GMA to hold last Cabinet meeting in Baguio

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo will hold her last Cabinet meeting for the year on Tuesday in Baguio City with economic and security matters high on the agenda, officials said yesterday.

Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Mrs. Arroyo will first preside over the meeting of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Cabinet group to tackle the latest developments in the global recession and its impact on the country, to be followed by the presentation of Finance Secretary Margarito Teves on the administration’s 2010 fiscal program.

The country’s deficit this year is expected to exceed P250 billion.

This will be followed by the meeting of the Cabinet cluster on national security. The agenda of the cluster is particularly long, as it will tackle various security issues including the latest developments in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in connection with the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre, Bello said.

Among the items to be taken up are the situation in Maguindanao and the ARMM, including the “normalization of local government functions, status of legal cases (on rebellion and multiple murder), and the overall peace and order and security situation,” he said.

Mrs. Arroyo imposed martial law in Maguindanao last Dec. 4 to allow authorities to immediately arrest Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. and other members of the clan who are suspects behind the massacre. Martial law was lifted a week later amid strong criticisms from the opposition and human rights activists.

Also to be taken up are the status of peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, with a briefing by chief government negotiator Ambassador Rafael Seguis.

National Security Council Acting Director General Milo Ibrado would be presenting a yearend report on the country’s national security situation.