The Council of State meeting is not about personalities, but about the collective effort of national leaders committed to national transformation and renewal.

Malacanang said today President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo respects the decision of some opposition leaders not to attend the Council of State meeting set on January 24.

Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye made the statement in reaction to published reports saying former President Corazon Aquino and leaders of the opposition bloc in the House of Representatives decided not to join next week’s meeting.

"The Council of State meeting is not about personalities, but about the collective effort of national leaders committed to national transformation and renewal," Bunye said.

"President Arroyo welcomes those who will come, and respects the decision of those who have chosen not to (attend the meeting)," he added.

Earlier, Secretary Bunye had expressed confidence that the Council of State meeting will eventually pave the way for the healing of political divisions and unify and put the country on track for a brighter future.

"Our people are tired of excessive politicking and it is our firm belief that the noble intention of the meeting would eventually heal the scars of the past and carry us to a brighter tomorrow," he said.

"The people are looking up to the leaders of this nation to set aside partisanship and stand united to address vital concerns of the day—social, economic and political," the Press Secretary added.

Meanwhile, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in a radio interview today that the Council of State is a forum where the leaders of all political parties, including sectoral representatives, can debate and exchange their ideas about the political, economic, and social conditions of the country.

The government’s fiscal reforms have strengthened the credibility of the Philippines in the international community, the Department of Finance (DOF) said in a recent report to Malacanang.

"Our efforts to improve revenue collection and implement sustained meaningful reforms have strengthened our credibility in the international community," DOF said in its report.

The country’s improved credibility, it added," is evidenced by the positive findings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) post-program monitoring mission."

DOF said the government’s fiscal consolidation program is on track with the implementation of the Reformed Value Added Tax (RVAT) which gave a positive impact on the country’s economy.

In his report to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said the National Government’s revenue collections as well as its deficit and consolidated public sector deficit performed better than programmed for the period January to October 2005.

He said the implementation of the RVAT contributed in part to the strengthening of the peso, which is now considered the "darling currency in Asia" and one of the best performing in the whole world.

The report further said revenue collections from January to October 2005 amounted to P661.2 billion or P13.5 billion higher than the programmed figure despite the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Customs (BOC) lower than target collections.

The BIR total collections reached P440.4 billion, which is P8.8 billion lower than target while the BOC collected P116.7 billion, with a shortfall of P8.9 billion.

The BIR and BOC shortfalls, however, were compensated by the Bureau of Treasury’s (BTr) increased collection which exceeded its 10-month target by P29 billion, while expenditures amounted to P776.7 billion of which 34.4 percent represented interest payments.

The national government posted a deficit of P115.5 billion for the period or P40.5 billion lower than the programmed P156 billion.

The consolidated public sector deficit (CPSD), the report said, amounted to P74.6 billion or 1.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), better than the programmed deficit of 4.2 percent of the GDP for the period.

The lower-than-target CPSD was primarily due to the lower than programmed deficits of the national government and 14 monitored government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) as well as the improved financial performance of other public sector entities, particularly the social security institutions.

The report further said that the DOF is resolved to implement the two percent VAT increase by February 1 if warranted.