Office of the President of the Philippines

Media

Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: Office of the President of the Philippines
Language: English
Source: The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume XXV (Issue No.10) October 1949
Year: 1949
Rights
Fulltext: The Business View A monthly review of facts, trends, forecasts, by Manila businessmen Office of the President of the Philippines From an Official Source SEPTEMBER 1 — President Elpidio Quirino states that he never has used and never will use his emergency powers except us to strictly necessary measures. "We are faced today with certain realities, not with ncademic con tingencies. and I reserve the freedom as head of the State to act, con sistent with democratic thought and practice, as I see fit in the interest of the public welfare. The stability and security of the nation is the paramount consideration.” The President appoints Judge Buenaventura Ocampo as associate justice of the Court of Appeals. The President authorizes the allocation of P471,643.37 for the construction of houses for officers and enlisted men of the Armed Forces of the Philippines at Camp Murphy. Felipe Buencamino, Jr. reports to the President that 30,000 cavans of rice will be harvested from the 700‘hectare area under cultivation by the Government in the Ala Valley, Cotabato, beginning the end of August, and that some 300 hectares there planted to mongos will be harvested in October. He states that with the aid of tractors some 1000 hectares a month will henceforth be put under the plow in the Ala Valley and some 500 a month at Maramag, Bukidnon, until the cul tivated area will reach 12,000 in the former region and 5,000 in the latter. Sept. 3 — Announced by Secretary of Public Works and Communications Prospero Sanidad that construction on thj Bonga irrigation system in the Ilocos region will soon be started. The system will be one of the largest in Northern Luzon with a main canal of 58 kilometers and 2 tunnels 1,700 meters in aggregate length. The system will place over 4,000 hectares of land under irrigation around Dingras and Laoag. September 6 — The President administers the oath of ofv fice to Jose E. Romero, newly appointed Minister to London, who is leaving 'Shortly for his new post. He will serve con currently as Minister to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. The Cabinet authorizes the release of Pl,000,000 for sev eral flood-control project, including drainage in Manila, — the others in Pampanga and Bulacan, Pangasinan, Mindoro, and Antique. The Cabinet authorizes Civil Aeronautics Administrator Andres O. Cruz, who is leaving for Washington this week, to make representations with the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Admi nistration for additional technical and financial assistance for the Philippine civil aviation program. Sept. 7 — The President on behalf of the Government accepts a check for Pl,000,000 transferred to him by James Mcl. Henderson, Philippine Alien Property Administrator, re presenting a part of the proceeds of former Japanese pro perties sold by the PAPA. Deputy Auditor General Pedro M. Gimenez takes his oath of office as Acting Auditor General during the absence of Auditor General Manuel Agregado, now on official business abroad. Sept. 8 — The President leaves on the S.S. Arffu* on an electioneering trip to the Visayas and Mindanao. He is accompanied by Secretary of Education P. Langcauon, Social Welfare Commissioner A. A. Perez, Senators T. Cabili and E. Magalona, Generals M. N. Castaneda and A. Ramos, and members of his personal staff. Sept. 10 — Executive Secretary T. Evangelista, by author ity of the President, releases P310.000 for the construction of bridges in Batangas, Bulacan, Ilocos Norte, Laguna, Pampan ga, and Rizal. Sept. 16 — The Supreme Court after a rehearing of the executive emergency power cases, in a 6 to 3 decision, pro mulgated today, nullifies the Executive Orders on the budget and the election appropriations, the decision to take effect after 30 days. Chief Justice M. V. Moran, who at first de ferred his vote, this time voted with the majority. In the case involving the “existence of the emergency powers”, how ever, the old decision of 5 against the existence and 4 for the existence still stands, and this is not conclusive on an is sue which requires a majority of 6. Sept. 19 — Secretary of Finance Pio Pedrosa states in a radiocast: "We have succeeded in maintaining our dollar reserves at the safe level of about P668.000.000, more than enough to keep the value of uur peso stable and to meet all our standing commitments and obligations abroad. Don't believe all these alarming reports that our reserves are almost gone. It is not true." Sept. 20 — Malacanan announces release of P228,130.75 for the improvement of various commercial air navigation fa cilities at Baguio, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Laoag, Legaspi, Rosario (Cavite), Zamboanga, and Manila. Sept. 21 — President Quirino, in Capiz, hails the election of Ambassador Carlos P. Romulo as President of the General Assembly of the United Nations as “one more feather in the cap of the Filipino nation”. Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs Neri states it is an— "indication of the increasing importance of the role the Philippines has nssumed in international affairs and reflects the decided shift of the world's attention to Asia and the Far East..." Sept. 23 — The President and his party return to Manila. Sept. 22 — The President sends the following message to Ambassador Romulo: "My heartiest congratulations. I am very happy and our people re joice with us over your election. Our increasing responsibility in our International relatione makes us all the more determined to be worthy of world confidence. I pray God that He give us light, strength, and vision to justify and fulfill our mission. You have fulfilled yours. I am proud ef It.” Sept. 24 — The President at a meeting of the Cabinet Instructs Secretary of Commerce and Industry Balmaceda, in his capacity as a member of the Board of the National Rice and Corn Corporation, to reduce the price of rice to P.90 a ganta, to take effect immediately. Announced by Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs Neri that the President has designated Consul General Jose Melencio in New York as fifth member of the Philippine dele gation to the present session of the United Nations General Assembly. He also announces that the Thailand Government has designated Luang Bhadravadi as Minister to the Phil ippines; this official has occupied various diplomatic positions in London, the Hague, and Paris from 1929 to 1947, and served recently as director general of Eastern political affairs in the Thailand foreign ministry. Sept. 25. — The President, accompanied by Secretary of Interior S. Baluyut, senatorial candidates T. Cabili and L. Sumulong, and others, visits the “Huk country”, stopping briefly at Apalit, and then going on the San Fernando, Pampanga, and from there to Tarlac, Tarlac. Sept. 26 — The President returns to Manila after spend ing the night at Panique, Tarlac. He was prevented from going on the Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, because of a sprained ankle. Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources P. L. Mapa states in a radio address that the production of rice has risen from an all-time low of 37,000,000 cavans in 1945-46, 49,900,000 in 1946-47, 53,000,000 in 1947-48, and 56,620,000 in 1948-49, the latter figure being almost 3,000,000 more than the best pre-war production of 53,698,000. Prospects for a still larger harvest in 1949-50 are bright. He states also that present irrigation systems now water 725,000 hectares and that 22 other irrigation projects are under construction. The present area under rice amounts to 2,164,100 hectares as compared to 2,080,380 before the war. There are no less than 1,000 native varieties of rice which yield an average of only 25 to 30 cavans a hectare. Plant experts have been work ing on the improvement of some 50 varieties of these to a point where they yield from 50 to 120 cavans a hectare. The Department is now spreading their use. Of the 29,000,000 hectares of land in the archipelago, 19,000,000 are potential agricultural lands and of these only 11,000,000 are claimed as private property, leaving 8,000,000 hectares available for the landless. Sept. 27 — The President authorizes the payment of two months’ back-pay to pre-war government employees, the Phil ippine National Bank to advance the funds in the form of loans at a discount of 2%, the transaction being secured by the Governmer-.t’s back-pay sinking fund which accumulates at the rate of Pl ,800,000 a month. Last December one month’s 437 back pay was granted under the same conditions, in the amount of P3,520,920.64. Payment of the two months’ back-pay will probably begin on October 15 The President on the recommendation of the Under-Sec retary of Foreign Affairs and with the concurrence of the Cabinet authorizes the Surplus Property Commission to ex tend credit to the Republic of Indonesia for the purchase of certain surplus goods from the Commission. Recently the In donesian application was withdrawn because of certain re quirements of the Commission, and these will now be relaxed, the President being desirous of strengthening Philippine-Indonesian relations. The Office of Public Information, Malacanan, announces that the organization has been completed for a daily 30-minute broadcast at 10 a.m. of news of the day, at dictation-speed, over the government radio station, DZFM. Under supervi sion of the Radio Control Board, battery receiving sets have been distributed to remote communities and certain officials have been designated to transcribe and post the transcriptions on bulletin boards in public places. The Department of Edu cation is also encouraging schools in such localities to acquire receiving sets so that they may also make use of these broad casts. Sept. 28 — The Department of Foreign Affairs announces that the Philippines will open its first consular mission in In donesia about the middle of October with Vicente Pastrana as consul and Marciano Joven as vice-consul with headquarters in Batavia, the Netherlands Government having accorded these men provisional recognition. The Department of Foreign Affairs announces that the Korean Government has made an offer to sell apples to the Philippines either for cash or on a barter basis, Korea hoping for timber, coconut oil, and rope in exchange. The apples range in price from $4 to $7 a box of 150, weighing 42 pounds. month, the reserves having decreased only $1,600,000. Substantial amounts of dollars received from the U.S. Treasury to cover war-damage payments off-set most of the excess dollar disbursements made to cover the continuing unfavorable trade balance. The Central Bank has released the following sta tistics which had been compilled from the records of the Bureau of the Treasury and the Accounting Department of the Central Bank: MONEY SUPPLY* Banking and Finance By C. V. Grant Sub-Monager, National City Bank of New York COMPARATIVE figures of assets and liabilities of the Central Bank follow: (in thousands of Pesos) ASSETS International Reserve . #.. As of Jan. Si P714.969 As of July 30 P573.031 • As of Aug. 31 P569.809 Contribution to Interna tional Monetary Fund .. 30,000 30,000 30,000 Account to Secure Coinage 113,106 113,306 113,306 Loans and Advances ........ _ — 10,000 Domestic Securities ............ _ 10,354 18,287 Due from Treasurer of Philippines ....................... — — 12,569 Other Assets ....................... 19,320 23,627 24,090 P877.395 P750.318 P778.061 LIABILITIES Currency: Notes ............... P621,521 P505.179 P502.949 Coins ................ 73,035 74,112 73,935 Demand Deposits: Pesos .. 169,351 116,269 145,048 Dollars _ 11,637 ♦ 11,700 Securities Stabilization Fund ................................ 2,000 2,000 2,000 Due to Int’l Monetary Fund — 22,499 22,499 Due to Int’l Bank for Reconstruction and Development..................... — 2,392 2,392 Other Liabilities................. 1,488 2,262 3,092 Capital ................................ 10,000 10,000 10,000 Undivided Profits ............. — 3,968 4,446 P877.395 P750.318 P778,061 * Note: The Demand Deposit liabilities in U.S. Dollars are deposits of the Treasurer of the Philippines which are temporarily being kept in foreign currency. These amounts are included on the asset side as part of the International Reserve. The figure for the International Reserve of the nation as released in the August 31st report of the Central Bank showed little change from the previous End of Month 1948 Jnnunry Februnry May'* July September October November December 1949 January February April May Notes in Cir culation Demand Deposits Manager's Deposits Other Cashier's of Nat'l Savings Time Checks, etc. Total Treasurer Deposits Deposits 551 541 539 542 618 626 521 633 540 566 568 576 442 454 485 472 445 593 640 597 611 621 607 6 999 45 6 1,001 30 7 1,031 25 6 1,020 63 6 969 84 7 1,126 57 6 1,167 11 6 1,136 62 6 1,112 74 5 1,171 43 6 1,186 45 11 1,194 22 219 18 221 20 220 19 218 19 218 20 221 20 225 20 226 21 230 21 230 21 228 21 227 22 672 671 670 588 552 536 July (tentative) 527 617 589 556 568 540 645 522 7 1,196 16 6 1,166 16 7 1,133 17 1,163 17 6 1,107 16 6 1,087 20 6 1,054 19 236 23 236 24 236 27 236 28 237 28 239 30 240 80 * Money supply consists of the peso demand deposit) government deposits and overdraft lines. currency issued minus cash in banks; plus liabilities of banks, excluding) the national inter-bank deposits, but including unused The announcement of the depreciation of ster ling received here early in the morning of September 19 had little immediate effect on the local business and financial communities. However, as a result of the 30% depreciation in sterling currencies, the pro ducts of the soft-currency areas should be in a con siderably better competitive position vis-a-vis “dollar area” merchandise. On the other hand, it will be come more costly for sterling area countries to pur chase with their depreciated currencies products of the dollar areas. The new rates for the various currencies re valued as a result of the .devaluation of the pound sterling follow: Australia — pound ................................ $2.24 Belgium — franc .................................. .02 Burma — rupee ............................................. 21 Canada — dollar .................................. $ .91 Ceylon — rupee .............................................. 21 Denmark — kroner ............................... .1450 Egypt — pound ..................................... 2.87 Finland — mark ............................................ 00431 France — franc ............................................. 00285 Greece — drachma ......................................... 000066 Hongkong — dollar ............................... .1750 Iceland — kronur .......................................... 106 India — rupee .................................................21 Indonesia — guilder .......................................2635 Iraq — dinar ......................................... 2.80 Ireland — pound ................................... 2.80 Italy — lira .....................................................0016 Luxembourg — franc ....................................02 Malaya — Straits-dollar ..............................3250 Netherlands — guilder ..................................2635 New Zealand — pound ......................... 2.80 Norway — kroner ..........................................14 Portugal — escudo .........................................034965 South Africa — pound ......................... 2.80 Sweden — kronor .......................................... 193376 United Kingdom — pound ................... 2.80 For prime business the banks are quoting Tele graphic Transfer 201.25 selling and 200.625 buying for spot exchange. 438
pages: 437-438