This campaign is about clout and experience, not getting a crash course in economics governance.

With a strong international reputation, economic expertise and deep governing experience, I can deliver the change we need.

Where our opponents will weaken international ties and drive away international investors, we shall continue to maintain the high international standing that has attracted billions of dollars in investments that have created new, high paying jobs.

That is why in the past two years the country has created 3 million jobs – compared with 500,000 under the previous administration.

We have created the nautical republic highway that unifies the country, bringing the benefits of fast travel and the ability to trade goods to people from Luzon to Mindanao.

We are making sure that by the end of the next three years we will have a school in every barangay and a computer in every school.

While corruption thrived in the past, for the first time ever high level government officials have been made subject to corruption checks that identify anyone who attempts to profit from their position.

The heat of partisan politics must not be allowed to seep into the economy and batter the peso.

Controversies are being handled with justice and fair play and the police have effectively maintained law and order.

Governance is institutionally stable but good sense is being overridden by phantom fears.

We must have confidence in democracy and in ourselves, in our capacity to hurdle crisis and to overcome our fears.

I ask for the highest level of statesmanship among all political leaders and contenders.

The PNP is to be commended for a job well done in upholding law and order with responsible firmness.

But we can also attribute the generally peaceful conduct of the rallies to the organizers and leaders of the protesters for maintaining discipline among their ranks.

In the interest of justice, the Philippine government is willing to help in the search of the locally-owned freighter being linked to the sea collision that killed five French fishermen last month.

But let us practice due process and not gunboat diplomacy.

The Philippine National Police is on top of this case and will conduct an in-depth investigation.

Allegations linking the Palace to the incident are unfair and unfounded.

Malacaņang today clarified that Housing Secretary Michael Defensor has not resigned but remains as the political spokesperson of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In a radio interview this morning, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said, however, that the President has designated former Press Undersecretary Cerge Remonde as full-time chief of the Media Bureau of the Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan para sa Kaunlaran (K-4).

Bunye said that Defensor handled, for a while, the interim Media Bureau. But, he said, that it’s now time to get a full-time manager for that bureau.

"We see the broadcast coverage as a very important component of the campaign, especially the television part of it. So, the President chose Remonde, who has broad experience in broadcast, to manage the Media Bureau," he said.

Defensor will continue to be the Presidential Spokesperson on campaign issues, while Bunye will take care of governance issues. Remonde will be head of the Media Bureau.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today became the first Filipina to receive the Ceres Medal of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in recognition of her efforts to modernize agriculture to attain food security, social equity and greater job opportunities in the rural areas.

FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf presented the Ceres Medal to President Macapagal-Arroyo during a simple ceremony, held this morning at Malacanang’s Rizal Room.

The Ceres Medal is named for an ancient Roman goddess believed to have taught mankind to plough the land, plant seeds and harvest food. Ceres symbolizes the important role of women in agricultural policy planning and program implementation, according to FAO.

President Macapagal-Arroyo said that she accepts the Ceres Medal, which is the woman’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize or the Oscar Awards for food and agriculture, "with great pride as well as with deep humility."

Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo joined the ranks of distinguished women leaders who have been conferred the Ceres Medal since FAO instituted the award in 1971. The awardees include Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, Queen Sirikit of Thailand, Prime Minister Helen Clarke of New Zealand, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh.

The President said that her administration is currently implementing a P20 billion agriculture modernization program. To attain food security, it is propagating the Gloria hybrid rice variety, which will double or even triple rice harvest in the country, she said.

In the short period of her presidency, she pointed out that the administration had irrigated 500,000 hectares. She pledged to irrigate one million hectares annually, if she would win in the May elections.

Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo said that the reforms in agriculture are part of her program design to reduce poverty, adding that bulk of the poor population lives in the rural areas.

She spelled out a four-part program against poverty. "Una ang paglikha ng trabaho, pangalawa ang modernisasyon ng agriculture, kasama ang reporma sa lupa, pangatlo ang direktang tulong sa mga mahihirap at pang-apat ang mabuting pamamahala. (First, the creation of jobs; second, modernization of agriculture, including agrarian reform; third, direct help to the poor; and fourth, good governance)."

In presenting the award, Diouf noted that, in the last three years of her administration, President Macapagal-Arroyo "set the goals for a liberalized economy, a modernized agricultural sector to enhance social equity, and economic growth to favor the disadvantaged groups.

He also cited the President’s "important initiatives" to improve the delivery of essential services and social justice."

"Your noteworthy accomplishments in the areas of poverty alleviation, protection of the environment and natural resources, economic growth and development of the infrastructure are brilliant testimonies of your determination and success," he added.

"To alleviate poverty," the FAO director general said, "you have given priority to food security, affordable housing, agrarian reform, secure jobs and livelihoods, health, education and special services."

He said that "FAO is proud to assist" President Macapagal-Arroyo in these efforts through its support for the agrarian reform program, which is now FAO’s largest technical assistance program in the Philippines.

MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has called the multi-sectoral organizations of the province to help her so that the good memories and remarkable achievements contributed to the country by late and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople will remain in the minds of the Filipino people.

The President made the appeal in her speech during her meeting with the leaders and members of the cooperative organization, farmers, fishermen, and non-governmental organizations at the ancestral house of Ka Blas yesterday in this city.

She visited the ancestral house of Ka Blas right after she and entire teammates in the K-4 coalition attended the Holy Mass at the historical Barasoain Chruch.

"Alang-alang kay Ka Blas gawin natin ang magagawa natin ng sa gayon itong down payment na nagawa namin ni Ka Blas ay maipagpatuloy para sa kapakanan ng ating bayan. Don’t waste all the good sacrifices done by Ka Blas," the President said.

The President told the leaders and members of the multi-sectoral groups that during the short term of Ople as secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs in her administration he (Ople) created more or less three (3) million jobs for the Filipinos through his effective foreign policy.

Secretary Ople passed away last December while he was on his way to Bahrain, but the President reiterated her congratulatory remarks and thanked his wife, Susana Ople, for the memorable word of her husband describing her as " a working President determined to achieve results."

"Siguro kung nabubuhay pa si Ka Blas, sasabihin niya sa inyo na iboto si Gloria dahil tinutulungan niya ang fishermen, farmers at women sector," she said.

She reported that in her three years in the presidency she successfully implemented and provided assistance to the women sector through her micro-finance scheme.

The President added that through the help of Ka Blas she signed into law the measures protecting women and children against violence. The late secretary also assisted her propagate the hybrid rice to the farmers of Bulacan.

From Malolos, the President and her teammates motored to Meycauayan. The President together with vice presidential candidate Noli "Kabayan" De Castro presided over the "Pulong Bayan" that was attended by local businessmen, farmers, fishermen, public school teachers and senior citizens of Meycauayan.

During the Pulong Bayan, both the President and De Castro assured the businessmen from the jewelry and leather industries of help to improve their business through trade promotion so that the design and quality of their products will be recognized not only in the Philippines but also worldwide.

The President also announced that all the public school teachers will receive P3,000 election allowance in the May 10 election while the they are waiting for the passage of a new law to increase their salary.

In line with her vision to make the country squatter-free, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo awarded today certificates of title reservation and project qualification to 3,700 qualified beneficiaries under the National Government Center Housing Project for East and West Batasan Hills, Quezon City.

The President also ordered the release of P1 million from the Presidential Social Fund (PSF) for the titling activities of the NGCHP and the NGC Eastside Development Project.

"Hindi na kayo squatters sa sariling bayan. Kayo ngayon ay legitimate homeowners na. (You are no longer squatters in your own country, you are now legitimate homeowners)," she said.

The President personally handed the 2,500 Certificates of Title Reservation to qualified beneficiaries under the National Government Center Housing Project (NGC-HP) on the Westside.

For the NGC-Eastside Development Project, she distributed 1,200 Certificates of Project Qualification.

She said the NGC land is essential considering its high market value of P22,000 per square meter compared to the adjacent well-known subdivision.

"Itong lupa na ito ay para sa inyo. Karapatan din ninyo na magkaroon na sariling lupa katulad ng sa iba pang malapit na subdivision. Kaya congratulations sa inyong mga bagong homeowners (This land is for you. You have a right to have this land like those in the adjacent subdivision. So congratulations, new homeowners)," she said.

Republic Act 9207 otherwise known as the National Government Center Housing and Land Utilization Act of 2003 ensures and fortifies the security of tenure of the project beneficiaries.

The awarded Certificate of Title Reservation is a certificate proving that there is an individual land titling being processed by the concerned authority and agency while the Certificate of Project qualification is a certificate given to a qualified beneficiary and a bona fide resident of the National Government Center-Eastside.

The government’s anti-drug caravan winds up on Sunday afternoon at the reclamation site in Pasay City highlighted by the turnover to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of over one million signatures mustered by the project organizers during their week-long tour across the country.

The signatures were collected from 300 key locations covered by the caravan, dubbed "Lakbay Laban sa Droga 2004" and launched simultaneously in various parts of the country. Participants of the caravan coming from Northern Luzon all the way down to Mindanao in the South will converge at the reclamation site for the culminating activities.

Mayors Wenceslao "Peewee" Trinidad of Pasay City and Lito Atienza of Manila will be on hand to welcome the participants.

Sunday’s affair will be a star-studded show featuring upcoming singer Sarah Geronimo and a bevy of other top performers.

The 16-leg caravan was a project of the Department of the Interior and Local Government in collaboration with the Dangerous Drugs Board, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) and the Batang Iwas Droga (BIDA) Foundation.

More than 100,000 students and other supporters of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s relentless campaign to eradicate the drug menace are expected to converge at the reclamation site in Pasay City for tomorrow’s affair.

The caravan was conceptualized to drumbeat popular support to the President’s all-out war against illegal drugs.

Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo, who vowed to carry the fight against prohibited drugs to the barangay level, has been cited by various sectors as the only national leader to exert serious efforts to stamp out the drug problem.

IBA, Zambales—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today that she is taking steps to monitor currency speculations in a bid to halt the peso slide vis-ā-vis the U.S. dollar.

At a press conference here, the President said that she is calling a meeting with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Rafael Buenaventura and Finance Secretary Juanita Amatong to discuss measures for arresting the speculative movements against the peso.

"I am calling the Central Bank Governor and the Secretary of Finance for a meeting on the peso and, as in the past, we had been able to arrest the speculative movements," the President said.

She also challenged all political leaders and contenders in the coming elections to apply the highest level of statesmanship in the campaign and to always bear in mind the best interest of the Filipino people.

The President stressed the importance of putting an end to destructive partisan politicking that is affecting the economy, including pulling down of the peso.

She said that governance is institutionally stable, but good sense is being overridden by phantom fears.

IBA, Zambales--President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo predicted here today heightened business activities for the province following completion of the ongoing construction of the Clark-Subic road project.

The President said the road would complement the existing Clark International Airport and the Subic International Seaport to boost tourism and export industries of Zambales.

The facilities would definitely attract tourists and investors alike, the Chief Executive said.

Construction of the road project was reported to the President by Zambales Gov. Vicente Magsaysay and Senator Ramon Magsaysay during a consultation dialogue at the Zambales Sports Complex here.

President Arroyo was accompanied in her Zambales sortie by running mate Sen. Senator Noli de Castro and her senatorial team.

The announcement was roundly welcomed by about 10,000 local residents who also manifested support to President Macapagal-Arroyo’s quest for a full six-year term in the forthcoming elections.

In the same forum, the President designated the Ramon Magsaysay Memorial University to be the center of research works on the further improvement of locally produced mango as a major export item of Zambales.

Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo also vowed to invite investors in the tuna canning industry in General Santos to locate in Zambales because of the province’s rich supply of tuna and other marine products.