It may not take long before the Philippines reclaims its once lofty-status as rice-exporter.

Elated by the high-yield of farmers who used hybrid rice variety, an executive of a commercial seed company said it will not take long before the Philippines could reclaim its status as a rice-exporting country.

"It is just a matter of time," said Henry Lim Bon Liong, chair and CEO of SL Agritech Corp. during the awards ceremonies for farmers who registered high yields in the recent wet cropping season.

Agriculture Secretary Luis P. Lorenzo concurred with Liong, saying the introduction of the high-value rice varieities like Dona Maria (SL-8H) which was developed by SL Agritech is the big reason why for his optimism.

The Philippines used to be a major rice-exporting country in the ‘70s but failed to sustain the momentum and has since been reduced to a mere buyer from neighboring countries, like Thailand and Vietnam.

Under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, renewed optimism that the days of importing rice would be over surfaced anew as the government introduced the Gloria hybrid rice which doubled the yield of farmers.

It has since been gainiing support from farmers.

Frisco Malabanan, program director of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani rice program, said the countryis targeting a harvest of between 14.9 to 15.4 million metric tons this year following a record harvest of 13.49 million MT in 2003.

The national palay requirement is estimated at 15.48 million MT this year.

"We don’t see any reason why we cannot attain our target, which is to achieve 97 percent to 100 percent sufficiency in rice in 2004," Malabanan said.

I join the whole of humanity in expressing our outrage over this incident and our grief to the families of the victims.

Our sympathy with the Spanish people is deepened by our common history, friendship and culture.

Once more, this incident marks the ferocity and randomness by which terrorism strikes.

We must and we shall never let our guard down especially at a time when democracy is undergoing a test in various places of the world.

Today is a historical highlight for Philippine democracy as absentee voting starts.

My administration fought for this right for overseas Filipinos in recognition of their heroism and sacrifices for our nation and for their loved ones in the Philippines.

I will continue to serve the people because my oath holds firmly even during the campaign.

Public service is the highest law.

A President cannot say the welfare of the people must wait because I have to separate service from politics.

The needs of the people for clean water, health care, better roads, and a better life cannot wait a moment.

I am thankful that well-meaning Filipinos understand my position.

Some have said that governance must come from the heart and this is it.

My heart governs under the principle of humaneness in accord with the law.

There is no politics involved.

We should refrain from speculating at this point and wait instead for the final and official report of the probe.

LOPEZ, Quezon – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said that the administration party has not paid a single centavo to the New People’s Army (NPA) for permit to campaign in Quezon Province, a known lair of the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The President made the statement in response to a question, at a press conference here, whether or not the ruling Lakas CMD pays the NPA for the permit to campaign in rebel territory.

"Definitely not, because it is extortion and strictly prohibited under our laws," the President said. The press conference was held at the third floor of the Lopez Municipal Hall this morning right after the Pulong Bayan at the municipal covered court.

President Macapagal-Arroyo motored here from Calauag, where the presidential chopper landed. Before flying here, the President stayed overnight in Pagbilao, also in Quezon. Pagbilao is almost three hours by land to Lopez.

The Chief Executive told newsmen that the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) did not prepare any special security arrangement for her overnight stay in Pagbilao and for the whole day barnstorming in the province.

"It’s regular security for the President," she said.

With regards the economic development of Quezon, the President said that once the insurgency problem is resolved, the foreign investors are sure to come to the province.

LOPEZ, Quezon – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) today to deploy its patrol boat to the shoreline of Quezon for the protection of aquatic resources and the interest of small fishermen.

The President also directed the Maritime Police to assign more policemen in the coastal areas of Quezon to monitor illegal fishing and operations of criminal syndicates that use coastal waters for their nefarious activities.

The President’s directives were issued during the Pulong Bayan, held this morning at the covered court in front of the Lopez Municipal Hall.

The Chief Executive also said that anytime next week the BRP Romblon, one of the patrol ships of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), will conduct regular patrols in Lamon Bay to beef up the government campaign against illegal fishing.

Although the management of coastal resources is under the supervision of local government executives, she said, the national government also responds to the needs and problems of small fishermen, particularly those directly affected by the illegal fishing.

The President urged residents to try tilapia aquaculture to increase their income and not to depend solely on their catch from the sea. Tilapia aquaculture was first introduced and successfully implemented in Nueva Ecija.

"Ang tilapia ay mas masustansiya kumpara sa galunggong (Tilapia is more nutritious than galunggong) and very safe, if we compare catching tilapia with sea fishing," she said.

After the Pulong Bayan and press conference, the President joined local government officials and barangay leaders of Lopez in a lunch. She then motored to Unisan, and Agdangan, for another Pulong Bayan.

At about 6:00 P.M. the President and her Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan para sa Kinabukasan (K-4) candidates were slated to proceed to Lucena City for a grand political rally.

LOPEZ, Quezon -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today called on the people of this province to help the administration maintain peace and order here so that investors would come and prop up the economy.

At a press conference held at the Lopez municipal hall, the President noted that while the other areas of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Rizal, which make up CALABARZON, are attracting investors, the same couldn’t be said of Quezon.

"Dapat magtulungan tayo para masugpo ang terorismo, masugpo ang insurgency, para magkaroon ng kapayapaan at pumunta dito ang mga investors (We should help each other in the fight against terrorism and insurgency so that there would be peace and investors would come in)," she said.

The President said that she was the one who pushed for the inclusion of Quezon in the CALABARZON growth area when she was still undersecretary at the Department of Trade and Industry.

Noting that what Quezon lacked at that time was infrastructure, she sought for the construction of the Marikina-Infanta Road in the master plan for CALABARZON which she now, as President, is implementing among other infrastructures projects.

The President stressed that nothing could replace experience in so far as governance is concerned.

"Sa aking maikling panguluhan, nagamit ko ang aking karanasan at kaalaman para makagawa ng malakas na panimula para mapaikot ang kaguluhang namana ko (In the short time that I was president, I was able to use my experience and knowledge to make a strong start and turn around the problems I inherited from the previous administration)," she said.

The Chief Executive, seeking a full term in the coming May polls, cited how she was able to raise the price of coconut from P3 to P20 during her term and how she was able to create more than 3 million jobs compared to the half a million of her predecessor.

LOPEZ, Quezon – With illegal fishing having depleted their fishing grounds, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today urged the people of this town to go into aquaculture for a steadier and more dependable fish supply.

She asked them not to depend on the fish they traditionally caught in the seas but rather to rely on fish that is cultured, like tilapia, during a dialogue (Pulong Bayan) she and running mate Sen. Noli "Kabayaan" de Castro had with them.

Whereas galunggong used to be the normal fare of the ordinary Filipino, it no longer is, she explained because illegal fishing has depleted the sea of this and that now we even import it.

Tilapia is now the thing, because it can be cultured, the President said.

She emphasized that her administration has been propagating aquaculture besides pushing for a new technology and marketing for copra in the province of Quezon.

"You can no longer rely on municipal fishing. You should rely on alternative livelihood like aqua culture," the President emphasized.

She also said the price of tilapia in the markets is steady and does not fluctuate.

The President also promised the people from the coastal barangays help from the national government to solve their problems even if the protection of coastal waters is the responsibility of the local governments.

When they need equipment or capable personnel, the national government can supply them with these, she said.

LOPEZ, Quezon -- More than a million women have already benefited from the government’s micro-finance program, cornerstone of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s war against poverty.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo bared this today during a Pulong Bayan (People’s Dialogues) here with her vice-presidential running mate Noli "Kabayan" de Castro.

The program, patterned after the highly successful lending scheme of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, has proven to be an effective tool in the fight against poverty.

It is aimed to provide small loans without collateral to the "unbankable" sector of society, like housewives who would want to open small businesses, like sari-sari stores or food stalls or engage in other income-generating ventures.

Aside from boosting the income of poor households, micro-finance has also empowered women as breadwinners of their families or in partnership with their husbands.

Despite the absence of collateral, repayment rate in the program has remained at a high 95 percent due to peer pressure being implemented among the borrowers.

During the Pulong Bayan held at the municipal hall here, the President cited the benefits of micro-finance and the help it gets from various government agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Philippine Coconut Authority, the latest conduit of the program

The President also explained, in answer to queries from the audience, how to avail of the micro-finance loans.

The People’s Credit and Finance Corp (PCFC), at present, is the biggest micro-lending arm of the government, having released some P829.42 million for the period from July 2002 to May 2003.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said her government would continue to strengthen its anti-terrorism measures in the wake of a string of bomb blasts in Madrid, Spain, which killed nearly 200 people and injured 1,000 others.

"We must and we shall never let our guard down especially at a time when democracy is undergoing a test in various places of the world," the President said in a statement.

The President said that "once more, this incident marks the ferocity and randomness by which terrorism strikes."

She also condoled with the victims of the attack, responsibility for which had been claimed by the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

"I join the whole of humanity in expressing our outrage over this incident and our grief to the families of the victims. Our sympathy with the Spanish people is deepened by our common history, friendship, and culture," the President said.

The President said the Philippine embassy in Madrid is working with other nations in attending to the victims, especially in the search Filipinos who may have perished or were wounded.

LOPEZ, QUEZON—Teachers who want to retire early will receive one and a half months pay for every year of service.

This is the gist of an administrative measure, or what she calls "government reengineering," which she hopes will be passed by Congress in its next session, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced today in a "Pulong Bayan" (People’s Dialogue) with the people of this town.

It is a very generous amount for those teachers who want to retire early and shift to setting up their own business enterprises, the President said.

She recalled that she gave teachers a pay hike during the first year of her administration in 2001. However, they will have to wait for a new law that will authorize the next increase.

But while waiting in 2002 and 2003, the President said she increased their P1,000 bonus to P5,000.

And as they wait for the new law for their pay increase, she has raised their election allowance and made provisions they will be paid much earlier.

The President also has instructed the Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS) to set aside funds soonest so that the loan applications and retirement pay of teachers can be processed without undue delays.

The GSIS complied with the President’s orders Thursday when it announced it has instituted an enhanced salary loan program. It also promised to help delinquent members with a salary loan condonation and restructuring program which would cancel penalties and surcharges on salary loan accounts in default.