ZAMBOANGA CITY – In just a week’s time after passing through here from nearby Dipolog City where she noted the needs of the people in the Zamboanga peninsula, the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrived in this city again today aboard a Lear jet that landed at the Edwin Andrews Air Base shortly before 10:00 a.m.

Military officials said the President’s arrival demonstrated her resolve to lead her troops, as Commander-in-Chief, in the "no let-up" fight against the Abu Sayyaf and terrorism in Southern Philippines.

Civilian leaders added that she showed her commitment to rid the country of the scourge of poverty by later presiding over a meeting on socio-economic growth and peace and order in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (ARMM).

Upon her arrival, the President was warmly welcomed by Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat, Zamboanga Rep. Celso Lobregat, Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza, ARMM Regional Governor Parouk Hussin, and military officials led by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Roy Cimatu, Southern Command (Southcom) Chief Gen. Ernesto Carolina and Western Mindanao Police Director Simeon Dizon.

Also on hand to welcome the President were leaders and members of the Aguman Kapampangan, the staff of the Department of the Interior and Local Governments regional office and officers of the Public Safety College.

From the air base, the President and her party motored to Camp Navarro, Southcom Hospital to visit soldiers and a military man wounded in gunbattles with the Abu Sayyaf in Siraway, Zamboanga del Norte.

The soldiers were part of the troops that engaged in a search-and-rescue operation to get back American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap from the hands of the Abu Sayyaf.

Following her hospital visit, the President had lunch with members of the local media with whom she shared insights on various topics, including the conduct of the Balikatan 02-1, in an informal conversation.

After an early lunch, at about 11:30, the President was flown by helicopter to Lamitan, Basilan where she immediately went to the wake of slain Abu Sayyaf hostage Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap.

The President is scheduled later today to preside over the joint meeting of the ARMM’s Regional Economic Planning and Development Board (REPDB) and the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC).

With the President are Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina, Jr., Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman, Energy Secretary Vicente Perez, Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin, Economic Planning Secretary Dante Canlas, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez, Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process Eduardo Ermita;

Official Development Assistance Secretary Marita Jimenez, Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo, Presidential Assistant for Jobs Generation Luis Lorenzo, Presidential Assistant on Muslim Affairs Nur Jaafar, Electrification Deputy Administrator Edita Bueno, Local Water Utilities Administrator Lorenzo Jamora and Press Undersecretary Roberto Capco.

Following the ARMM REPDB/RPOC meeting, the President is slated to attend a short program where she would award a Community-Based Forest Management Agreement Utilization Permit to Sarri Bolon, president of the Maligue Multi-Purpose Cooperative.

The permit allowed the extraction of 500 cubic meters of forest products worth some P1.5 million in three barangays of Isabela City.

The President would also give out checks aggregately amounting to P1.285 million for core shelter, potable water, post-harvest, educational, skills training and other projects in different towns of Basilan.

ZAMBOANGA CITY— A firm handshake, a steady smile, comforting words, a look at their wounds and an envelope containing P50,000 to start with.

These were the encouraging gestures President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today gave 11 soldiers, most of them Scout Rangers, and a militiaman wounded in separate firefights against Abu Sayyaf terrorists in Siraway, Zamboanga del Norte.

The President extolled the bravery and gallantry of the Filipino soldiers engaged in the battle against terrorism, as she visited one by one the wounded at their hospital beds in Camp Navarro, Southern Command Hospital here.

She showed her admiration for the soldiers and the army-trained militiaman who were ready to give up their lives to protect the people from terrorists and to defend freedom and democracy.

During the visit to the surgical ward of the Southcom Hospital where she was received by hospital chief Col. Joselito Castro, the President personally handed over a special fund assistance of P50,000 to each of the seven wounded.

She was assisted by Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez, Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza, Regional Governor Parouk Hussin of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat.

The fund aid for those airlifted to Manila was given to relatives who represented them.

The recipients of the special fund aid included Sergeants Arsenio Peran, Radney Magbanua; Corporals Carlito San Pablo, Jose Lagadon, Jerry Pulmano and George Labastida; Privates First Class Rogelio Tuazon, Abner Eustaquio, Alvin Maddatu, Ramon Guilingan, Rey Balanay, Jonathan Cacalda and Rene Mabilog; and paramilitary man Elejandro Ebo.

Pulmano is with the Army’s 2^nd Scout Ranger unit; Labastida, Guilingan and Balanay with the 4^th Infantry Batallion; and Cacalda, Peran and Lagadon with the 12^th Scout Rangers.

All the others were part of the 15^th Scout Ranger unit that shot it out with the Abu Sayyaf during the daring search-and-rescue mission on American hostages Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipjno nurse Ediborah Yap in Siraway last June 7.

But it was Ebo, who guided the Scout Rangers to the Abu Sayyaf lair, who received the best surprise of his life.

"Welcome to the Armed Forces of the Philippines," the President told him, hinting that Ebo should be enlisted in the military.

Aside, Col. Fredesvindo Covarrubias, head of the Combined Information Bureau for the joint RP-US Balikatan 02-1 military exercise, said Ebo would not find it hard to train as an enlisted army man anymore because of his experience in the field as a paramilitary man.

Ebo is attached with the Army’s 44^th Infantry brigade, First Infantry Division.

Newly-installed Southern Command (Solcom) chief Major General Ernesto Carolina requested the assistance for the wounded soldiers.

The June 7 gunbattle ensued during a search-and-rescue plan—codenamed "Operation Daybreak"—the military launched to get back the Burnhams and Yap.

The Abu Sayyaf snatched the vacationing Burnham couple in the Dos Palmas Resort in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan on May 27 last year. Yap, on the other hand, was taken hostage when the terrorists stormed the Torres Hospital in Lamitan, Basilan on June 2, 2001 in a bid to have their wounded treated.

The President earlier expressed sadness over the death of Martin Burnham and Yap during the rescue operation, but felt the military did a great job in recovering a wounded Gracia Burnham, who has returned home to Kansas in the United States Monday.

Last Saturday (June 8), the President visited Gracia, who is recuperating from a gunshot wound in the leg, at the US Chancery in Pasay City. The following day (June 9), she received the mother, brother and four children of Yap in Malacaņang.

The President, following the hospital visit and lunch with the members of the local media here, flew to Lamitan, Basilan to attend the wake of Yap, at the Lamitan Parish Church early this afternoon.

LAMITAN, Basilan – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said she plans to have a hospital named in honor of slain Abu Sayyaf hostage Ediborah Yap.

Arriving in this small town by helicopter early this afternoon from Zamboanga City, the President lauded the bravery and steel nerves of Ediborah, who lasted a year along with fellow hostages Martin and Gracia Burnham under the bestial hands of the Abu Sayyaf.

Ediborah and Martin were killed in an encounter between the military and the terrorist Abu Sayyaf in Siraway, Zamboanga del Norte last June 7. Gracia was rescued but suffered a bullet wound in the leg.

The President came here to once more condole with the family of Ediborah and express her deepest sympathies over their great loss.

Ediborah’s mother, brother and four children went to see the President in Malacaņang last Sunday.

Ediborah’s remains lie in state at the Lamitan Parish compound.

"(Ediborah) died in the line of duty," the President said during an informal conversion over early lunch with the members of the local media in Zamboanga City.

"I think that is a very good insight of the Philippine Nurses Association," she said.

"I would like to name a hospital after her," she added, further stressing that she is looking for an appropriate hospital that would bear the memory of Ediborah.

"It must be meaningful," she said.

After the visit at the wake, the President motored to the Claret High School for the joint meeting of the Regional Economic Planning and Development Board and the Regional Peace and Order Council in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The joint meeting is expected to tackle several issue and concerns on socio-economic growth and peace stability in the ARMM.

After the joint meeting, the President would later this afternoon proceed to the ground floor of the Claret High School to lead in the awarding of various checks for livelihood, community based forest management agreement that allowed the extraction of 500 cubic meters of forest products worth P1.5 million in three barangays of Isabela City in Basilan.

She would also give checks for core shelter assistance, for potable water projects, and allowance uniforms and schools supplies to 93 PGMA scholars in the five towns of Basilan.

She would also distribute Philhealth Insurance cards and checks form the Department of Agriculture for the agri-modernization program in the province.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today called on officials to help the people in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) attain faster socio-economic growth.

Over early lunch with members of the local media here, the President noted the imperative need to "make the ARMM develop faster because it is the poorest area, the poorest region in the whole country."

She explained that the ARMM’s five component provinces—Basilan, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi—have remained as the country’s five poorest provinces.

"That kind of economic exclusion really is a breeding ground for people who could be vulnerable to the call of terrorists," she said.

The President made the call before she flew by helicopter to Lamitan, Basilan where she would be presiding over the joint meeting of members of the ARMM’s Regional Economic Planning and Development Board and the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) at the Claret High School.

The meeting would tackle ways to fast-track ongoing social and economic programs and projects while working out ways to stabilize peace and order in the region.

Assisting the President during the meeting is Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Parouk Hussin, ARMM Executive Secretary Nabil Tan and ARMM RPOC Chairman Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan of Maguindanao province.

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Achieving a military victory over terrorism – such as that which the government is achieving over the terrorist kidnap-for-ransom Abu Sayyaf Group – does not end there.

Even if the Abu Sayyaf is wiped out, there is still the ‘twin" of the war against terrorism, which is the war against poverty, to focus on.

This President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stressed as she pushed for solutions to the problem of poverty in Basilan and in the Triple SB complex (Siocon, Siraway, Sibuco, Baliguan towns in Zamboanga del Norte).

Successful anti-poverty programs would nip in the bud any move to create "another outburst sometime in the future," she told members of the local media who joined her for early lunch at the Southern Command Mansion House here.

"Even as we say ‘let’s finish the Abu Sayyaf,’ let us also move forward with the war against poverty," she said.

"We cannot let other events distract us from our focus," she added, as she hoped the anti-poverty campaign would be won within a decade.

The President said that "even as we address immediate threats, military threats, we must always remember that the focus is on the economy."

She said a bad economy is a breeding ground for the mass base of terrorists.

The President, in answer to a media query, stressed that she has not given the military any timetable to pulverize the Abu Sayyaf.

With the stepped-up military campaign aimed at finally putting an end to the kidnapping scourge of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group in Mindanao as a backdrop, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will lead tomorrow the commemoration of the country’s 104^th Independence Day.

The President will kick off the nationwide celebration by raising the Philippine flag at 7:00 a.m. in Lamitan, Basilan, where she would be staying overnight.

After meeting with military and local officials in Zamboanga City, the President flew by helicopter to Lamitan, Basilan this afternoon where she presided over the joint meeting of the Regional Economic Planning and Development Board of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the Regional Peace and Order Council at the Claret High School.

The President also visited the wake of slain Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap at the Lamitan Parish Church.

Tomorrow’s flag-raising ceremony in Lamitan will set off simultaneous flag-raising rites in Kawit, Cavite and in other parts of the country.

Afterward, the President would return to Malacanang to attend the traditional Vin d’Honneur, the reception hosted by the President for the Diplomatic Corps.

During the Vin d’Honneur, the President will deliver her message to the international community. The dean of the Diplomatic Corps will then make a response.

In the afternoon, the President will speak before the nation at the customary Independence Day celebrations at the Quirino Grandstand. A joint-civic military parade will then follow.

Last year at the 103^rd celebrations of the Philippine Independence, the President denounced the Abu Sayyaf for simply being a money-crazed bandit group, without fear of God and word of honor.

The bandit group had then just kidnapped several vacationers at the upscale Dos Palmas Resort in Palawan, including the two American missionaries, Martin and Gracia Burnham.

"Ang galit ng taong-bayan ay umaapaw na. Ang ginagawang pandurukot ng mga Abu Sayyaf ay labag sa batas ng Kristiyanismo at Islam (The wrath of the citizenry is mounting. The kidnapping done by the Abu Sayyaf is against the laws of both Christianity and Islam)," she said. On Saturday, after the encounter with the Abu Sayyaf which resulted in the death of Martin Burnham and Yap, the President ordered the military to finish off the Abu Sayyaf now that they no longer have hostages to be used as shields.

Several colorful floats, a number of marching bands and hundreds of contingents wearing costumes in different shades representing the different government and private sectors will be the major attraction of the Araw ng Kalayaan celebration at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park tomorrow.

The parade will start at 3 p.m. and is expected to finish at 6 p.m.

From among the participants will be chosen the Best Float, the Best Contingent, the Best Marching Band, Drum and Bugle Group in the different competition categories. All the participants of the parade shall be included in the judging with the exception of the Department of Tourism and the National Commission for Culture and Arts.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called on the citizenry to unite and flesh out the country’s democracy in order to achieve its goals of "alleviating mass poverty, eradicating graft and corruption, putting up a common front against international terrorism, setting moral standards in governance, and providing peace, justice and sense of community which is none other than national unity."

In her message commemorating the 104^th anniversary of Philippine Independence Day tomorrow, the President said the country is at the "threshold of profound social, economic, political and cultural changes as we enter the brave world of the coming century and beyond."

"It is only by forging anew our unity as one country and one people, and strengthening our freedom on the basis of sustainable development and far-reaching reforms, change and renewal – enhancing our profound love of God and our pride in the Filipino race – can we attain our individual and collective goals, and seek our rightful place in the international community of nations," she said.

The text of the President’s message follows in full:

Binabati ko ang buong sambayanang Pilipino gayundin ang ating World Class Filipino Workers sa iba’t-ibang panig ng daigdig sa pagdiriwang ng ating ika-104 taon ng Araw ng Kasarinlan.

Kalakip nito ang ating taimtim na dalangin na simulan nating lahat ang lubusang pagkakaisa at pagpunyaging kailangan upang ating makamtam ang mga biyaya ng kasarinlan at ang kaligayahan, kasaganaan ng bawa’t Pilipinong may katutubong pagmamahal sa kaligayahan at kapayapaan.

Today, we are called upon to stay united and to flesh out our independence which our country’s President General Emilio Aguinaldo, proclaimed in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898, and established the first democratic republic in Asia and Africa.

By remembering that day in history, we hope to remind our people of how hard a struggle our forebears had fought, of how much blood had been shed, to win our country’s place in the community of nations.

Today, 104 years after, we are called upon to flesh out democracy in terms of alleviating mass poverty; eradicating graft and corruption; putting up a common front against international terrorism; setting high moral standards in governance; and, providing peace, justice, dignity and sense of the community which is none other than national unity.

Today, the Philippines is at the threshold of profound social, economic, political and cultural changes as we enter the brave world of the coming century and beyond. It is only by forging anew our unity as one country and one people, and strengthening our freedom on the basis of sustainable development and far-reaching reforms, change and renewal – enhancing our profound love of God and our pride in the Filipino race – can we attain our individual and collective goals, and seek our rightful place in the international community of nations.

Mabuhay ang sambayanang Pilipino!

LAMITAN, Basilan— President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today paid tribute to the late Ediborah Yap, one of the two Abu Sayyaf hostages killed in a fierce clash between the military and the terrorists in Siraway, Zamboanga del Norte on June 7.

The President said nurse Ediborah Yap is not only the hero of Isabela, Lamitan and Basilan. She said Ediborah is the hero of the whole country.

"She died in the line of duty. Up to the end, she did her duty as a nurse. This is a good sign of the good ethics of the people of Lamitan. The good deed of Ediborah reflected the goodness of Lamitan and Basilan province as a whole," the President said.

She said Ediborah Pamaran Yap was her relative by blood, on the side of her mother Evangeline Macaraeg-Macapagal.

She added that she found out today that the Pamarans were related to her relatives in Manukan, Zamboanga del Norte.

She made the discovery when she was tracing the family tree with the Pamarans at the wake of Ediborah at the Lamitan Parish Compound’s Jardin de Infancia.

The President visited her relatives in Manukan following the recent joint Zamboanga Peninsula Regional Development Council and Regional Peace and Order Council in Dipolog City.

Upon her arrival at the wake, the President presented a birthday cake to Lawrence William, youngest son of Ediborah who is celebrating his birthday today.

LAMITAN, Basilan— President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today announced the National Electrification Administration’s (NEA) takeover of the management of the Basilan Electric Cooperatives (Baselco) effective today.

The President said the rehabilitation of the Baselco plant would start soonest to avoid fluctuations, blackouts and the power outages in at least six towns of Basilan and in Isabela City.

She said the takeover was one of the recommendations brought to her attention when she visited Basilan last month.

The takeover was only one of the many socio-economic programs of the President pushed during her visit to the island-province today.

She also received a progress report on the needs of the residents whose houses were razed to the ground in a big fire that hit Barangay Kampurna, Isabela City on May 29.

She awarded three water pumps to the Kampurna fire victims. The water pumps would be used in place of firetrucks that could not penetrate the community due to the absence of roads. This way, "malawakang (widespread)" fires could be avoided in the future, she said.

Before a big crowd that met her at the Claret High School Grounds, the President awarded a community-based Forest Management Agreement Utilization Permit for the extraction of 500 cubic meters of forest products worth P1.5 million in three Isabela City barangays.

Sarri Bolon, president of the Maligue Multi-Purpose Cooperative, received the permit.

She also distributed checks worth P1.285 million for the following projects under the Department of Social Welfare and Development:

• P750,000 for the Core Shelter Assistance in Barangay Paniongan, Lantawan;

• P75,680 representing the initial fund release for the Barangay Buli-Buli, Sumisip Potable Water Project;

• P120,000 representing the initial fund release for the Tuburan Potable Water project;

• P174,750 for the allowance, uniforms and school supplies of the 93 President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) scholars in six municipalities of Basilan;

• P100,000 for the pre-post harvest equipment in Barangay Batungal, Maluso;

• P20,522 for the practical skills training on food processing of 20 women in Barangay Matering, Tipo-Tipo;

• P40,800 for the construction of a communal comfort room in Upper Beembegan, Sumisip; and

• P4,000 for kitchen utensils in Matibay, Lamitan.

LAMITAN, Basilan – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today received a letter-resolution from concerned citizens of Basilan asking her to let the Americans stay in Basilan permanently.

The letter was signed by Rev. Fr. Cirilo Nacorda, Parish Priest of Lamitan; Enriqueta Tan, president of the Parish Council; and some 3,000 concerned citizens.

The letter said that with the effort of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and local paramilitary groups, together with Americans troops participating in the joint RP-US Balikatan 02-1 military exercises, "we feel a surge of hope for peace and prosperity in the area."

The letter stressed that the financial institutions in Zamboanga, where Basileņos do their business with, attested to the fact that increases in trade, deposits and financial markets have been noted with the presence of the Americans in the area.

"We are hoping that this aura of peace and development will continue but we are uneasy with the thought that the Americans who are giving us moral and civic support will be leaving after their stay of six months. We are insecure with the thought that their absence will bring us back to square one," the letter said.

The concerned citizens said that whatever people – from other places like Manila who did not experience what people from Basilan have experienced – think, "that’s their privilege and prerogative."

"As for us who underwent terrors and hardships, the Americans are our hope, protector and inspiration," they said.

LAMITAN, Basilan – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo todaysaid she will lead the raising of the national flag to celebrate Independence Day at the Municipal Hall grounds here.

The President said raising the Philippine flag here signifies the declaration of the freedom of the people of Basilan from the bondage of poverty and terrorism.

The President said that when Aguinaldo raised the flag in Cavite, it meant freedom was attained.

"He declared that we are free and ready to fight for our freedom through blood and sweat," she said.

The President made her remarks before convening the joint meeting of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s Regional Economic Planning and Development Board and Regional Peace and Order Council at the Claret High School here.

She said that Tuesday’s declaration of the fight against terrorism would signal the start of a relentless fight against poverty.

She expressed the hope that the day would come when Basilan would be the symbol of peace and development in the country.