The Monetary Board (MB) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) today kept the key policy rates unchanged at 7 percent for the overnight borrowing or RRP rate and 9.25 percent for the overnight lending or RP rate.

The BSP’s policy rates have been on an even keel since March 15, a report reaching Malacaņang said.

Based on the assessment of a comprehensive set of information bearing on the inflation outlook, the MB believed that inflation would continue to be generally benign in the near term due mainly to positive supply-side factors.

These factors included expectations of adequate food supply, recent moderation in oil prices and the broad stability in the exchange rate as well as continued softness in demand conditions, although there were signs of improving economic activity.

But the Board said that while the near-term risks to inflation have diminished, inflationary headwinds could still surface over the policy horizon.

These pressures could be in the form of uncertainties concerning the full impact of the El Niņo weather phenomenon on agricultural output, a possible uptrend in world oil prices and the adjustments in power and water rates and their expected second-round effects on the prices of other commodities and on wages.

The MB also pointed out that the stimulus from the external sector could not be as strong as earlier anticipated, given the uncertainty about the timing and pace of the economic upturn in the United States and other major economies.

Based on these considerations, the Board viewed that monetary policy should continue to focus on ensuring conditions to strengthen domestic demand.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is not concentrating her sights on the 2004 presidential elections but is carrying on specific programs to attract more investments, fight crimes and eradicate poverty within the decade.

"Ang kanyang pinagtutuunan ng pansin ay hindi muna yung elections ng 2004 (Her administration is not focusing on the 2004 elections)," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in an interview.

Bunye also noted that in the reported IBON survey, which reportedly showed the President trailing behind other personalities if elections were held today, 27 percent of those surveyed was undecided.

"In my opinion, the elections are still far, and second, we are seeing that not everyone is giving his opinion as to whether they would vote for one particular candidate or not," Bunye said.

Bunye cited the President’s improved satisfaction in another independent survey as indicative of the real sentiment of the people.

A few days after the President’s State of the Nation’s Address, her satisfaction rating rose significantly and her approval rating marked a directional increase, compared to a month ago in a public opinion survey conducted by HB&A Research International, Bunye said.

The HB&A study showed that 48 percent of the respondents were "nasisiyahan (satisfied)" with the President’s performance, as against 40 percent in the June study, or an increase of +8 percentage points. Dissatisfaction dropped to 29 percent in the July study from 32 percent in June.

"Yun ay magandang indikasyon na unang una, sa SONA, pinakita ng ating Pangulo, ito yung aking nagawa at ito yung aking gagawin. Diyan nag-react itong mga tao (This is a good indication that the President was able to convey in her SONA the programs that she had accomplished and what she intends to do. This is where the people reacted positively)," Bunye said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today urged employers to be extra careful in hiring family drivers who could later turn out to be a member of a kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) gang.

The President called on people to avail themselves of government services that verify if the person to be hired has criminal records. This included police and barangay clearances.

She also disclosed government moves to make employers avail themselves of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearances on-line.

She said she would ask Justice Secretary Hernando Perez if the NBI on-line services have been put in place.

"I urge everyone to use this means as a first line of defense against hiring potential threats to your family safety," she said during the presentation of four KFR suspects said to have been involved in the abduction of 15-year-old Kathleen Pacquing last July 23.

The Pacquing’s family driver, Nelson Pilar, was one of the suspects presented. Pacquing was freed on July 30. Police arrested Pilar and three others on Thursday (August 1) in their lair in Imus, Cavite.

A report from the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response (PACER) unit named the three other suspects as Joseph Randy Mendoza, 32; Maria Victoria Acuatin, 38; and Joselito Mortega, 31. Still at large is Joselito Diaz.

The PACER report said Pilar admitted to have provided information on the victim’s movements.

Most of the suspects have been earlier charged with various crimes to include homicide and rape, the report added.

The President lauded the joint elements of PACER, National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) and Imus Police Station for their quick action.

The police "is working double time hunting down the 21 target KFR groups," she said, adding that the police have also been solving current cases while rescuing Kidnap victims and arresting their kidnappers.

"Every arrest and every rescue brings us closer to our goal. There will be no rest until kidnappers get the justice they deserve," she stressed.

Philippine National Police Chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. presented the four suspects to the President and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina, Jr.

The President said this was not the first time that a family driver has been involved in a KFR incident.

She recalled that Florante Concepcion, arrested by the PACER unit last July, was part of the group that abducted his employer, Mary Grace Cheng Rosagas, in June.

Concepcion was also presented to the President in Malacaņang last July 21, a day before she delivered her State of the Nation Address (SONA) that focused on the government’s tenacious fight against criminality.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive handed over the reward money worth some P853,000 to a friend of a police informant for the latter’s contribution to the successful police bust of a shabu laboratory in Varsity Hills in Quezon City last July 18.

The Philippine and Spanish governments have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to improve food sufficiency, specifically rice and fish, in the Caraga region.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) signed for the Philippine government while the Agencia Espanola de Cooperacion International (AECI) represented the Spanish government.

A NEDA report said the MOA provided a program worth some P102 million expected to benefit the people in four towns, namely, Jabaonga in Agusan del Norte; Prosperidad and Sta. Josefa in Agusan del Sur; and Tandag, Surigao del Sur.

The report said the program would be carried out in two phases.

Phase I, which covers one year, costs P42.12 million with the AECI providing P36.92 million and the municipal governments sharing P5.266 million as counterpart fund.

The MOA covers only Phase I which has four components: the putting up of three farm level grains center (FLGC) and of 24 small warehouses in the identified towns; provision of facilities for Tandag fishport; strengthening of people’s organization and setting up of a project management office.

The FLGCs will be equipped with mechanical dryers, rice mills, moisture meters, hauling trucks and other equipment needed for packaging and handling milled rice.

The small warehouses will be provided with a flatbed mechanical dryer. The FLGC component includes the provision of operating capital for partner-cooperatives.

For the Tandag fishport, only the preparation of a feasibility study and detailed engineering for the port facilities will be undertaken. But with the implementation of Phase II, an ice plant and cold storage and a market center building for the fish port will be built.

Phase II, to be implemented in two years, costs P59.73 million with P40.13 from the AECI and the rest, to be shouldered by the respective municipal governments.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is looking for a person with integrity and competence to replace outgoing Ombudsman Aniano Desierto.

Press Secretary and Acting Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye today said that as far as the President was concerned, the recommendation of Judicial Bar Council (JBC) would be respected.

"Naniniwala siya sa kakayanan ng JBC na mag-submit ng mga pangalan ng mga tao na talagang may sapat na qualification (The President believes in the ability of the JBC to recommend persons who qualify)," Bunye said during his regular press briefing.

He said he still had no idea who the potential candidates were for the position Desierto would vacate. Desierto’s term ends today.

He added that the JBC, headed by Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr., would be releasing only the list of candidates until the position has been formally vacated.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today presented to the media at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters three suspected counterfeiters and thousands of pieces of fake United States currency and bank notes totaling quadrillions of dollars which were confiscated during separate operations in Manila and Quezon City.

In a statement, the President identified the arrested suspects as Rustico Cabillar, 46, a resident of Sarmiento, Novaliches, Quezon City; Marnelli Pepino, 22, also of Novaliches, Quezon City; and Jose Rogando of Tondo, Manila.

The President said the seizure of the counterfeit money is so far the biggest made by government authorities.

The suspects were arrested during joint operations of the NBI and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Investigation report showed that the suspects tried to sell several pieces of $100 bills to NBI informants at the cheap price of P600 each.

Yesterday, the combined NBI-BSP operatives caught suspect Rogando in the act of receiving marked money after the latter handed over 150 pieces of fake US dollar bills to a government agent posing as a buyer in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

During investigation, Rogando pointed to Cabillar as the source of the fake US bills.

Seized from the suspects were numerous US Federal Reserve notes, Wells Fargo bank certificates, thousands of fake $100 bills, transparencies, printing equipment and other paraphernalia that include computer and several compact discs.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will bat for a more humane treatment of Filipino deportees from the US, greater access of Philippine tuna in the US market and the lifting of a negative travel advisory on the Philippines when she meets United States Secretary of State Colin Powell tomorrow, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said today.

On the eighth and last leg of his Asian tour, Powell is due to arrive in Manila this evening fresh from signing a pact in Brunei with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) aimed at making the region more responsive to future terrorist threats.

Bunye said the President is expected to meet with Powell around 9 a.m. in Malacaņang.

The President is also expected to likewise raise the invitation for President George W. Bush to visit the Philippines in the near future, Bunye said.

Bunye said the President would also take up the plight of Filipino World War II veterans in her meeting with the US official.

The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) is not expected to be taken up as it is not included in the talking points between the Philippine and US sides, Bunye said.

"Definitely, the President announced that they will not be discussing the MLSA and we have indications also from the other side that Secretary Powell will not bring that up," Bunye said.

Bunye said the President’s meeting with Powell would be "a very brief five-minute meeting."

The two would move on to a small-group meeting followed by an expanded meeting with other government officials.

Around 10:30 a.m., Secretary Powell and Foreign Secretary Blas Ople will hold a joint press conference at the Heroes Hall.

Under the US-Asean agreement, the US will raise its technical and logistical aid to Asean "to prevent, disrupt and combat" international terrorism.

The Philippines is the last stop for Powell who has already visited India, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia.

In Powell’s speech last month before the Asia Society in New York City, he expressed elation over the Philippine-US cooperation against terrorism.

"I am proud, so proud, that American forces are helping to train and equip their Philippine Army counterparts to combat groups such as the Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist organization which regularly kidnaps, as you know too well, civilians for ransom," he said.

On the issue of the US role in the Asian region, Powell said the United States would continue to be the "balance wheel of security in Asia" upon which the region's stability depends.

"There should be no doubt that America's commitment to Asia's security and stability is an enduring one, for Asia's sake and for our own. We are a Pacific power. We will not yield our strategic position in Asia," the secretary said

A retired US military officer, Powell is the first black secretary of state in US history.

The son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell was born in New York City and attended the City College of New York where he was a cadet in the Reserve Officers Training Corps.

After serving two tours of duty in the Vietnam War (1962-1963, 1968-1969), Powell held a succession of important military and civilian positions, becoming national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan in 1987.

Promoted to the rank of four-star general in April 1989, Powell was named chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in August, the first black officer to hold the nation's highest military post.

Powell played a pivotal role in planning and executing the invasion of Panama in 1989 and the Persian Gulf War (1991).