President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said last night that Singapore, being a model of economic prosperity and one of the economic tigers in the region, has opened many opportunities and polished the skills of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) through the years.

"Singapore’s first world economy presents various opportunities for thousands of Filipinos to further hone their experience and expertise," the President said in her toast at a state dinner Tuesday in honor of visiting Singaporean President S. R. Nathan at the Rizal Hall of Malacaņang.

Among those present were First Gentleman Atty. Jose Miguel Arroyo, Singapore First Lady Urmila Ramanathan, former President Fidel V. Ramos, House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., Cabinet members, businessmen, and members of the diplomatic corps led by Papal Nuncio Archbishop Fernando Filoni.

The Singapore leader arrived in Manila Tuesday afternoon for a four-day state visit.

Aside from more than four decades of diplomatic relations, the President said the entry of budget airlines and proximity of the two countries to each other has contributed "to the continued cultural, social, and economic development of both Singapore and the Philippines."

Located southwest of the Philippines between Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore, just some three hours and 15 minutes away by air, is host to more than 130,000 OFWs.

According to the President, the visiting Singaporean leader would also have the chance to see the "flourishing" Singaporean investments in the Philippines when he visits the Carmelray Industrial Park in Laguna on Thursday.

The Singaporean President is also scheduled to visit Fort Bonifacio Global City to witness the groundbreaking of the Ascendas’ Net Commercial Development Project before his return to Singapore on Friday.

During President Arroyo’s state visit to Singapore in 2001, the two countries committed to further expand economic cooperation, particularly in the field of information and communications technology (ICT).

The President’s visit also resulted in various agreements that boosted trade, increased air travel seats and joint tourism promotion between the two countries, and facilitated accreditation of Filipino seafarers for Singaporean vessels.

Previously a usual destination only for Filipino domestic helpers, Singapore has relaxed its policy on hiring foreign workers, paving the way for more skilled OFWs to work in the field of ICT, health care, pharmaceuticals, banking and finance, manufacturing, and construction.

Also during the state banquet last night, President Arroyo said that the Philippines and Singapore, as founding members and incumbent chair and incoming chair, respectively, of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), would strongly push for the establishment of an integrated ASEAN Community by 2015.

"Beyond bilateral relations, Singapore and the Philippines share a valued partnership, particularly in ASEAN. The Philippines and Singapore, as incumbent chair and incoming chair of ASEAN, now have the singular opportunity to move forward for a common goal of an integrated ASEAN Community," the President added.

The President had earlier said the Philippines and Singapore should advance bilateral relations as a component of a larger task of strengthening ASEAN solidarity by strongly promoting and projecting ASEAN as one voice and one collective group in Asia and the larger family of nations.

The Philippines currently chairs the ASEAN. It will turn the chairmanship over to Singapore which will host the 13^th ASEAN Summit in November this year.

Visiting Singaporean President S.R. Nathan said Tuesday night that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s "strong leadership and determination" has made the Philippines more progressive and raised the country’s potentials to attract more investments.

"Madame President, this progress reflects your strong leadership and determination to raise the level of economic development in the Philippines, and with it increasing prospects for cooperation," President Nathan said in his reciprocal toast during the state dinner tendered in his honor at the Rizal Hall of Malacaņang.

He noted that the Philippines has been greatly transformed now bustling with economic activity such as the establishment of many new malls including the Mall of Asia, one of the largest in the world.

Nathan said there is potential for further cooperation between Singapore and the Philippines in the tourism sector particularly with the opening of the Clark International Airport to foreign carriers that has offered new opportunities for investors.

According to the Singaporean leader, the entry of budget carriers like Tiger Airways, Jetstar Asia, and Cebu Pacific in the Singapore-Philippine route would further promote tourism between the two countries.

Last year, he said some 81,000 Singaporeans visited the Philippines, reflecting a 59 percent increase from 2005.

"We can and should do more to increase air links between Singapore and Manila while we have the momentum," he said.

Nathan said economic relations between the Philippines and Singapore are strong with bilateral trade hitting a record high of Singaporean $17 billion last year, a 15.8 percent increase from 2005.

"The Philippines was our 13^th largest trading partner while Singapore was your third largest trading partner in 2006," he added.

Nathan said Singapore remains one of the top investors in the country with the Ascott Group and Ascendas recently investing S$84 million and S$224 million, respectively.

On Friday, he said he would witness the groundbreaking of the Ascendas’ Net Commercial Development Project at the Fort Bonifacio Global City.

The Singaporean leader also congratulated the President for the successful holding of the 12^th ASEAN Summit in Cebu last January and skillfull steering of the discussions among the leaders of ASEAN and its dialogue partners such as the establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015 and drafting of the ASEAN Charter, among others.

"Under your able leadership in Cebu, decisions were taken to help ASEAN meet the challenges posed by globalization and the changing geostrategic-political landscape around our region," he said.

As Singapore takes over the ASEAN chairmanship, Nathan said Singapore would closely work with the Philippines and build on the strong foundation laid out by the President in Cebu.

Tired of the traffic and the gridlock? Take the river. It’s faster, cheaper and yes, cooler.

These are the main selling points of the newly-revived Pasig River Ferry Service which was inaugurated by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo this morning as an alternative mode of transport for commuters tired of wasting precious time and money commuting in the metropolis’ traffic-chocked thoroughfares.

The ferry service, a revival of the Starcraft ferry which had its heyday in the 1990s, traverses the 27-kilometer stretch of the Pasig River from Manila Bay to Laguna Bay.

Unlike its predecessor, the new ferry service is air-conditioned and will have newer, faster crafts and more ferry stations along the stretch that traverses six cities.

The air-conditioned ferryboats will have music on board and a bar. The stations, on the other hand, will likewise be air-conditioned and will have such amenities as payphones, security system and a ticketing scheme that uses both paper tickets for single journey and radio frequency ID for stored value.

The President took the ferry’s maiden run from the Malacaņang Golf Clubhouse located at the Presidential Security Group (PSG) Compound in Malacaņang Park to the service’s Guadalupe station, one of the 15 ferry stations.

Joining the President on the leisurely cruise were Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) Secretary Leandro Mendoza, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Assistant Secretary Francisco Bravo, Ilocos Sur Governor and Administration senatorial candidate Luis "Chavit" Singson and former First Lady Amelita "Ming" Ramos.

The initial cruise consisted of passing through the newly built Pasig River ferry stations located in Sta. Ana and Lambingan in Manila, Barangay Hulo in Mandaluyong and Guadalupe in Makati City.

Aside from the above-mentioned stations, the other stations are: Escolta, Plaza Mexico, Quezon Bridge, Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Manila; Valenzuela in Makati City; San Joaquin and Caniogan in Pasig City, Riverbanks, Sta. Elena and Marcos Bridge east in Marikina City; and Napindan in Taguig City.

Mendoza said that for the next seven days, commuters would be able to ride the ferry free from any of its terminals strategically located along the banks of the Pasig River.

After the promotional run, commuters will be asked to pay a minimum one-time fee of P25 until June 30. Regular fare rates ranging from a minimum of P25 to a maximum of P45 will be charged per passenger after that.

Mendoza said that each terminal would cost P80 million. Aside from the initial three catamaran type of ferries, another six will be added in the third quarter of this year.

The ferryboats, manufactured by the Nautical Transport Service, Inc. (NTSI), costs P15 million each.

The revival of the ferry service is a priority project of the Arroyo Administration aimed to tap the potential of the Pasig River as an alternate source of transport corridor to help decongest traffic in Metro Manila.

A successful election summit is taking shape and bringing closer the twin goals of honest, orderly and peaceful elections, and greater stability and confidence in the country.

The summit was urged by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in response to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) pastoral statement last month. It is to be held in early March, following pre-summit meetings to draw up doable actions plans addressing key election issues.

The summit objectives are:

The pre-summit meetings begin this week, convened in clusters of issues and handled by organizations involved in the summit planning meetings on February 7 and 12.

The organizations involved in summit planning are: Commission on Elections (Comelec), Department of Education (DepEd), Philippine National Police (PNP), National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), CBCP-National Secretariat for Social Action (CBCP-NASSA), National Council of Churches of the Philippines (NCCP), Philippine Council for Evangelical Churches (PCEC), and the Cabinet Secretariat (CabSec).

The issue clusters and their convenor organizations are:

The cluster meetings, chaired and documented by their respective convenor organizations, will discuss issues with their major stakeholders and formulate action plans that can be undertaken in February-June and will be supported by entities crucial to their implementation.

General meetings in the week before the summit will finalize action plans to be proposed in the summit, as well as its date, venue, convenors and invited participants. A private conference organizer still to be chosen will handle arrangements and documentation for the general meetings and the summit itself.

The timetable of activities for the Election Summit is as follows:

Participants to be invited to the Summit will be proposed by cluster convenors, based on their cluster issues and meetings, and finalized in the general meetings, along with their levels of participation (convenors, delegates, observers, media, etc.).

Focal persons representing the summit organizations are: Director James Jimenez, Comelec; Undersecretaries Ramon Bacani and Franklin Sunga, DepEd; Deputy Director General Antonio Billones and Sr. Supt. Jose Genteles, PNP; Sister Rosanne Mallillin, CBCP-NASSA; Rev. Rey Cortez, NCCP; Rev. Jonel Milan, PCEC; and Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo.

In line with her effort to mitigate the incidence of hunger by providing access to high-quality yet affordable food items to the masses, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated this morning a Barangay Food Terminal (BFT) within the Food Terminal, Incorporated (FTI) Complex in Taguig City, one of four operational BFTs in Metro Manila.

With the opening of the newest BFT, some 30,000 families in Bgy. Signal Village and 23,000 more households within the Western Bicutan area can now avail themselves of food staples at prices 10 percent lower than those sold in regular retail outlets.

The other three operational BFTs are located in Barangays Batasan Hills and Pansol in Quezon City and Bgy. 649 in Baseco, Manila.

The President was joined by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Taguig City Mayor Sigfredo "Freddie" Tinga, other local government officials and government executives in inaugurating the Signal Village, Taguig City BFT.

Under the BFT, the DA, under the auspices of President Arroyo, coordinates with LGUs, farmers and fisherfolk producers in providing technical assistance during the pre-operation and actual operation of the BFT.

Also, the DA shall provide the direct "avenues" whereby suppliers and the end consumers will be linked and provide the cold storage facility capable of storing meat products, fish, fruit and vegetables.

Among the food items sold by the BFT at reduced prices are pork products such as liempo, pigue and porkchops all priced at P118. Compared to market prices for the same pork cuts which are sold at P125, the consumer saves P7.00.

Common vegetables such as carrots (BFT-P18/market-P30), cauliflower (BFT-P32/market-P40), chicharo (BFT-P62/market-P72), patatas (P35/P40), repolyo (P18/P25), amplaya (P42/P60) and tomatoes (P18/P30) are all priced way below local market prices ensuring savings for consumers.

Yap said that aside from saving consumers their hard-earned pesos, BFTs also provide small farm producers and fish suppliers a constant market for their goods and products without having to go through middlemen and other unnecessary trading layers that shave off a portion of their profits and unduly jack up the retail costs of basic goods.

Yap added that due to the strong demand for BFTs, the DA expects to open at least 20 more BFTs this year near the depressed communities of Metro Manila and the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon (CALABARZON) provinces to make staple food items within the reach of poor families.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo thanked today Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo for "taking a direct hand" in the release of the 24 Filipino seamen held captive by Nigerian gunmen in the oil-producing Niger Delta.

"From the start, we never doubted the capability of the Nigerian government to rescue our workers," the President said in her message at the inaugural meeting and induction of the 2007 Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) board of directors and officers held at the Hotel Intercontinental Hotel in Makati City this afternoon.

The President also commended the Philippines diplomatic personnel for being "focused and faithful to their task."

She said as soon as the crisis erupted on Jan. 20, she immediately sent Special Envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu to the area.

She added that Philippine Resident Ambassador to Nigeria Masaranga Umpa had been working very hard for the release of the Filipino workers.

At the same time, the President hoped for the eventual release of two other kidnap victims -- a Filipino employee of an oil services firm based in Monaco and a woman married to an Iranian businessman.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita announced today the appointment by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Shirley Ho-Vicario as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Philippine government to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

Vicario will replace Bienvenido Tejano who has been recalled by the President.

Ermita also announced during his weekly press briefing in Malacanang this afternoon the appointment of two other government officials.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo extolled today the "first major breakthrough" in the Six-Party Talks on the denuclearization of North Korea even as she vowed that the Philippines and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would continue to extend support in the achievement of peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.

"I wish to convey my congratulations to the nations that negotiated the landmark agreement leading to the de-escalation of nuclear arms development in North Korea," the President said in her message at the inaugural meeting and induction of the 2007 Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) board of directors and officers held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Makati City this afternoon.

The President said that the breakthrough achieved yesterday in the Six-Party Talks "is a good start to pull disarmament and the full stabilization of the Korean Peninsula," which she stressed has been in the priority agenda of the ASEAN and East Asia for sometime now.

"The Philippines and the ASEAN will continue to extend all support to achieve the aims of peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula through peaceful and constructive means," she said.

During the 12^th ASEAN Summit held in Cebu last January, the Philippines, being the ASEAN Chair this year, offered to host the next round of talks on the North Korea disarmament issue among the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the United States, Russia, and Japan.

The President said that the Philippines is for a safer world for Filipinos, many of whom are in Korea, and the ASEAN for a more secure and stable region.

"The Philippines is a strong player in world security, stability and harmony," she said.

During the third phase of the fifth round of talks in Beijing, it was reported that North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear facilities in exchange for fuel aid.

Instead of balancing the budget this year, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would rather spend the projected P 64 billion savings for 2007 for infrastructure and more social services for the people as well as the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The President pointed this out in her message at the first inaugural meeting and induction of the 2007 Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Board of Directors and Officers at the Hotel Intercontinental in Makati City this afternoon.

"Do we want to advance the balancing of the budget to this year? Well, let me say that’s already been advanced for 2010. So, rather than balancing the budget for this year, I would rather spend that extra P64 billion for more infrastructure and more social services for the people," she said.

The Chief Executive was reacting to projections of her economic managers that in order to balance the budget in 2008, the government should have a deficit this year of only P64 billion.

Last year’s budget deficit was only 63 billion.

The social services the President was referring to include education, health care, microfinance, and other expenditures to modernize the military.

"For the first time since the soldiers cannot remember, we’re going to buy brand-new helicopters," she said to the applause of the gallery.

The President lauded the prime movers of the country’s economy for their support that enabled the government to increase the social payback to the people.

She expressed hopes that the social payback would further increase so more jobs would be created.