BALI , Indonesia – Speaking from the premises of the Ninth ASEAN Summit comprising all ten countries of Southeast Asia, plus dialogue partners, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople said today the regional grouping gave a warm response to the decision of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to seek a fresh mandate in the 2004 elections.

Quoting a fellow foreign minister of ASEAN, Ople said:

“This is good for continuity and stability, not only in the Philippines, but in ASEAN as a whole.”

Ople said President Arroyo is held in high esteem by all her fellow leaders in the ASEAN summit.

“She is admired for her intelligence and steadiness of purpose,” the Secretary said.

At the business Investment Summit which she addressed at the Bali International Convention Center immediately upon her arrival from Manila, the Philippine President was given a standing ovation, Ople noted, adding:

“With the prospect of President Arroyo seeking a full term of six years, the foreign investment community is warming up to the idea of investing once again in the Philippines with its unmatched potential for economic growth.”

Ople, who returns to Manila Thursday evening, said he has scheduled urgent meetings with Bulacan political leaders and the Lakas-CMD hierarchy led by Speaker Jose de Venecia.

“I’m studying an offer to chair the Lakas policy council,” Ople said.

He is also scheduled to bid farewell to his former opposition colleagues, including Senator Edgardo Angara, head of the LDP, former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada and former Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco.

“We have to come to terms with the political realities,” Ople said, adding:

“Now that President Arroyo has announced her intention to run, I am bracing to participate fully in her presidential campaign.”

Ople said that after working for the President as secretary of foreign affairs in over a year, “all my skepticism about her ability to lead the country in dangerous times has vanished and I support her from the heart.”

“I see her as the leader who can pull us out of the doldrums of decades to new pinnacles of national achievement, in the years ahead,” he said.  “While no one wants to be seen as meddling in our internal affairs, the Asian leaders cannot hide their relief that President Arroyo is running.”

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