I am happy to agree with the first part but I take issue with the second part of his assessment.

The week ended on a high note for President Arroyo. Tens of thousands rallied at the Luneta Park last Saturday to show their support for observance of the rule of law thus effectively slamming the doors against any extra-constitutional means to force the President out of office. The Luneta rally dwarfed the one at Makati which was organized by a group known by its misnomer, United Opposition.

If anything, the Makati rally showed the disunity among the protest groups, a mish-mash of leftist organizations and supporters of former President Estrada, as they had no single plan to implement in the very remote event they succeeded in dislodging President Arroyo.

This Luneta rally, which was dubbed by its organizers a rally for peace, unity, and the rule of law, drew in a mammoth crowd invited by Metro Manila Mayors led by Manila Mayor Lito Atienza and Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte.

It capped a week which saw another rally, that of the peso and the stock market. Both reacted positively to the following developments:

1. The President’s announcement of her new economic team consisting of former Land Bank President Margarito Teves as new finance chief; PSE President Peter Favila as new secretary of trade and industry and NEDA secretary general Romulo Neri as new budget secretary. The three are perceived to be reputable and competent.

We also noted other encouraging developments:

1. Remittances from Philippine overseas workers in May rose 26.8% year on year to $879 million after rising 19% on year in April.

2. Portfolio investments in the Philippines showed a net inflow of $87.1 million for the week ended July 1, the highest since the week ended April 8 when a net inflow of $135.4 million was recorded.

3. A Malaysian group, MTD, has finalized an agreement with the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) for a 3-phased rehabilitation of the South Luzon Expressway starting from the Alabang Viaduct extending all the way up to Batangas City.

All of these indicate that President Arroyo must be doing something right after all. Our economy has strong economic fundamentals and will become even more so after all the political noise subsides.

Meantime, we are awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court on the EVAT TRO. A signal from the Supreme Court spokesperson that the issue would be sooner, rather than later, has added to the optimism in the market.

***

Back to the subject of OFW remittances, did you know that Migrante is really out to sabotage our economy with the campaign among OFWs to stop sending money to the Philippines through the banking system. Apparently, this ploy has not succeeded.

Related to this, I would like to reprint a letter of Ruel Trinidad which I picked up from the South China Morning Post, July 15 issue:

"Do the members of Migrante — particularly their chairwoman Connie Bragas-Regalado ("Arroyo under pressure," July 12) — really think it is useful to advocate the "No resign, no remit" campaign among overseas Filipino workers? Must the thousands of Filipinos, working tirelessly abroad, resort to sending money back to the Philippines through unsecured "informal" means — such as money-laundering tactics — just so they would abet Migrante in pursuing its political aim of ousting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from office? If such is the case, Migrante and Ms. Bragas-Regalado are really no better than those deplorable politicians whom they have denounced as self-serving."