In a press conference, the Chief Executive cited a Vietnamese business process outsourcing
(BPO) firm for “leading the way” by putting up a shop in the Philippines, saying this would
further strengthen the relations between the two countries.

“There is a Vietnamese BPO company that I understand is already setting up in the country.
It’s small but this will enhance the trade between our countries,” the President said.

In a separate interview, Secretary Ramon Carandang of the Presidential Communications
Development and Strategic Planning Office noted that “the Philippines rice from Vietnam.”

Philippine Ambassador to Vietnam Jerril Santos said that a total of $308.97-million has been
poured into the country by companies from the Philippines, making RP the fourth top ASEAN
investor in Vietnam. These include investments in agriculture and information technology.

President Aquino expressed hope that with his visit here, more Vietnamese businessmen will
be enticed to invest in the Philippines. (PCOO/PIA)

In a toast at the state banquet hosted by President Nguyen Minh Triet at the government
guesthouse here Tuesday evening, President Aquino assured his Vietnamese counterpart
that relations between the two countries will continue to prosper under his administration.

The President expressed great satisfaction with the signing of four agreements between the
Philippines and Vietnam which will strengthen cooperation in higher education, defense and
maritime affairs. He said the mutual commitment of both countries to find additional areas of
cooperation will benefit the Filipino and Vietnamese peoples.

Triet in turn, expressed his gratitude for the strong support given by the Philippines during it’s
chairmanship of the ASEAN, and reiterated his confidence that the Philippines will make even
bigger progress under President Aquino’s leadership.

Vietnam has been a strategic partner of the country for the past 34 years after the
establishment of bilateral ties between the two nations in 1976.

Since then, relations between the two countries have consistently grown to encompass not
just politics, but more importantly, trade and investments, education, defense, fisheries,
maritime and ocean affairs, and environmental concerns, among others. (PCOO/PIA)

The President boarded Philippine Airlines flight PR591, which took off 7:20 a.m. Tuesday.
He was joined by a delegation of at least 52 people.

The Philippine government is set to sign four agreements with Vietnam on education
cooperation, defense cooperation, oil spill preparedness and response, and search and
rescue at sea.

After the state visit, Aquino will attend the 17th ASEAN summit on Octobe 28 to 30.
Aquino will also meet with Filipino and Vietnamese businessmen and with members of the
community of 3,500 Filipinos working in Vietnam.

At the ASEAN summit, the Philippine president is expected to talk about greater regional
cooperation and human rights, among others.

The President is scheduled to return to Manila on Sunday, October 31. (PIA)

Data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that the country’s export earnings for the third month of 2010 rose to $4.18 billion from the year-ago level of $2.9 billion. On a monthly basis, exports rose 17% from $3.57 billion in February. Overall, exports jumped 42.9 % in the first quarter.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said this is the highest year-on-year increase since the National Statistics Office started compiling monthly exports statistics in 1991.

Shipments of electronics, which dominate exports and are largely assembled from imported parts, climbed 49.1% year-on-year to $2.42 billion in March after a 53.3% jump in February.

The Philippines expects exports to grow 12% and imports to rise 18% in 2010. In 2009, exports fell 21.9%, not as sharp as the government’s forecast drop of 25%.

The main electronics industry group expects shipments to grow 20% or more this year on strong demand from China and India.

The government may consider raising its 2.6%-3.6% economic growth target for 2010 amid a slew of strong indicators this year. (PIA-Bohol)

The Philippines along with Brunei and Singapore are the only AI-free countries in Southeast Asia.

Under the Avian Influenza Protection Program (AIPP), the DA is also implementing an Applied Veterinary Epidemiology Training (AVET) Program to strengthen the capacity of the field veterinary services, especially at the local level, in designing and managing disease surveillance, conducting outbreak investigation and effective outbreak containment measures.

Besides these measures, 20 critical areas are under surveillance especially during the bird migration season of October to February. (PIA)

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The JENESYS Program is an annual youth exchange program that provides the youth with the opportunity to visit ASEAN countries and Japan, and establish friendship with their counterparts.

The delegates will live on board a Japanese luxury ship. While on country visits, they undertake various activities such as courtesy call, interaction with local youth, institutional visits, and homestay with local families.

The Program aims to deepen understanding of the different facets of the Japanese society including politics, diplomacy, economics and culture and to form the basis of future vision and construct firm solidarity among Asian countries which will promote mutual understanding of the future generation of ASEAN and East Asia Summit member countries.

To qualify for the JENESYS Programme of student ambassadors, applicants must be Filipino, single, must be between 16 to 18 years old, on or before April 1, 2010; and of good moral character.

For more details on the requirements, please go to the NYC website www.youth.net.ph. Visit the Embassy of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE). Or Click here for the full article. (PIA)

Peñaflorida’s selection was revealed by CNN’s Andenson Cooper at the conclusion of the third annual “CNN Heroes: An All Star Tribute” at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood on November 21.

The Filipino CNN Hero of the Year who will receive US$100,000., is in addition to the US$25,000 he is entitled of as one of the top ten nominees, to continue his work with the Dynamic Teen Company.

He announced that 10% of his winning will go to his Parish in Cavite, the others will be for the children who are beneficiaries of his kariton klasroom.

The other top ten CNN Heroes include Brad Blauser who provides hope and mobility to disabled children and their families in Iraq. Army veteran Roy Foster started Stand Down House to help veterans struggling with addiction and homelessness in Florida.

Bartender Doc Hendley is providing clean water to communities worldwide. Breast cancer survivor Andrea Ivory is bringing early detection to the doorsteps of uninsured women.

Zimbabwe native Betty Makoni founded the Girl Child Network to provide a haven for young victims of sexual abuse. School bus driver Jorge Munoz is helping hungry New Yorkers make it through tough times by handing out free meals from his mobile soup kitchen in Queens. (PIA)

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The Washington-based lender said that the loan grant will strengthen the capacity of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as the project implementer and as a social protection agency, finance part of the new conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, and establish a national household targeting system to identify the poor and improve targeting in social protection programs.

The program is focused on the poor families in the various municipalities and provinces of the country and it is the DSWD that chooses the program beneficiaries through the conduct of a survey called the Proxy Means Test that is conducted to determine the poorest of the poor families.

Transfers to some 376,000 households are covered by the World Bank loan, the rest being financed from the Philippine government’s own budget resources. (PIA)

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The partnership will push for the “Reading Recovery in the Philippines” Project, a research-based early literacy intervention that successfully decreased the incidence of reading and writing difficulties among children across a range of linguistic, ethnic, and cultural-social groups in New Zealand.

In the agreement, the UoA will train Philippines Reading Recovery trainers and tutors, who will be selected by DepEd. As the Department implements the Reading Recovery Project, partners from New Zealand will facilitate the project through advisory and support visits. The project is also comprised of research for moderation and evaluation and wider academic collaboration. (DepEd)

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The $144 million will cover the work of UN agencies, the International Organization for Migration and several non-governmental organizations from November until March 2010.

Only $26 million was received following the early October requesting $74 million, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Financial Tracking Service (FTS). (PIA)

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