The President noted that the present ratio of children to classroom in the Philippines is about 100 to 1. She said that the OFWs’ donation will go a long way not only in closing that gap but also in uplifting education in the country.

KUALA LUMPUR—The Committee of Eight of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has expressed satisfaction with the Philippines’ compliance with the terms of the 1996 peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said yesterday.

Now she looks forward to also achieving a peace treaty with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and bring lasting peace and progress to Mindanao, the President told about 1,200 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) at the Grand Ball Room of the Concord Hotel here Wednesday night.

The peace agreement with the MNLF may be the most successful undertaking of the OIC in its whole history, the President said after receiving the favorable report of the OIC’s Committee of Eight headed by Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wriajuda that monitored the implementation of the treaty terms.

The President said that this gives her great hope that the Philippine government will be able to forge the same agreement with the MILF soon with the support of the OIC.

The President is here on invitation of outgoing Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to attend the 10^th session of the OIC. Mahathir is chairman of the OIC that has a membership of 57 Islamic countries.

Mahathir has offered to broker and host negotiations between the Philippine government and the MILF.

The President also told the OFWs of her administration’s goal to change Philippine society to achieve economic development and eradicate poverty. She stressed the need to change Philippine economic and political systems, the way Mahathir did sparking the progress and development of Malaysia.

On top of system changes, the Philippines also needs to unify the wide rifts in society, the President said.

PUTRAJAYA—The 10th Session of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) opened here today with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in attendance, the first ever Filipino Chief Executive invited to attend the largest gathering of Muslim leaders around the world.

"This is the first time in the history of the OIC that a Philippine President is invited to its summit of 57 Islamic nations," the President said in a statement before the summit started.

"This is a real breakthrough in our foreign relations whether an observer status is granted to the Philippines or not," she said.

"The important thing is to maintain our close links with the Islamic nations as an integral part of our economic and political interests," the President added.

The President revealed her two-pronged missions in Kuala Lumpur: to gain broader support for peace and development in Mindanao, and for our fight against terrorism."

"Garnering OIC observer status is important to this agenda but it is not indispensable because our diplomatic inroads are already firm and in place. We have the support of many Islamic nations for our bid for observer status and we may win it. If not today, I am confident it will happen soon," the President stressed.

The Philippines' application to become an observer status of the influential OIC has been deferred for next year pending the resolution of some technical problem about "overlapping representation."

At present the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) is presently recognized as an observer status in the OIC, represented by Gov. Parouk Hussin of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

"Because of this complication, the issue of observer status for all candidate countries may have to be passed on to the next OIC ministerial conference to be held in Istanbul, Turkey in 2004," Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople said.

Aside from the Philippines, three other countries have applied for observer status in the OIC. These the Russian Federation, South Africa, and Ghana.

The 10th OIC summit is hosted by Malaysia.

For Malaysia, the summit is doubly significant as Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad steps down from office on October 31, ending 22 years of steering Malaysia into an emerging economic power in Southeast Asia.

Mahathir and his wife received Muslim and non-Muslim leaders, including the President attending the summit at the ultra modern Putrajaya Convention Center in the new City of Putrajaya, some 70 kilometers north of Kuala Lumpur.

More than 30 Muslim leaders are attending the summit.

Except for Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, Libya's Muammar Ghaddafi and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, almost every king, sultan, president and prime minister of Muslim countries are in attendance. Mahathir is heeding the call for a revitalized OIC, particularly on trade and business in conformity with the proven ethics of Islam by avoiding making others suffer.

While Mahathir recognizes the importance of making profits in business, it should not be made at the expense of others.

KUALA LUMPUR—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has extolled here today the business acumen of a former Filipino domestic worker in Malaysia who invested her hard-earned money wisely to become a successful businesswoman in Davao City.

The President, who is here to attend the opening of the 10th Session of the Islamic Summit conference, urged the 600,000-strong overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Malaysia to follow the footstep of Ms. Dolly Sumampong who saved her earnings and went into business back home.

Sumampong put up her own laundry business in Davao City in 2001. The business venture flourished almost overnight as she supervised it properly.

From the profits she earned, the President, who laboriously followed the ladder of success of Sumampong, said that the Davao City lass, a daughter of a former domestic worker, also worked in Malaysia some years ago, branched out into restaurant business, specializing on roasted pig.

Sumampong's twin business ventures have flourished the past three years, the President told her audience, mostly Filipino workers, during a program they tendered for the visiting Filipino leader which they dubbed as "An Evening with the President."

The President was so inspired of Sumampong's success that she called on the eight million OFWs to invest their money in their homeland.

She paid tribute to the OFWs who have helped breathe life to the Philippines in times of crisis by sending their dollars back home.

The bulk of Filipino workers are in the United States with over three million there. This is followed by Saudi Arabia with more than one million.

The third largest is in Malaysia with over 600,000, 17,000 of whom are in Kuala Lumpur.

The President said she was aware that many OFWs have bought PAG-IBIG houses for their loved ones.

The Chief Executive was also amazed at the OFWs in Kuala Lumpur who responded to the call of the Philippine government to save by putting up a group they dubbed as "Samahang Impok Bayan (SIB).

The SIB has so far saved 204,000 Malaysian ringgits or equivalent to over three million pesos, which Jess Espanto and Ms. Teresa Guanzon-Hayward, the evening's masters of ceremony, are ready for investment for small business enterprises, not in Malaysia but in the Philippines.

The Filipino Community Association in Malaysia had earlier pledged to donate P3.6 million for the construction of 18 classrooms in the Philippines in areas they are most needed.