Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Roberto Romulo, head of the task force created by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to coordinate Philippine participation in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Iraq, departs today for Washington, D.C. to talk with US officials and inventory needs and opportunities in the post-war rebuilding effort.

President Arroyo named Romulo last week to chair the public-private sector task force that will complement the humanitarian assistance the Philippines is giving Iraq. Romulo has been serving as the President’s senior adviser on international competitiveness and was named to the new post because of his extensive diplomatic and international business experience.

Romulo is scheduled to confer with government and business leaders in Washington and present the value of Philippine partnership in rebuilding the war-torn Middle East country. He will discuss the country's readiness to make experienced Philippine companies and skilled labor quickly available to the region.

"The Philippines is extending humanitarian assistance to Iraq to the extent that our modest national budget will permit," Romulo said in a daparture statement. "But we can also help extensively in the work of reconstruction and rehabilitation, particularly through our greatest asset – our skilled workforce. The partnership I am coordinating is designed to bring together the combined interests of the public and private sectors and enable them to join forces in aiding the reconstruction of Iraq."

Since his appointment, Romulo has been in a series of meetings to develop an action plan for the task force and to prepare for the mission to Washington. Executive Order 194, which created the task force, calls for the establishment of an executive committee and secretariat that will provide executive, technical and administrative support to the task force.

"Many legal and logistical issues as well as quality control mechanisms need to be worked out so as to facilitate the flow of more Filipino companies and workers into the region," said Romulo. "We are fortunate and we should all be thankful that the lives of our OFWs in the Middle East are safe as a result of the decisive action in Iraq. Now we can turn quickly to doing what we do best: providing the best-skilled and most mobile labor force in the world to help rebuild Iraq. Our hopes should be high, but our sights must also be realistic as we try to engage Filipino companies and workers in the complex business and political environment that exists right now in Iraq."

The high-level task force, composed of both government officials and business leaders, will provide the link between government and commercial interests to get experienced Philippine companies and skilled workers involved in reconstruction projects in the Iraqi public and private sectors.

Besides Romulo, the other members of the task force on the government side are the secretaries of foreign affairs, labor and employment, trade and industry, and energy, the Philippine ambassadors to Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the special envoy heading the Middle East Preparedness Team. In the executive committee, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the Philippine Overseas Construction Board and the Office of Muslim Affairs will help in developing and implementing the action plan.

To represent the private sector, President Arroyo appointed as members Rizalino Navarro of EEI Corp., Cesar Buenaventura of D.M. Consunji and AG&P, Enrique Razon of ICTSI, and Emilio Tumbokon, president of the Philippine Constructors Association

BAGUIO CITY -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday said members of the Cordillera People's Liberation Army, the armed group of the former rebellion movement in the region who have been integrated into the Armed Forces of the Philippines, will be tasked to preserve and maintain the Banaue Rice Terraces and the way of life there.

The President said many of the CPLA members are Cordillerans "and they know the Rice Terraces technology."

"So aside from taking care of the peace and order there, they would also be doing the restoration work as part of their military service. We hope that will perpetuate the rice terraces," the President in a press conference at the Mansion Guesthouse.

The President further noted the importance of maintaining the old way of rice planting in the rice terraces, which is still very labor-intensive.

"If we look at the rice terraces only as a rice producing activity, many would move away and move to the lowlands and work in other jobs, that's why we have to encourage the culture, we have to consciously make it as a way of maintaining a cultural heritage," she said.

The President, who visited the terraces anew last Maundy Thursday, noted that she brought along House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. and his wife Gina to appreciate the wonder not just as tourist but as Filipinos who are part of that heritage.

"I didn't just bring them there to the area where everybody takes a photograph. I brought them there for one hour and a half through the rice terraces, driving through it," she said.

The President further noted that the Speaker and his wife remarked that the Rice Terraces was "such an awesome experience (that) it was like going to the Angkor Wat or to Tibet -- seeing your own heritage that way."

"I wish many of the young people would be able to see the Rice Terraces," she added.

The President said she is happy that many young Filipinos and foreigners as well are now appreciating the terraces more and more.

"There were some who just went to have their photographs taken and they were disappointed because the Rice Terraces is not just one terrace. It's 4,000 hectares," she said.

The President said she hopes that with the assignment of the CPLA there, "we have a sure way of preserving that culture and that heritage."

"Aside from, of course, letting our young people always be proud of it, making them maintain it not because it's farming but because it's preserving a culture," she said.

Meanwhile, the President disclosed that she has been chosen by the Department of Tourism to grace the poster promoting the tourist destinations of Baguio City, Benguet and the Cordilleras.

"This is because I'm the No. 1 tourist here," she said.

The President has been making Baguio City a retreat during holidays. She also regularly visits the Banaue Rice Terraces every chance she gets.