President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will tap all the newly-elected barangay officials in the country to take an active role in the fight against poverty and the promotion of good governance in their respective areas.

In pursuit of her State of the Nation Address (SONA) to build a strong Republic, the President has tasked the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to start this month a series of orientation and enhancement courses for the newly-elected and re-elected barangay officials in the recently concluded synchronized barangay polls.

DILG Secretary Jose Lina said the new set of barangay officials would undergo training under the auspices of the Barangay Governance and Development Program (BGDP) starting August 15.

Expected to join the traning program are no less than 335,544 punong barangays (village officials) and kagawad (councilmen) members of the country’s 41,943 barangays.

Lina said the Local Government Academy, the training arm of the department, has prepared a number of modules for the training activities of the newly-elected or re-elected barangay officials.

The orientation course, will be divided into five modules namely, Barangay and Its Environment; The Barangay Government; Managing the Administrative Challenges; Charting the Destiny of the Barangay; and Barangay Performance Management.

In the enhancement course, the barangay officials will be taught on Strategic Planning; Building Community Partnership and Networking; Budgeting and Financial Management Analysis; Resource Mobilization, Maintaining Public Safety; Basic Services Delivery; Project Management; Solid Waste Management, Leadership and Livelihood Development.

The courses are designed to address the competency gaps of barangay officials as leaders of local communities and as managers of local development.

"2002 is a critical year for us with the election of thousands of barangay officials who will need training on the various aspects of barangay administration," Lina said.

To ensure the effective conduct of the training activities, the Local Government Academy in coordination with the Philippine-Canada Local Support Program, has conducted a trainors’ training for DILG regional and field officers who will serve as trainors for the barangay orientation and enhancement courses.

More people are enjoying financial relief and a lot of savings from plunging power rates in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

"I used to budget P1,700 from my measly income to pay my monthly power bill. Last June and July, I was relieved to find out that my electric bills went down to P1,200 and P1,000, respectively," says Myrna Rodriguez, a government employee who lives in Kamuning, Quezon City.

"I could use the savings for more important things like more food on our table, small home repairs, new clothes for the children or a first-aid kit," echoes Francis Apoderado of Sta. Cruz, Manila whose P2,000 electric bill in June went down by over P500 in July.

Like them, newshen Baby Cayaba is glad the government has taken a fearless stand in cutting down the costs of power.

"Thanks to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, everyone’s future is becoming brighter," Cayaba said, narrating that she and husband Cris could not believe their eyes when they saw their July power bill. "It was all of P1,080. In June, it was P1,800 and in May, P2,500."

A Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) report shows that the year-on-year inflation in July 2002 has slowed down to 2.6 percent from 3.0 percent in June 2002, mainly due to the 3.9-percent dip in electric bills associated with the cut in purchased power adjustment (PPA) costs.

Homemakers and domestic budget czarinas Virginia Aquino of Taytay, Rizal and Lolita Narcasi of General Mariano Alvarez in Cavite share a common observation. Both are looking forward to increasing their assets, perhaps a washing machine, a small refrigerator or a colored 14-inch television to grace their homes, since they now have power bill "savings."

Maximo Agustin of Pulilan, Bulacan, with his "extra money," hopes to buy a few pieces of aluminum roofing and plywood "to make his house more livable." Agustin’s power bill went down to P700 in July from over P1,000 in May.

Metro Manilans and those in nearby provinces are within reach of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s bid to provide the urban and rural poor more ways to enjoy the benefits of a productive life and a secure environment.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye today said Malacaņang has yet to see a copy of an announcement made by the United States State Department naming the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) as a foreign terrorist group.

In a media teleconference, Bunye said he was told by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Lauro Baja Jr. that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has not received any official transmittal from American officials on the matter.

"Maybe we should wait a little while until we get the final documents," he said.

He said he was sure the DFA and other concerned agencies would get together, sit down, discuss, evaluate and come up with an official government position once the American announcement on the CPP-NPA comes in.

Among those he said who compose the review group included the DFA, the National Security Adviser and maybe, the defense establishment.

Since the documents have not yet arrived, "I do not think we should pre-empt the decision or whatever type of response the group would have," he added, stressing that any response would be based on existing Philippine laws.

Bunye also clarified that as per practice, a US State Department declaration of an organization as a foreign terrorist group "is limited to restricting financial contributions to the identified organizations."

"They are just prohibiting (US citizens) from contributing and otherwise extending aid to (terrorist) organizations and they will restrict entry or travel of members of the organizations in the US," he said.

Malacaņang said today the government has kept its communication lines open to the communists and is ever ready to welcome them back into the fold of the law.

In a telephone interview with Palace reporters, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said that two days ago, the government even designated two additional negotiators to show its sincerity in pursuing the peace process with the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front and the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA-NDF).

He also said a withdrawal of the CPP-NDF-NPA from the peace talks would be an unfortunate turn of events, stressing that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s "guideline is to keep the communication lines open."

Bunye also said "it’s a pity" that many of the people who have been recruited into the communist organization "are not real ideologues."

These are people you always have to be ready to welcome back, he added.

Bunye also said the redeployment of military troops from Mindanao to other parts of the country is aimed to take defensive positions in areas which are perceived to be threatened.

He explained that those troops that were previously pulled out from Luzon and the Visayas were actually assigned to Mindanao at the height of the problem on Abu Sayyaf Group in the area.

Since the Armed Forces of the Philippine (AFP) has already effectively reduced the threat level posed by the Abu Sayyaf, he said it is now felt that the government troops can be redeployed to their original assignments.

Bunye sought to clarify anew reports on the alleged "all-out war" against the communist armed groups.