GMA in Cebu today

President Arroyo will be in Cebu today to grace the opening of the three-day dialogue on Regional Interfaith Cooperation for Peace, Development and Human Dignity to be held from March 14 to 16, 2006 at the Shangri-la Mactan Hotel, Lapu-Lapu City. For the first time, Arroyo will also meet with all the members of her Cabinet at the Malacañang sa Sugbu tomorrow afternoon.

Vice President Noli de Castro is also expected to attend the inter-faith dialogue in Shangri-la Hotel, although the Philippine Information Agency said they do not have his itinerary.

Arroyo is expected to arrive at the Mactan Air Base at 9:15 a.m. and will immediately proceed to the hotel where she will have a one-on-one meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark at the Camia Room of the hotel.

Later on, she will deliver a message during the inter-faith dialogue at the Mactan Ballroom of the hotel. Aside from Arroyo, Clark and the representatives from Australia and Indonesia will also deliver their speeches. The delegates to the event will be welcomed by Foreign Affairs secretary Alberto Romulo and Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza.

The dialogue is a follow-up activity from the first dialogue on Interfaith Cooperation on Peace, Development and Human Dignity and Specific Country-Level Commitments, held in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2004. It is convened by the Philippines through the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and Department of Foreign Affairs with New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia as co-chairs.

Ten delegates each from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, Malaysia and Fiji Islands are expected to participate in the dialogue.

After her speech at the dialogue, Arroyo will proceed to the Malacañang sa Sugbu in Cebu City for a full meeting with her Cabinet members.

After the meeting she will depart for Bohol, where she will have a bilateral talk with Clark at the Bohol Beach Club at 6:30 p.m.

She will spend the night at the resort and the next morning, she will have breakfast with the local officials and boatmen of Pamilakan Island and go dolphin watching with the New Zealand Prime Minister.

The preservation and dolphin watching in Pamilakan is a New Zealand-assisted project.