In her speech following her arrival at the Davao International Airport Tuesday morning, she said was "hopeful that our many strong and committed partners in Mindanao’s peace and development would vastly amplify our efforts."

DAVAO CITY – The concept declaring "sanctuaries for peace" in war-torn areas of Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces is working.

National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles said the ceremonial launching of the program would be conducted at Barangay Inug-og, Pagalungan, Maguindanao tomorrow, Freedom Day.

Deles said the non-government group Tabang Mindanaw (Help Mindanao), in cooperation with the government, has set up "sanctuaries for peace," which will be involved in sustained peace building and development – unhampered by armed combat -- in the concerned areas.

During the Joint Cabinet-National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) meeting at the Marco Polo Hotel here yesterday, Deles informed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that the concept has succeeded in getting the assurance of rebels to stay out of declared sanctuaries.

She said Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief of staff Muhammad Nur, in a letter dated May 31, 2003, vowed "to keep our armed presence away from these sanctuaries of peace."

Deles said an Inug-og peace sanctuary declaration provided three salient points, stressing that:

• Armed confrontation should be avoided at all times and that peaceful approaches should be used in problem or conflict resolution;

• Plans for peace and development shall be designed by the local community and members; and

• Security measures shall clearly be defined and determined by the local leaders.

Deles said that under "sanctuaries," displaced families who sought refuge in evacuation centers in Pikit, Cotabato could start their safe return to their homes and farms in the Pikit-Pagalungan-Pagagawan cluster.

Earlier, the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security issued a policy on "zones of peace" calling for the redeployment of military units to let evacuees return to their places of origin, the activation of the zones through rules set by the locals, setting up of local monitoring teams and speedy implementation of rehabilitation projects.

Under the program, Tabang Mindanaw has committed to provide core shelters, health services, technical aid in sustainable agriculture, and continuing peace education to the returning evacuees.

This is on top of the rehabilitation and development efforts that the government has carried out in the area.

The "sanctuaries for peace" would be done village by village.

The President, in bilateral meetings with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad while she was in Japan last week, even secured the commitment of the Philippines’ Asean neighbor to help facilitate the peace talks with the MILF.

While the government welcomes and expects sincerity from those with whom it negotiates, the military and the police must have the full capacity and adequate means to protect communities and enforce laws without depending solely on the sincerity or restraint of other parties, she noted.

DAVAO CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said last night Korean and Japanese investors were keen on channeling capital to fund agro-industrial projects in the Philippines, particularly in Mindanao.

She said her recent series of successful visits to the United States, South Korea and Japan drew interest among a big number of businessmen from those countries to do business in Southern Philippines.

Earlier in her arrival speech at the Davao International Airport where she kicked off an eight-day working stay in Mindanao, the President disclosed that a considerable part of fresh public and private investments mobilized abroad would benefit the people of Mindanao.

The investments are expected to create jobs and provide livelihood opportunities, she said.

But the President credited domestic investments for contributing a lot in pushing national economic growth to better than expected figures in the first quarter of the year.

She said domestic capital poured into and the productivity in small and medium enterprises (SME) and the housing sectors provided a big boost to the economy.

The country had registered its biggest growth in investments, most of it from domestic capitalization, since 1997, she added.

The President said recent global developments could present foreign investors a number of concerns in their home countries.

She will also confer with regional and local officials and meet with the media here during the day.

MALUNGON, Sarangani – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today opened better opportunities for more than 13,600 residents of a cluster of five barangays here, as she formally opened the newly-built P10.64-million 30-linear meter Upper Mainit-San Roque Bridge here.

But more than this, the President took longer time to spend with the people of Barangay Mainit, experiencing the daily grind of a countryside community that has to contend with a slow-moving rural life.

The President -- together with Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong, Local Government Secretary Jose Lina, Jr., Sarangani Governor Miguel Escobar and Malungon Mayor Teody Padernilla – made the ceremonial drive in a pickup truck through the bridge.

She and other officials, including Public Works and Highways Undersecretary for Mindanao Bashir Rasuman, also unveiled the bridge marker.

In a short message delivered in Cebuano following the bridge opening rites, the President urged parents in Upper Mainit and nearby villages to avail themselves of the state’s distance-learning program.

She ordered education and local officials to bring the program to the villages where schoolchildren, because of certain negative conditions including poverty, seldom get basic education.

After her message, she went around the program site and met with local officials led by Upper Mainit barangay captain Ernesto Olegario, and exchanged words with the crowd – mainly composed of women and children – estimated to number some 2,000.

Unexpectedly, the President decided to walk her way up the village’s main gravel road that sloped some 30 degrees, under the blistering heat of a noon-day sun and swirling dust spawned by thousands of pairs of legs of people who followed her along the way.

Upon reaching a sari-sari store some 200 meters up, the President took a 20-minute rest and gave an awed Upper Mainit citizenry and a number of Cabinet members and her party a treat – a round of cold cola.

"A walk with rural folks in the open? This is unprecedented," said a government official who lagged behind in the upward trek.

Sari-sari store owner Mely Lapaz, widowed with eight children, exemplified the general feeling of Upper Mainit folk: "Nalipay kami sa pag-abot ni Presidente ug sa iyang taas nga pakighimamat sa amo (We are very happy over the President’s visit and her long stay with us)."

In her message, the President also cited the Austrian government for helping the Philippines in the construction of bridges under the "Tulay ng Pangulo" (President’s Bridge) program in Mindanao.

The Tulay ng Pangulo program for the Special Zone for Peace and Development (SZOPAD) and Mindanao involves the construction of 526 bridges from 2001 to 2005.

Austrian Trade Commissioner Wolfgang Harwalik said the program would continue to get soft loan financing from the Austrian government.

Helmut Wuzela, president and chief executive officer of Austrian construction company Waagner Biro, added that they would be building hundreds of such bridges in Mindanao under the program.

Secretary Lina earlier said Austrian involvement carried with it 109 bridge projects in Mindanao.

Lina said that of the number, 17 have been completed and the construction of 30 more is going on.

The government hopes to complete construction of these bridges by the first quarter of 2004, he said.

The formal opening of the Upper Mainit-San Roque Bridge, which spans the Mainit and Lilang rivers, will benefit the farmer-residents cultivating some 26,000 hectares of farmlands in Barangays San Roque, Upper Mainit, Upper Lumabat, Panamin and San Juan.

Upper Mainit farmer and Kalagan native Julito Agbay said the new bridge has made it easier for him and his fellow farmers to bring their corn, copra, sugar cane and other agricultural produce to the Malungon public market eight kilometers away from the village.

"Malaking tulong ang tulay sa amin (The bridge has helped us a lot)," Agbay said, noting that in the past, they used sturdy horses to bring their goods across the river.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The SOCSKSARGEN Federation of Fishing Associations and Allied Industries today commended President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for her "unwavering support and valuable assistance for the development of the Philippine tuna industry."

SOCSKSARGEN stands for South Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat-Sarangani-General Santos City.

In a resolution numbered 02-2003, the federation said the President’s efforts and leadership contributed to the attainment of a number of industry milestones to include the:

-- Dramatic reduction of discriminatory tariff on Philippine canned tuna exports to Europe from 24 percent to 12 percent;

-- Attainment of tariff parity of Philippine canned tuna exports to the United States with Andean-member countries;

-- Inclusion of tuna in the General System of Preference (GSP) list of products for export to the US as taken up during the recent visit of the President to the US;

-- Expansion of the General Santos Fishport Complex;

-- Conclusion of the Bilateral Fisheries Agreement with Indonesia;

-- Participation of the Philippines in the Multilateral High-Level Conference on the Conversion and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the

Western and Central Pacific Ocean that gives the country a favorable position on several issues, particularly the recognition of traditional fishing; and

-- Implementation of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point in the General Santos Fishport.

Signed by federation president Domingo T. Teng, the resolution expressed confidence that the leadership of the President would further strengthen chances of the industry to provide more jobs through a globally-competitive tuna industry.

The federation also hoped to contribute significantly to the Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s peace and development efforts.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – President Macapagal-Arroyo today called on the country’s barangay tanod (village security officers) to further amplify the government’s bid to rid the countryside of criminality and terrorism.

In a speech before nearly 500 graduates of a barangay tanod course at the General Santos City gymnasium in Barangay Lagao, the President also noted the important role community watchmen play in promoting socio-economic growth in their areas.

She said the barangay tanod is needed in deterring the commission of crimes. But more than this, the barangay tanod are vital in thwarting threats to community peace and security.

She stressed that village watchmen shared with law enforcers a coordinative role in the total effort to check social and economic problems that affect their communities.

The President called for vigilance among the people. "With a vigilant community, we must sustain punitive actions," she said, to the applause of the graduates.

"The force of our collective vigilance is through international cooperation and programs for meaningful social and economic uplift which will marginalize and ultimately defeat terrorism," she said.

With the unilateral ceasefire of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front ending at midnight tonight, the President called for more alertness and vigilance.

She ordered the police and the military to prepare themselves against a possible fresh wave of terrorist attacks.

But while government would continue its anti-terrorism actions, the President said the door for the peaceful resolution of conflicts would continue.

She said the search for just, lasting and principled peace remained, but the government would not be threatened or intimidated.

In her speech, the President also exhorted her audience to "redeem the promise of Mindanao."

She said that without coming to terms with the issues and concerns facing Mindanao, the country’s full development would be at risk.

The President has considered Mindanao as a vital factor in the attainment of national development, being one of the country’s largest sources of agricultural bounty and rich raw materials.

The barangay tanod trained on professionalism and community safety as part of a Presidential directive for the Department of Interior and Local Government to strengthen community security.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today expressed her sympathy to relatives of two Filipinos rebels abducted during a coup attempt in Liberia.

The President, here on the second leg of her eight-day working stay in Mindanao, said she ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs to coordinate with Liberian authorities for the safe release of the Filipinos.

The two, brothers Renato and Julito Carpentero, were said to have been taken hostage last June 5, along with several Liberian nationals in the capital of Monrovia.

Their abductors demanded $100,000 for the release of the hostages.