LAPU-LAPU CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday thanked the World Bank for its financial support for the development of Mindanao and in the forging of a permanent peace accord with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

At the request of the President in September, the World Bank led the multi-donor trust fund for Mindanao that will be operative as soon as a peace agreement between the government is forged.

"I’m glad we hear that the World Bank is now giving for the needs assessment phase of this trust fund," the President said in the closing ceremony of the 2003 Consultative Group Meeting for the Philippines.

She also thanked the delegates of the World Bank-sponsored assembly for their help in the establishment of programs for the people of Mindanao, which has been pinpointed, especially the autonomous region, as indeed the most underprivileged and most disenfranchised.

The President noted that with a growing stability in the field, specially with the neutralization of the Jemaah Islamiyah and the assurance of the MILF that it is not harboring terrorists, more confidence-building measures will lighten up the atmosphere enough to allow unimpeded rehabilitation and development programs in Mindanao.

"We want to use development and with the help of World Bank and other multilateral institutions, we can drive up the dividend of peace by keeping alive the hope for a better and more dignified life among the most underprivileged and disenfranchised," the President said.

"Our coordination with our neighbors and allies is strong and earnest. We will work together, continue to work together for stability in all fronts, security, economic and political. And in working for stability on all these fronts, ladies and gentlemen, I ask you once again to help me and my government," the President said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today that "the Supreme Court is the final arbiter and interpreter of the law" and that "its decision must be respected."

The President emphasized this message in various fora -- in her radio address to the nation aired Saturday and repeated today, at a World Bank-sponsored meeting in Lapu-Lapu City and before different groups during a sortie to Cebu.

"Anuman ang magiging desisyon ng Supreme Court tungkol sa kaso ng impeachment, ang executive branch ay sasangayon dito (Whatever will be the Supreme Court’s decision on the impeachment case, the executive branch will abide by it)," she said in her radio address.

The Supreme Court is expected to hand down Monday (November 10) its decision on the constitutionality of the impeachment complaint filed against Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. in the House of Representatives after hearing the views of eight legal luminaries who had served as "friends of the court."

Congress will resume its session on Monday. Pro-impeachment members of the House have signified their intention to send the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate so the impeachment proceeds against Davide could proceed.

At Saturday’s closing session of the World Bank-sponsored 2003 Consultative Group Meeting for the Philippines in Lapu-lapu City, Cebu, President Macapagal-Arroyo expounded on Supreme Court’s main function as co-equal of the executive and legislative branches of government.

In her keynote speech before participants in the World Bank-sponsored meeting, the Chief Executive also expressed gratitude to leaders of the Supreme Court and the House of Representatives for their serious consideration of her draft covenant that could lead to a principled solution of the impasse caused by the impeachment complaint against Davide.

Under the draft covenant, the President said, the principled solution that she had envisioned would adhere to the constitutional processes and strengthen rather than weaken the country’s democratic institutions.

"Ang Korte Supremo ang huling taga-husga sa interpretasyon ng batas, kaya dapat nating kilalanin at igalang ang pasya nito dahil ito ang hinihingi ng pambansang interes batay sa konstitusyon (The Supreme Court is the final arbiter and interpreter of the law and its decision must be recognized and respected, because it is required for national interest based on the Constitution)," she added.

The President assured the people that the leaders are doing everything to settle the impeachment row.

Hinihiling ko sa ating mga kababayan na manatiling kalmado dahil wala naman tayong depart ikabahala (I appeal to my countrymen to remain calm, because there is no cause for concern)," she said, adding that they should not allow their emotions to overrule the law.

The takeover of the air traffic control tower at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Centennial Terminal 2 early Saturday morning was "an isolated act" and had nothing to do with any destabilization move, based on results of an initial investigation, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye, Jr. said today.

Bunye also said that the neutralization of the two intruders, retired Air Force Col. Panfilo Villaruel and his aide, Navy Lt. Ricardo Gatchillar, by a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team was "justified considering the time, the place and the circumstance of the hostage situation."

"Nakikiramay tayo doon sa pamilya ng namatayan, but iyong pagka-assault at pagkakapaslang (We condole with the families of the victims, but the assault and slaying) are a necessary consequence of a police operation," he said.

Bunye said that when a member of the SWAT team knows the intruder, who has gained access to a very sensitive area, is armed and dangerous, his natural reaction is to neutralize at once the threat.

Although Villaruel’s complaint about conditions in the country may have "a grain of truth," he said, it could not justify the takeover of a sensitive installation, which comprises "the heart and brain of the aviation industry."

Villaruel’s charges of corruption could have been discussed in some forum, but not inside the air traffic control tower, he said.

The Presidential Spokesman said that Villaruel’s intrusion into the Centennial Terminal control tower did not only disrupt aviation operations but also endangered the lives of airline passengers.

"The airplanes could crash or collide with one another, if there were no navigational directions," he added.

"Up to the last minute, our President is hoping for a resolution to the crisis," Bunye said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo attended the celebration of a Eucharistic Mass at Malacaņang’s Heroes Hall today to ask that the country be spared from further serious problem caused by the impeachment case against Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr.

In reading the Holy Octave of Consecration to God our Father, the President prayed that members of the House of Representatives make an enlightened decision on the Davide impeachment row.

The holy mass at Malacaņang was held on the eve of resumption of the congressional session tomorrow (Monday), after almost two weeks of the traditional All Saints Day and All Souls Day commemoration.

The President also joined the leaders and members of El Shaddai in a Prayer Vigil for National Healing and Reconciliation, held at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta Park, Manila.