The Southern Leyte and the Zamboanga landslides, as well as the past disasters that have taken their deadly toll, are a grim reminder of the oft-ignored imperative to care for and protect the environment. Each member of the community, disaster prone or not, must be involved. Our vigilance must be perpetual and strong.

Meanwhile, we join the Filipino people in hoping and praying for more survivors of the Leyte and Zamboanga landslides even as we assure the public that the government will not stop its search and rescue missions until all the victims are accounted for.

We thank the international community, our legislators, and various private media establishments for coming to the aid of the landslide victims of Southern Leyte.

We appreciate the solid outlook on our fiscal reform measures and the spirit of the nation is buoyed by positive forecasts on our economy.

These mean more investments and jobs, and also more social equity and infrastructure programs to serve the people.

We take great pride on the victory of our emerging boxing hero. His triumph proved once more that the Philippines is an emerging force to reckon with in the field of international sports competition.

The President has instructed the Department of Foreign Affairs through the Philippine Embassy in Nigeria to ensure the safety of the Filipino hostage reportedly abducted by a militant group. She has also ordered the DFA to coordinate closely with the labor department in drawing up and implementing a contingency plan for Filipinos still in that country.

We are outraged by the bombing in Sulu last Saturday, which we consider as a senseless, heartless act on the part of terrorists.

The administration welcomes the move of the Commission on Audit to form a special audit team to look into government’s use of the Marcos funds for agrarian reform.

This will clarify the issue and remove any suspicion of unfair and illegal use of these funds as ventilated by the opposition.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) today to release P80 million to accelerate the geo-hazard mapping nationwide in the wake of the tragic mudslide that buried an entire barangay in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte recently.

The President issued the order during the send-off ceremony for the rescue dogs and handlers of the K-9 De Creixell which will help in the rescue operations in the devastated area.

"I was just talking to (Environment) Secretary (Angelo) Reyes this morning, how we can accelerate the geo-hazard mapping. I also talked to Secretary Nonoy Andaya and I instructed him to release P80 million to accelerate the geo-hazard mapping," she said in her speech at the send-off ceremony at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City this morning.

The President ordered National Mapping and Resources Information Authority (NAMRIA) Administrator Diony Ventura to brief the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) on their report about the 1,500 areas which it had identified as tragedy prone. These areas include Eastern Visayas, Region 8, Bicol and CARAGA regions.

She appealed to the mainstream media to give prominent treatment or space in reporting the 1,500 geo-hazardous places included in the NAMRIA list. According to the President, this would pose as an early warning to Local Government Units (LGUs) and communities to act accordingly.

"We would take this opportunity to republish the 1,500 geo-hazardous areas today and I asked the media to give it prime time and front page treatment so that everybody involved, the local governments involved, know that they have to take action because their area is included in that list," President Arroyo said.

The President thanked the Government of Spain through Ambassador Ignacio Sagaz for sending K-9 and K-9 experts to help in the ongoing search and relief operations in the 10 villages of St. Bernard buried by the mudslide.

Part of the Spanish rescue team were three K-9s named Sussy, a Belgian Shepherd; Rey, a golden retriever, and Aitor, a German Shepherd. They were accompanied by their handlers, namely Francisco Garcia, Jose Luis Garcia Vicente and Muņoz Bernabe.

According to the President, an additional team from Spain is due to arrive tomorrow to similarly extend assistance in the rescue efforts at St. Bernard, particularly in Barangay Guinsaugon, the hardest hit in the massive mudflow.

Malacanang said today that the positive forecasts on the country’s economy will translate into more investments and jobs, infrastructure facilities and ultimately lead to greater social equity among the Filipino people.

"We appreciate the solid outlook on our fiscal reform measures and the spirit of the nation is buoyed by positive forecasts on our economy," Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye said in a statement this morning.

Bunye was referring to a "fearless forecast" by an executive of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) who said if the government sustains its positive performance in 2005 the country’s credit rating could be upgraded before the end of 2006.

HSBC treasurer and head of global markets Arnulfo Veloso was quoted as saying that the resurgent peso could appreciate to below P50 to a $1, possibly even P47.50-$1 by the fourth quarter if the government hits its revenue target and the political situation remains stable.

Veloso aired his views on the peso during the Economic Review and Outlook for 2006 held last Friday under the auspices of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).

But Bunye said gains in the economic front would not be derailed by political noise. "What is important now is that we keep the tempo and not lag behind due to the resurgence of political turmoil."

Malacaņang welcomed today the initiative of the Commission on Audit (COA) to look into the utilization of the Marcos wealth for the agrarian reform program.

"The Administration welcomes the move of the Commission on Audit to form a special audit team to look into the government’s use of the Marcos funds for agrarian reform," Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye said in a statement this morning.

He said an audit of the agrarian reform fund recovered from the Marcos wealth will "clarify the issue and remove any suspicion of unfair and illegal use of these funds as ventilated by the opposition."

Earlier, Bunye dismissed speculation that part of the Marcos assets were channeled by the administration to the election campaign in 2004.

"Proceeds from the Marcos wealth were used solely to guarantee the full implementation of the CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) Law and the paper trail is clear," he said.

The Palace official also stressed that all disbursements from the recovered funds were properly documented. "Records do not lie and all disbursements in relation to the release of the Marcos fund are in order," Bunye added.

With this in mind, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo urged today all government units, the Philippine National Police and the private sectors to further expand and strengthen the enforcement of the government drive against intellectual piracy.

The President made the statement in her speech during the thanksgiving lunch with the officers and members of the Intellectual Property Coalition (IPC) at Malacanang’s Heroes Hall.

"Fighting piracy is fighting poverty because it enables Filipino excellence and enterprise to rise in the global arena, expanding opportunities and jobs along the way," she said.

The President explained that both government agencies and private sectors should continue to expand the regulatory framework for the protection and promotion of intellectual property rights until the country is finally off the watchlist of the United States government.

She ordered PNP Chief Director General Arturo Lomibao to triple the efforts of the police in the raid of violating establishments and intensify the effort to bring offenders to justice and make them face the consequences of their nefarious acts.

She also asked Lomibao to double the number of police enforcers assigned to fight piracy while the Department of Justice (DOJ) will deputize all the provincial prosecutors to fight intellectual piracy.

The President tasked the Intellectual Property Coalition headed by John Lesaca, and the Office of the Press Secretary to formulate an information drive on the negative effect of piracy in the economy.

She said the patronage of pirated and counterfeit products fuels criminality, hinders economic growth and worst, undermines the moral fiber of the country.

The President added that the government would continue to further expand the regulatory framework for the protection of IPR by encouraging local government units to pass their respective anti-piracy ordinance.

"The protection and promotion of IPR means more investments, more jobs, more opportunities and more revenue for the government that could translate to improve basic social services," she stressed.

Malacaņang allayed fear of any possible connection of the blast that occurred in a portion of the Palace grounds this noon to another military adventurism against the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In a press briefing this afternoon at Malacaņang’s Kalayaan Hall, Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor said that initial investigation revealed the explosion was only caused by a chemical combustion and not due to improvised explosive device.

"At this point, there is nothing to worry about and this is on a factual basis, on what transpired. Of course, everyone thought earlier that it was really an orchestrated effort, but based on the investigation result that came out today and the discussion that we had, there were no basis on the report of orchestrated attack," Defensor clarified.

"The investigation somehow reveals that it was a lacquer thinner, a chemical reaction caused by a lacquer thinner spill and then someone throwing a lighted cigarette that caused the explosion. What qualifies the report is that there is no indication or elements that would show it was an improvised explosive device," he said quoting a report submitted to President Arroyo by the Presidential Security Group (PSG) commander, Brig. Gen. Delfin Bangit, in a meeting this afternoon.

Defensor added that what is worrying the President is the negative effect of the incident on the nation’s economy, particularly the stock market and the strengthening value of the peso against foreign currencies.

He cited the tremendous negative effect on the economy of the Oakwood mutiny in 2003.

Defensor also dismissed as mere propaganda the alleged claim by so-called military reformists that they were responsible for the blast.

"If they claimed to be the ones doing this, at least as I’ve said, the investigation has not shown that. If indeed they did this, then that is the height of un-patriotism considering the effort that we are doing now in the wake of the Southern Leyte tragedy," he said.