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Friday, November 18, 2005
Arroyo to bring up terror, bird flu, poverty in Asia-Pacific gab
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo left Thursday afternoon for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Busan, South Korea with the issues of terrorism, possible bird flu pandemic, and the war on poverty as her main agenda.
The President left at 2 p.m. after a brief presentation of kidnap victim Paige Yu, who was abducted in Angeles City last November 10 while she was on her way to school and send-off ceremonies by the Cabinet led by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and the unformed service led by Armed Forces Chief Generoso Senga.
Arroyo, in her pre-departure speech held at the Kalayaan Briefing room in Malacañang before noon, said she would focus on three key areas of concern and relevance to the Philippines during her visit to South Korea, which are the "cooperation on anti-terrorism, cooperation on preparation for the avian flu, and investments in our pro-poor program here in the Philippines."
The President said the Philippines, since heading the Apec Task Force on Terrorism last year in Chile, has been and would continue its fight against terrorism by sharing intelligence information with its allies, getting additional training for its troops and engaging them in regional coordination, by bringing peace and development to areas of conflict like Mindanao and by eradicating poverty.
She also reiterated her call for Congress to pass the anti-terrorism bill and the proposed 2006 budget to help curb terrorism, instill peace and develop areas of conflict, and eradicate poverty, which is taken advantage by some terrorists.
She said would also bring to the Apec summit the strides that the Philippines had made in developing its knowledge-based economy through the call centers and business process outsourcing, which she said had generated at least 100,000 jobs.
Arroyo said she intends to discuss in the summit the Philippines' proposal to the UN for a large-scale conversion of debt to be used to finance UN goals to reduce extreme global poverty by half, ensure universal primary education and stem the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Aids) pandemic by 2015. The proposal aims to convert half of the foreign loans of heavily indebted and middle-income nations into funds for anti-poverty programs.
The President said she also intends to highlight the government's initiatives in fighting the avian flu and the need for further cooperation and coordination among the allied and neighboring countries. The Philippines continues to remain free of the virus despite its onslaught on neighboring countries.
She said would discuss the importance of having enough affordable medicines against bird flu as well as encouraging wide-ranging cooperation to halt its spread. She said she would work with her Cabinet in finalizing the Philippines' comprehensive avian flu prevention program and would call on Congress to provide additional funding, which can be sourced through the P37 billion savings, to fully prepare the country for a possible outbreak of avian flu.
Aside from the Apec summit, the President would also be meeting with US President George W. Bush on November 18.
She would also be conferred an honorary doctorate of law degree by the Kyungsung University here in recognition of her political leadership. The formal conferment forms part of the university's observance of 50th founding anniversary.
The President is also expected to meet with the members of the Apec Business Advisory Council (Abac) during her stay in Busan.
Arroyo is expected to leave Busan on November 19 for private time in Hong Kong. She is expected to arrive in Manila on November 21 at 1 p.m.
Joining the President in Busan are Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo; Trade Secretary Peter Favila; Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye; Chief presidential legal counsel Merceditas Gutierrez; Government Mass Media Group head Cerge Remonde; Apec Counter-Terrorism Task Force technical head Benjamin Defensor; Undersecretary for International Trade Relations Edsel Custodio; and former foreign affairs secretary Roberto Romulo, who currently chairs the Abac-Philippines.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the President has designated Vice President Noli De Castro as head of the caretaker committee while she is attending the Apec summit from November 17 to 19.
Senga said the Armed Forces would be on alert while the President is out of the country.
"We will be on alert. We have SOPs (standard operating procedures) whenever the Chief Executive or the Commander-in-Chief is out of our nation on official mission or otherwise. So we have also our own plans such as contingency for such a situation so we will just be implement SOPs, "he said.
Deputy Director Oscar Calderon, National Police deputy chief for administration and acting National Police chief, said the police is also on heightened alert during the Arroyo's absence. (JMR/Sunnex)
(November 18, 2005 issue)
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