Mrs. Milagros Santos-Ong, Chief of the Library Services of the Supreme Court, was recently awarded a Presidential Citation by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in connection with the Arroyo administration’s “Beat the Odds” Program.

Mrs. Ong was recognized for her “exemplary conduct, steadfast commitment, dedicated public service, and meritorious performance, which contributed significantly to the successful implementation of the policies and priorities of the Philippine Government under the Arroyo administration, particularly the Beat the Odds Program, and to the upliftment of the lives and welfare of the Filipino people.”

The ‘Beat the Odds’ Program is a 10-point agenda of the Arroyo administration which seeks to alleviate poverty and push nationwide development through the following: B-balancing the budget; E-education for all; A-automated elections; T-transportation and communication infrastructure; T-terminate hostilities with Moro Islamic Liberation Front and New People’s Army; H-heal the wounds of EDSA; E-electricity and water for all; O-opportunities for livelihood and jobs; D-decentralizing development; and DS-developing Clark and Subic.

Mrs. Ong was given the citation after the Library Services of the Supreme Court encoded all the multilateral and bilateral treaties entered into by the Philippines from 1946 to 2010 and provided the Department of Foreign Affairs 300 compact discs (CDs) containing copies of these treaties.  These CDs were to be distributed to the different embassies of the Philippines worldwide.