President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today approved the increase of the national budget for the next fiscal year from P800.7 billion to P804 billion, or an additional of P3.3 billion of the amount earlier proposed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

In today’s Cabinet Meeting in Malacaņang, the President stressed that next year’s budget should be able to lay the foundation of a strong Republic that she vowed to build in the coming year.

According to the President, the twin goals of the 2003 national budget will be to restore the country’s macro-economic stability and to win back investor confidence in the economy.

She also said that next year’s budget conforms to the priorities of her administration, namely to eliminate graft and corruption; ensure peace and order in the entire country; and provide basic services to the people, especially the poor.

The President said that the proposed general appropriations bill for FY 2003 would be submitted to the House of Representatives on August 21, or exactly one month after she delivered her second State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa.

The proposed 2003 national budget has a 3.3 deficit ratio to the gross domestic product (GDP). It is P23.2 billion more than the budget for this year, which is P780.8 billion.

With the increase in next year’s budget, the government has also increased its deficit target for 2003, from P138 billion to P142.1 billion. This year’s deficit target still stands at P130 billion.

For the year 2003, the government projects total revenues of P640.7 billion while total expenditures are expected to reach P782.8 billion.

Revenues for next year, aimed at shoring up resources to bankroll a strong Republic, would come from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), P465.6 billion; Bureau of Customs, P106.8 billion; other agencies, P7.6 billion; and from non-tax sources, P60.7 billion.

Also for next year, the country’s economic managers have forecast a 5.1 percent to 5.7 percent growth in the gross national product (GNP), and a 5.0 percent to 5.5 percent GDP growth.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will meet with Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Raul Roco "at the soonest possible time" in the hope of threshing out the issues involving the latter’s resignation from his Cabinet post.

In a statement read before Malacaņang reporters this afternoon, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said it was unfortunate that the ministerial act of referring charges filed against Roco by the DepEd employees union to the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) has been "blown out of proportion as to create the false impression that Roco is being eased out."

"The impression has no basis in truth and in fact," Bunye said.

In the same statement, Bunye stressed that the charges against the DepEd secretary had to be referred "as a matter of routine" to the PAGC in the same manner that charges against Justice Secretary Hernando Perez and Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit were earlier referred to the anti-graft body.

According to Bunye, the President and the members of the Cabinet recognize Roco’s dedication and exemplary service.

Bunye said the President has not yet accepted Roco’s resignation.

Early this morning, Roco tendered his letter of resignation to the President through Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo where he expressed his surprise over the report that PAGC would investigate him on the basis of the graft complaint filed by the DepEd employees union.

In his letter, Roco noted that since February 14, 2001, "I have served in the Cabinet with dedication and without fanfare."

The Philippine government has formally welcomed the declaration of the United States that the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) is a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

"The action of the US is not an interference in the internal affairs of the Philippines," Press Secretary and Acting Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a statement.

Bunye said that by using the term "communist," President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other government officials were simply trying to identify, in clear and candid terms, the ideological orientation of a given group or persons.

"The government proscribes and abhors the use of violence and terrorism, whether to attain political or plain criminal ends, whether done by communists or other ideologically-oriented groups," Bunye said.

According to Bunye, the CPP-NPA has engaged in terrorist acts against civilian targets such as extortion and arson; and destruction of public utilities and infrastructure, communications and power lines and transport facilities.

The CPP-NPA has also been engaged in the assassination of political leaders and innocent individuals as part of its overall objective of overthrowing the duly constituted government and the democratic system, Bunye said.

Bunye said that since there is no ceasefire between the government and the CPP-NPA, military and police operations against those who violate the laws of the land will continue.

But the government, Bunye said, will maintain open lines of communication with the leadership of the CPP-NPA "in the hope of ending their employment of violence and terrorism as a means to attain political ends, and to achieve national unity and reconciliation under the Constitution."

He also called on other communist organizations that are not engaged in unlawful acts to condemn the violence and terrorism being perpetrated by the CPP-NPA.