President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today led the nation’s officialdom in gracing the solemn installation ceremony for the 31^st Archbishop of Manila, Most Reverend Gaudencio B. Rosales, at the historic Manila Cathedral.

It has been almost 30 years that such an event has taken place. His Eminence Jaime Cardinal Sin, now Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese, himself ushered Archbishop Rosales to his "chair."

Upon her arrival, the President was received by the new Archbishop of Manila at the entrance to the Cathedral Basilica.

At the rite of liturgical reception, Archbishop Rosales was escorted by the Auxiliary Bishops to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel where he knelt for a moment of prayer along with members of the Clergy of the Archdiocese of Manila.

At the start of the Eucharistic Celebration and Canonical Installation, and while the entrance hymn was sung, a procession through the church took place, participated in by Archbishop Rosales, His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu; His Excellency Archbishop Antonio Franco, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines; and members of the Clergy of the Archdiocese of Manila.

His Eminence Jaime Cardinal Sin delivered a short message to the assembly. "I am not saying goodbye. I love you too much that I cannot just leave you," he said.

He stressed that the Holy Father, in accepting his retirement, did not tell him to leave and keep quiet. "He just gave me more time for prayer, he gave me more time to enjoy relaxing conversations with you now that I do not carry the responsibilities of Church administration," Cardinal Sin said.

After Cardinal Sin’s message, the Apostolic Letter appointing Archbishop Rosales as Archbishop of Manila was read. It was signed by Pope John Paul, who called himself bishop, servant of the servants of God.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today renewed her call for reconciliation, saying that she is seeking peace with honor and dignity even among former foes for the sake of the country and the Filipino people.

"I have said that we must wage reconciliation with deep tenacity and perseverance even if it seems impossible," the President said during a luncheon that she hosted for the leaders of Congress, the judiciary, religious groups and various sectors at Malacaņang’s Ceremonial Hall.

"Our nightmares should not distract us from our dreams," she said. "We must see even in the widest divide the opportunity for collective patriotism and the will to serve the common good," the President said.

She said that the reconciliation must be a reconciliation with justice, a reconciliation with democracy, and a reconciliation with prosperity for all.

"We shall seek peace with honor and dignity among former foes. We shall prevail because of the greatness of our heritage, because this is our destiny and most of all, because this is the supreme will of the Almighty," the President said.

The President said that the luncheon was not only in celebration of the triumph of national unity and solidarity in the aftermath of the Davide impeachment case that threatened to turn into a full-blown constitutional crisis but also the reaffirmation of the collective faith of the Filipinos and the future of the Republic.

"This is a historic time in our nation and we are glad to have leaders with a keen sense of history," the President said.

Chief Justice Hilario Davide, subject of the impeachment case that threatened to divide the country, attended the luncheon and so did Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr., Senate President Franklin Drilon, Speaker Jose De Venecia, Jr. and other leaders of Congress, including those from the opposition.

"It is said that political division always leads to a higher plane of consciousness. As we break bread today, I trust that we shall continue to rise above our partisan, sectoral and partisan interests and pledge to serve what is common to us all, the nation and our people," the President said.

She noted that the great powers of government, the religious groups, the various parties and sectors are now prepared to take the profound step towards unity "not for the sake of simple goodwill or friendship, but for the sake of the overriding vision of peace and progress."

As he had been discussing with the President as early as June, Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho has rendered his resignation effective Nov. 30, and the President has accepted it. To ensure continuity in policies and operations at the Department of Finance, the President has appointed Undersecretary Juanita Amatong as officer-in-charge, at the recommendation of Secretary Camacho.

The President and the Cabinet express their deepest gratitude and highest esteem for the three years of sterling service that Secretary Camacho has rendered to the nation. First as Secretary of Energy from March to June 2001, and as Secretary of Finance since then. As a topnotch, world-class investment banker when he joined the Cabinet, Secretary Camacho has been instrumental in building up confidence in the Philippines among business and financial circles at home and abroad.

Advancing the President’s good governance and reform agenda, Secretary Camacho has also pushed major reforms in public finance, while lending his formidable expertise and insight to deliberations in the Cabinet, economic and fiscal planning bodies, and government corporate boards.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accepted today the resignation of Finance Secretary Isidro Camacho and designated Undersecretary Juanita Amatong as officer-in-charge of the Department of Finance, effective at the end of the month.

In a statement, Cabinet Secretary and Deputy Presidential Spokesman Ricardo Saludo said that the President and the Cabinet expressed their "deepest gratitude and highest esteem" for the three years of "sterling service" that Secretary Camacho has rendered to the nation, first as energy secretary and then as finance secretary.

Saludo said that Camacho, a top-notch and world-class investment banker, has been instrumental in building up confidence in the Philippines among business and financial circles at home and abroad.

"Advancing the President’s good governance and reform agenda, Secretary Camacho has also pushed major reforms in public finance, while lending his formidable expertise and insight to deliberations in the Cabinet, economic and fiscal planning bodies, and government corporate boards," Saludo said.

He said that to ensure continuity in policies and operations in the Department of Finance, the President has appointed Undersecretary Amatong as officer-in-charge, at the recommendation of Camacho.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri described Camacho as a valuable member of the Cabinet. He, however, sees no change in the financial policies, which Camacho has put in place as Amatong is a career Finance Department official and is a known understudy of Camacho.

Peter Wallace, president of the Economist Intelligence Unit and chair of the Wallace Business Forum, said that although the government lost a very good man in Camacho, he, however, sees a continuity in policies with the President’s appointment of Amatong.

Amatong is a former Executive Drirector of the World Bank Group in Washintong DC for the nine-country constituency of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Surinam and the Philippines.

As Finance Undersecretary since March 2001, she is in charge of the International Finance Group and Municipal Development Fund Office. She supervised the Bureau of Local Government since March 2001 to Nov. 15, 2002. She held the same post during the time of Presidents Aquino and Ramos before joining the World Bank.

Amatong finished her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the Silliman University with cum laude honors. She had post-graduate studies at Syracuse University in New York where she took up her MA in Economics and Public Administration.

ANTIPOLO CITY—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today lauded police operatives, particularly those from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF), for the seizure this morning of P2 billion worth of methamphetamine hydrochoride, popularly known as shabu, in a big compound in Barangay Mambungan in this city.

The President motored here straight from the Manila Cathedral where she graced the installation of Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales as the new archbishop of Manila.

Along with Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina, PDEA Executive Director Anselmo Avenido and PNP Deputy Director General Edgardo Aglipay, AIDSOTF head, the President inspected the shabu and drug paraphernalia.

The raid, conducted early this morning at No. 8 Gertrudes Street in Barangay Mambungan, Antipolo City yielded over 1,000 kilos of shabu and assorted equipment for the manufacture of the illegal drug.

Avenido said that this was the biggest shabu laboratory raided by the government so far.

In the surprise raid, the police arrested four Chinese nationals and a Filipino who were caught in the act of "cooking" the illegal drug.

Police named those detained as Fujian natives Yan Hua Lian, Chin Tu Chen, Chuang Wen Ming, Hoi Kung Hsuing, and Filipino Eusebio Arellano.

The President has ordered an intensified anti-drug campaign, vowing to bring the war against illegal drugs to the barangay level.

"We will cut down the drug problem through the full range of activities, from keen intelligence to cleaning the streets of pushers, to rehabilitating the users," the President said.

Only last November 11, the President also inspected P1 billion worth of shabu in a warehouse in Sto. Rosario, Mapulang Lupa in Valenzuela City, which was raided by AID-SOTF headed by Aglipay.

"We can see that our anti-drug campaign has been working round the clock quietly and diligently despite controversies going around," the President said in her visit to the Valenzuela City shabu laboratory.

I would like to congratulate the PDEA headed by Chairman Jun Avenido and the Anti-Drug Task Force headed by General Aglipay for conducting the biggest drug bust since we launched our relentless anti-drug campaign.

Three months of surveillance paid off in the arrest of four drug lords who will be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law. We will put these four away and we will not stop until we get all the other marauders of our society.

Once more this is triumph for the community and the law enforcement units, working in tandem, and in secret, to pursue justice. The illegal drug lab was capable of churning out a billion peso worth of shabu a week and we can imagine the destruction that came in its wake in terms of crime, addiction and anguish of victims and their families. This drug bust brings us relief like the slaying the other day of the top kidnapper in the country in Bataan.