President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be the commencement speaker of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) "Maragtas" Class of 2007 in fitting ceremonies to be held Monday at Fort del Pilar in this summer capital of the country.

The President will be accorded arrival honors at the Borromeo Field here.

It is the first time in recent history of PMA, Asia’s premier military academy, that the graduation ceremony would be held on a Monday as it was usually held on a Sunday.

Major General Leopoldo Maligalig, PMA Superintendent, said it is only on Monday that the President is available to come here.

As of today, PMA is "ready to receive the President" as all necessary preparations for a successful conduct of the event are already in place, he said.

This year’s graduation ceremonies will be a very fitting tribute to women empowerment as 23 more female cadets are among the 282 cadets graduating tomorrow and three of them are on the top 10. Moreover, the Maragtas Class of 2007 valedictorian is a female—Cadet First Class Andrelee Mojica, 23, of Indang, Cavite.

Mojica is the third female cadet to graduate at the top of a PMA class since female cadets broke tradition by joining the then all-male Cadet Corps in 1994 by virtue of Republic Act 7192 or the Equal Opportunity Act.

The first female PMA cadet to graduate valedictorian was Philippine Navy Ensign Arlene de la Cruz of Class 1999, followed by Philippine Army 2Lt. Tara Velasco of Class 2003.

After tomorrow’s graduation ceremonies, PMA would have graduated a total of 148 female cadets over the past 10 years since 1997.

The other two female cadets in this year’s top 10 are First Class Gemilyn Mendoza, 23, of Pangasinan (5^th in the class) and Judyline Canoneo, 26, of Talisay, Cebu (6^th).

Maligalig said the Maragtas Class of 2007 is the first batch to graduate fully from the PMA Roadmap Plan implemented in 2002 "to combat the three evils of the PMA---dishonor, academic mediocrity and bullying or hazing."

TOP

As part of her administration’s massive tourism promotion program, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo welcomed and hosted last night a simple dinner in Malacaņang for the officials and members of the Korea Travel Association (KTA).

Around 60 KTA officials, members and their spouses, led by KTA chairman and chief executive officer Joong Mok Shin, gathered at the Heroes Hall of the Palace Saturday night for a courtesy call on the President after their meeting in Tagaytay City.

KTA, the top Korean tourist group, is holding in the Philippines its first off-shore board and executive committee conference from March 15 to 19.

"Being Korea’s strongest travel association, the KTA has contributed substantially to the continuous influx of Korean visitors to the country," Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said in a statement.

Citing Department of Tourism (DOT) records, Durano said Korea is now the top source of foreign tourists visiting the Philippines for its record arrivals of 572,133 visitors in 2006.

TOP

Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye said today that investor confidence in the Philippines will be boosted further once the 2007 national budget and several economic reform measures are signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo this month.

In his weekly column, "The View From the Palace" which comes out Monday, Bunye said "with the anticipated signing into law of key economic bills, the 2007 budget and the government pay hike, we are driving home the people’s blueprint for fiscal strength, investor confidence, good governance and social payback."

Citing the various gains by the government so far under President Arroyo’s "strong political will to push for what is right, however unpopular," Bunye stressed that "indeed, under this administration, there is much reason for optimism and hope."

He mentioned among the significant gains the decline in the national government’s total debt, reduced budget deficit, creation of more well-paying jobs and increase in investments.

The Bureau of the Treasury reported recently that the debt of the national government fell by nearly one percent to P3.851 trillion at end-2006 from P3.888 trillion a year ago.

"Our country's declining debt is a clear indication that we are on the road to a balanced budget in 2008, two years ahead of schedule, and this has resulted in growing investor confidence in the Philippines," Bunye said.

"We can now expect more dramatic economic and social reforms. We have gained considerable elbow room to allocate more resources to vital basic services and infrastructure programs that will continue to lift our people from poverty, drive investments and jobs, and consolidate the national network of excellence and enterprise," he added.

During her visit to the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) in Pampanga on Tuesday (March 20), the President is scheduled to sign two bills into law.

These are the amendments of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) Law and the One-Time Tax Amnesty to Locators in special economic zones and free ports.

Department of Budget and Management Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. has said the President is expected to sign the P1.126-trillion national budget on or before March 24.

TOP

BAGUIO CITY---The Philippine Military Academy’s commencement exercises this year can be considered as a fitting tribute to women empowerment coming in time for the celebration of Women’s Month and with another female cadet topping the Maragtas Class of 2007.

All in all, 23 female cadets would be graduating tomorrow, bringing to 148 the total number of female cadets who have graduated from Asia’s premier military academy over the past 10 years since 1997.

Of the top 10 graduates this year, three are women.

They are Maragtas Class of 2007 valedictorian Cadet First Class Andrelee Mojica, 23, of Indang, Cavite; First Class Gemilyn Mendoza, 23, of Pangasinan (5^th in the class), and Judyline Canoneo, 26, of Talisay, Cebu (6^th).

Mojica is the third female cadet to graduate at the top of a PMA class since female cadets broke tradition by joining the then all-male Cadet Corps in 1994 by virtue of Republic Act 7192 or the Equal Opportunity Act.

By graduating at the top of her class, Mojica will receive from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo the Presidential Saber and the PGMA Achievement Award for Excellence.

The first female PMA cadet to graduate valedictorian was Philippine Navy Ensign Arlene de la Cruz of Class 1999, followed by Philippine Army 2Lt. Tara Velasco of Class 2003.

PMA Superintendent Leopoldo Maligalig said the Maragtas Class of 2007 is the first batch to graduate fully from the PMA Roadmap Plan implemented in 2002 "to combat the three evils of the PMA---dishonor, academic mediocrity and bullying or hazing."

TOP