tank explosions reached 22 in April alone and another 49 in the
first three months of 2002.
Last year, 206 fires were traced to fake LPG cylinders, while 268
similar incidents occurred in 2000.
"The government cannot adopt a casual attitude in tackling
this problem," Oreta said. "Government should waste no
time in stepping up its crackdown against sellers of fake LPG and
tampered LPG tanks to ensure the safety and well-being of
millions of households that use this type of cooking gas."
///Camille p. balagtas