For the country’s more than one million government workforce, the once elusive dream of putting up their own businesses to augment their income is now within reach through the "Puhunang Pangnegosyo Para sa Kawani ng Gobyerno" program of the government.

No less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo led the launching this morning of the "Go Negosyo, Go Gobyerno" livelihood lending facility for government employees at the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) along Roxas Blvd. in Pasay City.

Among the other guests during the occasion were Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila, Presidential Management Staff Head and Oversight Officer for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Cerge Remonde, People’s Credit and Finance Corporation (PCFC) president Edgardo Generoso and representatives of the different government agencies.

In her speech keynoting the launch, the President enticed all government employees, whom she called the new "pillars of power" in the community, to become micro-entrepreneurs and put up their own businesses by availing themselves of this new credit window.

Earlier, the President allotted some P1 billion in funding for the Puhunang Pangnegosyo Para sa Kawani ng Gobyerno aimed at providing collateral-free livelihood loans to government employees, through employee cooperatives and employee associations.

She said those interested may apply for the loan as an individual where "you alone reap all the benefits of your business as well as all the debts, or as a group or association and share in the profit and the cost of your business."

The President expressed favor for the latter which she said "encapsulates the essence of micro-finance and directed the Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA) to immediately organize their member organizations so as to facilitate their loan applications.

The loans will be in the form of wholesale lending by government financing institutions namely: the PCFC, the Development Bank of the Philippines, the Land Bank of the Philippines, Quedan Corporation, National Livelihood Support Fund and Small Business Guarantee Finance Corporation with government employee cooperatives and associations as their retail institutions.

The facility offers livelihood loans starting at P5,000 given in cycles of three to six months with gradual increases in loan size based on repayment record, group or individual liability and bimonthly or monthly repayments.

The President said that the new loan facility is part of the "social payback" to the people after the government implemented radical revenue reform measures that have contributed to the lofty standing the Philippine economy is experiencing right now.

"This is part of the payoff of the hard fought economic battles that we have met with some courageous members of Congress. Because of these hard fought battles, the Philippine economy has finally broken loose from its historic legacy of lethargy," the President said.

She cited the low-interest rates imposed on bank and housing loans that used to reach as high as 14 percent but due to the economic reform measures have now been lowered to just six percent.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered today Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Oscar Calderon to immediately resolve the case of militant leader Jonas Burgos who was reported missing by his mother, Dra. Editha Burgos, wife of the late journalist and press freedom fighter Jose "Joe" Burgos Jr.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in his weekly press briefing in Malacanang this afternoon the President issued the directive in response to the appeal of Mrs. Burgos.

According to Mrs. Burgos, Jonas was reportedly abducted by four unidentified men and a woman in a restaurant in the vicinity of Ever Gotesco Mall in Quezon City last Saturday.

"Merong instruction sa PNP to immediately resolve that issue," Ermita told Malacanang reporters when asked about the President’s marching order to the police.

Calderon informed Ermita that the Directorate for Intelligence under the leadership of Chief Supt. Gerry Barias of the Task Force Usig was tasked to trace the whereabouts of Jonas and to know the group behind the abduction of the victim.

Ermita said it is important for the government to help the victim’s family know the real motive behind the issue, especially in the light of the series of unexplained killings of journalists and militant activists.

The President will not stand idly by as election year thugs try and ruin our May elections.

It would be irresponsible for the President not to do everything in her power to stop the violence and ensure free and fair elections and safe and protected voters and candidates for public office.

Malacaņang defended today President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s decision to call out the military to help ensure fair and peaceful elections, saying it would be irresponsible for the Chief Executive not to do so.

"The President will not stand idly by as election year thugs try and ruin our May elections," Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye said in a statement.

Bunye was reacting to criticisms, particularly an open letter by former Senate President Jovito Salonga warning of dire consequences anent the President’s troop deployment in Metro Manila and other election "hot spots" in the country.

Salonga stated in his open letter coursed through Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita that the May 14 elections could turn out to be as "violent and fraudulent as the Marcos era polls" should the President continue with the deployment of troops in the metropolis.

Bunye shrugged off the call, pointing out that if putting police and soldiers on the streets "to protect our citizens will help, so be it."

"It would be irresponsible for the President not to do everything in her power to stop the violence and ensure free and fair elections and safe and protected voters and candidates for public office," he explained.

Ermita, meanwhile, said there is no comparison between the conduct of elections during the Marcos regime and those of recent years.

Ermita, a retired general, described Salonga’s letter as just a reminder.

"Bale paalala lamang yun. Nasa military na ako noon. Ibang-iba ang conduct ng eleksiyon," he said.

In a statement last Monday, President Arroyo called on the AFP to "reinforce the police, under Commission on Elections authority, to stop election violence and move forcefully against those using threats and intimidation for partisan ends."

Government efforts to curb intellectual piracy are being recognized by the United States despite the Philippines being kept in the watchlist of intellectual property rights (IPR) violators.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita pointed out in his weekly press briefing in Malacanang this afternoon that the Optical Media Board (OMB) is doing everything to strictly implement the provisions of the Optical Media Act to protect the IPR of local and international film, music, software, game, and book industry.

"They (US authorities) take note of the fact that the Optical Media Board in the Philippines, in accordance with the Act, is doing everything in order to account for those people doing violations of the Optical Media Act," Ermita said.

In its yearly report, the US Trade Representative (USTR) has listed the Philippines among 23 countries in its IPR watchlist.

The Philippines is on its second year on the list after it was upgraded from being on the priority watchlist in 2001.

In 2004, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act 9239, otherwise known as the Optical Media Act. Since then, she had instructed the OMB, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Justice (DOJ), Philippine Information Agency (PIA), and even the Philippine National Police (PNP) to undertake steps necessary to boost operations and focus on the filing of cases and conviction of violators of the Copyright Law.

In addition, the President designated the Director General of the Intellectual Property Organization (IPO) as the oversight for the government’s anti-copyright piracy efforts to show the government’s resolve to enforce the law.

Today is an especially happy day for one OFW and her family, for all OFWs, and for a relieved Filipino nation. I just received word from Ambassador Tony Villamor of our Embassy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that OFW Sarah Dematera had been released from prison in Saudi Arabia and is now under his care.

Fifteen years ago, Sarah left the Philippines to work as a household helper in Saudi Arabia. Only three days after her arrival in the Kingdom in July 1992, she was accused of slaying her female employer, and eventually convicted to hang. Sarah’s execution was held in abeyance until the victim’s youngest daughter (who was 2 years old at the time) would have reached majority age this year.

When Sarah’s case came to my attention back in 2004, I immediately instructed our Philippine Embassy to open negotiations with the victim’s family for the possible settlement of the case. The Philippine Embassy in Saudi engaged the services of a Saudi lawyer to assist in handling Sarah’s case.

Today, Sarah’s life has been spared, due to the beneficence of the Saudi Arabian government, particularly the Governor of the Eastern Province, Prince Muhammad Bin Adulaziz Al Saud, who made possible the expeditious release of Sarah after the court had ordered the closure of her case.

I laud the untiring efforts of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Labor and Employment, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the men and women of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh.

I wish to thank Mr. Al-Ghanam, the victim’s husband, and his family for finding it in their hearts to forgive Sarah and accept diyah for their tremendous personal loss. I would also like to thank all the individuals and benefactors, many among whom have expressed their preference to remain anonymous, who contributed to and helped raise the required amount for the settlement of Sarah’s case. I also wish to extend our gratitude to the Shariah courts in the Kingdom for their show of mercy and to His Royal Highness King Abdullah for his continued assurances of good treatment of all Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia.

Para naman kay Sarah at sa kanyang pamilya, nais kong iparating ang aking galak sa iyong paglaya. Ang iyong paglaya ay utang natin sa pagtutulungan ng maraming taong nagmamalasakit sa iyo, sampu ng iyong pamahalaan na hindi ka pinabayaan. Hihintayin naming ang iyong maligayang pagbalik sa Pilipinas!