Traveling straight to the Batasang Pambansa following a grueling trip to several countries, Mrs. Arroyo congratulated Speaker Jose de Venecia and members of the Lower House who launched yesterday the centennial celebration of the chamber.

Top officials of the judiciary and executive departments, together with members of the diplomatic corps, were likewise present during the series of activities marking the commemoration of the 100 years of existence of the Philippine legislature.

However, there was nobody to represent the Senate, the Lower House’s congressional partner.

Senate President Manuel Villar, a former House Speaker, was represented by his wife, Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar.

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Camarines Sur Rep. Noli Puentebella were among the former leaders of the Lower House who attended the celebration.

De Venecia said the Lower House will continue to pursue its role in sustaining the nation’s development and in preserving political stability in "the world’s fastest growing region."

"This I believe is our primary and most urgent goal: we must create a new wave of reforms to restructure our economy and our politics," De Venecia said in his speech launching the centennial celebrations.

De Venecia, one of the longest-serving Speakers who was elected four times as leader of the chamber, said the Philipine Assembly of 1907, the forerunner of the House of Representatives, had a great impact on the nation because it became the vanguard of democracy in Asia and "spokesman" of Filipino nationalism.

"That Assembly gave our nation the forum and crucible for its aspirations for independence and nationalism — and became the vanguard of its reformist ideals," he said.

De Venecia stressed the need to preserve political stability and called on the people to "transcend partisan politics and move as one nation."

"We have seen crisis after crisis rock and pummel our country. We know that development can come about only when there is sustained political stability," he said.

Citing Congress’ political will to alleviate poverty, De Venecia said the House enacted crucial and far-reaching reforms which turned a crisis-ridden economy around.

"Such far-reaching reforms we in this House already started to legislate. Over the last three years the Expanded Value Added Tax (EVAT) that we approved in concert with our beloved President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo — amid a firestorm of criticism — created an economic breakthrough and put the State’s finances on a sound footing," he said.

As a result, he added, the public sector had its first budget surplus since the 1997 East Asian financial meltdown.

"And between January and March this year, our GDP grew by 6.9 percent -- the highest in 17 years and way above the market’s expectations. President Arroyo and the House of Representatives have been proven right," De Venecia said.

The House leader likewise asserted that global stability is a foremost requirement in development as nations can never sustain development isolated from the rest of the world.

De Venecia has been active in global initiatives aimed at securing global peace and stability.

He is considered the "father of the global Christian-Muslim Interfaith dialogues," an idea that has been approved and now being pursued by the United Nations as a way of mediating civil, religious and ethnic conflicts around the world.

At the turn of the century, De Venecia said "we in this House look to the world outside and lauched small intiatives in the hope of making a small contribution to cause the multicultural peace and the battle to defeat poverty," he added.

Among the foreign dignitaries who graced yesterday’s affair were Pedro Alvarez Salamanca of Chile, acting president of the Latin American Parliament; the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Dr. Gholam Ali Haddad Adel; the deputy Speaker of Finland Johannes Koskinen; and Liu Minzu, the special envoy of Chairman Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China.

The president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Pier Ferdinando Casini, sent his special envoy, Luca Volante;

Also arriving were Deputy Speaker of Mexico, Arnoldo Ochoa; the president of Thailand’s National Assembly, Meechai Ruchupan; Speaker of the Malaysian Parliament Tan Sri Dato Seri Ramli Bin Ngah Talib; the Vice Chairman of the Russian Federation Duma Arthur Chilinagrov; President of the National Assembly of Cambodia Heng Samrin; and Speaker of the Indonesian Parliament, Agung Laksono.

President thanks 13th Congress for tax reforms

By DAVID CAGAHASTIAN

President Arroyo thanked the 13th Congress yesterday for approving her administration’s fiscal and tax reforms and called on the incoming members of the 14th Congress to continue the Legislative branch’s legacy in the past 100 years of its existence to promote economic development through good laws.

"We thank the 13th Congress for passing the tough reforms to move this nation forward. The first phase of our turnaround plan was to stabilize our budget and spending and then secure increased revenue through better tax and customs collection and through an increase in the VAT, which you accomplished," Mrs. Arroyo said.

Mrs. Arroyo made the statement in her speech during the centennial anniversary celebration of the House of Representatives at the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City yesterday. The centennial anniversary celebration featured the convening of congressmen in the 13th Congress and the congressmen-elect of the 14th Congress.

Mrs. Arroyo said because of the unpopular fiscal and tax reforms passed by the 13th Congress, especially the increase of the value added tax from 10 to 12 percent, the country’s economy improved in the past two years with prospects of a balanced budget by the end of her term and renewed interest among foreign investors in doing business in the Philippines.

"These were painful but necessary steps. Your achieved that goal. Because of you, the budget is under control for the first time in a generation. The people took the cue. With all their might, energy and will, they are re-writing our recent history," Mrs. Arroyo said.

"As a result, investments are pouring in and there is enough money in our budget to expand our investments in infrastructure and social welfare. We are poised to break the back of poverty," she added.