The President, a devout Catholic, said only the Lord could determine whether she has been a good or bad leader of the Philippines "by the end of my life."

"What we were born to be, we were born to serve God," she said in an interview with a local radio station taped live from the Bahay na Puti here. "In the end, it’s going to be God who will judge who has been good and who has not been good," she added.

Mrs. Arroyo, who survived impeachment last year and crushed an alleged coup plot to oust her from power last February, emphasized that all she wants to become is a "good president."

"I’m not after being a great person. I said I want to be a good president," she said, adding that "it is not necessarily history" that judges whether one has been good or not.

The President met with Cabinet members and local government executives of Metro Luzon, one of the four mega regions she created to spur development, at the Clark Museum here. They finalized the priority infrastructure projects to attract strategic investments and development in the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway sub-economy comprising Region 3, Region 4A, Region 4B, and the National Capital Region.

Before the joint Cabinet-Regional Development Council meeting, Mrs. Arroyo launched the Clark Institute of Aviation, a world-class training institute for international aviators, at the Clark Polytechnic College Complex.

In the same radio interview, the President took credit for the string of economic gains in the past months, including high economic growth rate, stronger peso, and budget surpluses, despite persistent attempts to destabilize her government.

"Notwithstanding the political noise, because of our focus, we have managed to achieve a climate conducive to competitiveness," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo said the country is ready for its economic takeoff as it joins the league of progressive nations in the world.

"We shall bring that day of national resurgence by unleashing the great strategic investments and developments in Metro Luzon Urban Beltway supra region as we have done with North Luzon, Central Philippines and Mindanao," she said.

The approval rating of the President has risen after she delivered economic gains and thwarted a coup attempt, according to a survey released Wednesday. (Genalyn D. Kabiling)