VATICAN CITY -- Brief but meaningful.

That could very well describe President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s one-on-one audience with Pope John Paul II Saturday but for a devout Catholic head of state she said it has always been a great honor to be with His Holiness.

"He has always been a very inspiring presence in my life and that of our nation," she said as she recalled the 10 minutes she spent with the ailing Pope at the Vatican Library.

She emphasized the fact that the Pope was able to "bounce" back after an intestinal illness forced him to cancel his appointments two days before her visit here. It was a good sign and shows how important the Philippines is to the Catholic hierarchy.

The meeting, actually was long in coming after the Vatican’s previous invitation for the President and her family to see the Pope last year was cancelled due to the problem of deportees in Malaysia that needed her attention then.

"The Pope loves the Philippines and the Filipinos," related the President. "He reminisced his 1995 visit to the country during World Youth day when five million Filipinos came to see him at Luneta, a world record in attendance."

She said the Pope is aware of the country’s peace efforts in Mindanao and the fact that "we are the third largest Catholic country in the world and the biggest in Asia."

After the one-on-one, the President, dressed in black and wearing a veil, introduced the First Gentleman, Jose Miguel Arroyo, and the rest of the First Family and members of the Presidential party, including Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. and his wife, Presidential Adviser for Media and Religious Affairs Conrado Limcauco, Defense Undersecretary Constancia de Guzman, Mrs. Rosario Montenegro, mother of Mikey’s wife Angela, and Ambassador to the Holy See Francisco Alba.

The President then presented the Pope an antique altar piece from Bohol with the Blessed Virgin as a centerpiece. His Holiness in return gave her a framed bronze sculpture of the Virgin Mary. He also distributed rosaries in boxes to the members of the delegation.

VATICAN CITY (via PLDT) – Describing the Pope as "the greatest moral authority in the world," President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Saturday that her administration would continue to follow closely Roman Catholic doctrines in its public policy.

In an interview with Vatican Television at the President’s Royal Suite at the historic St. Regis Grand Hotel here, Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo said the government will continue to promote natural methods of family planning, oppose legislation on divorce and abortion, maintain the moratorium on the death penalty, and improve moral standards in public service and safety.

"Eighty-three percent of Filipinos are baptized as Roman Catholics," the President told Vatican Television interviewer Alessandro Di Bussolo, "that’s why they love and revere the Pope and consider him the greatest moral authority in the world."

She said that some five million people went to the Luneta Park in 1995 to see Pope John Paul II during his visit to Manila. She said it was the biggest crowd that gathered for the Pope in world history.

The President then paid tribute to the more than 8 million Filipinos working in 140 countries all over the world, saying that their remittance of about $8 billion yearly is vital to the country’s economy.

VATICAN CITY—Lucent Technology has offered to undertake a P4 billion project that would provide modern communication facilities for the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

This was learned from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself in a press briefing with Filipino journalists covering her visit to Rome, including Manila-based, and Rome-based reporters.

During the briefing held at Regis Hotel here, the President said Malacanang would submit the proposal to a Swiss challenge.

The Swiss challenge, she explained, requires that all unsolicited project proposals be published and possible counter proposals be invited to enable the government to get the best deal possible.

This requirement, she said, is also mandated under the law governing the award of contracts for build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) projects.

The President did not elaborate on the details of the project, saying she has asked Lucent to submit the formal proposal so it could be challenged.

The President met with the officials of Lucent during her last day in New York City, the first stop of the five-day visits to the United States and Europe.

The state of the Philippine economy is better that what it is perceived to be.

This was the common observation of the foreign investors setting in President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s board of international observers whom she met with in New York City on the last day of the first leg of her five-day visit to the United States and Europe.

The President said the board of advisers echoed the concern of many foreign investors that the good state of the economy is not reflected in public perception.

She said the investors cited the good economic performance of the country, particularly the 4.8 percent growth in the gross national product (GNP) in the first semester of 2003, which indicates a better condition of the economy.

Despite the good economic performance posted in the first six months of the year, many Filipinos complain that the economy has turned for the worse.

The President said the foreign investors are puzzled why public perception contradicts the positive economic indicators recorded.

"Maybe the media should tell me," the President quipped.

Mrs. Arroyo particularly cited the presentation given by Johnny Santos on the sales pattern of Nestle Philippines.

The presentation, she recalled, indicated that consumption continues to go up in the Philippines even at the height of crisis,

"Even during the impeachment trial (of then President Estrada) and the 1997 Asian financial crisis, consumption still went up," the President said.

VATICAN CITY ( via PLDT) – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Saturday that peace in Mindanao is within grasp.

The President said in an interview aired on the Vatican Television that peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are about to start in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Before flying to Rome, President Macapagal-Arroyo had discussed with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at the United Nations Headquarters in New York the resumption of peace talks with the MILF. Mahathir has offered to broker and host the peace talks at Kuala Lumpur in October 2003.

In her administration’s peace efforts in Mindanao, the President told Vatican Television interviewer Alessandro Di Bussolo, "we are being helped by Malaysia, Indonesia, Libya, Bahrain, the United States, and other members of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC)."

"They have emphasized that they don’t condone terrorism. I’m grateful for the support of our Islamic neighbors," she added.

The President said that, in her administration’s peace initiatives, it recognizes that conflicts can’t be solved by military means alone.

"Political, cultural, and economic means are also important," she said. "Political means include working for a peace process. Cultural means include inter-faith understanding. Economic means include fighting poverty because poverty is the breeding ground for the recruits of terrorism."