The Gloria-Kabayan tandem is solid and strong in the service of the people.

We respect the views of former Senate President Jovito Salonga, but we have to disagree that President Arroyo’s policy of justice with compassion violates the law.

Moreover, the executive has never interfered with the Sandiganbayan on this issue.

We have taken care to insulate law from politics, and when former President Estrada comes home, he will continue to be tried.

We hope to see our economic fundamentals maintain a steady positive trend as we step up our efforts to improve our fiscal condition.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo vowed Wednesday night to bring to justice all those who have murdered journalists, as she restated her administration’s policy of keeping the media free and vibrant.

In her speech at the 60^th anniversary of the Manila Overseas Press Club held last night at Malacaņang’s Ceremonial Hall, the President said that "there is nothing more corrosive to our democracy than the murder of journalists in pursuit of truth."

"I stand before you tonight deeply committed to protecting the health, life and safety of every journalist who plies his or her trade in the pursuit of truth and justice," the President said.

Citing a report of the Philippine National Police, the President said, however, that out of the 12 killings of journalists last year, 10 cases have already been solved by the police and the perpetrators are now in jail.

"I will not rest until those guys who have been caught and other assassins are brought to justice," the President said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last night said she has full trust and confidence in Vice President Noli de Castro who, she said, has been ably supporting her administration.

In her speech at the 60^th anniversary of the Manila Overseas Press Club held at the Ceremonial Hall of Malacaņang, the President was asked about rumors being floated by the opposition that the Vice President would assume the presidency if the Supreme Court decides against her in the electoral protest filed by the camp of the late Fernando Poe, Jr.

"I have my full faith and trust in Noli de Castro. He could have run for president if he wanted to in 2004, and he would have handily won. But he chose to be my running mate and to support me in my administration," the President said.

She said she has relied on the Vice President as head of the housing agencies under the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and other major policy initiatives.

"He (De Castro) is also helping me very much with price stabilization, and these are crucial works for the Vice President," the President said.

The Vice President has accompanied the President in key official functions, particularly in her visits to depressed communities.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Wednesday night that there is a need to stop the "culture of corruption" if the government is to succeed in creating more jobs and bringing prosperity to the Filipino people.

In her speech at the 60^th anniversary of the Manila Overseas Press Club held last night at the Ceremonial Hall of Malacanang, the President said that graft and corruption "holds back our pace of development."

The President also announced that for the first time, the lifestyle checks among government officials that she ordered, had led to the dismissal of 45 senior officials, including an undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), a deputy Customs Commissioner, and other top officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs.

She said that as a result of the lifestyle checks, administrative and criminal charges have also been filed against high-ranking officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

"I will exert executive authority to fire unscrupulous government officials who rob the nation," the President stressed.

She also vowed to restore integrity in the AFP in deference to the officers and men in uniform who put their lives at risk and defend the honor of the nation.

The President announced that she had signed an executive order directing the timely and complete payment of taxes as a precondition for the signing of any contract between any company and any agency or instrumentality of government.

Under this executive order, she said, she will cancel government contracts with corrupt companies in the same manner that she prosecutes illegal loggers.

Saying 2005 as a year of urgent change and fervent hope, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last night stressed that the economy will get back on track this year from the high debt regime and high employment when the administration meets its target of P80 billion in new taxes.

Speaking at the 60^th anniversary of the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) at the Ceremonial Hall in Malacaņang, the President called on everybody’s support to help her implement "a year of urgent change."

The country can no longer sustain spending on development programs and debt payments far in excess of the revenues it can raise, she pointed out.

Congressional approval of the priority revenue measures would generate funding for the administration’s pro-poor agenda, she added.

The President said aside from raising additional revenues, tax reform measures would send a strong signal to the international community of an economic turnaround and the Philippines as an investment haven.

"We face a sharp scrutiny of our fiscal status. And if we hurdle the test, we can have one of the best opportunities for a strong economic take-off," the President said.

She said the passage of the 2005 budget would also accelerate the implementation of her 10-point agenda, most of which are now being pursued.

The President pointed out that, again, the usual doomsayers and skeptics were proved wrong in 2004. Contrary to their grim forecasts, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) registered a 6 percent growth last year, the stock market remained bullish, while exports vaulted 20 percent in November – the best export record in Asia, she added.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last night said the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) would hire more investigators to strengthen the all-out war against corruption in the government.

At the open forum on the occasion of the 60^th anniversary of the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) in Malacanang, the President said the country’s anti-corruption program is patterned after Hong Kong’s highly successful Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) whose investigators comprised 80 percent of its personnel.

During the same forum, the President also announced that she has named Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Merceditas Gutierrez as the government’s new "anti-corruption czar."

The President said ICAC has about 1,000 employees, to the PAGC’s 500 personnel. However, very few of the PAGC’s 500 employees are involved in investigative work.

"In the Hong Kong Commission, it is not so much of the lawyers as it is the investigators because the lawyers can only make a case out of the investigative findings," the President said.

Although corrupt government officials usually hire the best of lawyers when cases are brought against them, strong political will is needed to send them to jail, she said.

According to Tony Kwok, the patriarch of the ICAC and the Philippine government consultant on anti-corruption, it took Hong Kong seven years after it declared a general amnesty on corruption before the transformation of the former crown colony’s government into an administration highly admired for its integrity.

Renewed US dollar weakness and expectations of foreign investment inflows allowed the peso to rally past the P56 per dollar level for the second straight day, closing at P55.695 today for its strongest performance in nearly five months.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Director Ma. Ramona Santiago attributed the renewed strength of the peso to dollar inflows from offshore clients, equity-related dollar inflows and dollar short selling by other banks.

Yesterday, the peso first crossed the P55 to the dollar level at P55.91, which BSP Governor Rafael Buenaventura attributed to remittances from Filipinos working overseas and strong exports.

"Remittances and foreign investments are strong, especially with Kirin’s additional infusion," he was quoted as saying, referring to Japan’s Kirin Brewery’s increased stake of $156 million in San Miguel Corp.

"Exports are already up and we have lower debt repayments in the first quarter of 2005. The US dollar was also weakening," Buenaventura added.

The peso opened strong at P55.730 early this morning, touched its year-high P55.680 before dollar demand from the oil, power and manufacturing sectors, custody clients and other banks’ short-covering and profit taking pushed it to a low of P55.785.

Malacaņang today confirmed that former Sen. Raul Roco is providing free legal advice to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, specifically on the controversial Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 project.

"We’re very glad, we’re very happy that he’s assisting us in the Terminal 3 project. All I can say is that we’re benefiting from the very good legal advice of Senator Roco," Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye told a press briefing this afternoon in Malacanang.

"He’s (Roco) providing legal advice, specifically on the Philippine International Air Terminals Company (Piatco) issue. He’s a consultant, but as far as I know his service is pro-bono," Bunye said, adding that the former senator shares the President’s vision on the need to open the multi-million dollar airport terminal.

Bunye revealed that shortly after the May presidential elections, the President talked to Roco, who had served in her Cabinet as education secretary, to convince him to help her administration.

I support the administrative measures recommended by Senate President Franklin Drilon on how the executive department can curb tax evasion, expand the tax base, and bolster our finances.

In particular, I am directing Finance Secretary Juanita Amatong to make representations for her adoption by the Monetary Board of his proposal that all bank loan applicants be made to submit BIR-certified income tax returns and financial statements as a basis in determining credit worthiness and ability to pay.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today lauded women entrepreneurs in leading the growth of micro-finance towards economic empowerment of women.

On this year’s 30^th year anniversary of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW), the President had congratulated the women for their heroic role since it is from the mothers, women elders to the women’s hero Tandang Sora up to the present, where women martyrdom clearly shines through.

She had called also to commemorate this year’s "International Year of Micro-Finance".

"Hinihingi ko na rin na ipagdiwang natin ang pamumuno ng ating kababaihan sa rebolusyon ng micro-finance. At gusto ko lamang ipagmalaki sa loob ng nakaraang tatlong taon yung una kong administrasyon higit isang milyong kababaihan ang nakilala sa mga programa ng micro-finance, sa bahagi ng gobyerno o non-government organizations na siya naming naging pangunahing kagabay sa kilusang micro-finance," she said.

During the celebration the President had presented the plaque to the eleven outstanding local government units (LGUs) recognized for their good practices on Gender and Development (GAD).

The awardees included Cagayan Governor Edgar Ramones Lara, Cebu City Congressman Raul Del Mar, Capoocan, Leyte Mayor Givel Montejo-Mamaril.

The other LGU awardees were from Bulacan, Davao del Norte, Butuan City, Davao City, Naga City, Quezon City, Daraga, Albay and Malag, Davao del Sur.

She also led the oathtaking of the NCRFW Board of Commissioners led by Luz Gonzalo.

MCRFW Chairperson Myrna T. Yao had presented the two books to the President entitled Gender-Responsive Governance at Work: LGU Experiences in Using the GAD Budget and Harmonized Gender and Development (GAD) Guidelines for Project Development, Implementation, Monitoring and evaluation.

Government officials present during the ceremony included Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, NEDA Director-General Romulo Neri, Public Safety College President Margarita Cojuangco, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert, and Landbank President Cito Lorenzo.