President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo heard mass this morning at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila to kick-off the observance of the 20^th anniversary of EDSA People Power I Revolution.

The President also prayed at the tomb of former Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin a floor below the altar of the Manila Cathedral.

The Cardinal was one of the key figures in the bloodless revolution that ousted a dictator without a single shot being fired and which won universal admiration for the Filipinos.

The President was accompanied by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and members of the EDSA People Power Commission led by Commissioners Teresita Baltazar and Pastor Boy Saycon.

In his homily, Monsignor Nestor Cervo, rector of the Manila Cathedral, warned against people out to advance their vested interest and political ambitions at the expense of the national interest, resulting in the current political crisis in the country.

"Kapag naging ambisyoso ang mga tao ay nagbubunga lamang ito ng gulo at pagtatalo-talo, dapat ang ambisyon ay hindi para paglingkuran ang sarili kundi ang makapag-lingkod sa taongbayan," said Cervo.

He called on all Filipinos to support the President in her efforts to provide basic services to the general public and push their personal agenda aside for the good of the country.

"Wala sanang problemang politikal sa kasalukuyan kung ang pagse-serbisyo muna ang isipin para makatulong sa pagresolba sa mga problema sa bansa," the Mass celebrator added.

Monsignor Cervo also offered the Mass to the victims of the Southern Leyte tragedy in which a whole barangay was buried in mountains of mudslides resulting in the death of a number of people, including school children.

After the mass, the President went straight to the crypt of Cardinal Sin to pay her homage to the late church leader at whose urgings thousands of people trooped to EDSA in Camps Aguinaldo and Crame in the historic EDSA People Power Revolution.

Malacanang said today renegade 1^st Lt. Lawrence San Juan’s aborted dalliance with the communist New People’s Army (NPA) should serve as an eye opener to members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), including retired military officers.

In a radio interview this morning, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita described as a case of idealism gone awry the obsession of the young graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) to bring down the administration even if he has to go to bed with the government’s sworn enemy.

"I believe the San Juan episode will open the eyes of active members of the armed forces as well as the corps of retired military officers that San Juan actively sought an alliance with the NPA to advance his personal ambition," he said.

Ermita said San Juan’s action would indicate that in the pursuit of personal ambition, the fugitive and like-minded military men are prepared to abandon their commitment to the nation to defend it against the communist NPA.

"Does this mean that they have already lost their principle not to allow the communists to take over the country because of personal ambition? I hope they realize what they are doing. We cannot allow them to betray the Filipino people," he added.

One of the Magdalo mutineers, San Juan was captured early this morning in Batangas minutes after he warned of a coordinated armed assault on Malacanang, ending more than one month of manhunt by military and police operatives.

Interviewed over Radio DZRH before his arrest, San Juan urged residents around Malacanang to leave for places far from the palace complex supposedly for their safety.

Savoring the irony of it all, Ermita said the renegade officer could not possibly carry out an attack while under the custody of his military captors in Fort Bonifacio.

San Juan, along with fellow Magdalo mutineers, Capt. Nathaniel Rabonza, 1^st Lts. Sonny Sarmiento and Patricio Bumindang, escaped from their detention cell in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City last Jan. 17.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared today that she is the best person to lead the nation as its shifts from presidential to parliamentary form of government.

In her speech before the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at the Dusit Hotel Nikko in Makati at noon today, the President said she won the elections "fair and square" and that she has the mandate of an elected president.

"And let me make this clear: I believe I am the best person to lead this nation through this transition. I was elected to make difficult decisions and I have made them," she said.

She said she made tough decisions "not without mistakes on my part, and certainly not without significant criticism. But I have the experience of hindsight, and I aim to fulfill my term with a steady hand on the helm."

The President also reiterated her declaration that she will not resign. "Nothing will make me resign," she added.

The Chief Executive said those who still doubt her legitimacy as the duly elected president could look at the election results in Cebu province which are being recounted simultaneously with the votes of the vice president.

It is in Cebu where she won more than a million votes over her closest rival and the recounting revealed that no electoral fraud was committed there.

The President said she had done much to propel the country’s economy through the passage by Congress of several revenue-generating measures.

She admitted, however, that despite these achievements, a lot remains to be the done in terms of political as well as economic reforms.

She said that these reforms could be achieved through a charter change, particularly a change in the form of government from the present presidential to a parliamentary form.

She also vowed to work for greater autonomy for local governments and a review of some economic provisions that restrict the country’s economic growth.

"To tackle fundamental political reform, I have endeavored to increase tax collection by cracking down on fraud and deceit and I have worked to empower local governments to service their constituents more effectively. But more fundamentally, we need reform of our Constitution to make our government more responsive and less a roadblock for private enterprise," the President said.

Changing the charter, she added, would allow the country’s economy to grow and create greater political stability.

U.S. President Bush called President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo around 9 p.m. yesterday to express the sympathy of the American people.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today she will pursue economic and political reforms without letup in order to ensure greater stability and cushion the effects of politics on the country’s economy.

Speaking before the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at noon today at the Dusit Hotel Nikko in Makati City, the President said her administration has three outstanding goals this year, namely: sustain economic growth, accelerate the war against terrorism and fight destabilization and bring peace to Mindanao, and implement the long-overdue political reforms through charter change.

"I am determined to continue on a path of economic reform. I also intend to pursue political reform to ensure greater stability and diminish the political effect on the Philippine economy," she said.

The President lamented that political "maneuvering has become our most active industry, including people who parlayed their presence in EDSA a long time ago into a lifetime franchise of working against governments whose leaders do not curtsy before them."

She underscored the need to further improve the economy so as to uplift the lives of the Filipinos and eventually eradicate poverty.

Eradicating poverty is important in achieving political stability as poverty begets destabilization, she said.

The President noted that the present political system is "so poisoned that it drags down our economic growth," as she batted for the shift in the form of government from presidential to parliamentary.

She said that the international community has taken notice of the improved economic fundamentals of the country following her decision to implement tough and unpopular fiscal and economic reforms.

These tough reforms resulted in improved credit ratings, a strong peso, a bullish stock market, fresh investments coming in and a reduction of the country’s debt.

"The best fiscal situation we’ve had in years are due in large part to our focus on the fundamentals of the economy. But beyond and deeper than that, they are also due to tough decisions that had been unpopular and that made me an easy target of my opponents," she said.

The President said the strong relations and cooperation between the Philippines and other countries has led to the success of the fight against terrorism and political destabilization.

"We have stood shoulder to shoulder with the world in the fight against terrorism. And the world, the international community has stood by us in our fight against political destabilization," she said.

This cooperation with the rest of the world has also contributed much to the achievement of a lasting peace in Mindanao so the people there could finally focus on education and job creation and not on violence and destruction, she added.

"I am determined to bring peace to Mindanao with the help from Filipinos, our neighbors like Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei and our friends in the US, Europe and the Middle East," the President said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo leads the four-day commemoration of the 20^th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power which starts tomorrow and culminates on Feb. 25.

The President will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow to kick off the commemoration rites.

She will be assisted by EDSA People Power Commission Chairman and Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Secretary of National Defense Avelino Cruz, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Generoso Senga and Philippine National Police Chief Director General Arturo Lomibao.

The President will deliver a message to start the four-day celebration before proceeding to Cebu City to grace a job fair.

Vice President Noli de Castro, and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, one of the personalities in the 1986 event that toppled the dictatorial regime of former President Ferdinand Marcos, were invited to lead the ribbon-cutting ceremonies together with retired Gen. Antonio Sotelo at the EDSA ’86 Freedom Trail.

The trail is composed of tarpaulin pictures of EDSA I placed at the areas where the memorable events took place 20 years ago.

The following day, President Arroyo will inaugurate housing projects for the AFP in coordination with the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

Various youth leaders headed by EPPC Commissioner Bam Aquino, meanwhile, will make a media rounds of radio and television stations to talk about EDSA I.

On Friday, a eucharistic celebration will be held at the Our Lady of Queen of Peace Church at the EDSA Shrine at 5:30 a.m., before the procession at the Corinthian Gardens. There will also be an audiovisual presentation inside the EDSA Shrine followed by a simple fiesta get-together.

On Saturday, a flag raising ceremony will be held at the People Power Monument with Vice President de Castro leading the rites along with former President Fidel V. Ramos who will deliver a message.

Ramos, along with Enrile, led the withdrawal of support from the Marcos government in 1986.

De Castro will read President Arroyo’s message.

Special awards will be given to late Jaime Cardinal Sin, the gold medallists of the 23^rd Southeast Asian Games and Para games, top Filipino professional boxers, one Overseas Filipino worker, Gawad Kalinga and Pondo ng Pinoy.

Good Citizenship awards will also be given to Christina Bugayong (Youth), Police Superintendent Dominador Arevalo, and banker Fidel Cu.

Another Eucharistic celebration will be held at 12:15 p.m. of the same day.

At 3 p.m., President Arroyo will grace the opening of an AFP Housing project dubbed "A Tribute to the Filipino Soldier." A "Salubungan" ceremony will take place at 3:30 p.m. between the military, religious and NGO sectors at the People Power Monument.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today the country needs a different type of people power even as she stressed that Filipinos must honor the struggle of EDSA 1 by continuing to reform the political system and bringing social justice to the masses.

Speaking before the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) this noon at the Dusit Hotel Nikko in Makati, the President said the new people power must center on unity and cooperation to achieve progress for the country.

"There is as much gallantry in performing our civic duties without fanfare or publicity, or in owning up to the taxes we should pay, or in picking up litter on the street as in picking up one’s guns to fight off tyrants or invaders," the President said.

"There is more valor in being focused and right rather than in being spectacular or popular," she added.

She cited the people power now seen in the rescue and retrieval operations of landslide victims in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, the people power in the decision of businessmen in Cebu to commission a whole ship and load it with goods for the landslide victims.

She also hailed as a new form of people power the cooperation of people in building houses at the Gawad Kalinga communities and the people power in Moslem communities where former rebels are converting cannons into plowshares.

The President also said the world would not forgive an EDSA 3 or moves to topple her administration.