We are saddened over how far political exploitation poisoned the mind of this young officer and led him astray.

As far as we are concerned, his escape appears to have been well-planned and well-coordinated and we believe that he is now being coddled by some shadowy groups and personalities for their self-serving destabilization activities.

To maintain global competitiveness, it is necessary for the Philippines to obtain its strength from within.

We are for the protection of our local industries from the impact of the influx of goods from other countries.

As we support the global market, we expect our partners to exercise fair trade and level the playing field with the developing countries like us so that we may be able to cope with the heavy demands of foreign competition.

President Arroyo has been very grateful for the hard work these men and women have endured to take the pulse of the people and craft meaningful recommendations for transformation of our political and economic system.

We leave it to Congress to deliberate on these recommendations and discern what is best for our country.

In the end, it will still be the sovereign people who would be the final judge.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo authorized today the grant of an additional P5,000 bonus to all national government employees in the form of a performance bonus.

Entitled to the additional bonus are all state workers, including personnel of state-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions (GFIs), who have rendered at least four months of service as of Nov. 30, 2005.

Government workers who have rendered less than four months of service as of last Nov. 30 will also receive the additional bonus but on a pro-rated basis.

Government personnel already received the last installment of their 13^th month pay last month.

In Administrative Order 131, the President said performance bonus, which shall not exceed P5,000 each, is in "recognition of the contribution of government personnel in providing quality service to the Filipino people."

Citing the commendable efforts exerted by state workers towards the achievement of sound fiscal performance, the Chief Executive pointed out that the bonus is also in keeping with the "policy of the government to improve the economic welfare of government personnel."

Entitled to the full amount of P5,000 are all government workers, "whether permanent, temporary, casual and on a contractual basis, who have rendered at least four months of service as of November 30, 2005."

Government workers who have rendered less than four months of service as of last Nov. 30 are also entitled to the bonus on a pro-rated basis as follows:

1. Three months of service but less than four months, 40 percent of P5,000.
2. Two months but less than three months, 30 percent.
3. One month but less than two months, 20 percent, and
4. Less than one month, 10 percent.

Section 3 of the administrative order states that the performance bonus "shall be granted to all government personnel who have not received any additional benefit in FY 2005, over and above the yearend benefit authorized under R.A. No. 6686, as amended by R.A. No. 8441 as implemented by Budget Circular No. 2005-6 dated October 28, 2005."

Under the guidelines issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), employees of local government units (LGUs) are not entitled to the performance bonus "since LGUs have been authorized to grant a similar additional benefit under Local Budget Memorandum No. 2005-48 dated Dec. 7, 2005."

side from LGU employees, those not entitled to the performance bonus are government personnel who are absent without leave (AWOL), those who are no longer in active service, those "who have been hired not as part of the organic manpower of agencies but as consultants or experts to perform specific activities or services with expected outputs; student laborers, apprentices, laborers of contracted projects (pakiao), mail contractors, including those paid on piecework basis, and others whose remuneration are not taken from the budgetary allocation for personal services under the agencies FY 2005 budget."

Also not entitled to the additional bonus are state workers "formally charged administrative cases as well as criminal cases, which relate to acts or omissions in connection with their official duties and functions and found guilty and/or meted penalties in FY 2005, except when the penalty is a mere reprimand."

Malacanang linked today the escape of Magdalo mutineer Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon to continuing efforts by shadowy personalities to destabilize the government.

"As far as we are concerned, his (Faeldon’s) escape appears to have been well-planned and well-coordinated and we believe that he is now being coddled by some shadowy groups and personalities for their self-serving destabilizing activities," Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said this morning.

Faeldon escaped Wednesday after attending a court hearing on the 2003 mutiny in Makati City.

Bunye said the junior Marine officer had apparently succumbed to the exploitation of certain personalities out to advance their own self-serving political agenda.

"We are saddened over how far political exploitation poisoned the mind of this young officer and led him astray," Bunye said.

Faeldon was among the junior military officers behind the failed Oakwood mutiny. He has been detained, along with 31 other officers and soldiers for taking over the Oakwood Premier Service apartments in Makati City in the July 2003 coup attempt.

Now the subject of a nationwide manhunt, Faeldon left a message in a video compact disc to several media outfits denouncing the administration.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and visiting South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun witnessed today the signing of two major bilateral agreements forged between their respective governments.

The bilateral agreements were signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki Moon at Malacanang Reception Hall this morning.

The first is the Agreement on Social Security that will help ensure the health and welfare of Filipino workers in Korea, as well as Korean workers in the Philippines.

The second accord concerns a $22.3-million loan from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) of Korea for the widening and upgrading of certain sections of the Gapan – San Fernando – Olongapo Road and an Emergency Dredging Project that will be implemented over a four-year period.

President Roh and his First Lady Kwon Yang-suk arrived at the Malacaņang grounds at exactly 10 a.m. and were received by President Arroyo and First Gentleman Atty. Jose Miguel Arroyo.

The two First Couples also posed for souvenir photos at the "Belen" diorama at the Palace grounds before proceeding on with their official functions relative to the state visit including the signing of the Palace Guest Book while the famed Pangkat Kawayan under the baton of Prof. Victor Toledo serenaded them with popular Philippine Folk Songs.

The President then introduced the visiting Korean President to her Cabinet Members who formed part of the reception line, including Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Secretaries Romulo of DFA, Margarito Teves of Finance, Rafael Lotilla of Energy, Patricia Sto Tomas of Labor and Employment, Joseph Ace Durano of Tourism, Hermogenes Ebdane of Public Works and Highways, and Leandro Mendoza of Transportation and Communications.

Also on hand to greet President Roh were members of the Diplomatic Corps led by the Most Rev. Antonio Franco, Papal Nuncio and Dean of the Corps; Armed Forces of the Philippines chief-of-staff Gen. Generoso Senga, Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon of the Army, Lt. Gen. Jose Reyes of the Air Force, and Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga of the Navy.

President Roh’s visit is expected to further boost the political and economic cooperation of the two nations as well as promote the bilateral ties between the Philippines and Korea.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo met this afternoon with some 30 Korean students enrolled at the Philippine Women’s University (PWU) in Manila and personally invited them to witness the inauguration on Friday of the Korea-Philippines Information Technology Training Center in Novaliches, Quezon City.

"I came to personally invite you to come tomorrow to the opening of an information technology center in Metro Manila," the President said.

The Chief Executive noted that there are as many Korean students studying in the Philippines as Filipino students in Korean universities even as she stressed the need for "exchange of learning" between the two countries.

"As I told you earlier, the Philippines welcomes the Korean students studying here," she said.

The President said the Korean students would also get the chance to meet Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who is in the country for a three-day state visit, at the inauguration of the IT training center located at the Quezon City Polytechnic University in Barangay San Bartolome, Novaliches.

During the visit of President Arroyo to Seoul in June 2003, an agreement on the IT Training Center was concluded. The Korean government provided $4.3 million for the establishment of a state-of-the-art IT training center in the Philippines.

The President motored to the PWU from the Philippine National Railways Tutuban station in Manila where she and President Roh earlier launched the Northrail-Southrail linkage project.

The President was welcomed by PWU Board of Trustees Chairperson Helena Benitez, PWU President Amylou Benitez Reyes, PWU Vice President for Academic Affairs Dolores Baja Lasan, and the university’s faculty and staff.

There are more than 50 Korean students presently enrolled in hotel and restaurant management, management and education courses at the PWU.

They said they find the Philippines an ideal place to learn the English language since it is the Filipinos’ second language, aside from the cheaper cost of education here.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today thanked visiting South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun for financing her administration’s vital infrastructure projects, particularly the Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project (NSLP) aimed at decongesting Metro Manila and modernizing the country’s railway system.

The President made the statement during the NSLP launching at the old Tutuban main station of the Philippine National Railways in Tondo, Manila on Thursday.

In her speech at the NSLP launching, the President said the launch rites served to convey the Filipinos’ appreciation for the Korean government’s contribution to the country’s infrastructure development by financing the modernization of the train system across Metro Manila.

The Korean government extended a soft loan of $50.42 million for the 34-kilometer NSLP which extends from Caloocan City in the north to Alabang (in Muntinlupa City) in the south.

"This is a major contribution to one item in our 10-point pro-poor legacy agenda, which is the decongestion of Metro Manila. With this groundbreaking, our next ambition is to extend the project to Calamba, Laguna and onwards to Bicol," the President said.

President Arroyo noted that the NSLP is only one of many projects directly assisted by the Korean government and the Korean business community in the Philippines.

Other big-ticket projects with Korean investments include the $1-billion shipyard in Subic by Hanjin, a Korean firm, the $600-million and $200-million expansion projects of its power facilities in Batangas and in Naga, Cebu, respectively by the Korean Electric Power Company (KEPCO) and the $200- million submarine power transmission from KEPCO’s Batangas plant to Mindoro.

In addition to the NSLP, the Korean government has also committed to fund the construction of a modern airport in Misamis Oriental in Mindanao.

Overall, Korean assistance and investments in these projects could amount to over $2 billion, the President said.

President Arroyo said South Korea has expressed its strong commitment to expand investment to the Philippines, particularly in the energy sector..

The Korean leader, for his part, assured President Arroyo that Korea will continue to take a vigorous role in infrastructure development in the Philippines.

"I hope that this project, which we are initiating today, will serve as an emblem of the strong ties between our countries. Having said that, I wish to express my best wishes for the prosperity of the Philippines, the people of the Philippines, especially you Madam President," the Korean leader said.

Philippine National Railways (PNR) general manager Jose Maria Sarasola II said the NSLP launching signals the start of the rehabilitation of PNR’s southern line.

"The special significance of today’s event has not been lost on PNR. This is in fulfillment of President Arroyo’s commitment in her 2001 State of the Nation Address to breathe new life into the South Manila Commuter Line," Sarasola said in his welcome remarks.

Of the US$50.42 million Korean fund commitment for NSLP, 70 percent or $35 million will come as a concessional loan from the Economic Cooperation and Development Fund (ECDP) of Korea, while the 30 percent balance will be provided by the Korean Export-Import Bank.

President Roh has also committed to allocate an additional US$70 million to fund Phase 2 of the project which will further extend the railway system from Muntinglupa City to Calamba City in Laguna.