PM Clark, a member of the Labour Party for more than 30 years, was elected Prime Minister on Nov. 27, 1999.

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I am directing the police and military to expose all residual and anticipated threats of destabilization even as we push the normalization process. We are fully aware that some groups have not ceased in their attempts to undermine our democratic way of life.

We have the watchful eye, the will and the resources to counter their moves. We have restored normalcy backed by a solid military and police chain of command.

We shall continue to sternly enforce the rule of law in the streets while protecting human rights, and informing the people of threats to their peace, welfare and well being.

We are one step ahead of the enemies of the State. Community vigilance will enable us to focus on the economy to generate investments and jobs that will break the cycle of poverty.

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We respect the views of the Vice President on this issue but we believe President Arroyo has already done her part to address it. We have gone through the whole slew of legislative inquiries, impeachment proceedings and media controversies impinging on this matter and perhaps it is time to put it to rest.

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We are a free enterprise economy and we shall leave market forces to determine the value of the peso while taking the appropriate measures to assist the export sector.

The potency of the peso and stock market strongly indicate investor confidence that is vital for the creation of new jobs that will bridge the poverty gap.

Our market economy has its inherent balancing mechanisms and let us allow these to work without unnecessary interventions.

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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo directed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) today to "expose all residual and anticipated threats of destabilization" posed by groups linked to last month’s failed attempt to overthrow the government.

The President’s directive came in the wake of reports that certain personalities behind the Feb. 24 coup try are plotting new destabilization moves against the government.

The new anti-government plot will reportedly culminate with a mass rally by members of militant organizations, some leaders and supporters of the political opposition, students and labor groups during the celebration of Labor Day on May 1.

"I am directing the police and the military to expose all residual and anticipated threats of destabilization even as we push the normalization process," the President said in a statement this morning.

She assured the people, however that the government is on top of the situation and is prepared to meet "attempts to undermine our democratic way of life" head on.

"We are fully aware that some groups have not ceased in their attempts to undermine our democratic way of life. We have the watchful eye, the will and the resources to counter their moves," the President said.

She called on all Filipinos to be vigilant against any destabilization move saying, "Community vigilance will enable us to focus on the economy to generate investments and jobs that will break the cycle of poverty."

The government foiled last Feb. 24 what it called a conspiracy hatched by the Left, represented by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), the Right, represented by misguided elements of the military, and "political opportunists" to unseat the President.

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Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said that strong safeguards and safety nets, coupled with sustainable development of the country’s mineral resources, should allay the fears of various groups over the destructive effects of mining.

In his weekly newspaper column, The View From the Palace, Bunye pointed out that mining will generate long term benefits for the country -- in livelihood, education and infrastructure.

These benefits, he added, will trickle down to the masses and help close the poverty gap.

"The key, therefore, is sustainable development of our mineral resources. Properly harnessed, the mining sector can enhance job creation and poverty alleviation," Bunye said.

He said investments in the mining industry are expected to reach $6 billion over the next 10 years and create up to 200,000 new jobs.

Bunye said, however, that "government, with the help of mining stakeholders, must strictly implement and enforce a range of initiatives to enhance the standards of environmental protection and enforcement, safety and social responsibility" to avoid a repeat of the Lafayette tragedy in Masbate and other mining disasters.

He pointed out that the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and the Mineral Action Plan (MAP) provide clear protocols and guidelines on environmental and ecological issues and programs and the remediation and rehabilitation or redevelopment of viable projects.

Specific initiatives include:

• The establishment by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of a Final Mine Rehabilitation and Decommissioning Fund by 2007, to ensure an integrated mine enclosure planning program.
• The adoption of an Environmental Impact Assessment system, and the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program to integrate environmental parameters at every phase of the life of a mine and provide incentives for environmental management initiatives.

Additionally, the Mining Act compels mining companies to allot at least 10 percent of their capital expenditures to fund initial environmental expenses and 3-5 percent of direct mining and milling costs for annual environmental programs, Bunye said.

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The clear absence of election fraud manifested from the revision of ballots from the province of Cebu in the ongoing election protest of former Sen. Loren Legarda against Vice President Noli De Castro is the best evidence that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo won fair and square in the 2004 presidential polls," Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor said in reaction to the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s headline story today (Sunday, March 12).

"Hence, those who cannot resist entertaining some doubts on the legality of President Arroyo’s victory should only look objectively to the result of election protest of Legarda instead of making a bare and baseless reliance on the alleged "Garci tape" which is even inadmissible in evidence," Defensor added.

He said that upon reading the PDI report, "we immediately consulted the President’s election lawyer, Romulo Macalintal who is also Vice President De Castro’s lawyer in the said protest and inquired about the status of the said case."

"Atty. Macalintal informed us that the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) has completed almost 40 percent of the 7,744 protested precincts from the province of Cebu where the President won by a margin of one million two thousand votes over the late FPJ, including Cebu City," he said.

"Except for some insignificant administrative lapses, the revision reveals no election irregularities committed in Cebu that could materially affect the votes of the President and Vice President Noli De Castro," Defensor added.

The President was proclaimed winner in the June 2004 presidential election with a margin of 1.2 million votes over FPJ. The bulk of her winning margin came from the province of Cebu and Cebu City where she won with a margin of one million two hundred thousand votes.

To overcome the 1.2 million vote lead of the President, her detractors are trying to discredit the President‘s one million vote lead in Cebu, with baseless and speculative arguments despite the facts that based on official reports from vice President De Castro’s revision at the PET, no hard evidence of fraud and other irregularities had been discovered to invalidate even a single ballot of the President, Defensor said.

As a matter of fact, of the more than 3,000 precincts from the province of Cebu whose ballots were revised and recounted by the PET, Ms. Legarda did not object to any single election return on which the votes from these 3,000 precincts were duly recorded, Defensor said.

He noted that De Castro even filed a motion before the PET to create 25 to 70 additional revision teams to expedite the revision of the 124,400 precincts protested by Legarda.

"I was advise that with the current price of revision at the PET it would take the tribunal until 2013 to finish revising the 124,400 precincts protested by Legarda, hence, we support Vice President De Castro’s motion for the creation of additional revision teams to expedite the process and finish the same before the 2007 polls," Defensor said.

"If this protest is not terminated by 2007, the government would spend more than P186 million for the purchase of new ballots boxes since the 124,400 ballot boxes containing the protested ballots could not be taken from the PET while Legarda’s protest is pending. One ballot box costs about P1,500," Defensor said.

While the PET is at present conducting the revision and recounting of ballot in connection only with the election protest of Legarda against Vice President Noli De Castro, all eyes are also focused on the result of the presidential election every time a ballot box is opened for revision or recount of ballots.

It is significant to note that Legarda’s lawyer, Atty. Sixto S. Brillantes, is also the lawyer of the late presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. On the other hand, Vice President Noli De Castro is represented by lawyer Romulo B. Macalintal, who is also the lawyer of President Arroyo, Defensor said.

Both lawyers had instructed their revisors in the Legarda protest to also observe and report on the condition of the ballots of GMA and FPJ.

Macalintal said that "with Legarda’s apparent failure to prove the massive poll frauds alleged in her protest which were the same allegation in the protest of FPJ and by the opposition, there is likewise no evidence of election frauds that could be charged against the President since the ballots now being revised by the PET are the same ballots used for the presidential election."

He added that the "results of the physical count of the ballots for Legarda and De Castro tallied with the results reflected in the election returns and tally boards, the same returns and tally boards showing the votes for President Arroyo and her rival in the last election."

"I am very sure that judging from the results of the revision from the various cities and municipalities of the Province of Cebu, where no evidence of the alleged massive election fraud has been discovered, it is impossible to overturn the result of the election for President. Hence, the proclamation of President Arroyo as the winner of 2004 elections has been confirmed and making the legitimacy of her administration unassailable," Macalintal said.

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