There are no quick and fast solutions to the fundamental problems of our nation; and other contenders to the Presidency should not fool the people by promising an instant whitewash of poverty or of lawlessness.

These problems have arisen from long, festering inequities and dysfunctions in the systems of social reform, economic distribution and criminal justice and solutions will not come overnight.

In the short period she has served, President Arroyo has shown the will, the vision and the capacity to apply realistic and effective solutions.

Through leadership by example, she has continued to painstakingly undertake economic, social and political reforms that can be seen, felt and measured.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has already made major gains in the priority action areas making up her rivals’ announced platforms, reported Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo, who is tasked with monitoring the implementation of presidential directives.

"More than just rhetoric, the President has delivered solid accomplishments in the very thrusts that her challengers have cited in their platforms," Saludo said. "She has performance, not promises – gawa, hindi ngawa."

Below are Raul Roco’s key strategies and the advances the President has already scored toward those goals:

• Provide access to credit and capital formation for self-employment.

As ordered by the President in her first SONA, nearly a million women have been provided close to P4.5 billion in micro-credit since July 2001.

Under her Eight-Point Action Agenda, P15.03 billion has been lent to micro, small and medium enterprises from January to July this year alone, with another P10 billion allocated till December.

The President has also certified the Farm as Collateral Bill to enable small farmers to obtain livelihood loans with their farmland as security.

• Upgrade capacity of local governments to provide agriculture support services. Upgrade farmer access to technology, venture capital and liberalized credit.

The President has released to LGUs their Internal Revenue Allotments (IRAs) suspended in the past, enabling them to provide better services, including agricultural support. Incentive allowances were given to 17,210 LGU agricultural extension workers.

The President also pioneered in implementing the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) by channeling over P24 billion a year in 2001 and 2002 to the sector, with another P33 billion allocated this year. More than P40 billion in credit has been given to 1.1 million farmers and fisherfolk, irrigation for over 550,000 hectares of land was provided or rehabilitated for 340,000 farmers. Some 1,400 R&D projects were conducted, plus 11,367 training sessions for nearly 400,000 farmers.

In addition, the Macapagal-Arroyo Administration is channeling some P700 million in coco-levy proceeds to credit for coconut farmers, coconut-based SMEs and diversification of coconut farms.

• Major improvements in infrastructure, inter-island transport, water and sanitation and power.

Under her Eight-Point Action Agenda, the President is fast-tracking construction in the North and South Luzon Expressways as well as the Clark-Subic corridor, for high-speed transport from the Clark and Subic development zones through Metro Manila and Calabarzon all the way to Batangas port.

The North and South Rail projects and the LRT-MRT commuter train loop, also part of the Eight-Point Agenda, will enable people to live in Bulacan and Laguna while working in Metro-Manila.

The Strong Republic Nautical Highway of roll-on-roll-off ports and roads linking Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao has cut transport costs by 37%-43% for passengers and 25% for cargo. Travel time has been reduced by as much as 50%.

For the first time, nine out of every 10 barangays have power, with more than 3,800 additional barangays provided electricity under President Macapagal-Arroyo, more than under the previous three administrations.

To make affordable, reliable power more widely available, the President certified and implemented the Electric Power Industry Reform Act. Her administration has reformed electric cooperatives and condoned their debt, enabling them to cut their charges by a total of P900 million. The government renegotiated 32 contracts with private power producers to reduce future PPA payments by over P56 billion in present value terms. The SPEED and WESM programs are also cutting charges to industries to make them more competitive.

• Increase the tax effort ratio to 20 percent of gross domestic product.

The BIR and the Bureau of Customs have increased January-September collections by 9% and 12.5% respectively over the same period last year. The BIR has cracked down on evasion of VAT through computerized matching of sales and purchase data, uncovering more than P12 billion in delinquent tax due.

The budget deficit is on target to stay well below the P202 billion ceiling this year. Revenue efforts are boosted by legislation certified by the President, including those rationalizing motor vehicle taxes.

• Organize a Presidential Commission for the Management of Global Migration.

As part of the President’s job generation push, the Department of Labor and Employment assisted in placing 2.45 million Filipinos to 165 destinations since July 2001. The government also forged agreements with Indonesia, Taiwan, Greece and other governments to open doors for OFWs and ensure their welfare. OFW remittances are now projected to hit a record $8 billion next year.

The government has taken swift action to assist and protect OFWs. Ambassador Roy Cimatu coordinated efforts for the safety of Filipinos in the Middle East during the Iraq War, ensuring minimal dislocation and harm to our nationals. The DFA and DOLE also assisted in the release of seamen detained in Nigeria, and the provision of legal aid to Filipinas in litigation in the Middle East.

The President’s Achievements in Lacson’s Priority Areas

The President has also made gains in the priority areas cited by Sen. Panfilo Lacson in his platform speech to the Philippine Business Conference:

• Restore justice, law and order

Since the President ordered a renewed crackdown on narcotics and provided P1 billion to support the campaign, more than 15,000 drug-related arrests have been made, and over 10,000 cases have been filed in court. Three out of four international drug syndicates operating in the country have been neutralized, as well as more than 100 of the 272 local narcotics gangs. Billions of pesos worth of drugs and raw materials have been seized, and at least 5 laboratories and 5 warehouses have been shut down.

Last year the PNP neutralized most of 21 kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) groups, with the remaining five rendered inactive. KFR incidents fell by a third in 2002. With the KFR resurgence this year, a renewed campaign under Secretary Angelo Reyes of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) has arrested suspects in the Betti Chua Sy case and killed top KFR gangster Robert Yap and his cohorts. NAKTAF is pursuing five other gangs, and the President has released a P300-million reward fund to back the effort.

Street crime incidence has dropped by a third between March-May and June-August. A total of 2,549 barangays were cleared of drug trafficking activities and taken off the list of narcotics-affected communities. A further 50% reduction in both street crime and drug-affected barangays is targeted till June 2004.

• Increase national wealth

Under the President, the Philippine economy has been a leader in GDP and GNP growth in Asia. This year, despite the Iraq War, SARS and the Oakwood Mutiny, GDP in the third quarter grew by 4.4% and GNP by 5.9%, the highest since the Asian Crisis. BOI- and PEZA-registered investment increased 22%, and 20%-25% of businesses surveyed by the Bangko Sentral say they will expand operations in the next two quarters. International credit rating agencies S&P and Fitch are maintaining their stable ratings for the Philippines. The country is poised to benefit from the expected resurgence in the world economy, led by the 8% expansion in the United States.

• Upgrade education

More than 800 classrooms have been built in barangays unserved by nearby school buildings. The rest of these faraway communities will get classrooms by June.

As directed by the President in her first SONA, all grade schoolers as well as secondary students in first and second year have their own textbooks in Science, Math, English and Filipino (except for Grade 3 English and Filipino, which are being addressed).

Some 15,200 schoolteachers have been hired, with another 10,000 budgeted for 2004. The President has also launched the Strong Republic School distance-learning program, to bring education to communities unserved by regular schools.

• Institute investor-friendly and predictable economic policies

BOI- and PEZA-registered investments have risen 22%, helping generate the 4.4% GDP growth in the third quarter.

The President’s push for the information and communications technology (ICT) sector has created 45 contact centers for call center and backroom business services. Some P2.65 billion in investment has come in this year alone, generating 11,400 jobs. Another $56 million in exports from eight ICT hubs were produced.

Separately, the President has certified House Bill 6011 to rationalize investment incentives and replace the Omnibus Election Code.

• Strengthen the judicial system

The President has certified legislation to raise the pay of judges; the government has also moved to increase compensation for lawyers.

In her 2002 SONA the President ordered the filing of administrative and court charges against erring judges. At least five judges have been charged, and one has been dismissed.

• A national health policy to make quality health affordable.

Half-price medicines most frequently used by the poor are sold in 188 public hospitals and through five government agencies and two NGOs. The government has also pushed the manufacture of local generic medicines, some of which are now even cheaper than the drugs imported from India. In a recent SWS survey, nearly half of respondents who bought medicines said the drugs were cheaper, compared with less than 20% before.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye, in a radio interview today, said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would push for the implementation of a national ID system as part of the government’s efforts to end kidnapping and other unlawful activities.

"There is nothing to be nervous about the implementation of an ID system since this would curtail criminality and even improve the bureaucracy. This is a practice accepted by the majority," Bunye said.

He said that the information placed on the national ID system would not differ from the ones the people give when obtaining an ID from various government and commercial agencies.

"Having a national ID system would definitely improve our peace and order situation," Bunye said.

He explained that the earlier proposal of having a national ID system became controversial since there has been no law passed regarding the implementation of such a system.

"The absence of such a law is what could have prompted the Supreme Court to earlier deny the implementation of the national ID system," Bunye said.

Bunye said that controversies regarding the national ID system would disappear if we could have a law, passed under a normal course in both houses of Congress.

"Those who are against the national ID system include some militant groups. But they do not represent the majority who are really in favor of having a national ID system," Bunye said.

Bunye explained that the enforcement of the national ID system will actually depend on the Congress and the Senate since they would be the one to scrutinize and pass the needed law in order to implement the system.

DAVAO CITY—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today ordered the transfer of the Department of Agriculture to Mindanao as part of her administration’s efforts in maximizing Mindanao as the country’s food basket.

In her speech this morning at the inauguration of the new Davao International Airport, the President said she has already instructed Agriculture Secretary Luis "Cito" Lorenzo to move the DA to Mindanao.

"Agricultural modernization and agricultural policies must emanate from Mindanao, not from Manila," the President said.

The President said that Lorenzo will hold office in Mindanao, leaving one agriculture undersecretary for the Visayas, and another undersecretary for Luzon.

She said Secretary Lorenzo was "very enthusiastic" about the decision, adding that the latter would submit to her the details of the transfer as soon as they are finalized.

The President said that with the completion of the Davao International Airport, the dream of making Davao as a regional industrial center is now realized.

She said that even when she was still a senator, she had already been a strong supporter of the Davao Integrated Area Development of which the Davao International Airport is the "crown jewel."

DAVAO CITY – Saying it is a culmination of many years of dreaming and the beginning of many more horizons, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today inaugurated the new Davao International Airport that she said will maximize the potentials of Mindanao as a food basket and its role in the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Malaysia-Indonesia-Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area).

"I have been with you in your dreams from the beginning," the President told a crowd that witnessed the inauguration of the P5 billion airport. "And we must always be together to make those dreams come true, because our ultimate dream is for Mindanao to be united and victorious over the problem of poverty."

The President said that with the new airport, Mindanao will truly be the food basket, the tourist destination and the agro-industrial center that will bring about prosperity and self-sufficiency, " a winner in the battle against hunger for the entire people of the Philippines."

"Now more than ever, the world will be able to climb Mount Apo or visit the orchid farms, or eat the fruits, or pay homage to the Philippine eagle, or lay around the beaches of Davao," she said, "Now more than ever BIMP-EAGA can be revived for the good of Mindanao."

Touted as the crown jewel of the Davao Integrated Development Plan, the Davao International Airport took long in coming, with the President, then still a senator, taking it upon herself to make sure that the P5 billion of budgetary allocations and borrowings from the Asian Development Bank and the European investment bank would be safeguarded and the old Davao airport modernized.

The new airport will directly complement the thrust of the BIMP-EAGA nations toward opening more trade and tourism routes in the region which includes the Palawan and Mindanao areas in the Philippines; federal states of Labuan, Sabah and Sarawak, in Malaysia; the provinces of North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Irian Jaya, Maluku, North Maluku and Gorontalo, in Indonesia; and the entire Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam.

The new, modern airport is expected to invite more flights from domestic and international carriers, which could be translated to more tourist traffic and more business opportunities.

DAVAO CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said that attaining peace in Southern Philippines is not only through peace talks but also by bringing development to the whole of Mindanao.

"We are not just talking about the diplomatic process of peace talks, we are also talking about bringing development to the conflict areas, as well as the non-conflict areas of Mindanao. And certainly that drains the breeding grounds of the recruits or secessionists," the President said in a press conference at the New Davao International Airport in Sasa District which she inaugurated this morning.

At present, the President said, efforts for the resumption of the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have gone through a lot of steps and the Philippines is just awaiting for the Malaysian team that would serve as the "advance party" for the monitoring of the ceasefire agreement.

"The ceasefire agreement has been holding even without a final peace agreement and the exploratory talks are being arranged in Malaysia," the President said.

Although she declined to give a timetable, the President said the conditions for the realization of a final peace agreement are being bolstered by the support of Malaysia, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), Libya, United States, and the United Nations.

"All these entities are providing both diplomatic and financial support. These are conditions that were never there in the past," she said.

The President said the opening of the P5-billion modern airport here would spur economic activities and development in the whole of Mindanao aside from reviving the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).

DAVAO CITY – The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) today announced it has named its latest hatchling, "Gloria," after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who has made Davao and Mindanao "soar" in the eyes of the international community.

"We are happy to announce that the Philippine Eagle Foundation named its latest hatchling "Gloria" because President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo made Davao and Mindanao soar in the eyes of the world," Carlos Dominguez, treasurer and member of the board of trustees of PEF, said in a press conference at the New Davao International Airport which the President inaugurated in Barangay Sasa here this morning.

The 10-month-old, "Gloria" is the youngest of the 13 eaglets hatched in captivity at the 8.5-hectare Philippine Eagle Center in Malagos District here.

The oldest are Pag-asa and Pagkakaisa, the first two eagles hatched and bred in captivity.

"Gloria" was hatched through a natural pairing method between Princess Maasim and Tsai on January 16 this year.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye today announced the designation of Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Michael Defensor as political spokesman of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the start of the campaign season.

In a press briefing in Malacaņang, Bunye said that Secretary Defensor has very kindly agreed to take on the additional job as political spokesman of the President.

"So political matters, henceforth, should be addressed to Secretary Defensor," Bunye said, adding that Defensor will be available to media 24 hours a day through his cellular phone.

Bunye said Malacaņang is designating Secretary Defensor on a full time basis because "we realize the problems of media persons in trying to get a quick reaction to campaign issues."

Defensor, who is also the Presidential Adviser on Housing, is the youngest member of the Cabinet.

He is also the incumbent chairman of the board of directors (ex-officio) of the National Housing Authority, the Home Development and Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund), National Home Mortgage and Finance Corporation, and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board.

He was the youngest elected congressman of the Tenth Congress (1995-1998), and became the Assistant Majority Floor Leader of the Eleventh Congress.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today received Bahrain Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa in Malacanang to personally thank him for the Kingdom of Bahrain’s continued support for the Philippines and the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the kingdom.

During his courtesy call, the President particularly thanked Shaikh Khalifa for granting financial assistance to boost the development of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The Bahrain Monetary Authority also opened its doors to the Philippines by expressing its willingness to train Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas officials on Islamic banking theory and practices to pave the way for the country’s wider participation in the Gulf economies.

"We can expect that bilateral ties between the Philippines and Bahrain will further flourish," said Special Envoy to the Gulf Cooperation Council Ambassador Amable R. Aguiluz V.

It was upon the Ambassador’s invitation that the Prime Minister of Bahrain is here. "Both countries are very keen on bolstering trade and economic relations," Aguiluz said.

Bahrain hosts more than 35,000 Filipino workers.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo launched this afternoon an all-out war against illegal drugs with a huge multi-sectoral rally at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila.

The campaign, dubbed "The Nation’s Outrage Against Drugs: Saving This Generation" or Himagsikan Laban sa Droga was viewed by the proponents as a manifestation of the people’s outrage over the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.

The Macapagal-Arroyo administration had declared earlier that it would carry the fight against illegal drugs down to the barangay level.

Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo and daughter Luli led a symbolic text messaging rites as a major component of the war to stamp out the illegal drugs problem.

Representatives from the youth, religious sector and the civil society joined the President at the launching rites. Similar programs were simultaneously held at the Davao City Park, the Fuente Osmena in Cebu City and Burnham Park in Baguio City.

Rehabilitated drug dependents recounted their harrowing ordeals while hooked on illegal drugs.

"The project will also enhance the implementation of more viable rehabilitation programs for drug dependents," said Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina, Jr.

Sen. Robert Barbers, chief architect of the new Dangerous Drugs Act, cited President Arroyo for her "strong political will" to eradicate drug abuse and trafficking in the country.

Other government officials present at the launch ceremonies were Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman, Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco, and Executive Director Anselmo Avenido of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

"While significant milestones have been achieved by the government in the campaign against drugs, there is still a need to intensify greater awareness and involvement of all sectors of the society on the urgency and importance of the anti-drugs campaign," said PNP Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operations Task Force chief, Deputy Director General Edgardo Aglipay.

Himagsikan harnesses other law enforcement agencies such as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) and the PDEA.