A two-storey building of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Siquijor province will soon be completed along Baluarte St. Poblacion, Siquijor, Siquijor.
With a project cost of P2 million, construction of the DOST building was started in June this year and is expected to finish in the middle part of October also this year, says Provincial Director Engr. Mario E. de la Peña of the DOST here.
De la Peña said he is very thankful to the local government of Siquijor for the support and the donation of a 150-sq.m. lot for the building.
He said the LGU-Siquijor has been very supportive in its effort to give better services to the people. Aside from the donation of lot, the provincial director said, Siquijor LGU is also one of the DOST’s strong partner in the development of Science and Technology (S & T) in the region through implementation of various S&T programs.
Recently, he said, the DOST approved the establishment of a public library in the town to cater to the information needs of its constituents, especially students.
Entitled "Science and Technology Support to the Establishment of Public Library Services," the project has a total cost of some P444,115; P200, 000 of which will be funded out of the DOST’s grant-in-aid (GIA) and P244, 115 as the LGU counterpart, de la Peña said.
A memorandum of agreement was signed earlier by the DOST and the LGU-Siquijor jointly "pledging to extend their full cooperation for the effective and efficient implementation of a project to diffuse scientific and technical knowledge through the library system."
Both projects are part of the government initiatives to pump-prime the economy which are also attributed to the tough economic reforms instituted by the Arroyo administration several years ago.
Among the notable economic reforms implemented by President Arroyo include the expanded value added tax (EVAT) law which increased the amount of VAT from 10 to 12 percent. It has been heralded as the single biggest act that led to the surge in revenue collection.
The national attrition law which pushed revenue collecting agencies to work double time to reach revenue targets or face consequences and the tobacco excise tax according to her, have also greatly contributed to the record breaking tax collections recorded by the government.
The EVAT and the National Attrition Law were both enacted by President Arroyo in 2005 while the tobacco excise tax under Republic Act No. 7171 was implemented in 1992.
The President said that aside from shielding the country from the adverse effects of the global meltdown, the economic reforms have also propped up the image of the Philippines as a very viable investment site.
"These (economic reforms) have created a firewall that eases the pressures of the global economic crisis and also, they position us well to have a good environment for more investments and business in the Philippines," the President said.
She noted, however, that the Philippine economy has had it share of downtime too.
"Of course there are challenges. While our growth has been positive, it’s been slower," the President said.
To address this, the President pointed out that the country has embarked on a "spending spree" on vital human and physical infrastructures.
"So, we are working tirelessly to secure our food, fuel and rice needs. We are investing in energy and rice self-sufficiency. We’re investing in education. We are investing in human and physical infrastructure and this will also position and accelerate growth when the world economy rebounds," the President said. - Philippine Information Agency, 06 August 2009
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment