President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has called for the revision of the shopping list of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in their modernization program to conform to the new reality of terrorism.

In an anti-terrorism command conference held in Cebu City Thursday, the President said the AFP and the PNP must take into consideration the threats of terrorism in their procurement of equipment and supplies.

"Your requisitions should take into account the new threat of the 21^st century, which is the terrorist threat," the President told participants that included top officials of the AFP and the PNP, and local executives of Regions 6, 7 and 8.

The President said she was not talking about additional budget "but how to reallocate your existing budgets away from the less important procurement."

The maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) of the AFP and the PNP should also be reexamined so that they will be used in the anti-terrorism campaign that the government has waged.

The President said that lawless elements and terrorist groups ranged against the government and their allies, including those abroad, are engaged in a more strident and militant campaign to sow rumors and disinformation.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople has conveyed to Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri Philippine concerns over the treatment of Joseph Hudson, a Filipino-American member of the US armed forces.

In a report, Ople said he had sent a letter to Minister Sabri, conveying the government's and his own personal concern over Hudson’s safety and well-being.

"I also told Minister Sabri that we have called on all parties concerned to observe humanitarian law in the treatment of prisoners," Ople added.

In a statement issued last March 24, Secretary Ople called on the parties to the conflict to observe the rights of both combatants and non-combatants.

He said that prisoners of war (POWs) should be treated humanely in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, particularly Article 13 of the 1949 Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War and Part III, Section II of its 1979 Additional Protocol I.

Ople's letter was prompted by his belief that while Hudson may no longer be a Filipino citizen, the ties of Fil-Americans to the Philippines and the Filipino people continue to be strong.

"In my letter to Minister Sabri, I also expressed our hope that the international humanitarian agencies, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, will be allowed by the parties to attend to the needs of all prisoners of war," Ople said.

Ople said he had met and held bilateral meetings with Minister Sabri in the context of multilateral meetings like the United Nations General Assembly last year and at the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Kuala Lumpur last February.

The growing number of Filipinos going to the Middle East for sure job placements only shows that despite the ongoing war in Iraq, the windows of opportunities for employment in the region has increased.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez stressed this as he noted government efforts to regularly inform and assure the nation that all is well in the Gulf and that there was nothing to fear as the host-nations of Filipino expatriates are far from the conflict areas.

"Ang mga Pilipino ay hindi nangangamba na magpunta sa Middle East (Filipinos have no apprehensions in going to the Middle East)," he said in a radio interview.

"Yan siguro ang resulta ng patuloy na pag-announce natin ng mga takbo ng mga pangyayari sa Kuwait (This could be the result of our continuous efforts to announce developments in the Gulf, particularly in Kuwait)," he added.

There was a time when the people feared for the safety of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Kuwait, but until today, there had been no reports of a single refugee and there had been no need to relocate any single OFW, he noted.

Golez said that since March 17, a daily average of 263 OFWs flew to the Middle East, most of them responding to jobs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

But on March 25, the numbers increased to 403 and the next day, 487.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today accepted from the United States government, represented by US Ambassador Francis Ricciardione, a donation of hospital equipment worth $5.3 million for the use of the community hospital in Jolo.

The President and Ricciardone witnessed the formal handover of the donation from Joint US Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG) Chief Col. Mathias Velasco to Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Parouk Hussein.

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr. also witnessed the donation handover in simple rites at Villamor Air Base.

The President said the event was a great day for Sulu "to remember those times of friendship and cooperation" between the Philippine and US governments.

She recalled that it was in the town of Look, Sulu where American Jeffrey Shilling was rescued from the hands of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf.

She said that the donation from the U.S. Department of Defense JUSMAG-run Humanitarian Assistance Program (HAP) was given without condition. "This is not a quid pro quo," she added.

But she still stressed that it was up to the will of the people of Sulu to agree to the Balikatan and to what extent they would like to have it conducted in the area.

The donation was made possible through the HAP, which provides excess equipment to local government and non-government agencies.

The donated equipment consists of a medical clinic, including beds, linen, operating room equipment, emergency room equipment, dental chairs, field dental units, lighting, mammogram equipment, a medical laundry facility, and office equipment.

The Jolo Hospital also received consumable medical supplies worth approximately $1 million from Knightsbridge and Remedy, two non-government organizations in the US.

The medical supplies include bandages, tapes, needles, intravenous tubing, and surgical supplies.

The humanitarian assistance donation is the most recent contribution from the US government to the Philippine government in support of its ongoing development efforts in the Southern Philippines.

It’s not only airports, malls and transport terminals that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is inspecting these days.

After making sure that security measures at these places are at their highest levels against possible terrorist attacks, the President wants to make sure that food supply would not be hampered when the situation in the Middle East deteriorates.

This morning, the President visited the rice warehouse of the National Food Authority (NFA) at the Food Terminal Inc. Complex in Taguig to make sure that measures for an efficient operation are being implemented.

She said she would like to ensure that only good quality rice is distributed through the NFA authorized outlets which include the Tindahan ni Gloria Labandera sa Barangay and the accredited retailers.

The President was briefed by NFA Administrator Arthur Yap on the rice stock appearance, quality maintenance and the preservation of stock quality in warehouses.

While there, Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo reported to the President that the country has a rice inventory of 83 days, the lowest volume so far.

He, however pointed out that the inventory can still go up in the next few days due to the expected rice harvest. He also said the country is expecting imports of bumper stock in line with the President’s instructions.