BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (via PLDT) – President Gloria Macagapal-Arroyo arrived here at 9:00 A.M. today (September 3) to address the final session of the 15^th General Meeting of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) at the International Convention Center here.

The President, who was accompanied by a small group of officials and security personnel, landed at the Brunei Istana International Airport aboard a special aircraft (Lear Jet 60).

President Macapagal-Arroyo was welcomed by Pehin Dato Seri Haji Awang Abu Bakar, the Minister of Health and Minister-in-Attendance, and Yang Dimuliakan Orang Kaya Setia Raja Dato Seri Paduka Haji Awang Mohd Ali bin Haji Awang Haud, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, together with the director of protocol of Brunei.

Also at hand at the airport to receive the President were Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye, Presidential Management Staff head Secretary Silvestre Afable, Jr., Philippine Ambassador to Brunei Virginia H. Benavidez, and Secretary Roberto Romulo, senior presidential adviser on economic competitiveness.

After the welcome rites, the President and her official delegation proceeded to the Audience Chamber of Istana Edinburgh, the official guesthouse of Brunei’s head of state, for a 30-minute interview with Victor Mallet, chief Asia correspondent of Financial Times.

This was followed by a 20-minute courtesy call on her by Jeffrey Koo, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of China Trust.

The President proceeded to the International Convention Center to deliver her keynote address before the final session of the 22-nation PECC.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN-- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said that the Philippines is committed to being an active participant in the global economy but at the same time stressed that this commitment would be achieved in a manner consistent with the country’s own development priorities.

In her keynote address at the 15^th General Meeting of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) held this morning at the International Convention Center here, the President said for the Philippines and other developing countries, the major test of the negotiations in World Trade Organization (WTO) is how it will fulfill its promise of opening the global markets for products coming from developing countries.

The President said this would mean the breaking down of barriers to these products, like quotas, health and sanitary regulations, technical obstacles and other "clever tricks" that rich countries are using, resulting in unfair competition to products coming from developing economies.

As example, she said, poor or developing countries cannot hope to compete with agricultural products coming from developed countries because their farmers are given massive subsidies.

According to the President, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is supposed to be the vanguard in the liberalization and facilitation of global trade and investment and in capacity building for developing countries, adding that the PECC has always been a major pillar of APEC.

"PECC ought to exert its weight to ensure that globalization does not mean only opening markets of the poor to the products of the rich," the President said.

After all, the President said, the countries in the Pacific Rim "stand on the threshold of rapidly growing hope and expectations" and that "we are winning the peace in a larger scale among nations."

The President cited the breakthrough in the negotiations among the claimants to the string of islands and atolls in the South China Sea. She also lauded China for its current efforts in peacefully resolving the situation in the Korean Peninsula.

She also said that the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is now behind us and that Iraq is now gearing for a greater multilateral engagement under the auspices of the United Nations.

"We have to move forward. All nations teaming up for peace and development must be our abiding vision. It must be the vision of PECC for the 21^st century," the President said.

Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr. today called on the Filipino people to side aside all partisan bickerings and "dirty tricks" in order to preserve our democratic institutions and society.

"We must set aside all partisan bickering, dirty tricks—below and above ground—as these could and would only contribute to one thing: destruction of our institutions, and ultimately—tragically—our society," Guingona said in a statement.

The Vice President said that he cannot and will not be drawn to react to speculations and scenarios authored by various individuals and groups.

Guingona was reacting to a newspaper report that there is a military plot to oust President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and install him as the next president.

The Vice President’s statement in full:

"As Vice President of the Republic, and all through my public life, I have consistently adhered to the principles of transparency, good governance, and the readiness to listen to everyone—without exception.

"In this context, various parties—individuals and groups—both in the past and in the present—have come to me to seek counsel.

"I have always conveyed to them this message:

"That we—our leaders, our people, must—for our nation to go forward and surmount its problems—we must undergo a healing process—seek and uphold the truth—and work together to bring about political, social, economic stability.

"We must set aside all partisan bickering, dirty tricks—below and above ground—as these could and would only contribute to one thing: the destruction of our institutions, and ultimately—tragically—our society.

"We cannot and will not be drawn to react to speculations and scenarios authored by various individuals and groups.

"Our duty is to our people, our Constitution, our nation.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (via PLDT) – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today she wants to be "a positive force for change to heal the deep division" in the Philippines.

Speaking at the closing session of the 15h General Meeting of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), the President stressed the need for the building of peace and the pursuit of development to bring about security and prosperity not only in a country but also in the entire region.

She said that her administration in the past two years has been aggressively putting in place economic reforms, which are expected to significantly improve the long-term prospects for her country.

Strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals, she said, has paid off with consistent economic growth and low inflation. While the budget deficit presents a challenge, she noted, reforms in revenue collection procedures have led to seven consecutive months of higher tax revenues.

"Our focus on increasing revenues is centered around improving transparency, something that is taking place throughout our government," she said, adding that the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering Act has increased the transparency in the banking system.

Referring to the recent military adventurism in the country, the President said that it involved only a small number of young soldiers and that it ended without a bullet being fired.

"The signal this ill-fated adventure sent is simple: there is unmistakable strength in the rule of law, respect for our democratic form of government and protection for the rights of the people," she said.

Nevertheless, the President, who is also the Commander in Chief, said she formed an independent commission to provide a thorough, unbiased and non-political examination of the situation.

She promised appropriate action on any legitimate grievance of the soldiers, while "those responsible for promoting mutiny will be held accountable for their illegal actions in a court of law."

"As President," Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo said, "I am proud of our achievements on both the peace and economic fronts."

While the nature of her job means there will be always detractors and critics of her performance, she said, "the right thing for me to do is to continue to focus on the job at hand and be a positive force for change, and that is ensuring that we remain on the path of progress."

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (via PLDT) – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today lauded Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei for successfully hosting the 15^th General Meeting of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and for the hospitality extended to her during her short visit here.

The President made the remarks during her 30-minute meeting with the Sultan at the Istana Nurul Iman here before her departure for Manila right after she delivered her speech to the PECC meeting at the International Convention Center.

During the meeting, the President suggested that the Sultan study the possible opening of a direct flight of the Royal Brunei Airlines to Davao City because of Brunei’s proximity to Davao.

Bolkiah agreed to the suggestion of the President after he personally noted that Davao to Brunei is only 45 minutes travel by air.

The President also asked the Bruneian leader to look into the possible participation of Islamic Bank of Brunei in the development and strengthening of the financial capital of the existing Amanah Islamic Bank in the Philippines.

"We already have an Islamic bank in our country but we need to strengthen it with new capital," the President said.

She also lauded the policy of Brunei, under the leadership of Sultan Bolkiah, to reject Muslim extremism in the Philippines and for accepting 40 Filipino Muslim teachers, who teach madrassah in Mindanao, to reorient and train them about Muslim doctrine and culture.

The President also suggested to Sultan Bolkiah to push through with his visit to the Philippines after this was canceled due of the global scare of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that hit not only the Asian region but also other countries in the world.

The President assured Bolkiah, who is a good billiard player, that she would arrange for him to play with two Filipino international billiard players, Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante.

Those who accompanied the President during her call on Bolkiah were Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye, Presidential Management Staff Head Secretary Sivestry Afable, Jr., Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, Senior Presidential Adviser for Economic Competitiveness, and Philippine Ambassador to Brunei Virginia H. Benavidez.

Earlier, shortly after her arrival here, the President was interviewed by Victor Mallet, chief correspondent of the Financial Times (Asia) at Istana Edinburgh, official guesthouse for heads of state in Brunei.