I stated my position on the citizenship issue from the very beginning.

My office shall uphold decency, civility and good governance.

We shall give serious weight to the final recommendations of the Senate and prosecute any wrongdoers.

We will not hesitate to take firm action.

The decision signals the inexorable momentum of good governance.

This is a victory of the average Filipino who is fighting for change in the political system.

We have made a down payment in unprecedented changes that make us more secure, strengthen our families and stamp our corruption.

We are not preoccupied with image issues, but with hard line governance and performance issues.

This has been conveyed down the line as the differentiating factor in this campaign.

The President has led the gains of our nation in so short a time, turned around the economy, brought in investments, created jobs and given average Filipinos the tools to succeed.

The National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force is on top of this case.

If this was a kidnap-for-ransom, the President wants NAKTAF to unmask the group responsible and to bring them before the bars of justice while ensuring the safety of the victim.

The President joins the family of the 15 missing Filipinos in praying for a miracle that somehow they are still alive.

Malacaņang today said the ongoing "Patubig" program of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will help mitigate the impact of a possible water shortage.

In a radio interview this morning, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that under this water program, aside from the laying out of deep wells in different barangays, overhead water tanks are also provided to collect rainwater.

On Wednesday, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Elisea Gozun called on the public to conserve water to lessen the impact of an impending water crisis.

In a press briefing in Malacaņang, Gozun said there are now 10.8 million people being served by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS). "If each one will do his or her share to conserve water, it would be a big factor to mitigate the adverse effects of a water shortage," Gozun said.

She said the government intends to launch an information dissemination on water conservation through infomercial that had been developed by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) on the instructions of the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

These infomercials will be released in the next few days through the television, radio and in certain theaters to encourage the public to conserve water.

According to Secretary Bunye, even before the projected water shortage, the President has already directed the identification of blighted areas without clean and potable water.

"That is the reason why the President launched her ‘Patubig’ program in different places in Metro Manila," Bunye said, adding that this program has already been extended outside of Metro Manila, starting in Tanay, Rizal.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today designated Marietta Chou, a career official, as officer-in-charge of the Records Management and Archives Office (RMAO) vice Ricardo Manapat who went on an indefinite leave of absence.

The appointment paper of Chou, which was released by Malacaņang today, was coursed through the Chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCAA). The RMAO is under the NCAA.

Chou, who has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education degree and a Master’s degree in Government Management, rose through the ranks as a career officer at the RMAO.

She is presently a Training Specialist V, with the rank of division chief at the RMAO. Her responsibilities include the planning and developing programs for nationwide training on records and archives management.

A native of Oriental Mindoro, Chou has been considered an expert in her field, having held various executive positions on records and archives management.

Manapat announced in a press conference this morning that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence "to clear his name" from allegations of wrongdoing in connection with the citizenship issue involving presidential candidate Fernando Poe, Jr.

In a statement, the President said that she would give "serious weight to the final recommendations of the Senate and prosecute any wrongdoers" in reacting to the Senate probe on the alleged forging of documents related to the citizenship of Poe.

"We will not hesitate to take firm action. No one is above the law," the President said.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) are looking for ways to settle unpaid claims of contractors to ensure completion of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s high impact infrastructure projects.

In a report to Malacaņang, the DPWH said that it is in constant contact and coordination with the DBM on the release of notices of cash allocations (NCAs) to contractors that are undertaking vital public works projects nationwide.

Earlier, the President had directed the two agencies to address the tight cash flow situation of the contractors because delays in paying their billings would adversely affect the rate of completion of infrastructure projects throughout the country.

Due to delayed settlement of bills, some projects are reported to have been stalled for lack of equipment and demoralization of manpower.

Both DPWH and DBM have agreed that contractors’ claims, filed as of Nov. 15, 2003, will be paid by end of January 2004, while claims submitted as of Dec. 31, 2003 will be settled before end of February 2004.

Meanwhile, Public Works Secretary Florante Soriquez reported to the President that the Masbate Circumferential Road, one of the high impact infrastructure projects of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration in Bicol, is almost complete.

Soriquez said that as of Dec. 21, 2003, the project is already 84.18 percent complete and will be open for public use by end of April 2004.

The Masbate Circumferential Road is located in the 2^nd congressional district of the province, which lies at the southern part of the Bicol Peninsula. The 2.18-kilometer road project, which starts at Barangay Ibingay, traverses the coastal barangays of Espinosa, Bagumbayan and El Dorado.

The road, which will serve as an alternate route in the area, is expected to decongest the busy streets in the town proper and reduce travel time.

Soriquez also informed the President that the widening of the P38-million Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo Road in San Fernando, Pampanga is now in full blast.

The Social Security System (SSS) would recover its P14 billion investment in Equitable-PCI Bank from the sales of its shareholdings to Henry Sy, owner of Banco de Oro, SSS President Corazon de la Paz said today.

In a report to Malacanang, de la Paz said the SSS would earn about one billion pesos more or a total of P15 billion in the sale of its 29 percent interest in Equitable-PCI Bank, the third largest bank in the country.

"The Banco de Oro offer will allow the SSS to receive P1 billion cash payment and around P13 billion in the form of government securities at the end of six and a half years," De la Paz said.

She said that the SSS bought the shares in 1999 but prices have plummeted and the institution has not earned income from the investment. The sale could improve the investment portfolio of the SSS and generate earnings for the benefit of its members, de la Paz added.

According to de la Paz, the offer of Banco de Oro to purchase the shares at P43.50 per share was the highest market price since 2002. "It offered an opportunity to the institution to recover and realize a return from a low-performing investment," she said.

De la Paz said that holding on to the shares would "preclude the opportunity for SSS to invest the potential proceeds in safe, diversified and higher yielding investments."

The timely intervention of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has prevented a "meat holiday" in Metro Manila markets after she met with the Meat and Hog Dealers Association of the Philippines (MHDAP) in Malacaņang this afternoon.

In a press conference, Agriculture Secretary Luis P. Lorenzo Jr. announced that the group has decided not to push through with their plans of stopping the supply of pork in Mega-Manila.

Lorenzo added that the MHDAP officers and members, led by its president Dennis Alpureza, expressed their gratitude to the President’s immediate action that averted the crisis.

"The President’s timely intervention prevented a crisis that would have affected millions of households in Metro Manila. We also commended the hog raisers’ group for considering public interest and agreeing to the President’s proposal to stop the skyrocketing prices of pork," said Alpureza.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has also assured the hog and meat dealers that the government is ready to provide necessary help to address their problems.

Lorenzo also stressed that MHDAP promised the President that the meat supplies in Metro Manila market will be back to normal this Saturday.

"Sila (MHDAP) ay natutuwa, even na late na ngayon kahit 40 percent lang ang supply by tomorrow pero they assured President Arroyo na balik na sa normal ang supply by Saturday," Lorenzo said.

The Secretary also said that the importation of "cara-beaf" from India would not exceed the demands needed by the manufacturing companies.