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Thursday, July 01, 2004
Glo prods Congress, lists jobs creation, 9 other tasks
CEBU CITY -- President Arroyo on Wednesday asked Congress, still reeling from post-election squabbling, to "seize this moment in history" by crafting laws that will draw investments into the country and create jobs.
She listed the full computerization of elections as one of 10 achievements that will be her legacy when she steps down in 2010.
"Now is the time to march forward as one. I seek your wisdom and I trust your commitment to the common good, to the swift actions you will take. And I challenge myself and our government to live up to the highest standards of honesty and competence in the public service," she said.
The 57-year-old economist was sworn in as the 14th president of the Philippines Wednesday in Cebu, the first time the oathtaking was held outside Luzon.
She began the day with her inaugural address before some 30,000 people at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, where she pledged to unite the nation after years of political upheaval, tackle corruption, fix the state's fiscal woes, mobilize capital for the private sector, create jobs, improve infrastructure and end various rebellions.
President Arroyo pledged to "establish a deep foundation for a broad middle class" by raising private and government capital to support three million entrepreneurs.
She also pledged to decongest Manila, which now accounts for a third of the domestic economic output, by building "new centers of government, business and commerce" elsewhere.
Her 20-minute speech was applauded 30 times.
The peso and listed companies traded lower Wednesday, however, amid gloom over a looming rise in interest rates in the United States.
Analysts said this would raise the cost of borrowing for the Philippines and reduce its attraction to foreign investors. Foreign direct investment plunged 90.7 percent to $161 million last year.
"Before you solve this unemployment problem, you must first solve the budget deficit," said Federico Macaranas of the Asian Institute of Management in Manila.
"So a more primordial task in the first several months would be to convince the world that she can solve the budget deficit problem and restore the confidence of investors, both domestic and foreign," he added.
President Arroyo's campaign had made much of her economics background, as opposed to movie actor Fernando Poe Jr.'s lack of a high school diploma.
Poe's congressional allies accused her of using public resources in her campaign and widespread cheating, and the debates stretched the canvassing so much that Arroyo was not proclaimed until eight days ago.
She broke from tradition by taking oath in Cebu, but said she wanted to thank Cebuanos for a margin of 1.1 million votes against Poe and also to emphasize that she must govern the entire country, not just the capital.
Despite a long day in Cebu, President Arroyo will visit three provinces Thursday---Agusan del Norte, Southern Leyte and Pangasinan---before heading to her home province of Pampanga for the first Cabinet meeting of her new term.
"Our nation must embrace a vision of economic opportunity, social cohesion and always an ever democratic faith. I offer my hand and I hope it will be taken with the same faith," the President said.
Facing a deficit that starves government of funds needed for services, President Arroyo also pledged a government that "will live within its means and put every spare peso to real work," adding that she will reduce spending "where the government does not work and increase spending where a government can make a difference for the better."
"And while I am doing that, I will crack down on wasteful and abusive officials and influence peddlers. I pledge to collect taxes mandated by law, even as I stop extortion masquerading as tax collection. And I pledge to do everything necessary to expand our economy, engage it in the world of commerce and advance the interests of our country and our people the world over," she said.
She urged Congress, where her allies compose the majority, to modernize the banking system, reform the bureaucracy, strengthen the independence and honesty of judges, spur investments and secure to the Filipino people "the promised blessings of democracy which are a life worth living, liberty worth having, happiness within everyone's grasp."
With her election, President Arroyo stands to become the country's longest-serving chief executive after Ferdinand Marcos. She served the remainder of Joseph Estrada's term since January 2001, when a civilian uprising provoked by corruption charges hounded the former actor out of Malacaņang. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(July 1, 2004 issue)
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