The recent signing of a bilateral trade agreement between the Philippines and India is expected to enhance trade, investments and economic cooperation between the two countries in the coming years.

Trade Undersecretary Thomas Aquino said the pact would perk up countertrading, the exchange of information on business opportunities and contacts, and business matching activities, among others.

Aquino said the Philippines considered India as one of its top trading partners.

"There is a huge market for Philippine exports to India, it being home to over 1 billion or 15 percent of the world’s population, with a large emerging middle class who has growing disposable income," he said.

"Its economic reforms since 1991 have helped the country achieve macro economic stability and a moderate degree of liberalization in its trade, investment and financial sectors," he added.

Aquino said he had talks with Indian Commerce Secretary Dipak Chatterjee on subjects such as the mutual cooperation in small and medium enterprise development and promotion, scientific and technical cooperation in pharmaceuticals, renewable energy sources and agricultural sciences and technology, information technology, and gems and jewelry.

The Philippines initially intended to promote metal parts and components, electronics components including semi-conductor devices, processed fruits, ceramics, gloves and mittens, seaweeds and carageenan, fertilizers, chemicals like fatty alcohol, coconut oil, glycerine, and surface active washing or cleaning preparations in India.

The country’s exports to India grew from $34 million in 1997 to $71 million in 2001 and balance of merchandise trade has narrowed down from $194 million in 1997 to $166 million in 2001.

The top five Philippine merchandise exports in 2001 included newsprint in rolls and sheets, phosphoric and sulfuric acid, and parts and accessories of motor vehicles. Semiconductor devices were among the top five exports of the Philippines to India in 1999 and 2000.

The top five merchandise imports included buffalo meat, airplanes and other aircraft, wheat and meslin, oil cake and other solid residues.

Through parallel importation, the Philippines bought branded medicines from India for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-initiated Presyong Tama, Gamot Pampamilya (Right Price, Medicine for the Family) program.

A study by the Philippine International Trading Corp, a DTI agency, showed that medicines sourced from other countries including India, were up to 10 times cheaper than prices of drugs sold commercially.

The program on half-priced branded medicine was one of the major poverty alleviation goals that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo committed in her State of the Nation Address in July, 2001.

In a report, the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) said that all 73 Department of Health-retained hospitals have been stocked with selected low-cost quality drugs.

The drugs included Adalat Retard and Tenormin for hypertension; Bactrim Adult and Septran for infections; Daonil for diabetes; and Ventorlin and Becoride for asthma.

The PMS report added that all 249 National Food Authority-deployed rolling stores in the National Capital Region and 61 local government hospitals have started selling the low-priced quality medicines.

The administration has fulfilled its commitments to the victims of the landslide tragedy in Payatas, Quezon City as pledged by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her first State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered before a joint session of Congress on July 23, 2001.

In a report to the President, coursed through the Presidential Management Staff (PMS), Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said the more than 400 families comprising three organizations of Payatas landslide victims have expressed their "sincere thanks" to the President for the assistance that the government has extended to them.

When she delivered her first SONA, the President invited three children from Payatas—Jayson Banogoon, 10 years old; Erwin Dolera, 9 years old; and Jomer Pabalan, 10 years old—and three others who have figuratively floated a paper boat (bangkang papel) on the Pasig River containing their appeal to the President for help so that their dreams of a better life can be realized.

The President used the bangkang papel metaphor to emphasize the challenge that she hurled to the people and the nation to work together for poverty alleviation and national development.

Soliman said that as pledged by the President, the government, through the DSWD and the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI) program, has extended educational and livelihood assistance not only to the members of the three organizations of Payatas victims but also to other urban poor associations in Payatas.

She said the six children invited to the SONA were provided with educational assistance by the government and private benefactors for school year 2001-2002.

The families of the six children, Soliman said, were also provided with P10,000 each as seed capital for livelihood projects.

Another 400 elementary and high school students coming from families directly affected by the Payatas tragedy were given P10,000 each, also for livelihood projects, under the "PGMA-Payatas Scholarship Program. The program is directly funded by the President’s Social Fund.

Soliman said that the remaining 765 families were given livelihood assistance through their organizations, the Samahang Tunay ng Phase II Lupang Pangako, the Samahang Magkakapitbahay ng Payatas and the July 10 Payatas Victims Organization which received P400,000 each as capital for their livelihood projects.

Technical assistance to the families and their organizations were also provided by the DSWD and two community-based non-gobvernmental organizations, the Kristong Hari Foundation and Kalipunan at Damayan ng mga Mahihirap (KADAMAY), Soliman said.

According to Soliman, the DSWD has also coordinated with the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the local government units in resolving housing and land-related issues raised by the victims of the Payatas tragedy.

Although there are provisions in the present Constitution that need revisions, this is not yet the proper time to discuss them, Malacanang said today.

In his regular press briefing, Acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable, Jr. said that the country is still saddled with economic and social problems that discussions on charter changes are not advisable at the moment.

"This has to be put off to a later date in the future when we, as a nation, can really have the time and the leisure to tackle this issue," Afable said.

According to Afable, it has always been the stand of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that there are changes that could be done in the charter but not at this time.

On the relief of seven top-ranking officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for their inability to stop rampant gambling, particularly jueteng, in their areas of jurisdiction, Afable said that the President has continued to keep her hands off the issue.

"She will continue to leave it to the National Police Commission (Napolcom) to undertake the process by which this matter will be investigated and resolved," Afable said.

Afable also explained that Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina, Jr. in his capacity as chairman of the Napolcom, has acted on the matter based on principle, and not of political expediency.

The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) has opened more windows for credit access to small farmers in the bank’s bid to help mitigate the negative effects to agriculture of the El Nino weather phenomenon.

A long dry spell is experienced during the El Nino, which officials expect to begin in September. This weather imbalance is a bane to farmers.

In a report to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, LBP president Gary Teves said the bank has raised -- to 65 percent by the end of 2004 from 38 percent in 2001 -- the share of agriculture in the bank’s loan portfolio.

"As of March 2002, the LBP’s outstanding loans to the agriculture and agrarian sector reached P41.3 billion. This represents 41 percent of our total loan portfolio," he said.

For 2002, the bank has targeted a P47.8-billion credit exposure to the priority sectors.

Loan releases will come from the implementation of various loan programs for the different sectors such as cooperatives, countryside financial institutions, participating financial institutions, small and medium enterprises (SME), local government units (LGU) and other clients in the agricultural business.

Teves said the LBP has also identified accounts for incremental loan releases, notable of which is the P1.3-billion additional loan intended for the National Food Authority.

This would be used for the financing requirements for local procurement and rice importation to fill in the country’s required buffer stock, both for food security and prize stabilization, before the lean season.

He said the LBP has likewise allocated more resources to agri-infrastructure and agri-related activities, agri-business projects and SMEs.

Teves noted the P800-million rediscounting line to the Quedan Rural Credit and Guarantee Corporation (Quedancor) to bankroll the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani Countrywide Assistance for Rural Employment and Services (GMA Cares) and the Hybrid Rice Cultivation Project.

On top of this, Teves said the bank is evaluating the request of Quedancor for another P800-million rediscounting line for in-bred rice, hybrid corn and coffee production.

He added that the bank has streamlined its lending procedures, reducing the processing time for production loans from 75 to 45 working days and lessening loan signature requirements from 18 to 10.

He further noted the bank’s implementation of flexible debt restructuring terms for cooperatives by providing credit relief to coops with past due accounts such as the condonation of penalties, capitalization of interest, reduction of interest on a case-to-case basis, extension of loan maturity dates.

After loan restructuring, the LBP would grant additional working capital to cooperatives and would take a pro-active approach in extending support to coops experiencing organizational difficulties.

Other pro-farmer measures included the:

• Packaging of a special credit facility for the repair and rehabilitation of irrigation systems at a lower interest rate of 10 percent per annum;

• Allocation of P500 million for borrowers who will build up small irrigation systems and shallow tube wells;

• Grant of loans to LGUs for the purchase of heavy equipment for use in building small water impounding units for farmers;

• Focus on marine and aquaculture projects such as bangus and tilapia production and municipal fishing;

Acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable, Jr. today said his office made a mistake in releasing to the media a letter of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo offering Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr. the position of Adviser on Foreign Affairs.

Afable said: "It was a mistake. I thought that this was a letter meant for release. It was a letter not supposed to be sent."

He said he should have double-checked such a "sensitive letter," adding that what happened "was an inadvertence on the part of my office."

He added that he got the letter from the Office of the Executive Secretary this morning.

The letter "was supposed to be torn up because it was not really meant to be sent to the Vice President," he told reporters in an interview after a meeting between the President and Guingona early last night.

"I do not know the background of the preparation of the letter," he said, adding that the letter was signed by the President "but it was not meant to be sent" to Guingona.