The Presidential Museum in Malacaņang is asking generous citizens to lend or donate their memorabilia items about former Presidents for display at the museum.

Presidential Museum Director Missy Reyes said the museum is looking for mementos and souvenir items of the former occupants of the historic palace to be featured in the exhibit honoring all the Presidents.

"No other place could be more appropriate to hold the treasures and memories of the Philippines’ seat of power," Reyes said.

The museum will also showcase the antiques and artworks collected in the Palace over the years, making all the Palace treasures accessible for viewing by the Filipino public.

There will also be a Presidential Library, which will hold all the book collections – both antique and new – which have belonged to the former residents of the Palace.

The museum will also exhibit memorabilia of former First Ladies.

Last May 2002, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered that the historic building adjacent to Malacaņang Palace be transformed into the Presidential Museum and Library.

Named Kalayaan Hall during the administration of President Corazon Aquino, this beautiful building with neo-classical architecture was once the Maharlika Hall during the Marcos era.

Previously, it was the Executive Building where the American Governor-Generals held office in the 1920s.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today praised kidnap victim Agnes Guirindola for her courage and determination in pursuing the case against two men who abducted her in 1994 and were sentenced to death by lethal injection.

The President personally relayed her message to Guirindola during her visit to the kidnap victim’s house in Marikina City this morning.

During their conversation, Guirindola presented to the President a letter requesting her not to grant a parole to her convicted kidnappers, Venancio Roxas and Roberto Gungon.

President Macapagal-Arroyo arrived at the Guirindola residence at around 10:30 a.m. together with Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina, Jr. and Marikina City Mayor Marides Fernando.

She was welcomed by the victim’s parents, Francisco and Elvira Guirindola.

Guirindola was kidnapped, shot in the face and left for dead in a grassy lot in Batangas in January 1994.

While in the custody of her abductors, Guirindola told the President that she was unable to identify a third suspect who was then in the company of Roxas and Gungon.

Last week, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Demetrio Macapagal, Sr. sentenced Roxas to death for kidnapping and serious illegal detention with frustrated murder.

Roxas was also ordered to pay Guirindola the amount of P1.5 million in moral and exemplary damages and more than P300,000 in actual damages.

Gungon was meted the death penalty by Quezon Ciy Regional Trial Court Judge Luca Bersamin in February 1995. Both are now detained at the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

Records showed that Guirindola, then a 20-year-old student taking up engineering at De La Salle University, was abducted by Roxas and Gungon while she was driving along Panay Avenue in Quezon City at about 3:30 p.m. on January 12, 1994.

The two men brought her to Batangas where she was forced to drink laced soda which caused her to feel dizzy and lapse into a coma.

When Guirindola woke up at about 10 p.m., the men had already taken the money from her wallet as well as the jewelry she was wearing.

Guirindola then said she needed to answer a call of nature, and Gungon led her to a grassy area. She had just finished relieving herself when she saw "white sparks," fell down and lost conciousness.

The victim did not realize she had been shot until after she regained consciousness and found blood oozing from her face and neck.

Government efforts to send hoodlums in robes to jail are paying off, with the Department of Justice (DOJ) filing administrative and criminal cases against errant judges and court personnel.

A report, reflecting achievements against targets set in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, said the DOJ had recently filed graft cases against two judges and a prosecutor.

Charged were judges Pedro Gutierrez and Rodrigo Lorenzo and First Assistant Chief Prosecutor Oscar Corpus.

The report said Gutierrez was charged administratively before the Office of the Court Administrator, Supreme Court for giving, on March 1 this year, the accused unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference with the discharge of judicial function through manifest partiality or gross inexcusable negligence.

He was also charged criminally before the Office of the Ombudsman for violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Despite strong evidence of prosecution, he was alleged to have granted the accused’s demurrer to evidence involving 986.5 grams of shabu in an order dated August 29, 2002.

On the other hand, Lorenzo was charged administratively before the Office of the Court Administrator, Supreme Court for grave misconduct.

The report noted that Lorenzo rendered an unjust judgment -- while committing gross ignorance of the law of procedure and bias and partiality – for ordering on August 15, 2002 the release on bail of five Chinese nationals before all prosecution witnesses could be presented.

The Chinese were arrested while mixing 13,978.5 grams of shabu components and while possessing another 4,606.1 grams of the illegal drug. They were later released on bail at P500,000 each.

He was also criminally charged with violation of RA 3019 before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Meanwhile, Corpus was charged with gross neglect of duty and inefficiency and incompetence in the performance of official duties.

Criminals involved in big-time smuggling will soon find themselves behind bars.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed at least 10 smuggling cases in court, from the 34 cases it received from law enforcement agencies from December 2001 to August 30, 2002.

An update of SONA accomplishments prepared by the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) said that three of the 34 cases were already submitted for resolution, 19 under preliminary investigation, one remanded to the Bureau of Customs for further investigation and one dismissed.

It said the customs bureau has filed eight criminal cases before the DOJ for violations of customs and tariff laws.

The PMS update showed the attainments against targets set in the July State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The PMS report also noted that government had seized some 36,005 bags of smuggled rice since June 2002.

The most recent confiscation involved about 7,000 bags of Vietnam rice worth some P3.5 million at the Zamboanga Port last August 23.

This has prompted Philippine Coast Guard and other officials to meet on August 28 and make an inventory of ports and wharves nationwide unmanned by state authorities.

Meanwhile, officials have implemented measures to carry out the order of President Macapagal-Arroyo to seize smuggled goods, crush smuggling syndicates and get big-time smugglers.

Among the measures made were the:

• Streamlining of coordination between the DOJ and the customs bureau in prosecuting cases against violators of customs laws;

• Drafting of an anti-smuggling bill to provide clearer basis for prosecuting and imposing heavier penalties on smugglers, for certification of the President as urgent;

• Deputation of the military and the police to help the customs bureau in enforcing tariff and customs laws, particularly against rice and sugar smuggling;

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today designated former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Roy Cimatu to head a crisis committee that would oversee the evacuation of Filipinos in Iraq.

In her regular luncheon meeting with members of the Malacaņang Press Corps, the President said the committee would also assess when and how Filipinos in the Middle East would be bailed out, in case the United States made good its threat to attack Iraq.

The US had threatened to use military force against Iraq if the latter continued to refuse international inspectors access to sites suspected of being used for building nuclear and biological weapons.

The President said the committee, whose members would be composed of officials from the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Labor and Employment, would further study the consequences on Filipinos resulting from a US attack on Iraq.

"One of them, for instance, is the supply of oil," she said.

The President called Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople in New York to inform him of the creation of the Middle East crisis committee.

"It’s a splendid idea," she quoted Ople as saying.

The President, who would still have to inform the recently retired AFP Chief of Staff of his new designation, noted Cimatu’s superb operational record, having "captured 46 (Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebel) camps."

She believed that Cimatu could handle the job.

"I’d like to have strong people," the President said of Cimatu, who retired after 36 years in the military service.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today announced the appointment of Major General Nestor Santillan as Commanding General of the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

Santillan replaced former PAF chief, Gen. Benjamin Defensor, Jr., who was appointed by the President as the new Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The Chief Executive made the announcement during her regular luncheon meeting this afternoon with members of the Malacaņang Press Corps.

Prior to his appointment, Santillan, 54, was vice commander of the PAF, a position he held since Nov. 9, 2001.

A native of Manila, Santillan is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy, class 1970.

Santillan served as commander of Tactical Operations Command of the Mactan-Benito Air Base; Wing Commander of the PAF’s 220^th Air Wing and the 410^th Maintenance Wing, at the Mactan-Benito Air Base and at Clark Air Base.

He also served as Battalion Commander of the First Security Battalion of the Presidential Security Group from Feb. 1, 1985 to March 20, 1986.

Santillan received numerous awards and decorations, among them the PAF Aeronautical Badge (Basic Plot Training), PAF Aeronautical Badge (Senior Pilot Training), Commanding General Award, Military Merit Medal, Golden Aviator Award for Command and Leadership for Performance as Commander of the Tactical Operations Command, Golden Aviator Award for Research and Development, and the Anti-Dissidence Campaign Medal.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said that she would ask the country’s top Chinese businessmen, or taipans, to help the government in its mass housing program.

In her luncheon meeting with members of the Malacanang Press Corps, the President recalled that during the term of former President Fidel Ramos, he also asked the taipans to help the government put up a world-class international airport.

"This time I will not ask them to put up an airport. I’ll ask them to go into housing," the President said, adding that he would ask Chairman Michael Defensor of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) to organize a meeting with the taipans.

According to the President, the taipans do not even have to form a corporation, or participate in a public bidding that would be challenged by other groups. "It would be a private sector initiative," the President said.

The President said she had directed Defensor and other concerned officials to remove the bottlenecks that have caused the delay in the implementation of the government’s housing program.

She said that the Pag-IBIG Fund as an institution does not seem to be able to absorb the 100,000 housing units that she had ordered built for one year.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today congratulated agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and members her own Presidential Security Guard (PSG) who were directed to secure a private warehouse in Antipolo City where smuggled rice worth P1.8 billion was reported to be stashed.

The President said she went to the site of the warehouse "to let them know that we appreciate their work."

The President said that a warrant of seizure and detention was expected to be obtained from the court anytime today.

The President said that since she was already in the neighborhood, she decided to personally extend her congratulations to the NBI agents and her PSG’s special reaction unit, or "her men in black," to commend them for doing a good job.

Later in his press briefing, Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye said the warehouse has been effectively cordoned off for about a week and there is no way that the smuggled rice would be spirited out.

The President said that the law enforcers, whose main job should be "sleuthing," have been forced to stay within the vicinity of the warehouse because the warrant has not been seized up yet.

The premium smuggled rice reportedly arrived at the Port of Manila in May and June from Vietnam and were shipped through several container vans.

According to the Intelligence and Enforcement Group of the Bureau of Customs, the rice shipment did not have the proper importation permit from the National Food Authority (NFA).

Small and medium enterprises (SME) nationwide are looking forward to getting a P1-million loan with easy payback terms and to reaping gains from the government’s one-town, one-product program.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today identified areas where the one-town, one-product strategy, an effective global economic formula that aimed to raise domestic supply and consumption, would be carried out.

She said she would look into the loaning portfolio for SMEs and where the loans are being made to "make sure that every town has at least P1 million of SME loans."

In her regular luncheon with the Malacaņang Press Corps, the President said she launched the strategy, hoping to develop SMEs, early this month in a visit to Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur.

Lakewood would get the P1-million loan with a four-year payback term for fruit production. She said nine other Zamboanga del Sur towns would get the loan for the production of hybrid rice seeds.

"The PSF (Presidential Social Fund) has money in the Landbank for lending out," she added.

In Laguna, the President picked on Cabuyao town to receive the P1-million loan for a SME involved in the recycling of soft packs of Nestle Philippines into construction materials.

She said the money would come from the Small Business Guarantee Fund with counterparts from Nestle and Rep. Joaquin Chipeco, Jr.

Still in Laguna, she ordered regional officials of the Department of Trade and Industry to identify SMEs involved in autoparts supply in Sta. Rosa, where multinational car-making plants are located, to get the loan.

She also hinted at the grant of a similar loan to an electronics SME in Sta. Rosa, Laguna to help raise the local value added of Amkor Technology Philippines, a semi-conductor producer, "which suffered last year because of the decline in the market for computers and chips."

The President had given P1-million each to the town of Monkayo in Compostela Valley for a SME into gold jewelry production and to Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. of General Santos City for a SME into tuna production.

In Davao del Norte, she was informed by Governor Rodolfo del Rosario that many SMEs in various towns of the province produced picnic bags and other products from cogon grass.

"They have the market and they have the technology," she said, while nodding to extending the towns the loan.

Davao Oriental Governor Ma. Elena Palma Gil also told the President that SMEs in the coastal towns of the province produced agar-agar marketed to the FMC in Cebu.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today ordered the immediate evacuation of 118 Filipino workers, including non-essential embassy personnel and their dependents from Baghdad in Iraq to Amman, Jordan.

The Chief Executive made the announcement during a luncheon meeting with members of the Malacanang Press Corp at Malacanang Palace.

In his press briefing later, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the President ordered the immediate evacuation of Filipino workers in Baghdad after conferring with Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople, who is now in New York City.

Bunye also said that before her conversation with Ople, the President received a recommendation from Philippine Ambassador to the United States Albert del Rosario for the Philippines to evacuate its citizens from Baghdad. Del Rosario, Bunye said, earlier met with United States Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific James Kelly.

"The US representative noted that any evacuation at this point would be a very sound judgment," Bunye quoted Kelly as saying.

In a memorandum for the President, Ople said that while the Philippine government has no final information that a US attack on Iraq is imminent, "our judgment is well-based and reasonable and we would err on the side of prudence."

The DFA has also ordered non-essential embassy personnel and their dependents to join the Filipino workers in moving out of Iraq.

He stressed that the order applies only to Filipinos there, adding that the Filipinos in other Middle East countries are not immediately affected.

"We have not yet reached a critical mass of information with respect to other Middle East posts," Ople said.

Ople also said that the contingency plans for other Middle East posts will be activated only when necessary. "Each of these posts has been authorized additional spending money – aside from their existing embassy funds – which may be used for emergency evacuation," he added.

He noted that the evacuation of the Filipino workers in Iraq is just a first step, saying that "this is not yet the major movement that we have planned for."

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will likely stress the importance of fresh capital pumped into the economy that would create hundreds of new jobs, when she leads officials in opening Thursday the RFM President Enterprises Corp. (RPEC), a P500-million state-of-the-art food manufacturing plant at the Philtown Industrial Estate in Tanauan City, Batangas.

The President earlier announced that the Philippines remained an attractive investment destination.

"The strategic synergy of the strengths of RFM Corporation of the Philippines and the Uni-President Group of Taiwan highlights the attractiveness of business partnerships between local and foreign firms that continue to draw investors to our shores," she said.

The President is expected to unveil the plant marker and later tour the RPEC plant while inspecting its modern facilities and interacting with Filipino employees of the firm.

She will also receive a briefing from RFM president and chief executive officer Jose A. Concepcion III and Uni-President Enterprises Corp. business unit group president Alex Lo.

The President will be joined by other national and local officials.

Uni-President is Taiwan’s largest food and beverage company while RFM Corporation is one of the country’s top producers of food and beverage. RPEC is the two firms’ joint venture signed last March 1.

The President witnessed the signing ceremonies in Malacaņang.

Concepcion III said "the new food plant represents the realization of our joint venture’s commitment to produce superior and value-for-money noodles and noodle products for the Filipino."

He said Thursday’s event would see the unveiling of noodle products under the "Saucy Mi" and the "Nooda Crunch" brands.

Uni-President group president Jason Lin said "Uni-President has long desired to be a part of the Philippines business community because it believed in the country’s future and in its people.