President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today assured the two kidnap victims who have escaped from the hands of Abu Sayyaf that the government would help them in bringing their lives to normalcy.

The President made the statement during an interview after Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Narciso Abaya and Southern Command commander Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamco presented to her kidnap victims Emily Mantic and Cleofe Montulo in a ceremony held at Malacaņang’s Ceremonial Hall on Thursday.

During the interview, Abaya told the President that the military would continue its pursuit operations to destroy the remaining members of the bandit group.

"Now, with the freedom of these two kidnap victims, our troops will continue giving pressure to the enemy to wear them down until we finally attain our objective of destroying the ASG terrorists at the soonest possible time," Abaya said.

Kyamco assured the President that the AFP is determined to finally put an end to the Abu Sayyaf problem now that the people of Mindanao are cooperating with the military.

"We are determined to finish the Abu Sayyaf problem. And I think we are very optimistic that we can do this at the as soonest possible time because the people are giving us information about them," Kyamco told the President.

Mantic and Montulo, along with four other members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious group, were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf at Sitio Parang-Parang, Barangay Buhangin in Patikul, Sulu on Aug. 20, 2002.

The two kidnap victims escaped and were rescued by the military on Good Friday, April 19, after being held captive for almost eight months.

Re Balikatan

There will be no US forces on the ground for combat. Combat operations will be conducted by Philippine forces with the US providing support for intelligence, communication and mobility.

Re SARS

Education and information are the best tools, combined with public fortitude and a sense of sacrifice.

Individually and collectively, the people must be tasked to take on the responsibility of preventing the spread of the disease.

Re Peacekeeping Force

In recognition of their exceptional achievement and outstanding public service, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today presented awards to two commissioned officers and eight non-commissioned officers of the Philippine National Police as this year’s Outstanding Policemen of the Philippines.

The President, assisted by Interior Secretary Jose D. Lina, Jr. and Philippine National Police chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane, Jr., handed over plaques and checks for P100, 000 to each of the ten awardees of The Outstanding Policemen of the Philippines (TOPP) held at Malacaņang’s Ceremonial Hall this morning.

Among the awardees in the commissioned officer category are Superintendents Rodrigo P. de Gracia, director of the Cagayan Provincial Police Office, and Raul Z. Medina, chief of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Caloocan City Police.

The awardees in the non-commissioned officer category in Luzon are SPO2 Octavio T. Rivero of the Legazpi City Police Station’s Traffic Division, and SPO1 Geronimo R. Manalo, an intelligence operative of the Batangas Provincial Police Office Intelligence Section.

In the National Capital Region, the awardees are SPO4 Reynaldo Z. Medina, station commander of the PNP Detachment in Balintawak, Caloocan City, and SPO4 Cesar Calmada of the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management based in Camp Crame.

The awardees in the Visayas are SPO3 Novemito E. Cala-or, intelligence officer at the Iloilo Provincial Police Office based in Camp Sumagaysay, Santa Barbara in Iloilo, and SPO4 Epifras E. Pinili of the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office.

The awardees in the Mindanao region are PO1 Enrique D. Ayao, Jr., assigned to the Heinous Crimes and Narcotics Investigation Team of the Davao City Police Office, and SPO2 Eduardo M. Sausa, an intelligence officer of the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU) at the Misamis Oriental Provincial Police Office.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today unveiled a P5.5 billion package, called the Mindanao National Initiative or Mindanao Natin, to usher in the rehabilitation and development of Muslim Mindanao.

In her keynote speech at the closing ceremonies of the First Muslim Summit held this afternoon at the Manila Midtown Hotel, the President said that aside from the P5.5 billion that has been earmarked for the package, there is the $1.3 billion in official development assistance (ODA), which is being geared to finance priority projects in Muslim Mindanao.

"I hope Mindanao Natin will be embraced by everyone in this country as an important step towards the fulfillment of the promise of Mindanao," the President said.

According to the President, the program will be implemented within the next 14 months in over 5,000 barangays in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Regions 9 and 12, Lanao del Norte, and Damulog in Bukidnon.

The President said that Mindanao has always been touted as a land of promise and rightfully so because of Mindanao’s abundant resources, ideal weather conditions and vast land area.

However, the President said, Muslim Mindanao has remained the poorest area in the country with a very low literary rate, and its economic exclusion has resulted in conflict and wars.

The President said that the quest for a meaningful autonomy in Muslim Mindanao has spanned three decades, starting with the Tripoli Agreement that was signed in December of l976. "Yet the problem remains," the President said.

"This is Mindanao Natin. This is our Mindanao. United as a people under one flag, we shall prevail and fulfill the promise of Mindanao, and thereby our full promise as a nation and a Strong Republic," the President said.

Mindanao Natin, the President said, will be implemented through a 10-point program, topped by ensuring a substantial implementation of the Tripoli Agreement.

The President said that as provided for in the Tripoli Accord, her administration has appointed almost 300 Muslims, including two Cabinet members, one justice, seven senior military officers and four police generals

Last March, the President said, the government has completed the integration of almost 6,000 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) into the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and l,500 into the Philippine National Police.

She said her administration has also approved the setting up of 56 shariah courts in Muslim Mindanao.

Because of the government’s implementation of the Tripoli Agreement, the Philippines can now apply for observer status in the influential Organization of Islamic Conference.

The other salient points of Mindanao Natin are as follows:

• Rehabilitation of the barangays of the Pikit-Pagalungan-Pagagawan cluster and the Carmen-President Roxas-Damulog cluster. In these areas, while the AFP maintains active defense, community-based local monitoring teams will be formed and empowered.

• Formation of a new breed of soldiers, the Sala’am soldiers, half of whom are Muslims, and whose objective is not only to protect the Muslim communities in the areas where they are fielded but also assist those communities in needed socio-civic services.

• Financing and skills training for livelihood opportunities and alternative income sources in agriculture, trade, industry and services.

• Implementation of a rebel returnees program to be implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development on behalf of the Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process.

• Creation of one-stop action centers for land documentation and titling programs to be implemented by the Office of Muslim Affairs and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

• Implementation of a distance-learning program through mobile vans of the Technology and Livelihood Resources Corporation to provide both basic education and specialty training courses.

• Undertaking youth and culture-sensitive programs on sports and arts to develop well-rounded personality for the Muslim youth.

• Implementation of community-scale, quick-gestation infrastructure projects, including P281 million worth for the ARMM, P71 million for Region 9, and P73 million for Region 12.

Malacaņang today said there is no politics involved in its decision to preventively suspend from office for 60 days Malabon Mayor Amado Vicencio pending investigation of the charges filed against him for alleged dishonesty, misconduct in office and gross negligence.

In their complaint, Malabon City Councilor Edilberto Torres and three others alleged that in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) entered into between Mayor Vicencio and Jun-Jun Fishing Corporation where the city government of Malabon agreed to purchase a 120-hectare relocation site for its residents who will be affected by the Manila-Clark Railway System Project, the agreed price of P700.00 per square meter was almost double the applicable zonal valuation of P435 per square meter of the Bureau of Internal Revenue for similar lands in Metro Manila.

Mayor Vicencio also allegedly failed to disclose that the land is mortgaged to the Bank of the Philippine Islands with an outstanding unpaid obligation of P15 million as well as a lease agreement for 25 years with a third party not privy to the MOA.

The complainants also alleged that Mayor Vicencio, instead of protecting the interest of the city, paid the fishing company P12 million as down payment even before the MOA was approved by the City Council, which to them was a grossly disadvantageous contract, because this would result in a financial obligation of P50 million to the city.

Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Waldo Flores, who signed the suspension order, by authority of the President, on April 15, 2003, said that as evaluated by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the continued stay in office of Mayor Vicencio will pose a threat to the safety of the records and other evidence and may influence the witnesses to be presented by the complainants in the course of the investigation.

Flores said he concurred with the observation of the DILG and found the manifestation of the complainants as meritorious.

"Indeed, to allow respondent to remain in office while the MOA is being questioned would place him in a position to exert undue influence or pressure on the witness for or against him, or from tampering whatever documentary evidence are on file or at the disposal of his office," Flores said.

As a precautionary measure, therefore, Flores deemed it proper to temporarily remove the respondent "from the scene of his alleged misfeasance or malfeasance" for a period of 60 days.

Flores designated Malabon Vice Mayor Mark Allan Jay Yambao as Acting City Mayor until such time as Mayor Vicencio‘s temporary legal incapacity shall have ceased to exist.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today expressed the hope that Muslim Filipinos would participate in the peacekeeping and humanitarian mission of the Philippine government in Iraq.

Speaking at the 1^st Muslim Summit at the Manila Midtown Hotel, the President also welcomed any support or constructive involvement of Congress in this peacekeeping and humanitarian mission.

"Our goals will be best served by a collaborative effort," the President said as she appealed for a stop to grandstanding on an issue of vital importance to the Philippines’ foreign relations.

The President said that when she decided to throw the political and moral support of the government behind the "coalition of the willing" in Iraq, she was misunderstood by many of the people, including "our well-meaning Muslim brethren."

"Today, we share a more positive outlook over the unfolding developments," she said.

The President likewise said that there is no role for terrorism or inhuman brutality in the country. "Such acts must be universally condemned, whichever side of a war perpetrates them," she said.

In her speech, the President also expressed her condolences to the families of the two activists slain in Mindoro Oriental, and condemned this heinous act.

"The long arm of the law will go after the perpetrators, no matter who they are, and bring them before the bar of justice," she said.

The President, yesterday, announced the creation of task force under the Presidential Committee of Human Rights, headed by Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong, to investigate the incident.