Malacaņang today said that concerned government agencies have already stepped up efforts in giving flesh to the eight-point work program that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has pledged to put in place for the next one and a half years of her administration.

In an interview, Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye said that in housing, for example, the President has ordered the reduction of interest rate for loans for low and medium-cost housing from 9 percent to 6 percent per annum.

Bunye said that the 3 percent reduction is a big boost to the housing sector and would definitely benefit the low-income individuals who want to have their own houses.

The country’s top developers, Bunye said, have pledged to work with the government in building a total of 500,000 units of low-cost housing for the next two years.

In addressing the problem of fiscal deficit, one of the eight-point work program of the President, collections at the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs have also improved during the last quarter.

Bunye said that with the improved collections, it is expected that the yearend deficit would be less than earlier projected, adding that with this development, the overall fiscal deficit for the year 2003 could also be reduced.

Bunye said that as part of improving the collections at the Bureau of Customs, the President has designated Brig. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon to head a special anti-smuggling task force that would go after illegal importation, especially on vegetables.

He said that the task force has already apprehended illegal importation of vegetables from China worth millions of pesos.

Malacaņang today said that concerned government agencies have already stepped up efforts in giving flesh to the eight-point work program that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has pledged to put in place for the next one and a half years of her administration.

In an interview, Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye said that in housing, for example, the President has ordered the reduction of interest rate for loans for low and medium-cost housing from 9 percent to 6 percent per annum.

Bunye said that the 3 percent reduction is a big boost to the housing sector and would definitely benefit the low-income individuals who want to have their own houses.

According to Bunye, government financing institutions, led by the Land Bank of the Philippines, would provide the needed financing for housing projects.

The country’s top developers, Bunye said, have pledged to work with the government in building a total of 500,000 units of low-cost housing for the next two years.

In addressing the problem of fiscal deficit, one of the eight-point work program of the President, collections at the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs have also improved during the last quarter.

Bunye said that with the improved collections, it is expected that the yearend deficit would be less than earlier projected, adding that with this development, the overall fiscal deficit for the year 2003 could also be reduced.

Bunye said that as part of improving the collections at the Bureau of Customs, the President has designated Brig. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon to head a special anti-smuggling task force that would go after illegal importation, especially on vegetables.

He said that the task force has already apprehended illegal importation of vegetables from China worth millions of pesos.

Malacaņang today ordered Presidential Security Group commander Brig. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon to automatically open up all refrigerated container vans that pass through the Manila International Container Port (MICP) to ensure that no smuggled vegetables can penetrate the Philippine market.

In a radio interview this morning, Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye said Esperon, who also heads the Blue Collar Task Force aimed at thwarting smuggling in the country, received the instructions from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to automatically inspect all refrigerated vans as part of the campaign against smuggling.

It can be noted that for the past two months, the Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s campaign against smuggling had already netted 40 container vans of smuggled vegetables.

During a surprise visit to La Trinidad in Benguet last Dec. 29, 2002, the President received personal thanks from the vegetable farmers and traders in the area for her efforts in protecting their welfare and putting a stop to rampant smuggling that threatens their livelihood.

The President conducted a surprise inspection of the La Trinidad vegetables trading post where an P8-million cold storage facility will be set up by the Benguet provincial government. She gave a P4-million assistance for the construction of the cold storage facility.

She also told the vegetable farmers that with the administration’s intensified drive against smuggling, they could soon sell their vegetables even during the lean months because of the new cold storage facility that would be put up in the trading post.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Pier Ferdinando Casini, President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament, today discussed matters of mutual interest and concern to their two countries, agreeing to work further against international terrorism and to promote interfaith dialogue as well step up efforts to alleviate the conditions of the poor.

Casini, who paid a courtesy call on the President at the Music Room in Malacanang, noted the need to address international terrorism and widespread poverty as "a world full of imbalances cannot be peaceful."

He noted that Italy, as a founding member of the European Union, is working towards establishing more links between Asia and Europe, citing the efforts of the biennial Asia-Europe Meeting.

The President, on her part, noted the similarities of the Filipino and the Italian cultures, citing the fact that the two countries are predominantly Catholic.

The President said Filipinos look to Rome as the seat of religion, adding that overseas Filipino workers have become an integral part of Italian society.

The Chief Executive also noted the effective laws of the Italian Republic in protecting the interests and rights of the OFWs.

"I’m very glad Filipinos have become very well integrated and have been quite accepted by the Italian society," the President.

She noted that the OFWs in Italy represent the ingenuity and hard work of the great Filipino worker. Italy has one of the largest concentrations of migrant workers from the Philippines. Italian authorities are currently working to regularize the stay of undocumented and illegal migrant workers.

The President also said she is glad that Casini has adopted her earlier pronouncements that the fight against terrorism requires efforts to address poverty as well.

She also took note of Italy’s participation in the dialogue of civilizations being encouraged by the United Nations and the Christian Democrats International and the ecumenism being promoted by Pope John Paul II.

The President also thanked the Italian government for its Official Development Assistance worth $25 million in loan facilities, with a grant portion by the Italian government for agricultural and land reform projects in Muslim and Christian Mindanao.

The President also conveyed to Casini her invitation for the Italian Prime Minister to visit the Philippines.

Accompanying Casini to Malacanang were Italian Ambassador Umberto Colesanti, Deputy Adviser Pietro Sebastiani and Head of the International Relations Service of the Chamber of Deputies Mirella Cassarino.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has designated Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye as Presidential Spokesman in a concurrent capacity after Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao relinquished the post to concentrate on his job as Chief of Staff of the Office of the President.

The appointment of Tiglao as Chief of Staff was signed by the President some three weeks ago.

"All calls will now have to be directed to Secretary Bunye," Tiglao told members of the Malacaņang Press Corps.

Tiglao said that as Chief of Staff, his job is basically to make sure that all roadblocks are being cleared in the Office of the President and that all the President’s initiatives and policies are being implemented.

He also clarified that his post would not in any way overlap with those of Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo.

"The structure here is that we have Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo who is charge of the entire Cabinet and the entire bureaucracy, the entire administrative department," Tiglao said.

As Chief of Staff, Tiglao said, he would represent the President in pushing for the eight-point work program that the President has pledged to put in place for the next 18 months of her administration.

The eight-point work program includes the following: to strengthen small and medium enterprises, jumpstart housing, reduce cargo costs form Mindanao to Luzon, decongest Metro Manila, mark up the contributions of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to the fiscal resources, make Makati City a specific urban tourist destination and the reclamation area on Roxas Boulevard as a tourism complex, stimulate private investment in agriculture, and address the problem of budget deficit.