JAGNA, Bohol--President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated this morning two newly-completed flagship projects in Bohol province which are designed to spur economic development in the countryside, specifically in Central Visayas or Region VII.

Upon arrival at about 10 a.m. at the Jagna Elementary School oval and after a short meeting with local government officials here, the President led the ribbon cutting and unveiling of the project marker of the P60.4–million Jagna Port expansion project.

The project involved the demolition and disposal of the reinforced concrete wharf, the widening of rock causeway, construction of a reinforced concrete wharf extension and provision of mooring and fendering system.

The expansion of the Jagna port, considered a strategic point that links the Visayas to Mindanao, would further boost Bohol’s dream of becoming a hub in the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH) system.

The Jagna Port improvement project was begun on April 12, 2006 and finished last March 27.

The project also stands to spur economic development in this fourth-class, agricultural municipality and improve the lives of some 32,000 mostly farmer residents spread out in 33 barangays.

From the Jagna Port, the President proceeded to inaugurate the P1.8-billion, 136-kilometer Phase 2 of the Bohol Circumferential Road Improvement Project (BCRIP) by riding an open-type jeep for the 400-meter inaugural drive-through.

The BCRIP is seen to improve the main road network of the province as it covers 16 towns, thereby reducing travel time by from four hours to eight hours when one travels the whole province, the President said.

The concrete road network completes the Bohol road belt by linking up with the 124-kilometer Phase 1 of the project from Calape to Candijay.

The Phase 2 starts from Candijay to Guindulman, Duero, Jagna, Garcia- Hernandez, Valencia, Dimiao, Lila, Loay, Alburquerque, Baclayon, Tagbilaran City, Cortes, Maribojoc, Loon and back to Calape where it joins Phase 1 of the project that was earlier completed.

The opening of the BCRIP will facilitate rapid transport of goods and services, thereby increasing trade and commerce in the region. It also crucially complements the country’s pilot nautical links stretching across inner seas.

JAGNA, Bohol—"Biyahe na sa Ro-Ro!"

Thus said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the Roll-On, Roll-Off (Ro-Ro) infomercial she shot at the Jagna Port against a backdrop of the very serene Guindulman Bay after she inaugurated the P60.4-million Jagna Port expansion project this morning.

Attired in a light blue pantsuit, the President, looking like a professional commercial model, went through the Ro-Ro infomercial in just a few minutes.

Documented by the Radio–TV Malacanang (RTVM), the infomercial will be aired on national television starting May 12 when the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH) project turns four years old.

In the infomercial, the President encourages passengers to take the Ro-Ro as it is "dependable and affordable."

The President said that the Ro-Ro "is the backbone of trade from Mindanao to the Visayas to Luzon" as it has kept the cost of food down as well as improved the lives of farmers.

She also said that the Ro-Ro would boost tourism in the Visayas, the "Tourism Center of the Philippines" in her super regions economic development plan.

The SRNH was conceptualized to interconnect by land and sea the island provinces of the country through Ro-Ro and cargo vessels, ferry boats, fastcraft and other modes of land transportation.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued today Executive Order No. 621 placing the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) under the supervision and control of the Department of Health (DOH).

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita made the announcement during his weekly press briefing in Malacanang this afternoon.

The EO, which will take effect immediately, is aimed at facilitating the coordination of policies and programs between the two government agencies, according to Ermita.

"Ang PCSO kasi, ang dami-dami ng activities. Ako, alam ko. Ang dami kong pinipirmahan na endorsement para lamang bigyan ng pondo ng PCSO iyong mga mahihirap na hindi maka-afford ng dialysis, magpa-heart bypass. So a big percentage of the function of the PCSO is to help those who are in need of funds," he said, adding that it was the President who thought of transferring the agency to the DOH supervision and control.

EO No. 621 repealed Executive Order No. 520 which the President issued on March 27 last year. EO 520 placed the PCSO under the supervision and control of the Office of the President (OP).

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo thanked and congratulated today the government of Nigeria for its successful efforts that led to the expeditious release of eight overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) seized last week by militants at a power plant construction site.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in his regular weekly press briefing in Malacanang this afternoon that based on the data given to him by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, the eight migrant workers were released at around 12 midnight on Tuesday Nigeria time (around 5 p.m. Manila time).

"They are all in good physical health," Ermita said, adding that the freed Filipino workers have been moved from Port Harport to Lagos, Nigeria and are expected to be repatriated to Manila on Friday morning.

He said the expeditious release of the victims was a result of the close coordination between the Philippine and Nigerian governments and Daewoo company, the Korean firm that contracted the services of the eight Filipinos.

Ermita stressed that no ransom money was paid.

"The practice has always been that we do not negotiate, we do not pay ransom money. We let the company who contracted the services do the negotiations," Ermita explained.

South Korea’s top builder Daewoo Engineering and Construction site in Nigeria has a total 53 Filipino workers.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has instructed the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to jointly conduct patrols and checkpoints to prevent bad elements from disrupting the peaceful conduct of the May 14 elections, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said today.

Ermita bared this in his weekly media briefing in Malacanang this afternoon following the bombing incident in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat yesterday that claimed four lives aside from wounding more than 30 other persons.

With no one claiming responsibility for the bombing and authorities still in the thick of investigations, Ermita said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has specifically instructed government security forces to do their mandate as called for under the order of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which is in charge of supervising the conduct of an honest, orderly and peaceful elections.

"The instruction of the President is to ensure that similar incidents should not happen anywhere in the Philippines especially where the terrorists and other bad elements may have the capability to disrupt a peaceful and orderly conduct of the elections," Ermita said.

Included in the instruction, he said, is for the PNP and AFP "to conduct joint patrols and joint checkpoints all over the country."

The President also shook hands and informally interacted with the officers and employees of the company who all came out to meet her.

 "Congratulations!," the President said.

Once operations go full steam, the new facility will employ an additional 700 agents aside from its current employee base of 1,200 who man Convergys' first Cebu office located at the Arcenas Estate in Banawa.

According to Streit, the main reason his company is very upbeat in investing in the Philippines is because of the Filipinos’ firm grasp of the English language.