There is no truth to a report that PAGC Chair Dario Rama has been replaced by Chief of Staff Rigoberto Tiglao.

There is no plan to remove Chair Rama. In fact, Chair Rama is doing a good job.

The report must have arisen from instructions by the President for Secretary Tiglao to review the proposed system or process for conducting lifestyle checks on presidential appointees.

TANAY, Rizal - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to wipe out the notorious Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) within 90 days to reinstate normalcy in Mindanao.

"I’ve given the military a deadline for the ASG, 90 days," the President said.

The President issued the directive to AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Dionisio Santiago during an interview with Malacaņang reporters in Camp General Mateo Capinpin this morning, right after the baptism of Sheena Rose Cocoy, the daughter of rebel returnee Rosalinda P. Cocoy, at St. Martin of Tours Parish here.

During the interview, the President said she strongly believes in the capability of the military to follow the deadlines that she has been giving them. When she told them to capture the Buliok complex in three days, the Armed Forces completed their mission before her deadline.

"So I suppose they’ll be able (to meet the deadline), if they do the proper allocation of resources. They’ll be able also to finish Abu Sayyaf in 90 days," she said.

The President denied reports that the presence of US troops in Zamboanga was aimed at going after the Abu Sayyaf. She clarified that the ongoing training here was part of a $25-million training program approved by the US government during her visit to Washington in November 2001.

She explained that the ongoing training in Zamboanga was not the Balikatan 03-1, as the newspaper reports claimed.

"The training in Zamboanga is not the Balikatan that people are writing about because the Balikatan 03-1 is still under consultation, negotiation. But the one in Zamboanga is training of two light reaction companies and it’s a $25-million training. It’s a very, very valuable training. That’s different from the other one which is still under consultation," President said.

On the continued military operation against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the President said that her directive has not yet changed and she wanted the military to enforce the law and pursue the peace process with the Moro rebels.

"We want peace but they have to enforce the law. We have a call to the MILF to come to the peace table. We have given them the draft of the peace agreement and we have to run after those who break the law," the President added.

She also said Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad has been helping the Philippine government to pursue the peace talks with the MILF and details of this are being worked out by Presidential Adviser for Special Concern Secretary Norberto Gonzales.

TANAY, Rizal - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today called on the leaders and members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army (CPP-NPA) to return to the fold of the law and the government is willing to accept them wholeheartedly and provide them with means to live a decent life.

"Nananawagan tayo sa kanila na kapag kapayapaan pipiliin nila na hakbang, pag-aalaga at pagkalinga at kaunlaran ang aabutan nila (I’m appealing to them that if they choose peace, we will take care of them and the government will help them improve their lives)," President said during the interview at Camp General Tomas Capinpin here.

The President said that she hopes CPP-NPA will end their armed struggle and give way to peace.

The President assured them that once a peaceful solution is reached in the decades-old conflict between the government and the communist rebels, the government will implement development projects in the rural areas.

"Peace and development is very important, if we’re going to fight terrorism. We also need to root out the cause of poverty," the President said.

She explained that because of poverty, it would be easy to brainwash people and lure them to join the rebels fighting the government.

But on the same vein, the President also warned that if the CPP-NPA continues to fight the government, the military will go after them and implement the law.

The President motored here to fulfill her promise to be the godmother of 22-day old Sheena Rose Cocoy, a daughter of rebel returnee Rosalinda P.Cocoy. The child was baptized at the St. Martin of Tours Parish here in Camp Capinpin.

On February 7, the President visited Rosalinda at the AFP Medical Center in V. Luna, Quezon City, when she learned that the former rebel amazon gave birth to Sheena Rose, her second child.

After the baptismal rites, the President joined the sponsors and relatives of Rosalinda in a "merienda."

As a gift to her new godchild, the President gave a scholarship and some other little things to Sheena Rose as well as financial assistance to Rosalinda.

"My wish to Sheena Rose is that I want her to live in a society with peace and development,’ the President said.

Among the sponsors were Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Dionisio Santiago, Rizal Governor Rebecca "Nini" Ynares, General Efren Abu, commander of the 2^nd Infantry Division; Brig. General Dante Bonifacio, also of the 2^nd Infantry Division; General Ronald Kempis of the AFP Medical Center; Lieutenant Don Villanuevo of the 1^st Infantry Batallion; Benilda Cuerpo; Lorna Abu; Colonel Melba Bonifacio, chief nurse of the Philippine Army; and Evelyn Galinato.

Rosalinda, alyas Ka Rose and Ka Lorena in the underground movement, is from Sitio Makaingalan, Barangay Puray, Rodriguez, Rizal and was born on June 27, 1980. She is the youngest of the 11 children of Abundio and Paulina Cocoy.

Before she joined the underground movement in 1996, Rosalinda was 2^nd year at the Geronimo High School in Rodriguez, Rizal. During her five years stay in the movement, Rosalinda became an organizer and instructor of the communist rebels.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will consider lodging a protest with the International Labor Organization (ILO) after it has studied the implications of Hong Kong’s new wage policy on its international commitments under the ILO and other pertinent covenants and instruments.

"The wage policy is unfair and unjust and, therefore, I am not foreclosing the possibility of protesting the decision to the ILO," DOLE Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said in a statement.

She said the DOLE will also appeal to the sense of fairness of Hong Kong employers to maintain the present salaries of Filipino domestic helpers in consideration of their long service and quality performance.

"We are not really out of options and we continue to review them," Sto. Tomas said.

Sto. Tomas has directed the governing board of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to immediately convene and discuss its options regarding the Hong Kong government's new minimum wage policy for overseas domestic helpers.

She said that the meeting will also explore new policy directions and strategies that will mitigate the impact of the wage policy on the welfare of Filipinos working as domestic helpers in Hong Kong.

The DOLE chief bared these responses after she received the report of the Philippine Consulate on the decision of the Hong Kong government to reduce the minimum allowable wage for foreign domestic helpers by HK$400 per month effective April 1, 2003.

At the same time, Sto. Tomas warned against the indiscriminate layoffs or termination of employment without just cause of Filipino domestic helpers, to which employers may resort as a result of the wage cut decision.

She said the Department is not entirely helpless and may not be inclined in approving new contracts for employers who resort to this kind of practice.

DOLE, Sto. Tomas said, is presently reviewing the full implication of the Report of the Task Force on Population Policy which was made the basis of the wage cut decision and other measures affecting Filipino domestic helpers.