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AS the
Spanish government condemned the latest “coup attempt”
and praised the government’s handling of the November 29
situation, President Arroyo on Monday assured Filipinos
working in Spain that all is well in the Philippines,
where authorities are bent on punishing those
responsible for the one-day standoff at a luxury hotel
in Makati City last week.
The
President made the assurance after thanking leaders of
the Filipino community in Madrid, Spain, where she is on
a three-day state visit, for pledging not to be part of
“any activity that is not prescribed in the
Constitution.”
She
said, “Rule of law prevailed. And I can assure that the
transgressors will not hold our nation hostage with
impunity. They will be punished with the full force of
the law. Justice shall be served and the interests of
the people upheld....Thank you for saying that you will
not support them,” she said.
The
President also informed Filipino workers that their
record-breaking dollar remittances are being channeled
into investments in human-resource capital that would
help create quality jobs at home.
“Your
remittances are increasingly being used toward
investments in human-resource capital,” she said.
The
President said that the government has been working with
the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to raise the financial
literacy of overseas Filipinos and their families to
encourage the culture of savings and investments.
In
Spain, the President is expected to witness the signing
of a memorandum of agreement between the Department of
Agriculture and the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food, which would provide a new window for
accessing Spanish grants particularly in agriculture and
fisheries and allow the Philippines to access advanced
Spanish technologies in crops, fruits and vegetables
processing.
From
Madrid, she will proceed to the United Kingdom to meet
with Queen Elizabeth II on Dcember 6.
Meanwhile, Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel
Moratinos reiterated his government’s support to the
Arroyo administration during his meeting in Madrid with
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo.
“The
Spanish government wishes to express our condemnation of
the coup attempt which took place in the Philippines and
our satisfaction that such action did not succeed in
changing the duly constituted government through
undemocratic means,” said Moratinos in a statement.
Romulo welcomed Spain’s statement, saying the Spanish
government’s statement was an “unequivocal demonstration
of support for democracy, democratic institutions and
the rule of law in the Philippines.” |
