President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has expressed delight at the growth of China and India, saying the two countries’ economic and political might coupled with the "power" of Japan will directly benefit the Philippines and the Asian region, 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 the President cited the three countries’ growth in her keynote speech Saturday at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) which was held in the southern Chinese province of Hainan.

"As President of the Philippines and as Chair of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the President is delighted with the growth of China and India to add to the power of Japan in the region," Bunye said.

"The Philippines benefits from this growth and it can only lift up our nation as it lifts up others too," he added.

In her speech, the President emphasized that as China and India eventually grow into political and economic giants, "their obligations to their neighbors will increase and separate from their own obligations to their citizens."

"Ascendance onto the world stage carries implications not just for economic development, but for management of our environment on a sustainable basis and for sustaining broader peace and stability in the region and the world," she said.

As chair of the ASEAN, the President pushed for greater economic integration between Southeast Asia and the robust economies of China, India and Japan.

She welcomed the surge in economic growth of the three countries as a healthy development for the Philippines and the region as a whole.

"The internal market demands and domestic consumption of these nations are having a direct and positive impact on our nation in terms of job creation, investment and balance of trade," she said. 

During her 12-hour whirlwind trip to Boao, President Arroyo secured nearly a billion dollars worth of new Chinese investment deals for the Philippines.

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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has issued Executive Order No. 614 renaming the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center as Technology Resource Center (TRC) and transferred it to the administrative supervision of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

In signing E.O. 614, the President noted the need to place the renamed agency under the administrative supervision of the DOST "to better monitor the exercise of powers and the performance of the functions and responsibilities" of the former TLRC.

Prior to its renaming and transfer to the administrative supervision of the DOST, the TLRC was under the Office of the President.

With the renaming of the TLRC under E.O. 614, the agency has regained its original name Technology Resource Center adopted when it was created as a corporate body attached to the former Ministry of Human Settlements on Feb. 23, 1977.

During the administration of former President Corazon C. Aquino, she issued Executive Order No. 10 placing all offices, agencies, and corporations attached to the Ministry of Human Settlements under the Office of the President.

Pursuant to the same executive order, the TRC was renamed the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) and transferred to the administrative supervision of the Office of the President.

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