GENERAL SANTOS CITY – For the second consecutive year, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today impressed Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity in Mindanao as she led the nation in commemorating its 105th Independence Day.

As the 34-member combined 6th Infantry Division and Philippine National Police Region 12 band played the National Anthem, the President raised the Philippine flag at exactly 7:00 a.m. at the Carlos P. Garcia Park here, signaling the nationwide celebration of Freedom Day.

Assisting the President in the flag-raising ceremony were Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Narciso Abaya, General Santos City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr., National Historical Institute Chairman Ludovico Badoy and other military and public officials.

She then led a huge crowd gathered at the park in making the Oath of Allegiance to the flag which fluttered as a cool breeze swept through the park on this bright sunny morning.

Following the oath, she took time to exchange kind words, warm glances, smiles and handshakes with the people of this tuna capital, as she walked for about 100 meters towards the monument of National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal fronting the General Santos City Hall.

As she made the trek, the military-police band played "Let Me Call You Sweetheart."

The people – including local officials, veterans, teachers, public and private employees, business group representatives -- came in as early as 5:30 a.m. to be with their Chief Executive.

A public school teacher commented that she came to join the President in her commitment to do away with terrorism and poverty in this part of the country, in particular, and the nation, in general.

At the foot of Rizal’s monument, the President laid a wreath as she commemorated the sacrifices of the country’s national and unsung heroes who gave their lives so that freedom could be attained by the future generations.

During the wreath-laying, the band – under the baton of Army Staff Sergeant Julius Gante-- played "Pilipinas Kong Mahal," evoking an emotional atmosphere in the park premises.

A military platoon then fired the traditional 21-gun salute and a bugler played the taps.

After the 15-minute Freedom Day rites here, the President once more greeted well-wishers and the people lined up along the park, as she made her way to the Presidential vehicle that would take her to the airport for her flight to Zamboanga City.

Last year, the President raised the flag and kicked-off Independence Day celebrations in Lamitan, Basilan, the first time a Philippine chief executive did the significant act in Mindanao.

During that time, she said that raising the flag in Basilan signified the declaration of the people in the island-province of their freedom from the bondage of terrorism and poverty.

She said that when first Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo raised the flag in Kawit, Cavite 105 years ago, it meant that freedom was attained.

The President capped her stay here, the second leg of her eight-day trip in Mindanao, with the Independence Day rites.

In Zamboanga, she will lead the diplomatic corps in the traditional vin d’ honneur, a continuation of the Freedom Day rites.

She will also have meetings with national and local officials, military officials, and representatives of business, civil society, media and other groups.

The President came from Davao City, where she conducted a Cabinet meeting focused on the implementation of the Mindanao National Initiatives (Mindanao Natin).

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrived here on board a chartered Learjet at 9:00 this morning here and was warmly welcomed by the private sector and local and government officials.

The President was accompanied by Interior Secretary Jose Lina, Jr. and Secretary Renato de Villa, Presidential Adviser on Strategic Concerns, during the flight.

She was escorted by Southcom Commander Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko and was met by Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat and the city councilors, Lone District Rep. Celso Lobregat, Zamboanga del Norte Governor Isagani Amatong, and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Parouk Hussin.

Other officials who welcomed the President were Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Narciso Abaya, Presidential Assistant Paul Dominguez, Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza, Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo and National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Arthur Yap.

Presented to the President at the tarmac was a model of the Dona Eva Macapagal Housing Project. The 396,000-square meter project in Barangay Boalan has 1,233 residential lots for government employees.

The President and her party then proceeded to the BRP Ang Pangulo at the Majini Pier within the Southern Command (Southcom) area where she will lead the traditional vin d’honneur, a continuation of the Independence Day rites to be attended by members of the diplomatic corps and Cabinet officials.

She is also expected to deliver her Independence Day message, to be aired nationwide, during a parade at the Zamboanga City Plaza.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, now on the third leg of her week-long working visit to Southern Philippines, has told Mindanaoans that Mindanao has been the primary beneficiary of the gains that she had achieved during her successful foreign trips, particularly from her highly-fruitful state visit to Washington, D.C. middle of last month.

In this regard, the President called on all Mindanaons to rise up to the occasion, unite and help the government give Mindanao a big push towards socio-economic growth.

She also challenged the business community in Mindanao to respond with entrepreneurial vigor in translating the government’s development policies and projects into sustainable production, income and livelihood opportunities for the people.

The President said that in order for the government to build a truly strong Republic, it is imperative that peace and stability, and development, should first be brought to Mindanao.

In an English-Cebuano speech following her arrival at the Davao International Airport Tuesday morning, the President said that while the gains from her foreign visits would benefit the country, "I have tried my best to focus the benefits in favor of Mindanao."

Aside from her state visit to the United States, the President had recently conducted state and working visits to South Korea and Japan.

She told reporters covering her eight-day working stay in the South that Korean and Japanese investors were keen on channeling capital to fund agro-industrial projects in the Philippines, particularly in Mindanao.

The President also said that much of the trade concessions that she had obtained from these foreign trips would benefit many products coming from Mindanao.

For example, the President said, the expected $1-billion windfall from the inclusion of carageenin and pineapple juice under the US generalized system of preferences (GSP) would help ease poverty in Mindanao, particularly for the carageenin farmers of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu, and pineapple growers of Central Mindanao.

The focus of the development assistance from American financial institutions, like the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, is also on the development and rehabilitation of Mindanao, especially in the conflict areas in Muslim Mindanao, the President said.

At the same time, a big chunk of fresh public and private investments mobilized during these visits will spur employment and livelihood opportunities for the people of the country's second largest island, she added.

On top of these, the President disclosed that the "bulk of military and law enforcement assistance we secured will provide better security and greater protection" for Mindanao communities.

Similarly, much of the official development assistance generated during the trips would be targeted for programs and projects that aim to uplift the lives of "Mindanao's poorest and most vulnerable," she said.

All these would redound to the attainment of peace and development in the area, two factors that would in turn counter terrorism and poverty in the region.

The President said she regarded the remaining year of her administration "as a unique window of opportunity for building the foundations of an enduring framework for principled peace and development" in Mindanao.

She also disclosed that during her eight-day working visit to Mindanao, she would concentrate on preparations for the school opening; implementation of infrastructure projects in the area; acceleration of initiatives in agriculture, trade, industry, tourism, and livelihood; securing improvements in law enforcement and police administration.

"We are also dedicated to reducing and eliminating the main conditions that might continue to breed conflicts in the future," the President stressed.

The President once more urged the people, particularly local government officials, to amplify administration efforts to bring security and stability in Mindanao.

But the President also credited domestic investments for contributing a lot in pushing national economic growth in the first quarter of the year.

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

ZAMBOANGA CITY—President Gloria Macapgal-Arroyo today thanked the international community for its unstinting support and assistance to the rehabilitation and development of Mindanao and in the government’s war against terrorism and lawlessness in the Southern Philippines.

In her speech at the traditional Vin d’ honneur held at the presidential yacht, the BRP Ang Pangulo, the President particularly thanked the Malaysian government for its newest effort to help bring peace in Mindanao and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) for its full political cooperation to help move forward the peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The Vin d’ honneur, which is part of the 105^th Independence Day celebration, was attended by some 63 representatives of foreign governments and international organizations.

The President also thanked the developed countries, particularly Japan, the United States, Australia, the European countries, Canada, New Zealand, China, Korea, for their engagement in Mindanao.

Similarly, the President thanked the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the United Nations system for their effective programs directly benefiting residents in areas in Mindanao that have become the recruiting grounds of conflict and rebellion.

The President made special mention of the United States for its "abundant pledges and material support" to ensure the peace and the proposed conflict reintegration program in the former battlefields in Muslim Mindanao.

According to the President, the concerns of Mindanao have always been among the most important matters of her administration.

"Here, as freedom’s frontiers, we need most of all to bring government back to the center of the lives of the people. We’re determined to make the people of Mindanao feel that we belong to one nation and that they are in the mainstream of our nation’s future," the President said.

She said the government will continue to fight terrorism and poverty until peace, security and prosperity will be brought to Mindanao.

"We shall continue the fight against terrorism and poverty until peace, security and prosperity take root on this part of the country," the President said.

The President said the government has expanded the frontiers of freedom in Mindanao by building on opportunities, meeting challenges head on, engaging the people of various beliefs, ethnic origin and social situation, and by engaging the world.

"Our most important focus of human freedom is in Mindanao -- freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom from injustice," she said.

She added that although the government welcomes the unilateral gesture from MILF to further silence the guns, it would rather have a permanent ceasefire leading to substantive negotiations.

"Rather than a ceasefire by installment, designed only to get tactical advantage, I cannot blame the people from being wary because they have not seen a concrete demonstration of sincerity other than these transitory peace overtures," she said.

The President said this is the reason why the government reconstituted a peace panel to prepare for a serious peace opportunity once it arises even as we sustain punitive action against terrorist formations.

She said her decisions on this issue will depend on national security considerations, foremost of which is the safety of our communities and the concrete show of sincerity on the other side.

"We will never allow terrorism to take the upper hand," the President stressed.

Last year, the President raised the Philippine flag in Lamitan, Basilan. "Before that, hardly anything was raised in Basilan because of brigandage and terrorism," she said.

Now, the President said, the government is hoping more crops would grow in such a fertile land as the people of Basilan are "peacefully awakening" and have started to take hold of their future using their own hands and resources.

Among those present during the occasion were Zamboanga City Mayor Clara Lobregat, Zamboanga City Congressman Celso Lobregat, Governor Parouk Hussin of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and Zamboanga Del Norte Governor Isagani Amatong.

The government’s rehabilitation and development efforts in the conflict-affected areas in Mindanao, particularly in Pikit, Cotabato, are on track.

This was the highlight of the report made to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo by National Anti-Poverty Commission Lead Convenor Teresita Quintos-Deles during the joint meeting of the Cabinet and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City the other day.

Secretary Deles first reported on the status of the rehabilitation efforts for 32 barangays and 10,568 families affected by the armed conflict in the Pikit, Pagalungan and Pagagawan cluster in Cotabato.

In Pikit alone, Deles said, some P2 million has been committed for the emergency shelter assistance and another P16.7 million for the rebuilding of damaged houses.

Secretary Deles also reported that food support is being provided for returning evacuees-families under a P1.2-million program of the DSWD.

The Department of Education, she added, is providing teacher training and psychological intervention program for the returning evacuees.

The DSWD has completed the stress debriefing and/or counseling for 3,396 families in evacuation centers. It has also provided skills training on sewing, toy-making and food processing in four evacuation centers; health and maternal care training in four evacuation centers; and instructions on sampaloc-luya-kalamansi ointment production for the treatment of scabies.

Deles said the Department of Health has also completed the immunization of infants in evacuation centers while the Department of Education (DepEd) has provided education services through enhancement classes in science, mathematics and English for 800 pupils.

To be started this month are social services such as psychological intervention for the children of evacuees and health services and supplemental and nutritional feeding for school children.

On the first week of July, the DepEd will start delivering 52,500 textbooks for elementary schools in Pikit.

On the livelihood component of the rehabilitation program, Deles reported that gill nets have been distributed to 100 beneficiaries who were also provided skills training on the use of the fishing gear.

Some 25 non-motorized bancas and 10 portable smoked-fish ovens were also given to eight barangays, while 200 bags of corn seeds and 20 kilograms of assorted vegetable seeds have been provided to returning families. Involved in these activities are the municipal government, the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

The provincial government of Cotabato is also carrying out the Plant or Plow Now, Pay Later and Corn Livelihood Assistance programs, for which P745,530 has been released for the benefit of 197 families covering 249 hectares.

A solar dryer and productivity center and skills training and production center are also being constructed by the municipal government of Pikit, the Office of the President and the NAPC (Kalahi Rural Project) with the cooperation of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

To be initiated this month are the provision of two fish cages and farm tractors for plowing and planting.

ZAMBOANGA CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said she will personally monitor the developments involving the two Filipinos taken hostage by rebels in Liberia until the issue is resolved.

The President said during the traditional Independence Day vin d’honneur here that the government will do everything to keep Filipinos working abroad out of harm’s way.

Present during the vin d’honneur on board the BRP Ang Pangulo were members of the diplomatic corps and the Cabinet.

The President said has instructed the Department of Foreign Affairs to maintain a direct line of communications with the Liberian authorities with regard to the two Filipinos – the brothers Renato and Julito Carpentero – who were taken hostage last June 5 along with several Liberian nationals in the capital of Monrovia.

The President said the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration is also closely in touch with the families of the two hostages.

"I shall be personally monitoring this issue until it is resolved," she said.

She said the "Philippine global enterprise" is made up of over eight- million Filipinos living and working in over 140 countries who, arguably, make up the most sophisticated global workforce ever deployed.

"This fact introduces a high level of complexity of the Philippine foreign policy and underscores our vision to actively engage all nations and peoples to protect the interest of Filipinos the world over," she said.

ZAMBOANGA CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today welcomed back Roland Ullah, the lone Filipino taken hostage by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in a resort in Sabah, Malaysia more than three years ago.

During the command conference presided over by the Chief Executive at the Mansion House inside the Southern Command (Southcom) headquarters here, Ullah signed an affidavit submitting himself under the continued protective custody of the military authorities for his safety and protection.

Ullah thanked the military’s continued offensive against the Abu Sayyaf which, he said, helped him escape from the hands of his abductors.

He also asked the government to provide scholarship for his two children.

Ullah and 20 European tourists were taken hostage from a diving resort in Sipadan, Sabah on April 21, 2000 by the Sulu-based ASG led by Galib Andang, alias Commander Robot, and the late Mujib Susukan.

Even after the release of the 20 European tourists, Ullah, who used to work as a compressor operator in the diving resort, was utilized by the ASG as a cook during his captivity.

He was also issued an M-16 rifle without ammunition whenever they moved from one place to another.

Ullah escaped last June 4 at the height of an intense firefight between the Philippine Marines and the bandit group led by Radullan Sahiron, alias Commander Putol, in the vicinity of Mt. Bagsak in Patikul, Sulu.

Ullah’s presence in the area was reported by a civilian to the vice mayor of Patikul who immediately informed the commander of the Joint Task Force Comet at Camp Bautista in Jolo, Sulu. This led to his successful recovery last June 6 in Barangay Sandah in Patikul.

COTABATO CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is set to spend the fourth leg of her eight-day working stay in Mindanao in Maguindanao province and Cotabato City tomorrow (June 13).

The President will arrive from Zamboanga City. Earlier, she had visited Davao and General Santos cities.

During her stay in Maguindanao, she will lead national and local officials in inspecting the P1-million two-horsepower solar-powered irrigation project in Barangay Sumagubay, S.K. Pendatun town.

The irrigation project expects to water some six hectares of farmland tilled by at least 60 farmers.

The President is expected to also visit some 14,000 people who sought the safety of evacuation centers in S.K. Pendatun following recent armed confrontations between the military and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The evacuees came from war-affected areas of Pagalungan, Pagagawan and Sultan sa Barongis towns, also in Maguindanao; Pikit and Tulunan, both in Cotabato; and Lambayong in Sultan Kudarat.

The President is also expected to lead officials in inaugurating the newly completed P1.1-million warehouse and solar dryer in Barangay Tamontaka, Datu Odin Sinsuat town, Maguindanao.

She will cut the ribbon to formally signal the operation of the two post-harvest facilities that will benefit erstwhile Moro National Liberation Front combatants turned productive citizens.

The facilities were built under the Livelihood Enhancement Assistance Program of the US Assistance for International Development.

In an earlier press conference in Davao City last Tuesday, the President said she would be inviting ambassadors to the Philippines of member-nations of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to inspect ongoing and completed projects funded by their individual countries.

She said United States Ambassador to the Philippines Francis Ricciardone had expressed keen interest to join the President during her project inspection trips.

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Secretary Renato de Villa today called on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) led by Chairman Hashim Salamat to hasten the peace process through the negotiating table rather than declaring an extension of a unilateral ceasefire "designed only to gain tactical advantage."

The MILF earlier announced a 10-day extension of their unilateral ceasefire, supposedly to end today, that would expire on June 21.

"We welcome any unilateral gesture of ceasefire, but we would rather have a permanent ceasefire leading to substantive negotiations rather than a ceasefire by installment designed only to gain tactical advantage," he reported during the Command Conference at the Mansion House inside the Southcom headquarters here.

De Villa, who is Presidential Adviser on Strategic Concerns, reechoed the government position that the MILF must first renounce terrorism and violence as a means to achieve its goals.

He said the MILF must discard its links to terrorist groups, discipline its ranks, and prevent the commission of any act of terrorism from within its organization.

He said this would promote the proper atmosphere for the immediate resumption of the peace process between the government and the MILF.

De Villa also thanked the Malaysian government for its efforts to help bring peace in Mindanao through a negotiated settlement of the MILF problem.