Malacaņang today said the Pulse Asia survey that showed a slight decline of the net performance rating of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was conducted sometime in July and should not be equated with the survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) early this month.

In a radio interview, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said that like the SWS, Pulse Asia is also a credible organization. However, one should look into the inclusive dates when the two surveys were made, he added.

Bunye said that the Pulse Asia survey that showed the President’s net approval rating dropping to +31 from +36 in April was undertaken in July this year.

He said that on the other hand, the SWS survey that showed the President’s net satisfaction rating of 55 percent, or +27 net satisfaction rating, was conducted from August 6 to 9, 2002.

"Mas maaga yong Pulse Asia, so mahirap mong i-compare, para kang nag-compare ng apple at orange (The Pulse Asia survey was done ahead (in July) so it is difficult to make a comparison)," Bunye said.

The President has attributed her good showing at the SWS survey to three factors, namely the partial reduction of the purchased power adjustment (PPA), the defeat of the Abu Sayyaf, and the continued drive against criminality.

All these three positive developments happened in late July and were reflected in the August SWS survey, Bunye said.

Bunye also belied claims that the SWS survey was tainted because it was allegedly funded by groups close to First Gentleman lawyer Jose Miguel Arroyo.

"We kept on saying that the SWS is an independent organization and that its president, Mahar Mangahas, has a reputation that he enjoys in the community at hindi naman basta-basta pagagamit (and would not allow himself to be used by just anybody)," Bunye said.

Malacanang today confirmed that there are proposals to abolish some 14 offices but these are small ones whose functions can be absorbed by some existing agencies.

In a radio interview, Budget and Management Secretary Emilia Boncodin said the abolition of these agencies has been studied thoroughly by the Presidential Committee on Effective Governance (PCEG).

Boncodin said that these agencies, with 10 or 20 employees, have functions that have become redundant because they are already being done by other offices or departments.

"Baka mas efficient kung isasama na lamang sa isang existing agency (Maybe it would be more efficient if they would just be merged with an existing agency)," Boncodin said.

Boncodin, however, clarified that all these are still being studied by the PCEG. In fact, she said, the proposed 2003 national budget to be submitted to the House of Representatives tomorrow would still include the appropriations for these 14 small agencies.

The budget secretary also said that those to be affected by the proposed abolition would be offered "generous retirement benefits.

She said that the DBM would see to it that the delay in the release of benefits for those affected by the reorganization at the Philippine National Police would not happen again.

Boncodin also said that the administration is confident that it will be able to meet its revenue targets next year to finance the proposed 2003 national budget of P804 billion.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed its stable rating on the Philippines, saying the fiscal deficit running up to about 3.9 percent would still be within "tolerable limits" and that the country exhibits none of the unstable debt dynamics associated with Brazil and Turkey.

In its latest evaluation made available to Malacaņang and the Department of Finance, the ratings firm said the fiscal deficit would still maintain a downward trend in the deficit and the public debt/gross domestic product ratios.

Fitch noted that the Philippines had "few parallels with Brazil" given the backdrop of events in Latin America.

"The Philippines exhibits none of the unstable debt dynamics – pervasive indexation, short maturities and high real interest rates – associated with Brazil and Turkey," Fitch said.

It went on to say that "the government’s modest demands on international capital markets, the absence of an external financing gap in 2002-03 and comfortable external liquidity should work to the Philippines’ advantage," it added.

The ratings firm also said that on past occasions when the Philippines has been shut out of international capital markets, "it has encountered little difficulty refinancing debt in the domestic market."

"Today’s benign inflation and interest rate environment and ample liquidity mean that the government has rarely enjoyed more favorable domestic borrowing conditions," it said.

Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho welcomed the latest stable rating, saying he would like to acknowledge the goodwill that Fitch Ratings has afforded the Macapagal-Arroyo administration amid the fiscal challenges the government is addressing.

Camacho said Fitch Ratings’ comment attests to its confidence on the Philippine Economic Plan and its progress on maintaining a stable macroeconomic environment and shepherding economic reforms.

Camacho noted that Fitch recognizes that there are time lags on revenue increases from reforms that have been implemented at the Internal Revenue and Customs bureaus to support the 2002 deficit target.

The Philippine government currently enjoys relatively stable debt dynamics, including long maturities, low interest and inflation rates as well as a stable exchange rate and comfortable external position – a result of the government’s economic performance last year and its ongoing debt management strategy.

This strategy aims to take advantage of favorable borrowing conditions to reduce debt and servicing levels, lengthen the overall maturity of the debt portfolio and pre-fund external borrowing requirements.

"Not only have we significantly pre-funded our external borrowing requirements this year but these financing costs have declined by over 200 basis points. Generating significant interest savings equates with fiscal discipline," Camacho said.

In 2003, the government’s net financing requirements is estimated to be P136 billion, or 28 percent lower than this year’s and 56 percent of which is earmarked to be externally sourced.

The government has announced measures accelerating its collection enforcement, including the uncovering of a tax diversion scheme at the Land Bank, an executive order accelerating the prosecution of 312 firms identified for VAT under-declaration and the expansion to all taxpayers of the e-filing system recently put in place for large taxpayers.

"We are achieving some real, albeit initial, progress from our efforts to enforce revenue collections and we will continue to implement much-needed reforms to ensure a steady and sustainable improvement on this front," Camacho said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today directed the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security (COCIS) to continue to be vigilant in safeguarding vital installations in the country, particularly power plants and transmission lines

In a meeting in Malacaņang with members of COCIS and some 50 representatives of power plant operators in Southern Luzon, the President directed the Department of Justice, represented by Justice Undersecretary Manuel Antonio Teehankee, to come up with an Executive Order that would make the crime of sabotaging power facilities as economic sabotage.

The EO would also provide severe penalties against offenders, the President said.

The President called the meeting after her visit to Mauban, Quezon Monday to see for herself the security arrangements made by the military and the police in protecting the power plants located in Southern Luzon that are vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

She also created a task force to be headed by Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina, Jr. that would come up with very specific security measures for power plants and transmission lines in different parts of the country.

In a press briefing later, Energy Secretary Vicente Perez said that there were reports that elements of the New People’s Army (NPA) would attack the Pagbilao coal-fired power plant over the weekend, particularly last Saturday.

According to Perez, reports of the planned attack on the Pagbilao power plant came in the wake of a statement made by Communist Party of the Philippine founding chairman Jose Maria Sison that the NPA would stage coordinated attacks on all fronts against the government, including the sabotage of power facilities.

"Thanks to the vigilance of civilians in the area near Pagbilao, and the help of the military and the police, the planned attack on a very critical power facility was thwarted," Perez said.

The President reiterated that any disruption of power supply or other vital facilities are "really atrocious and desperate acts that will only aggravate the poverty and deepen the sufferings of the Filipino people."

"And we feel that, if indeed the threat of the NPA is true, it will only incur the wrath of innocent people that will be affected by the inconvenience of power loses but also people who will suffer untold economic damages by disruptions of electricity," Perez said.

The President urged the various sectors of the power sector community to take the necessary precautions and be ready with security measures to meet any contingencies.

The participants to the meeting included officials of some 15 power plants in Southern Luzon, with a total megawatt capacity of 6,500 megawatts, Transco transmission lines, and those from the power plants operated by the National Power Corporation.

TAYUG, Pangasinan – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo flew to this town this afternoon by presidential chopper to personally congratulate the Philippine National Police (PNP) of Region 1 (Ilocos) for the arrest of five suspected carnappers who were also charged with illegal possession of firearms and prohibited drugs.

The President cited the team of Chief Inspector Ricardo Revita, group director of 107 Police Mobile Group, and Chief Inspector Manuel Landingin, chief of police of Umingan, Pangasinan. The two are under the leadership of Police Chief Superintendent Arturo Lomibao, head of Police Regional Office I.

The President said that more significantly, one of the five carnapping suspects arrested is a police officer, who was suspended last July 11, 2002 for possession of 98 grams of shabu.

"Again, our police force is sending a clear message: the fight against crime makes no distinction between the man in uniform or the man in plainclothes. A criminal once identified as one will be dealt with in no uncertain terms," the President said.

The President said that the positive results of the joint operations of the 107 Police Mobile Group and the Umingan Police Station showed the united action of the pillars of the criminal justice system.

The barangay officials of Barangay San Leon, Umingan, Pangasinan led by Barangay Captain Pedro Hernandez and the legal advice of Tayug Regional Trial Courts Judges Oscar Uson and Judge Ulysses Botuyan, all contributed to the success of the operation, the President said.

Those arrested and presented to the media at Camp Narciso Ramos here were PO2 Elmer Ramos, Jason Javier, Eric Pacheco, Ronald Raymund Cabales and Edgardo Martinez.

Recovered from the suspects were the following: one blue Ford Lynx with plate number WRK 260 and one Toyota Corola model ’92 with plate number UFL 231.

The Toyota Corolla is included in the list of stolen motor vehicles at the PNP Traffic Management Group.

Also confiscated were M-14 rifle with serial number 1243989, one caliber .30 M2 carbine with serial number 1001563, one M-16 rifle with serial number RP150700, one rifle grenade and two bullet proof vest, one bandolier with several rounds of ammunition, and several car license plates.

The President has been criss-crossing the country as the police force has made major arrests on an almost daily basis.

Just last Friday, the President was in La Union to extend moral support to Jackie Rowena Tiu during the first day of her trial, and a few hours after, the President was at the National Capital Region Police Office where four corrupt policemen were arrested after they were caught in the act of extorting money from civilians.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today instructed the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Health and other concerned agencies to look into the well-being and welfare of hundreds of Filipino deportees in Malaysia.

In a press briefing this afternoon at Malacanang, Governor Parouk Hussin of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said most of these deportees come from the island-provinces of Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi.

Hussin said the ARMM has already organized medical teams of nurses, doctors and other health personnel to proceed to an island, the Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi, or Mapon since there are about 600 or 800 deportees that are already on the island.

He also said that he already instructed personnel from the Department of Health to proceed to as far as Sandakan "to look into the situation of our brother Filipinos in the area who are subjects of this deportation."

According to Hussin, their primary concern now is the resettlement of these deportees.

"My concern is about the resettlement of these people. They are coming in rather big numbers and some of them may have lived in Sabah for quite some time – ten years or maybe even more," he said, adding that it’s presumed that they do not have houses in the provinces where they came from.

"This must be seriously looked into. Otherwise, it will create problem," he said.

The ARMM governor said Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat has expressed apprehension on the big number of deportees coming into Zamboanga City, "even fearing that some of the refugees might be infiltrated by criminal elements."

Hussin noted that as head agency tasked by the President to look into the situation of the deportees, the Department of Social Welfare and Development "is doing its job remarkably well." He also stressed that the DOH is also doing its work for the welfare of the deportees.

For his part, Assistant Secretary Antonio Rodriguez of the Department of Foreign Affairs said the issue of deportation has been going on for quite a long time now.

From 1990 to 1996, for instance, Rodriguez said, an average of 500 Filipinos were deported from Malaysia.

He said that the deportation has intensified in 1997 and particularly this year.

Rodriguez said the DFA has so far issued 16,000 travel documents starting in February this year. "Their estimate is that, for every travel document that they issue, there are at least three additional family members because they don’t issue individual documents," he said.

The DFA official said more or less, some 64,000 Filipinos have already left for the Philippines and about 4,000 more Filipinos are waiting to be deported.

He brushed aside reports that it’s open season for all deportable foreign nationals.

"That is not true. The Malaysians have detention centers that can accommodate only 800 persons. So, the Malaysians can only actually deport 800 persons," he said.

Rodriguez also said the Malaysian government had acceded to the representations made by the Philippine Embassy and has extended the period of deportation to August 24, 2002.

"That’s why we hope to bring out all Filipinos who are deportable by the 24^th of this month," he added.

He said that the government has already sent a six-man team to Sabah to reinforce the consular team in the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

"Today, Undersecretary for Special Concerns, Attorney Arthur Brion and our Assistant Secretary for DFA Mindanao, Ambassador Rivas, are also scheduled to go to Zamboanga," he said.

The DFA also sent a three-man team to go to Bungao to meet the deportees going there.

Rodriguez stressed that the President has also instructed them to formalize and make more permanent the presence of a team in Sabah.