The President’s latest action affirms her deeply held personal Christian values and does not violate the Constitutional separation of powers.

As in many instances in the past, she is placing her position on the line even while acknowledging the negative reactions and strong arguments against it.

She is taking this not as a political battle but as a basic moral issue affecting pro-life values, in the belief that forgiveness and compassion will serve the best interest of the nation and the society.

The President commends the passage of the bill extending tax breaks to low-paid workers.

This administration supports social safety nets to protect the people from the pressures arising from socioeconomic dislocations; just as we are doing in the case of oil prices hikes and upward trends in the cost of prime commodities.

We welcome the growing support of various churches for instituting fundamental reforms in our polity and economy.

At the same time, we challenge critics of the move to amend the Constitution to come down from their ivory towers and feel the beat of the grass roots.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commended today the House of Representatives for passing a bill that will increase the take-home pay of low wage earners.

House Bill No. 5296 seeks to exempt minimum wage earners from paying income tax and increase personal tax exemptions as part of reforms on individual taxation. It was passed by the House on second reading before its Lenten recess.

"The President commends the passage of the bill extending tax breaks to low-paid workers," Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye said in statement this morning.

Bunye added that the President fully supports the measure as this forms part of the "safety nets" being implemented by the administration to protect the public from the rising costs of basic commodities.

The other safety nets include lowering the tariff and duties imposed on fuel and the setting up of a chain of convenience stores called "Tindahan Natin" that sell basic commodities such as rice, instant noodles and sugar at prices lower than those charged by commercial outlets for the same products.

"This administration supports social safety nets to protect the people from the pressures arising from socioeconomic dislocations; just as we are doing in the case of oil price hikes and upward trends in the costs of prime commodities," Bunye said.

Contrary to what her critics say, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is taking the death penalty controversy as a basic moral issue affecting pro-life values, not necessarily a political battle.

This much, Malacanang could say of the mixed reaction that followed the President’s announcement of the commutation of the death penalty of about a thousand convicts into life imprisonment over the Easter weekend.

"She is taking this not as a political battle but as a basic moral issue affecting pro-life values, in the belief that forgiveness and compassion will best serve the interest of the nation and society," Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye pointed out in a statement today.

Bunye was reacting to claims by critics and anti-crime advocates that the President’s latest move on abolishing the death penalty has political undertones meant to court the Church and the bishops, who had been critical of her administration.

"The President’s latest action affirms her deeply held personal Christian values and does not violate the Constitutional separation of powers," he said in the light of statements from certain quarters that the commutation was an affront to the Supreme Court and Congress.

As in many instances in the past, Bunye said, the President is placing her position on the line even while acknowledging the negative reactions and strong arguments against the commutation.

"The President’s moral compass clearly indicates that no executions will take place under her term," he stressed.

In fact, Bunye said, the President is prepared to certify legislation to abolish the death penalty "so that this issue can be fully discussed and debated upon in the legislature."

The Chief Executive had earlier indicated that she would push for the repeal of Republic Act 7659, otherwise known as the Death Penalty Law if necessary to further advance the "forgiveness and compassion" that she wanted to extend with her Easter message of commutation.

Even when she was still a senator, the death penalty issue, according to Senate records, has bugged the President, showing she was torn between her conscience and political considerations.

Support for the proposal to amend the 1987 Constitution is growing and Malacaņang is ecstatic.

Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye welcomed today the pledge of support by the largest organization of evangelical churches in the country to help in the information dissemination drive to amend the 19-year-old Charter.

The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) on Monday, through its chairman Bishop Efraim Tendero, said that the PCEC was willing to help in informing and educating the people in various areas nationwide on the proposed constitutional reforms.

Last Sunday, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) expressed its support for Charter Change, saying it was "not against Cha-Cha per se" and wanted a more extensive information drive to provide the people with the needed information on the proposed amendments.

"We welcome the growing support of various churches for instituting fundamental reforms in our polity and economy," Bunye said.

At the same time, Bunye challenged the Charter Change critics to "come down from their ivory towers and feel the beat of the grass roots."

"Now is the time to engage in an informed and transparent debate cutting across political, religious and demographic lines," Bunye said.

In line with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s directive to ensure the safety of the environment and the community, Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes ordered today two mining firms to clean up their mess or face administrative and criminal charges for violation of environmental laws.

Reyes gave Dizon Copper-Silver Mines, Inc. (DCSMI) in Zambales and Marcopper Mining Corporation in Marinduque 15 days to comply with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) instruction to avert any untoward incident with the expected onset of La Nina beginning next month.

In a press briefing at Malacanang this afternoon, Reyes revealed that he issued separate letters to Marcopper and Dizon Mines, together with its former operator Benguet Corporation, directing them to comply with the DENR instruction.

In the case of Dizon Mines, Reyes cited that the company has been advised to "continuously implement effective mitigating measures to control the environmental effect of Camalca silt/wastes deposition along Camalca Creek and in Mapanuepe Lake affecting farm lots and few fruit-bearing trees in Sitio Camalca."

Specifically, Reyes ordered Dizon Mines to "institute the remediation/rehabilitation measures and conduct regular environmental monitoring of the Camalca Waste Dump; and implement the final appropriate remedial measures on the collapsed spillway of Bayarong Tailings Dam to arrest scouring/deterioration of the structure."

"Given the potential danger to the environment and to life and property posed by the Camalca Waste Dump and the Bayarong Tailings Dam, please be guided that your company shall be held liable should any untoward incident occur as a result of your failure to implement these directives," the letter said.

Reyes stressed that the DENR will not hesitate to file any legal action for the corresponding civil, administrative and criminal liabilities of the officers of DCSMI and Benguet Corporation once they failed to comply with the department directives.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered today the acceleration of development and production of alternative fuels as part of the mitigating measures to avert the impact of another upsurge of world oil prices in the country.

Among the alternative fuels she ordered accelerated during the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)-Cabinet Group meeting this morning are the coco-biodiesel and jephropha production.

She also ordered as part of the mitigating measures the promotion of the conversion of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to auto gas, expansion of the P1 discounted diesel for public transportation, and finalization of the systematized importation of ethanol.

In a press briefing that followed the meeting, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the President instructed them to establish more production facilities for the coco-biodiesel.

He said a number of biodiesel production facilities are scheduled to be inaugurated on May 8, this year, in addition to the existing biodiesel production plants.

The President, Lotilla added, also ordered the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) to enter a joint venture with the military camps of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to promote the planting of jephropha, a plant that can be a good source of biodiesel. The plant, he said, is available all over the country.

The government is likewise encouraging the public transport groups and private car owners to use LPG or auto gas now that the prices of LPG have gone down.

Lotilla said the government plans to expand the discounted fuel program to all oil companies.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cited today the strong tax collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC) for the favorable economic atmosphere being experienced in the country.

In a round table discussion in Malacanang this afternoon with officials from the two agencies, the President said that her government’s implementation of the Reformed Value Added Tax (R-VAT) Law has resulted to more funds in the nation’s coffers, lower budget deficit, and lessening of interest rates on debts, among other significant effects.

The BIR was able to collect P135 billion for the three months ending March 2006 as compared to the P105 billion collection for the same period last year.

The BoC, on the other hand, collected P42 billion for the first quarter of 2006, up P11 billion from the P31 billion collection a year ago.

BIR Commissioner Jose Mario Buņag said the increase in collection could be attributed to the implementation of the R-VAT which has improved collections by 55 percent.

"The biggest jump came from the R-VAT implementation with 55 percent more collected this year," Buņag said.

The President also cited her government’s strong political will in implementing tax reforms and the proper governance of government agencies as contributing factors to the increase in tax collections.