It's politics. It's the culprit behind the forced resignations of Cito Lorenzo, Joey Lina (former secretary of the interior and local government) and (Social Welfare Secretary) Dinky Soliman. She (Gloria Arroyo) lost in these areas, where she expected to win. And she's taking it against Cito, who has performed creditably as agriculture secretary.

by opposition Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr.*
Senator, Philippines

Ano ba ang problema nila, dumaan na sa proseso? Hindi naman nakakaapekto yan eh kaya lang nakakainis kung mabasa ng kaibigan natin at mga anak natin. Ayoko na lang ma-promote kung ganyan ang salita.

Senior Superintendent Ricardo Dapat*
Philippine National Police Maritime Group director

We are giving the highest political priority to providing solutions to the problems of the nation. This is a time-bound challenge to the leaders of the Senate.

Speaker Jose de Venecia*
House of Representatives, Philippines

If the rules are passed in the caucuses, it would greatly reduce the amount of time we devote to their approval in plenary. We are not writing a new Constitution, we are amending the present one, and we don’t need a convention to do that because the Constitution specifically provides for a constituent assembly of Congress to amend the Charter.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Constantino Jaraula*
House of Representatives, Philippines

The welfare of the country and the people remains the paramount interest of the Speaker - as is proven by his decision to give priority to economic measures without necessarily giving up on the equally important Charter change bid.

Reps. Joseph Ace Durano of Cebu*
Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Philippines

The 72% rate puts the Philippines among the 10 highest in the region. It shows that software piracy continues to be a major problem in the country. If not reduced significantly, it would continue to be detrimental to the development of the ICT industry and of the Philippine economy as a whole.

by Ronald Chua*
chair of the BSA Philippines Committee

Economies in the Asia Pacific region are still confronted with the challenge of combating software piracy and it is in the interest of governments in the region to drive down software piracy.

by Jeffrey Hardee*
Vice President and Regional Director, Asia Pacific, BSA

We remain optimistic that software piracy rate in the Philippines will go down with continuous cooperation between the government and various industry groups. We also call on private organizations to adopt a software asset management policy to avoid software license misuse.

by Ronald Chua*
chair of the BSA Philippines Committee

Piracy continues to be a significant problem through Asia Pacific, as evidenced by the region's representation among the world's piracy leaders. Unfortunately, this same piracy is also hurting the region's competitiveness. The revenues that are lost to piracy are vital to the success and survival of smaller, local software developers and that ultimately undermines the region’s ability to develop new products and compete in the global market.

by Martin Kralik*
senior research manager for Asia Pacific consulting at IDC

BSA will continue to work with governments across Asia Pacific to encourage them to enact policies to protect software intellectual property and to implement programs to educate businesses and consumers about the importance of copyright protection for creative works. Lowering the piracy rate will stimulate local economic activity, generate government revenue, create job growth and cultivate future innovation.

by Jeffrey Hardee*
Vice President and Regional Director, Asia Pacific, BSA

Since e-ticketing is a great design of our value-in/cost-out campaign wherein everybody gains – agencies, passengers and airlines, we hope to bring e-ticketing to as many airlines in and out of the Philippines and we plan to replicate the US success of e-ticketing in the region.

by Eddie Nuque*
newly appointed general manager (GM) of Galileo Philippines

We are very focused on the Galileo PNR as a platform for enhancing productivity. It has replaced reservation cards. We also make use of it to check visa and passport needs. The Queue Manager is also extensively helpful. The bottom line is Galileo has created a powerful set of productivity tools to bring speed and efficiency to redundant tasks.

Maucie Cuna*
general manager of the 25-year-old Morelia Tours, Philippines

In line with our commitment to the free people of Iraq, we reiterate our plan to return our humanitarian contingent as scheduled on 20 August, 2004. We continue to do everything we can in order to secure the release of Angelo de la Cruz. We continue to work both through formal and informal channels toward this end. We are hopeful that with the continued support and prayers of the people, we will hurdle this crisis.

by Foreign Secretary Delia Albert*
at a news conference after an emergency Cabinet meeting, Manila

True to its commitment, the Arroyo government will withdraw its forces after one year and after contributing its share to a peaceful transition phase in Iraq. We commend our forces for their bravery and gallantry amid the threats posed on their lives during the duration of their stay there.

by Lakas-CMD Reps. Prospero Pichay Jr. of Surigao del Sur*
Lakas regional chairman for Caraga, Philippines

All I want now is to see Angelo home. If I had my way, I don’t want him to go back to the Middle East. I don’t care if we eat only twice a day for as long as he is with us.

by Arsenia dela Cruz*
wife of Angelo dela Cruz, Pampanga

It's my mistake and I apologize.

by Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas*
as interviewed in Dubai by Henry Omaga Diaz of ABS-CBN News

ED is not part of the normal aging process. Men should be made aware that it's a disease and we have treatment options for it. You can be 80 and not have ED. It's good that elderly men are now open and conscious and willing to seek help.

Psychiatrist Lou Querubin, MD*
at the forum held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati, Philippines

Information Security simply means getting your house in order and making sure the doors are locked, barred and sealed tight. Security consciousness means preparing for the worst but hoping for the best. At least 500 IT Professionals, Risk Managers, Auditors, COOs, CEOs, Security Admins/Officers, NSO/ISO Network/Systems Administrators, Programmers, Compliance Officers and soon to be Ethical Hackers will gather at the Grand Ballroom Hotel Intercontinental, Makati City (scheduled on September 9 - 11, 2004) to see, share and secure the IT community’s vision of an I.T. Secured Philippines.

ISSSP President Amado Malacaman Jr.*,
Information Systems Security Society of the Philippines (ISSSP)