The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said that it is throwing its support behind the plan to establish a Regional Economic Zone Authority (REZA) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

DTI Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said the proposed REZA was in line with the government’s efforts to boost economic development in the region.

Purisima said that the DTI was positioning ARMM as the jump-off point for exports to the Middle East. "We could position the area as the center for halal-certified products," Purisima said.

"Halal" refers to foods that Muslims consider to have passed the dietary restrictions prescribed by Islam.

"The halal product market is worth about $250 billion worldwide. Securing even a small portion of that market would be good for the region and the country," Purisima said.

He also said that there was a potential venture in exporting chicken- processed "halal" to the Middle East.

The ARMM legislature recently approved the plan to put up the REZA and Purisima said that the DTI was fully behind the proposal.

"DTI officials have met with Regional Trade Secretary Ishak Mastura who is my counterpart in ARMM," Purisima said.

"The REZA is a good initiative to develop the ARMM. In fact, there are some exporting companies currently operating in the region," he said.

Purisima cited the partnership between Paglas Corporation and La Frutera Inc. in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao, which is doing well in the export of bananas to the Middle East.

Industry data show that the banana company is committed to invest $50 million for the expansion of its plantations to Lanao de Sur, also in the ARMM.

Purisima also said that the region is host to a thriving textile industry and could be a potential source of carageenan, which is used to process food, beverage and frozen confections.

He explained that the REZA would function like the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and that the authority would identify the areas that can be converted into economic zones.

PAGADIAN CITY—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo continued to draw huge crowds in her four-day sortie in Lanao del Sur and the three Zamboanga provinces.

In a show of mass support for the President, an estimated 18,000 people overflowed the Pagadian City Gymnasium to cheer the tandem of "Gloria-Kabayan" and the entire Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan para sa Kinabukasan (K4) senatorial lineup in their proclamation rally held here last night.

"Gloria! Gloria! Gloria!" the Pagadian folks chanted, expressing their allout support for the President’s bid for a full six-year mandate in the May 10 elections.

In an earlier political rally, even the strong rains did not prevent some 12,000 people to show their massive support for the President’s candidacy in another rally held in Margosatubig Gym, just outside this capital city of Zamboanga del Sur.

The Tausug, Subanons and Maranao tribes joined their Christian brothers in welcoming the President and the K-4 candidates during their entire stay in Zamboanga del Sur before proceeding today to Ipil, Zambonga Sibugay for the third leg of their campaign sortie in Mindanao.

Those who threw their support for the President and K-4 lineup included officers and members of different civic and political organizations in Pagadian City, such as the Progressive and Active Group for Appropriate Sustainable Social Action (PAG-ASSA), Solo Parents’ Welfare of Balintawak, and the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats of Tukuran and Tambulig towns of Zamboanga del Sur.

Elected local executives who rooted for the President and her ticket included Pagadian City Mayor Henrito Dogon, Zamboanga del Sur 1^st District Rep. Isidro Real, 2^nd District Rep. Filomena San Juan, Provincial Board Member Dina Marasigan and the municipal mayors and barangay captains of the province.

The results of the Pulse Asia (PA) and Social Weather Stations (SWS) surveys released the past few days are not necessarily contradictory and can be reconciled, Malacañang said today.

That the PA survey shows President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo already leading Fernando Poe, Jr. and the SWS poll indicates Poe still ahead of the President are because they were conducted at different periods, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a radio interview this morning.

The PA survey was done later, after the start of the campaign period. The SWS poll, on the other hand, was held before the presidential candidates hit the hustings, Bunye explained.

Bunye added that Malacañang is not interested in the actual figures of the surveys but on the trends that they show. Even the last SWS survey, when compared with the one before it, showed the President catching up and the margin going down, Bunye stressed.

Bunye also brushed aside allegations that Poe continues to lead in the SWS survey because SWS chief Mahar Mangahas is a relative of Poe. "We will not listen to this kind of talk," Bunye said.

"In the past, we saw the results of SWS were credible and their methodology all right," Bunye said.

On the proposed debate among presidential candidates, Bunye said the President is willing to have the rules changed to accommodate Poe.

"The President is amenable to have the debate venue in Tondo as Poe desired. The President is also amenable to have the debate in Tagalog," Bunye said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine Navy, and all the other government agencies involved in the search and rescue operations of the ill-fated Super Ferry 14 to continue their operations until all the missing victims are accounted for.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said today that the President gave the order while on a four-day provincial campaign sortie in Mindanao. The President is now in Zamboanga Sibugay, the third leg of her four-province swing in Mindanao that will end tomorrow.

Bunye said that the specific orders of the President is for the search and rescue people to find all the missing victims and to keep their families and the public posted of regular developments.

According to Bunye, the President has also ordered the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) to conduct a thorough inquiry into the incident and to pinpoint responsibility.

He said that the DOTC has also been ordered to implement strictly the pertinent maritime laws so as to prevent the occurrence of similar incident.

Two passengers were reported to have died while some 112 are still missing when the passenger ship caught fire Friday morning off Corregidor Island.

The Philippine Navy said that as of 6:00 p.m. Friday, a total of 766 passengers and crewmen had already been rescued.

In a related incident, the President has also ordered the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to extend all possible assistance to the victims of a fire in Parañaque City early this morning.

We assure the families of the missing passengers and crew that the search and rescue operations will not be called off until all of them are accounted for.

We must keep their families and the public posted regularly of developments.

The authorities will get to the bottom of this incident by ferreting out the full circumstances behind the fire and take steps to ensure it does not happen again.

The DOTC must come up soonest with stricter guidelines in the implementation of our maritime laws.

Meanwhile, I am directing the NDCC to look after the families rendered homeless by the Parañaque fire.

The victims must be given food, water and temporary shelter.

This is time when we must pool our resources and energies together to uplift the less fortunate.

The purveyors of destabilization should instead devote their energies to ensuring honest, orderly and peaceful elections.

We have amply shown that attempts to grab power will not and will never succeed under this administration.

Moreover, the people have become tired of coup talks and No-El scenarios at a time when they are eager to make their votes count.

IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, along with her running mate, Sen. Noli "Kabayan" de Castro, and five of the K-4 senatorial candidates, arrived here this morning to a rousing welcome by an estimated 10,000 supporters who filled up the Ipil Gymnasium here to the rafters.

The President motored here from Pagadian City. She was officially welcomed by Governor Eugenio Famor, Representative Belma Cabilao, and the mayors of the various municipalities of the province.

Speaking in fluent Cebuano, the President was applauded the most when she vowed to improve the road from Pagadian City to Ipil which, according to her, should be modernized to speed up the development of the entire Zamboanga peninsula.

She said she saw the need to improve the road after traveling by land to Ipil from Pagadian City.

Earlier speakers at the rally were "Kabayan" Noli and the K-4 senatorial bets that included Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Parouk Hussin, Sen. Robert Barbers, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, Pampanga Gov. Lito Lapid and former Videogram Regulatory Board Chairman Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr.

After a political rally, the President held a press conference at the Sibugay Grand Plaza Hotel, where she reiterated her pledge to work for peace and development not only of Zamboanga Sibugay but of the whole Mindanao.

This is the third leg of the President’s four-day, four-province sortie in Mindanao that started last Wednesday in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur.

From Ipil, the President would motor to Diplahan for the inauguration of the Diplahan-Malangas Road, and then proceed to Buug where she will hold another pulong-bayan and political rally at the Buug Gymnasium.

Later in the day, the President will inaugurate the Quezon Bridge in Barangay Estaka in Dipolog City in Zamboanga del Norte.

I would like to announce that the police have already identified a prime suspect in the slaying of Vice Mayor Juvy Magsino of Naujan, Mindoro Oriental and her companion, Leyma Fortu.

The investigation has confirmed that this is a purely criminal act without any ideological undertones in which the police or the military are implicated, directly or circumstantially.

I commend the PNP Director for MIMAROPA for getting at the bottom of this case.

IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today asked the transport groups not to go through with their strike on Monday because the government is looking for ways to increase the assistance already provided for them.

"I would like to appeal to these transport groups that in as much as they have been so good to our riding public all this time, we’ve been also assisting them," the President said during press conference at Sibugay Grand Plaza Hotel here this afternoon.

The President has lauded the transport groups for the patience they showed because in the past they never demanded any fare hikes.

"I am very grateful for the transport groups because in the past they have never demanded an increase in fares and have been very understanding of the general public," the President said.

She said that every time there were oil price increases in the world market, the government assisted the transport groups by providing them help in different ways, such as giving them discounts in some particular gas stations, reducing the tariff on their spare parts, providing rice subsidies and so on.

The President urged the transport groups to help her find ways by increasing the assistance that are already extended to them.

Every June, the annual increase in tuition and other fees is the biggest obstacle to making quality higher education accessible to all students. While respecting the rights of school owners and teachers, the government must address the problem and strengthen the regulatlion of such increases.

Thus, I have directed CHED to issue policy guidelines to regulate tuition and fee increases, as follows:

1. Increases in tuition and other fees in higher education will be based on the previous year’s average inflation rate, as determined by NEDA. Thus, for example, if inflation for 2004 will average 4%, CHED will only allow a maximum of 4% in tuition and other fees for 2005.
2. An institution may apply for higher increases up to 10%, but CHED will approve it only if the Student Council and Parents’ Association will agree.
3. For incoming college freshmen, increases may be allowed up to 15%, provided there is sufficient justification and CHED approves it.
4. For seniors and graduating students, CHED will make available no-interest loans payable after graduation to cover any increase in tuition or other fees.

IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay – Instead of traveling via the more convenient chopper, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo opted to take the long road from Pagadian City to this sleepy municipality to experience for herself the rigors of land travel hereabouts.

The four-and-a-half hour trip appalled her. The rough and tumble ride jarred her so much so that when she faced the crowd that gathered for the penultimate stop of her four-province sortie over the weekend, she only had one thing in mind.

She told the more than 10,000 residents gathered at the Ipil gymnasium Saturday she would prioritize the completion of the Pagadian-Zamboanga highway to further boost the economy and living conditions of the province especially the municipality of Ipil.

"I noticed that your major problem here in the province is the highway," she said. "Once I win in the presidential election I will complete the construction of your highway," the President told the overflow crowd at the gym which served as the venue for the political rally of the K-4 coalition.

For a start, the President ordered the release of P2 billion to finance the construction of the Dipolog City-Ipil road, part of her plan for Mindanao, particularly the Zamboanga peninsula.

Zamboanga Sibugay province is composed of 16 municipalities and 387 barangays. These municipalities are Tungawan, Roselier T. Lim, Ipil (the capital of the province), Titay, Naga, Siay, Kabasalan, Imelda, Diplahan, Buug, Malangas, Alicia, Payao, Mabuhay, Talusan and Olutanga.

The President and her party were warmly received here by the overflow crowd at the gymnasium.

Actors-turned politicians Ramon "Bong" Revilla and Lito Lapid along with other K4 senatorial candidates Parouk Hussin, Robert Barbers, Senator Rodolfo Biazon and vice presidential candidate Noli De Castro joined the President.

The Chief Executive was on the third day of campaign here, where she presented her plan for Mindanao, particularly Zamboanga.

Zamboanga, she said, stands to benefit from the P22-billion a year agricultural modernization program she started in her three-year term.

"The government programs and projects implemented in Mindanao, particularly in Zamboanga, were just half the entire plan, the other half would be fulfilled once the people give me another six-year term," the President, speaking in Visayan dialect, told the Zamboangeños.

Aside from the multi-billion agricultural modernization program, the President also assured them other projects such as farm to market roads, farm irrigation, additional school buildings and foreign investments.

The President Friday visited Marawi and Pagadian. She is scheduled to go to Dipolog City later Saturday.

After the campaign rally, the President held a press conference before taking a quick lunch with the K-4 team and other officials at Sibugay Grand Plaza Hotel.

The President also inspected and inaugurated the Diplahan-Malangas Road in Malangas, Zamboanga Sibugay.

Immediately after the inspection and inauguration, the President proceeded to Buug town for the Pulong Bayan.