President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today expressed her desire that the entire board of the Public Estates Authority (PEA) should go on leave for the duration of the investigation of a complaint of alleged overpricing in the construction of the Central Boulevard and Bay Boulevard projects.

In a press briefing in Malacaņang, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said that in accordance Executive Order No. 12 dated April 16, 2001, the office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel has referred the complaint to the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) for appropriate action.

EO 12 is an order outlining the process of the investigations being conducted by the PAGC.

PAGC is the body tasked to investigate cases filed against the appointees of the President.

Bunye said the President earlier approved the request of PEA director Sulpicio Tagud, Jr. to go on indefinite leave.

"This does not preclude any investigation that will be conducted by the House and the Senate on the same matter," Bunye said.

The Press Secretary said that concerned PEA officials will just be allowed to go on leave in order to have an impartial investigation.

Bunye said Malacaņang has just received the official explanation of the PEA board of directors, adding that those documents, together with the complaint, will in turn be endorsed to the PAGC.

"This matter is very serious and very urgent and it goes without saying that the PAGC should investigate this with dispatch," Bunye said.

Bunye noted that after the allegation of Tagud was publicized, the President immediately ordered the PEA to submit its explanation.

"The formal explanation has been received so this is now being referred to the PAGC," he said.

The government will ensure the safety of Filipinos in the Middle East once a possible armed conflict would erupt in the region.

Retired Gen. Roy Cimatu, designated by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to lead the Middle East Preparedness Team (MEPT), said contingency plans are being discussed, even in the worst case scenario of Iraqi missile attacks on its enemies.

In a radio interview this morning, Cimatu said there might be no need to bring back home some 1.3-million overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in a worst case scenario.

He said this exercise could turn out to be an unnecessary "logistic and evacuation nightmare."

The government has been ascertaining if Iraq would launch its Scud missiles, the effective range of the missiles, possible interceptions by American Patriot missiles, and other factors, he added.

Cimatu said it was likely that Filipino expatriates in at least nine countries around Iraq would be transferred to places beyond the reach of a full-blown war, at the most, in the Middle East.

He hinted that there would be indicators that would show if the Middle East situation would escalate into a missile war and the MEPT would know.

He said the MEPT has continued assessing the situation, "expecting the worst and hoping for the best."

The former Armed Forces chief of Staff said he had been in constant touch with Ambassador Bahnarin Guinomla in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo officially launched yesterday in Malacaņang the "One Town, One Product, One Million Pesos," project during a special luncheon meeting with 27 municipal mayors of the province of Laguna.

The President told the mayors that the project is aimed at generating employment within the towns involved in the project, alleviating poverty and thus, reinvigorating the domestic economy.

The President said she has directed the officials of government financial institutions (GFIs), the Small Business Guarantee Fund of the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Science and Technology, and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), among others, to cooperate with the different local governments units in providing loanable funds as well as techno-managerial assistance to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The GFIs, the President pointed out, will provide seed financing for the SMEs in each town through the local government units (LGUs).

One town is assigned to develop a single indigenous product from the P1 million loan that will be released through to the LDB, the President said.

The President made a soft launching of the project 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. Nine other Zamboanga del Sur towns would get the P1-million loan for the production of hybrid rice seeds.

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

Later, the President picked Cabuyao, Laguna to receive the P1-million loan for SMEs 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 Laguna Rep. Joaquin Chipeco, Jr.

Still in Laguna, the President ordered DTI regional officials to identify SMEs involved in auto parts 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."

Malacacanang today announced that former National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Anthony Abad has accepted his designation as president of the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC), a government-owned trading firm under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

In a press briefing, Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye also announced that PITC president Arthur Yap has been named as the new NFA administrator.

Bunye said both appointments will take effect immediately.

Abad was a student of President Arroyo in the economics honors class at the Ateneo.

After graduation, Abad decided to take up law, then joined an influential law firm during the Ramos administration.

With the law firm’s backing, he joined the government, building up an expertise on taxation and tariff law at the Tariff Commission.

Yap, who graduated with degrees in economics and management and earned a doctorate of laws at the Ateneo de Manila University, was appointed president of PITC in August 2001.

Aside from engaging in law practice in some of the country’s most prestigious law firms, Yap also served as national president of the Philippine Association of Paint Manufacturers from 1997 to 1999.

He is a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), the American Society of International Law (ASIL), Ateneo de Manila University Alumni Association (College of Arts and Sciences, and School of Law) and the Philippine Constitutional Association (Philconsa).

The PITC is engaged in the export and import of commodities, industrial products and consumer goods.

It is an active participant in the implementation of government-to-government trading transactions, in alternative marketing and financial mechanisms like counter-trade, and in bulk importation programs which seek to stabilize prices and supply in the domestic market.

To support the market development efforts of its clients worldwide, the company also provides access to a competitively-priced trade services and facilities.

Created through Presidential Decree No. 4 dated September 26, 1972, the NFA is tasked to promote the integrated growth and development of the grains industry covering rice, corn, feed grains and other grains like sorghum, mongo, and peanut.

In January 14, 1981 Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1770 was issued which reconstituted the NGA into what is now the National Food Authority (NFA).

This decree widened its commodity coverage to include, in addition to grains, other food items like raw or fresh, manufactured, processed, or packaged food products, collectively referred to as non-grains commodities.

The Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) today said that it will now formally start the investigation into the alleged anomalies relating to the Central Boulevard and Bay Boulevard projects of the Public Estates Authority (PEA).

PAGC Chairman Dario Rama said that his office received this afternoon the pertinent documents to the case from Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Avelino Cruz, Jr.

"We are immediately endorsing the matter to our Investigation Division so that the necessary evaluation of the case may be commenced immediately preparatory to the issuance of an order directing the parties to file their response and/or counter-affidavit (s) in the event the existence of a probable cause is determined by the Commission," Rama said in his letter to Cruz acknowledging receipt of the documents.

The documents, according to Rama, are related to the case involving the PEA and the JD Legaspi Construction.

Earlier, in his press briefing, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the investigation to be conducted by the PAGC is governed by Executive Order No. 12.

Bunye said that E.O. No. 12 outlines the procedure that will be followed by the PAGC in its investigation of cases involving presidential appointees.

Meanwhile, PEA chairman Ernest Villareal and three of his directors have filed for an indefinite leave of absence from the board "in order to have a free and impartial investigation on the issues raised on the President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard,"

The other three PEA directors who filed for an indefinite leave of absence, along with Villareal, were Rodolfo Tuazon, Benjamin Carino, and Angelito Villanueva.

Joemari D. Gerochi, another board member, has tendered his resignation instead of just filing for a leave of absence.