We thank God for this reprieve.

We call upon the whole nation to continue to pray for Roberto.

We will continue to exert utmost effort to bring him home alive.

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo acknowledged today the important role the men in uniform play in keeping a bigger part of Mindanao safe from rebel attacks.

"Soldiers can be attacked in the jungle just as innocent civilians can be bombed in busy streets, yet, the unrest in Sulu is isolated and it is the soldiers’ job to keep it isolated from the larger remainder of Mindanao that live in relative peace," the President said during the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 2005 Sanlingan graduation rites here.

She said that as the graduation rites were being held, the men in the field continued their mopping up operations in Sulu, where scores of soldiers have given up their lives in protecting innocent civilians and for the government’s fight against terrorism.

"The forces of evil will be beaten back again and again by you, the new soldiery and the citizenry, working together with the armies of peace in the community," the President told the149 graduates during the colorful and solemn graduation ceremony held this morning at the academy’s Borromeo Field.

However, the President continued, the larger vision to grow the economy should not be forgotten.

"At no point in our recent history are the political and the economic forces of the nation being held in balance more than they are today, and we will need the full support of both the civilian and military communities in order to fulfill the vast potentials that are before us."

The Chief Executive said that a soldier’s task is to fight the enemies—rebel forces and poverty.

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today challenged members of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Sanlingan Class 2005 to live up to the virtues of honesty, courage, integrity and loyalty that they imbibed in four years of studies at the country’s premier military institution.

In her keynote address during the 87th Commencement Exercises of the PMA, the President also urged the new graduates to "stay tough, shun a life of comfort" and be prepared to "stand in harm’s way if needed."

"As our valedictorian has described it, life in the PMA is learning how to be tough. I command the graduating students of Sanlingan Class 2005 to stay tough," she said, echoing the exhortation made by Brian Cera Rayton to his fellow PMAyers during the graduation rites held this morning at the academy’s Borromeo Field.

The 21-year-old Rayton of Lipa City in Batangas graduated at the top of the 149-member Sanlingan Class 2005. He received the Presidential Saber and the PGMA Achievement Award for Academic Excellence from the President.

Rayton was also the recipient of the Academic Group Award, Humanities Award, Management Award, Languages Award, Computer and Information Sciences Award, and the Joint US Military Advisory Group Award.

In her address, the President warned that the "enemy is wily and evil. It has a capability to mutate and hide in the anonymity of urban centers" as she urged the incoming young officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to keep pace with the changes taking place around them.

"I believe it is a fragile moment in our history that will require every leader, including you now who will be the leaders of the men and women in your platoon or whatever unit you will have," she said. "It will require every citizen, including you, our brave soldiers and your families, to press for a new accountability, if we are to turn the corner to a stronger, more transparent, more nurturing Philippine society."

The President thanked the armed forces "not only for their faithful adherence to democracy, but also for their great act of compassion for the Filipino people."

Political stability, she stressed, would be guaranteed not only by the professionalism of the armed forces but by the solidarity of the different branches of government.

The Chief Executive pointed out that the government is not only "putting our fiscal house in order, but it is also creating the climate needed to grow investments and entrepreneurship."

"We must make the tough choices today if we are to have any choice tomorrow," she added.

She told the new batch of young military officers, "I recognize that you must be adequately equipped to fight and to win" against the enemies of the state. The Defense department is "putting in place comprehensive and institutional reforms to bolster the capability of the Armed Forces to move, shoot, communicate and monitor the enemy," she added.

The President also said that the Defense department and the AFP are preparing a "multi-year capability upgrade plan that I hope will make your lives as soldiers more efficient and also more life-saving."

"We shall also ensure the implementation of the recommendation of the Feliciano Commission to immediately address the basic needs of our men and women in uniform," she said.

"Integrity is also what I ask you, especially to practice in this time of challenge regarding the transparency of governance in the Philippines. Be honest and call attention at once to breaches of the Code of Honor," the Chief Executive said.

The President awarded the PGMA Achievement Award for Leadership to class salutatorian and magna cum laude Antonio Bulao I.

He also received the Vice Presidential Saber Award, Chief of Staff Saber Award, Philippine Army Saber Award, Natural Sciences Award, Weapons Systems Award, Tambuli Award, and the JUSMAG Army Award.

These year’s top 10 graduates are Rayton, Bulao, Michael Angelo Severo Patron, Geraldine Abigail Albano Hallar, Carol Ena Orbregon Sabijon, Deodelyn Fariņas Aguilar, Ludwig Daumon Salvador, 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 cadettes in 1993.

BAGUIO City – In line with her land reform program that serves as the core of her pro-poor agenda, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo distributed here today 120 certificates of land ownership awards (CLOAs) covering 126 hectares under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Some 20 farmers received the CLOAs in behalf of the beneficiaries coming from two municipalities of Abra and nine municipalities of Benguet.

At the Yap Hall inside the Philippine Military Academy in Fort del Pilar, the President also distributed 163 free patents covering 88,152 hectares processed under the program "Handog Titulo – Alay ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo." These were received by six representatives out of the 163 beneficiaries.

CARP is the government program that transfers control and ownership of agricultural lands to the actual tillers.

Department of Land Reform Secretary Rene Villa said it includes the package of support services, economic and physical infrastructure support services and human resource and institutional development or social infrastructure building and strengthening.

The Arroyo administration sets agrarian reform as crucial for economic development as it will create a more equitable system that would raise the standard of living of the rural poor, ensure food security and empower the farming sector, Villa said.

Villa added that one of the policy directions of the President during her state-of-the-nation address (SONA) is to accelerate the land transfer and land tenure improvement programs through modernization of the agricultural sector with social equity, agrarian reform and improving rural infrastructure.

BAGUIO CITY -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today asked Vice President Noli de Castro to take charge of monitoring the prices of basic commodities and services as she underscored the importance of militancy in what she called "price gauging."

In a media interaction after the Philippine Military Academy graduation rites at Fort del Pilar here, the President said the government has a whole range of responses to diminish the impact of price increases.

She said the most effective way to address price increases is by keeping the economy growing and creating more high-paying jobs.

It is also important, according to her, to address the matter of abuses on prices on the micro-economic level.

The President said she will distribute the framework on how the government intends to lessen the impact of high prices.

In the transport sector, for example, the President noted that the development of the roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) ferry system has reduced transport, logistic and shipping costs.

She said that in line with the deregulation of the shipping industry, government should promote a rival Ro-Ro company in places like Siquijor to make it worthwhile for travelers going to Siquijior and Iligan, among others.

The President revealed that the Development Bank of the Philippines has a P30-billion loan portfolio for any improvements in the Ro-Ro system between Mindanao and the Visayas to Luzon.

The President said that the DBP, however, requires ocean-going standards to be able to lend out.

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today disclosed the ongoing preparations on a Multi-Year Capability Upgrade Plan that the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are jointly working on to improve the lives of the soldiers.

In her speech at the graduation rites of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Sanlingan Class 2005, the President said Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, a non-military man, is working closely with AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Efren Abu in putting in place comprehensive and institutional reforms "to bolster the capability of the Armed Forces to move, shoot, communicate and monitor the enemy."

"The Department of Defense and the armed forces are preparing the multi-year capability upgrade plan that I hope will make your lives as soldiers more efficient and also more life-saving," President Arroyo said and was warmly applauded by the new graduates.

According to the President, the Plan will tie up closely with the government’s Medium-Term Economic Development Plan and the Medium- Term Investment Plan.

The Defense Strategy must also be closely integrated with government’s peace strategy, including the conduct of peace diplomacy and principled peace negotiations "that strike at the root of armed conflict while boxing out terrorists’ cells," the Chief Executive continued.

She assured the graduates that the recommendations of the Feliciano Commission in addressing the basic needs of the men in uniform will be included in the Plan.

She said that the reform program for the soldiers is part of the reforms she initiated in the armed forces in 2003, when she served concurrently as the Commander-in-Chief and Secretary of National Defense.

"It was in that same year that our assessment of the defense and military establishments was completed, paving the way for the Philippine Defense Reforms to fill critical gaps," President Arroyo added.