ILIGAN CITY, Philippines--(UPDATE) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo opened her first Cabinet meeting for 2009 Tuesday morning, laying down her two-fold strategy to bringing what she said would be lasting peace in Mindanao.

In her opening statement, she said her Mindanao Agenda was anchored on "peace talks for all and projects for peace."

For the first part of the strategy, she said "we should put in place lasting peace -- stilling the guns of war, drawing from the biblical theme of turning swords into plowshares."

"Those in the negotiating table shall bring one mindset -- passion for peace," she said.

She said the second element of her program meant a "surge in government investments in Mindanao and the accelerated pace of implementation for its development programs."

She said the government would come up with agribusiness processing zones to "fully exploit the awesome of asset of Mindanao--its being typhoon-free."

She said part of the agenda would be a "crash program against illiteracy and poverty" in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The President earlier arrived in style for her first full Cabinet meeting for the year at the Macaraeg-Macapagal House here.

Ms Arroyo emerged from her black Suburban wearing a pink, knitted off-shoulder top that went with a fitted, black leather pants.

The President and her Cabinet buckle down to work on a number of pressing issues, foremost of which are the government's response to the effects of the world economic crisis on the Philippines and the stalled peace talks with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.