11 May 2017

From Presidential Spokesperson Ernie Abella – On the Travel Advisory for Palawan Province
Public safety is everyone’s concern. We assure everyone that the government is on top of the situation and authorities, particularly those in the Western Command (WESCOM) which covers the province of Palawan, are on heightened alert to prevent any untoward incidents.

WESCOM, along with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), as well as the Provincial Government of Palawan and the City Government of Puerto Princesa, are in close coordination in enforcing law and order. All units and assets are being utilized to ensure maximum security to deny any terrorist group’s entry and access in the high seas and coastal areas.

We urge everyone’s cooperation, including residents and tourists, to be mindful and immediately report to law enforcement units any questionable individual or activity in the areas.


From Presidential Spokesperson Ernie Abella – On the PH 24th UN ranking in terms of access to infrastructure
We acknowledge The Asia-Pacific Countries with Special Needs Report 2017 of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) showing that the Philippines is ranked 24th out of 41 Asia and the Pacific countries in terms of access to infrastructure.

We recognize the infrastructure backlog left by previous governments, thus, at the beginning of the term of the President, the Duterte administration’s economic managers have already vowed to accelerate infrastructure investments.

Ten months after, we now have an aggressive infrastructure program, which we call Build Build Build, which aims to construct a network of roads, bridges, railways and airports to spur economic growth and lower poverty.