In behalf of our people, I extend our sympathies to our brothers in Indonesia who have continued to suffer loss and pain on account of another earthquake.

Our solidarity with Indonesia is strong in all humanitarian fields, as well as for peace and security.

I have instructed the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to see what we can do to help in the international relief effort just as we did in the recent tsunami that hit South Asia.

We are prepared to send a humanitarian mission to help the Indonesian people cope with and rise from this tragedy.

The four-day workweek President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered implemented in the executive branch of government is expected to mitigate the adverse effects of the series of recent oil price increases on the government’s fiscal position and the country’s dollar reserves.

Under Administrative Order No. 117, dated March 28 but released only today, the President has directed all government offices in the executive branch, except those performing front-line services, to adopt a four-day workweek for the months of April and May.

AO No. 117 provides for adjusted official hours in departments, bureaus, offices and other agencies in the executive branch, including state–owned and controlled corporations, for the months of April and May 2005.

"Developments in the world market have pushed crude oil prices to record highs so "it is imperative for the government to lead the way in energy conservation without jeopardizing the delivery of public service," the Order noted.

The AO also directed all government employees to report for work "from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., from Monday to Thursday of each workweek except during holidays, and render 10 hours a day of service, exclusive of meal periods."

Exempted from coverage of the AO are the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, government hospitals and health centers, public schools and universities with previously set summer classes, and other government agencies rendering vital frontline services or those involved in providing health, safety, security, protection, emergency and other services that need to be available on a continuing basis.

AO 117 complements AO 103, Directing the Continued Adoption of Austerity Measures by Government, issued on Aug. 31,2004, and enjoins the legislative and judicial branches of government, constitutional commissions and local government units (LGUs), to adopt the four-day workweek during the summer months.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will inspect on Thursday (March 31) the illegal logs and lumber seized by government law enforcers and now impounded at Camp Ranao, Marawi City in Lanao del Sur.

The President’s visit to and inspection of the confiscated logs in Camp Ranao, home of the 2^nd Marine Battalion, is meant to emphasize the government’s reinvigorated campaign against illegal logging, especially in watershed areas.

Recently, the 1^st Marine Brigade under Brig. Gen. Benjamin Dolortino and his Battalion Commander Col. Amand Melo, Jr. based in Camp Ranao confiscated from illegal loggers 500 pieces of logs equivalent to about 240,000 board feet of lumber.

The logs were intercepted and seized while in transport. They are now among the illegal forest products impounded at Camp Ranao.

President Gloria Macapagal–Arroyo will visit and inspect rubber plantations in Zamboanga Sibugay province on Friday to assess the potentials of the industry in attracting more foreign investments and in generating more jobs for the local population.

The Chief Executive will be given a comprehensive briefing on the rubber industry and its expansion potentials by Bennet Santander, consultant of the Zamboanga Sibugay provincial government.

President Arroyo will also take an aerial survey of the 6,500 hectares proposed for a new rubber plantation in Barangay Malubal on board a Bell 412 aircraft.

Barangay Malubal, in the municipality of Roseller T. Lim, has been chosen as pilot area for the Goodyear rubber project as it has already met the requirements for potential investors under the Community Forest Stakeholders Agreement scheme.

Zamboanga Sibugay has 13 municipalities all of which have vast areas deemed suitable for development as rubber plantations through foreign investments.

The Arroyo administration targets to attract more foreign investments to further hasten the country’s economic development and fulfill its goal of creating 10 million jobs by 2010.

Zamboanga Sibugay Gov. George Hofer will lead the welcome for the President. Among those in the official reception committee are Ipil Mayor Rey Andre Oligario, Lone District Rep. Belma Cabilao, and other local officials.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may issue an executive order clearing the way for a national ID system by early next week, should she approve the recommendations submitted by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on the proposal.

In a press briefing in Malacanang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Arroyo took with her to Mindanao the NEDA report so she could review it and possibly take action when she returns to Manila.

The President flew to Maguindanao this morning for the turnover of the completed community infrastructure projects undertaken there through the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The President will go to Marawi City on Thursday to inspect illegal logs seized by government law enforcers. She will fly to Zamboanga Sibugay on Friday to visit the rubber plantations in the area and assess the industry’s investment prospects. She is expected to return to Manila on Friday.

Ermita refused to give details on the NEDA report, saying he does not want to preempt what action the President would take on the matter.

He only stated that the report contained recommendations to utilize the data already available to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Social Security System (SSS) and the National Statistics Office (NSO).

If the President finds the report favorable, Ermita said she may issue the executive order by early next week.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today extended her and the Filipino people’s sympathies to the people of Indonesia which was hit by an 8.7 magnitude earthquake last Monday.

Initial reports, quoting Indonesian leaders, said up to 2,000 persons may have died in the massive earthquake that was centered 100 miles southeast of the 9.0 magnitude quake off the northern tip of Sumatra last Dec. 26.

"In behalf of our people, I extend our sympathies to our brothers in Indonesia who have continued to suffer loss and pain on account of another earthquake," the Chief Executive said in a statement released by Malacanang this morning.

At the same time, the President ordered Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo "to see what we can do to help in the international relief effort just as we did in the recent tsunami that hit South Asia."

"Our solidarity with Indonesia is strong in all humanitarian fields, as well as for peace and security," the Chief Executive said, adding, "we are prepared to send a humanitarian mission to help the Indonesian people cope with and rise from this tragedy."

CAMP ABUBAKAR, Matanog, Maguindanao – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo noted today the absence of any trace of hostilities in this former bastion of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"There is no trace of war now in Abubakar," the President observed during a media interaction at the office of the Army’s 514th Engineering Battalion here Wednesday morning, after she inspected this camp and saw for herself its substantial improvement, development and progress.

The Chief Executive first visited Camp Abubakar in 2003. Following that visit, she ordered massive rehabilitation of the area which included the construction of the Sarmiento-Abubakar bridge, farm-to-market roads, solar dryers to help the farmers, family clinics and health centers.

Four years ago, government military forces overran Camp Abubakar and reclaimed it for the government after long decades of control and occupation by the MILF.

Immediately after its takeover by the military, the Philippine and United States governments jointly undertook serious rehabilitation efforts inside Camp Abubakar which straddles the three municipalities of Matanog, Barira and Buldon.

"There are plentiful evidences of development . . . I hope that what has been happening here in Camp Abubakar will become a model for peace and development for the entire Mindanao," the President enthused during the media interaction.

The Chief Executive also urged the country’s multi-ethnic groups "to unite and be brothers in developing the nation."

Following the media interaction and lunch, the President flew by helicopter to Upi, Maguindanao to visit the town’s coffee orchard and nursery.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita today announced that the Philippine government would send an initial 16-member medical team to assist the wounded and provide psycho-social debriefing for victims of the powerful earthquake that hit Indonesia late Monday.

In a press briefing, Ermita said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has issued instructions for the Department of Health to make the necessary arrangements for the deployment of the medical team in Nias Island in Indonesia.

The President also directed the Department of Foreign Affairs this morning to determine what the Philippines can do to help in the international relief effort in Indonesia.

The DOH said the initial medical team would be composed of clinicians, including a surgeon, a pediatrician and an internist and public health specialists such as sanitary engineers, nurses and psychologists.

Apart from providing immediate medical attention, the team is expected to address the health needs of the disaster victims to prevent the occurrence of epidemics and provide psycho-social debriefing for those affected.

The public health specialists will also be tapped to help avert a public health emergency by ensuring that there is potable and safe water supply, proper waste disposal and food safety in the homes of the victims, as well as in evacuation centers.

Ermita said the medical team would also assess the need for vermin control in the disaster-stricken areas. He added that the team would be dispatched shortly but did not specify the exact date of their departure for Indonesia.

He said the DOH has been trained in providing immediate medical assistance in countries hit by disasters, and the Palace is confident it could immediately put together the medical team for its special mission.

Malacanang sees the latest Pulse Asia survey on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s approval rating more as a challenge than a threat to the administration.

In a press briefing today, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the survey should further encourage the officials of the administration to work together in carrying out the programs of the President so her ratings could improve in the future.

"I would like to look at it more as a challenge for everyone, especially to those in government, to do better and contribute more to governance," he said.

Nevertheless, Ermita said, the President is optimistic that her ratings would improve once Congress approves the economic measures being pushed by the administration to realize its medium-term goal to balance the national budget by 2010 and reduce its dependence on borrowings.

The March 2005 survey of Pulse Asia indicated that the President’s approval rating declined to 38 percent from 41 percent in October.

"You know the ratings are either good or bad. Let’s hope that the rating of the President would improve just as soon as we get a favorable action from Congress as a result of the three-day special session," he said.

Congress was convened for a three-day special session to give the Senate more time to tackle the bill on the value-added tax (VAT) which seeks to raise additional revenues to allow the government to gradually bridge the funding gap and achieve a balanced budget by 2010.

The same survey showed a decline in Filipinos’ pessimism towards the country’s economic situation from 65 percent in October 2004 to 59 percent this month, indicating that their perceptions changed as a result of "favorable news regarding national economic performance last year and the strengthening of the peso in the first quarter of 2005."

Economic experts viewed the continued strengthening of the peso as a reflection of improvement in investor confidence on the Philippines since the currency appreciated just as the stock market’s performance improved.

Inflows of investments into the stock market could be seen as an indication that the international investment community sees bright prospects for the Philippine economy.

Ermita also said the President is more concerned about governing the country, rather than simply considering popularity and public approval for her actions.