President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today lauded the initiative of Mayor Robert Rivas of Bergenfield, New Jersey for choosing Trece Martires City in Cavite as Bergenfield’s adopted sister city.

"We really are proud of you and we will look forward to your assistance to the city of Trece Martires now that the sisterhood agreement is already signed," the President told Rivas who called on the Chief Executive at Malacaņang’s Music Room.

Mayor Rivas informed the President that he and Trece Martires Mayor Melencio de Sagun, Jr. signed last Monday a Memorandum of Understanding on the sister city agreement.

The agreement would explore programs and projects of mutual interest and benefit to both cities, Rivas said. These would cover trade, culture, governance, civic welfare and public safety concerns, he said.

Rivas said an exchange program between Bergenfield and the Trece Martires police force is in the offing and arrangements are being made to implement the same. There are also plans to grant scholarships to qualified police officers of Trece Martires.

Other programs in line included technical assistance for livelihood projects and the construction of low-cost housing for the poor people of Trece Martires.

Mayor Rivas also vowed to support and help the President by way of promoting Philippine tourism, particularly this year, which is dubbed Visit Philippines Year.

He gladly told the President that most Filipino-Americans in Bergenfield had their roots in Macabebe, Pampanga.

But he said his Kapampangan constituency felt at a loss when the Chief Executive announced last December 30 that she would not seek election in the 2004 presidential polls.

The President asked her "kababayan" in Bergenfield to be patient, while seeking the support of Rivas and Bergenfield in the implementation of the administration’s socio-economic programs for the Filipino people.

She said she could achieve a lot for the country even if she would not run for president.

Rivas is the first Filipino-American elected mayor in the East Coast or tri-state area in the United States. A lawyer, Rivas also holds various positions in the US government and is current director of the Bergen County Legal Services.

Rivas, in his second term as mayor of Bergenfield, is also board member of the Fair Housing Council of Northern New Jersey, which reviews cases of race and gender discrimination in the real estate market.

Middle East

We have put in place measures in anticipation of every possible evacuation scenario for our OFWs in the Middle East. But let me just emphasize that under no circumstances will combat troops be sent to Iraq.

We are now suffering the effects of the anticipated imposition of FATF sanctions. We are afraid that things could get worse once the actual sanctions are imposed. The President will continue to work with Congress in finding a solution this problem. The government has sought the assistance of the United States to exercise its moral suasion on FATF members to hold adverse actions directed against the Philippines. It should be obvious by now that the problem will not only affect OFWs but even our entire economy as well. Money laundering is an international concern and we, as a nation, should do our share. This is our obligation as a responsible member of the global community.

Oil Prices

Oil price hikes are driven by the unfolding events in the Middle East, which are affecting not only the Philippines but also the rest of the world. We believe, however, that the crisis is temporary in nature. It will abate in due time. This was the experience in 1991. The government will closely monitor the effects of the situation on the transport sector tricycle, jeepney, FX, taxi and bus operators and drivers. The DOTC and the MMDA are in constant dialogues with the transport sector seeking ways and means to mitigate the situation. The DOE is working closely with selected gasoline dealers to offer diesel at discounted prices to public utility vehicles. We are also helping transport cooperatives and associations to set up their own gas pumps. The government will also see to it that the prices of prime commodities are not unduly affected. The NFA will try to make available government rice to various transport groups through the rolling stores. The manufacturing sector has responded positively in terms of keeping prices down and so has the labor sector in terms of holding back requests for wage increases. This is a crisis in which all Filipinos must make a sacrifice and we thank all those who are doing so. We appeal to everyone to act with a social conscience. Oil companies must lead in this.

Balikatan

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has said that aside from financing, the administration’s strategy for the development of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) also consists of the human resource side, the market side and the technology side.

In her remarks at the SMEs Forum on the National SME Agenda held Monday at the Metropolis Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, the President said that on human resource side, the government is conducting training seminars so that SMEs would know how to prepare their own feasibility studies.

For example, the President said, a group is capable of producing soap but it does not know how to prepare a project proposal, so it cannot hope to get the proper financing.

The President said that in order to solve this problem, she has directed Trade and industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II to assign 50 SME business counselors nationwide to teach small entrepreneurs how to prepare project proposals so that they can have access to financing.

She also said that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will review their academic curricula to promote entrepreneurship.

On the market side, the President said there is no longer a need to have actual trade fairs to promote some products because of the Internet, which provides "virtual trade fairs" where sellers and buyers can exchange information or even conclude actual sales.

But the President emphasized that the government will continue to organize buying and selling missions both locally and abroad.

"The SMEs will have display corners, and there will be buyers and suppliers matching services. And there will be SME teams moving around the country," the President said.

The President said that in order to be competitive, the SMEs must conform to international standards and should produce and sell products that are of high quality.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has enjoined the full and active participation of local government units (LGU) in government efforts to promote and strengthen small and medium enterprises (SMEs) nationwide.

In an address before participants of a forum on SME, in Muntinlupa City Monday (February 17), the President said SME centers would have to be established nationwide, through the advocacy of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

"The SME centers are really local government-based," she said, emulating Muntinlupa City for having won twice in a row the distinction of being the Most Business Friendly City because of its "very good One-Stop Center."

The LGUs would have to do it through the leagues of provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays, she added.

The President said she looked forward to the reduction of bureaucratic red tape in the processing of mercantile concerns.

"I hope the DILG will review government rules and regulations to reduce doing business at the local level," she said.

She noted that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) should have a special unit to review the process, particularly for SMEs.

The President reechoed her concern when she signed the Special Purpose Asset Vehicle Act. "We should reduce the requirements (of doing business) to the minimum," she said.

The President said the DTI should concern itself only in immediately issuing a business permit, as long as the business helps enhance and improve the social and economic well-being of the community.

"If there’s no incentive involved, no franchise involved, no government contract involved, no government contract involved, the only concern of the regulating authorities is that the business does not do harm to the country," she said.

The Chief Executive noted that SMEs "are the vital engines of the Philippine economy."

SMEs consist 99.6 percent of the country’s total firms and 60 percent of them are exporters. They employ 70 percent of the labor force and contribute one-third of the value added to the economy.

Bring about lower electric bills.

This President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Department of Energy (DoE), as the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) continued negotiations for reduced costs of obligations with independent power producers (IPP).

In a press briefing in Malacanang after the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Executive Committee Meeting, Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said the President wanted to see one major bottom line – the positive impact of the talks on consumers.

Neri confirmed earlier reports that the government stood to generate some $700 million in cuts in its IPP obligations.

Some $150 million in reduced IPP obligations might immediately be achieved if the first part of the negotiations were concluded, Neri said.

The slash could be translated to something like 35 to 40 centavos per kilowatt hour deducted from the present electric bills of power consumers.

"These are the possible savings that can be done if the PSALM is successful in its negotiations with the IPPs," he said.

He added that it was up to the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to negotiate with its own IPPs.

Neri said the President sought for another presentation in the next NEDA Execom meeting to show the options and the final impact on the consumer of the reduction in IPP obligations.

Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri today said the government is dead set in adopting ways that would mitigate the negative effects of the sudden upsurge in the prices of world crude on the transport sector and consumers.

In a media briefing in Malacanang, Neri said that while President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appreciated the promise of some public transport groups that they would keep their fares under control, the Chief Executive wanted concrete cushions to ease the impact of the oil price increase on the people.

Neri said the President instructed the members of the Cabinet to look for ways to keep transport cost at a status quo by ensuring efficient vehicular traffic.

"Then perhaps the oil price hike will not impact too much on inflation and other basic commodities," he said.

He said programs that would address traffic snags in Metro Manila would be coordinated with Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman and Public Works and Highways Secretary Bayani Fernando.

Neri said the government wanted to maintain, if not reduce, the total cost of fuel used by the public transport sector. "They get faster turn around and have less consumption of fuel because of more efficient traffic conditions."

Secretary Fernando, Neri said, would come up with guidelines the transport sector could adopt to save more than what they spend, in case the cost of fuel would rise.

"It is a matter of trying to simulate experiments. I guess (Fernando) is still in the process of experimenting and simulating the impact in terms of the total cost to the transport operators," Neri said.

In a separate press briefing, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that oil price increases have been driven by the unfolding events in the Middle East, which have affected the Philippines and the rest of the world.

Bunye, however, believed the crisis is temporary in nature. "It will abate in due time," he said, noting that this was the experience in 1991.