The Department of Agriculture (DA) said several governors all over the country threw their support behind the government’s “rice self-sufficiency” program by committing to detail their agricultural extension workers to the DA’s regional offices and allocating a portion of their unremitted Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) totaling P12.5 billion.

The DA said it forged an agreement with the League of Provinces of the Philippines in a meeting held in Manila on Tuesday.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said this arrangement on a case-to-case basis would allow the Office of the Provincial Governor in all provinces to detail or assign agricultural extension workers to the DA’s regional field units to help implement the five-harvest self-sufficiency plan for rice.

At the same time, the 37 governors who attended the DA-hosted forum agreed to set aside a portion of their upcoming IRA allocations for the acquisition of fertilizers to be used for the ongoing quick-turnaround program and for the wet or main planting season.

Earlier, President Arroyo issued an executive order (EO) monetizing the still unremitted IRA share of local government units totaling P12.5 billion. This amount represents the total IRA funds that have yet to be released to the local governments following the reenactment of the national budgets in 2001 and 2004.

Yap, who announced the issuance of this EO during the Century Park Hotel meeting, said President Arroyo issued this directive on the understanding that local executives would use such funds for, among others, the rice self-sufficiency program.

Under the memorandum of agreement signed at the end of the meeting, the DA and the provincial governments would continue paying  the salaries and other compensation of the detailed agricultural extension workers, including  year-end bonuses, salary adjustments, uniform allowances and productivity allowances.

Provincial governments would also be responsible, under the MOA, for maintaining the office and equipment of the detailed agricultural extension workers, and remitting their salary deductions to the concerned agencies like the Bureau of International Revenue; Government Service Insurance System; Pagtutulungan sa Kinabukasan: Ikaw, Bangko, Industria at Gobyerno; and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

The DA, in turn, will shoulder the official travel expenses of the detailed agricultural workers and provide them with incentive allowances.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said several governors all over the country threw their support behind the government’s “rice self-sufficiency” program by committing to detail their agricultural extension workers to the DA’s regional offices and allocating a portion of their unremitted Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) totaling P12.5 billion.

A GROUP of German investors in the Philippines said the political infrastructure in the government plays a major hindrance in attracting more investments into the country, citing the absence of a resolution to the long-delayed opening of the $450-million Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

THE country is losing thousands of potential German tourists to Indonesia and Thailand every week because big tour operators in Germany are currently avoiding the Philippines due to the absence of international airports in key tourist destinations here.

The Philippines has lifted the temporary ban it imposed on the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products including poultry meat, day-old chicks and eggs originating from Germany.

GOVERNMENT-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said Wednesday that it has moved the bidding for the 289-megawatt (MW) Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant in Tiwi, Albay, and the 458.53-MW MakBan Geothermal Power Plant situated in Laguna and Batangas provinces to June 27 this year.

PATRIOTISM,” simply, is the love for one’s own country. It is a term generally used to describe: (1) the attitude that the members of a nation have when they care about their national identity, and (2) the actions that the members of a nation take when seeking to achieve (or sustain) independence/self-determination.