President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today extolled the Philippine team that went to the recently concluded fourth ASEAN Skills Competition in Jakarta, Indonesia for bagging three gold medals, three bronze medals and nine diplomas of excellence in 10 trade areas of competition.

The President personally congratulated the members along with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Director General Dante V. Liban at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, where the President delivered a speech before the 28^th Annual Conference of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex).

The President also conferred cash gifts to the participants in the Asean Skills Competition for their admirable performance.

With technical guidance from four officials and 12 experts, the 24 young Filipino competitors engaged in skills encounters with counterparts from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and Vietnam. The Philippines’ best vied in 12 trade areas opened for competition.

Jerrick Raul, Jeffrey Sulit and Edilbert Mendez bagged gold medals in the Computer-Aided Design Drafting, Information Technology and Cabinet- Making events respectively. Raul garnered a score of 550 points, earning him the Best in Country award.

Bronze medals were won by Ramil Tagaytayan (Plumbing), Elgie Paz (Cabinet Making), and Anabelle Flores (Ladies’ Dressmaking).

Those who finished with Diplomas of Excellence in various trade areas were Troadio Paman, Richard Bestre, Lito Desacula, Michael Malazarte, Alfie Abanes, Lito Auro, Eugene de la Cruz, Arman Dabbay and Janice Exim.

In brief remarks, the President enjoined TESDA to likewise conduct training for call centers and care-giving as the two fields are among the most suitable areas of concentration of Filipino workers.

The President noted that the technology of call centers is getting very modern, as video will soon be attached to the audio calls in the near future.

The President also noted that Filipino workers could serve as care-givers to the aging population of some countries.

The President noted that technical skills are an advantage as she said that Toyota Motor Corp. plans to expand further its transmission plant in the country. She noted that 95 percent of the plant caters to exports and that it will soon export transmissions to Japan.

According to Liban, the Philippines fared well in the competition, especially in information technology, an area in which the President has continuously showed concern.

"This good showing is an indication of the responsiveness of technical education and skills development to the priorities identified by the administration," Liban said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said she has asked banker Deogracias Vistan to be her special assistant for private sector housing.

The President made the announcement during her remarks at the 28^th Annual Conference of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex) at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong.

"I have asked Sonny Vistan to be special assistant for private sector housing," the President said.

She said the primary objective of Vistan is to put up a package whereby he will make available the inventory of government-owned land, which shall serve as the government’s equity for housing for government employees.

The President said these lands would be made available to the private developers.

"With government land being the equity, that should make housing truly affordable," the President said.

The appointment of Vistan follows the announcement of the President that she will jumpstart the housing sector as part of her eight-point economic agenda for the next six months.

To keep transportation fares down, reduce transport costs from Mindanao to Luzon, stimulate small and medium enterprises, jumpstart housing, stimulate private investments in agriculture, continue building infrastructure to decongest Metro Manila, make the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) contribute to the fiscal resources, and make Makati City a specific tourist destination.

These make up the eight-point work program of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the next six months.

In her speech before the 28^th Annual Conference of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex) at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong, the President said a key point of focus of her work agenda is the upward trend in oil prices.

"I am determined to undertake all reasonable means to keep transport costs down," the President said.

The President said she has instructed Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza to explore ways and means to stem the upward pressure on fares.

She said that on her orders, Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 and Light Rail Transit (LRT) 1 and the Philippine National Railways are not going to increase ticket charges.

She said that while imported crude oil now accounts for a mere 11.75 percent of the power generation requirements, the country’s transportation sector continues to be heavily dependent on oil imports.

Thus, the social impact of transport costs cannot be overstated, she said.

She said Mendoza is in constant dialogue with various groups in the transport sector to explore other forms of reasonable relief from rising costs other than just raising transport fares.

The President also assured that the supply of oil and oil products are more than sufficient and adequate. "We have a highly diversified source of oil and its products. Thus, any possibility of a supply shortage is negligible," she said.

She noted that upon her instructions, Energy Secretary Vicente S. Perez is monitoring even more closely the inventory levels of oil and petroleum products in the country.

"Our country inventory remains within the normal range, within 50 to 65 days’ supply which in itself is sufficient to see the country through any of the foreseeable scenarios in the case of a war against Iraq," the President said.

On efforts to reduce cargo rates in the country, she said the government is promoting competition at the ports, addressing reported overcharging in cargo handling tariff, reducing the government share of port fees from 40 percent to 10 percent and rationalizing the bidding terms of reference for cargo handling services.

The President said she has instructed Development Bank of the Philippines president Vitaliano Naņagas to go full blast and concentrate on the development of progressive, long-haul shipping to constitute the country’s national backbone in the transport of bulk products and the development of the roll-on, roll-off ferry and road network to link Mindanao to the growth centers of the country.

The DBP has put in place a P30-billion credit facility to fund measures to bring down cargo rates.

On moves to jumpstart housing, the President said her administration is giving banks policy signal incentives to fund developers on their own and get bureaucracy out of their way.

The President revealed that she has asked Deogracias Vistan, former president of Equitable-PCI Bank, to be a special assistant for private sector housing, whose primary job is to make available the inventory of land owned by the government institutions, which shall serve as the government’s equity for housing for government employees.

For infrastructure to unclog the streets of Metro Manila, the President said her efforts will focus on beginning construction on the commuter links between Metro Manila, the Northrail system and the toll road all the way to Batangas port in the south.

Within Metro Manila, she said she is monitoring the smooth start of the final linkage of MRT with LRT.

She said has also ordered Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando to sit down with Public Works and Highways Secretary Simeon Datumanong and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. president Ephraim Genuino to review the DPWH’s infrastructure program for Metro Manila. "The mission is to ensure that the program makes sense and will produce visible results quickly," she said.

The President said she has also instructed Presidential Legal Counsel Avelino Cruz to work with PCGG Chair Haydee Yorac to expedite the release of the $600-million Marcos’ deposits with the Philippine National Bank and liquefy the coconut levy’s remaining 27 percent of the San Miguel Corp., which is sold through bidding, to generate substantial dollars and funding for our system.

On making Makati City a primary tourist destination, the President cited a recent study by a Hawaii-based expert who discovered that Makati offers more than what Honolulu does.

"Makati, with its compact, easy to secure location, world-class malls, entertainment facilities and cheap shopping, can be promoted as an attractive destination perhaps with a side trip to Boracay or similar resorts as part of the package," the President said.

BINAN, Laguna—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today lauded the Toshiba Corporation of Japan for its continued confidence in the Philippine economy and for providing jobs to Filipinos.

In her short remarks during a visit to the plant of Toshiba Information Equipment (Phils), Inc. at the Laguna Technopark here, the President personally thanked Tadashi Okamura, president and chief executive officer of Toshiba Corporation in Japan, for the company’s contribution to the economy and its continued operation in the country despite the economic slowdown brought about by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

"What I can say now is thank you for your continued stay in the Philippines and right now we are looking for the possible expansion of Toshiba’s operation here in our country," the President said.

Upon her arrival at Toshiba plant, the President received a warm welcome from the top executives and employees of the company.

Before touring the plant facilities, the President met with Okamura; Naoki Kubo, executive assistant to the president of Toshiba Corp., Japan; and Kenichi Ohashi, corporate representative for Asia and managing director of Toshiba Asia Pacific Pte., Ltd., based in Singapore.

Okamura briefed the President on the successful operations of Toshiba in the country and later accompanied her in the plant tour.

On Wednesday, the President also visited the Epson manufacturing plant in Lipa City, Batangas. Yesterday, the President visited the Toyota plant at the Sta. Rosa Industrial Estate in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

The President’s visits to various plants is part of her investment promotion program to attract more foreign investors to the country.

Since the Toshiba Information Equipment Philippines, Inc. (TIP) was established in July 1995 by Toshiba Corporation, one of Japan’s largest electronics and energy companies, the company received three consecutive awards for being the top exporter of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) from 1997 to 2000.

In the year 2001, Toshiba Information Equipment Philippines, Inc. (TIP) got its Hall of Fame Award and was cited as Top Environmental Performer Award by PEZA.

Fully equipped with state-of-the-art technology and facilities, TIP is primarily engaged in producing information devices and equipment for personal computers and multimedia products, such as motherboards for PC, hard disk drives and CD-ROM drives, which are distributed in the key cities in Japan, the United States and Europe.