Pharmaceutical firm United Laboratories Inc. (Unilab) is investing P1.5 billion for a 35,000 square meter manufacturing plant at the Unilab PharmaCampus in Mamplasan, Binan, Laguna.

The construction of the new plant is part of the company’s program to centralize its operations as it moves it manufacturing facilities to its 44-hectare property in Laguna from Mandaluyong City.

Unilab said the Mamplasan plant will manufacture medically prescribed and generic pharmaceutical and healthcare preparations when it starts operation within the fourth quarter of 2005.

The new plant, which will use the latest manufacturing technology, will require close to 300 employees.

The manufacturing facility will be constructed near distribution hub Diethelm Philippines, Inc., a P950 million joint-venture between Unilab and Swiss marketing firm Diethelm Keller Siber Hegner, Inc. which started operations in September 2003.

"Unilab will invest about P3 billion to construct two new plants at the PharmaCampus," Unilab President and Chief Operating Officer Carlos Ejercito said.

He explained that centralizing the operations of Unilab will result in faster delivery of pharmaceutical products to end-consumers.

Aside from its local sites, Unilab also runs manufacturing facilities across Southeast Asia. It reaches consumers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

TACLOBAN CITY -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo extolled Tuesday the values the youth derive from sports competitions, stressing that they are what the country needs to win the battle against poverty.

"This is a good time to exercise the values that we learned in order to make our country strong in the 21^st century, the spirit of competitiveness, the desire to win, because, we must win the fight against poverty in the 21^st century," the President said in the closing ceremonies of the Eastern Visayas Regional Athletic Association meet in this city.

In order to win, you must have teamwork, discipline and training as winning and achieving does not come by luck, charm or good looks but through training, experience and discipline, the President emphasized to a crowd of 10,000 gathered at the Benjamin Romualdez Sports Center.

The President also dwelt on the spirit of true reconciliation found in sports, citing the good things Leyte Governor Remedios Petilla and Tacloban Mayor Alfredo Romualdez had for her and the assistance she has given the area for its development.

"I like to say that here in Tacloban, we have the true meaning of reconciliation in our broad teamwork," the President said.

After your competitions, there are winners and losers but after these, we should be one anew in the pursuit of a good future, she said.

"So, on this day, young Filipinos of Eastern Visayas, these games are all dedicated to you and may the values you learned in this undertaking be the values that you bring till you become adults because these values will help Eastern Visayas overcome poverty and bring prosperity to the greatest number of our people," the President concluded.

The President also noted that the rise in the price of copra in East Visayas – from P2.50 when she took over to P21.50 now -- was not by accident but a product of teamwork, training, discipline and the spirit of competitiveness.

We are determined to ensure that people have clean water at reasonable cost.

No court case shall deter us from this goal.

Clean water for the average Filipino is a non-negotiable objective and we are willing to fight this out in any forum.

I discovered early this year that 160,000 families in Metro Manila lacked clean water.

I have brought clean water to even more families and brought in more water connections in this short span of time.

I will not be harassed into stopping the delivery of clean water.

I appeal to our political leaders to have a full understanding of this whole thing before riding on it.

The anti-terrorism task force is a shield for democracy.

Because of the tragedy that happened in Spain, we do not want any copycat scenarios to happen. Terrorists or politicians with terrorist intent had better be forewarned.

We are setting up tighter systems of vigilance and checking every move in the underground. This is to protect the elections and to preserve democracy. Let no one underestimate our determination to push through with clean, honest and orderly elections.

They are nothing but harassment and nuisance suits, Malacaņang said today of the suits being filed against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the takeover by the government of the Maynilad Water Services, Inc.

"We have been expecting these various harassment and nuisance suits and none will prosper because these are just cases of politicking," Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a series of radio interviews this morning.

The President herself is unfazed by the suits. "We are determined to ensure that people have clean water at reasonable cost. No court case shall deter us from this goal. Clean water for the average Filipino is a non-negotiable objective and we are willing to fight this out in any forum," she said in a statement.

The President said she will not be harassed into stopping the delivery of clean water to waterless communities in Metro Manila. "I appeal to our political leaders to have a full understanding of this whole thing before riding on it. This is a matter of national interest and not politics," she said.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has cleared President Macapagal-Arroyo of any liability in the proposed government takeover of the debt-saddled water utility firm of the Lopez clan which also owns the Manila Electric Co.

DOJ Undersecretary Manuel Teehankee pointed out the agreement was part of a court process and not a political move of Malacaņang and it still has to be approved by the court and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Previous talks with Maynilad did not prosper because of onerous and lopsided terms against the government, according to Teehankee.

"We have been in discussion with the banks and all interested parties with our special government adviser Dr. Jaime Laya, former Central Bank governor," Teehankee added.

Bunye said that the charges against the President only provide disinformation. "But we are ready to face them in the proper forum," Bunye stressed.

The Maynilad deal is "perfectly defensible, justifiable and completely legal" and was reached in consultation with an international arbitration panel and all parties and creditor banks of Maynilad, Bunye said.

The primary interest of the government with this arrangement is to continue delivering potable water, Bunye said. That is the most important consideration at this time. "Instead of pressing charges, the publicity-seekers should help in finding a solution, to our water problem," he added.

Teehankee also brushed off charges the government would assume the liabilities of Benpres, there being no provision in the deal for such a government guarantee.

CARIGARA, Leyte ---President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo vowed here on Tuesday that she is determined to pursue the reforms she has initiated over the past three years in her desire to uplift the quality of life of the people, particularly the marginalized families.

"We will make more fundamental reforms to make lives better for our people," the President said during a multi-sectoral dialogue here.

At the same time, she cited the gains her administration has attained since she took over the reins of government in January 2001.

In agriculture, the Chief Executive said the government has provided irrigation to some 500,000 hectares of rice lands under her watch. If given a new mandate in the May 10 elections, Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo said she could irrigate all the farmlands in the country.

"If I could irrigate half a million hectares in my short period, I can irrigate all the (farm) lands in the country in my next term," President Macapagal-Arroyo stressed.

The President also recalled that the country was importing one million metric tons of rice a year when she assumed the presidency. With the increase in harvest due to the farmers’ shift to the high yielding "Gloria Rice," Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo said the annual importation was reduced to only 500,000 metric tons.

If this trend is sustained, the President said the country would eventually be exporting rice within the next six years.

Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo added that the standard of living of coconut farmers also improved as the price of copra went up to P20 per kilo from only P2.50 per kilo when she took over the government three years ago.

The President also hinted that she envisions a country where all the families are provided health insurance and quality education for the children with the setting up of a school in every barangay.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lauded today Senator Robert Jaworski and other proponents of the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004, which she signed into law Monday for giving her own Patubig program a much-needed shot in the arm.

Jaworski, chairman of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, was the principal author of the Senate version of the bill (Senate Bill No. 2115) which gives more teeth to a comprehensive water management program that would assure strict water quality standards, not only in Metro Manila but the whole country as well.

The principal author in the House of Representatives version of the Act (House Bill No. 5398) was Congressman Augusto Baculio, chairman of the House committee on ecology.

The signing of the new law, which coincided with the observance of World Water Day, is expected to protect the country’s water bodies from land-based sources of pollution such as industries, mining, agricultural operations and community or household activities.

In her message before the signing, the President said the law is expected to tackle the issue of water pollution and provides for increased utilization of the country’s limited water resources.

"Access to safe and sufficient water is now recognized as a basic human right. Commitments and actions are necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goal to halve the number of people living without safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015," the President said.

To do this, the President said, "we must always strive to develop policies that allow for efficient and equitable use of water."

"Our water problems can only be met by changes in management and governance that leads to the sustainable use of shared resources," she added.

The Clean Water Act, according to Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Elisea G. Gozun, is an important piece of legislation that would pursue all issues that affect the state of the country’s water quality.

"Areas will be identified according to hydrological, meteorological or geographic conditions which affect the spread of pollution and contaminants in water bodies," she said. "This will be done in collaboration with the National Water Resources Board," said Gozun.

Local government units will share the responsibility in the management and improvement of water quality within their territorial jurisdictions. They shall prepare a compliance scheme in accordance thereof six month after the establishment of the quality management area action plan.

Likewise, the Department of Health, in coordination with various government agencies, will formulate guidelines and standards for the collection, treatment, and disposal of sewage including the guidelines for the establishment and operation of a centralized sewage treatment system.

In a span of just one and a half months, the Patubig ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo program has provided potable water to 638,232 families – or 3,829,392 persons – in Metro Manila and the nearby provinces of Rizal and Cavite.

The President launched her Patubig program in Barangay Payatas, Quezon City, on December 31, 2003.

A status report submitted to Malacanang by the project area managers shows that, as of February l5, 2004, the Patubig ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo program has been serving 466,642 households in Metro Manila, 164,675 households in Rizal, and 6,915 households in Cavite.

The largest number of household beneficiaries of the Patubig program is Manila with 143,200 households, followed by Quezon City, 95,200 households; the Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela) area, 86,403 households.

Residents of the beneficiary barangays were thankful to the President for her efforts in providing them access to clean and safe water, pointing out that they used to have a hard time just to obtain any water for their daily needs.

They said that they used to stay up late at night waiting, in long lines, to get water. The tedious work of getting water had affected not only their health but also their wallet, they said.

President Macapagal-Arroyo said that the program evolved from consultations last year with the concerned communities. The combined elements of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Manila Water Co. and Maynilad Water Services, Inc. helped identify the intended recipient barangays and in determining the kind of water distribution facilities for them.

The President said that 20 out of 40 communities surveyed complained about their lack of water supply.