Malacanang today hailed Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr., for initiating the "Freedom Fund" to help the government reduce the national deficit and for showing great statesmanship and patriotism in bringing back the "Bayanihan spirit" in the country.

According to Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo deemed as patriotic de Venecia’s initiative to donate P1 million of his personal money to the national coffers.

"This is a very laudable proposition of the Speaker. I believe that every citizen would be responding according to his or her capacity and any response to this would be deemed as a patriotic act," said Bunye in his regular press briefing this afternoon at the Palace.

Bunye said that every Filipino who will contribute in the House of Representatives’ initiated national fund-raising campaign would in effect be exercising a patriotic act for the country.

"We have so many very nice ideas being floated but all of these will have to be refined, all of these will have to be evaluated. But the important thing is the bayanihan spirit is surfacing and this is what we need during this critical time," he explained.

Bunye assured the public that the funds to be raised in the nationwide campaign would be used to finance the construction of school buildings and other pro-poor projects.

According to de Venecia the "Freedom Fund" seeks to raise P5 billion, to include contributions from the 5,000 richest families in the country.