President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today congratulated the Filipino people and thanked the electoral workers for the "generally peaceful, orderly and clean elections" conducted nationwide Monday.

Although there were isolated cases of election violence, the President said, in a statement, that "our soldiers and our police officers" held the line against fraud and lawlessness, while our teachers and elections workers ensured an uninterrupted process from day till night.

But, President Macapagal-Arroyo, who took the lead in early returns, called on the people "to be vigilant until the last vote is counted and the last canvass is done."

In a radio interview with DZBB, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye echoed Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo’s call for vigilance. "Ang aking pakiusap sa ngayon sa ating mga kababayan ay patuloy na bantayan iyong proseso dahil hindi naman natapos ito doon sa mga presinto, makakaroon pa rin ito ng canvass (I now ask the people to continue safeguarding our election process, which did not end at the precincts because canvassing of the votes is still to be done)," he said.

"We urge all candidates and their watchers to continue watching the process," he said, adding that candidates should advise their supporters to stay cool and avoid taunting opponents.

Bunye said that the people and the political parties should be given every opportunity to observe the canvassing so that they could not claim later on the elections had not been clean and fair.

The Presidential Spokesman had a request for radio/TV anchormen. "Ang ating pakiusap sana ay ibe-verify naman muna iyong ilang mga reports. Iyon naman ang talagang nararapat, check and double check bago ilabas ang anumang report or insidente (My request is to verify first the reports – check and double check – before any incident is reported on the air)," he said.

In her statement, released by Malacaņang this morning, President Macapagal-Arroyo also exhorted the candidates for local government posts "to respect the decision of their constituents."

"All must now conduct themselves with prudence, sobriety and respect for the democratic process."

In congratulating the people, the President said that our adherence to and faith in democracy "is a worthy trait that stands out in every citizen, family and community and sector."

She also commended the overseas workers, who were allowed by law for the first time to exercise their right of suffrage in the May 10, 2004 elections, for upholding their newfound responsibility.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who took an early lead in the canvassing of votes cast in Monday’s synchronized national and local elections, said today that "we must leave behind the rancor" of the bitter campaign and "work for peace and unity among the Filipino people."

The President read a statement before reporters at the Malacanang Briefing Room, answered a pair of questions, and tendered "a thanksgiving lunch for those who ran after me the whole time during the campaign," referring to the members of the Malacaņang Press Corps.

In response to a question on how she felt about her lead in the early returns, the President said, " Well, to me, the important thing now is, we must leave behind the rancor that unfortunately characterized the campaign. I tried my best and, I think, I succeeded to keep my own campaign on the level of issues and platform. But, sad to say, it was not like that all around."

’Now, the important thing is to leave that behind and work for peace and unity among the Filipino people and continue to be vigilant so that we will have peaceful and credible elections," she added.

The President said that the security measures in place for last Monday’s elections have worked quite well. There were no interruptions in the political exercise, she said, adding that the same security measures would continue to be in effect until the proclamation of the winning candidates.

"This is a Comelec (Commission on Elections) show so all information must come from the Comelec. In fact, at this point in time, the Comelec is the one supervising the soldiers, the police and the teachers. The national government is outside of that," she said.

In her statement, the President reiterated her call on all candidates to merge their efforts towards clean, peaceful and credible elections to bring about a truly exemplary show of Philippine democracy.

Pursuant to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s pledge to create one million jobs a year, the Philippine government forged an agreement with Seoul providing for the smooth and transparent deployment of Filipino workers to South Korea.

Labor and Employment Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas, in a report to Malacanang, said she signed the accord with her Korean counterpart, Minister Kim Dae-Hwan, during her recent visit to Seoul.

Sto. Tomas also said the agreement, which would be effective for two years, would also further enhance friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries, specifically in labor affairs and human resource development.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) opened a special window to accommodate applications of workers eyeing the Korean labor market.

Under the agreement, Sto. Tomas said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), through the POEA, would regulate, screen the applicants and deploy the qualified workers to Korea within the bounds of the labor and employment laws of both countries.

For its part, the Korean Ministry of Labor (MOL) would take charge of the employment of the OFWs in its country. This includes employment training and health examinations of the workers before they are finally hired.

Although the memorandum of understanding guarantees preferential treatment for undocumented OFWs who have voluntarily left Korea as of last February 28, it also aims to stop illegal entry of OFWs to Korea.

The POEA, in coordination with the Korean labor ministry, would set up a computerized system of listing of prospective OFWs. The scheme was designed to speed up the screening and hiring process for both the OFWs and the Korean employers.

To be included in the list, the job applicant must satisfy the following conditions:

1. Must be between 18 and 40 years old;
2. Must pass a health examination as required by the Korean Ministry of Labor;
3. Should have no criminal records or offenses;
4. Should not be covered by departure restrictions;
5. Those selected after August 17, 2005 should pass a Korean Language Proficiency Test.

Inclusion in the list does not automatically guarantee employment in Korea. However, those hired would enjoy an employment tenure of up to three years under contract periods not exceeding one year each.

The accord also provides for exchange visits between DOLE and MOL representatives to assess the progress of implementation of the employment program.

For the first time in the country’s political history, budget deficit during a campaign season has been kept within target, according to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In a thanksgiving lunch with the Malacanang Press Corps (MPC) and foreign correspondents at the Heroes Hall of Malacanang today, the President denied allegations that her administration has overspent during the three-month campaign period.

"I’d like to share with you that for the first time we are below the deficit ceiling during the campaign period. This is a first in the country’s political history, disproving the overspending allegations against the administration," the President said.

The Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan para sa Kinabukasan (K-4) standard-bearer explained that the "Pulong Bayan" campaign strategy effectively cut the campaign expenses of the administration party.

The President said that the old political rally gimmick is much expensive to hold compared to much simpler but effective Pulong Bayan, where she and running mate Senator Noli de Castro articulated to ordinary people their government platform for the next six years.

The innovative Pulong Bayan, she added, also changed the traditional politics of personality and patronage into a politics of platform and government programs.

The President disclosed that the government has exceeded revenue collection due to effective tax management and measures that her administration implemented during the three years of her governance.

While admitting that the government experienced problems in deficit ceiling in 2001, her economic measures did wonders to help the government revenue rebound in 2002, 2003 and in the first quarter of 2004.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today said that if given a fresh mandate, one of the first things that she would do is to submit an administrative measure to the next Congress that would call for the holding of a constitutional convention (Con-Con) to approve amendments to the present charter.

The President made the statement during a thanksgiving luncheon she hosted this afternoon for the members of the Malacanang Press Corps (MPC) and some foreign correspondents at the Heroes Hall of Malacanang.

She said, however, that it would be up to the members of the next Congress to decide on what to do with the administrative measure.

Some members of Congress favor constituting themselves into a constitutional assembly, instead of a Con-con, to tackle amendments to the Constitution.

The President said that there is a need to amend the Constitution as part of the political reforms that she would introduce, including a shift to the parliamentary or federal system of government, which, she said, could speed up the country’s development.

The Chief Executive also expressed relief that the no election (No-El) scenario has not materialized as planned by groups who wanted to destroy the country’s democratic institutions.

The peaceful conduct of the synchronized local and national elections yesterday lent strength to the peso which slightly gained in mid-morning trading at the foreign exchange market, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported.

After opening weakly at P55.88 to $1, the peso recovered at P55.87, but nevertheless closed at P55.97 due to heavy dollar demand from the oil and power sectors.

Volume of transactions totaled $143 million.

Analysts say that a clear trend in Monday’s polls showing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the likely winner could further strengthen the peso and the stocks.

Conversely, both markets are expected to suffer sharp declines if her closest rival, movie actor Fernando Poe Jr., scored an upset.

According to the Associated Press, any sign that President Macapagal-Arroyo "doesn’t have a strong lead in the voting would hurt the markets. Any hint of a Poe upset would likely be a body blow to the currency, equity and debt markets."

The AP said investors were apprehensive that a Poe victory would bring back the country to the "turmoil of his close friend and fellow movie hero Joseph Estrada—who was elected president by a landslide in 1998."

It added that Poe, a high school dropout with no political experience, said nothing about how he intends to address the complex problems of corruption, tax-cheating and huge budget deficit.

It may be recalled that the peso immediately dropped by one percent when Poe announced his intention to run for the presidency last Nov. 27.

"Markets also shuddered in March when he suggested he would restructure the Philippines’ massive government debt—which is second only to Japan’s in Asia," AP recalled, adding that Poe "quickly backtracked on those explosive remarks."

The peso gained strength further, pushing the dollar down 0.7 percent last week to 55.68 as pre-election surveys showed Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo firming up her lead over Poe. "An Arroyo win could knock the dollar as low as P54 in coming sessions," the AP said, quoting market players.

It also noted that the stock market index rose to a three-year high of 1,610.31 last April 28 when polls showed the President grabbing the lead from Poe.