I urge the COMELEC to thoroughly investigate all specific, substantiated cases of electoral fraud regardless of partisan involvement.

I am also prepared to support decisive institutional and operational reforms, either by administrative or legislative fiat, that will further strengthen the democratic process.

I am concerned over reports of localized cheating and isolated cases of violence that tend to undermine the image of Philippine democracy.

We cannot afford to have these pockets of medieval power politics while the rest of the nation moves forward in the modern world.

Even as the credible lead of the administration widens in the NAMFREL quick count, we are more focused on the consolidation of the administration over the pressing imperatives of unity and governance.

While we must all be vigilant in ensuring the integrity of the vote count, this has a long way to go and we must now attend to looming problems in the near horizon, especially the socioeconomic pressures brought about by the new round of oil price hikes.

We ask the opposition to dump the hysterics and join the administration in seeking solutions to emerging problems besetting our people.

We are as interested as the opposition in getting to the root of poll fraud but let us agree on the ground rules of due process and institutional jurisdiction and get off the rabid propaganda mode.

While the government is ready to face any threat of destabilization, we appeal to some politicians to stop the politics of ruin and rumor mongering.

Let us set aside our personal interest and consider the welfare of the Filipino people who have suffered the brunt of selfish ambitions and sinister plans that erode political and economic stability.

The military and police are there to protect the communities, but they cannot control the situation if the local candidates themselves cannot hold their temper and their constituents in check.

The President has directed an immediate and speedy investigation of the Sultan Kudarat incident and a tight hold on law and order in the area.

Malacaņang urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) today to investigate all specific, substantiated cases of electoral fraud regardless of partisan involvement.

In a statement, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said she is prepared to support decisive institutional and operational reforms, either by administrative or legislative process that will further strengthen the democratic process.

"I am concerned over reports of localized cheating and isolated cases of violence that tend to undermine the image of Philippine democracy," she said. "We cannot afford to have these pockets of medieval power politics while the rest of the nation moves forward in the modern world."

She said the Filipino people should make democracy sustainable in every barangay and community of the land.

The President ordered an immediate and speedy investigation of the Sultan Kudarat incident and a tight hold on law and order in the area.

"We appeal to all sides for calm and sobriety to prevent a spiral of violence," she said. "The military and the police are there to protect the communities, but they cannot control the situation if the local candidates themselves cannot hold their temper and their constituents in check."

In another statement, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the Palace is more concerned on the consolidation of the administration over the pressing imperatives of unity and governance as he stressed the need for normalcy to return after the May polls.

"While we must all be vigilant in ensuring the integrity of the vote count, this has a long way to go and we must now attend to looming problems in the near horizon, especially the socio-economic pressures brought about by the new round of oil price increases," he said.

Bunye asked the opposition to dump the hysterics and join the administration in seeking solutions to emerging problems besetting the people.

"We are as interested as the opposition in getting to the root of poll fraud but let us agree on the ground rules of due process and institutional jurisdiction and get off the rabid propaganda mode," he said. "The faster normalcy sets in, the better for the entire nation."

While Bunye assured that the government is ready to face any threat of destabilization, he appealed to some politicians "to stop the politics of ruin and rumor-mongering."

There is a big chance that the country would be able to balance its budget by the year 2009.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Ricardo Saludo bared this today in a radio interview as he quoted Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin during a recent Cabinet meeting in Malacanang.

Boncodin, Saludo said, reported that under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the country achieved its budget deficit target last year, a first since 1997.

"And now for the first quarter of this year, we are coming in below the target while tax collection is likewise going up," Saludo quoted Boncodin as saying.

He said that for the first four months of 2004, tax collection increased by eight percent.

The BIR collection for April, in fact, has reached P53.02 billion, the highest collection for a single month in nearly 100 years of existence of the BIR.

"If this trend continues, there is a big chance that we will be able to balance our deficit by 2009," Boncodin said.

Saludo disclosed that during the first Cabinet meeting after the elections, the President’s six-point program, which she pledged during the campaign, was discussed.

These are the electrification of 1,500 barangays every year with the end goal of achieving the lowest power cost in the whole of Asia; creation of one million jobs a year; providing clean water to all barangays; construction of 3,000 school buildings a year; computerization of public schools; and bringing down by half the prices of medicines.

Malacanang today said that opposition Senatorial bet Francisco Tatad has "perfected the art of disinformation" even as it strongly belied the former senator’s allegations that six Cabinet members of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo are resigning as a sign of protest to the massive cheating in last Monday’s polls.

In a press briefing this afternoon, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye stressed that all Cabinet members serve at the pleasure of the President.

Bunye told the reporters that he received a call from Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo to belie Tatad’s latest allegations.

"There is absolutely no basis for that claim of Senator Tatad that the members of the Cabinet specifically alluded by Mr. Tatad are about to file their resignation out of disappointment or out of disgust. There’s absolutely no truth to that and let me add that at the rate the former senator is making pronouncements, it seems that he has already perfected the art of disinformation," Bunye said.

He said a number of Cabinet members have already submitted their courtesy resignations to the Office of the Executive Secretary. But they have done so voluntarily and not out of disgust over the so-called massive cheating in the polls.

The six Cabinet members named by Tatad were Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas, Tourism Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan, Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, Trade and Industry Secretary Cesar Purisima and Justice Secretary Merceditas Gutierrez.

Bunye also expressed confidence on the adherence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to the Constitution and to the Chain of Command.

He added that there’s no need to conduct a loyalty check among the military ranks, as the President remains confident of their unwavering support to her government and to democracy.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today expressed her condolences to the family of businessman and industrialist Don Enrique Zobel who passed away this morning at the Asian Hospital in Alabang, Metro Manila.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye relayed the statement of the President to the media in a press briefing in the Palace this afternoon.

"The President joins the members of the business community in expressing her sympathies to the family of the late Don Enrique Zobel," said Bunye.

Given a fresh mandate, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo plans to attack graft and corruption in three fronts, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Ricardo Saludo said in a radio interview this morning.

First is the promotion of values formation among government employees and officials. Second is the lifestyle check which would prosecute those who abuse their positions, and third is minimizing opportunities for graft through computerization and deregulation of government transactions.

Saludo said that he agrees in adopting an iron fist policy as far as fighting graft and corruption is concerned.

The first of the three-pronged approach, Saludo said, has already been initiated with the President’s creation of the Presidential Commission on Values Formation to be headed by a presidential adviser with a Cabinet rank.

The role of the Commission is to instill in government service and public office morality and core values, which the President has laid out when she first took over the reins of government in early 2001.

"We want to win over poverty, the President wants to instill high moral values in public service. She wants to have politics based on performance and leadership by example. And this Commission has been mandated to do," Saludo said.

The Commission, according to Saludo, has the power to recommend the firing of an undesirable government personnel as well as address other concerns.

The lifestyle check among government personnel, which has already been initiated, has resulted in the filing of appropriate charges to guilty personnel, a fact not lost to the World Bank, which praised the program.

The third approach seeks to lessen the opportunities for graft with the use of computers such as e-procurement which shows the various government contracts made available for viewing to the public through the Internet.

"Dahil sa internet, puwede mo nang ipakita kung ano ang nangyayari at iyan ay nakakatulong para ibaba ang mga kontrata, iyong mga pangingikil sa mga kontrata ng gobyerno (Through the Internet, you can show what is going on, helping bring down the cost of contracts as well as reducing graft and corruption)," Saludo said.

The President appreciates the most gentlemanly gesture of Secretary Roco and wishes that all other similarly situated candidates, whether for President or for other positions, would emulate him.

In the absence of any documented irregularities or fraud, the results of the democratic process should be respected.