The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has successfully resolved disputes in seven companies in April, a development that bodes well for the country’s economic growth and industrial peace.

In a report to Malacanang, DOLE Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said that the labor disputes settled by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) headed by Executive Director Rolando Olalia were those in a large pre-need firm and two in shipping firms in Metro Manila; one in an energy firm and two in electric cooperatives in the Bicol Region; and the last, in a security services company in Central Luzon.

Sto. Tomas said that the prompt and speedy settlement of these disputes shows that there is stability and labor-management harmony in the affected firms.

The seven labor disputes promptly attended to and settled by government conciliator-mediators involved the following companies and their unions:

In Manila, Philam Plans Inc. and Union of Supervisory & Professional Staff of PPI-FSM; Negros Navigation Co., Inc. and Iloilo-Negros Navigation Employees Labor Union; and Lorenzo Shipping Corporation and Lorenzo Shipping Workers Union-PTGWO.

In Bicol, the Philippine Geothermal, Inc. and PGI Tiwi Employees Union; Camarines Sur I Electric Cooperative, Inc., and Casureco I Employees Union; and Camarines Sur II Electric Cooperative, Inc. and Casureco II Employees Union.

The company in Central Luzon was Security Industrial Co. Inc. and its union, Security Industrial Chapter-NAMAWU local 158.

In the Philam Plans Inc. dispute, management agreed to withdraw its petition for cancellation of union registration and to pave the way for the immediate holding of the petition for certification election, while the union will modify its membership to reflect the coverage of the bargaining unit.

Olalia reported that mediation efforts at Negros Navigation Co., Inc. enabled management and union to break a deadlock on their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations.

Both parties, he said, agreed to a one-time lump sum financial assistance and a signing bonus for workers upon the full reorganization of the firm's labor-management cooperation council, atop a nine-month moratorium on wage increases.

The resolution of the issue of unfair labor practice (ULP), specifically an agreement to post job vacancies, settled the dispute at Lorenzo Shipping Corporation, while the case affecting the Security Industrial Co., Inc. in Central Luzon was settled after the parties agreed to the payment of unpaid accrued wages and other unclaimed benefits.

At the Camarines Sur I Electric Cooperative, parties to the dispute agreed to grant the CBA-stipulated wage increase to 30 newly regularized employees.

On the other hand, the parties in the Camarines Sur II Electric Cooperative agreed to submit to voluntary arbitration a board resolution creating an investigation committee to handle complaints and charges against employees.

Finally, the NCMB successfully averted a CBA negotiations deadlock at the Philippine Geothermal, Inc. when union and management agreed to hold a pre-CBA meeting to discuss coverage of an exclusion issue within the bargaining unit.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will lead a Special Prayer Rally on the SARS Crisis at the Malacanang grounds at 2 p.m. today.

The President will be joined by various religions leaders, government officials and thousands of delegates from different religious groups in the rally dubbed as Nation’s Call For Sacred Assembly.

President Arroyo will have a 20-minute special message on SARS, while Bishop Eddie C. Villanueva of Jesus is Lord Church will lead a prayer for the President.

The religious activity is in response to the alarming spread of SARS worldwide. The virus has killed 373 and infected more than 5,400 in more than 30 countries, including 2 SARS deaths in the Philippines.

Scripture readings will be led by the government’s SARS Committee members- healing for the nation by Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit, peace and prosperity by Press Undersecretary Milton Alingod, righteousness by Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo, love and unity by Local Government Undersecretary Ed Soliman, knowledge and wisdom by Ninoy Aquino International Airport Manager Ed Manda, and divine guidance and protection by National Security Adviser Roilo Golez.

Interfaith prayers on SARS Crisis will also be led by various religious leaders-prayer for the invention of the cure for SARS by Catholic Bishop Deogracias Yniguez of Zambales; prayer for stability of the people not to panic by Atty. Ide C. Tillah, Chairman of the National Ecumenical Consultative Committee; prayer for the effective government preventive program by Bishop Fred Magbanua, Chairman of the Council of Christian Bishops of the Philippines; prayer for effective dissemination of information about SARS by Bishop Efraim M. Tendero, National Director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches; and prayer for the eradication of SARS by Bishop Dan A. Blais, Chairman of the Intercessors for the Philippines.

The Philippines welcomes the end of combat operations in Iraq, which augurs for a faster pace of political and economic restoration.

The lesson of Iraq is that only democracy can bring us peace, and only democracy can bring us progress. The ideology of force or terror can no longer find a niche in the modern world. It continues to be universally repudiated by all civilized peoples.

This has a strategic implication on our own national security, especially looking prospectively to a final settlement of the conflict in Mindanao.

In our region, cooperation across the seas has never been so close and tight. We have a multilateral agreement in the sharing of intelligence and information against terrorism stretching across our common seas with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The OIC continues to be the vanguard of the Islamic world’s support for our efforts, led by the Committee of the Eight, with the most active participation of Libya, Malaysia and Indonesia. More and more commitments are pouring in for peace and development, the latest being that of Bahrain.

ANGELES CITY—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today led local officials in groundbreaking rites of the Anunas Bridge, a vital public infrastructure that would link Barangay Anunas to the city proper.

The President landed at the Agyu Tamu Sports Complex at about 12:30 p.m. and immediately motored to the groundbreaking area. She came from a short visit to Barangay Vacante in Alcala, Pangasinan.

Secretary Leandro Mendoza of the Department of Transportation, newly installed Public Works Secretary Florante Soriquez, Governor Lito Lapid and Angeles City Mayor Lazatin assisted the President in the groundbreaking rites.

In a statement, Anunas residents praised the President for facilitating the construction of the 148-linear meter bridge.

Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin said the construction of the bridge was funded under the P20-million GMA Bridge Program.

"We are very thankful to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for this bridge. This project could help a lot in the progress of the city of Angeles, especially the development of the residents of Barangay Anunas," Lazatin said.

With the construction of the bridge, residents of Anunas will have easy access to other key areas of the city, he said.

Anunas is the oldest barangay here and in the country. Residents are overwhelmed with the President’s bridge project, Lazatin added.

During the President’s visit, the people wave streamers and placards thanking and welcoming the President.

ALCALA, Pangasinan – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today lauded the people of Barangay Vacante here for their "sense of sacrifice," for having gone through the difficulties of quarantine to prevent a possible spread of the dreaded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) to other places.

The President also extolled the "quiet heroism" of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who died because of SARS and had "to come home in ashes."

"The sacrifice of Filipinos (abroad) deserve commendation," she said, as she cited the "intense love" between Vacante residents Adela Catalon and her father Mauricio who both died of SARS. Adela was a nursing aide from Canada.

But more than everything else, "SARS has also brought forth an impressive solidarity among our people behind our government," she added.

She vowed to continue leading efforts against the disease "in the best way I can, reaching out across borders, seeking the help of foreign leaders; and back home, doing my share to gather our energies and resources" to win the fight against SARS.

As the President called for total cooperation, she appealed to the people not to fear because "we’re always beside you."

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today announced that Philhealth would shoulder the hospitalization expenses, up to some P100,000, of public and private health workers who might get infected with the dreaded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

In a speech during her visit in Barangay Vacante, Alcala, Pangasinan, the President also said Philhealth members and their kin who might get afflicted with SARS would get hospitalization benefits of up to P50,000.

She enjoined the people to enlist with Philhealth as the program’s benefits respond to Executive Order 201 she recently issued.

The order created the SARS crisis committee and appointed Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit as crisis manager.

The President said Secretary Dayrit should be concerned with:

• Preventing the entry of imported SARS into the country by identifying the SARS suspects through rigid screening of people in the country’s airports.

• Preventing the spread of SARS in localities, to be done with the quarantine of suspects.

• Preventing of deaths caused by SARS by strengthening the capacity of hospitals for the effective critical management of possible SARS cases.

• Educating the public on SARS and its prevention, control and management to address public fear and anxiety.

She said she had also declared May 5 to 9 as National SARS Consciousness and Clean-up Week.

She added that government had been doing everything to overcome the crisis.

"From the town of Alcala, from the SARS-free Barangay Vacante, I call on all the citizenry of the Philippines … to be responsible in facing the problem," the President said.

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga – It’s not only in the battlefield that Filipinos and Americans are joining hands in the spirit of cooperation and support.

Out here, an American Marine participating in this year’s Balikatan 03 and his Filipina wife find themselves engaged in the more complicated task of building a home – as parents to children, fruits of an eight-year union that has withstood the test of time.

US Marine 1^st Sgt. Clifford Grant, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, was only 26 years old when he met and fell in love with Joan Mendoza in Okinawa, Japan.

Grant had been stationed in Okinawa from 1986 to 1991 when he fell for the pretty lass from Floridablanca, Pampanga.

Joan, then 24, was still nursing a broken heart brought about by her separation from her first husband, also an American serviceman.

When Joan’s ex-husband died a couple of years later, Clifford pursued his love for Joan who found the persistent Marine too kind and too gentle for his 6-foot 3-inch bulk.

They decided to tie the knot in San Diego, California in 1995 and the union has produced three children, aged 10, seven and four.

"Never in my dreams did I imagine getting married to a Filipina," beams Clifford who is on his second stint in the annual joint exercise between Filipino and American troops.

Grant, 38, is a senior enlisted man working as assistant Camp Commandant for the Balikatan exercises, taking care of the billeting, food and other needs of the US personnel taking part in the two-week military exercises.

He underscored that while his family has been based in San Diego, they have seen to it that their children’s school breaks are spent in the Philippines.

"We don’t want them (their children) to lose track of their roots,’’ Grant said.

In fact, their children, Brandon, Tyler and Leilani are enjoying their summer break with Joan’s folks in Floridablanca while their father goes about his duties at the RP-US Balikatan exercises which is being staged nearby.

Three years from now, Grant will be bowing out of the service after serving for 21 years. But this early, he and Joan have all but decided to spend his retirement years in the Philippines.

Already, the Grant family has started building their future in Floridablanca, beginning with a modest house currently under construction and located close to the residences of Joan’s siblings.

With a degree in business management, Grant plans to get a corporate job here to reestablish his family in the country.

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga – Have the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States gone to the dogs?

Quite literally they may have after the Veterinary-Civil Actions Project (Vetcap), a socio-civic component of the RP-US Balikatan 03, plunged into operation Monday together with the Medical and Dental Civil Actions Projects (Medcap and Dentcap).

Dogs, cats, goats, cows and carabaos were in queues with local townsfolk who availed of the free medical, dental and veterinary services rendered by the Civil Military Operations Task Force (CMOTF) at the Banga Elementary School in Talisay and Wenceslao Trinidad National High School in Laurel, both in Batangas.

Medcap, Dentcap and Vetcap are but three of the numerous socio-civic services scheduled as part of the humanitarian assistance aspect of the two-week Balikatan 03.

"Ngayon, hindi lang kami ang magagamot, pati na ang mga alaga naming katulad nitong kalabaw ko na katulong ko sa hanap-buhay (Now, it’s not only us who will get treated but also our animals who are our partners in earning a living),’’ said Mang Alfonso Mercado, a farmer from Laurel who trekked five kilometers from his farm with his workhorse in tow.

Mercado was treated for cataract while his carabao got deworming medication.

A young girl coddling her puppy fell in line under the summer heat only to ask the American veterinarian if her pet would grow old with her.

"I gave both of them chocolates and off they scooted with the little girl wearing a huge smile on her face,’’ said the US serviceman.

And if the animal was too big or too weak to make the trip to the schools, a CMOTF team was dispatched to come to its aid.

CMOTF public affairs officer Lt. Toni Tones cited an instance when a newborn calf had to be treated but could not be brought to the Banga Elementary School.

"A team went to the farm and treated the calf with her mother close by,’’ said Tones.

In the three-day combined medical, dental and veterinary mission in Batangas, more than 130 animals were treated with dogs getting anti-rabies shots and the other animals getting dewormed.

Of course, it was not an all-animal affair for the socio-civic project undertaken by Filipino and American soldiers.

The 25-man CMOTF, headed by Col. David Crudo, was able to handle 2,007 medical cases and 371 dental cases for the first two days of the Medcap, Dentcap and Vetcap operations. Optometry services were also provided 286 patients, mostly cataract victims.

"The (medical, dental and veterinary) mission went very well. We were well received by the townsfolk,’’ said Tones.

He noted the Batangas folks’ hospitality with the local community providing food and refreshments.

"They really went out of their way to show how they appreciated the services we rendered,’’ Tones added.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today instructed the Social Security System (SSS) to go after employers who fail to remit the contributions of their respective employees on time.

The President made the directive after Rep. Zoilo dela Cruz reported that many employees were disqualified to avail themselves of salary loans as their employers were remiss or delinquent in paying their premiums at the SSS office.

During the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) en banc meeting in Malacanang, Dela Cruz said the SSS policy is very unfair to employees who faithfully perform their jobs and were deducted of their premiums in their salaries, but cannot get loans.

During the meeting, SSS vice president Alberto Alburo reported to the President that they have filed more than 2,000 estafa cases against delinquent employers but only some have complied.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today declared the Philippines as a strong republic "that belongs to Jesus Christ" as she prayed that the country be spared from the effects of the dreaded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

"I pray that You (God) spare our people from the SARS plague and other diseases and that You will continually cover us with the redeeming blood of Jesus," the President prayed during a special prayer rally against the SARS crisis at the Malacanang grounds today. "I declare the Philippines a strong republic that belongs to Jesus Christ."

The President also asked for Divine intervention to cast away the spirit of corruption, dishonesty, injustice and other forms of immoralities "that have plagued us for so long."

The President also asked God to cast away the spirit of violence and lawlessness that have bred kidnappings and other crimes and for a lasting climate of peace and order in Mindanao.

The President likewise prayed for a miracle to favor the economy, for the continuous growth of business that would fuel the engines of economic prosperity.

The President said she believed the Philippines would become a strong republic, a prosperous nation that God would use to bless other nations.

As we obey, the President said, God would bless the country and give the people an abundance of all things.