Malacañang confident of Arroyo victory in May

President Arroyo’s victory in next year’s elections cannot be stopped, even by the hugely popular action star Fernando Poe Jr., Mrs. Arroyo’s campaign spokesman said yesterday.

"We welcome (Poe) as the opposition’s candidate because it would give the people other choices, but we are confident that Mrs. Arroyo would be chosen by the people because of her good track record in the more than two years of her term," Housing and Urban Development Secretary Michael Defensor told a Manila radio station.

Defensor said Mrs. Arroyo has "a clear vision" for the country, while the opposition has not yet even agreed on a common presidential candidate.

"The factors would show how disorganized the opposition (is) at this time," he said. "Their pronouncements are conflicting, while the support for Mrs. Arroyo is growing."

Defensor said he is optimistic that Mrs. Arroyo would get the support of the Liberal Party (LP) after she and presidential hopeful Raul Roco meet with party members.

"But in the end I think our members from LP would choose the President," he said.

There have been discussions on the possibility of Roco being Mrs. Arroyo’s running mate, he added.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Arroyo has maintained that she has been consistent with her policies, rejecting allegations that she had a change of heart on certain issues.

"Let me reiterate," she said in a television interview Saturday. "I am not fickle-minded."

Mrs. Arroyo said she made the clarification in light of criticisms that she has shifted her stand on some issues, including the death penalty.

"Ako ay hindi naniniwala sa death penalty, ngunit dahil laganap ang kidnapping ay gagawa tayo ng exception ngayon (I don’t believe in the death penalty, but because kidnapping is prevalent nowadays, we have to make an exception)," she said.

She had lifted the stay on executions because she could no longer ignore the sufferings and cries for justice of victims of heinous crimes, she added.

Mrs. Arroyo said she had to declare in December 2002 that she would not run for president next year to foster reconciliation and national unity.

"I made that (decision not to run) because our country was severely polarized," she said.

She mistakenly believed that her detractors would stop attacking her, and the country would be able to move forward, if she announced she was no longer interested in running, she added.

Mrs. Arroyo said she would not have changed her mind had her detractors left her alone and allowed her to do her job peacefully.

It was really difficult to satisfy everybody, and this was indicative of how serious the divisiveness sweeping the country, she added.

Malacañang said the Philippines under the Arroyo administration achieved one of the "highest economic growth rates" among the 21 economies of the Asia-Pacific region.

In a statement, the Palace said Mrs. Arroyo’s political will enabled the country to buck the worldwide trend of an economic slow down brought about by the US invasion of Iraq, the SARS scare, and the threat of terrorism.

"The continued strong showing of the country’s macro-economic fundamentals has smothered economic wrinkles brought about by politically motivated attempts to destabilize the country," read the statement.

"Strong economic fundamentals put in place by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration enabled the country to tame the rise of both inflation and interest rates."

Malacañang said the three percent average inflation rate from January to October 2003 was much lower than the projections of most economies.

"For the third quarter of this year, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.4 percent and its gross national product (GNP) grew by 5.9 percent, a growth rate that even the government did not expect," read the statement.

"The GDP figure also exceeded the government’s forecast of 3.8 to 4.3 percent for the third quarter. This enabled the Philippines to outperform Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea in both GDP and GNP growths."

Malacañang said combined investments registered by the Board of Investments from January to October 2003 reached P27.774 billion, 23 percent higher than last year’s P22.508 billion.

"Local investments also registered an increase of 18.97 percent at P19.101 billion against last year’s P16.055 billion," it said.

"The surge in both local and foreign investments, and the higher-than-expected growth rates show that both local and international business communities have continued confidence in President Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration."

Malacañang said the government’s fiscal position through August 2003 improved as expenditure was contained in "real" terms.

"Even the government’s revenue collections shot up by over 12 percent since August of this year due to sustained privatization efforts, and an improved tax administration by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Bureau of Customs, and the Bureau of Treasury."

The government’s "favorable fiscal scenario" has allowed it to shy away from excessive loan assistance, Malacañang added.