BACOOR, Cavite -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday formally opened a two-room school building at the Molino III Elementary School here the completion of which the President’s Social Fund the classrooms’ construction had financed.

Worth P330,000, the project was implemented by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FFCCCI) last July. Each classroom can house 50 pupils.

Warmly welcoming the President were Mayor Jesse Castillo, First District Rep. Plaridel Abaya, FFCCCI officers led by its president Robin Sy, school teachers, pupils and residents.

The truth is surfacing in various fronts. On one hand, we are unmasking the larger conspiracy to destroy our nation in the light of clear and cold evidence. On the other hand, through the several commissions and task forces I have created, we are leaving no stone unturned in unearthing the lapses of integrity, diligence and professionalism in the Armed Forces and the National Police. The only way we can attack the roots of instability is through a relentless pursuit of impartial justice through the courts, and a cleansing process within the uniformed services. I shall be undaunted on both counts. The truth shall set us free.

The conservative Washington Times said Tuesday that the short-lived military adventurism staged by ill-advised young officers last July 27 had not affected the Philippine economy so much.

In his column entitled "A Crushed Coup and a Second Chance," Wesley Pruden, editor in chief of the Washington Times, said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has put down the July coup attempt within 24 hours.

"The damage to the economy, and to important investor confidence, was not as great as it could have been, given the history of coups and attempted coups that followed the Marcos era," Pruden said.

Pruden said the President owes her position to the generals who, like everyone else in the islands, were fed up with the corruption and cronyism of President Joseph Estrada.

He said that the President assumed office with considerable good wishes and "she has some success in nursing the economy back to health."

Pruden also quoted Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, which said that even with the latest coup attempt, the Philippines "is still on track to meet the government’s growth target of 4.2 to 5.2 percent this year."

The Times editor also quoted the President as proclaiming that she has finally put down "a nasty" military mutiny that threatened her presidency.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today signed Proclamation No. 442 that declared the Samar Island Forest Reserve (SIFR) as a protected area under the category of natural park and to be known as the Samar Island Natural Park (SINP).

The President said the edict would ensure the conservation and long-term protection of the reserve’s biological diversity while providing for the sustainable use and flow of forest products, biological resources and services to meet local community and national needs.

"It is the policy of the State to secure for the Filipino people of present and future generations the perpetual existence of all native plants and animals through the establishment of a comprehensive system of integrated protected areas within the classification of national park as provided for in the Constitution," she said during the signing ceremony at the Malacaņang’s Ceremonial Hall.

The three provinces in Samar Island have suffered extensive damage to life and property caused by flash floods and landslides.

In 1989, due to public outcry, the government suspended all logging operations within Samar Island.

In 1996, after pinning that the rapacious exploitation and massive extraction of natural resources within the forests of Samar Island to catastrophic calamities which resulted in unwarranted loss of human lives and misery to Samarenos due to soil erosion and floodings, then President Fidel V. Ramos issued Presidential Proclamation No. 7744 declaring the remaining forests in the three Samar provinces as the SIFR.

President Macapagal-Arroyo said the upliftment of the lives of Samarenos and their delivery from poverty could only be achieved through the more equitable use of and access to Samar Island’s natural resources within the principle of sustainable development.

"Being agriculturally-dependent, the life and survival of the Samarenos are intertwined with the fertility of their soil and the richness of their natural resources," she said.

The SIFR is situated in 37 municipalities and one city across the three Samar Island provinces, as follows: Basey, Calbiga, Catbalogan, Gandara, Hinabangan, Jiabong, Marabut, Matuguinao, Motiong, Paranas, San Jorge, San Jose de Buan, Pinabaclao, and Calbayog City, all in Samar; Arteche, Balangiga, Balangkayan, Borongan, Can-Avid, Dolores, Gen. MacArthur, Giporlos, Hernani, Jipapad, Lawaan, Llorente, Maslog, Maydolong, Oras, Quinapondan, San Julian, Sulat, and Taft, in Eastern Samar; and the municipalities of Catubig, Las Navas, Lope de Vega, Mondragon and Silvino Lubos in Northern Samar.

Under Proclamation 442, any valid contract, permit or license for the extraction or utilization of natural resources existing prior to the proclamation shall be subject to national interest and to existing laws, rules and regulations.

The SINP and its buffer zone shall be under the administrative jurisdiction of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) and shall be managed in accordance with the provisions of the NIPAS Act of 1992.

Also, all existing sustainable utilization of natural resources within SINP not contrary to law nor incompatible with the Management Plan shall be respected.

The new protected area of the SINP covers 333,300 hectares of natural forests and a surrounding buffer zone of 125,400 hectares.

The island has diverse habitats like 120,000 hectares of virgin forests and caves, many of which are still unexplored.

Almost 900 species of flora, of which half are endemic, exist in the island with 197 bird species, 39 mammal species, 25 of reptiles and 12 of amphibians.

A total of 187,044 people reside in about 400 upland barangays. About 90 percent are dependent on forest and other natural resources for livelihood.

During the signing rites, Samar Mayors Antonio Rivera, Melchor Nacario and Elito Dapulag presented to President Macapagal-Arroyo the Siday Collection of Poems on Environment.

The head of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) and a presidential aide and classmate of Lt. Sr. Grade Antonio Trillanes IV debunked today claims by the alleged coup leader that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo berated him and ignored the grievances he presented during their meeting last July 13 in Malacaņang.

Col. Delfin Bangit, PSG head, told Malacanang reporters during a briefing that "I and Lieutenant Magdangal," referring to Lt. Christopher Magdangal who is Trillanes’ classmate at the Philippine Military Academy, "were there, and there was no such incident."

"Hindi ko nga ma-imagine how Lieutenant Trillanes can say walang ginawa si President doon sa mga sinabi niya (I cannot even imagine how Trillanes can say that the President didn’t do anything about the things he presented)," Bangit said.

Bangit said the President "was very interested on the revelations."

Magdangal affirmed the PSG Colonel’s statement, telling reporters that "Actually, ang parting words ng President sa kanya: ‘Lieutenant Trillanes, you’re very young, very idealistic, and very intelligent. Huwag kang gumaya kina Gringo at Cardeno (Don’t be like Gringo and Cardeno)."

(Gringo refers to Sen. Gregorio Honasan, a former military officer who led several coup attempts in the '80s while Cardeņo is Superintendent Rafael Cardeno who is wanted for allegedly masterminding the murder of a military officer.)

"Iyon ba ang binastos? (Is that being berated?)," Magdangal said.

Magdangal said the President also asked for the copies of Trillanes’ papers on the alleged irregularities within the Philippine Navy and the National Recovery Program.

Asked by newsmen if the President scolded Trillanes during their two-hour meeting in Malacaņang, Colonel Bangit said "No, she did not."

Secretary Rigoberto Tiglao, the Chief of the Staff of the Office of the President who was also present during the briefing, told reporters that Malacaņang was "bothered by the lies expressed (by Trillanes) in a commission, that is, an independent commission."

Trillanes alleged this morning before the independent fact-finding commission headed by former Supreme Court Justice Florentino Feliciano that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo berated him during their almost July 13 meeting in Malacaņang.

Bangit also said the PSG was trying to establish the veracity of reports on a "possible destabilization plot and sketchy reports on possible takeover."

He said he had information then that Trillanes and Honasan met before the July 27 Makati incident.

The PSG chief also showed a picture given by a "walk-in informant" supposedly showing Trillanes and Senator Honasan together with a group of men. In the background are the Magdalo flag and the Philippine flag.

"I was told that this was taken June 13. This just goes to show that Lieutenant Trillanes and Senator Honasan met at one point in time," he said.

He said the walk-in informant gave him the picture a week ago.

Bangit said the picture would be submitted to Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Agnes Devanadera who, in turn, would submit it to the state prosecutors handling the rebellion complaint against personalities involved in the Makati incident.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Eduardo Ermita today branded as fake and non-existent a memorandum outlining Oplan Greenbase circulated through fax to government offices a few months ago.

Ermita issued the clarification in reaction to the revelation made by Navy Lt. Sr. Grade Antonio Trillanes IV during the hearing of the Feliciano Commission in Camp Aguinaldo.

"I would like to categorically state that there is no such thing as Oplan Greenbase," Ermita said in a press briefing in Malacaņang.

He said the issue on Oplan Greenbase was not new anymore, having explained his side earlier.

He said the first time he aired his side was in Malacaņang and the second was in the House of Representatives when Lanao del Sur Rep. Benasing Macarambon called for an inquiry on that matter.

Ermita also said that on March 23, 2003, he issued a news release denying the allegation that he crafted a memorandum to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo entitled "the President’s four-point policy framework in addressing the Southern Philippines secessionists / MILF problem" which defined an action plan for the so-called Oplan Greenbase.

He contended that "the memorandum is not true because in the first place the format, language, and subject matter of the memo is totally out of line with how and why I do things."

"In other words it’s not in the character of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process to prepare such an oplan. It’s out of character, it’s out of my function," he said.

He also said "this grand and sinister plan to subsume the peace process under the supervision of the Department of National Defense even tends to undermine the mandate of my office. Now why I would do such a thing?"

Ermita insisted that the document was bogus. "And if it does exist, somebody prepared it. It is a dubious or spurious document," he added.

De Leon also said that he even told Trillanes that he would be assigned to a unit where the alleged irregularities are being made so that Trillanes could institute the reforms that he wants implemented.