The Chief Presidential Legal Counsel is reviewing a proposed executive order that will direct the expropriation and disposition of the Payatas estate to qualified informal settlers and its actual occupants.

A Presidential Management staff (PMS) update on achievements against targets set in the State of the Nation Address of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo showed the continuing identification of properties in the estate.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it sought to identify which parts of the estate had valid titles, spurious titles or were untitled at all.

The DENR said Payatas land with valid titles would be expropriated by the government and would be disposed through direct sale or the Insular Government Property Sales Application to beneficiaries.

Later, the government would issue the corresponding certificates of actual occupancy, orders of awards and deeds of sale.

Areas with fake titles would be cancelled and the land reverted to government. A presidential proclamation would then be issued for land disposition.

Untitled lands would be disposed, following the issuance of a proclamation, through a miscellaneous sales application.

The President had been visiting Payatas to see how it could be transformed into a model community and how the lives of the area’s people could be made better.

TANAUAN CITY, Batangas -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today cited domestic and foreign investors for showing confidence in the country’s healthy business atmosphere and for pumping the economy with fresh capital that result in the creation of more jobs.

The President noted the growing partnership between the government and business enterprises, as she led officials in inaugurating the P500-million state-of-the-art food plant of RFM President Enterprises Corporation (RPEC) at the Philtown Industrial Estate here.

"Congratulations and thank you for showing your confidence in investing in the Philippines," the President told Jose Concepcion III, chief executive officer of RFM Corp., and Alex Lo, chief executive officer of Uni-President Enterprises.

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 a joint venture of the two firms. The President witnessed the signing of the joint venture in Malacaņang last March 1.

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.

In a program, the President unveiled the marker of the newly-built RPEC plant, after which she was given a tour of the facility and inspected the automated instant noodle-making machine and viewed the processing of noodles, RPEC’s main product line.

She also received a briefing from Concepcion and Lo on plant operations and the history of each other’s companies.

The two businessmen told the President that the formidable union of RFM and Uni-President was a perfect match, since both firms started as flour mills and later evolved as among the largest branded food and beverage companies in the Philippines and Taiwan.

The President joined RPEC officials and officials in tasting "Saucy Mi" instant noodles inside the plant.

They said RPEC hoped to revolutionize the country’s food industry and market.

They expressed optimism that Filipinos would welcome their new, exciting and innovative products.

The order of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the immediate evacuation of Filipino overseas workers in Iraq was only a precautionary measure, National Security Adviser J. Roilo Golez today said.

"Iyan po ay isang pag-iingat lamang (That was only a precautionary measure)," Golez said in a radio interview this morning.

Golez stressed that there were still no clear indications of hostilities erupting in Iraq, although the Philippine government continued to monitor the developments in the Middle East region.

"Wala pa talagang implikasyon na maaring magsimula ang kaguluhan sa Iraq, bagamat mino-monitor natin ng husto iyan (There are no indications yet that hostilities might erupt in Iraq although we continue to monitor the development)," he said.

Golez noted that the President’s evacuation order was based on the recommendation of Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople.

Golez added that the Philippines, like other nations around the world, looked forward to the address of United States President George W. Bush before the United Nations General Assembly on Friday (September 13).

There are only 118 Filipinos in Iraq, to include some 10 overseas workers and 30 Filipino technicians who form part of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Northern Iraq.

Aside from OFWs, the order to evacuate also includes non-essential embassy personnel and their dependents from Baghdad in Iraq to Amman, Jordan.

In response to the appeal of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the public to help the thousands of returning Filipinos from Malaysia and Sabah, the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII) has launched a campaign to mobilize resources to address the pressing needs of the returnees.

Dubbed as "Paglingap 2002," FFCCCII Secretary General Joaquin Sy said the federation has mobilized its nationwide network and facilities to generate more support for the Filipinos expelled by Malaysia.

In a letter sent to Malacaņang, Sy informed the President that on the first day of their solicitation campaign alone, the federation gathered nearly P1 million worth of cash and goods from Filipino-Chinese businessmen and individuals based in Binondo, Manila.

Only recently, the FFCCCII was cited by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as one of the first private sector organizations to help the Filipino returnees.

As soon as the first batch of returnees landed in the Southern Philippines, the FFCCCII, through its Welfare Committee, mobilized its local chambers in Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi to provide noodles, canned goods, drinking water and other necessities.

"Our local chambers continue to work closely with local chief executives and local social welfare officers for the proper distribution of donations," Sy assured the President in a letter.

In a radio address last Sept. 8, President Macapagal-Arroyo appealed for donations from the public to help the returning Filipinos.

"We need to find jobs for them. We need to comfort them in their despair. And we need to help provide them with food, medicine and temporary shelter," the President said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today lauded officials of Sykes Asia for their decision to make its call center facility in Makati City as the hub for its operations not only in the Asia Pacific Rim but elsewhere in the world.

During her visit to the facility this morning, the President also personally thanked Michael John Henderson, Sykes’ managing director for Asia and Pacific Rim, for its P200-million new investment in the facility.

The P200-million investments represent a continued expansion of Syke’s already well-established operations in the Philippines and reinforced its position as the leading outsource call center provider in the country.

The President said that Sykes’ newly-opened call center is a testimony to the competitive advantage of the Philippines in the information and communications technology (ICT). "It is the wave of the 2lst century," she said.

Henderson pointed out that the "pro-active" involvement of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration in the development of the ICT industry was a significant factor in their decision to expand their investment in the Philippines.

"The Board of Investments (BOI) has provided an open forum for discussion," Henderson said, stressing the essentiality of operating in an economic and political environment that supports their business doctrine and corresponding methodology that is based on continuous performance improvement.

Housed on the six floors of the Robinson’s Summit Center at the Ayala Avenue in Makati City, the new Sykes Asia facility provides 1,132 fully-fitted call center seats and complements the existing 674 seats in its facility in the Ortigas business district.

The company currently employs around 1,500 people, with this figure expected to reach 2,000 by the end of the year.

"This is a best-in-class facility," Henderson informed the President, saying that the Sykes facility in Makati City is the primary hub for its unique Asynchronous Transfer Model (ATM) global communications network.

"This allows for unrivalled quality, flexibility and availability when handling customer calls from throughout the world," Henderson said.

Henderson said that its Philippine operation is not so much an offshore location, but rather a critical hub for their integrated global services.

As the regional headquarters for Sykes Asia and Pacific Rim operations, the new facility in Makati City supports three other centers in the region.

Sykes Asia provides customer support for 21 clients, handling calls in different languages from throughout Asia and the United States.

Clients include Microsoft, Kodak, Emerson Electric, Macromedia, American Express, Apple and Adobe Systems.

Earlier, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) said that the country's growing call center industry is expected to generate some 24,000 jobs for skilled workers in the next two years.

In its Labor Market Intelligence Report (LMIR), TESDA said the availability of highly-skilled Filipino workers fluent in English had continued to boost the country's bid to become the global "call center capital" and a major international e-services hub.

On several occasions, the President had stressed the country’s vital role as a center of quality, world-class ICT services.

The President pointed to ICT as the "strategic tool that would propel the Philippines to its proper niche in the global village in the 21st century."

The Department of Labor and Employment has described the call center business as the country's "latest sunshine industry."

It noted the "vast growth potential and bright job prospects" in the field, as the Philippines has so far filled up only 10,000 "seats."

The round-the-clock call center operations are handled by "seats" composed of two or three personnel - or customer service representatives - who manage telephone lines in work shifts.

"Customer services" handle client queries and complaints and provide solutions through telemarketing, computer product help desks, financial services, and assistance in transport and freight, insurance, hotels, and information technology.

Government experts have predicted that the country, with its English-speaking workforce and capacity to provide premium, multilingual, and multimedia services in wide-ranging ICT applications, could clinch the "call center capital of the world" status in this decade.

Citing Department of Trade and Industry projections, TESDA also expected local call center revenues to increase from US$173 million to US$864 million in 2004, following the industry's growth by more than 200 percent from 2000 to 2001.

There are 16 industry players comprising the Call Center Association of the Philippines.

The giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company has also announced a $5.5-million investment in a 500-seat venture with Parlance Systems, Inc. and in other industry agreements.

Malacaņang today assured that the Philippines has an ample supply of petroleum on top of an existing oil-sharing agreement with its neighbor countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in the event of a war in Iraq.

In a press briefing in Malacaņang, Press Secretary Ignacio "Toting" Bunye stressed that based on the previous statements provided by the Department of Energy (DOE), the Philippines has a petroleum supply which could last for 69 to 70 days.

"The fact is no actual hostilities have started which could actually constrict our oil supply," Bunye said.

The Philippine, he said, may rely on the petroleum security arrangement with its fellow members in the Asean in circumstances of both shortage and oversupply of petroleum.

The said agreement was signed by the foreign ministers of Asean member-countries during a meeting held in Manila on June 24, 1986.

Under a shortage situation, the agreement provides that the oil-exporting members of Asean commit to supply crude oil and petroleum products provided these would be for domestic consumption in the distressed Asean member-countries.

The term "shortage" refers to an emergency situation in which at least one Asean member-country suffers extreme petroleum shortage, due to unexpected natural calamity such as earthquake or other calamity such as an explosion of production facilities or an abrupt stoppage of import due to war or other similar crisis.

In the event of a shortage or oversupply, the member-country in distress shall give notice to the Asean Economic Ministers on Energy Cooperation, which, in turn, would decide within three weeks to put the emergency petroleum-sharing scheme into operation.

Malacaņang today reiterated that the First Gentleman, Jose Miguel Arroyo, has no involvement whatsoever in the flawed contract with the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (PIATCO) for the construction of Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

"There is absolutely no link between the First Gentleman and PIATCO," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said this afternoon in his daily press briefing in Malacaņang.

Bunye said that the review of the contract with PIATCO was ordered by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself and such action would be contradictory to a situation where the First Gentleman is linked to PIATCO or any of its officers.

Earlier, the President charged former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile with spreading "unverified and malicious" statement about the First Gentleman.

The press secretary also brushed aside suggestions that the First Gentleman should appear at the Senate inquiry about the PIATCO contract.

"That is very speculative at this time because we see no basis as of now for the Senate to invite the First Gentleman," Bunye said.

ANTIPOLO CITY -- To prove that authorities were out to seize suspected smuggled rice in a warehouse here, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today returned to this city, leading officials and law enforcers confiscate the illegal goods in favor of government.

"I was not kuryente yesterday," the President said, referring to media reports that she was a victim of a bum steer.

In an interview with reporters in front of stacks of sacks of rice in Sitio Pagumbong, Barangay Mayamot, Lower Antipolo City, the President clarified that she never intended to enter the warehouse when she made a surprise visit to the area yesterday.

"I came here knowing that Tony’s (BOC Commissioner Antonio Bernardo) warrant is still to come but I was not intending to enter," she said.

She noted that if the warehouse operators had nothing to hide, they should have allowed her, being the President of the Republic, to enter the warehouse premises.

She pointed out that she was there because she wanted to praise the NBI agents who were keeping watch over the warehouse.

Today, a combined team from the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Presidential Security Group (PSG) seized some P1.8 billion worth of smuggled rice in a raid before the President’s appearance.

The President personally saw the contents of more than 80 container vans in the warehouse. The rice was said to have been shipped from Thailand and Vietnam in May and June of this year.

The imported rice shipment was reportedly consigned to Dynamic Logtistics and Trucking Services.

The President, together with Bernardo and other government operatives, also visited another bonded warehouse in Marikina City where tons of high-grade imported rice were also stocked.

Bernardo said the P23-million worth of rice were imported by Export Supply, Inc.

He said the rice shipments were deemed illegal due to lack of necessary import permits and would be seized in favor of the government.