The Philippine economy registered remarkable growth in 2003, surmounting global and domestic hurdles and negative assessments.

Fiscal authorities forecast a 4.2 to 5.2 percent growth in gross national product (GNP) for 2003, but it went better at 5.5 percent from 4.5 percent in 2002, thanks to the astute handling of the situation by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her team.

Despite global economic slowdown, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the US-Iraqi War, a failed mutiny, destabilization attempts, the Philippine economy stood resilient.

Most private sector analysts, credit rating agencies and multilateral agencies indicated a growth below the government projection of 4.2 to 5.2 percent but GMA and her team, getting solid support from the services sector and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), with an 18.8 percent upsurge in remittances, proved them wrong.

"The numbers show the economy continues to keep its internal dynamism going, despite the many adverse global and domestic economic and political developments that buffeted the economy in 2003," Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority director general Romulo Neri said.

"We need to continue this trend, this uptrend in growth in order to have a sustained basis for uplifting the condition of the average Filipino," said President Macapagal-Arroyo, visibly elated over the continued growth under her stewardship.

The peso had gone down vis-a-vis the dollar the past few days but Malacaņang was taking it in stride. Indeed, before the weekend, the peso showed signs of recovery.

"The economy is well and moving upward but the peso is being pummeled by political bickering, coupled with isolated military adventurism. This is a transient problem and we will get over it soon," Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

With the strong performance of the economy last year, the government has projected a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.9 to 5.8 percent for the year.

"The 2004 forecast are hinged on continued macroeconomic stability, anchored on fiscal discipline and stable financial currency markets. This cannot be achieved by government alone and needs the cooperation of all," Neri said.

The GDP grew 4.5 percent in 2003 despite a slowdown in the last quarter of the year but remittances from OFWs boosted the GNP to its 5.5 percent rise.

GNP is income earned in the country (GDP) plus income earned abroad.

The service factor proved to be the biggest factor on the domestic front in 2003 at it grew 5.9 percent from 5.4 percent the previous year. It was at its strongest in the last three months with a quarterly growth of 6.5 percent, led by the transport, communications and trade subsector.

Agriculture, despite the El Nino phenomenon, still went up 3.9 percent from 3.3.

Increased consumer spending, from 4.1 percent in 2002 to 5.1 percent in 2003, proved the primary factor in GDP rise, Neri said.

"Private consumer spending remains robust in part due to the growth in overseas compensation income and low inflation environment. The greater variety of choices in the consumer market also contributed, spawned by increasing competition among producers and retailers," Neri added.

A growth range of 4.9 to 5.8 percent in gross domestic product (GDP) and a deficit of P197.8 billion, or 4.2 percent of the GDP, are among the fiscal targets set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) for the national government in 2004.

In a report to Malacaņang, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the DBCC reviewed Friday the government’s fiscal targets for the year, and "decided to maintain the macroeconomic targets consistent with the medium-term development plan."

In view of the favorable 2003 revenue outturn, the DBCC also decided to raise the projected revenues for 2004 to P674.4 billion from the original level of P671.2 billion.

The increase in revenue goal was anchored on higher collections of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and income of the Bureau of Treasury, which more than offset the downscaling of collection target for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) from P488.6 billion to P476.3 billion.

"The reduction in BIR collections," DBM said, "incorporates the impact of the non-passage of the indexation of six taxes and the anticipated lower excise tax collections with the closure of Caltex refineries resulting from the decision to import oil rather than refine them locally."

The DBM said that with the increase in the revenue targets, the DBCC raised the disbursement ceiling from P869.0 billion to P872.2 billion.

I shall continue to seek a meeting of minds between the House and the Senate on this issue and I am doing this for the sake of the nation and the average Filipino.

The budget is an important instrument pushing reforms, equalizing economic opportunities and changing the social landscape to favor the poor.

We must not inject too much politics into the budget process.

This is a fight between performance and popularity, illusion versus accomplishment, celluloid versus reality.

The survey trend shows that people are beginning to get over their initial emotions and to see the light of where their interest and their future truly lie—in clout, expertise and experience.

This survey is but a snapshot in the long campaign but it is a sure signal that we must push on with reforms and programs for the good of the average Filipino.

We have a tight case against those who had a direct hand in this incident based on the pieces of evidence the military and the NBI have gathered.

People who are out to destabilize the government should get the message clear: we will not hesitate to go after them with the full force of law and justice.

We shall expose their pretensions as paragons of virtue or reform.

We shall show up their blatant wish for illegitimate political power.

Malacaņang today said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is still confident that the national budget for 2004 would be passed by both houses of Congress as it brushed aside allegations that the President wants last year’s budget to be reenacted so that she could use part of it for campaign purposes.

In a radio interview, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that there is still enough time to pass the proposed P862.8-billion 2004 national budget.

In a meeting last Thursday in Malacaņang, the President assured Sen. Manuel Villar, chairman of the Senate panel to the bicameral budget conference committee, that she would talk with Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. about the need for the passage of this year’s national appropriations act.

Reports, quoting opposition senators, said that a reenacted 2003 national budget would give the President some P100 billion for projects that would promote her candidacy in the May 10 elections.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today answered the prayers of the more than 5,000 indigent families in Taguig, Metro Manila, of owning the land they have long been occupying at the FTI Compound in Western Bicutan.

The President instructed National Food Authority (NFA) General Manager Arthur Yap, who is concurrently chairman of the Food Terminal, Inc. (FTI), to call a special meeting of the nine-member FTI board on Monday to speed up the awarding of lots to the residents of PNR (Philippine National Railroad) Site in the FTI Compound.

The President issued her directive this morning, when she inspected her "Patubig ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo" project at Zone 2 of the PNR Site.

Welcoming the President were some 1,000 enthusiastic residents led by Mayor Sigfredo Tinga and Barangay Chairperson Marilyn Padlan.

The President visited the area as part of her spot inspection to ensure the smooth and continued implementation of various government projects and programs.

She expressed surprise when she found out that negotiations were still ongoing with the Taguig municipal government on her long-standing instructions to FTI to award the lots in the 11.5-hectare FTI Compound.

The President immediately called up Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo and NFA General Manager Yap, who also chairs FTI and she asked them why they had not yet implemented her previous instructions to award the lots. She was informed that they were still negotiating on the price.

The President said there has been a proposal to award the lots to the residents through "dacion en pago" as the FTI owes the Taguig local government some P60 million in back taxes.

"So FTI Chairman Arthur Yap would call a special board meeting on Monday to speed up the distribution of lots to the residents," the President said to the delight of the residents.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today received a standing ovation from members of different Rotary Club chapters here and abroad as she cited the need for more fundamental reforms to sustain the country’s economic growth so that her vision of eradicating poverty could be achieved.

Visibly upbeat after a recent Makati Business Club survey showed that she is the most "capable and fit" to run the country, the President strode into the ballroom of the Makati Shangri-la Hotel this morning to deliver her message on poverty alleviation and her administration’s fight for change.

"I will fight for unprecedented change that makes us more secure, strengthens our families, and stamps our corruption because these are what we need to fight poverty," the President said in her much-applauded speech.

The President said she would fight to eradicate the culture of corruption, stop the scourge of drugs and wipe out terrorism "because we need an environment that does not have these things in order to fight poverty."

To directly enhance her poverty alleviation program, the President said, her administration would expand property rights and create jobs that would attract higher wages, provide clean water and clean government.

"And so I ask you to fight with me, to fight for change, to be the average Filipino’s champion," the President said.

The President said she cherished her memories as a Rotary Ann to husband, First Gentleman Atty. Jose Miguel Arroyo, a multi-awarded president of the Makati Rotary Club. Her training and background as a Rotarian exposed her to the needs of impoverished communities.

"Long before I was a trade official, a senator, vice president and president, I was an active member of the Rotary Club in Makati," she told the crowd of nearly a thousand delegates.

The President thanked Rotary International President Jonathan Majiyagbe for choosing the Philippines as one out of fifteen countries to host the Presidential Celebration on Poverty Alleviation at the Makati Shang-rila Hotel from January 30-31.

Her experience as an active member of the Makati Rotary Club and Philippine representative to various international forums organized by Rotary International helped her build a stronger foreign policy, the President said.

"The strength of our foreign policy serves to attract foreign investments which helped create more jobs and build world-class infrastructure for our people," the President said.

She said that foreign investments in the Philippines last year grew by about 23 percent and that her administration was able to create 3 million jobs as compared to the previous leadership’s record of a little more than a million jobs.

"Our GNP in 2003 grew by 5.5 percent, compared to an average of 2.9 percent under the previous administration," the President said, adding that her administration continues to fight for fundamental changes to improve the lives of the Filipino people.

The President cited the renewed partnership between the Philippines and the United States that has resulted in over US$ 6 billion in foreign investments and other forms of assistance.

She mentioned American investments such as that of Intel, which has poured in an additional $I billion into the country, Texas Instruments, with about $70 million, and the Ford car assembly plant with $50 million in new investments.

She noted that the number of call centers has increased from 2,000 seats during the past administration to a projected 40,000 seats this year.

The President informed the Rotarians that the Philippines is now the fourth largest beneficiary in the world in terms of US Foreign Military Assistance and the number one recipient in East Asia.

According to the President, economic zones all over the country received P10 billion in new investments for January alone compared to P1.8 billion in January 2003.

"This is just a down payment. With your help, we shall create even more jobs and spread the wealth so that our poverty levels shall be diminished," she stressed.

The President asked the different Rotary Clubs to help the administration in its campaign to supply clean, potable water in more than 100 poor municipalities. "To provide clean water and clean government is a symbol of our commitment to deliver essential services and good governance," the President stressed.

Rotary Club International delegates who wanted their photographs taken with her swarmed around the President after her well-received speech.

It took some time and a great deal of pleading from Rotary Club officials for delegates to return to their seats and allow the President some breathing space and a little time to eat her food.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today launched another water project in Taguig, Metro Manila, that would provide clean and safe water to 8,500 households in a depressed community at the FTI Compound in Western Bicutan.

The long wait for the residents of Zone 2, PNR Site at the FTI Compound ended this morning when the President opened, in a simple ceremony, the faucet of a large water tank.

Some 1,000 residents, led by Mayor Sigfredo Tinga and Barangay Chairperson Marilyn Padlan, gave Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo an enthusiastic welcome upon arriving in their community.

A young mother, Daisy Alcural, who has been a long time resident at the FTI Compound, said a pail of water sells for P2.50. Consuming an average of 10 pails a day, she said her family shells out about P750 per month for water for washing, bathing and drinking.

"Napakalaking tulong ito ni Pangulong Gloria sa amin dahil simula’t sapul pa ay wala na kaming tubig dito (This is a most welcome help from President Gloria as we have no water ever since)," she said.

To date, the President’s Patubig project in Metro Manila has served a total of 264,061 households, exceeding by 104,061 the target of 160,000 households identified by the task force composed of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), and the two Metro Manila water concessionaires – the Maynilad Water Services and Manila Water Company, Inc. (MWCI).

Encouraged by the success of her Patubig project in Metro Manila, the President instructed the project’s task force to identify other areas outside of Metro Manila which are in dire need of water.

The President’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI) program has already identified 200 waterless communities in the CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) growth area.