Arroyo orders national mourning for Spain blast victims

As a gesture of sympathy for the victims of last week’s terrorist bomb attacks in Spain, President Arroyo declared three days of "National Prayer and Solidarity Against Terrorism" starting yesterday.

The bomb attacks, which hit commuter trains in the Spanish capital of Madrid on March 11, left 200 people dead and 1,400 injured. Among those killed in the blasts was a Spanish national of Filipino extraction.

Under Proclamation No. 578, issued yesterday by Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, the President ordered the flying at half-mast of all Philippine flags in government buildings and installations here and abroad until tomorrow.

"As a gesture of our deep sympathy for such loss, it is fitting and proper that a period of prayer and solidarity against terrorism be observed throughout the country," the President said.

In another diplomatic development, Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert has announced that she will meet with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on March 25.

Expected to be discussed in the meeting, the first between the two officials, are the worldwide fight against terrorism, the role of the Philippines in the United Nations Security Council and the continued access of Philippine products to the US market.

She will also meet with officials of the US Department of Trade and the US Agency for International Development.

Albert will address the US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations Business Council, an organization of business leaders whose interests are focused on the ASEAN region.

After her visit to Washington DC, Albert will proceed to Seattle and Honolulu, Hawaii, where she will meet with officials of the US Pacific Command and members of the Filipino community.

Before meeting Powell, Albert is expected to attend the first anniversary of the US-RP Friendship Caucus, a bi-partisan group of US congressmen supportive of Philippine interests, particularly the plight of Filipino war veterans.

Congressman Darell Issa of the 49th District of Columbia, a member of the Caucus, said the organization successfully promoted legislation that broadened the health benefits of Filipino war veterans.

Issa said that the Caucus "will continue to support Filipino—American veterans benefits this year and will also focus on strengthening the bilateral political and economic relationship between the US and the Philippines."

Albert’s meetings with Powell and the Caucus are expected to strengthen bilateral ties between the US and the Philippines.

Also on the diplomatic radar is an invitation for the country to attend the 31st ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey in June. — Marichu Villanueva, Marvin Sy, Jaime Laude