President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today lauded the members of the two houses of Congress for their wisdom, patience, perseverance and patriotic sense of duty in finally approving vital amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA).

In her remarks at the signing of Republic Act No. 9194, which is an amendment to Republic Act 9160, the President said that what Congress has done was to balance the country’s legal, psychological, cultural and political biases with the need to comply with the rules of the international community.

"Many of our legislators refer to this piece of legislation as probably one of the most difficult we have had to pass," the President said.

She said that the debates, even the blame-tossing that attended the passage of the AMLA amendments, were fierce and as emotional as any discussion on a national issue could get.

The President said she understood the anxiety of some of our leaders who feared that some of the country’s fundamental democratic precepts were being threatened by international prescriptions on anti-money laundering.

But the President said she also realized the resolute convergence of will, resources and laws among the civilized nations in combating domestic and transnational criminality.

The President said that with the enactment of RA No. 9194, the nation had a collective sigh of relief, obviously referring to the passionate debate between the proponents and oppositionists to the proposed changes in AMLA.

"The anti-money laundering legislation is about reform and the strengthening of democracy. And getting hard earned money seamlessly into the hands of Filipino families at home," the President said.

According to the President, the issue of anti-money laundering was a potent one. But the Philippines had to take control of its destiny and do the right thing, she added.

"The issue here is one of progress, modernization, the protection of our overseas Filipino workers and their families. In summary, the anti-money laundering legislation is central to reform," the President said.

With the amended AMLA, the President said, the country can now move closer to a banking regime that will inspire greater confidence, trustworthiness and reliability and, therefore, greater economic activity, investment and resiliency.

"In this sense, we shouldn’t consider the passage of AMLA II, if I might call it, as a passive and begrudging compliance of the rules of the global financial system, but rather as an active pursuit of our national interest," the President said.

Among those who attended the signing ceremony from the Senate were Senate President Franklin Drilon; Sen. Ramon Magsaysay, Jr., principal author and chairman of the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies; Sen. Edgardo Angara, also a principal author and chairman of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments; Sen,. Panfilo Lacson, another principal author; Sen. Ralph Recto, chairman of the Senate committee on ways and means; and Sen. Robert Jaworski.

The House contingent, headed by Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr., included Deputy Speaker Raul Gonzales; House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales III; House Deputy Majority Leader Francis Escudero; Congressman Jaime Lopez, chairman of the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries, and principal author in the House version; and Makati Congressman Teodoro Locsin.

With the advent of a new, bolder form of terrorism, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today called for a paradigm shift in the way the country conceptualizes and approaches the problem, saying it is not insurmountable.

Saying that national government measures are no longer sufficient, she asked the cooperation and vigilance of the entire community and all local government units to keep the country safe for both citizens and tourists.

In her speech during the signing into law of the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), the President issued immediate and specific measures for the entire community and all local government units to address the problem of terrorism by formulating and undertaking both preventive and remedial measures: to prepare, prevent, mitigate and rehabilitate.

She directed the Department of the Interior and Local Governments, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police and the Department of Tourism to formulate security measures to monitor security threats and prevent terrorist attacks.

She asked all government units, down to the barangay level to organize and conduct comprehensive neighborhood watches to monitor suspicious persons, actions and materials.

Mrs. Arroyo also directed the PNP to organize and deploy nationwide community-based reaction units and, in partnership with LGUs, enhance communication and coordination in order to effectively mobilize and fully utilize all community resources.

Hand in hand with these directives, the President asked the concerned government units to institute an effective reward system and extend security vigilance not just to major, but all public places.

In her speech, President Arroyo cited Davao’s effective local leadership and indispensable community cooperation in the face of the most recent terrorist attack that saw a number of innocent civilians killed in the bombing that rocked the Davao international airport.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today called on members of the two houses of Congress to pass the anti-terrorism act, the judicial reform bill and the legislation on the use of farmlands as collateral.

The President issued her appeal before she signed Republic Act (RA) 9194, also known as an act amending RA 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2001.

In a speech during simple signing rites at Malacanang’s Ceremonial Hall this morning, the President lauded Congress for its good work, as she batted for more laws that would provide social justice, uplift the lives of the poor and stop terrorism in the country.

"I ask Congress to help me achieve justice and stop terrorism. I ask Congress to help me now to pass the anti-terrorism act. And to achieve justice, I ask Congress to help me in passing the judicial reforms bill," she said.

"And because there is a close relationship between fighting terrorism and fighting poverty, I ask Congress to help me by passing the use of farmlands as collateral," she added.

The President noted that the country’s executive and the legislative departments have done a great deal of work by passing landmark legislative measures.

But she admitted that the two government branches have still a lot of work to be done for the sake of the Filipino people.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) today assured the public that it has taken appropriate measures to ensure that the country’s financial institutions would not be affected by the heightening of tension in the Middle East.

In a briefing in Malacanang this afternoon, BSP Deputy Governor Armando Tetangco, Jr. said these measures are being taken to insulate the country’s financial system from pressures emanating from a US-Iraq war.

Tetangco said that in cooperation with other government agencies, the BSP has adopted a comprehensive and detailed plan on how to deal with any emergency and to preserve the stability of our financial markets.

One element of this plan is the availability of standby liquidity facilities to assist banks that may encounter liquidity problems arising from a sudden rush of withdrawals through the BSP’s Standby Liquidity Facility.

Tetangco said that this will allow eligible banks to avail themselves of liquidity assistance of up to 50 percent of their outstanding deposit liabilities, fully collateralized by government securities or real estate mortgages.

He said that in order to safeguard the interest of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) based in the Middle East, the BSP would open a rediscounting window for personal loans granted by qualified banks to OFWs or their immediate families.

The BSP will also accept currencies of Kuwait, Iraq, Israel and Turkey for conversion into pesos from OFWs returning from these countries to the Philippines, Tetangco said.

According to Tetangco, the BSP has an adequate level of gross international reserves and a healthy balance of payments to cover the country’s external obligations.

On top of that, the BSP is also capable of tapping official and commercial external sources of financing to boost reserves, such as several bilateral repurchase agreements with other Asian central banks, Tetangco said.

He said that the BSP is also closely monitoring inflation levels to ensure that the inflation target of 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent for this year is met.

Tetangco said that inflation, which is now averaging close to 3 percent, suggests that the economy can take in price pressures, including the successive oil price increases and the depreciation of the peso.

The BSP is keeping a close watch on domestic liquidity and currency volatility, while other government agencies like the Department of Trade and Industry, are closely watching price levels and supply inventories of basic commodities.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today emphasized the need to have a regional curriculum on religious studies that would be distinctly appropriate to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member-countries.

The President made the emphasis during a meeting at the Music Conference Room with Asean education ministers, who just capped a congress sponsored by the Department of Education. Education Secretary Edilberto de Jesus accompanied the Asean ministers during their call on the President.

"We should develop an Asean curriculum," the President told the ministers as she noted the need to continue to develop the Philippine Madrasah (Arabic School) system by sending the Filipino Ustadz (Islamic scholars) to Islamic Asean neighbors for further studies.

The President told the education ministers that Islam in Southeast Asia is much more modern, unlike in other regions. "These are our neighbors. This is where we should send our teachers," she said.

The President has pushed for the integration of the madrasah into the country’s national educational system.

The madrasah (plural, madaris) is the Arabic term for a privately-owned but community-based school that teaches Arabic and the teachings of Islam.

The President earlier said "one of the keys to the future of Mindanao, especially among the youth, is their education." She also said the focus on the madaris would definitely address the root causes of poverty and conflict in predominantly-Muslim areas in Southern Philippines.

During the meeting with the education ministers, the President said she would like to see the Philippine Madrasah to similarly develop like the common Catholic Grade School where not only religious studies, but also the academics, are accentuated.

The President noted that she has always called for inter-faith understanding and the unity of society.

She further noted that it would be much better to have a common curriculum for Asean members as "we have been able to come together and have become successful by reaching consensus in all issues."

"Our countries have been very close in almost all aspects of governance. We’ve come to think alike," she said.

Among those who called on the President were Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Director Dr. Arief Sadiman, SEAMEO Deputy Director Dr. Rujay Abhakorn, Education Ministers George Molloy (Canada), Armindo Maia (East Timor), Teo Chee Hean (Singapore), Musa Mohamad (Malaysia), San Min (Myanmar), Nguyen Minh Hiem (Vietnam), Patrick Cremen (Australia), Patrick Quides (France), Abdul Malik Fajar (Indonesia), Im Sethy (Cambodia), Pongpol Andireksarn (Thailand), Pehim Dato Haji Abdul Aziz Uman (Brunei) and Bosengkham Vongdara (Lao People’s Democratic Republic).

The President earlier inaugurated the Education for Peace and Development in Mindanao (EPDM) program, which, she said, "will ensure that the Madrasah education will become part of the country’s national education system."

The EPDM is designed and targeted to radically uplift the lives of Mindanaons mired in poverty and trapped by armed conflict, terrorism and criminality.

The government today assured the timely importation of rice and other key commodities as part of its contingency measures to mitigate the negative impact of an expanded conflict in Iraq.

In a press briefing, the country’s economic czars revealed that the National Food Authority (NFA) has a 95-day buffer stock of rice and is seeking authorization from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for an additional importation of 400 metric tons of the commodity.

Importation of non-NFA rice amounting to 150,000 metric tons will come in starting next month, according Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II, speaking on behalf of the economic managers.

The government, Roxas said, is also prioritizing the rehabilitation of existing and the building of new irrigation facilities, extension of agriculture credit and post-harvest support to mitigate the adverse effects of El Nino, one that is already affecting many countries in the world with severe weather conditions.

Aside from ensuring adequate food supply, the government is also implementing an effective monitoring of prices of staple commodities through the National Price Coordinating Council.

Special monitoring teams, Roxas said, will be fielded nationwide in addition to the weekly price monitoring of basic goods and commodities.

"These teams will not only monitor prices and supplies, " said Roxas," but will also strictly enforce the Price Act against traders and retailers who will try to take advantage of an emergency situation."

Advanced import loadings for April and May will boost the country’s oil inventory levels and will assure adequate supply of the commodity up to mid-June.

As this developed, the government had also initiated negotiations for bilateral supply agreements with oil-producing countries such as Iran and Russia.

This the Department of Energy (DOE) today assured to assuage fears of a domestic oil crisis in the event that a US-Iraq war breaks out.

In a press briefing, Energy Secretary Vicente Perez said the government had always been ready to meet head-on the far-reaching effects on the Philippines of a conflict in the Persian Gulf.

Perez said that at present, the country has maintained an oil inventory level of 70 days.

He said the agency had also implemented the Minimum Inventory Requirement provided under Executive Order 134.

The order mandated inventory levels of crude end-products of 30 days for oil refineries, 50 days for oil companies with no oil refineries, and seven days for liquefied petroleum gas.

The negotiations for oil from Russia and Iran would serve as additional supply security.

Perez said this was in consonance with an earlier agreement signed under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Petroleum Supply Agreement (APSA).

The DOE had also adopted several efforts to mitigate the effects of a global oil price surge, even as a US-led attack on Iraq looms.

In an earlier briefing, Perez said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the DOE and the Department of Transportation and Communication to come up with measures to avert public transport fare rate increases and avoid its ripple effect on labor wages, prices of basic goods and others.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will lead the celebration of the National Women’s Day tomorrow, March 8, at the Marikina Sports Complex.

This year’s celebration revolves around the women’s agenda of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration embodied in the Framework Plan for Women: human rights, economic empowerment, and gender-responsive governance.

This year’s theme is "Babae, May Karapatan Ka."

Aside from women government employees, women advocates from non-government organizations, the academe, and other participants will join the President in commemorating the event in Marikina City.

While the President is expected to spell out her administration’s program for women, the occasion will also be an avenue for government entities and other institutions to identify how they can contribute to the women’s agenda of the President.