President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo expressed hope today the downward trend in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices would be sustained as this is a welcome relief to consumers.

The President, in a Roundtable Discussion with Trade Secretary Peter Favila, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla and Petron Corp. Chairman Nick Alcantara aired over government channel NBN 4 early this afternoon, hailed the country’s four leading oil firms –Petron Corp., Shell Petroleum Corp., Caltex Phils. Inc., and Total Phils. Inc. - for the latest cut in prices of LPG products.

"For the first two weeks of March, LPG price per tank was lowered by P21 despite the soaring of prices in the world markets in February," the President said.

She said the reduction in oil and LPG prices would translate to lower prices of basic commodities, which would mean a stronger buying power for the people.

"Stronger buying power for the public will help strengthen further our economy, and economic growth means more jobs for the Filipinos. ‘Abot Kayang Presyo, Dagdag Trabaho,’ that is our target," the President said.

Press Secretary and concurrent Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye, on the other hand, noted that the decrease in the price of LPG should be proportionate to the lowering of prices in the world markets.

"World market prices have dropped so it is just right that such a reduction should be reflected in local prices," he said in the vernacular in a radio interview this morning.

LPG contract prices in the world markets fell by $95.50 per metric ton to $530 this month from $625.50 per metric ton in February.

The four oil companies implemented today another price cut of P0.50 per kilogram on LPG products, bringing to P1.50 per kilogram the total reduction in LPG prices in the first two weeks of this month.

President Arroyo has been sensitive to the issues and concerns on mining raised by various groups. But she is confident that strong safeguards and safety nets for the protection of environmental standards can be met without forsaking the potential of this industry to generate more jobs and to close the poverty gap.

She is determined, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), to strictly enforce environmental safeguards, such as, but not limited to, the following:

1. Mining companies must dedicate at least 10 percent of capital expenditures to fund initial environmental expenses and 3-5 percent of direct mining and milling costs for annual environmental programs.

Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said today President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is confident that strong safeguards and safety nets for the protection of environmental standards can be met without forsaking the potential of the mining industry to generate more jobs and close the poverty gap.

In a statement, Bunye assured the public that the President has been sensitive to the issues and concerns on mining raised by certain groups.

Bunye made the pronouncements after the House of Representatives announced yesterday it would review the Mining Act of 1995 to provide more safeguards against the despoliation of the environment and safety standards for mining communities.

The House announcement came on the heels of a meeting between the President, Speaker Jose de Venecia, Cabinet officials and bishops who had asked the government to study the mining law in the wake of complaints from mining communities about destructive effects on the environment, particularly the recent mine tailings spill on Rapu-Rapu island in Albay.

Bunye said the President is determined, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, to strictly enforce environmental standards, such as, but not limited to, the following:

1. Mining companies must dedicate at least 10 percent of capital expenditures to fund initial environmental expenses and 3-5 percent of direct mining and milling costs for annual environmental programs;
2. Companies must comply with a mandatory environmental insurance coverage through a performance bond and Environmental Pollution, Impairment and Clean-up Liability Insurance.

De Venecia said the House Committee on Natural Resources would make the review, adding that "we shall incorporate the strongest possible safety and environmental standards."

The House, he said, would await the recommendations of the fact-finding commission created by President Arroyo to look into the effects of the mining operations in Albay on the people’s health and the environment, particularly in Albay and nearby Sorsogon.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark arrives in Manila Monday (March 13) for a four-day official visit that would further strengthen 40 years of bilateral relations between the Philippines and New Zealand.

Her visit comes 20 years after the last dedicated bilateral visit to the Philippines made in 1986 by then Prime Minister David Lange. In 1996, then Prime Minister Jim Bolger was in the Philippines but only to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

Prime Minister Clark’s visit is also expected to bolster moves by the Philippines to introduce the importance of interfaith dialogue in achieving peace and security in the region and in the whole world. She will address on Tuesday the opening ceremony of the Dialogue on Regional Interfaith Cooperation for Peace, Development and Human Dignity at the Shangri-La Mactan Hotel in Cebu province.

She will also make a series of official calls and meetings and visit New Zealand-assisted projects in Bohol through the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID).

Among the members of her official delegation are New Zealand Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism Dell Higgie, Ambassador to the Philippines Robert Moore-Jones, Prime Minister’s Office Chief Press Secretary David Lewis, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Foreign Policy Adviser Andrea Smith, and Embassy First Secretary and Deputy Head of Mission Steve McCombie.

Upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport late Monday afternoon, PM Clark will immediately fly to Cebu, where she will meet the New Zealand delegation in the interfaith summit Tuesday morning.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will hold a one-on-one meeting with PM Clark in Cebu on the same day.

The two leaders, according to the official release of the New Zealand government, are expected to discuss varying issues, including counter-terrorism and New Zealand’s relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Philippines takes the chair of the ASEAN later this year and will be hosting the ASEAN and East Asia Summits in December.

From Cebu, the NZ Prime Minister will fly Tuesday mid-afternoon to Bohol, where a bilateral meeting between the New Zealand delegation and President Arroyo and members of her Cabinet will be held at the Bohol Beach Club.

The meeting is expected to tackle issues that would further enhance the two countries relations that started 40 years ago, when New Zealand cross-accredited an ambassador to Manila from Hong Kong in 1966. The New Zealand Embassy in Manila opened in 1975.

On Tuesday evening, President Arroyo will host a dinner at the Beach Front of Bohol Beach Club in Panglao Island, in honor of Prime Minister Clark.

On her third day (Wednesday) in the country, Prime Minister Clark will visit the site of the Dolphin Watch Pamilacan in Bohol, a beneficiary of technical and financial assistance from the NZAID.

The Dolphin Watch was recently selected as one of the five finalists in British Airways’ global "Tourism for Tomorrow" conservation awards.

Clark will return to Manila before Wednesday noon for a series of media interviews, a visit at the New Zealand Embassy in Makati City and signing of a proposed agreement between Universal College of Learning of Palmerston North and De La Salle University College of St. Benilde.

On her last day in the country, PM Clark will attend a morning wreath-laying ceremony at the Rizal Monument in Manila’s Rizal Park, after which she will hold a series of business meetings with the Makati Business Club, Philippine–New Zealand Business Council and the Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce.

She will also meet with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials at the ADB Headquarters in Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

Senator Richard Gordon and Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila will call separately on Prime Minister Clark at the Makati Shangri-La before her departure for New Zealand Thursday afternoon.

RP-NZ relations has grown substantially in the past 40 years with the Philippines now the top export market of New Zealand in Southeast Asia.

New Zealand exports to the Philippines include dairy, kraft paper, timber and timber products and frozen beef. New Zealand imports from the Philippines include bananas, computer and electronic equipment.