Our peacekeepers and humanitarian workers in Iraq know the score and have continuously observed vigilant measures to keep safe and secure.

The overall threat to the forces of democracy and reconstruction in Iraq has abated due to the capture of Saddam.

There has been a surge in global confidence that has positively impacted even on our local bourse.

The overall security outlook in the Middle East has become more buoyant and this will have an effect on the productivity of the more than a million Filipinos working there.

My trip to Bahrain has sealed a broader diplomatic front for peace, stability and the welfare of our OFWs.

Filipinos are welcomed everywhere in the world as harbingers of goodwill and progress and this is true to the entire Middle East and in Iraq.

Secretary Ople deserves the highest accolade the state can give in accord with the wishes of his family to have a peaceful and solemn mourning.

Secretary Ople was a champion of the poor and the vanguard of reconciliation high and above the many.

The figures reported are exaggerated.

There are JI operatives in the country but they are not in the hundreds.

This limited presence is confirmed by information given by captured JI leaders themselves.

The neutralization of Al Ghozi and Taukef Refke vividly demonstrate that they cannot roam with impunity.

The JI leadership core has been debilitated and its members are on the run.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrived today from her two-day state visit to the oil-rich kingdom of Bahrain where she personally checked the working conditions of the more than 30,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) there.

The President’s chartered PAL flight, PR 001, touched down at the Centennial Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at around 8:45 a.m.

First Gentleman Atty. Jose Miguel Arroyo, Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr., Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, Press Secretary Milton Alingod, Commissioner Antonio Bernardo of the Bureau of Customs, Armed Forces Chief of Staff, General Narciso Abaya, Jr., Philippine National Police Chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane, Jr., and the President’s son, Diosdado, welcomed the President.

A composite honor guard accorded the President and her official entourage with a 21-gun salute.

From the airport, the President with the First Gentleman motored to the Christ the King Chapel in Green Meadows in Quezon City to visit the wake of Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople.

The President personally conveyed her condolences to Ople’s widow, Susana Vazquez Ople.

Secretary Ople was on a flight to Bahrain to catch up with the President when he suffered difficulty in breathing and lost consciousness. He passed away in Taiwan on December 14, despite the efforts of the medical staff of the Min-Sheng General Hospital to revive him.

In her statement today, the President said that Secretary Ople "deserves the highest accolade the state can give in accord with the wishes of his family to have a peaceful and solemn mourning."

It is heartening that business and the media have advanced to the forefront of our national debate, my longstanding call for systematic reform and new politics centered on competent governance and the promotion of the public good.

For this, I commend former Secretary Lito Camacho and Secretary Romy Neri, whose calls for principled politics and urgent fiscal legislation echo my own policy thrusts.

DONE, in the City of Manila, this 15^th day of December, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Three.

By the order of the President:

(Signed) Alberto Romulo

Executive Secretary

By the Executive Secretary:

(Signed) Joaquin C. Lagonera

MANAMA, Bahrain -- The Philippines and Bahrain underscored the importance of expanding relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as strengthening ties with the Asia Cooperation Dialogue during the state visit here of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In a joint statement issued following the President’s two-day visit, which ended Monday, both countries agreed to benefit from Bahrain as a regional center to distribute the products and services of Philippine companies in the region, and facilities offered by the Kingdom of Bahrain for private companies operating in the offshore, insurance and banking sectors.

The first meeting of the Bahrain-Philippines Joint High Commission to follow-up their agreements to develop bilateral relations will be convened next year.

The President and His Majesty King Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa agreed to increase the bilateral trade by exchanging visits between officials and businessmen, organizing and participating in specialized exhibitions and supporting efforts to facilitate all forms of transport, in addition to strengthening cooperation between stock exchanges.

On terrorism, the two sides stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation in countering terrorism in all its forms, and of combating and condemning violence. They called for the combating of terrorism through comprehensive international measures under the auspices of the United Nations.

On the Middle East issue, both countries affirmed the necessity of Palestine and Israel returning to the negotiating table and of beginning the implementation of the roadmap in order to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the region.

The two countries also reaffirmed the importance of strengthening their commercial and economic cooperation and signed a protocol to amend and supplement the Air Services Agreement of 1992, as well as a Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism and a Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Education.

Existing agreements between the two governments were likewise activated.

These are:

• A memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a joint committee for cooperation in manpower and in economic, commercial, educational, cultural and technical fields;

• A memorandum of understanding on the exchange of expertise and information between the Bahrain Stock Exchange and the Manila Stock Exchange;

• An agreement on the promotion and protection of investment in both countries;

• An agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and countering tax-evaders;

MANAMA, Bahrain-- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, during her visit to the Filipino community here, lauded overseas Filipino workers (OFW) for their contribution to the economy.

"Aside from helping your country’s economy, you should also be considered as Filipino overseas investors. This is because of the OFWs’ P8-billion investment to the Philippines every year," the President said in her speech.

The President told the Filipino community in Bahrain that their remittances are used for housing and education of their families in the Philippines, which could be likened to investments.

President Macapagal-Arroyo also said that her administration passed the Overseas Voting Law and the Anti-Money Laundering Law to show her appreciation for the efforts of Filipinos working abroad.

"Pinalawak ko ang programa ng pabahay. Sa loob ng dalawa at kalahating taon ng aking pamumuno, nagkaroon ang Pilipinas ng pinakamalawak na programang pabahay sa kasaysayan ng ating bansa" (Unprecedented housing programs were launched during the two-and-a-half years of my administration), the President said.

"At isang dahilan ay dahil maraming bumibili ng pabahay sa mga OFW. Hinihimok ko kayo na ilagay ang inyong naimpok na pera sa mga makabuluhang bagay, kagaya ng pabahay. Makipag-ugnay kayo sa Embahada kung paano pumasok sa programa ng Pag-Ibig Fund" (I opted to expand the government’s housing program since most of the buyers are families of OFWs. I urge OFWs to invest their hard-earned money in buying houses for their families and avail of the government’s housing program through the Pag-Ibig Fund), the President said.

Dollar remittances from OFWs grew 5.7 percent for the January to October period, and may reach $7.6 billion by yearend as the number of Filipinos leaving for higher-paying jobs in the health-care and other industries climbed.

"Sa inyong lahat, maraming salamat sa mga remittances. Maraming salamat sa magandang reputasyon na binibigay ninyo sa Pilipinas, Maraming salamat sa patuloy ng pagmamahal ninyo sa ating bansa. At Merry Christmas, minamahal kayo ng bansang Pilipinas," (To all of you, thank you very much for the remittances. Thank you very much for the good reputation that you are giving the Philippines, Thank you very much for the OFWs, love for our country. Merry Christmas, your country loves you), the President said.

For October alone, remittances went up by 10.9 percent to $673 million from $607 million a year ago.

The surge of OFW remittances during the last three months of the year has become a natural occurrence because of the Christmas season.

More than seven million Filipinos are working abroad as household helpers, entertainers and construction and factory workers. The money they sent home accounts for about a tenth of the country’s gross national product (GNP).

OFW remittances are a major source of regular foreign exchange income that props the peso’s value against the dollar.

Remittances also help the country raise more foreign currency to pay for imported necessities like oil and fuel, food and farm products produced abroad, and imported parts and components used by local industries.

The Subic Bay Freeport continues to live up to be the country’s haven for local and foreign investors as it attracted 20 new projects, amounting to P817 million worth of fresh investments.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Felicito C. Payumo said that the entry of new companies clearly shows a "vote of confidence of investors" who have seen the prospects of Subic Freeport to become one of the emerging economic hubs in the Asia-Pacific region.

Payumo said that Subic Freeport is still young as an industrial and commercial estate but it has a great potential to be the next Hong Kong or Singapore because of its strategic location, deep sea harbor and more importantly, a pristine environment.

The biggest amount of investment infused in the Subic Freeport is a 50-year long-term lease agreement for the construction of Subic Holiday Mansion, a world class retirement village with P252- million worth of initial capitalization for its first phase property development project.

The entire project costs P600 million.

"There is no other place in the country that is best suited for a retirement village other than Subic as it offers a clean, unpolluted and secured surroundings, no traffic problem and the best hospital facilities," Payumo said.

Among those which will also be engaged in property development includes the P74-million commercial warehousing and office building of EMS Corporation, the P55-million construction of another retirement village called the Tropical Paradise and the P54-million Boton Light and Science Park.

Other real estate projects include the P11-million restaurant project of Café Too Food (Subic) Corporation; the P9-million housing rehabilitation project of the Nadia International, Inc.; the P6-million Subic Bay Garden Villas; the P5 million for Beverly Hills Development Corporation; the P2-million for 01 Property Venture Corporation; and the P1-million for the setting up of Casa Kalayaan Learning Center.

Likewise, new companies signed sub-lease agreements with existing locators such as the P30-million investments of Tsunami Philippines Corporation for the establishment of a Japanese restaurant and videoke bar along Moon Bay Marina; a P16-million Music Museum owned by popular singer Pilita Corrales; and the P4-million general merchandise trading business of Mardien International Trading Corporation.

The SBMA has also attracted several tourism-related business operators in the newest Subic attraction called the Forrest Adventure.

These include an P80 million Zoobic Safari project; a P150-million Subic Ancient World; P15-million Butterfly Garden; and the Jo Horse Transport and Leisure with P15-million worth of investments.

A new tourism attraction, Greenwoods Park, being developed by a group of Korean property developers, which patterned the project to popular Eastwood Park in Manila, has attracted three new investors.

Malacanang today said that flags in all government buildings and installations, here and abroad, should remain at half-mast for six days, starting yesterday, as part of the period of mourning for the death of Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople.

In Proclamation No. 514 (Press Release No. 6), the President ordered that the flags at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labor and Employment, the House of Representatives and the Philippine Senate should remain at half-mast even beyond the six days until the day of Ople’s burial.

The period of mourning started yesterday and would end on the day of the burial of the late foreign secretary.

Ople has served as foreign secretary, labor secretary, senator and assemblyman during his almost six decades of public service.