President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today laid down the groundwork for her 10-point agenda as she presided over a Cabinet workshop that tackled the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP).

During the workshop, the first to be held after her inaugural as the 14th elected President of the country, the President underscored that the basic purpose of the MTPDP is to eradicate poverty and strengthen the national economy.

"We want to create economic opportunity at home and abroad. This can only be done with a common purpose to put our economic house back in working order," the President told her official family.

The Cabinet workshop was geared at identifying ways of implementing the President’s 10- point development agenda to be pursued over the next six years of her administration.

The President divided her 10-point agenda into five "doable" categories-- livelihood, education, fiscal strength, decentralized development, and national harmony.

Under livelihood, the President said the government would create 10 million jobs, develop two million hectares of land into agriculture and commercial hubs, promote agribusiness products that can be transported to the markets efficiently, strengthen micro-financing, and promote entrepreneurship among Filipinos, and establish a solid foundation for a broad middle class.

On education, the President said no Filipino child of school age should be out of school. The government is also targeting the construction of 3,000 school buildings a year, and providing at least one computer for each high school.

The Chief Executive also said the administration aims to attain a balanced budget through increased revenue collections and wise government spending.

The President stressed that development would be decentralized from the urban centers to the countryside through a modernized transportation network and digital infrastructure.

The President also emphasized that the Subic-Clark corridor will be converted into the most competitive international service and logistics center in the Southeast Asian region.

To achieve national harmony, the President said that elections would be completely computerized to enhance credibility of the political exercises.

The government’s peace initiatives with the Muslim and communist insurgents would be pursued, while social divisiveness spawned by the previous EDSA revolts would have to be eliminated in favor of national solidarity.

The President enjoined her Cabinet to help finalize her 10-point agenda that would be incorporated in the MTPDP Plan 2004-2010, saying it would highlight the first 100 days of the Arroyo administration.

The workshop had for its theme; "One vision, one mission, one team."