Majority of the country’s leading business firms continue to expect positive prospects in the fourth quarter, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The BSP said that the Business Expectations Survey (BES) it conducted in October showed that the Business Outlook Index settled at 16.2 percent. However, business sentiment turned more cautious during the first quarter of next year, as the index declined to 6.3 percent, the BSP said.

The BSP said that anticipating increased consumer demand during the Christmas holidays, majority of the respondents projected higher volume of business activity for the fourth quarter.

According to the BSP, despite the generally cautious business outlook for the first quarter of 2003, the economy is still expected to grow during the period.

For instance, the BSP said, the financial conditions index had been showing a trend improvement over the past four quarters, and 18.7 percent of respondent firms plan to expand their businesses in the first quarter, from 10.7 percent in the previous quarter.

Confidence indicators of business performance showed mixed trends. Although the confidence index for some sectors have declined, the construction confidence index turned to positive 3.3 percent from negative 3.3 percent in the previous quarter, reflecting the upturn in the construction industry.

Starting the second quarter of 2001, the BSP has conducted the BES using the harmonized set of core questions for Asian countries suggested by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The survey covers 12 major industry groups (grouped into four major economic sectors), with firms drawn from the top 3,000 corporations in Metro Manila as listed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The military and the police are making headway in the campaign against communist terrorists (CTs), Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said today.

In his regular press briefing, Bunye said this is the general conclusion in today’s 4^th joint command conference in Malacaņang of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

"There is a preponderance of AFP or PNP-initiated operations versus the CT-initiated operations. In other words there were more pro-active campaigns conducted by the government forces," Bunye said.

Bunye noted that based on the analysis of the kill-ratio, there were 4.5 CTs killed or wounded versus one AFP-PNP killed or wounded for the month of November.

He noted that indicators showed the government is succeeding in the campaign against the communist insurgents than the other way around. This is shown by the increase in the number of surrenderees and CTs captured and the number of firearms confiscated as a result of special operations conducted by government forces.

On the issue of Christmas truce with the New People’s Army (NPA), Bunye said the general consensus is that this will still have to be studied carefully. "The government is looking for positive visible signs from the other side that a ceasefire would be respected," he said.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye today said Malacaņang will honor the decision of the Sandiganbayan on the matter of whether former President Joseph Estrada could be put on house arrest this Christmas.

"The stand of Malacaņang so far is that we have to respect the rule of law…we will follow whatever the decision of the Sandiganbayan," Bunye said in his regular press briefing this afternoon.

"Any house arrest or Christmas furlough will have to be approved by the Sandiganbayan," Bunye added.

Meanwhile, Chairman Michael Defensor of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) said today his visit to former President Estrada at the Veterans Memorial Hospital was personal and not an official one.

In a radio interview, Defensor said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had nothing to do with his private visit.

"Personal ho…wala hong kinalaman ang Presidente (This was a personal visit…the President has nothing to do with it)," Defensor said.

Defensor said he has visited the former President at the same hospital several times before and these were all on personal basis. He said they were able to discuss, among other topics, the former Chief Executive’s request to be put on house arrest during the Christmas season.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will conduct a revamp in her Cabinet whenever she sees it fit, Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye today said.

"Ang sinasabi ng ating Pangulo ay itong pagbalasa kapalit ng Cabinet officials ay gagawin kung kinakailangan pero wala siyang tinutukoy na panahon, wala siyang tinutukoy na official at itong pagbabalasa ay pinauubaya namin sa kanya (What the President is saying is that she will effect changes in her Cabinet if it is necessary but she is not saying when nor who are the officials to be affected)," Bunye said.

Bunye said a Cabinet revamp "is a complete prerogative" of the President.

The President has said during her state visit in Tokyo, Japan last week that she is continuously reviewing the performance of government officials to find out if they are up to their jobs or need to be replaced.

It was President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s concern for our fellow Filipinos working abroad that prodded her in good faith to ask me to be her special representative to overseas workers.

In good faith, I felt that being the President’s special representative, I can make a significant contribution to address a specific need of our people.

However, what was requested and accepted in good faith has been misunderstood, so that we are being distracted from the task of trying to improve the lives of the Filipino people in the midst of difficult times. I accepted the offer, the assignment out of love, out of concern for our countrymen working abroad.

I now withdraw from it out of prudence. But this should not be interpreted as giving up my desire to help our overseas countrymen in their problems in whatever way I can. I shall continue to be available to them whenever they need me.

Perhaps the silver lining here is that national attention has been drawn to the need to continuously find ways and means in helping Filipinos abroad. They have left their loved ones and friends to work in unfamiliar environments, which for some have been even proved to jeopardize their lives and liberty. They deserve all our help and support.