BARIRA, Maguindanao -- Tough, decisive, committed.

This was how people described President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo following her visit to Barira, Maguindanao Tuesday.

Dato Akhmad, 63, of Sitio Tugaig, Bambaran, Barira could not believe that he would live to see a President of the republic who is tough enough to go through the daily grind of Iranons in the village.

Akhmad was among over 2,000 men, women and children who patiently waited for the arrival of the President at a clearing in the two-hectare newly-named Camp Duma Sinsuat while drizzles developing into heavy rains fell from time to time, aggravating already bad conditions of the dirt road that snaked its way -- through two shallow rivers -- to the camp from the national highway in Langkong, Matanog some 9.5 kilometers away.

Camp Duma Sinsuat is the new name of the Bedis Academy where Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels used to train in warfare. It is located at the center of the 10,000-hectare Camp Abubakar, erstwhile MILF stronghold, which is bounded by the towns of Barira, Buldon and Matang, all in Maguindanao province. A recipient of planting materials given under the state's Pagkain ng Masa (Food for the Masses) program, Akhmad came with other folk from different parts of Barangay Bambaran and its environs.

Most, if not all, of them were wet and dripping, their bodies barely covered by banana leaves used as emergency umbrellas and their feet covered with mud.

Like him, 10-year old Zorayda, donned in her blue and white public school uniform, shivered as she tagged at her mother’s dress.

Having waited in military tents from 8:00 a.m. until the President arrived near noon, Zorayda shared with her townmates the eagerness to witness a very rare appearance of a President who would visit her place for the first time (although the President had been in Barira poblacion late last year).

"Mabuhay ang Presidente ng Pilipinas (Long live the President of the Philippines)," she, along with some 50 other children, cheered when the Chief Executive arrived.

The cheer was earlier rehearsed, but more than the cheer was the inspiration Zorayda and her peers felt when the President, barely shielded by an umbrella from the downpour, walked through a muddied path dotted with puddles, warmly smiling and waving at her near cold welcomers.

"Matapang siya (She is brave)," was the only comment Zorayda gave. After running like mice to escape the horrors of war in the area as they fought for survival and dear life, the people must have looked up to bravery as a prime virtue.

At about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, talks went around that the President, supposed to have been flown in by helicopter from Davao City at 9:55 a.m., might cancel her trip to Camp Duma Sinsuat because of the bad weather.

Not even the most experienced chopper pilot would dare fly across a hemisphere of rainclouds nestling on thick foliage of Barira’s mountains.

But throughout the waiting, visitors -- including United States Ambassador Francis Ricciardone and his wife – and Barira folk stood their ground, as military radio crackled to know where the President was and if she would come.

Near noon, it was announced that the President was on her way. From Davao, she was flown to the Air Force base in the Awang Airport complex in Dinaig, Maguindanao. She stayed there for several minutes with her party, and led a convoy of about 30 vehicles to Barira, some 70 kilometers away.

The Awang airport is 6.8 kilometers south of Cotabato City. From the city to the Narciso Ramos Highway-Langkong, Matanog crossing is about 54 kilometers. The road stretch from Awang to the highway is paved. A 9.5-kilometer "first class bad road," however, snakes its way from the crossing inward to Barira.

"She will come?" an awed official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said in the Maguindanaon dialect after hearing the announcement

"She’s stern and decisive! She’s fit to be our President," she noted, as grateful Barira folk applauded upon hearing the announcement.

"We are happy. The President is willing to experience what we go through day in and day out here and comprehend our sacrifices to keep the place secure from rebels and have it developed into a productive area," an Army soldier of the 54^th Engineering Brigade commented.

But more than braving her way through the rain, the bad roads and perceived security risks, people here will remember the President for her commitment to stabilize peace and deliver socio-economic programs and projects to the area and its people.

A barangay official simply nodded his approval as the President later announced that the Army’s 603^rd Brigade – based in Pigcalagan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao – will have to move into Camp Duma Sinsuat.

He averred that existing in a state of war, uncertain of any good future, has never been the cup of tea of the people in Barira. "Now, with the military permanently based here, we can start sleeping soundly, ready and strong to do what we must do to grow as a community," he said.

He also noted the many improvements -- including the roads built, houses and mosques put up and repaired, farmlands made productive again, among others – the military and state agencies have undertaken in Barira.

Officials saw the President’s visit as her way of bringing to the fore her resolve and commitment to find a lasting and meaningful resolution to the problems faced by the people of Mindanao, of which many areas continue to wallow in the quagmire of poverty.

In keeping with the commitment of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to provide gainful employment to the citizenry, the Million Jobs Office headed by Luis Lorenzo Jr. is pushing for entrepreneurship and self-employment to generate jobs in Metro Manila

In a statement, Lorenzo said the entrepreneurship program is a multi-agency effort from both government and private sectors.

Lorenzo said he is tapping the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor) to train and finance 50,000 women entrepreneurs in Metro Manila, who will be lent an average of P10,000 after undergoing training on values and the proper handling of finances for businesses they would run.

On July 12, 17 and every 10 days thereafter until it reaches the quota of 50,000 new women entrepreneurs, Quedancor’s five offices in the National Capital Region (namely in Roosevelt, Quezon City, Antipolo, Pasay, Dasmariņas, Cavite, and Malabon) will provide capability-building skills for processing, training and lending services to these future entrepreneurs, Lorenzo said.

The President has confirmed attendance in the July 12 and 17 checks distribution.

Lorenzo is also tapping the private sector through Donald Dee of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), Sergio Luis Ortiz of the Philippine Exporters Association and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), and Dante Liban of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) on a "skills level program for marketable jobs matched with job fairs and domestic export market-based opportunities."

This particular endeavor will provide market-oriented livelihood opportunities for garments, furniture, stuffed toys and processed food and is envisioned to create 10,000 jobs in depressed areas like Commonwealth and Holy Spirit in Quezon city and other metropolitan slums, Lorenzo said.

Lorenzo is working out with ECOP/PCCI leaders and organized labor groups for the reinstatement of some 300,000 workers in labor subcontracting. Discussions are now centered in "allowing this accommodation under agreed parameters," Lorenzo said.

Additionally, the Jobs Office is also working with the city government of Makati City for the dispersal along Ayala area by August of some 114 food trailers for the livelihood program of the city.

"This pilot program will generate 218 jobs to man the trailers and another three workers per trailer (352 jobs) to handle marketing, cooking and delivery. If it works, we can roll it out all over Manila. Again this is private sector led," Lorenzo stressed.

On July 15, 50 company stores of ECOP will allow their 20,000 employees and families to purchase basic commodities at 20 to 50 percent less than retail market rates.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today renewed her call for the Filipino people to unite and support her administration in solving the country’s problems, especially in the fight against poverty and criminality.

In her nationwide radio address this morning, the President said that despite the reduction of the cost of electricity to consumers after she ordered the state-owned National Power Corporation (Napocor) to cut its purchased power cost adjustment (PPCA), the President said there are still a lot of work to do, particularly in maintaining peace and order, generating jobs, and eradicating poverty.

"Kaya humihiling po ako sa inyong lahat—huwag sana tayong mainip, at patuloy tayong magkaisa at magtulungan (That is why I implore all of you—don’t get impatient but unite and cooperate with each other)," the President said.

The President stressed that in order to attract more investments and generate jobs for the Filipino people, the country needs peace and order.

That is why, the President said, she has ordered Director General Hermogenes Ebdane, new chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), to step up the campaign against all criminal elements, particularly those involved in drug trafficking and kidnapping.

She said that she has given General Ebdane one year to finally put an end to the activities of kidnapping syndicates throughout the country.

The President also said that she has asked Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, a known crime-buster, to help General Ebdane in the campaign against criminal syndicates.

"At sa inyo, mga kababayan, akoy nanawagan na tulungan ang ating mga awtoridad sa ating kampanya laban sa krimen (And to you, my countrymen, I call on you to help our authorities in the campaign against criminality)," the President said.

On PPCA issue, the President said as a consumer herself, she knows the burden that high electricity cost has put on consumers but added that she only inherited the problem from the past administration.

According to the President, her administration is undertaking both short-term and long-term solutions to the problem.

"It is the overall objective of our administration to reduce the cost of electricity for the consumer, while respecting valid contracts and the rule of law," the President said.

The President said that with the adoption of a 10-point program in solving the power problem, the Philippines hopes to be competitive in electricity rates among its Asian neighbors.

From being second only to Japan in having the costliest electricity rate in the region, the Philippines could slide down to number six with the reforms that she has ordered implemented in the power sector, the President said.

Starting this month, the President said, the cost of electricity in the Philippines would be less than those in Singapore, Hong Kong, Cambodia and Brunei Darussalam.

With reduced electricity rates, more confidence from foreign investors in the Philippine economy can be expected and this would mean more investments. "And new investments, my countrymen, mean more jobs," the President said.

According to the President, there is now a need to generate jobs for some 4.5 million unemployed Filipinos and that is why the country needs additional investments.

Malacanang today said that no presidential or government appointments have been offered to Messrs. Ronaldo Puno and Jaime Policarpio, two former officials of the administration of deposed President Joseph Ejercito Estrada.

In a statement, Acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable, Jr. said even if President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has not offered any position to the two, she welcomes any offers of assistance to her administration, made in a private capacity, by well-meaning and competent individuals.

"The President reaffirms good governance as core value of her administration," Afable said.

Earlier, there were reports that the two former officials were offered posts in the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the Department of Agriculture and police authorities to strictly enforce the ban on illegal fishing to protect the country’s fishery resources.

In a statement, Acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable, Jr. said today that the President’s directive was issued after Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor presented the National Fisheries Plan in Friday’s Cabinet Meeting in Malacanang.

Afable said that the President also ordered a stop to fishing in over-fished and severely degraded areas, and the immediate provision of alternative sources of livelihood to small fisherfolk in these areas, particularly aquaculture.

The priority areas where this directive will be implemented are in the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions, Afable said.

In her keynote speech marking the 50^th anniversary of the Economics Department of the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, the President noted the need to make the country competitive in attracting investments.

"We all know (that) in a free enterprise economy, to create job, the primary means is to encourage investments. And to encourage investments, we must be competitive, including in our electricity rates," the President said.

The President, who was cited as ADMU’s Most Distinguished Alumna in Economics, said power consumers could expect lower electricity bills this month due to her instructions to the National Power Corporation (Napocor) to lower the purchased power cost adjustment (PPCA).

Starting this month, the President said, the cost of electricity in the Philippines would be less than those in Singapore, Hong Kong, Cambodia and Brunei Darussalam.

In her 10-point program, first, the President said the government wants to reflect the true cost of service which has been happening now with what Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) did through the unbundling of the electricity rate and its cease and desist order to Meralco sometime ago which has resulted in lower electricity rate this month.

Under the first point, the President said the government should ensure that the consumers should only be charged the true and fair cost of electric services and power that they have used.

She said the government will seek the elimination of charges from onerous contracts, stressing the need to review the contracts with the independent power producers (IPPs) and other contracts that the ERC is studying as well as regulatory loopholes such as the valuation and appraisal of assets.

Second, she said, is to introduce the declining block rate structure by introducing special pricing incentives for large consumers of electricity specially business and industries, to reduce cost of over capacity and encourage expansion in manufacturing and commerce.

Third, the President said we would optimize the utilization mix of Napocor’s power plants by finding out the different efficiencies of the different plants.

Further, she said the government would review and upgrade the country’s power development plan to better distribute generation capacity in relation to load centers, upgrade transmission system and minimize the vulnerability of the power grids from blackouts.

This move will include the transfer of power barges and matured build-operate-transfer (BOT) plants to regions where they can be better utilized and the enhancement of Napocor generation companies by providing them with better markets and quality supply contracts.

Fourth, the President saw the need to accelerate the operation of the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) to provide a trading platform for power price competition and give power users a fair and transparent way to determine realistic power cost.

Fifth, the President said there must be an acceleration in the implementation of open access, which means that big buyers who buy more than 1 megawatt can choose the generating company they want to buy from.

While the law says that it should be done in four years, she said the open access implementation could be accelerated because consumer choice will certainly provide for greater competition and lower prices.

Correspondingly, she said the government would provide consumers with genuine supplier alternative through competition and encouragement of new players in the electric industry power sector.

Sixth, the President called for the promotion of efficient performance of distribution utilities by prescribing measurable standards of consumer service, shift to new rates setting methods that better protect consumers, assure integrity in procedures, and close all loopholes without necessarily denying the utilities’ right to earn the legal and fair return for their investment and services.

The seventh point of the measures is to strengthen and consolidate rural electric cooperatives, seek long-term solutions and strengthen them as distribution utilities in preparation for deregulation as mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

Eighth, the President sought the review of IPP contracts and reduce contract cost, saying that whatever is completed in the review must already be submitted so that the government can begin the renegotiations.

Ninth, the President proposed the further exploration of financial engineering methods which the government has been doing and has resulted in the reduction of Napocor’s PPCA to 40 centavos.

This action, she said, will reflect in the electricity bills starting next month.