DAVAO CITY – Peace and development in Mindanao; security and stability for the region’s people.

This will be the focus of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s eight-day visit to Mindanao starting tomorrow (June 10).

To kick off the President’s peace and progress mission, she will preside over a significant Cabinet meeting at the Marco Polo Hotel here, immediately after she arrives at this major southern city Tuesday morning.

She and the Cabinet will discuss updates on the implementation of the P5.5-billion Mindanao National Initiative (Mindanao Natin) that is expected to spur socio-economic growth in the country’s second largest island recently wracked by terrorist attacks and fraught with poverty.

On top of national government funds, Mindanao Natin has been the recipient of $1.3 billion in official development assistance.

This will bankroll priority government programs and projects in some 5,000 villages in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Western Mindanao, Southcentral Mindanao and Northern Mindanao.

Another highlight of the President’s Mindanao sojourn is the celebration of the country’s Independence Day in Mindanao.

The President will lead the nation in raising and saluting the Philippine tricolors, in reciting the Oath of Allegiance, and in laying the wreath in honor of national heroes in General Santos City.

Last year, the President commemorated Independence Day in Lamitan, Basilan, the first time a chief executive did the significant act that impressed Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity in Mindanao on all and sundry.

During that time, she said raising the Philippine flag there signified the declaration of the freedom of the people of Basilan from the bondage of poverty and terrorism.

She said that when Aguinaldo raised the flag in Cavite, it meant freedom was attained. "He declared that we are free and ready to fight for our freedom through blood and sweat," she said.

After the Gen. Santos Freedom Day rites, the President will fly to Zamboanga City to host the traditional vin d’ honneur.

During her entire mission, the President is expected to visit Sarangani, General Santos City, Zamboanga City, Maguindanao, Cotabato City, Marawi City, Iligan City, Misamis Oriental, Butuan City, and Agusan del Sur.

The President is set to lead national and local officials in opening the Upper Mainit Bridge in Malungon, Sarangani; awarding the solar-powered irrigation project in Gen. Salipada K. Pendatun, Maguindanao; inaugurating the community and solar dryer project in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao; inspecting the Gawad Kalinga Missionville housing project in Saray, Iligan City; and attending a briefing on the status of the Rugnan Irrigation Project in Lanao del Sur.

She will also meet with local officials, military officers, business and religious leaders, and representatives of Muslim civil society groups.

DAVAO CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will push the speedy completion of socio-economic programs and projects under the state-funded P5.5-billion Mindanao National Initiative or "Mindanao Natin" when she presides over the Cabinet meeting here tomorrow (June 10).

The President expects her executive officials to give her an update on Mindanao Natin in a Cabinet meeting that hopes to seal government peace and development efforts in Mindanao.

In a statement issued on the eve of the departure for Mindanao for an eight-day visit from June 10 to 17, the President said "I would like to make sure that our strategic directions are on track, and being applied in a manner that could bring the earlier peace and most development for the poor."

"Mindanao will never realize its full potentials unless the government is brought back to the center of the people’s lives, and unless the region’s future is fully integrated into the future of the entire nation," she added.

She unveiled Mindanao Natin during the First Muslim Summit convened at the Manila Midtown Hotel last April 24.

"I hope Mindanao Natin will be embraced by everyone in this country as an important step towards the fulfillment of the promise of Mindanao," she said during the summit.

She said that besides the P5.5-billion the government earmarked for the regional initiative, Mindanao Natin also received some $1.3 billion in official development assistance to bankroll high-impact priority infrastructure project.

The socio-economic package would be carried out in the next 14 months in over 5,000 villages in Mindanao’s four regions – Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Southcentral Mindanao, Western Mindanao and Northern Mindanao.

The Cabinet meeting comes in the wake of the report of Foreign Secretary Blas Ople that the influential Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has expressed satisfaction over the substantial implementation of peace and progress initiatives in the region, particularly in resolving the Mindanao Problem.

The President said the quest for meaningful autonomy in Muslim Mindanao has spanned three decades, starting with the signing of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement. "Yet, the problem remains," she said.

She noted that Muslim Mindanao continued to be the poorest area in the country, beset by a very low literacy rate and whose economic exclusion has resulted in conflicts.

Mindanao Natin is being done through a 10-point program that also ensures the implementation of the Tripoli Agreement entered into by the government and the Moro National Liberation Front in Tripoli, Libya.

The program includes the:

-- Strengthening of local monitoring teams looking into the rehabilitation of conflict-affected villages in the Pikit-Pagalungan-Pagagawan cluster in Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces and the Carmen-President Roxas-Damulog cluster in Cotabato;

-- Formation of a new breed of soldiers called the Sala’am (zone of peace) soldiers, half of whom are Muslims, to protect Muslim communities and assist in the delivery of socio-economic services to the latter;

-- Financing and conduct of livelihood training programs for conflict-affected families;

-- Implementation of a rebel returnees program;

-- Creation of one-stop action centers for land documentation and titling;

-- Conduct of a distance-learning program that will provide basic education and specialty training courses;

-- Conduct of youth and culture-sensitive programs on sports and the arts;

-- Implementation of community-scale, quick-gestation infrastructure projects that include an P281 million worth of projects in the ARMM, P71 million for Western Mindanao, and P73 million in Southcentral Mindanao.

-- Implementation of the $1.3-billion ODA to finance roads and bridges, irrigation and water resource facilities and maritime safety facilities.

The President said the government has completed the tenth aspect, that of reintegrating erstwhile MNLF fighters into the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.

She said that as of March this year, some 6,000 members of the MNLF have joined the military and some 1,500 have been enlisted into the police force.

When classes opened today, one of the surprising sights seen by students who trooped back to school were uniformed cops atop motorcycles making the rounds of the school campus and the surrounding areas.

They need not be curious.

This is but one of several measures being undertaken by the National Capitol Region Police Office (NCRPO) under Oplan Balik Paaralan in its efforts to increase police visibility and thwart plans by criminal elements to take advantage of the situation to conduct their nefarious and illegal activities.

In a briefing for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and members of the Malacaņang Press Corps on Oplan Balik Paaralan today, the NCRPO claimed its intensified campaign against street crimes and other forms of lawlessness will resolve the immediate concerns brought about by this year’s school opening.

It said the continuing inter-agency coordination would enhance the effective and efficient delivery of public safety services to the students in and out of the school campus.

As part of its intensified anti-crime operations, the NCRPO has instituted an Adopt-A-School program whereby police personnel act as ambassadors to schools while teaching subjects on criminality, particularly on anti-illegal drugs campaign.

It also uses the motorcycle-mounted cops under the "Huli Agad" program to cut the police response time for complaints on ongoing crimes and other peace and order reports that need immediate action.

Street crimes, illegal drugs, fraternity/gang wars, heavy traffic and illegal parking, ambulant vendors, video game centers near schools and streetlights are several concerns being addressed by the project.

Among these, street level sale and use of drugs is the most common at 64 percent followed by snatching of cell phone, jewelry and purse at 15 percent and theft like pick-pocketing and "salisi," at 11 percent.

From January to May of this year, the NCRPO has reported a 93-percent solution of crimes, saying it has solved 3,424 out of 3,686 reported cases from its five police districts.

There are our other components of the PNP’s intensified anti-crime operations, namely, the Magic Eye Txt Patrol 2910, Project Metro Rail Police, Project Kapanalig and Police Security Containment Ring System.

The Magic Eye Txt Patrol 2910 is a community-based reporting system where people can report crimes through text messages in support of Patrol 117.

Project Metro Rail Police provides security and protection to the commuting public of the LRT and MRT.

The strong economic growth in the first quarter of 2003 provides an important signal that the Philippine economy is geared towards sustainable recovery and expansion for the long term, and thus uplift the poor and marginalized sectors of society.

Editha Alido, director of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Department of Economic Research, said such news is a valuable indication the country’s present economic policy is on the right track. It is also a source of encouragement particularly at this time when the world’s major economies and other governments are grappling with the problem of weakness on economic activity, the BSP said.

Earlier, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri reported a demand-driven first quarter GNP (Gross National Product) growth of 5.6 percent that exceeded government’s official forecast of 4.3 to 4.8 percent. Neri also reported a first quarter GDP growth of 4.5 percent, the highest end of the forecast.

Alido said the rising GDP growth, particularly when underpinned by robust consumer demand, increased investments and supportive macroeconomic policy, would also mean more jobs for Filipinos.

"Such a process tends to feed on itself – more jobs imply more income for ordinary Filipinos, and the ensuing cycle of increased spending and higher output will help create the momentum for sustained economic expansion for the long-term," she said.

"We believe that such a prospect has clear implications for the standard of living of the Filipino public."

The National Economic and Development Authority, meanwhile, said it is worthy to note that employment in the agriculture and services sectors went up 1.3 percent and 2.2 percent respectiively.

NEDA also reported that policies are now being put in place to jumpstart the housing/construction sector to further spur economic growth.

The NEDA said the housing sector has a multiplier effect on the economy of 16.6 times, meaning that every P10 billion worth of housing units would contribute a total of P166 billion of economic activity for the country.

The NEDA said it has been observed that poverty incidence seems to subside during episodes of high construction activities. This is because construction is labor intensive and tends to employ the less skilled of the country’s labor force.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today ordered the suspension of the acquisition of early warning devices (EWD) from the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

In a surprise visit to the LTO main office along East Avenue in Quezon City, the President instructed LTO Assistant Secretary Roberto Lastimoso to immediately stop its policy of requiring vehicle owners to buy early warning devices (EWD) only from its accredited stores.

The visibly irked President also instructed Lastimoso to clear the LTO premises of "fixers."

This, after the President received complaints of various anomalies within the LTO office, including the acquisition of EWDs at exorbitant prices.

At the LTO office, the President was hugged and kissed by some elderly women.

She was also swamped with numerous complaints from the public, such as the use of cellular phones (texting) by employee during office hours, early closure of transaction windows, and late release of licenses.