FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will confer the Presidential Saber and the President Gloria Arroyo Achievement Award for Academic Excellence to the valedictorian of the Class 2005 Sanlingan of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).

The honoree and topnotcher of PMA Class 2005 Sanlingan, 21-year old Cadet First Class Brian Cera Rayton, of Lipa City in Batangas, will lead his Class in marching together for the last time during the commencement exercises tomorrow morning (March 12) at the academy’s Borromeo Field.

Rayton represents the realization of his father’s dream. His father was a retired soldier.

The President will be the guest of honor and speaker during the affair. She will also confer the President Arroyo Achievement Award for Leadership to class salutatorian Cadet First Class Antonio Bulao I.

Rayton will also receive the Philippine Air Force Saber Award, the Academic Group Award, the Humanities Award, the Management Award, the Languages Award, the Computer and Information Sciences Award and the Joint US Military Advisory Group Award.

In a press conference, Rayton said it was his childhood dream to become a pilot, but he was aware his parents could not afford to send him to a flying school so he decided to join the PMA. His admission to the academy, he said, also fulfilled his second ambition -- to become a military officer.

The other members of PMA Class 2005 top 10 graduates include Cadets First Class Antonio Gubalane Bulao, Michael Angelo Severo Patron, Geraldine Abigail Albano Hallar, Carol Ena Orbregon Sabijon, Deodelyn Fariņas Aguilar, Paul Patacsil Ramos, Rimando Estoco Estrada and Marjorie Donggayao Mukay.

Twelve of the graduating PMA cadets are females, four of whom are among the top 10 graduates. They constitute the biggest batch of female cadets in the top 10 of any PMA graduating class since the academy started accepting women cadets in 1993.

Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye appealed today to the Filipino people to pray for the safe release of Roberto Tarongoy, an accountant abducted in Iraq last year, even as he expressed confidence that Team Iraq is handling the negotiations for the freedom of the kidnap victim well.

"Let’s pray for the safety of Tarongoy. The people on the ground in Baghdad are doing what they can," he said.

Bunye said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her administration are doing everything possible to save Tarongoy.

Team Iraq, led by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, has been negotiating for Tarongoy’s release since last year. Details of the negotiations were kept confidential to avoid miscommunication and misconceptions that might imperil Tarongoy’s safe release.

"These are things we cannot divulge. We have full faith and confidence in the people handling the negotiations," Bunye said.

As for the reported $6-million ransom demanded by Tarongoy’s captors, Bunye pointed out that the government has a standing "no ransom" policy. He stressed, however, that the government is giving all the support Seguis’ team needs.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye opted not to engage in a religious debate with a Catholic bishop who dragged the name of God in the tragedy that left at least 26 grade school pupils in Bohol.

In today’s press briefing, Bunye said the government has taken concrete steps to get to the bottom of what really went wrong and how to prevent a repeat of the same tragedy.

"We don’t want to engage anybody in a debate on this. And we just would like to see to it that other children will not be victims of the same incident," Bunye stressed, when asked to comment on Bishop Christian Noel’s statement.

The Bishop earlier claimed the food poisoning of children in Bohol that caused the death of at least 26 pupils was the Lord’s way of "giving us a message," as he linked the tragedy to the Arroyo administration’s "Ligtas-Buntis " program.

"The Ligtas-Buntis information campaign on reproductive health is not pleasing to God. We don’t have to support the government policy. Our Lord is giving us a message that He takes care of our lives," Noel was quoted as saying.

"Maybe some of our health workers are trying to go beyond what they are expected to do, so now the Lord is giving us a sign that if we continue to go against the teaching of the Church, something like this will happen to us. We have been eating cassava for a long time, but this is the first time this happened to us," the Bishop insisted.

Instead of simply accepting the Bohol tragedy as caused by God’s wrath, Bunye said the government is looking at empirical evidence and data gathered by forensic experts to trace how and why the children died.

"We would like to do it in a scientific way. Even the police have stepped into the picture," he said.

He noted that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself has offered the presidential plane to ferry whatever forensic evidence could be gathered from Bohol for proper and thorough analysis in Manila to get to the root cause of the poisoning.

The Bishop’s words, however, did not seem to have caused Bunye to loose faith in the Catholic Church. Instead, he said he, along with other members of the Arroyo administration "are praying for those who died and we are condoling with those families who were affected."

"Appropriate steps should be taken by all agencies, including the Department of Education so that these things would not happen again," he said.

Bunye said the national government would have been able to grant more assistance to the families of the victims, especially those who died of food poisoning, if only it has more funds in its coffers.

He said President Arroyo placed the town of Mabini in Bohol in a state of calamity precisely to allow the local governments concerned to immediately release the funds needed to provide the necessary assistance to the victims.

"We’re trying to generate resources. That’s the reason we’re trying to put our fiscal house in order, " Bunye said, noting that social services, will be among those to be benefited by the fiscal reforms the President wants to pursue.

LARENA, Siquijor -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today vowed to pursue the development of the island province of Siquijor into one of the prime tourist destinations in Central Philippines.

The Chief Executive made the vow in an ambush interview before she took her lunch with the local officials of the province inside the newly inaugurated passenger terminal of the Larena Port in this town.

"We really want to develop Siquijor into one of the tourism attractions of Central Philippines," President Arroyo said.

The President said the two port terminals she inaugurated this morning in the municipalities of Larena and Lazi form part of the government’s effort to develop the roll-on, roll-off transport system in the province.

"Siquijor is surrounded by beautiful white beaches and what we want is to develop the Ro-Ro system so that the people can come here as easily as they go to Boracay" (island resort in Panay), she explained.

The President also said the government has plans to add more Ro-Ro vessels to serve Siquijor to further supplement the fastcraft ferries already servicing the island province.

She added she want to take advantage of the P30-billion loan portfolio of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) for the Ro-Ro system.

Malacaņang today said total log ban is not absolutely necessary because there are viable forest stands and the country has its own lumber needs that must be met.

Reacting to the clamor for a total log ban, Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R Bunye, said in a radio interview this morning that what is important is that forests and logging operations must be sustainable.

"Alam ninyo, hindi pwedeng magkaroon ng total log ban dahil kahit paano ay kakailanganin natin ang kahoy (You know, we can’t have a total log ban because we also have our own lumber needs)," he said.

Bunye was reacting to queries posed by certain environmental groups following the lifting of the log ban in at least three provinces in the Caraga region in Mindanao

The important thing, Bunye explained, is for logging operators to get actively and seriously involved in reforestation.

"Ang importante ay kailangan tayong magtanim lagi ng kahoy at ma-replenish natin at mapalitan yung naputol (The important thing is for us to plant and replenish what have been cut)," he stressed.

Bunye expressed elation over the fact that in areas where the log ban was lifted, logging operators have shown responsibility in reforestation.

LAZI, Siquijor - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated today two port terminals are expected to boost tourism and speed up the economic development of the island province of Siquijor.

The two ports, one in Larena and the other in this town, are the main components of the government’s Roll-On, Roll-Off Strong Nautical Highway system in this province.

In a brief interview this morning, the President vowed to pursue the development of the Ro-Ro system and the tourism industry of this exotic tropical island.

Immediately upon her arrival here at 11 a.m., the President unveiled the port marker and cut the ribbon signaling the official operation of the P17.7 million Lazi port terminal.

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano, Siquijor Governor Orlando Fua Sr., Rep. Orlando Fua Jr., and Lazi Mayor Orville Fua accompanied the President in her visit here.

The Chief Executive also distributed free patents to 20 farmer beneficiaries of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) free patent program. The beneficiaries are from the municipalities of San Juan, Maria, Lazi and Siquijor.

She also administered the mass oath-taking to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Chairmen (ABRC).

The Lazi port project involved the rehabilitation of the 49-meter pier deck, the upgrading of the 132-meter causeway, and the construction of the Ro-Ro ramp.

With the completion of the terminal, the port will serve as the link to the ports of Plaridel, Misamis Oriental and Bohol.

From Lazi, the President motored to Larena town to inaugurate the P69.17 million Larena port passenger terminal.

The completion of the port, together with the new P8 million passenger terminal building, is expected to boost tourism in this island province.