President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today swore into office former Senator Blas F. Ople as Secretary of Foreign Affairs in ceremonies at Malacaņang’s Ceremonial Hall.

The Chief Executive, who assumed the position of Foreign Affairs Secretary in a concurrent capacity last July 16, relinquished her post following the oath-taking this morning of Ople, whom she appointed as Secretary of Foreign Affairs last July 23, 2002.

Ople, 75, replaced Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr. who resigned earlier.

A native of Hagonoy, Bulacan, Ople was elected senator for a six-year term in 1992. He was re-elected in May 1998 for a second and final term.

Ople was chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1992 until his appointment as DFA Secretary.

As chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Ople steered to approval some 37 international and bilateral treaties that have opened more links between the Philippines and the rest of the world particularly in trade, investments, employment, cultural exchanges, workers protection and the environment.

He successfully sponsored a resolution in 1999 on the ratification of the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement which is an instrument that strengthened Philippine-US security alliance.

Together with then-Senator Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Ople sponsored the ratification of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Uruguay Round creating the World Trade Organization.

Ople was also author of one version of the Overseas Voting Bill, a provision he authored in the 1987 Constitution, and has introduced a bill reforming the Philippine Foreign Service and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Among the other many achievements of Ople during his stint as senator include the following: authored a bill updating the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940; strongly supported a new partnership with the United States based on sovereign equality and mutual respect; supported special efforts to link the Philippines to the economic dynamism of East Asia, especially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

In September 1967, Ople was appointed Minister of Labor and Employment by the late President Ferdinand Marcos. He held the position from 1967-1971 and then from 1972 to early 1986.

Aside from Ople, President Macapagal-Arroyo also administered the oath of office to Silvestre Afable as Head of the Presidential Management Staff with a Cabinet rank; Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina, Jr. as Officer-in-Charge-Chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board; Miguel Coronel as executive director of the Dangerous Drug Board; Anselmo Avenido, Jr, as Director General of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency; Efren Fernandez, as Deputy Director General for Operations of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency; and former Congressman Dante Liban as Director General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA);

More than half a million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) were deployed worldwide as of July 21, a report of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said.

POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz said the OFW deployment reached 2,640 daily from January 1 to July 21, exceeding by 4.1 percent the 2,536 OFWs deployed daily in the same period last year.

The POEA earlier reported that increases in deployments in most OFW destinations balanced the slight decline in Hong Kong, which remained the second top OFW destination.

POEA statistics as of May showed that the number of newly hired and rehired OFWs rose in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and in major host countries in the Middle East.

Percentage-wise, deployment grew the highest in the following economies in the first five months of 2002 compared to last year's figures: the United Kingdom, 48.6 percent to 7,461 from 5,021; Kuwait, 31.3 percent to 10,731 from 8,172; the United Arab Emirates, 16.8 percent to 22,187 from 18,989; Japan, 9.2 percent to 30,555 from 27,990; Singapore, 8.9 percent to 14,496 from 13,314; Taiwan, 3.9 percent to 20,815 from 20,027; and Saudi Arabia, 0.3 percent to 90,360 from 90,064.

OFW deployment in the first five months of 2002, however, declined in three other top destinations namely Brunei, by 8.4 percent to 5,774 from 6,306; Hong Kong, 6.5 percent to 54,071 from 57,826); and Italy, by 1.3 percent to 9,991 from 10,120.

Citing Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas figures, Baldoz said OFW remittances continued to push the economy, posting a 38.1-percent increase in the first quarter of 2002.

As of March 2002, remittances moved closer to the $2-billion (P100- million) level, increasing to $1.963 billion (P98 billion) from $1.422 billion recorded in the same period in 2001.

One of the civil society groups that came out to call for the resignation of former President Joseph Estrada has declared continuing support for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her efforts to bring stability and prosperity to the nation.

The Cagayanos Advocacy for Reforms and Empowerment Inc. (CARE), in a statement, said it reiterates support for the President "lest we be included as among those civil society groups who are planning to withdraw support from the administration just because of their misplaced and unreasonable complaints."

CARE was formerly known as Cagayanos Action for the Resignation of Erap.

The statement noted that at the height of the protest actions against Estrada, CARE members risked lives fighting for this administration.

CARE members stressed that they are glad to have been part of the movement that put the President into power. "Now, we are back to our normal, simple private lives with no demands from the President, not asking for favors or concessions because we continue to help her move our country forward through these difficult times," the statement said.

CARE noted that the Council of Philippine Affairs (COPA), Bayan and other groups are "just too demanding, selfish and mayabang."

It said that for as long as the President continues to do what is right for the country then COPA and Bayan and those "noisy" civil society groups will just be a minority. "Their noise will not matter because there are more Filipinos who are tired of all the rattling and bickering," the statement said.

All departments and department level entities have implemented the government electronic procurement system, or e-procurement, in line with the directive of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to reduce red tape and eliminate graft and corruption in state offices.

In a report to the Cabinet meeting held in Malacanang this morning, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said 57 percent of government entities lower than departments, 91 percent of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and 72 percent of state universities and colleges have also adopted the e-procurement system.

The DBM said that it has also conducted a study, in collaboration with the Development Academy of the Philippines, on how to further streamline the delivery of six "critical" government services.

These include passport applications, issuance of business permits, retirement processing, veterans claims processing, application for licensure, examination and registration as professionals, and issuance of decrees of land registration.

According to the DBM, the study resulted in the reduction in the number of signatories in some transactions and the elimination of some unnecessary documentary requirements.

As part of its anti-graft campaign, the Department of Education (DepEd) said that it has implemented a "checkless payroll" for some 54,000 teaching and non-teaching employees.

Through this system, the DepEd said it was able to do away with the delays in paying the salaries of its personnel as well as illegal and unauthorized deductions.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has amended the Rules of Court to further simplify and speed up the disposition of cases.

Under its anti-red tape and anti-graft program, the DoJ has also recommended to the Supreme Court that cases filed with Regional Trial Courts (RTCs) should be decided within one year and for the Bureau of Corrections to carry out the death penalty within six months from finality of high court decision.

At the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), a team has been constituted to institute reforms in labor adjudication processes of DOLE agencies with quasi-judicial and regulatory functions.

The Department of National Defense, on the other hand, reported to the Cabinet that it had reduced the processing of various DND clearances from 7-10 days to 5-7 days.

The DND also reported that the Philippine Veteran Affairs Office (PVAO) has eliminated its backlog of 43,540 claims for payment of pensions, of which 10,635 were approved and 32,905 were disapproved.

At the Department of Agriculture, a task force on smuggling was created to monitor all reports of smuggling of agriculture goods and commodities. It has also ordered the use of government ports for rice imports to ensure effective monitoring and control.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has the following targets by June 2003:

• streamlining of simplified civil application systems in remaining 76 cities, 33 capital towns, four growth center municipalities and 1,278 other municipalities;

• installation of one-stop-shop processing centers in the remaining 48 cities, 27 capital towns, 23 growth center municipalities and l,270 other municipalities; and

Malacaņang announced today that the national government will submit a budget proposal of P800.7 billion for fiscal year 2003, P20 billion more than the approved budget for FY 2002.

Budget and Management Secretary Emilia Boncodin said that the proposed 2003 General Appropriations Act will be submitted to the House of Representatives in the second week of August, at least one week before the deadline provided by the Constitution.

According to Boncodin, the budget proposal will be supported by revenues of P640.6 billion, of which P465.6 billion will come from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, P106.8 billion from the Bureau of Customs, and the balance from other agencies.

Boncodin said the budget deficit for 2003 is expected to be limited to 3.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), which is lower than the targeted level of 3.3 percent of the GDP this year.

Meanwhile, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) has affirmed its commitment to the P130 billion deficit target (2.3 percent of GDP) this year. For FY 2003, the deficit-to-GDP ratio of 3.2 percent will mean a P138-billion deficit.

Boncodin said that next year’s budget will support the call of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to build a strong Republic.

Hence, the budget allocation will conform with the priorities laid down in the President in her second State of the Nation Address (SONA), particularly in eliminating graft and corruption, ensuring peace and order and the provision of basic public services in the education, health and social sectors, Boncodin said.

"The budget will continue to focus on the President’s priority program in agriculture and agrarian reform, tourism, poverty reduction and law enforcement," Boncodin said.