Contrary to published reports, the administration has no plans of imposing a tax on cellular phone calls and text messaging, Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho said today.

In an interview, Camacho said that the plan to tax cellular phone calls and texting actually came from the House of Representatives where there are two pending bills containing such revenue-generating move.

Camacho explained that whenever this is a tax measure proposed in Congress, the Department of Finance (DoF) is asked to give its comments.

He said that in giving its comments on the proposed measure, the DoF has recommended that if approved, 40 percent of the revenues generated should go to the general fund and only 60 percent should be used for the computer literacy education in public schools, which is the intended beneficiary of the measure.

"Ang sinasabi ng DoF ay kung magkaroon ng batas ay sana iyong 40 percent ay ilagay na lang sa general fund (What the DoF was saying was that if there is a law, 40 percent should go the general fund)," Camacho said.

He said that using all of the proceeds from this measure for the government’s computer literacy program would not be prudent since the Department of Education is already getting a yearly budget for this particular program.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today personally awarded a P5-million reward to Gardo Ibrahim, the courier and close-in security of Abu Sabaya, who said that the Abu Sayyaf spokesman was killed during the encounter in Sibuco Bay last June 21.

In her brief remarks, President lauded Ibrahim, a military informer, for the timely information he provided to the members of Philippine Navy and Philippine Marines which led to the encounter at sea where three Abu Sayyaf members, including Abu Sabaya, were killed and four others were captured.

"I think now that Abu Sabaya is dead and the Abu Sayyaf is largely neutralized," the President said during the presentation of the reward to Ibrahim at Malacaņang’s Reception Hall.

"I would like to congratulate the people, and, of course, I would like to congratulate our soldiers and our Navy men who did such an astounding victory," President added.

The President also thanked the people of Luuc in Sulu for their continuing support to the government’s effort to eliminate the bandit group operating in Mindanao.

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Roy Cimatu presented Ibrahim to the President and the members of media in a simple ceremony at Malacaņang this afternoon.

President said Luuc was the same place where former American kidnap victim Jeffrey Schilling was recovered by the military sometime in December last year and the place where an Indonesian national, Ferdinand Joel, was recovered after he escaped from the hands of his Abu Sayyaf abductors.

The President said she believes that the battle on Sibuco Bay off Zamboanga del Norte "was a perfect example of perfect surveillance, intelligence fusion, perfect planning and perfect execution. And I congratulate everyone involve in that."

Ibrahim served as a courier of Abu Sayyaf Group and eventually became a close-in security of Abu Sabaya.

On June 20 at 8:00 in the evening, Ibrahim’s handler received information about Abu Sabaya requesting for a boat for their escape from Zamboanga del Norte.

According to the military, Ibrahim was with the group riding in the boat when the encounter occurred and he personally witnessed how Abu Sabaya was shot and killed by Navy personnel.

Upon receipt of the information from Ibrahim on the arrival of the group of Sabaya on the shoreline of Parang-parang, operation "Black Archer" was launched by a Special Warfare Group (SWAG) of the Navy and Marines.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today underscored the need to bring more jobs and community development to the Siocon, Siraway, Sibuco and Balaguian (SSSB) area in Zamboanga del Norte, especially now that the Abu Sayyaf bandit group has been neutralized.

"We have to bring more jobs to the areas where there is so much economic exclusion that the jobless people in those areas are easily led to follow the Syrian song of the easy money coming from being hatchet men and accomplices of the terrorist groups," the Chief Executive said in her brief remarks after presenting a cash reward of P5 million to Gardo Ibrahim, an Abu Sayyaf courier and close-in security of Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya, in ceremonies held this afternoon at Malacanang.

The information fed by Ibrahim to the military led to the encounter that resulted in the killing of Sabaya and two other Abu Sayyaf members. Four other Abu Sayyaf terrorists were captured in the encounter.

The President said that the fight against terrorism is not only a military fight but it "is also a fight to have jobs available for our people."

"We need to have jobs available for our people. Jobs that are decent, jobs that are in accordance with the law," she added.

According to the President, she has already instructed National Anti-Poverty Commission chairperson Teresita Deles to start implementing the community development programs in the SSSB area.

The President recalled that during her speech before the Chinese-Filipino community last June 19, she called on them to "help us fight poverty in the SSSB area."

President Macapagal-Arroyo noted that aside from the school- buildings they have contributed especially to the country’s barangays without school-buildings, the Filipino-Chinese community also contributed funds, "so that we can introduce the Chinese hybrid rice to the SSSB area."

She said that the Chinese hybrid rice is being handled by Presidential Adviser for Job Creation Luis Lorenzo.

On the peace and order situation in Metro Manila, the President stressed that there should be no room for errors.

"People who make blunders will have to go. They have to be discharged and their superiors will have to answer in terms of command responsibility," she said.

The President defined command responsibility as the responsibility of the direct commander for the wrongdoings of his subordinates.

"So, if the one who did the wrongdoing is dismissed then his direct commander is suspended. But each time a unit makes a repetition of the blunder, the command responsibility goes higher and higher," the President said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said that her more than 18-month-old administration is working on a 10-point program to "look for every way by which we can bring power rates down."

"This is where I am going to be putting my attention in the next several months," the President said in her remarks after presenting a cash reward of P5 million to Gardo Ibrahim, an Abu Sayyaf courier and close-in security of Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya, held this afternoon at Malacanang.

The President said, however, that she and Energy Secretary Vicente Perez need a lot of homework, pencil pushing and desk work to do.

The President underscored the need to make the country’s electric rates more competitive.

Right now, she added, the country’s electricity rate is the second most expensive in the region.

"The only one more expensive than us is Japan. But in your July billing, when the rates go down, we will move from number 2 to number 6. We will overtake Singapore, Brunei, Hong Kong and, I believe, Cambodia in power rates," she said.

This is the reason why the administration has to do the privatization of the National Power Corporation (Napocor), the President said. "Because Napocor has contributed so much to our budget deficit," she added.

On the Power Purchase Adjustment (PPA) issue, the President said she did not invent it but she inherited it.