President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo brought cheers, comfort and assistance this morning to the 234 families who lost their homes in a fire at the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City, Monday afternoon.

The President, accompanied by Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Undersecretary Lualhati Pablo, visited the fire victims now housed at the Barangay Hall of Pook Libis and broke the good news that the UP administration would not evict them from their temporary shelter.

The President instructed the DSWD, together with the local government unit, to "provide the immediate needs" of the fire victims such as food and water.

The Chief Executive also asked the Quezon City government to "help construct a medium-rise housing" for the displaced families from Barangay UP Campus, Botocan and Krus na Ligas.

The "BLISS" (Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services) style housing would be constructed near the Sikatuna BLISS building.

The Monday afternoon fire lasted for about one hour, according to the Central Fire Department. A certain Ferdinand Abad was reported hurt when he accidentally stepped on the sharp edge of a rooftile.

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) who wish to return to the Philippines but cannot do so for various reasons are now provided a window of opportunity through the government’s Special Repatriation Program (SRP), Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Arturo Brion said today.

The SRP, according to Brion, is a salient feature of Republic Act No. 8042 otherwise known as The Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 that aims to protect the rights of OFWs.

In a press briefing in Malacaņang, Brion said that more than 1,000 OFWs have already availed themselves of the SRP since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo met with officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the release of stranded Filipinos there during her visit to the KSA in May 2006.

Brion said 379 more OFWs who have been stranded in their host countries for various reasons ranging from being victims of illegal recruitment and unpaid salaries to maltreatment, physical abuse, harassment and health reasons are coming home under the SRP.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is expected to personally meet the first batch of 108 OFWs arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal I in Pasay City from Riyadh this afternoon.

Brion said the OFWs will undergo a series of debriefings and profiling processes of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the DoLE so that the government agencies can properly determine their needs and how they can provide them with assistance.

The OFWs will also be brought to the DoLE’s newly-opened National Reintegration Center in Intramuros, Manila to equip them with skills and knowledge to go back to the mainstream.

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY--To push for greater momentum in improving air connectivity within Brunei Darussalam/Indonesia/Malaysia/the Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area, airports in six more areas of the sub-region are added to the list of designated points to be granted with Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights (FFTRs).

In a recently held 4th BIMP-EAGA Transport, Infrastructure and ICT Development (TIICTD) Cluster Meeting here, the EAGA working group on air linkages agreed to grant Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights to all passenger and cargo services in the airports of Manado and Tarakan in Indonesia, State of Labuan and Miri in Malaysia, as well as in Puerto Princesa City and General Santos City in the Philippines.

These are the new FFTR designated points in BIMP-EAGA in addition to Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei Darussalam, Balikpapan and Pontianak in Indonesia, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching in Malaysia, as well as Davao City and Zamboanga City in the Philippines.

"The granting of the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights to priority airports in the member countries is one of the breakthroughs in the meeting here," said Ang Kian Guan, head of the Brunei Delegation and concurrent chair of the BIMP-EAGA TIICTD Cluster.

He added that this measure will boost travel and trade by allowing more airlines to undertake more air services in the identified priority air routes of BIMP-EAGA.

Implementation of the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights have been targeted in the Bandar Seri Begawan-Kota Kinabalu-Davao City, Bandar Seri Begawan-Kuching-Pontianak, Bandar Seri Begawan-Kota Kinabalu and Bandar Seri Begawan-Kuching air routes as a result of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Expansion of Air Linkages in BIMP- EAGA during the 3rd BIMP-EAGA Summit held in Cebu City last Jan. 12, 2007.

Fifth Freedom Right provides privilege to an airline to bring cargo and passengers from one country to another other than its home country. The MOU also provides for multiple airline designation, no limitation on frequency, capacity and aircraft type, co-terminalization and code-sharing schemes.

"Strengthening our air linkages within EAGA and promoting greater movement of people, goods and services across the sub-region through air connectivity, essentially form part of the policy initiatives laid down by President Arroyo in committing government support to this endeavor," according to Mindanao Economic Development Council Chair Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana.

The four countries noted that majority of the designated airports for BIMP-EAGA air services are already compliant with International Civil Aviation Organization's safety and security standards. A regular exchange of data and information on airports development and best practices on ICAO safety and security compliance was also agreed.

Since it has been difficult to convince major airlines to serve air routes in the sub-region due to high cost of operations and low load factor, the cluster has agreed to entice low cost and small airline operators to serve the identified priority air routes and recommended for code-sharing arrangements among airline operators.

Thus, a BIMP-EAGA Airline Forum will be held back-to-back with the 2nd BIMP-EAGA Transport Ministers Meeting on July 25-26, 2007 in the Philippines. The forum is intended to invite smaller regional airlines in BIMP-EAGA to interact and familiarize with the opportunities in the growth area.

BIMP-EAGA countries have been pushing for the expansion of air links in the sub-region in an effort to promote and enhance intra-regional trade, tourism and investment cooperation among the focus areas.

The provision of air services in the BIMP-EAGA is envisioned to bring about greater accessibility, facilitate mobility of people, enhance flow of goods and commodities and attract investors to locate in the sub-region.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered today the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to implement tight screening and assessment of all recruitment agencies and possible employers of Filipinos desiring to work abroad.

The President issued the directive to Labor Secretary Arturo Brion this afternoon as she personally supervised the processing of the documents of 108 Filipino workers who were repatriated from the Middle East.

"Siguro Art (Brion), kailangang magkaroon tayo ng mas magaling na screening at ina-assess pati employer," the President told Brion, adding that through tight screening and assessment, OFWs would not become victims of maltreatment and illegal recruitment in their application to work abroad.

The President motored to Terminal 1 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City to personally welcome the 108 Filipino workers who arrived from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on board Emirates Air Lines flights facilitated by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

The OFWs were repatriated as a result of the Philippine government’s continued efforts and strong representations with various Middle Eastern countries.

During her brief interaction with the OFWs, the President assured them that the government would provide them livelihood assistance so they could start a new life in their home country.

She said that the DOLE and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) will train the returning OFWs to enable them to engage in small business or look for new and stable jobs based on their expertise or skills.