Arroyo vows to create 6 million jobs in next 6 years

President Arroyo yesterday renewed her vow to complete her vision of a Philippines free of mass poverty if she is given a full, six-year term of office by the people in the May 10 elections.

The President made this statement during her speech before the Rotary International Presidential Celebration on Poverty Alleviation at the Rizal Ballroom of the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City.

Digressing from her prepared speech, the President recalled that she had begun her personal fight against poverty when she was still in the private sector as a Rotary Club member along with her husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

"I was a Rotarian fighting for poverty alleviation and I am happy to see many of those Rotarians that we used to work together with here in this hall today," the President said.

"Because I was a very active Rotarian president, my husband was a multi-awarded Rotary Club president, Rotary has also become a partner of my administration in fighting for change, for poverty alleviation," she said.

When she first assumed the reins of government on Jan. 21, 2001, Mrs. Arroyo said the high incidence of poverty in the country could not be solved within a few years, but would take at least a decade to overcome.

To enhance her poverty alleviation program, the President said her administration will expand property rights and create jobs for the average Filipinos that would grant them higher salaries and provide clean water and government.

Over the last three years, the President said her administration has been able to alleviate the poverty plaguing at least half of all Filipino families.

During this period, the President said, she has gone around the country and seen up close and spoken with a lot of these poor families about the "changes" they need to help them improve their lives.

"In my moving around the country and talking to the average Filipino, I can see that the change wished for is in terms of poverty alleviation, in terms of a better life," she said.

The President said her informal consultations with the average Filipino showed that what they see are "jobs, livelihood, food on every table, shelter, security, health, education."

"On jobs, the strength of my foreign policy gives confidence to (other) nations to invest in our nation and, because I was a Rotarian before I became a public official, Rotary International has come to comprise that part of the international relationships I have developed as an economist, senator, trade official and President — to run this country and attract (the) huge investments needed to modernize our nation," she said.

The President said that billions of dollars and pesos in foreign and domestic investments poured into the country during her three-year tenure. These investments have created three million jobs — triple the number of jobs generated over the truncated term of her predecessor, ousted President Joseph Estrada. One million jobs were generated during Estrada’s tenure.

Last year, the President said, foreign investments alone increased by 23 percent.

The President added that she has gotten a report from Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA) chief Lilia de Lima that in January this year alone, a total of P10 billion worth of new investments were registered, compared with the P1.8 billion invested in January last year.

"This is just a down-payment," Mrs. Arroyo said. "With your help, we shall create even more jobs and spread the wealth so that our poverty levels are diminished."

"We need the resolve and the time to implement the next installments with the will, persistence, clout and experience to do what is right for the average Filipino, to do what is right for poverty alleviation," the President said.

She rued the fact that the Philippines missed its opportunity to join the ranks of developed countries when the Estrada administration "failed to fight for poverty alleviation."

"That is why I have started to fight for these fundamental reforms that we should have done a long time ago," she said.

The President also said she has been implementing the "Patubig ni Gloria" and the "Study Now, Pay Later programs.

The President went to Taguig to distribute land titles to some 5,000 indigent families, who have been occupying the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) compound in Western Bicutan.

She instructed National Food Authority (NFA) general manager and FTI chairman Arthur Yap to call a meeting of the nine-member FTI board on Monday to speed up the awarding of lots to residents of the Philippine National Railroad (PNR) Site within the FTI compound.

The President had already ordered the distribution of these lots, but was surprised to find out the negotiations for the transfer of these lots was still ongoing with the Taguig municipal government.