HUNGDUAN, Ifugao—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo turned over to the local officials here yesterday a check for P1 million for the construction of a lodge here.

Expected to benefit from the building of the lodging place are senior citizens of Hungduan who will themselves manage the place.

The President said tourists planning to view the world famous Banawe Rice Terraces can thus also visit Hungduan where the nearest and more extensive and beautiful rice terraces are located.

Hungduan is near Banawe. It is only one hour and a half away from Banawe. Visitors coming from Banawe can thus spend the night in Hungduan and explore the rice terraces there.

The President proposed that the senior citizens of Hungduan be the ones to manage the lodge.

This will serve as the livelihood program for the senior citizens of Hungduan, the President said.

The President visited Hungduan yesterday along with First Gentleman Atty. Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, son Mickey and his wife Angela, son Dato and his fiancée, and only daughter Luli.

"I brought my dearest family to see the beautiful terraces of Hungduan," the President said, expressing the hope that foreign and domestic tourists alike can also see the beauty of the quaint town of Hungduan.

The President went to Hungduan and Banawe after announcing her decision not to run for President during the elections of 2004.

If there is any issue that has greatly polarized public opinion in the Philippines during the past year, it is the unequivocal support extended by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the global war against terrorism led by the United States.

When suspected Al Qaeda terrorists struck almost simultaneously in three points in the US in September last year, in what is now known the world over as the 9-11 terror attacks, the President, who was then on a working visit to Japan, immediately issued a formal statement supporting the US-led coalition in the fight global terrorism and in strengthening RP-US partnership in fighting local terrorism, especially against the scourge of the Abu Sayyaf in the Southern Philippines.

The President said in her policy speech before the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) in early October this year that the motivation behind working hand in hand with the US in wiping out terrorism is not about pleasing America. "Our motivation is working with the world to save mankind against the perpetuation of terror," the President said.

In her FOCAP speech, the President explained that the "strategic partnership" between the Philippines and the US has reached a high point during the RP-US military training exercise, called Balikatan 02-1, held in Mindanao. "The tenacity of our soldiers coupled with the superior technological assistance of the US ripened into the correct strategy that has severely decimated the Abu Sayyaf and kept them on the running," the President said.

The President said that the war against terrorism has reached another defining moment as the issue of Iraq sharpens in focus. "It is a moment for the Philippines to calibrate, recalibrate its foreign policy so that we can continue to achieve our goals of peace, prosperity and stability in the context of the realities lying today in the international and regional environment," the President said.

According to the President, the current Philippine-US alliance is a moral partnership that is governed by the common belief in strong democratic institutions that will create peace and freedom for peoples everywhere. "We are determined to fight terrorism to the end. We have offered political, security and humanitarian assistance to the US in the pursuit of her most vital interests against terrorism which coincide with our own," the President said.

NO APOLOGIES

In another policy speech, this time at the golden anniversary celebration of the National Press Club of the Philippines last December 17, the President said that her administration is determined to crush terrorism regardless of what her critics would say as she stressed that terrorists are nothing but murderers of innocent people.

"A few of my opponents have criticized my decision. But I have to tell them: I make no apologies for aggressively seeking to root out terrorism in the Philippines," the President said.

According to the President, terrorists have proven once again that they are not guided by any moral and religious conviction. "They are nothing more than murderers of innocent people driven by an ideology of mayhem," she said, adding that the only antidote to the mindless violence perpetrated in the Philippines by the Abu Sayyaf and other terror groups "is to have no fear and to crush their efforts."

She said that the government cannot just sit back and wait. "We must take this fight to the terrorists before they undermine our very way of living," the President said. "That is the reason why the government is taking the fight to Basilan and Sulu, the main lairs of the Abu Sayyaf, rather than wait for them to come to Manila," the President said.

REGIONAL ALLIANCE

During the recent visits in Manila of Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda and Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tan Keng Yam, the President expressed the need for a strong regional alliance, possibly to include all the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in the fight against terrorism.

It was the President who initiated the tripartite agreement among the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia to fight terrorism. Cambodia later joined the three-nation anti-terrorism pact, followed by Thailand last November. The President said that with the inclusion of Singapore and the other Asean member-countries in the accord, the region’s fight against terrorism would be complete.

The President said that the fight against terrorism would be most effective if there would be intelligence sharing among Asean members and other countries in the region. She said it is also important that the money trail from supporters of terrorist groups be cut off.

Given the threat of international terrorism and the economic slowdown in many parts of the world, the President said that it is imperative for each country to solidify its alliance with its neighbors. She said that the fight against terrorism cannot be won by any state acting alone, but through a collective effort of all countries in the region.