President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has called early next week a full National Security Council meeting, which includes former President Fidel V. Ramos, Senate President Manuel Villar and Speaker Jose de Venecia and other stakeholders, to discuss the Makati City bombing and to adopt comprehensive measures that will assure the people’s safety.

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Travel advisories by concerned governments are standard procedures anywhere in the world.

The President is calling a full National Security Council meet to address the Makati bombing.

She has directed the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to hold diplomatic briefings to assure foreign governments of our commitment to find and arrest the perpetrators of this senseless, barbaric attack.

She is grateful for expressions of support from governments, institutions, business groups, and individual investors.

Meanwhile, we urge the people to extend full cooperation to the Philippine National Police (PNP) as it strengthens security measures in public places within the metropolis.

Let us show these malefactors that we will not surrender our freedoms nor change the pattern of our lives to suit their immoral cause of hatred and fear.

The government is on top of the situation and we shall do everything to protect our people.

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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be the special guest tomorrow (Monday) at the opening of the three-day First National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation (NCCCA) at the Albay Astrodome in Legaspi City.

Hosted by the provincial government of Albay headed by Gov. Jose “Joey” Salceda, and co-sponsored by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the World Agroforestry Center, the conference is in keeping with the President’s commitment during the 62^nd Session of the United Nations last Sept. 28 in New York to support and promote strategies on climate change adaption.

A welcome party composed of Salceda, Legaspi City Mayor Noel Rosal, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman (1^st dist.) Rep. Reno Lim (3^rd dist.), Presidential Assistant Tomasito Monzon, AFP 9^th ID commanding general Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sodusta, and S/Supt. Balligi Tira, PNP Region 5 officer-in-charge, will meet the President at the Legazpi City Airport.       

Key findings of the 2007 Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change will be presented during the conference, along with a draft of the Albay Declaration on Climate Change Adaptation.

The Albay Declaration will be submitted to the international conference on climate change to be held in Bali, Indonesia this December.    

Attending the Albay conference are policy and decision-makers from both national and local government units, legislators, academic institutions, business, religious, and other organizations, researchers, scientists, and representatives from various international organizations.     

The country has an existing Presidential Task Force on Climate Change (PTFCC) headed by the secretary of the Department of Energy (DoE).

The conference will also feature paper presentations, open forums, workshops, field visits, and environmental activities, group discussions on specific themes, including climate change caused by the agriculture sector; adaptation strategies in the energy sector; and the role of various groups in adapting to climate change.

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Malacañang said today the “government is on top of the situation, and we shall do everything to protect our people.”

Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye made the assurance in reaction to the travel advisories issued by three foreign countries to their citizens to exercise caution while in the Philippines in the wake of the explosion at the Glorietta mall in Makati City.

“Travel advisories by concerned governments are standard procedures anywhere in the world,” Bunye said.

He pointed out that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has called for a “full meeting” of the National Security Council (NSC) early next week “to discuss the Makati City bombing, and to adopt comprehensive measures that will assure the people’s safety.”

The “full NSC meeting” includes former President Fidel V. Ramos, Senate President Manuel Villar, and House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.

The President has also directed the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) “to hold diplomatic briefings to assure foreign governments of our commitment to find and arrest the perpetrators of this senseless, barbaric attack,” Bunye added, referring to the Makati City blast.     

Ten people were killed in the lunch-hour explosion at the Glorietta shopping mall in Legaspi Village, Makati City last Friday, while more than 100 others were injured.

Shortly after the blast, the President mobilized all law-enforcement agencies, notably the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), to tighten security measures, undertake a thorough investigation of the bombing and go after the perpetrators.

Bunye said the President is ”grateful for the expressions of support from governments, institutions, business groups, and individual investors.”

“We urge the people to extend full cooperation to the Philippine National Police (PNP) as it strengthens security measures in public places within the metropolis.

“Let us show these malefactors that we will not surrender our freedoms nor change the pattern of our lives to suit their immoral cause of hatred and fear,” Bunye said.   

The travel advisories were issued by the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

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