President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today expressed confidence that even if the current war in Iraq may result in some temporary and minor adjustments in the Philippine economy, it will not bring lingering or permanent damage.

Speaking at the opening ceremonies of the 24^th Biennial Convention of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII) in Binondo, Manila, the President said that her assessment of the situation does not indicate the need at this moment for exercising extraordinary powers.

"This will be considered only as a last resort," the President said, explaining that the economic fundamentals of the country are sound.

She said that tourism and exports are up. Shipments in and out of the country are doing business, crude prices of oil are going down.

With sound economic fundamentals, the President said "we should look beyond the Iraq war and not be distracted from our national ambition to become a prosperous and strong Republic within the decade."

The President thanked the Federation for supporting the difficult reforms she has had to make in her administration, reforms, she said, that the economy needs for long-term prosperity.

The President further thanked the FFCCCII for supporting difficult financial reforms such as the Anti-Money Laundering Law.

"But I am thankful and hopeful that because we have been dialoguing, the final law that has come out will help us fight criminality and at the same time protect your rights to privacy," she said.

The President likewise thanked the FFCCCII members for their contribution to the Philippine educational reforms and their participation in the P1-billion component of the government program for school buildings. "I hope that in the next 15 months, together we will finally bridge the gap in classrooms in our entire public education," she said.

The President also expressed her gratitude for the FFCCCII’s contribution to the government’s agricultural reform, citing the hybrid rice which has resulted in the doubling of the income of the farmers who have participated in the program.

During the program, the President swore in FFCCCII president John K.C. Ng as Presidential Envoy for Chinese Affairs with the rank as ambassador.

His first assignment is to be her personal envoy and representative next week at the Philippine Exhibit in Shanghai.

A terrorist with no access to weapons of mass destruction is a terrorist that is much easier to neutralize.

With this, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo justified her administration’s political and moral support to the US-led strike against Iraq, saying a successful disarmament would lessen the chances of these weapons getting into the hands of terrorists.

In a brief radio interview with CNN this morning, the President outlined the government’s stand against terrorism and why the Philippines joined the "Coalition of the Willing."

"It is an international interest for us to support this coalition and be part of it because we believe that even in the present realities we can prevent weapons of mass destruction to get into the hands of terrorists who seek to sow mayhem in our Southern Philippines," the President said.

As of today, more than 35 countries have already committed themselves to the coalition and the number is still growing. Among these are Australia, South Korea, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Contributions from these nations would include direct military participation, logistical, intelligence and political support, specialized chemical and biological response teams, over-flight rights and humanitarian and other aid.

Asked if there is a possibility that the Philippines would send combat troops, the President said: "The combat troops will not be involved in the present conflict. We’re ready to support in terms of humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping during the post conflict. We could also consider the use of our air space and refueling facilities."

She added that each member of the coalition is giving its contribution in accordance with its own capabilities and constitution.

"So we have already defined that our role will be in the post conflict, in the reconstruction, in the humanitarian assistance, in the peacekeeping and during the conflict in the possible use of air space and refueling facilities," she said.

Only today (Thursday, Washington time), in a press briefing by White House spokesman Ari Fleisher, it was announced that Turkey, through its Parliament, has granted overflight rights to the US and coalition forces in a strong show of support.

In the same briefing, Fleisher said that many members of the coalition recently escaped from tyranny and oppression and "they understand what is at stake in bringing freedom and liberation to the Iraqi people, as the mission of disarmament continues."

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today stressed that the Philippines has no hatred against the Iraqi people but only against the Iraqi leadership for refusing to abandon its weapons of mass destruction.

Speaking at the 24^th Biennial Convention of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII) at the Exhibit Hall of the Federation Center in Muelle de Binondo, Manila, the President said that participation of the Philippines in the "Coalition of the Willing" does not mean war between Iraqis and Filipinos.

"It is a battle between tyranny and freedom," the President said, adding that the country is in solidarity with the Iraqi people in their struggle for freedom and in the coalition forces in the fight to redeem that freedom for the Iraqi people.

On Thursday at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City, the President announced that the Philippines was joining the "Coalition of the Willing" in terms of political and moral support for actions to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.

The President said that she joins all Muslims around the world in praying for the Iraqi people. "We pray that the Almighty will keep them safe and sound through this crisis. We stand beside them in a waiting of brighter day of freedom and prosperity," she said.

The President pointed out that the Philippine’s participation of the "Coalition of Wiling" is also a battle between security and terrorism.

She said local terrorists have been attacking our communities by kidnapping and bombing even before September 11 and even before she assumed the presidency.

These terrorists who had been kidnapping and bombing commercial establishments are linked with terrorist cells overseas, the President said.

"We don’t want them to have an access to weapons of mass destruction from their foreign benefactors," the President said.

The President then called on the top Filipino-Chinese businessmen to close ranks, to be prudent and to cooperate with the government in addressing the challenges that the country is facing.

"This is the time for us to face our togetherness as a nation and our sense of belonging to the Republic," the President said.

"This is the time when I want you to especially know that you have a government that cares or a citizen that cares for you," the President said.

The government’s battle against terrorism is a battle between criminality and the justice system, and the community, the President said, is the most important pillar of the country’s criminal justice system.

The cooperation and vigilance of the entire community as well as the local government units are required to keep the country safe and secure, the President said.

The President expressed her gratitude to the civil society, which include federations like the FFCCCII, for their solidarity behind the efforts of the government to meet this current crisis.

Want to call your loved ones in the Middle East or send them e-mail messages for free?

The Office of the Press Secretary and the Presidential Action Center, in partnership with other government agencies and telecommunication companies, today opened the Oplan Kalinga Call Center at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium (formerly Rizal Memorial Coliseum) near the Harrison Plaza Complex in Manila.

The Call Center is open to all Filipinos who wish to call their relatives in the Middle East to check their safety following the outbreak of war in Iraq. The Call Center is operational on 24-hour basis.

Press Secretary Hernani Braganza said the Oplan Kalinga Call Center would also provide free internet communication to allow relatives of Overseas Filipinos Workers in the Middle East to send e-mail messages to their loved ones.

"This Call Center is part of efforts exerted by government to allay the fears of the public on the danger posed by the Iraq war on OFWs still working in the Middle East," Braganza explained.

"President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has instructed us to exert all efforts to ensure that all our OFWs are accounted for and their families here taken care of," Braganza added.

Aside from free call and e-mail messages, the Oplan Kalinga Center would also house information and assistance desk manned by government agencies involved in uplifting the life of Filipino OFws.

These agencies include the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Middle East Preparedness Team.

Providing private sector support to the Call Center are the Philippine Long Distance Co., Globe, Smart, Sun Cellular, Destiny Cable and the AMA Group of Companies.

Non-governmental organizations formed by OFWs and their relatives have also agreed to take part in the project by providing counseling and livelihood advice.

Braganza noted that the Oplan Kalinga Call Center was the latest communication center put up by the Philippine government to allow free interface between OFWs in the Middle East and their relatives here.

Also in place is the Tele-Ugnayan Center, located at the 10^th Floor of the OWWA Building along Harrison Street near the corner of Buendia Avenue in Pasay City. The Tele-Ugnayan Center maintains links with the OWWA Regional Offices.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople today said that the Department of Foreign Affairs has not yet received a formal request from the United States to expel Iraqi diplomats from the country.

In an interview, Ople said that if there is a formal request as cited by a news report, then the Philippine government would examine the request on its merits. "Then, we will take the appropriate action," he added.

Ople was reacting to wire reports that said Washington has approached some 60 countries, including the Philippines, to expel Iraqi diplomats who, the US says, have been engaged in espionage.

The foreign secretary recalled that only last month, the Philippines has expelled Husham Hussain, the second secretary of the Iraqi embassy, after it gave credence to intelligence reports that the diplomat was probably in touch with some Abu Sayyaf elements in Mindanao.

"So, I resolved without a doubt in favor of our national security. I expelled the diplomat without the request of the United States," Ople said.

Ople said that the sovereignty of nations includes the prerogative to declare any diplomat persona non grata. "And you need not explain the ground for it," he added.

In the same interview, Ople also paid tribute to Philippine Ambassador to Iraq Grace Escalante.

"I want to present her to the President as a gallant lady ambassador of our country who has performed exceedingly well in her sensitive post in Baghdad," Ople said.

According to Ople, Ambassador Excalante is in Manila to attend the graduation of her son. He said that he approved the envoy’s application for temporary leave so that she could spend all her time with her family in Manila whom she has not seen for a long time.

He said the call center was installed as ordered by the President precisely to calm the fears of relatives of OFWs on the growing tensions in Middle East.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today announced that she would convene a 6:00 p.m. teleconference daily with Philippine officials in the Middle East to get a better picture of the situation of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in the area.

In a teleconference with Middle East Preparedness Team Ambassador Roy Cimatu in Kuwait, the President was assured that the tension in Kuwait is dying down following the start of a US-led attack on the southern frontiers of Iraq.

The teleconference was aired live in a television news program tonight.

Cimatu said the OFWs in Kuwait, which is several kilometers from Basra, Iraq, continued to be in their respective areas of work.

The same situation holds true in other areas of the Persian Gulf like Jordan and Saudi Arabia, he said.

The threat of Iraqi missiles being poured on Kuwait would be minimized as soon as the US-led forces get Basra, Cimatu stressed. But he informed the OFWs in Kuwait to be vigilant and ready.

The President ordered Cimatu to confer with and coordinate with Filipino expatriates in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where 950,000 OFWs are located.

However, he said there was that low probability that Saudi Arabia would be affected by the war.

Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Bahnarin Guinomla and Ambassador to Kuwait Bayani Mangibin were coordinating with OFWs in their respective countries of assignment, Cimatu told the President.

The President also informed relatives of OFWs in the Persian Gulf about the establishment of call centers in different places of Metro Manila, particularly at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium and near Malacanang.

Also serving as call centers are the 51 offices of the Philippine Information Agency and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration nationwide, the President said.