The Government has done the utmost in ensuring that the preparations and security for the opening of classes are in place. I commend the DepEd and the CHED officials for working closely with pertinent agencies of the government to carefully plan out the opening of classes this year, especially in terms of law and order, traffic and the readiness of transport and school facilities. I have tasked education authorities with continually assessing and implementing measures to improve the quality of education in the secondary and tertiary levels, deal fairly and conscientiously with tuition hike issues, and make sure our students are protected against the threat of SARS and other illnesses.

ILIGAN CITY -- As millions of students in all parts of the country troop back to school for the opening of classes today (Monday, June 16), some 500 residents of this city who have little to boast with regard to formal education, start their grind in a non-traditional way as they enrol in the government's Distance Learning Program.

The project, aimed at extending the benefits of education to remote barangays bereft of classrooms and teachers, will make available schooling through television facilities put up in areas where quality of education is very low.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, speaking on the eve of this City's 53rd Anniversary, said that the system has been in pilot operation in 20 barangays in various parts of the country for the last two years under Gen. Victor Corpus in line with her administration's efforts to reform the education system.

"We want to make education available to everybody," said the President shortly after conferring with Education Secretary Edilberto de Jesus on how best to mainstream the pilot project. which according to her will be supervised by a Bureau of Non-Formal Education.

Initially 500 enrolees from this city, aged 7 to 77, will be accepted in the program which will target some 3,000 barangays in the region, including 1,000 from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

They will be taking a qualifying exam to determine their entry point in the program which encompasses Distance Learning modules.

"There are many areas we've identified where people don't even know how to read and write," said the President. "And ignorance has been one of the weaknesses being taken advantage of by the rebels. That's why we're targetting these areas because illiteracy breeds rebellion.

Gen. Corpuz said reaction to the pilot project has been very good.

"In places where we put up the project, people have come to value the efforts exerted by the government," he said.

Meanwhile, Secretary de Jesus said he does not foresee any more problems with regard to this year's opening of classes, claiming the Department of Education has already anticipated them during the budget planning.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Following the success of the first roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) route from Zamboanga del Norte to Batangas launched last March 30, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today signed Executive Order 170-A, opening a second route of the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH) bridging the rich food baskets of Mindanao with the rich consumer markets of Luzon.

The President released a copy of EO No. 170-A in a press conference held this morning at the Dynasty Hotel here. She is now on the second to the last leg of her eight-day working visit to Mindanao.

The launching of the second route of the SRNH would bring the country closer to the President’s dream of food on every table for every Filipino family.

Tagged as the Ro-Ro Food Highway, the long haul route begins with separate land segments from fruit-rich Davao City and corn-and-tuna-abundant General Santos City, passing through the livestock and salad bowl of Bukidnon for an average of five to six hours.

The 30-hour sea segment, serviced by WG&A Superferry, starts from Cagayan de Oro City as hub, links with the Visayas through Dumaguete City, continues on to service Southern Luzon and Bicol through Batangas City, and finally ending in the port of Manila to supply population-rich Metropolitan Manila, and Central and Northern Luzon.

This Ro-Ro portion was tested by the Department of Agriculture last May 30. The WG&A Superferry departs every Friday from Cagayan de Oro City.

Agriculture Secretary Luis P. Lorenzo, Jr. called the project as a "work-in-progress."

He said that the first Ro-Ro route has been successful not only in identifying the commodity needs of Mindoro, Negros and Panay Islands that can be substituted with other produce within the highway, but also in inducing tourism traffic from Luzon and Mindanao to Boracay through Caticlan in Aklan.

Lorenzo said that the Zamboanga del Norte to Batangas route also opened flexible routes for the National Food Authority (NFA) to move rice, corn and palay.

The agriculture chief disclosed that a third food route to be billed as the "grains highway" is now in the drawing boards featuring mechanized production, processing and bulk handling and cross-shipment of corn from General Santos City and Dapitan City in Mindanao, Cebu in the Visayas, and Isabela, Subic Bay, Batangas and Manila in Luzon.

The three Ro-Ro routes complement the Pan-Philippine Highway, which predominantly services the eastern portion of the country. That highway also has Ro-Ro links between Sorsogon and Northern Samar, and Southern Leyte and Surigao del Norte.

ILIGAN CITY—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today paid tribute to the people of Mindanao for their innate sense of unity, their hardworking sprit and their love for peace as she exhorted them to be in the forefront of the massive development efforts in Mindanao.

"It is the people themselves who shall propel this region forward, and I am just an instrument of the people’s will," the President said in her speech during the celebration of the 53^rd Adlaw sa Iligan (Araw ng Iligan) held this morning at the Iligan City Plaza.

The President also thanked the people of Mindanao for their warm welcome and generous hospitality during her travels throughout the region during the past seven days.

She said that "whenever we speak of the pushing the frontiers of development, strengthening autonomy, engaging in peace and economic diplomacy—our hearts and minds are focused on the most fundamental aspirations and needs of the people."

"We shall lead the people of Mindanao to rise from conflict, secure their communities and win their destiny in the realm of justice, the rule of law, inter-religious solidarity and authentic human development," the President said.

The President said that the peace and progress of Mindanao spell progress not only for Mindanaons but for all Filipinos.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY--Presidential Adviser on Strategic Concerns Renato de Villa said that the Philippine government is awaiting the response of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to restart the stalled peace negotiations.

In a press conference at the Dynasty Hotel here, de Villa said that the President has already called for a permanent ceasefire with the MILF that would lead to a final substantive negotiations and a draft final peace agreement.

He said that the Malaysian government’s continuous offer to mediate the peace negotiations between the MILF and the government is a very important element of the peace process.

But de Villa said the government will not be issuing a safe conduct pass for MILF chairman Hashim Salamat since the warrant of arrest against him was issued by the judicial branch of government.

He said the President has no power or authority to reverse or do anything about these warrants.

"Our position is that the judges themselves who issued these warrants will be the ones who will make the final action with respect to these warrants," de Villa said.

Earlier in a separate interview, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Eduardo Ermita said that the P5 million bounty on Salamat’s head could be removed simply by a Malacanang order but lifting the warrant for his arrest issued by the Davao trial court is a procedure that is solely the prerogative of judicial authorities.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has filed several criminal cases against the MILF leadership, as a result of the bombing incidents in Davao and Koronadal, and the attacks in Maigo and Siocon in Zamboanga del Norte.

The PNP is now in the process of serving these warrants with the support of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

"The last aspect of this process is that we have asked that no less than Hashim Salamat himself heads the MILF panel in much the same way the government negotiated with the MNLF and Nur Misuari," de Villa said.

De Villa said that Salamat has indicated through his vice chairman of political affairs, Ghadzali Jaafar, that he is willing to head the panel. "Although that particular statement is still under verification," he said.

COTABATO CITY – When children entered their classrooms in several villages of war-torn Buliok complex in Pikit, Cotabato province today, some of their "sirs" and "ma’ams" were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, men in fatigue uniforms with chalks and erasers blurted out the greetings "Mapiya mapita" (Maguindanaon for good morning), took command of the class of curious wide-eyed boys and girls, and started talking about the A, B and Cs and one-plus-one is two.

Such would be the sight in many conflict areas in Maguindanao and Cotabato provinces not reached by the Department of Education or where some teachers begged off to be assigned.

Major Julieto Ando, civil-military officer of the 6^th Infantry Division (ID), said the teacher-soldiers volunteered their services to the academic cause.

Many of them were either education students or graduates before they entered the military and they were just too glad to make use of what they learned in college, Ando said.

Others completed a non-formal education training program designed for such conditions, he said.

The dispatch of teacher-soldiers to the field is part of the 6th ID’s Sustainable Armed Forces of the Philippines-Local Government Unit-Government Agencies-Non-Government Organizations’ Literacy-Livelihood Assistance and Awareness for Muslim Mindanao program.

Code-named SALAAM (Arabic for zones of peace), the program involves a platoon of mostly Muslim officers and enlisted men sent to provide civil-military services in conflict-areas, particularly where evacuees have returned to their homes and farms.

Most of the teacher-soldiers are in barangays Barongis, Buliok and Bago-inged, all in Pikit.

Besides teaching, the teacher-soldiers also conduct livelihood and skills trainings.

There are also the worker-soldiers who join the community in building or repairing low-cost projects like deep wells and mosques.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself cited and fully supported the formation of the SALAAM forces when she visited Bago-inged last April.

6th ID chief Major General Generoso Senga, at that time, told the President that soldiers were being trained to help develop the Salaam program in Bagoinged.

Senga said the program would push the President’s thrust to promote cultural and religious solidarity in the country.

Another academic program the 6th ID is implementing since the early ‘90s is the Army Literacy Patrol Systems (ALPS), Ando said.

The 6th ID has 20 battalions under its command dispersed in the whole of South-Central Mindanao and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, Sarangani and Davao del Sur and the cities of Cotabato, Kidapawan, Tacurong, Koronadal, General Santos and Digos.

Ando said each battalion has an ALPS team, handling Grades 1 to 6 pupils and giving adult education in "hard-up" and conflict areas.

The ALPS teams also conduct experiential learning programs, exposing their erstwhile rural class to the sights, sounds and goings-on in growth centers, he said.

"Since the early ‘90s, we have graduated about 3,000 in the ALPS," he added.

Malacanang today said that there will be no overlapping of functions between the office of former Press Secretary Hernani Braganza as presidential adviser on political affairs and that of the Office of the Presidential Liaison Officer on Political Affairs headed by Secretary Jose Rufino.

In his regular press briefing this afternoon, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that the two offices "will be very closely intertwined."

"We see a lot of complementation in cooperation between the two offices," Bunye said.

Bunye also brushed aside suggestions that Braganza’s appointment is in preparation for next year’s presidential elections.

"There is always an Office of Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs. So, whether you have an election or not, this position exists. It requires more importance, especially if there is an election," Bunye said.

He also added that the matter of appointment of Cabinet officials is a complete prerogative of the President.

In the same press briefing, Bunye also hailed the appointment of veteran journalist Milton Alingod as press secretary, replacing Braganza.

He said that Alingod has extensive experience in media, adding that he and Secretary Alingod "practically started at the same time" many years back.

Bunye recalled that while Alingod was with the defunct radio station DZHP, then of the Philippines Herald, he was with the competing radio station of the old Manila Times.