The European Union Council of Member States has approved a resolution that would provide a five-year tariff rate quota (TRQ) of 25,000 metric tons of imported canned tuna annually from "non-preferred" countries, including the Philippines.

In a report to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II said that the quota will be allocated among the "non-preferred" tuna exporting countries on the basis of their export performance for the period l994-2001.

Roxas said that roughly, this would mean a tuna export to the EU of 13,000 MT from Thailand, 9,000 MT from the Philippines, 2,750 MT from Indonesia and 250 MT from other non-preferred tuna exporting countries.

He said that this allocation would be increased by a growth factor of at least 3 percent per year, starting in 2004, with a margin for adjustment from 2005-2007, depending on the demand in the EU market.

Roxas said that the EU resolution is a triumph of the mediation procedures that the Philippines and Thailand have resorted to in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"In this sense, this is the first case the Philippines has succeeded in resolving in its favor as a complainant in the WTO," Roxas said.

According to Roxas, the EU resolution would benefit roughly one-third of the country’s current canned tuna export to the EU because of the reduction of the most favored nation (MFN) tariff rate to 12 percent from 24 percent.

Roxas said that this would also mean that the country’s canned tuna exporters could now penetrate the fastest growing retail segments of the canned tuna market in the EU where the Philippines has not been able to penetrate because of competition from preferred exporting countries that are given preferential tariffs.

He said that presently, Philippine exports of canned tuna to the EU only go to institutional segments like hotels, restaurants, and own-brand retailers.

CALBAYOG, Samar – In the wake of prolonged brownouts in Samar Island, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo urged local executives here to convince the Senate to immediately pass the bill creating the National Transmission Corporation (Transco).

"You should now convince your senators to pass the Transco bill," Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo told local officials after they complained of the unusually long brownouts that hit Northern and Eastern Samar due to Typhoon Egay.

Calbayog Mayor Senen Mel Sarmiento had earlier informed Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo that evacuation and rehabilitation in areas affected by Typhoon Egay had been severely hampered by brownouts.

According to Sarmiento, restoration of power was being slowed down by the large number of electric poles felled by the raging floods caused by the typhoon.

"A strong gust of wind or a sudden torrent of rain is usually enough to send these poles toppling down. That’s why we cannot restore electric power immediately," Sarmiento told the President in a briefing held at the Calbayog Airport Tuesday afternoon.

Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo took a detour to Calbayog en route to Manila Tuesday after her eight-day trip to Mindanao to look into the plight of the victims of Typhoon Egay.

The President pointed out that with the creation of Transco, transmission lines owned by the National Power Corp. and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp. could be privatized, assuring more efficient transmission of power, including the maintenance of electric poles.

She pointed out that privatizing the government’s transmission facilities would not only result in their more effective maintenance.

"This would also contribute to P40 billon annually which the government could use to cut the budget deficit," Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said that she will now personally monitor the government’s anti-drug campaign as she vowed to use the full force of the law in hunting down drug lords and those involved in the drug trade in the country.

In a statement she read at an impromptu press conference held this morning at Malacanang’s Music Conference Room, the President said that drug lords, however high in the corridors of powers they may be, must be exposed or hunted down like the common criminals that they are.

She said that she would like to see the "strategic results" of the government’s stepped up campaign against drug trafficking in the country.

"This means the neutralization of the top syndicates and the arrest of their leaders; a focused campaign against drug pushers, dealers and patrons in government—and especially those in uniforms," the President said.

The President also ordered the police and other law enforcement agencies to stop the transnational smuggling of drugs through the country’s shorelines.

She called for the full cooperation of the public and the media as she stressed that the "future of our nation is at stake in this campaign."

In an earlier statement, the President said she is now adopting a policy of making anti-drug accomplishments a benchmark for promotion and reassignment of personnel at the Philippine National Police (PNP).

She said she will be scrutinizing the rolls and would look closely at how each and every potential promotee at the high levels of the police organization measures up to the standard.

"No police officer with a tainted record shall get the chance to move up," the President said.

Last month, the President signed Executive Order No. 206 to step up her administration’s war against illegal drugs.

In EO No. 206, the President said that there is "an urgent need to pursue a forceful, intensive, and unrelenting campaign against drug trafficking and the use of illegal drugs, whether syndicated or at street-level."

The President also ordered the creation of a standby fund of P1 billion, to come from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), for the operations of task forces that would be created in the anti-drug campaign.

During the press conference, Director General Anselmo Avenido of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) presented a three-month National Anti-Drug Program of Action whose objective is not only to neutralize drug lords and drug syndicates but also drug traffickers and pushers at the street levels.

He said the PDEA will also intensify its campaign to dismantle shabu laboratories and destroy marijuana plantations throughout the country.

Anselmo said that as part of their support activities, the PDEA would monitor drug cases in the prosecution and at the court levels nationwide.

He said that as mandated by Republic Act No. 9165, all law enforcement personnel are now being subjected to mandatory drug tests.

The PDEA said there are now 3.4 million drug users in the country. The agency has also identified at least 13 transnational drug syndicates and 175 local drug syndicates operating in the country, and some 45,000 pushers in the streets.

The statistics confirmed that the single biggest threat to law and order today is drug trafficking.

Last year, the number of drug-affected barangays totaled 3,489 or eight percent of the country’s 42,000 barangays.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said that she is holding the housing industry to its promise to build 500,000 houses for the working class and the poor by next year.

Speaking before leaders of the real estate and housing industry in this year’s national convention of the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association, Inc. (SHDA) and the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati, the President also announced the administration’s position on the issue of the deferment of the 10 percent value-added tax (VAT) on services on banks and other financial.

She said that the 10 percent VAT on banks should be replaced by gross receipts tax (GRT) on banks services.

"I hope that with these reforms, we can continue to even expand on the promises that you made about building houses," the President said.

The President also thanked the SHDA for giving her a periodic update on its promise made in 2002 to build half a million houses.

SHDA national president Jesus Atencio said the housing sector viewed with trepidation the imposition of a 10-percent VAT on services of banks and other financial institutions beginning January 1, 2003.

Atencio also reported to the President that because of time constraints, only 35 percent -- 27 of the original 76 developers -- released figures on housing units built in 89 of the 255 housing projects under the SHDA Pledge 200,000 program.

Atencio, however, said that even coming from a small portion of the SHDA membership, it has already exceeded the take-out levels of government financing institutions, such as Pag-IBIG fund, for the same period.

The SHDA national president expressed confidence that with the remaining time available up to 2004, they can still meet their commitment of something like 500,000 units up to 2004.

Atencio further pointed out that that if there is anything that SHDA wishes to highlight as the hallmark of the Arroyo Administration’s Housing Program, it is the "return of developer’s confidence" in the present state and future of the housing sector of this country.

"As long as the present state of local and international affairs is conducive for the market to buy our housing products, SHDA developers will not hesitate to produce all the houses that the market effectively demands," Atencio informed the President.

The two-day national developers’ convention which opened yesterday was attended by 250 SHDA members and non-members that constitute the leading real estate practitioners involved in the development of subdivisions and housing projects all over the country. Also present during the convention were bankers, suppliers and government officials headed by HUDCC Chairman Michael Defensor.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today called on the various religious groups in the country to provide educational components in their respective churches to help decrease the demand for illegal drugs.

The President made the call during the first meeting in Malacaņang of the National Ecumenical Consultative Committee (NECCOM), an inter-faith consultative body.

Conrado Limcaoco, Presidential Adviser on Media and Religious Affairs, said there was a frank exchange of opinions during the meeting and the President asked for the help of the various groups in the government’s anti-drug campaign.

"If you educate people then they won’t take drugs," the President told the group.

Limcaoco said the NECCOM presented two resolutions to the President, one on peace in Mindanao, and the other urging more action on the drug problem.

He said the President responded positively to both resolutions, citing the government’s renewed drug campaign under Director General Anselmo Avenido of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

President also approved an anti-drug rally on June 25 in Malacaņang to officially launch the national anti-drug campaign.

On Mindanao, Limcaoco said the various churches were asked to coordinate with Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Eduardo Ermita to provide their inputs in the peace process.

"It was a very, very fruitful lunch dialogue. This is the first time in her term that the NECCOM has met. It is very significant because the five major anchor faiths were here – the Catholics, the Muslims, the Evangelicals, the Protestants and the Iglesia ni Cristo," Limcaoco said.

Before the close of their meeting, Limcaoco said a Christian pastor brought up a drug problem in Bacolor, where a multi million drug machinery was apprehended and a P5-million bribe was offered but turned down by local authorities.

Earlier, the President asked for the full cooperation of the public and the media in its efforts to stop drug syndicates, traffickers and dealers, including its patrons and protectors in the government and those in uniforms.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today led the celebration of the 15^th anniversary of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) by awarding outstanding performers in land acquisition and distribution and delivery of agrarian justice, as well as recognizing program partners.

The President, assisted by Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan, handed out trophies to John Maruhom and Felicidad Banares, representatives of Region XII and the province of Negros Occidental, respectively, for outstanding performers in land acquisition and distribution; and Regional Agrarian Reform Adjudicator Lawyer Jimmy Tapangan (Region X) and Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (Iloilo) Lawyer Erlinda Vazquez for delivery of agrarian justice.

Recognized as program partners were: Leandro Fernando Montelibano and Benjamin Lopez from Negros Occidental as "Most Supportive Landowners;" World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nation Development Program, Belgium and Japan as foreign partners; Camarines Norte in Luzon, Iloilo in Visayas and Cotabato in Mindanao as Outstanding Provincial Agrarian Reform Communities; New Malitbog Agrarian Reform Community (ARC) as Most Progressive ARC; Catmon Multi-purpose Coop., Inc as the Most Progressive Agrarian Reform Beneficiary (ARB); and Luxmie Sauxillo as the Most Outstanding ARB.

Initially conceived to free Filipino farmers from bondage to the soil, CARP to date has distributed 5.89 million hectares to farmer-beneficiaries nationwide.

The bulk of these landholdings, or 3.2 million hectares, was distributed by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) while the remaining 2.24 million hectares were awarded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

A little over 20 percent more needs to be distributed.

Pagdanganan said the gains of the CARP do not stop with land distribution. He said DAR extends support services to its farmer-beneficiaries, which include farm-to-market roads, irrigation system, credit assistance, livelihood projects, and training.

He said that President Macapagal-Arroyo has consistently focused her development initiatives to boost the economic potentials of farmer beneficiaries on one hand, and to open new business opportunities for the landowners on the other.

"These initiatives, which are the backbone of the agrarian reform program, are also geared towards ensuring the twin goal of attaining food security and peace for the country," Pagdanganan said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today conferred awards to the Ten Outstanding Policewomen of the Philippines in rites held this afternoon at Malacanang’s Ceremonial Hall.

A nine-member board of judges, headed by Commission on Human Rights Chairperson Purificacion Quisumbing, earlier adjudged the 10 outstanding policewomen as the best in their respective fields among a total of 114 nominees nationwide.

The President, assisted by Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane, presented the Kabalikat 2003 trophies, certificates of achievement, PNP Outstanding Achievement Medals, and cash prizes.

The top 10 women achievers in the PNP were P/Supt. Juanita Nebran Police Regional Office (PRO) 10, P/Sr. Insp. Carmencita Saliba (Bacolod City), P/Sr. Insp. Aleta Astronomo (Central Police District), P/Sr. Insp. Cristina Nobleza (Regional Crime Lab PRO 5), SPO2 Sesima Sisma (Western Police District), PO2 Emily Tecon (Romblon Provincial Police Office), PO2 Annie Marie Anuary (Zamboanga City), PO2 Tejanne Zarsozo (Cabadbaran PRO CARAGA), PO2 Maricon Labsang (Tuguegarao City), and PO2 Ana Paral (Lucena City).

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today swore in Press Undersecretary Milton Alingod, a veteran journalist, as the new Press Secretary, replacing Hernani Braganza who was also sworn in as Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs.

Alingod was appointed press undersecretary last January 30 and held the position of executive director of the Philippine Broadcasting Service-Radio Television Malacaņang (PBS-RTVM) in concurrent capacity.

Before his Malacaņang stint, Alingod was vice president for news of the GMA Network, Inc. (Channel 7) from May 1993 to August 2002.

Alingod started his career as a news writer of the defunct DZMT, the radio station of the old Manila Times. From there, he moved on to become the news editor, news director and station manager of DZHP, the radio station of the then Philippines Herald.

After being a sportscaster of the Voice of the Philippines, Alingod became a special assistant and general manager for radio of the Office of Media Affairs (OMA), the forerunner of the Office of the Press Secretary, after the declaration of martial law.

He was later appointed as director of the Bureau of Broadcast, the broadcast arm of the OPS.

Political Adviser and former Press Secretary Braganza was appointed Agrarian Reform Secretary on February 5, 2001. He was on his second term as representative of the first district of Pangasinan when President Macapagal-Arroyo asked him to serve in her administration.

Braganza’s political career began in 1988 when he was elected municipal councilor of Alaminos, Pangasinan. He first ran for a seat in Congress in 1995.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) today assured President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that it will neutralize one-third of the identified 175 drug syndicates in the country within a three-month period.

PDEA Director General Anselmo Avenido made the assurance after he presented the ten-point agenda of his anti-drug program of action to the President at Malacanang’s Music Conference Room this morning.

"We are targeting 175 and for the three-month period our target is, at least one-third of this 175," Avenido said.

The PDEA chief said they have identified 13 transnational drug syndicates and 175 local drug syndicates and have neutralized one syndicate so far.

Avenido noted that the agency has been successful in its operations and this is reflected in the high street price of shabu and its low quality.

He said that because of the success of their operations against drug lords and pushers, the quality of shabu sold in the streets is no longer assured.

"In fact, nag-aaway na iyong seller at buyer dahil fake iyong nabibili nila. That means nabawasan na iyong supply sa market," Avenido said.

He added that during a 10-month enforcement period, the PDEA, in coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and other law enforcement agencies, has seized around P5 billion worth of drugs and laboratory equipment and arrested a total 6,700 drug pushers and drug traffickers who are now languishing in jails.

The President earlier announced that she will take a direct hand in monitoring the government’s war against drug trafficking.