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Thursday, July 11, 2002
Power rates, peace order up in next Sona
PRESIDENT Gloria Arroyo Wednesday said her coming State of the Nation Address would focus on two things - power rates and peace order.
President Arroyo cited lowering power rates and improving the peace order situation in the country as the two objectives which her administration have yet to achieved.
"The key result areas that I enumerated in my last State of the Nation Address, a couple that I have not achieved are the ones causing the big problems now -- the power rates, although it is going down now, and the peace and order," the President said.
Arroyo said she wanted to address these two issues, especially the peace and order to be able to have a strong republic.
The President she already has two drafts of her Sona which she would deliver on July 22. One of the drafts, she said, came from acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable while the other one was drafted by her.
In this connection, Arroyo defended her decision not to unilaterally cancel the 29 contracts with the Independent Power Producers (IPP) which were found to be tainted with either legal or financial issues, or both.
Arroyo explained that if the government would resort, investors might question the government's integrity in honoring its contract.
"So I have to put sobriety to make sure that it is sober, and that's part of a strong republic, it cannot be swayed by histrionics. No matter how loud, you have to do what is sober and you have to be strong enough, you just have to fasten your seatbelt...," the President said.
On the peace and order issue, the President said she will be attending the "Order of Battle" workshop organized by the Philippine National Police at Camp Crame today.
"I will not make a speech, but I will sit down with them and work out the order of battle," the President told mediamen.
The workshop is a follow-up on the Summit on Illegal Drugs, Kidnapping and Command Responsibility held the other day at the Manila Hotel.
During the summit, the President ordered an all-out war against 21 kidnap-for-ransom syndicates operating in the country, three of which will be the biggest targets.
The President ordered an all-out war against KFR syndicates in an effort to ensure peace and order in the country, attract more investments, generate more jobs for the people and, ultimately, win the war against poverty.
She said the order of battle workshop tomorrow "is still part of the baseline.'
"The baseline condition was how many are they and then the next step is how do you prioritize," she said. |
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