President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today lauded the officials of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and members of the Monetary Board for their initiatives to support and promote the administration’s priority programs to develop the small and medium term enterprises (SMEs) in urban and rural areas in the provinces.

In a meeting with banking associations at Malacaņang’s Heroes Hall this morning, BSP Deputy Governor Alberto Reyes reported to the President that the BSP and the Monetary Board are very supportive of the SMEs and have in fact launched a series of initiatives to promote the SME sector.

Also present in the meeting were Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo and Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II.

Reyes told the President that the BSP and the Monetary Board are now conducting continuing dialogues with businessmen in the provinces to inform them about the need to promote the growth of SMEs to reinvigorate the domestic economy and win the war against poverty.

Among the previous initiatives of the central bank is the requirement for all lending institutions to set aside at least 6 percent for small enterprises and 2 percent for medium enterprises for 10 years starting August 1997 to the year 2007.

Under the new initiatives, the BSP has also deferred for one year the implementation of the common rate of 91-day Treasury-bill interest rate (from previous 91-day T-bill minus 1%) to help jump-start SME lending, the BSP Deputy Governor said.

He added that the BSP has also lowered and standardized at 6% the rate of return (RR) on Negotiable Order of Withdrawal (NOW) accounts to restore the substantial differential in favor of Trade Banks and Commercial Banks.

Reyes also said the BSP is now in the process of reviewing the present 35 percent singles borrower limit (SBL) to give wholesale government banks for SME relending more room to lend to conduit banks if this is a binding constraint.

The BSP is also considering more liberal access to branching as an incentive for banks that achieve substantial direct lending to SMEs as a percentage of total loan portfolio (TLP). The study, Reyes said, will be completed at the end of next month.

Among the other initiatives of the BSP are as follows:

• To look into the feasibility of creating a mechanism jointly with banks that will encourage them to discount/factor trade receivables of SMEs to generate reasonably priced working capital for them. One possibility is to create a liquid bankers acceptance market that can be traded among banks as another vehicle to spur further development of the capital market.

• To participate in regional consultation and/or business forums with SME beneficiaries and banking institutions in the locality to address the issues and concerns of SME in coordination with the Department of Trade and Industry as lead agency.

• To coordinate with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) on putting up a regular radio program to be called "Buong Serbisyo at Paglilingkod" (BSP) which will be hosted by top BSP officials for purposes of informing the public on the BSP policies and procedures to implement the mandated credit allocation of the Magna Carta Law (Republic Act 6977) as well as for answering incoming phone queries from the public.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today urged the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies to take a more active campaign against the employment of children and minors in combat and work for the building of strong republics across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.

During a luncheon meeting with the delegates to the Sixth Asia-Pacific-Middle East Regional Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Malacaņang, the President also lauded the efforts of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent for alleviating the pain of events around the world that kill, maim and displace people and cause untold sufferings.

The President called on the Red Cross and Red Crescent to elevate other issues related to conflict or terrorism to a higher place in their action and advocacy plan.

"One is an active campaign, I hope, against the employment of children and minors in combat," the President said, noting that just a week ago, she attended a surrender ceremony of former communist rebels wherein she saw how the youth were recruited at such an early age to wage war against the government.

"I ask for your support and cooperation in facing this serious challenge to the community of civilized nations," the President said.

The President also called on the two humanitarian organizations to work for the building of strong republics across the regions "so that we can try to endure the collective security against terror and transnational crime and build societies that would help one another defeat poverty."

"This is my call on the other side of our equally great effort to build the institution of human dignity and institutions – institutions like yours – that make for a just, human and peaceful society. For institutions like yours are indispensable institutions of good governance and strong republics," she said.

The affair at the Palace was also attended by Princess Margriet of The Netherlands, who is the chairperson of the Standing Commission of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

For Princess Margriet’s attendance, the President said she feels a sense of déjā vu because a generation ago, during the time of her father, the late President Diosdado Macapagal, Queen Beatrix, then the Crown Princess, also visited the Philippines and "my father hosted a party for her in this very same hall."

"I’m very honored and we are all honored as Filipinos that Princess Margriet is here. Because causes are more successful when there are symbols, and Princess Margriet is a symbol. She epitomizes the woman in humanitarian work around the world. I’m glad, Your Highness, that you’re gracing the conference and providing it with inspiration," she said.

The President said the work of humanitarian organizations like the Red Cross and Red Crescent alleviates much of the pain of events that kill, maim, displace and cause untold suffering among human beings.

"It’s our challenge to persevere even against seemingly insurmountable odds in a world of conflict," she said as she noted that the Red Cross has been a partner of the Philippines for a long time.

The conference focuses on three areas: Health, Population Movement and Disasters.

As she continues to work to steer the country back on track, the President said she hopes to expand to tenfold a government program she has started that would cut in half the price of medicines most often purchased by the poor.

She also noted that the government now provides health insurance for millions of poor Filipinos.

The President also said her administration is working on developing the infrastructure and logistics backbone that would hopefully combine to disperse urban development and decongest Metro Manila.

"This would open up new options for the urban sector to improve the quality of life. For example, affordable and dependable mass transport for the surrounding provinces in Metro Manila will make it possible to choose to establish a wholesome family life in the countryside where the cost of living is less while still working in the city," she said.

The President also thanked the Red Cross for giving assistance to the evacuees of the recent war in Mindanao.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today thanked officials of the United Nations Industrial Development Organizations (UNIDO) for their continued assistance to the industrial development and the anti-poverty program of the Philippines.

The President also lauded the UNIDO for its plans to launch a separate small and medium enterprise (SME) project in Mindanao in September next year.

"Thank you and we will welcome your support for that. Just to inform you, the SME is my priority program right now," the President told UNIDO Director General Carlos Alfredo Magarinos during his courtesy call this afternoon at Malacanang’s Music Room.

During their brief conversation, the President assured Magarinos that her administration will try to maximize the UNIDO assistance for industrial development in the Philippines.

"Industrial development is very important to us in order to help the global economy to recover," the President told Magarinos.

In his remarks, Magarinos informed the President that since 1998 UNIDO has addressed financial administration problems of many countries by providing them with industrial development to generate more employment.