The German government has committed $91.2 million for its 2003-2004 cooperation agreement with the Philippines, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) said.

As total of $30.44 million is considered new commitment while the rest consists of reprogrammed funds which remained unused due to reduction in project scope, loan cancellation or non-viability of the project.

The amount of 2003-2004 funding is relatively similar to the 2001-2002 level, NEDA director for public investment Jonathan Uy said, although the budget seemed to double from $44.3 million to $78.2 million.

Uy said this was due to $60.36 million reprogrammed funds. New commitments for technical cooperation remained at about $14 million, he added.

Because of budgetary constraints faced by national government agencies, the German government agreed to expand local cost financing or channel loans to local government units although a national government guarantee and a financial intermediary will still be required for each project, Uy said

The Philippine government will also propose more projects from government-owned and controlled corporations because their budgets do not figure in the national government’s budget.

The four priority areas of the German-Philippine cooperation are economic reform and development of the market system; health, nutrition and family planning; environmental policy, protection and sustainable use of natural resources; and drinking water, water management, sanitation and waste management.

Although the regional focus of the German assistance is the Visayas, it will continue to support Mindanao, Uy said.

Uy said the German government stressed that commitments made under financial or technical cooperation would lapse if no implementation agreement has been made by the eighth year from the date of commitment. This means the commitments made during the 2003 negotiations will end by December 31, 2011.

I chose the entire slate of K4 after a series of consultations with well-meaning and patriotic leaders of various persuasions and walks of life.

It is a slate that is fully united behind the fight for change.

Each candidate has his or her own strong advocacies that flow into my agenda of reforming the market, reforming agriculture, reforming our social assets, reforming the bureaucracy and reforming our institutions of law and order.

K4 is united behind a strong economy that will drive investments, build infrastructure, improve wages and accord the people the means for upliftment and enterprise.

K4 is united against corruption and for the change in the political system.

We have no confirmation yet and the public must not be alarmed.

We have prepared for this over an extended period and we have learned our lessons well.

We have the proper facilities to isolate and treat any cases.

The air and sea-ports are on alert.

The public has been educated on the threat.

We are working closely with the international community.

With vigilance, preparedness and knowledge, we can meet and beat this threat if it rears again.

I appreciate the efforts of church authorities in support of the anti-jueteng campaign.

I have directed the PNP Chief to closely look into this allegation and to identify and charge those implicated as warranted by the evidence.

We will continue to fight corruption and the PNP leadership is waging a strong and relentless campaign to stamp out jueteng.

The official figures are not in yet but we are highly confident that we have met our targets.

EDSA 2 is not about political personalities. It is about ideals, like the pursuit of good governance and the fight against graft and corruption.

With this, Presidential Campaign Spokesman Michael Defensor defended the inclusion of personalities in the administration’s senatorial line-up who were not part of the 2001 People Power uprising against then President Joseph Estrada, saying their presence would hasten the healing process.

In a press briefing at Malacaņang, Defensor said the ideals remain at this time even as the government is pursuing healing and reconciliation. The only difference at that time was that they were supporting the former President "which we cannot take away from them."

He cited the case of former Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago who still paid his respects on Estrada even as she was pursuing exploratory talks with the administration.

"The ideals of EDSA 2 continue, the fight against graft and corruption continue but healing and reconciliation must go on," he explained.

Defensor welcomed the possible entry of Senator Santiago in the administration’ senate slate but he emphasized that nothing is final yet. The 12^th slot is still a toss-up among Santiago, Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan and Lakas-CMD spokesman Heherson Alvarez.

He pointed out that Alvarez has not been excluded yet and that the 12^th candidate will be announced within the week.

Defensor cited winnability, track record and integrity as the basis for evaluating the 12^th candidate who will complete the ruling coalition’s Senate lineup.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has appointed the youngest daughter of the late Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople, Susan Ople, 41, as an undersecretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Ople took her oath this afternoon before Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo at the Bonifacio Hall in Malacaņang.

Among those who witnessed the oath-taking were her mother, Susana, daughter Estelle, brothers Luis Ople and Hagonoy (Bulacan) Mayor Felix Ople, and Bulacan 2^nd District Rep. Wilfrido Villarama.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said incoming Undersecretary Susan Ople would help develop and implement the re-integration programs for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families.

Susan, known to many as "Toots," holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University where she received the Josephine Vernon Award of Excellence.

Like her father, Susan is also a writer and columnist, having authored "Hugs, Not Drugs – A Drug Abuse Prevention Manual," aside from writing a weekly column at the Manila Times.

She also hosts "Global Pinoy," a radio program devoted to national issues affecting OFWs every Saturday at radio station DWIZ.

Ople also co-founded the Citizens’ DrugWatch Foundation along with then Senator Ernesto Herrera.

Undersecretary Ople previously worked in the Senate as media relation’s officer and has a brief stint with the International Labor Organization as national coordinator of its women workers’ education program.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo reiterated this afternoon her pledge to eradicate the drug menace which, she said, has been gnawing on the moral fiber of the Filipino society and threatening the national security.

"We will fight for families encountering sorrows, quarrels and separation due to drug addiction. We will fight for the security of the state which is being preyed upon by the international drug syndicates," Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo said in a press briefing in Malacanang.

"I won’t stop until our country is safe from these threats, until we have redeemed our children from the dangers it poses, and until our government and society have been cleared of corruption bred by drugs," the President added.

Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo also called for total elimination of the drug lords and their coddlers.

Quoting from a report submitted by an anti-drug task force of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the President said that her total war against illegal drugs has posted significant gains over the past six months.

"Actual anti-drug campaign results confirm that the President has fought drugs like nobody has done before," Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye noted.

Re-intensifying her anti-drug war in June last year, President Macapagal-Arroyo vowed to carry the drive to every barangay across the country. She also pledged that her administration would go after the so-called "big fish" in the illegal drugs trade such as multinational syndicates, large-scale manufacturers and big-time traffickers and pushers.

In his report submitted to Malacanang, PNP Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay, head of the Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operations Task Force (AID-SOTF), said more than P13 billion worth of shabu and ephedrine were seized and 143 local drug groups neutralized since last June.

In addition, 18 shabu laboratories and warehouses were dismantled, resulting in a drastic reduction in drug supply and the doubling of its street retail price, Aglipay said.

During the same period, Aglipay said a total of 23,425 drug offenders were arrested and 16,651 drug cases filed in courts nationwide, while 3,571 barangays have been declared drug-free.

"These figures only show that the President is really serious when she declared that she herself will lead the war against illegal drugs, that she will bring the war to the barangays and go after the high and mighty who are behind the proliferation of drugs in our society," Aglipay pointed out.

He also reported that just last Dec. 26 2003, his men collared William Gan who uses the aliases Willy Gan and James Go Ong, a suspected leader of a transnational drug ring operating a shabu factory in Valenzuela City which was raided by government agencies last Nov. 11, 2003.

Gan, whose arrest ended three months of intensive intelligence operations, was presented to the President through a television hookup from Camp Crame.

"But all these achievements are not simply about fighting illegal drugs. Fighting drugs is also fighting corruption, preserving the family and upholding our national security," the President stressed.

She clarified that her administration is also combating corrupt "because drug lords operate in cahoots with corrupt (government) officials, (police) officers and soldiers."

"Our agenda is to preserve the nation, preserve the family and clean up the government," the President declared. She described her agenda as "important to the strength of the economy."

Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo also underscored her desire to reform the economy through foreign investments, domestic infrastructure development, job training and education. "All these cannot come to a society that cannot rid itself of the drug menace."

"We will fight for these changes through a strong leadership. We will have an administration that will topple crime and corruption, and a government that will unify the nation through its own capability and honesty," the President said.

For his part, Bunye cited officials and operatives of the different anti-drug agencies who participated in the successful raids for "professionalism, courage, honesty and devotion to duty" in carrying out the government’s all-out war against the drug menace.

Bunye added that the President has vowed to confer recognition and honors to the police officers and other government personnel involved in the campaign.

"Credit is also due to the community for working in tandem, and in secret, with law enforcement units in pursuing the operations. The President knows there are many quiet performers in the communities, and she would like the PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) to keep a scorecard so an effective merit and reward system can be implemented," the Palace said in a statement.

Bunye pointed out that teamwork among the pertinent government agencies was paying off, specifically the PDEA under (ret) Gen. Anselmo Avenido, the AID-SOTF and the Bureau of Customs under Commissioner Antonio Bernardo.