BAGUIO CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sees 2007 as the year when the ordinary Filipino families will enjoy their share of the social payback of the tough policy reforms instituted by the government in 2005-2006 to rev up the economy.

In a brief speech at the end of the traditional New Year's Eve mass she and her family attended at the St. Joseph Cathedral last night, the President urged the people to join her in praying that her New Year’s wish for the nation would come true.

"I would like to ask for your prayers so that the year 2007 will be the year when we can have a social payback or when the people, the ordinary families of the Philippines, will be able to feel the fruits of all the difficult economic reforms that we had had to face in 2005 and 2006," the President said.

"In other words, may it (2007) be the year when it will all come together and may it all be done for the greater glory of GOD," she added.

Among the radical economic measures the President implemented to boost government revenues were the Expanded Value Added Tax (E-VAT) Law, which raised the VAT from 10 percent to 12 percent, and the Lateral Attrition Law which mandated revenue collecting agencies such as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC) to attain their specified monthly collection targets, or face stiff penalties.

The President said she hoped that 2007 would bring the Filipino people "closer to our Lord Jesus Christ," as she reiterated her greetings of a "Happy New Year to all of you."

TOP

BAGUIO CITY – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today she will visit Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya tomorrow (Tuesday) to inspect priority government projects in the two neighboring provinces.

In Nueva Vizcaya, the President will formally open the Pinkian Bridge in Kayapa. With the completion of the bridge, the 10-hour travel time between Ifugao and Manila will cut by one-half, she said.

The new span will greatly contribute to the safe and speedy delivery of agricultural items, including vegetables and meat products, from Nueva Vizcaya to markets in Metro Manila.

In Nueva Ecija, she will inaugurate the Lateral-A Irrigation Canal of the Casecnan Multi-Purpose Irrigation and Power Project (CMIPP) at Barangay Magtanggol in Muņoz City.

The Chief Executive, First Gentleman Atty. Jose Miguel Arroyo and other members of the First Family, arrived here last week to spend their Christmas and New Year holidays in this summer capital.

This morning, the President and Atty. Arroyo were seen walking along historic Leonard Wood Road happily interacting with tourists and Baguio City residents.

The President also gamely posed for souvenir photos with some of the people along her route.

TOP