President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today exhorted lawmakers to "expand the commitment and cooperation" they have been giving the administration in the collective bid to enhance national social and economic growth.

During the 92^nd meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) at the State Dining Room in Malacaņang this morning, the President hoped "we can work together in the next few months on key prescriptions for economic renewal and reform."

She cited the Senate and the House of Representatives for helping the Executive Department formulate and pass into law measures aimed to raise economic productivity, reduce production costs, minimize business risks, and spur national growth.

Cases in point were the bills on the government procurement reform and special purpose vehicles (SPV) the President recently signed into law.

The procurement reform law or Republic Act 9184 would fight graft and corruption, improve operational efficiency, foster transparency in bidding procedures, and encourage competition.

The SPV Act would save the banking sector from the financial fallout of lending decisions that went sour after the Asian financial crunch. This would allow banks charge their losses against taxes.

But "we have to fast track" other priority economic bills in the same way, she said, urging everyone to "keep the momentum of economic reforms" the government has been undertaking.

Meanwhile, Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri outlined the government’s proposed economic action priorities for LEDAC consideration.

Stressing on raising national productivity, Neri said it was imperative to carry out the National Small and Medium Enterprises by coming out with the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 9178, implement the Housing and Securitization bill to provide rail-linked housing, push the bill that would consider farmlands as collateral, enhance the development and management of coastal resources such as mangroves and fish sanctuaries, and build vital economic support infrastructure like the North and South rail systems.

He said that reducing the cost of doing business in the Philippines needed the liberalization of civil and cargo aviation, infrastructure development, reforms in the Philippine Ports Authority and the Maritime Industry Authority, development of roll-on roll-out facilities, and the streamlining of national and local government procedures, including those made for Official Development Assistance.

On minimizing risks, the executive and legislative bodies should push for more financial reforms and fiscal measures to include the indexation of sin taxes and the rationalization of motor vehicle taxes, the increase in revenues, and the passage of a viable Government Appropriations Act.

Neri also stressed the need to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Act and push for the judicial modernization and pay reform measure, while focusing on the Anti-Terrorism Bill, improving socio-economic conditions in communities inhabited by Muslims and Indigenous Peoples nationwide.

Among the priorities to spur economic growth are infrastructure development, airline liberalization and the revival of tourism, the development of the mining industry, massive reforestation and a review of trade policies to maximize employment opportunities.

The same priorities were the subject of the speech of President Macapagal-Arroyo at the Philippine Stock Exchange last January 10.

Legislators present during the LEDAC meeting were Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senators Loren Legarda, Edgardo Angara, Francis Pangilinan, Manuel Villar, Ramon Magsaysay, Jr., Juan Flavier and Ralph Recto; Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. and Congressmen Gerry Salapuddin, Emilio Espinosa, Neptali Gonzales II, Francis Escudero, Agapito Aquino, Oscar Moreno, Julio Ledesma, Marcelino Libanan, Jose Salceda, Jaime Lopez, Robert Barbers, Alipio Cirilo Badelles V, Gregorio Ipoy, Prospero Pichay and Rolando Andaya, Jr.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today called on both houses of Congress to speed up the passage of a number of measures, including the 2003 General Appropriations Act, so that the administration can push its apolitical agenda for the next 18 months.

In her opening statement at the 92^nd meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) held this morning at the State Dining Hall, the President said there is a need to fast track the approval of the pending economic bills to keep the momentum of economic reforms that her administration has initiated.

The President also called for the passage of the absentee voting bill that would allow overseas Filipinos to vote during national elections as well as the dual citizenship law that would give dual citizenship to Filipinos abroad so that they could be enticed to invest in the Philippines.

During the LEDAC meeting, Presidential Legislative Liaison Officer Gabriel Claudio listed the following measures that were culled from the agreements reached during the December 10, 2001 economic summit and the May 5, 2002 political summit:

• Farmland as loan collateral -- the bill seeks to enable beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) to have access to mainstream credit facilities by restoring the collateral value of small farm lots. This bill is aimed at promoting agricultural productivity especially in the rural areas.

• General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2003 – to finance the operations of the government from January 1 to December 31, 2003.

• Amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act – to strengthen the country’s anti-money laundering campaign to better conform with international standards and requirements.

• Securitization Bill – to provide the necessary infrastructure and market environment for a wide-range of asset-backed securities that allow present valuation and use of future stream of revenues.

• Transco franchise bill – to enhance the value of transmission assets of the National Power Corporation thereby allowing the government to recover more proceeds from its privatization, and consequently reducing the potential stranded cost and the universal charge that would translate into benefits for electric end-users.

• Indexation of sin taxes – to impose excise tax on tobacco and alcoholic beverages in order to update the basis of taxation to the present level and to index the same to inflation rate.

• Rationalization of motor vehicle fees – to address the inequities brought about by the current definition of the term "automobile" by removing the bias against smaller cars with seating capacity of less than 10 and the distinction in terms of engine displacements and type of fuel used.

• National Authority for Revenue Administration (NARA) – to create a new entity to address institutional problems relative to tax administration.

• Rationalization of compensation of justices, judges and lawyer positions in the judiciary – to enable the government to recruit and retain the best and brightest in the Bar by granting additional compensation to justices, judges, lawyers in the judicial branch.

• Alternative Dispute Resolution Act -- to institutionalize the use of alternative dispute resolution as a diversionary procedure for civil cases filed in the lower and appellate courts, thereby unclogging the court’s dockets.

• Prescribing key positions in the Armed Forces of the Philippines Structure – to strengthen the AFP chain of command and staff structure vis-ā-vis the modernization program of the military establishment in order to better cope with present and future challenges.

• Absentee Voting Act – to allow qualified overseas Filipinos to vote during national elections.

• Anti-Terrorism Act – to define the crime of terrorism, provide penalties therefore and prevent the commission and financing of terrorist activities.

• Dual Citizenship Law – to allow dual citizenship in order to strengthen unity among Filipinos here and abroad and to pave the way for their return and entice them to invest in the Philippines.

• Philippine Railways Modernization Act – to speed up rural development, spur the funding of new townships and ease traffic and urban congestion through the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Philippine National Railway network.

• Department of Housing and Urban Development – to ensure holistic and focused implementation of the government’s shelter program, rational management of urban growth and optimum use of available resources for the provision of shelter and related services.

• Amendments to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) – to promote and safeguard public interest by establishing the basic policy of providing permanent and continuing coverage of all insured deposits.

• Mandatory Registration of Heavy Equipment – to achieve a rational registration scheme mandating compulsory registration for heavy equipment and curtail unscrupulous practices of contractors.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye today emphasized that there is no sovereign guarantee provided for in the legal opinion given by former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez in the government’s contract with the Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona S.A. (IMPSA) as claimed by former President Joseph Estrada.

"We like to make the point that in the Perez opinion, there is no such guarantee issued by the government," Bunye said in his regular briefing.

Justice Secretary Merceditas Gutierrez, who was also present at the briefing, likewise denied that there was a sovereign guarantee in the legal opinion of Perez.

"Besides, the (government) acknowledgment and consent agreement (GACA), which was submitted to the DOJ for confirmation, clearly provides that in the last paragraph, that for the avoidance of doubt, it is understood that nothing in this letter agreement shall be construed so as to convert the government undertaking issued by the DOF to a direct guarantee by the government of the obligations of the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan power plant to the lenders under the omnibus agreement," she said.

Gutierrez further noted that the GACA also states that neither shall the agreement be construed to increase or expand the obligations of the Republic of the Philippines.

According to Gutierrez, it is the Department of Finance, and not the DOJ, which issues the sovereign guarantee. "The Department of Justice just renders an opinion," she said.

Gutierrez also stressed that even former Finance Secretary Jose Pardo and former Justice Secretary Artemio Tuquero have admitted that there is no sovereign guarantee in the government contract.

"The DOJ opinion was issued accordingly and aboveboard and was issued pursuant and in accordance with all the documentation submitted or presented to the DOJ with the assurance from the National Economic and Development Authority that all requisites, that all the required consent and approval, were obtained from the concerned agencies of the government," Gutierrez said.

"In the government undertaking that was issued by the DOF, it is stated there that the obligations of the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) under the agreement carries the full faith and credit of the Philippine government. And that the Republic will see to it that NAPOCOR will comply with its obligations when they fall due," she added.

Energy Secretary Vicente Perez has said Estrada concluded and executed at least 10 agreements pertaining to the Build-Rehabilitate-Operate-Transfer (BROT) contract with the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) 750-megawatt hydroelectric power plant project in Laguna.

These included a whole list of contracts, undertakings, letter agreements and supplemental agreements.

Perez said Estrada signed five of the documents and as witness. "This was the first time that any president has actually signed as a witness in a power purchase agreement or BROT contract. This was a precedent in so many ways," Perez added.

The CBK-BROT was agreed on between the NAPOCOR and IMPSA, an Argentinean firm, with Edison Mission Energy of the USA as partner in forming the CBK Company Limited.

Further, Estrada signed on June 17, 1999 what he called a "full powers letter" authorizing then Finance Secretary Edgardo Espiritu or any of the finance undersecretaries to sign, execute and deliver a government undertaking in favor of IMPSA.

Among the agreements Estrada signed were the authorization confirming the authority of then NAPOCOR president Federico Puno to sign, execute and deliver the BROT pact; and the full powers letter to Puno to conclude for NAPOCOR the undertaking and to former Finance Secretary Jose Pardo to conclude on behalf of the Republic the acknowledgment and consent of the Republic to the security and other arrangements agreed to by CBK Power.

Perez also clarified that no "full direct government guarantee was signed or executed as far as the CBK-BROT agreement" was concerned.

What was concluded was a performance undertaking saying, "the obligations of the NAPOCOR under the agreement carry the full faith and credit of the Republic of the Philippines."

This meant that the government would see to it that NAPOCOR should be able to "discharge at all times such obligations as they fall due," he added.

"We are not guaranteeing the loans of CBK Power Company to their lenders," he stressed.

Perez said there was an attempt of the Estrada government to get a guarantee from the Japan Ministry of Economy and Trade Industry but this did not prosper.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye today said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has remained unaffected by the "rumblings" of former President Joseph Estrada.

Estrada today testified before the Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises on the controversial state deal with the Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona Sociedad Anomina (IMPSA).

Bunye said the "rumblings of the former President will not distract (President Macapagal-Arroyo) from pursuing her legislative reform agenda to keep our country moving forward."

The circus would not distract the President. "She will just concentrate on whatever needs to be done," he said.

The President convened the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council to its 92^nd meeting this morning in a bid to push further cooperation between her administration and legislators in the passage of priority economic measures.

Bunye said that "with regards to the events this morning in the Senate, we just watched with amusement."

He said the former president simply rehashed old charges and "is not saying anything new."

What was clear, he added, was that Estrada had been offered a bribe by Mark Jimenez. "He did not do anything, he did not arrest Jimenez, and he did not perform his duty as an implementor of the law," Bunye said.