President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has instructed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to act expeditiously in investigating the killing of a congressional candidate from Quezon province whose body with gunshot wounds was found yesterday inside his vehicle in Quezon City.

"President Arroyo wants the killing of congressional candidate Vicente Rabaya, Jr. to be resolved as fast as the Bersamin case and a full team-up of law enforcement agencies is already in place," Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye said in his column "The View From the Palace" which comes out tomorrow (Monday).

Rabaya, 43, a candidate for congressman of the fourth district of Quezon province under the Nationalist People’s Coalition, was found inside a sport utility vehicle parked in front of a used car lot along Katipunan Avenue at past midnight yesterday with gunshot wounds in the head and abdomen.

"The President has also directed the PNP to intensify police visibility, deploy mobile checkpoints to interdict loose guns and muster total community participation to bear down on electoral violence," he added.

"The government will apply the full force of the law against all groups and individuals who are employing threat and intimidation to undermine suffrage and free choice," Bunye said.

Bunye, however, said that although "speedy criminal justice is the best means to show that we mean business, we must also modernize our democratic institutions and values, cut fraud and tone down the heat of power play at all levels."

He stressed that this latest form of violence to be committed during this electoral season brings to fore the importance of reforming the country’s political culture.

"Our political stability must be as straight and steady as our economic stability," he said.

Bunye sympathized with the family of Rabaya and assured them of "a relentless manhunt for the perpetrators."

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The surge in foreign investments being pledged or already in place must be matched with an increase in domestic investments so as to propel the country into First World status at the soonest time possible, according to Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye.

In his column "The View From the Palace" which comes out tomorrow (Monday), Bunye said Filipino enterprise at all levels must take the lead in nation building by committing to meet foreign investors’ favorable outlook on the country’s economy.

"The expected surge in foreign direct investments (FDIs) is certainly good news for the people expecting more well-paying jobs, but we must continue to strive to match this with a stronger trend of domestic investments," Bunye said.

"Filipino enterprise at all levels must lead the trend for a nation we are building with our own hands and our own vision," he added.

"The stronger we can combine domestic and foreign resources to grow the economy, the faster our pace in joining the ranks of the First World by the next generation," Bunye said.

The Philippines’s identity as one of the top investment venues was buoyed further recently when Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) ranked the country eighth among 32 countries with the highest proportion of booming businesses in the world.

Grant Thornton International is one of the world's leading organizations of independently owned and managed accounting and consulting firms providing assurance, tax and specialist advice to privately held businesses and public interest entities.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in her speech at the 26^th Biennial Convention of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) at the Manila Hotel last March 30, lauded Grant Thornton’s IBR as "a firm indication that growing political and economic security is driving investments up in an unprecedented scale."

In the same speech, the President also cited the resilient Filipino workers whose "faith and excellence" to their chosen field of expertise is world-class.

"Planning, productivity and good governance have combined to place the Philippines among the top 10 destinations for booming economies growing at a faster rate than average, measured against turnover and employment," the President said.

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The deployment of non-combatant military personnel has no other mandate but to conduct civic action programs such as medical and dental missions and minor infrastructure rehabilitation work.

President Arroyo and the media witnessed the positive response of the people to the presence of our civic action troops, and this should dispel once and for all the controversies being tied up with the deployment.

The compassionate soldier is part of the overall military modernization process, even as our fighting troops step up the manhunt for most wanted terrorists in the South.

Clearing the countryside and serving the people are part of a continuous mission of the military establishment.

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