The House move to strengthen the VAT bill is laudable and brings us closer to our fiscal reform goals.

We do not wish to preempt General Abu.

But what we can tell you is that there is a wide range of options between full offensive and full cessation of hostilities and all these options will be studied.

This requires the input of the commanders on the ground and the collective policy advice at the national security level.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visits Wednesday a Gawad Kalinga housing project for farmers in La Carlota City in Negros Occidental, where she will also distribute Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (CLOA) to agrarian reform farmer-beneficiaries.

The event will highlight Gawad Kalinga’s "People Power Over Poverty" campaign and demonstrate the Filipinos’ spirit of Bayanihan at work in Hacienda Remedios in La Carlota.

The Gawad Kalinga housing project is considered an apt concretization of the President’s vision for every Filipino to have a roof above his head before her term expires in 2010. The vision calls for government partnership with private business, civic and religious sectors, among others.

Gawad Kalinga aims to make Hacienda Remedios the first barangay in the Philippines without any "barong-barong" or shanty which epitomizes the essence of poverty in the country. This objective hopes to give substance to the Arroyo government’s vision of a new Philippines with no more slums.

Hacienda Remedios, some five kilometers east of the La Carlota City proper, is home to 122 families mostly dependent on sugar-farming. A family of five in the area used to have an average monthly income of only P2,000 or a measly P24,000 a year.

Of the 70 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) who were given an average of almost a hectare of farmland each, 40 ended up leasing their lands due to lack of financial, technology and institutional development support.

Life was admittedly so difficult for them until Gawad Kalinga and the government came to the barangay and initiated certain interventions that helped empower the people to improve the quality of their lives .

Hacienda Remedios was transformed into a Gawad Kalinga model for an Integrated Agrarian Reform Community Development project.

Several livelihood projects were introduced to the marginalized farm families, including the Probiotic Fertilizer project which started in October 2004. The project employs 14 persons, mostly heads of families who comprised about 20 percent of the 70 ARBs in the Hacienda.

Managed by the Provincial GK Livelihood Team in partnership with the La Carlota GK Livelihood Team and the Hacienda Remedios Kapitbahayan, the project registered sales of P750,000 with a net profit of P198,000 for the three-month period from October to December, 2004.

One other livelihood project introduced in the barangay is a carabao cross breeding venture initially involving 18 mares and one bull. The project aims to upgrade the local farmers’ carabao stocks both as work and dairy animals.

In the pipeline and still under negotiation with Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor) is a hog-raising project initially involving 100 heads.

After the visit to Hacienda Remedios, the President will also inaugurate a new bridge in Bago City and inspect the silkworm project of the Organization for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (OISCA)-International in nearby Barangay Tabunan.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo highlighted today the important role of the indigenous communities in the fight against poverty and in bringing the nation to the threshold of peace and prosperity as envisioned in her administration’s 10-point "BEAT THE ODDS" pro-poor agenda.

"I am optimistic that your group will actively participate in the projects that would strengthen the lives of our indigenous people. Let nobody belittle your role in bringing this nation to the threshold of peace and prosperity," the President said in keynoting the induction of members of the newly-created Provincial/City Consultative Body (PCB) of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) this morning at the Rizal Hall of Malacanang.

"When I spoke before the investors who attended our mining conference a few weeks ago, I told them we must listen to the voice of indigenous peoples and local governments because they are the ones who can guarantee the stability and longevity of your investments," the President added.

Stressing that the indigenous communities are part of the national mainstream and must not live and work in isolation from all Filipinos, the Chief Executive said:

"You’re part of my 10-point agenda to create jobs, build entrepreneurs, bring clean water, better health services, electricity and education to the entire country."

President Arroyo also commended the people who worked to make the PCB a reality, including the Assisi Foundation under Ambassador Howard Dy, the international working group for indigenous affairs and the NCIP under the Department of Land Reform.

She noted that even before her stint at the Senate, she had wanted to empower the indigenous people by giving them a genuine representation and share in economic opportunities.

"When I was a senator, I was the principal author of the Ancestral Domain Bill that evolved into the Indigenous People’s Rights Act. Senator (Juan) Flavier, as chairman of the Committee on Indigenous Peoples, was the sponsor on the floor," the President said.

Land Reform Secretary Rene Villa and Undersecretary for Mindanao Operations and Indigenous People Datu Nasser Pangandaman assisted the President during the oath-taking ceremony.

Others who witnessed the program were NCIP Chairperson and North and Western Mindanao Commissioner Reuben Dasay-Lingatin, Region I and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) Commissioner Eugenio Insigne, Region II Commissioner Corazon Espino, Region III and rest of Luzon Commissioner Pablo Santos, Island Groups Commissioner Lagtum Pasag, Central Mindanao Commissioner Janette Serrano and South and Eastern Mindanao and Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Commissioner Felicito Masagnay.

In her speech, the President also emphasized the important role of the newly-sworn consultative body chairpersons in the implementation of her 10-point pro-poor legacy agenda.

"Being chairpersons of the PCB are not empty titles or roles, you shall be recognized by all Cabinet members and agency heads as the vanguards in the implementation of the IPRA and IP agenda," she said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will lead on Wednesday the Corregidor flag raising rites to mark the 6oth anniversary of the liberation of the island fortress from Japanese forces in World War II.

The liberation of Corregidor Island from Japanese occupation forces on March 2, 1945 is considered as one of the most brilliant military tactical operations in the last Pacific war.

A heavily fortified and strategic island fortress, Corregidor straddles the narrow mouth of the Manila Bay opening to the South China Sea. The island now forms part of Cavite province.

During the Corregidor anniversary rites, the President will award commemorative badges to veterans of World War II. The honors presentation will follow the tolling of bells and messages from the representatives of the allied nations in World War II.

The allied nations’ representatives who are expected to attend the rites include Australian Charge D’ Affaires Miles Armitage, New Zealand Ambassador Rob Moore-Jones, British Ambassador Peter Beckingham and US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone.

President Arroyo will also lead the wreath-laying ceremonies at the 503^rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team (PRCT) Memorial Shrine in the island with all the allied representatives participating.

The battle for the liberation of Corregidor lasted from February 16 to March 1, 1945. It involved one of the most complex and most successful airborne operations in World War II. Paratroopers of the 503^rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team led the assault.

Of the estimated 6,550 Japanese troops in Corregidor, many of them Imperial Marines, only 50 survived. On the side of 503^rd, PRCT, 169 paratroopers were killed in action and wounded during the assault.

The 503^rd PRCT and the 34^th Infantry, USAFFE which made an amphibious assault at the Bottomside portion of Corregidor, spent several days in blasting the Japanese defenders from the caves and tunnels structures that run through the island fortress.

Wednesday’s flag raising ceremonies will commemorate the same ritual performed by General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific in World War II, who returned to island 60 years ago and raised the colors on the Topside Barracks flagstaff.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has distributed free patents for 2.5 million hectares of alienable and disposable land, or 60 percent of the 3.771 million hectares under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) land titling project.

This was reported today by DENR Secretary Michael Defensor to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Cabinet Group Meeting in Malacanang this morning.

Defensor placed government funding for the land titling program from July 1997 to 2004 at P3.195 billion, or 5 percent of the total CARP budget for the period.

He said 700,000 of the remaining one million has. of alienable and disposable land still untitled will be distributed through the free patent process starting this year until 2010.

The distribution of the remaining 300,000 hectares will be facilitated through the present titling and land administration system, Defensor added.

He said the titling and land administration system will enable the DENR to fast-track the disposition of residential, commercial and industrial lands.

Defensor said the Land Administration and Management (LAM) project complements the accomplishments of the DENR-CARP by undertaking administrative reforms as well as taking further steps on institutional and legal reforms.

"The project’s land titling prototype has been successfully tested and benchmarked systematic, transparent and streamlined titling processes, improved the delivery of land titling services and facilitated land transfers and transactions by establishing one-stop shops for land documentation and titling," Defensor said.

It also decentralized the approval of patents to DENR field offices, he added.

Defensor said he has been campaigning for the passage by Congress of two major bills -- the proposed Land Administration Reform Act (LARA), and introducing amendments to the Free Patent Law.

The LARA bill seeks to put in place institutional focus on land administration reforms through the creation of a single agency – the Land Administration Authority (LAA).

On the other hand, the proposed amendment to the Fee Patent Law seeks to lift restrictions on the transfer and conveyance of titles acquired through free patents, reduce the period of cultivation from 30 to 10 years, and change the basis of eligibility from occupation of the land and cultivation to possession.

Under his proposal, payments of outstanding taxes as a precondition to the issuance of a patent would be removed to encourage more formal land transactions.

Land Reform Secretary Rene Villa today informed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Cabinet the Department of Land Reform (DLR) will complete the distribution of all private and agricultural lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) by year 2008.

At the 7^th National Anti-Poverty Commission-Cabinet Group Meeting in Malacanang this morning, Villa said his department had already completed the distribution of 3.52 million hectares, benefiting a total of 2.02 million agrarian reform beneficiaries as of December 2004,.

Villa said the accomplishment represents 82 percent of the CARP’s overall land distribution goal of 4.29 million hectares. The target balance stands at 771,348 hectares for distribution to some 443,300 beneficiaries.

Of the total balance, he said, the most difficult ones to distribute are sugar lands in Western and Central Visayas as well as lands in the Bicol Region, most of which are affected by peace and order problems.

Secretary Villa also announced that the United Nations has adjudged the Philippines and Brazil as having the "best land reform programs."

"The reason basically is that in many other countries, they distribute lands, but without support services," Villa explained during the Cabinet Group meeting.

He disclosed that the United Nations has asked the Philippines and Brazil to spearhead a move to place agrarian reform as a priority item in the UN agenda to highlight the agrarian problem, particularly in the context of the millennium development goal.

President Gloria Macapagal–Arroyo will visit and inspect Wednesday the Negros Silk Center project in Barangay Tabunan in Bago City, Negros Occidental which, she said, addresses three major national concerns – job creation, income generation and reforestation.

Established by the Negros Occidental provincial government, the Negros Silk Center serves as a one-stop shop for those who want to know the opportunities the silk industry can offer as well as the aesthetic importance of silk.

The center showcases the different processes in producing raw silk and its by-products and aims to promote Negros Occidental as an agri-tourism and silk novelty destination.

Silk production involves the culture of mulberry trees. Aside from its job creation and income generation potentials in the countryside, mulberry tree culture can also help address the country’s serious reforestation concerns.

Mulberry culture was introduced in 1988 in Murcia, an upland area in Negros Occidental, by the Organization for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (OISCA), a civic and non-government organization founded by the late Dr. Yonosuke Nakano in Japan.

OISCA aims to help farmers find alternative livelihood by giving them access to technology, capital and institutional development support.

The continuing expansion of the demand for cocoon and silk yarn in the world market has encouraged Negros farmers to venture into silk production.

Labor and Employment Acting Secretary Manuel G. Imson informed Malacanang today that a high-level Malaysian government team will visit the Philippines on March 7 to discuss with their Philippine counterparts, ways of facilitating the repatriation of illegal Filipino migrants in Malaysia.

The first meeting of the Philippine-Malaysia Joint Committee on Sabah Repatriates will jointly resolve illegal migration for the two countries’ best interests, Imson said in a report faxed to the Office of the Press Secretary.

The talks Imson said, will also tackle the issue of the return and re-employment of Filipinos whose illegal migration cases have been resolved, particularly those who have worked before in Sabah.

The Malaysian visit, he added, follows the successful recent Philippine government mission to Malaysia that manifested the country’s support to the efforts of Malaysia to resolve the illegal migration issue, and successfully negotiated the employment of Filipino migrants back in Malaysia especially those who had voluntarily left that country.

"In this light, we appreciate the Malaysian mission as a reciprocal effort on the part of its government, and as our first concrete effort on the bilateral sphere towards effectively resolving illegal migration," Imson said.

Malaysian Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr. Fong Chan Onn had told the earlier Philippine mission that Malaysia now views the issue of undocumented workers as "more of a human problem" and assured the re-employment of Filipinos in Malaysia, including those in Sabah.

Imson said the RP-Malaysian Joint Committee on Sabah Repatriates includes representatives from the respective government agencies of both countries involved in the repatriation process., and the promotion of the welfare of the Sabah repatriates.

As proposed, he said, an official with the rank of Undersecretary (on the Philippine side, or Secretary General (on the Malaysian side) will head the respective delegations of the two countries in the joint committee.

Imson said among the proposed objectives of the RP-Malaysia Joint Committee on Sabah Repatriates are: