The poor people of Mindanao have much to look forward to with the World Bank having extended a $987,648 grant to follow up and continue rural development in their area in the thrust to alleviate their plight.

The grant has been approved to support project preparations for the second phase of the Mindanao Rural Development Project (MRDP) which was designed to address specific concerns of poor rural communities in five provinces.

These are North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Agusan del Sur, Compostela Valley and Maguindanao where individual and community livelihood programs have been started with the proper training provided to ensure their successful implementation.

Specifically, the grant will support the Department of Agriculture in contracting technical assistance and engaging the next set of local government units and communities for the second phase of the MRDP.

This means more people and communities will be drawn into the MRDP and benefit from it to gain more income and provide their families and children with better opportunities.

The MRDP was initially funded through a $22-million loan issued by the World Bank and a grant of $1.25 million from the Global Environment Facility.

The latest grant is funded from the Japanese government’s Policy and Human Resources Development trust fund administered by the World Bank.

In addition to the grant for the MRDP, the World Bank also extended a $716,000 grant to strengthen the capacity of the government’s procurement program that seeks to eliminate corruption in the bureaucracy.

World Bank officials said the grant for capacity building will help strengthen the Government Procurement Policy Board to enforce and implement the Government Procurement Reform Act.

UMINGAN, Pangasinan – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last night said that the country is winning the battle against terrorism in her administration.

Speaking at the town fiesta here, the President said top Abu Sayyaf leader with a P5 million peso prize on his head, Hamsiraji Sali, was killed in Basilan on Maundy Thursday.

The President pointed out that because of the participation of the local community and foreign allies such as the US, the country is winning the fight against terrorism.

The President also emphasized that because of the help of the likes of Speaker Jose de Venecia, there is now a ceasefire between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao. Also with the help of Speaker de Venecia, the formal peace talks with the CCP/NDF/NPA have started.

"These are among the accomplishments of your President who is a genuine daughter of Pangasinan, who for a long time, has been helping the province of Pangasinan," she said.

"Unlike the others who claim to be from Pangasinan, but until now has not contributed even a bag cement to Pangasinan," the President added.

The President expressed hope that in the coming elections the residents will be together with the Koalisyon ng Karanasan at Katapatan sa Kinabukasan (K-4).

The President earlier donated to the municipality of Umingan one patrol car to strengthen it’s campaign against drugs.

The coming of the President here is the first time ever a president attended a fiesta in this town. It was the reason Umingan Mayor Alain Rabang, an NPC party member, has defected to the Lakas Party of the President.

Mayor Rabang said that the people of Umingan usually vote for the presidential candidate who makes an effort to go there and campaign.

"This is the first time in Umingan that a fiesta is being graced by the president of the land and a re-electionist at that, and the people will never forget such a gesture," Mayor Rabang said.

Umingan is a 35,000-vote-rich town, one of the biggest in the sixth district of Pangasinan. Urdaneta still has the biggest number of registered voters.

Congressman Conrado Estrella III said the victory of the President in the May elections would ensure more irrigation, farm-to-market roads, and construction of bridges needed to reach far-flung barangays in Umingan.

"On this Easter of hope, the scholarship program offers the promise of a bright tomorrow to millions of poor students and their families," the President said.

Dubbed "Isang Iskolar Para sa Mahirap na Pamilya," the program offers two years of free college education or vocational training for poor but deserving students.

The President set off the scholarship program at the Performing Arts Theater of the University of Perpetual Help here, where she distributed scholarship certificates to the first batch of 30 students. The first 1,000 scholars would come from Biņan.

The scholars can enroll in any government-run college or university, or any vocational school accredited with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

"Education for many is the key to rebirth and transformation. Today, I signed an executive order expanding access to secondary education through the "Isang Iskolar Para sa Mahirap na Pamilya Program," the Chief Executive said at the launching rite.

"Now, any capable, diligent Filipino child can get a college or vocational diploma through our free public elementary and secondary schools in the Iskolar and SAFE 4 SR programs," the President added.

The Iskolar ng Pamilya program covers the first two years of college education with the government shouldering P20,000 for the period for basic tuition, transportation and food allowance.

The President said the program, which complements the SAFE 4 SR (Students Assistance Fund for Education for a Strong Republic) would make education accessible to all, especially the poorest of the poor.

The President noted that only 10 out of 100 pupils that enter grade school finish college. She said education is one sure way of pulling people out of poverty. A successful college or vocational graduate can help the rest of the family.

President Macapagal-Arroyo said the list of prospective scholars would be culled from the roster of card-bearing members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

The President directed the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Health to assist the PhilHealth in identifying the projected family-beneficiaries of the program using records of the National Statistics Office to determine their economic status.

Under the executive order, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and TESDA are responsible for implementing the program in consultation with the Department of Education, the National Economic and Development Authority, the DSWD, DOH and DILG.

The magnitude and scope of the Iskolar program are unprecedented in the government’s long history of extending support to deserving students. One student from each of the five million families would be a major boost to the current 400,000 scholars which hardly make a dent in the overall needs for quality education, it was noted. Current loans and student assistance are generally not enough to cover the total cost of college education, Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo said.

BIŅAN, Laguna—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered this afternoon a full-dress investigation on the Black Saturday mass jailbreak at the Basilan rehabilitation center.

The President issued the order during a press briefing at the University of Perpetual Help in Binan, Laguna where she launched earlier the Iskolar ng Mahirap na Pamilya Program.

"I am ordering a thorough investigation on this matter to look for a possible collusion in the jailbreak and make them answerable for their offenses," the President said.

Fifty-three inmates of the rehabilitation center, among them suspected members of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf armed group, bolted the detention center in Isabela City, Basilan. Eight of the escapees were reported killed and nine recaptured by responding soldiers and policemen.

Despite the incident, President Macapagal-Arroyo maintained that the government’s anti-terror campaign remained on stream, citing as among its gains the killing on Maundy Thursday of Abu Sayyaf senior leader Hamsiraji Sali and five other suspected members of the group.

The President also mentioned the capture in Metro Manila of six other suspected Abu Sayyaf leaders and the confiscation of a cache of explosives believed intended for a series of bomb attacks in the metropolis.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina told reporters that hot-pursuit operations are being conducted by joint forces of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the military to recapture the escapees.