The death of Ninoy Aquino 19 years ago was a historical event in our nationhood. It breathed life to the restoration of Philippine democracy after a dark period of dictatorship.

In life, what Ninoy gave to the people was already greater than freedom. He inspired us to fight for it. He inspired us to be tough in struggle, even in despair and isolation; to be loyal to principles, and to a high vision.

Ninoy was motivated by his profound love for the Filipino. He truly believed that the Filipino was worth dying for. It was supreme human faith that drove him.

His assassination jolted our people from lethargy and galvanized the nation to put an end to decades of tyranny and exploitation. This is what we learned from his martyrdom: We must never let terror and injustice rule our lives again. We must safeguard our democracy and never allow the ascendancy of dictatorship.

Through the supreme sacrifice, Ninoy contributed a most valuable stone in building the edifice of a strong Republic.

Let this inspire us to commit ourselves to our fight against poverty, crime, terrorism and corruption. Let us all be vigilant for the rule of law and decency.

The Presidential Liaison Office for Political Affairs urged the left-leaning Bayan Muna to set aside its crystal ball and instead join President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Filipino people in the more important endeavor of nation building.

"We never thought that Bayan Muna’s other political tool is a crystal ball predicting what will happen two years hence," said Hezel Gacutan, chief of staff of the Presidential Liaison Office for Political Affairs in reply to the pronnoucement of Bayan Muna Deputy Secretary General Robert de Castro that the President would be "politically dead" by 2004.

"To begin with, the administration is more concerned with public service and addressing the problems of the country today," Gacutan said.

"Trabaho muna (Let’s do our work first), and let the people decide when the time comes," he added.

Meanwhile, the Peace for Development, a non-governmental organization of academicians, students and professionals, said the Bayan Muna statement is "more akin to a work of fiction rather than real life."

Melvin Mitra, chairman of Peace for Development, said that under the administration of what Bayan Muna referred to as a "politically dead president," the first-ever political summit was held in the country.

"The convention was a political exercise where most of the political parties participated in the spirit of cooperation, joining together in support of good governance," Peace for Development said.

Mitra said that aside from improving economic performance and increase in investor confidence in the country, the administration was able to achieve the following:

1. The country’s first comprehensive National Health Insurance Program directly benefiting 4 million urban poor families was instituted under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration;
2. Some 180,000 urban poor shelters have been provided;
3. Some 130,000 out-of-school youths have been employed;
4. Some 1,600 school buildings have been constructed and some 1,000 more are soon to be completed.

Malacaņang today belied reports that the government is running out of cash and may not be able to disburse funds needed for the day-to-day activities of the different agencies.

In an interview, Secretary Emilia Boncodin of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said that, in fact, the DBM has already released the notice of cash allocations (NCAs) for August and September this year of all government agencies.

Boncodin said that the DBM has requested government agencies to give priority to the mandatory requirements for their operations like salaries and payment of bills for water or electricity.

"Iyon ang pinaka-importante kasi baka merong isang ahensiya na maputulan ng tubig o ilaw (This is very important because water or power might be cut off in some agencies)," Boncodin said.

Boncodin said that for other expenditures, like for the maintenance and operating expenses (MOE), the DBM would give an across-the-board allocation for all agencies.

If the DBM would decide to give only 50 percent of the MOE, then this would be the same amount released to all agencies, Boncodin said.

She also stressed that funds for veterans pension and the 13^th month pay for state workers are mandatory expenditures and are included in the regular release of funds by the DBM.

Boncodin also said that although the feared ballooning of the fiscal deficit could be remedied by domestic borrowings, there is really a need to control the deficit.

She admitted that the real problem at the moment is how to increase revenue collections. "We have to be able to correct the defects of the revenue structure and the mechanism for collecting revenues," Boncodin said.

Boncodin said that she was quite puzzled with the low revenue collections, adding that normally if the economy is growing, tax collections should grow.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.8 percent for the second quarter and the inflation rate has remained low, signs that the growth of the economy was remarkable, Boncodin said.

The government has adopted for implementation a Special Employment Program for Filipinos who have been displaced from their jobs in Sabah.

Labor and Employment Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas today apprised President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the moves being undertaken by the various departments of the government to assure the well-being and welfare of hundreds of Filipinos facing deportation in Malaysia.

Sto. Tomas said the Philippine government is requesting Malaysian authorities to allow the return of the Filipinos in more manageable batches and possibly an extension of time within which to repatriate them.

Sto. Tomas said Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople is now in Kuala Lumpur to take up with the Malaysian authorities the plight of the Filipino deportees.

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman, on her part, said the DSWD central office in Manila has transferred P1 million to the DSWD office in Region 9 to cover the expenses related to the deportees.

Another P1 million has been earmarked as standby fund for the same purpose, she added.

Soliman said the DSWD regional office has coordinated with the Provincial Social Welfare Officers on Tawi-Tawi and Sulu to prepare for the return of the deportees on August 23 and 24.

Sto. Tomas informed the President that two strategies have been worked out to address the problem of the displaced Filipinos:

-- First, to prevent the deportation of Filipinos who are still in Sabah by arranging their regular employment in Sabah; and

-- Second, to provide alternative employment or livelihood to those who are already in the Philippines.

Sto. Tomas said Secretary Ople will ask the Malaysian government to allow Filipinos now in Sabah to stay longer there while jobs are being negotiated for them.

A high-level mission led by Director-General Dante Liban of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and Administrator Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration is also in Malaysia to discuss with the authorities there a system to identify Malaysian employers who have need for contract workers, and to negotiate jobs for Filipinos who are already in that neighboring country.

The TESDA will provide the onsite training and certification for workers in the construction and plantation sectors while the Department of Foreign Affairs, National Statistics Office and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will establish a quick documentation system of these undocumented workers.

The Department of Trade and Industry and the private sector, particularly the Employers Confederation of the Philippines and the Philippine Contractors Association, will also explore opportunities for service contracts in construction with their Malaysian counterparts, particularly in the Sabah area.

For workers already in the Philippines, Sto. Tomas said the following programs will be pursued:

• The setting up of an Employment Assistance Center by DOLE in coordination with concerned local government units and national officials;

• The profiling and eventual employment assistance by DOLE to the 20,000 workers who are expected to move from Sabah to Mindanao;

• The implementation of livelihood programs such as plantation production of cassava, carrageenin, and domestic fishing by DOLE, in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture and other government agencies to implement livelihood programs;

• The identification of pasture or similar lands for possible cultivation of cassava on a contract growing basis for local processors and manufacturers;

Very soon, children of poor families will peruse new textbooks as they enjoy the comfort of newly-built classrooms.

Poverty-stricken communities will also soon receive basic health services in newly-erected clinics and village health centers.

Other social services are in the offing as the government improves on the pace of carrying out World Bank-supported programs and projects.

Robert Vance Pulley, World Bank (WB) Country Director for the Philippines, noted that the government, despite a tight fiscal position, has come up with counterpart funds to assure the completion of vital anti-poverty programs and projects.

"After three consecutive years of declining performance, I am pleased to see this turnaround," Pulley said.

From June 2001 to June 2002 alone, gross disbursements of WB-financed portfolio went up from $126 million last year to $136 million this year, or an increase of eight percent.

"This means that it will take a shorter period of time to deliver the services and infrastructure to the intended poor communities," the WB official said.

Pulley lauded the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for its resolve "to ensure prompt implementation of projects and the higher allocation and timely release of funds."

"But while this improvement is encouraging, the Philippines should further improve to at least a 20-percent disbursement ratio, given that most projects are planned for a five-year period," he said.

In a report, the WB said the country showed significant improvement in its disbursement ratio, which is the percentage of available funds drawn down or spent on projects during the year.

The ratio rose from 12 percent last year to 15 percent this year. A 15-percent ratio implied that the project implementation period was reduced to only 6.7 years, compared to 8.4 years when the ratio was 12 percent.

Prior to 1999, the Philippines was disbursing as much as 24 percent, implying a four-year implementation period.

Pulley said the Department of Finance, National Economic and Development Authority and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) have assured the WB of adequate and timely allocation of resources for the coming year.

This would allow for the faster implementation of Overseas Development Assistance projects.

The WB noted the impressive implementation of the Third Elementary Education Project (TEEP) of the Department of Education (DepEd), the Social Expenditure Management Project (SEMP) of the DBM, the DepEd and the Department of Social Welfare and Development; and the Second Subic Bay Freeport Project of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

A WB report showed that the TEEP disbursement ratio doubled from eight percent to 16 percent, shortening the implementation time from 12 to six years.

On the other hand, the Subic and SEMP project disbursement ratios rose from 10 to 34 percent and from five to 33 percent, respectively.

Besides this, the DepEd adopted procurement reforms that generated textbook savings of some $20 million.

The government panel is ready to face the National Democratic Front (NDF), the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), in another round of peace negotiations.

Despite conflicting media statements of CPP-NDF leaders on the resumption of talks, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Eduardo Ermita said the Philippine panel has continued preparations for possible talks in Oslo, Norway or the Netherlands.

"Nananatili pa rin ang policy ng pamahalaan na ipagpatuloy ang usapang pangkapayapaan (The government policy to continue the peace talks stands)," Ermita said in a radio interview this morning.

He said they might be briefing the Cabinet Oversight Committee on the status of the peace talks.

In the briefing, the panel would likewise seek for the Cabinet and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s approval of documents, or the draft of a Final Peace Agreement, that would serve as the basis for the talks with the NDF, he added.

Ermita said CPP-NDF leaders Jose Maria Sison and Luis Jalandoni appeared vacillating, with both issuing contradicting views.

"Hihintayin pa rin natin iyong official statement sa kanila (We will still wait for their official statement on the matter of the talks)," he said.

He maintained that Jalandoni continued to be the NDF peace panel chairman and Sison was only a panel adviser.

"Hindi natin alam ang kanilang laro (We do not know their game)," he pointed out, but said the government’s door to peace remained open to the NDF panel, headed by Jalandoni.

Ermita also disclosed that back-channeling efforts are going on – with contacts from the NDF and those in the Dutch and Norwegian governments.

He said government peace panel head Silvestre Bello III and Presidential Management Staff and back-channel negotiator-designate Silvestre Afable, Jr. were actively involved in the back-channel efforts.

He noted that the people have been looking forward to a political settlement on the issues raised by the NDF, if only to stop criminal acts, violence and terrorism perpetrated by the New People’s Army in the field.

The government-NDF talks were suspended on June 2001 following the assassinations by the NPA, the armed component of the CPP, of former Tanauan, Batangas Mayor Cesar Platon, former Quezon Rep. Marcial Punzalan, former Cagayan Valley Rep. Rodolfo Aguinaldo, and former Tala-Ingod, Davao del Norte Mayor Jose Labayao.

The talks would have resumed in mid-November last year but were stalled anew when the NPA refused to release four soldiers they held hostage. The CPP-NDF asked government to declare the suspension of military offensives as a condition for the soldiers’ release.

In early March this year, President Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the temporary suspension of formal talks, as she called for back-channeling efforts to reach the CPP-NDF.

A month later, negotiators Afable and Presidential Adviser on Special Concerns Norberto Gonzales met with Norwegian officials who they asked to inform the CPP-NDF to resume talks on the draft of a Final Peace Agreement.

The CPP-NDF flatly rejected the proposal, which included discussions on the demobilization of the NPA.

When the President ordered the pullout of troops in Mindanao and had them returned to their mother camps in Luzon to help neutralize the NPA’s criminal and terrorist activities, the CPP-NDF reacted and charged government of waging an all-out war resulting in military human rights violations as it would jeopardize the resumption of peace talks.

The CPP-NDF also reacted negatively to the United States’ declaration of the communist group as a foreign terrorist organization. This was followed by the freezing of CPP-NDF assets by the British and Dutch governments. They regarded this as adverse to the resumption of talks.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today unveiled the commemorative marker of Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila where, 31 years ago, nine innocent civilians were killed and scores wounded in bombings allegedly perpetrated by communist elements.

The President was assisted by Manila Mayor Lito Atienza during the unveiling rites.

The President also walked and passed through the Lacson Underpass, named after former Manila Mayor Arsenio Lacson, to view and inspect the improvements of the shopping arcade in the underpass.

The President motored to Plaza Miranda after attending a Mass to commemorate the 19^th death anniversary of former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. at the Manila Memorial Park in Sucat, Paranaque City.

During a short program at the plaza, the President listened to a message from former Senate President Jovito Salonga, read by Judy Araneta Roxas, the wife of late Senator Gerardo Roxas and mother of Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II.

The Roxas couple -- together with Salonga and the late Senator Sergio Osmeņa, Jr. and other leaders of the Liberal Party (LP) who were then presenting their official candidates to the national polls -- were among those wounded in the bombing.

Roxas said Salonga recalled the night after the attack. Many people saw him wounded. His doctor even thought he would not survive.

"Only God’s amazing grace, the professional skill, perseverance and devotion of my 34 doctors, who refused to bill me for their services, and the prayers and the love of my family saved me from the shadow of the valley of death," Salonga said.

He said that when he was in the Manila Medical Center from August 21 to October, 1971, he prayed that the bloody event would not happen again.

"As I am in the habit of saying, in a democracy we can disagree without being disagreeable; we can differ without being difficult. This is the meaning and essence of civility in an open, free and just society," he added.

He thanked the President for attending the commemoration. He also lauded Mayor Atienza for bringing life back to Plaza Miranda.

CABIAO, Nueva Ecija - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today presented to the media seven suspected members of the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB) who were arrested here early this morning.

The President arrived here at around 1 p.m. on board a helicopter shortly after attending the unveiling of a commemorative marker of the Plaza Miranda bombing in Quiapo, Manila.

In a statement read by the President at the Municipal Hall here, she said the arrest of the seven suspected communist members was another accomplishment of the government in its intensified campaign against criminality and terrorism in the country.

The suspects, who are believed to be remnants of the HMB, were arrested by the Cabiao police at around 6 a.m. in Barangay Bagong Silang, Cabiao, Nueva Ecija.

In a report to the President, Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Hermogenes Ebdane, Jr. identified the arrested suspects as Alfredo Cruz, Val Galang, Michael Ortiz, Daniel Simbulan, Jason Ramos, Bienvenido Ramos and Jovy Soliman.

During the operation, the police were able to confiscate two M14 rifles, three M16 armalite rifles, three rifle grenades, one carbine rifle, various camouflage vests, seven backpacks and subversive documents.

In her statement, the President noted that the arrest were made possible through information given by concerned citizens who saw the armed men in their area.

"I call on our citizens to come forward and report to your police and to Patrol 117 any information you may have on any illegal activities," she said.