I acknowledge the clamor of our workers for better pay and I believe ordinary Filipinos must not only be guaranteed jobs, but also be paid well enough to sustain their daily family needs.

This is being done in a way that is acceptable to both the employers and the workers, and determined by the market as well as social and humane considerations.

The incident is condemnable, although it is isolated and does not affect the stability of the overall security situation.

These acts of terrorism are clearly intended to influence public perceptions in the run up to the elections, to instill fear or to erode confidence.

The President has already ordered the intensification of security measures to thwart terrorist attacks.

SORSOGON CITY—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has vowed to fulfill a "dream project" of her late father, President Diosdado Macapagal, to extend the train services down to Matnog, Sorsogon.

At a Pulong Bayan, held Sunday afternoon at the Sorsogon City Gymnasium, the President said that providing railway services down to Matnog, at the southernmost tip of Luzon, is not a dream anymore under her watch.

"I would like to report to you that my administration has been able to find financial assistance for this project," she said, adding that it signed early this year with the People’s Republic of China a loan agreement for US$ 900 million.

In the question and answer portion of the Pulong, President Macapagal-Arroyo and her vice presidential running mate Senator Noli de Castro both assured the people of Sorsogon City that the railway project was real and not a political gimmick.

The Chief Executive said the strong bilateral relations that her administration had forged with China helped clinch the loan agreement with the China National Technical Import Export Corporation (CNTIEC).

The CNTIEC had made a feasibility study on the Manila–Matnog rail route that was completed in November 2003, she said.

President Macapagal-Arroyo said that the bidding for construction of the project will held after expiration of the election ban imposed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The President acknowledged the presence in the Pulong Bayan of Mrs. Gina de Venecia, wife of House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. She thanked Speaker de Venecia for his role in sealing the loan agreement with the CNTIEC.

Sorsogon Governor Raul Lee, Camarines Sur Governor Luis Villafuerte, Albay Governor Al Francis Bichara, Camarines Norte Governor Jesus Typoco, Catanduanes Governor Leandro Verceles and Masbate Governor Antonio Kho attended the Pulong Bayan. The provincial executives have pledged their support for President Macapagal-Arroyo’s bid for a six-year term in the May 10 elections.

SORSOGON CITY – In a show of their unwavering support for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the May 10 elections, six Bicolano governors joined her in barnstorming the regional bailiwick of Alyansa ng Pag-asa presidential bet Raul Roco.

Governor Raul Lee of Sorsogon, Governor Al Francis Bichara of Albay, Governor Luis Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, Governor Jesus Typoco Jr. of Camarines Norte, Governor Leandro Verceles Jr. of Catanduanes and Governor Antonio Kho of Masbate went out in force to welcome President Macapagal-Arroyo, who visited this city Sunday.

The Bicol provincial executives also expressed their support for Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo’s vice presidential running mate Sen. Noli de Castro and the entire senatorial slate of the Koalisyon ng Karanasan at Katapatan sa Kinabukasan.

The governors, along with their leaders and followers, noted that President Macapagal-Arroyo was able to solidify the Bicol votes ahead of next month presidential polls, making her the "candidate to beat" in the region.

In Sorsogon, 11 out of the 14 mayors had assured Governor Lee of their support for the Gloria-Kabayan team and the K-4 senatorial bets.

SORSOGON CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo says that her government has provided coconut and rice farmers with more benefits than the previous administration.

Speaking at a Pulong Bayan, held Sunday afternoon at the Sorsogon City gymnasium, the President said that the price of copra has increased to P22.00 per kilo under her watch compared with only P2.00 during the term of former President Joseph Estrada.

President Macapagal-Arroyo told the Pulong Bayan, in which her vice presidential running mate Senator Noli de Castro acted as moderator, that the insurance of coco farmers also doubled to P10,000 during the short period of her presidency.

She also pointed that coco manufacturers now produce a variety of high value products out of coconut, like coco diesel, coco oil and coco ethanol.

Turning to rice farming, the President said that her administration makes available two kinds of cards to farmers who are participating in the propagation of the high-yielding Gloria rice variety.

To bring the government closer to the people and speed up the delivery of services to them, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wants a shift from our current presidential form of government to a federal or parliamentary one, Malacaņang said today.

There is also the desire to hasten the progress and development of the country for it to catch up with Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand, all of which are under a parliamentary or federal system.

Presidential Deputy Spokesman Ricardo Saludo said in a radio interview this morning that local governments have more autonomy under the federal system, thus they can respond faster to the needs of the people.

And if the people do not want their local officials, they can change them faster because they have a stronger hold on them in elections than those in the national government, Saludo added.

Local officials themselves will set policies to uplift the lives of the people who can exert greater pressure on them in elections under the federal system, Saludo further explained.

In the parliamentary system, the executive and legislative branches are merged for faster action in enacting laws for the development of the country, Saludo said. .

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye revealed today that he enjoys his job even as he has been having difficulty keeping in pace with an indefatigable President who, he described, is a leader with a vision.

Speaking at a CEO (chief executive officer) Leadership Breakfast Forum of the Standard Chartered Bank at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City, Bunye said he does not mind working "long and odd" hours because President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo works longer than he does.

Bunye said he has been the President’s mouthpiece for almost two years now, which is longer than most of his predecessors, but the "wear and tear of the work do not seem to show (on my person)."

The reason for his "comparative longevity," Bunye said, was the fact that he enjoys working for the President. "I fully believe in her and I share in her vision."

"I have accompanied her on most of her foreign trips and I have seen how she worked in the plane long after most of the members of the delegation have fallen asleep," the Malacanang official recalled.

He added that even presidential security people who are soldiers trained to endure hardships, sometimes find it difficult to keep pace with the President.

Bunye asserted that Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo is full of energy because she is "driven by a very clear vision" for the country and its people.

"She is fighting for change. Change for the people of this country. Change to lift them up from poverty," Bunye stressed.

To achieve the reforms, Bunye said the President has so much to do in so little time.

He added that President Macapagal-Arroyo is struggling to bring about fundamental changes in the people’s way of life, in policy-making, in the country’s political system and in the delivery of basic government services to the people.

"President Gloria knows she needs to put our economy and our country in good shape if we want to catch up with our neighbors." Bunye told the bank executives.

He also said the President was able to turn things around in a little over three years, indicating that it was a dramatic accomplishment considering that she inherited an unstable government and a basket-case economy.

He proceeded to recite a litany of accomplishments of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. "But that is not enough. President Gloria has got to do more," Bunye added.

Batting for wider support for the President’s bid for a full six-year term in the May 10 elections, Bunye said she must be given a fresh mandate to continue chasing her visions.

Some 4,000 drivers and owners of major taxi companies operating in Metro Manila have expressed solid support to the candidacy of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who, they said, was the first Chief Executive to champion their cause and improve their plight.

The Pinag-Isang Lakas ng Taksi Drayber at Operator ng Pilipinas (PILTOP) Inc., through their officers led by Edwin Revilla, chairman; Demetrio Santos, executive vice chairman; and Alexander Macabata, secretary-general, made the commitment to First Gentleman Jose Miguel T. Arroyo during an oathtaking ceremony in Malacaņang last Sunday.

Revilla, a taxi driver of Saigon Transport, pointed out that the organization's leadership and members were very much aware of the present administration's sincerity in assisting them on their concerns and problems, particularly those pertaining to their safety while on the streets.

These problems were provided with appropriate attention and solutions, he said, citing for one the provision of free P10,000 accident insurance which was very beneficial to Piltop members, he said.

According to Revilla, some of their members who met accidents and the families of those who died had benefited from the accident insurance.

He revealed that the First Gentleman personally provided the money out of his own pocket if the beneficiaries failed to receive the benefit within three days of the accident.

Aside from accident insurance, the group's members have been extended free medical, financial and burial aid and referral to government agencies, Revilla said.

The Piltop chairman said they would always treasure the moments they occasionally shared with the First Gentleman, like eating "balut" together during informal fellowship-dialogues in the wee hours of the night in Manila.

In a letter to the President, the group expressed its support for her candidacy in the coming May 10 elections.

"Naniniwala kami na tanging si Presidente Arroyo lamang ang makatutulong na mapaunlad ang bansa (We firmly believe that it is only President Arroyo among other presidential candidates who can lead the country to progress)," Revilla said.

The group’s members, as well as their families and relatives, would vote and campaign for the President to ensure her victory and that of her ticket, Revilla assured.

Among the Piltop officers who signed the letter were Gumercindo Paduga, 1st vice chairman; Gerardo Getopa, 2nd vice chairman; Joseph Tupil, assistant secretary-general; Gerardo Cruz, national treasurer; Rudy Salvador, national auditor; and the 19 members of the board of directors.

In appreciation of her vital role in supporting and promoting their welfare, Piltop also gave the President a certificate of recognition.

Elizabeth Oviado, wife of Baltazar, a Saigon taxi driver who suffered a heart attack and died in Manila October of last year, took Sunday's occasion to thank the President and Mr. Arroyo for the accident insurance benefit. She said their family received the P10,000 immediately after her husband died.

Members of Piltop also thanked the First Couple for giving them the opportunity to enter and see Malacaņang.

Still in awe over this rare chance, Alfredo Roca, 58, of Ken Taxi, said he could hardly believe that after more than 25 years of being a taxi driver he, together with other drivers, was able to enter the Palace.

The Filipino-Chinese community will not deliver a solid vote to a single candidate in the May 10 elections as claimed by the opposition camp, a Filipino-Chinese businessman said.

In a press briefing presided by Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye this afternoon at the Emperor Villa in Binondo, Manila, Chinese General Hospital (CGH) president Dr. James Dy said that despite claims to the contrary, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has a strong following in the Chinese community.

Dy rebuffed the reported survey that indicates Filipino-Chinese businessmen have thrown their support to opposition standard-bearer actor Fernando Poe Jr.

"I think the Filipino-Chinese community is divided. Filipino-Chinese are rooting for different candidates in the coming presidential polls, some go to Ping Lacson, others are supporting FPJ but there is strong support for President Arroyo. There is no such thing as solid support to one candidate," the businessman said.

Secretary Bunye supported the statement made by Dy, saying the government is hearing a different tune in the survey conducted by a group of Filipino-Chinese businessmen.

Bunye stressed that the best proof of the wide support of the Chinese community to President Macapagal-Arroyo in the next elections would be reflected by the result on the May 10 polls.

"I hear otherwise and I think the best proof of this will be in the election itself," Bunye said.

Malacanang today indicated that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would be a healing leader if given a new mandate in the May 10 elections.

"In the six-year term, she would ensure that this would be a government united or a people united," Presidential Chief of Staff Rigoberto Tiglao said in a press briefing this afternoon in Malacanang.

Tiglao admitted that it is still too early to talk about the details, but added that the President "would strive to unite all the political forces in her next administration."

Addressing the Philippine Bar Association Friday evening at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City, Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo said she intends to put up a government of national unity consisting of the "best and brightest" minds available, regardless of political affiliation.

To attain her objective, the Chief Executive said she would initiate unification and reconciliation talks with all opposition leaders immediately after the elections.

"I also intend to share political powers as broadly as possible," the President said. "I would invite the political opposition, even my enemies, to forget politics and send their most excellent representative to our government."

Tiglao expressed confidence that unlike in the past, the President would succeed in her next attempt at national unification because the forthcoming polls would give her a solid mandate.

He stressed that President Macapagal-Arroyo has smarted from her previous attempt at unification immediately after the May 1, 2001 siege of Malacanang by Estrada loyalists.