PAGADIAN CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the Philippine Coast Guard to eradicate sea piracy off Zamboanga del Sur in a bid to boost business and make the region a prime supplier of carrageenin.

The President told an audience here led by Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Aurora Cerilles and Zamboanga del Sur Rep. Filomena San Juan and the mayors of the province that she instructed Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza to launch an intensified operation against pirates in the seas off Zamboanga del Norte.

"Let’s clean up the seas of Zamboanga del Sur. Let’s clean up the pirates there," the President ordered Mendoza.

Mrs. Arroyo said she gave the directive to Mendoza after conferring with Rep. San Juan regarding the future of the economy of the region.

Zamboanga del Sur, according to San Juan, is fast becoming a center for seaweed production. Seaweed is converted into carrageenin, which is a basic material for natural preservatives.

The President noted that seaweeds from Zamboanga del Sur could be shipped to Cebu, where a modern carrageenin production facility is located, but seaweed producers in the province could not be so because pirates abound in the seas off the region.

Mendoza, according to Mrs. Arroyo, has identified the pirates and their supporters and would be launching soon an intensified operation against them.

In the same meeting, the President stressed that her administration would always pursue a "peace goes with development" policy in Mindanao. She also noted that while her administration is pursuing peace with Muslim separatists in Mindanao, it would always be under the principles of the Constitution.

"We will not become great as a Republic, we will not become strong as a Republic, if we do not recognize that we are a multi-ethnic society," Mrs. Arroyo said.

She stressed that terrorism and war in Mindanao is rooted in the Muslims’ perception of economic exclusion. Thus, it is important that Filipino Muslims be fully integrated into the economy and be given a chance to achieve economic development.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is this year’s guest of honor in the Ramon Magsaysay Awards to be held tomorrow at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

President Macapagal-Arroyo will present the medallion and the award certificate to this year’s laureates: Hilario Davide, Jr., (Philippines) for Government Service; Dr. Ruth Pfau, (Pakistan) for Public Service; Dr. Cynthia Maung (Burma) for Community Leadership; Bharat Koirala (Nepal) for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communications; Venerable Pamnyun Snim (Korea) for Peace and International Understanding; and Sandeep Pandey (India) for Emergent Leadership.

This year’s presentation ceremonies, which carries the theme "Making Asia A Better Place," will also feature widely-acclaimed guest artists such as pop vocalist Anna Fegi, who is singing the Philippine National Anthem a capella; the PLM Rondalla; the Bayanihan national folk dance company which won the Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding in 1965; and noted Korean flutist Hae Won Shin.

Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award honors the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine president. The award is given yearly individuals or organizations in Asia who manifest the same sense of selfless service that ruled the life of the late president.

Since 1958, when the first awards were given, 229 individuals and organizations, regardless of race, creed, sex or nationality, have received the award.

BUTUAN CITY -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today stressed the importance of immediately implementing the Butuan airport extension project to spur agricultural and industrial trade between Agusan and the domestic markets.

In remarks she delivered in Cebuano before officials and Butuanons led by Mayor Leonides Therese Plaza at the Almont Inland Resort Hotel here, the President said the project should proceed "by the end of this year."

"Mahimo na extended ang airport sa Butuan. Ingon ni Mayor Plaza, ang mga produkto sa Agusan Norte ug Sur ug Butuan ang mga prutas sa Agusan adlaw-adlaw na makaadto sa laing-laing lugar sa Leyte ug mercado sa tibuok Pilipinas (The airport extension is imperative. Mayor Plaza says this will speed up trading. Agricultural products from Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Butuan City can daily and easily find their way to the domestic markets)," she said.

"Therefore, this will spur the development of industries here in Butuan and Agusan," she added.

The President said she was very happy over the partnership shown by the leaders and people of Butuan and Agusan with the administration.

She said this partnership was most expressed in many areas.

"We are partners in government, peace, development, in working on a good strong Philippine Republic and in developing Agusan into a prosperous multi-ethnic society that we want our country to be," she noted.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will assist Filipinos who have suffered maltreatment in the hands of Malaysian authorities if they would decide to file complaints or seek damages.

But in an interview, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said the complaints should be filed in Malaysia and should be coursed through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), more particularly with the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Perez said that since a Filipino lawyer cannot practice in Malaysia, the DFA or the complainant should hire a Malaysian lawyer and the DOJ will extend all the legal assistance that would be needed in prosecuting the case.

Meanwhile, the DFA said that under traditional international law, a private person should exhaust all domestic remedies available at the host country where the injury took place before asking the Philippine government to enter the picture.

Since the injury or the maltreatment happened in Malaysia, appropriate remedies may be sought under the Malaysian justice system, the DFA said.

According to the DFA, only when all avenues have been exhausted would the Philippine government extend diplomatic assistance in pursuing any claim for compensation.

The government will not normally act without the consent of the victims, the DFA said.

But Commissioner Purificacion Quisumbing of the Commission on Human Rights said that the Philippines could present a strong case against Malaysia before the United Nations Human Rights Commission or any relevant UN body.

There is no question that corruption is a serious barrier to sustainable economic development in the Philippines. But there is also no question that President Macapagal-Arroyo is committed to ensuring that this challenge to win the war over poverty is attacked head-on.

The recent investigation into the tax scam, the adoption of E-Procurement and E-Payment, the reduction of red tape, are clear examples that this is a government that will not tolerate corruption at any level.

SURIGAO CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today called on the business community and other stakeholders here to push Mindanao’s development forward and to address poverty that is the root of the area’s security problem, as well as that of the entire country.

"I hade a chance as a child to see poverty in Muslim areas, the same poverty that still pervades the Muslim provinces of the Philippines today," the President said in a speech before the 11^th Mindanao Business Conference (MBC) at the Provincial Convention Center here.

Since these Muslim provinces remained the poorest in the country, the President said it was very clear from the experience of the country and Mindanao that "poverty is the root of our national security problems, including the hostage crisis in Sulu."

When she presided over a military command conference Thursday, the President said she was convinced the Sulu hostage crisis was only temporary.

She likewise noted Mindanao’s wealth, in terms of human and natural resources.

She said Mindanao "provides more than a third of the gross national value-added for agriculture, fishery and forestry, 43 percent of the Philippine domestic trade, 30 percent of the country’s yellow corn output, 75 percent of fresh coffee berries, 30 percent of the national cattle population, 43 percent of total commercial fish production, and 39 percent of total output."

In her speech, the President said she was happy to announce the most recent report that the Philippines has achieved a 5.2-percent growth rate in its gross national product (GNP) for the first half of the year 2002.

"I have not seen the breakdown but if we go by past year’s records, I am quite sure that Mindanao’s growth rate is even higher than 5.2 percent," she said.

The Chief Executive said there was merit to the economic logic for her administration to place agricultural modernization as one of the pillars of the fight against poverty and "of our building up a strong Philippine Republic."

"There is more than logic in ensuring our vital performance for Mindanao agriculture," she said.

On natural resources, the President felt elated that after 19 years, the government has found a solution to the anarchy that has reigned at the gold mining area in Mt. Diwalwal, Compostela Valley.

SURIGAO CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today instructed Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) president Gary Teves to release loan facilities to coffee and rice farmers in Mindanao to enable them to increase their productivity.

"I hope that with the increase credit, there will be increase in productivity," the President said in her speech before the 11^th Mindanao Business Conference (MBC) at the Provincial Capitol Convention Center here.

During her speech, the President noted that this year she launched the rice hybrid commercialization program in 44 provinces to double the yields of rice farmers.

She said the hybrid technology was developed in collaboration between the Philippine Rice Institute (PhilRice) and last year’s Ramon Magsaysay awardee, Yuan Long Pin of China.

The President noted that 60 percent of the targeted hectarage of 50,000 for this year is located in Mindanao.

As a result of the program, she said there are now a good number of small hybrid seed growers in Zamboanga Peninsula, in the Davao provinces and Lanao del Sur.

At the same time, the President tasked Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor to see to it that all the seeds of seed growers in Mindanao are accessed by farmers.

According to her, the government has made a strategic decision to remove the hybrid rice from the laboratory and commercialize it, thus inducing private firms to bring in better technologies.

"I will not be surprised if those private firms who are even improving the technologies some more will use these technologies not just to double but to triple our rice productivity in the future," the President said.

She added that PhilRice is also tapping Taiwanese post-harvest technologies that will reduce losses in grain output.

Soon a commercial facility using the system will rise in Isabela province in Luzon, even as she expressed hope that Mindanao will also access the same technology.

With regards to the coffee, the President recalled that last April, she launched the Café Isla program to revive the coffee industry in the country.

She explained that Café Isla seeks to improve the productivity of standing trees to make them like Colombian coffee.

By increasing the application of fertilizer and promoting good agricultural practices, she said farms are expected to gain an incremental yield of at least one metric ton per hectare.

At the same time, she said the Café Isla also seeks to upgrade the quality of Philippine coffee beans by educating Filipino farmers in post- harvest handling technology.

The program, the President added, will teach the farmers when to pick the berries, how to dry and sort them out properly and where to have their dried beans milled so that their harvests approximate the internationally-acceptable quality level.

Furthermore, she said Café Isla aims to increase consumer awareness of Philippine coffee by systematically encouraging coffee shops, hotels and restaurants to label coffee blends that use Philippine beans.

SURIGAO CITY—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today assured Mindanaoans that her administration would implement measures that are designed not only to speed up the development of Mindanao but also to make doing business in the island more competitive.

In her keynote address at the 11^th Mindanao Business Conference held at the Capitol Convention Center here, the President announced three directives that would reduce the cost of transport and cargo handling in Mindanao ports.

First, the President said, she has directed the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to adopt a universal rate in collecting government shares from the revenues of cargo handlers.

"Starting next month, I am pegging the rate to 10 percent for the domestic ports and 20 percent for international ports. This is my initial move to mitigate the cost of cargo handling, especially in Davao and Zamboanga," the President said.

The second move that the President announced was the freezing of the 35 percent increase in port and wharfage fees ordered implemented by the previous administration for the next five years.

She said that non-implementation of the 35 percent increase in port and wharfage fees, which are being charged by the PPA, would mean a loss of P200 million a year in government revenues.

But the President said she was making the gamble because she believes that there will be an increase in logistic efficiency and movement of goods that would be enough to offset the expected loss of P200 million.

"I am taking this gamble to set the stage for Mindanao’s growth once again," the President said.

In this regard, the President also called on the cargo handling operators to freeze their arrastre and stevedoring fees for 24 months. She also asked them to undertake "aggressive investments" in modernizing their port handling facilities.

The President also said that she has directed the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) to work closely with the PPA and the private sector to help unbundled all the charges related to the cargo handling component in the freight charges,

She asked the participants to the conference, composed of the country’s top businessmen, to unite behind her administration in the building of a strong Republic.

SURIGAO CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today directed the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to make available a credit facility totaling P1 billion to enable the corn industry to be competitive in the global market.

In her speech at the 11^th Mindanao Business Conference here, the President also tasked Agrarian Reform Secretary Hernani Braganza to identify 25,000 hectares to be allocated for corn in agrarian reform communities in Mindanao.

Issuing the directives, the President expressed her concern over the "serious problems" confronting the corn industry in the country.

During the conference, the Mindanao Business Council led by its chairman, Ms. Joji Ilagan, presented to the President 11 resolutions aimed at boosting the trade and industry operations in Mindanao.

"In one of your resolutions, you asked us to identify 100,000 hectares of land. I guess Cito Lorenzo will help us with that, but 25,000 of that will go for corn, that’s what I’m asking the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to do," she said.

The President asked LBP president Gary Teves to make available P250 million for credit to corn producers and processors, another P250 million for crop production, and P500 million for post-harvest facilities.

"I hope that this experiment will finally help our country remove the cliché that corn in Mindanao is more expensive than corn from the United States," the President said.

As part of her administration’s commitment to modernize the agriculture, the Chief Executive said she will continue to adopt policies that will improve productivity, develop programs that will go from "seed to shelf, and correct the imperfections in the supply chain in order to achieve competitiveness,’ she said.

Also in her speech, the President said she is glad to hear that the Philippine Inter-Island Shipping Association (PIISA) and the Philippine Confederation of Arrastre and Stevedoring Operators (PCASO) have pledged to support the Mindanao farmers and corn processors become as competitive as Thailand.

The President notably expressed her thanks to several key leaders in the shipping and arrastre sectors for committing to work with Presidential Adviser on One Million Jobs Luis Lorenzo in lowering the logistic cost for corn.

The President also thanked the producers and processors of the corn supply chain for joining the cargo handlers and shipping sector in an effort to resolve the perennial problems of corn handling and transport.

"The government appreciates the effort of these private and bureaucratic sectors to revive corn production in Mindanao and deliver the technical and market support necessary to make the corn growers competitive as Thailand not only in the logistics but also in the farm and mill levels," she said.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye today disclosed that the concession agreement the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (PIATCO) entered into with the Estrada administration was onerous and burdensome to the government and the Filipino people.

The agreement was for the construction of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, which is almost completed.

In his regular press briefing in Malacanang, Bunye said that most of the onerous provisions were incorporated in the Amended and Restated Concession Agreement signed on November 26, 1998.

He also noted that Fraport AG, the German technical partner of the Cheng Group in Piatco, had quarrelsome relations with the Cheng Group and had approached the government to consider the termination of the concession agreement.

Fraport proposed that the government operate the NAIA Terminal 3. Fraport offered to grant the government a loan enough for the latter to get back the airport at a cost of some S400 million, under favorable terms.

There was merit to the proposal that PIATCO knew of since July 2002, Bunye said.

The Press Secretary turned over the briefing to Presidential Adviser on Strategic Projects Gloria Tan-Climaco who explained the details of her recommendations to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to consider a government decision to take Fraport’s offer.

Tan-Climaco said one of the agreement’s onerous provisions gave PIATCO the right to require outbound international passengers to pay a $20 terminal fee, making it the highest in the region. So far, the highest rate is $11.50 in Vietnam.

She said that her office had been asking PIATCO for a breakdown of the terminal fee since January.

"We want to understand how we will be able to justify to the Filipino people what is the rate that would be charged there," she added.

Tan-Climaco said unlike most contracts that provided a cap on the project cost, the contract provided only for the minimum. "Hence, PIATCO claims it has a project cost of $657 million when the original minimum project cost was $350 million," she said.

"In the statement of (PIATCO vice president and spokesperson Moises) Tolentino, he was saying that they don’t want to be audited because they are the ones who are paying for the project. If you look at the facts, the ones who are paying for the project initially is Fraport, (the German technical partner of the Cheng Group in PIATCO). But ultimately, its you and me and anyone who takes plane out of that terminal," she said.

"The way the contract is structured, you and I have no option but to use that airport for the longest period of time until they have 10 million passengers going though that airport for three consecutive years. So far, Terminals 1 and 2 have a combined 7 million-passenger population.

"It’s still a long way to go so what I’m saying is that the one who’s gonna pay for the airport is you and me and everyone who’s going to be using that airport," she said.