The entry of any qualified candidate into the Presidential race is good for our country.

Prudent monetary and fiscal policies put in place by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration have allowed the economy to grow despite the continued global economic downtrend.

"Our gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.4 percent and our gross national product (GNP) grew by 5.9 percent during the last quarter," President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said in a statement.

GDP refers to the value of goods and services produced inside the country, while the GNP refers to the GDP plus tax earnings of Filipinos and Filipinos firms abroad.

The President said that these figures are higher than what were expected. "We outperformed Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea. Agriculture and investment spending paved the way," she said.

The President explained that several factors kept the country’s economic growth on an upward path.

"Macroeconomic fundamentals and sustained agricultural modernization are paying off. Fiscal prudence has kept the budget deficit within reasonable ceilings and overseas remittances are on the rise," the President said.

The President said that the Philippines is in the process of shaking off the lethargy occasioned by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the Iraq war and the El Nino weather phenomenon.

She said that confidence in the country’s political stability remained steadfast.

"Confidence in our political stability has held steady in the face of the judicious resolution of the Oakwood incident, our gains against terrorism and crime and the diminishing tremors of destabilization as the electoral fever catches on," she said.

President Macapagal-Arroyo also said that to further bolster the economy, she will continue to push the country’s gains made in peace and order and socio-economic development.

"There has been no letup in aggressive economic diplomacy. I shall continue to work closely with our economic and security teams in the Cabinet," the President added.

She said that her administration would also continue to work with Congress to pass important bills such as the indexation of taxes on cigarettes and liquor and other crucial economic bills.

On reconciliation and reform, the President said that she would continue to team up with all the institutions to expedite the much-needed change.

Urban poor families in Metro Manila and Luzon got the lion’s share of home financing assistance for land tenure and housing acquisition under the Community Mortgage Program (CMP) of the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Secretary Michael Defensor, chairman of both the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC), said that due to their high concentration of informal-settler populations, regional areas in Luzon have received the biggest share of the home financing assistance worth over P3.5 billion, or 81.7 percent, of total loans granted since the program was launched 15 years ago.

Of this amount, NHMFC president Angelico Salud said, urban poor families in the National Capital Region (NCR) got the major share of over P2 billion, equivalent to 46.7 percent of aggregate program total.

The NCR was followed by Region V, with P875.8 million or 20.2 percent, and Region III, with P396.4 million or 9 percent.

The remaining balance of 18.3 percent, comprising some P798.7 million, according to Salud, went to Mindanao and the Visayas, with P479.8 million (11 percent) and P318.9 million (7.3 percent), respectively.

In the status report on CMP implementation, Salud reported that Luzon and NCR combined for 75.6 percent of the total 138,871 family beneficiaries, but a lower 73.9 percent share of the total 1,104 CMP projects financed nationwide.

Luzon served a total of 52,645 families (37.9 percent of total) compared to the 52,392 of NCR (37.7 percent) despite the latter’s bigger 46.7 percent share in overall CMP loans granted, Salud explained.

A recent survey conducted by the prestigious Pulse Asia, Inc. showed that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would handily win over her opponents if elections were held today.

The nationwide survey conducted from November 4-17, 2003, showed that 24 percent of the respondents would vote for the President, while 21 percent said they would vote for Sen. Noli de Castro, and 20 percent for former Sen. Raul Roco.

Movie Actor Fernando Poe, Jr., who formally announced Wednesday his intention to run in next year’s elections, got 19 percent while opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson got a measly 8 percent.

Pulse Asia said that the survey was conducted among 1,200 "nationally representative adults" who are 18 years old and above. It said the survey has a 3 percent plus or minus margin of error, with a 95 percent confidence level.

In a press statement, Pulse Asia said "despite the many political, economic, and social problems besetting her administration, it appears that President Macapagal-Arroyol continues to enjoy the support of a considerable proportion of the general public."

Pulse Asia said the survey showed that among the probable candidates, the President would get nearly a quarter of the Filipino voters, or 24 percent, if elections were held today.

"This is the highest voter preference enjoyed by any of the eight presidentiables surveyed by Pulse Asia in November 2003," Pulse Asia said.

Across the country, the President received the most support in the Visayas (39 percent) while the lowest voter preference for her was recorded in Metro Manila (15 percent).

In economic groupings, electoral support for the President was highest in the poorest E with 29 percent and lowest in the best of Class ABC, with 20 percent.

Another survey conducted by an independent New York-based consultancy firm also showed that if elections were held today, the President would win by a sizeable margin over her closest rival.

In a question on who they would vote for if elections were held today, 20.5 percent would vote for the President while 19.6 percent would vote for former Senator Raul Roco. Senator Noli de Castro got only 9.4 percent, opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson, 9.8 percent, and movie actor Fernando Poe, Jr. got a measly 5.7 percent.

The survey was conducted by the Roper ASW-Asia Pacific for the BusinessWorld, the country’s most respected business paper. The respondents were mostly consumers and a cross-section of residents in Metro Manila.

The opinion poll was conducted among 300 consumers from October 21 to 27, a few days after the state visit here of US President George W. Bush on October 18 and had encompassed the filing of the impeachment charge against Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr.

Among those cited in the survey, only the President, Roco, and Lacson have declared their intention to run in the 2004 elections.

The same survey also showed that the country’s economy would improve, with 31.9 percent of the respondents saying that the economy would improve in the next six months, while 24.1 percent saying that it would worsen. A big percentage, 44.0 percent, said that they don’t have an opinion either way.

Roper ASW operates in 82 countries and its clients and subscribers include, among others, governments, medical organizations, multinationals, the academe, and risk management firms.

The President’s winnability rating of 20.5 percent was a big jump from the 14.9 percent she got in a survey made last September.

On performance of the President, a remarkable 52.2 percent said that she is doing a good job while only 33.0 percent said that she is not doing a good job. A measly 14.7 percent did not want to give their opinion on the performance of the President.

On the sincerity of the President, 48.6 percent believed that she is sincere while 35.0 percent did not believe on her sincerity, while 16.5 percent refused to comment either way.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today attended the mass marking the 71^st birthday of Filipino hero and martyr Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino at the Manila Memorial Park in Paranaque City.

The President joined the martyr’s widow, former President Corazon C. Aquino, her son Tarlac Representative Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, daughters Maria Elena Cruz and Victoria Eliza Aquino-Dee, and other Aquino relatives and friends for the eucharistic mass held at Ninoy’s tomb.

Aquino extended her gratitude to President Macapagal-Arroyo for coming to the one-hour eucharistic mass celebrated by Fr. Catalino Arevalo with the San Jose Seminary choir assisting.

"I thank you President Arroyo for coming to this event in joining the mass for Ninoy," Cory told the President.

Ninoy was assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983 at the tarmac of then Manila International Airport after disembarking from a China Airlines jet from Taipei.

Ninoy’s assassination eventually led to the ouster and exile of former President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

She said the 22 percent growth in investments posted in the first 10 months of this year reflects the good investment climate in the Philippines.

I was quoted in a television news program yesterday as saying, referring to Fernando Poe, Jr.: "Artista lang yan. Wala yan."

I never made such a statement, I was not interviewed at all by that television network yesterday. I didn’t even see the shadow of the media man who reported something I did not say at all.

I applaud Poe’s statement yesterday that he wants to run for the presidency in order to serve the people. Such patriotism and willingness to sacrifice is indeed laudable.

LUCENA CITY—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said that she expects the land area planted with hybrid rice for the next two years to go up to 600,000 hectares to further increase the rice productivity in the country.

In her speech at the Farmers Forum on Agrarian Reform held here this afternoon, the President said that some 100,000 hectares are now planted with the hybrid rice variety from China.

She said that the introduction of the hybrid rice is part of her administration’s program of increasing the farmers’ yield and improving the lives of the farmers in the countryside.

"Hindi pa man din ako pangulo, sinasabi ko na na ang aking ambisyon ay magkaroon ng pagkain sa bawat mesa (Even when I was not yet president, I have said that my ambition was to put food in every table)," the President said.

The President said that the implementation of a comprehensive agrarian reform should be complemented with agricultural modernization.

This is the reason why her administration is spending some P20 billion a year for the construction of farm-to-market roads, irrigation systems and other facilities, the President said.

She said that her administration has built the most number of small irrigation systems in Quezon.