President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today, on the occasion of the second anniversary tomorrow of the 9/11 tragedy in New York, that the threat of terrorism should not be taken lightly.

"There are still a number of terror groups waiting for a chance to strike," the President said in a press statement. It will be recalled that terrorists hijacked two passenger jetliners on September 11, 2001, and slammed them unto the World Trade Center’s twin towers in the heart of New York City. Nearly 3,000 people perished and countless others injured in the collapse of the two buildings.

President Macapagal-Arroyo called on the people to remember "the time-honored principle that the price of freedom is perpetual vigilance."

"We must never let down our guard against terrorists who strike when least expected," she said. "By this time, alertness must be second nature to every community."

She added that "this is a job that demands constant solidarity and cooperation between the government and the people."

In a radio interview, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye, Jr. echoed the President’s call for vigilance of peoples and governments, pointing out that "terrorism recognizes no national boundaries, no religion, creed or color."

Terrorists strike whenever they see an opportunity to do so, he added.

Noting that terrorism is a problem of "transnational nature," Bunye said that it is important for nations to cooperate in combating terrorism, especially with respect to sharing of information and pursuing of suspected terrorists.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today that "there is no cause for undue concern" over a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) circular prohibiting residents from buying dollars in the spot market for use in purchasing dollar-denominated bonds.

In a press statement, the President said that the BSP has the power and the tools to stabilize the exchange rate in tandem with market forces.

BSP Governor Rafael Buenaventura issued the circular Tuesday when the currency trading closed at P55.195 to US$1.

The President noted that the country’s "consistent macroeconomic stability" has been affected "by mild transient shocks occasioned by politicking and destabilization attempts."

"But, we have gradually pulled the nation back on track and there is no cause for undue concern," the President said. "Our people are undeterred in their will to resist destabilization and sustain enterprise and constructive activities."

Because of the President’s announcement, the peso managed to stage a rebound and touched a high of P54.970 in mid-morning trading as players unwound their dollars.

According to the BSP, dollar inflows from offshore funds and remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have limited the further weakening of the peso.

During the morning trading, the peso traded within the range of P54.970-P55.220 to the dollar. The volume of transactions was heavy at $149.50 million.

The National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), which is under the Office of the President, is redoubling efforts to address the clamor of indigenous people for their ancestral domain rights – a major issue in peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) due to resume next month.

Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles, lead convenor of the National Anti-Poverty Council (NAPC), who supervises NCIP, reports that since last year the Commission has been coordinating with the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which is legally empowered to handle ancestral domain issues in the ARMM.

The discussions were instrumental in the recent passage of Resolution No. 269. On August 15, 2003, the ARMM regional legislative assembly approved the measure adopting the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 as the legal framework to recognize the rights of indigenous peoples in the autonomous region.

NCIP has made major achievements in pursuit of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s target to distribute 100,000 hectares of ancestral domains every year.

From July 2001 to August this year, the NCIP has distributed 11 certificates of ancestral domain titles (CADTs) covering 367,440 hectares. This Palace directive now has added impetus in the peace talks resuming in Kuala Lumpur next month.

"There is nothing greater that I wish for than a complete and lasting peace for Mindanao," the President told a recent conference of sultanates in Manila, adding that this peace should respect the rights and traditions of the country’s diverse ethnic communities.

"We shall uphold the Bangsamoro cultural rights and way of life as well as the right to socio-economic development and ancestral domain," she said.

The government’s anti-SARS procedures which proved successful in containing the threat of the virus in its initial outbreak a couple of months back remain in place and at full effectiveness.

This was the assurance made by Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit today in the wake of the renewed threat of the severe acute respiratory syndrome following a new case confirmed in Singapore.

"This is a Singapore problem," said Dayrit following a media briefing on SARS conducted by both the DOH and the regional office of the World Health Organization in Manila, "but we’re ready at this end. Our anti-SARS measures continue to protect the country."

Dayrit made the assurance after being instructed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to maintain the effectiveness of measures against SARS.

The country’s anti-SARS campaign earlier this year had succeeded in keeping the number of local SARS cases below 20 and getting the country off the SARS-affected list within weeks.

While assuring the public that there is no significant threat of any new outbreak in the country, the DOH has spared no effort in strengthening the capability of hospitals and public health systems against SARS.

Procedures for surveillance, referral and management of cases, according to Dayrit, remain in force.

The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the San Lazaro hospital, he said, are prepared to take any cases. The same is true, he added, with other referral hospitals in all 16 regions, which have been given P1.5 million each to set up isolation rooms and equip health workers with protective equipment.

Regional SARS core groups headed by DOH regional directors have been established and given training on common procedures, functions and tasks to respond to the disease, according to Dayrit.

These groups, he said, implement and coordinate anti-SARS surveillance and action among DOH units, other government agencies, local government units and the Center for Health Development.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today directed the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to go after the perpetrators of high-profile crimes, and coordinate their efforts in immediately arresting confessed international terrorist Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi.

In a briefing after the joint AFP-PNP command conference presided by the President in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, AFP Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said the President directed the PNP to conduct a "strong decisive action against high-profile crimes" and to capture Al-Gozhi, who escaped from detention in Camp Crame last July.

The conference was also attended by Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr., Press Secretary Milton Alingod, Defense Undersecretary Feliciano Gacis, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Narciso Abaya, AFP Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Diaz, Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Gregorio Camiling, Philippine Navy flag-officer-in-command Vice Admiral Ernesto de Leon, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Chief Supt. Reynaldo Velasco, and regional police officers.

"The AFP and the PNP committed themselves before the President to recapture Al-Ghozi as soon as possible but there is no time frame," Garcia said

He said the AFP would provide the PNP with all available information and intelligence reports on Al-Ghozi.

During the conference, it was established that high-profile crimes such as kidnappings, bank robberies and hijackings have negatively impacted on the local economy as well as on the possible entry of investments into the country.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez today said peace negotiations contribute to the reduction of insurgency in the country and help spur economic growth.

Golez made the assessment in a briefing after the joint command conference of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) presided by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo held in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

He said it became very clear in the discussions that peace negotiations contribute very significantly to the reduction in the number of insurgents in the country.

"That is why the President emphasized the role of peace negotiations whether it be with the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army) or the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front)," he said.

In a data gathered between 1980 to 2002, Golez said the recruitment efforts of the New People’s Army (NPA) usually fails when government and the rebels hold negotiations.

Golez said the present strength of the NPA is estimated at 8,551, down by one percent from last year.

He said it was also established that there is a very close correlation between the growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) and security.

"And so the perception of the public in so far as the economic situation is concerned whether you belong to the poverty level or above the poverty level is that this has a very big impact on security and economic development," Golez said.

He said that policeman-population ratio also correlates with the security situation. "There is less insurgency in areas were there is an adequate number of policemen," he said, adding that this would be the continuing challenge to the national government.

Golez added that national economic growth must be addressed in relation to the following concerns: international terrorist threat, local terrorist threat, insurgency and secessionism, and militancy by various sectors.

The AFP and the PNP have been briefed very thoroughly on their roles and importance in the quest for economic growth, he said.

"The President emphasized to both the AFP and the PNP that the handling of security of the country will have a very direct bearing on economic growth, in particular to tourism revenue, foreign investments, and resources devoted to addressing security threats rather than economic development in terms of socio-economic development and political opportunities," Golez said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today directed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to immediately liquefy the real estate investments made by the Retirement Service and Benefit System (RSBS) and put it into the Pension Fund for the benefit of the retired military men and their beneficiaries.

In a briefing after the joint AFP-PNP command conference presided by the President in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, AFP Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said the President directed the RSBS to begin liquefying its real estate investments, starting with the investments made in the Riviera and Marilaque Investment Corporation.

The President said the amount generated from these sales could immediately be used by the RSBS for the payment of pensions and other benefits of the soldiers and their beneficiaries.

The President also thanked RSBS president Cesar Jaime for correcting the various malpractices within the system earlier complained of by pensioners.

The RSBS has posted a net income of P107 million in 2002 and targets a P120-million net income this year.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today swore into office former Press Undersecretary Cerge M. Remonde as the new chairman, Appeals Committee of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), her new appointments secretary, three new ambassadors, two other government officials and officers of five private organizations.

Remonde is currently the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the government-controlled television station Radio Philippines Network, Inc (RPN 9). His stint as press undersecretary was cut short when he moved to RPN on May 13, 2002.

His new appointment to the MTRCB is on a concurrent capacity.

The President also inducted three new ambassadors: Enrique A. Manalo, permanent representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in Geneva; Malik G. Marandang, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya with concurrent jurisdiction over Republic of Algeria, Chad, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Tunisia and Niger; Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr., ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of South Africa with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Angola, Botswana, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kingdom of Lesotho and Swaziland.

Manalo was Charge d’ Affaires to the UN office in Geneva since 2000. He obtained his masteral degree in economics from the University of the Philippines in 1976. he is married to Pamela Louise Manalo and has two children.

Marandang has over 25 years of exemplary leadership in the government service. He obtained his bachelor of laws from the Mindanao State University and passed the Shari’a Bar examination on 1991. He is presently a consultant to Congressman Abdullah Dimaporo and married to Hadja Pitagaman M. Marandang.

Reyes was executive director of the Office Maritime and Ocean Affairs Center since July 2003. He obtained his A.B. Humanities degree from the Ateneo de Manila University and passed the Foreign Service Exam in 1978.

The President also swore into office her new Appointments Secretary Tomasito B. Monzon. He was previously the Presidential Adviser for Bicol Region. Former Presidential Protocol Officer Daniel C. Victoria was also inducted as the new member, Appeals Committee of the MTRCB; Concepcion H. Luis, as part-time Commissioner (Northern Philippines Languages), Commission on the Filipino Languages (CFL).