MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered two Cabinet task forces to link up with the Church, business, and academe to draft reforms to stamp out corruption in government, amid the political turmoil caused by the allegedly onerous national broadband network (NBN) project.

The President issued the directive to Trade Secretary Peter Favila and
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya during the meeting of the Cabinet's National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) cluster in Malacañang Tuesday.

"Isusulong natin ang reporma upang mapabilis ang mga proseso sa
gobyerno at mabawasan ang katiwalian at kabagalang inirereklamo ng
karaniwang mamamayan at mga investor [We will push for reforms to speed up government transactions and to reduce corruption and red tape
that the public and investors are complaining of]," she said in her opening statement.

"I instruct the Anti-Red Tape Task Force headed by Secretary Peter Favila and the Procurement Transparency Group of Secretary Nonoy Andaya to link up with the business sector, academe, and the Church to draft reforms in government systems," she said in Filipino.

Stamping out corruption, the President said, is one of three measures the government is taking to cushion the effects of a looming recession in the United States.

"First, we will speed up infrastructure projects and pro-poor programs in the coming months, to sustain the growth of the economy and strengthen business and agriculture," she said.

"Second, we will increase investments on human resources through education and training, especially for jobs that are in demand here and abroad, like construction and call centers," she said.

To move the economy forward, the President said the government should maintain an “orderly and peaceful society” which she said was "very important" to tourists and investors.

A former technical consultant of the NEDA, Rodolfo Lozada Jr., told a Senate investigation into the scrapped $329-million NBN contract with China's ZTE Corp. was overpriced. He alleged that former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo were involved.

Lozada also told the Senate blue ribbon committee, the lead investigating body, that security officials took him against his will to prevent him from testifying. Government officials who testified at the same hearing denied this, saying they were protecting Lozada from threats to his safety, upon his request.