"I HOPE this corrects the impression that I've been elusive."

So said Dr. Amable Aguiluz, chair of the Presidential Commission on Year 2000 Compliance, before the first press conference on Y2K which he himself attended. Aguiluz has been criticized for being a "no-show" during interviews and press conferences.

The Y2K Commission, as a whole, has also been slammed by the private sector. Doubts that the Philippines can become Y2K-ready by Jan. 1, 2000 has been lingering in the air, and at the eye of the storm of criticism is the Y2K Commission. Aguiluz finally broke his silence last week at Blarney Stone in Makati via a press conference to launch the Second Global Year 2000 Summit, followed by an interview with the Inquirer's Leo Magno.

Excerpts:

QUESTION: Where will you be on midnight of Dec. 31, 1999 when the millennium bug is expected to bite?

ANSWER: I'll be here (in Manila) at that particular time, but I'm going to take the first available flight of Philippine Airlines to Cebu on Jan. 1, 2000. That would confirm the fact that I am confident that the airline industry will be safe and that the commission has done its job in making sure that the critical sectors are made compliant come Jan. 1, 2000.

QUESTION: Should presidents, CEOs and top officials of mission-critical companies in the mission-critical industries be on call and on duty at that time on that date?

ANSWER: Yes. All of them will be tapped. All of them will be required and mandated to do so. The commission will do that for the purpose of asserting our leadership and coming up with whatever actions are necessary for the purpose of monitoring and implementation.

QUESTION: Felimon Uriarte Jr. was recently appointed as the new Science and Technology secretary. Were you ever considered for the post and would you have been interested in taking it?

ANSWER: That was an item I read a week after I arrived from the States last week. I was also informed that I was shortlisted. But that was an honor. I really was flattered for having been considered. However, I have not sought the position. I've also taken the position that the Y2K Commission is going to use up all my time so I would rather leave that position to others. But if the President considers me, I would be very much willing to accept the challenge, but all of these are academic.

QUESTION: You are still the presidential adviser on computer education. Are you still holding on to that position--what with being busy with the Y2K Commission--and what are the developments right now as far as computer education is concerned?

ANSWER: We're proceeding with the Erap "classroom of the future." We are now in the thick of negotiations with private companies who will provide the technology and the computers on a BOT arrangement. We also have contractors coming in to give their proposals. Or we could proceed with public biddings for that purpose. We want to put one computer laboratory in every public school classrooom, in every public school in the country.

QUESTION: Who is going to pay for the Y2K summit?

ANSWER: I assure you, Leo, that not a single centavo will come from the coffers of the government. The summit will be self-sustaining. We will do what the London people did (The first Y2K Summit was held Oct. 15-16 in London, England last year. Registration fees were charged to cover the cost of holding the event--Ed.).

QUESTION: You will soon come up with a media campaign featuring no less than President Estrada to target the masa and allay their fears about the Y2K Bug. Can you honestly say that come the rollover date, the masa can just sit back, relax and not worry about a thing?

ANSWER: Yes. That is the commission's objective. That's why a trimedia campaign will handle that, wherein the president will assure everybody that these things could happen, but that they do not need to panic because the government is on top of the situation. And this campaign would also give pressure on companies and agencies of government to proceed with their Y2K efforts at a faster pace because everybody would be watching them, seeing if they're up on their toes.

QUESTION: Your detractors say that the Philippines cannot beat the deadline and the Y2K Commission's efforts are sluggish. Some even say you don't know what you're doing.

ANSWER: We know what we are doing. We're confident that we'll make the difference, that we would be doing this for the country and for the president. We are here because of the mandate of the president, and he is personally on top of the situation. He is personally involved and concerned about the effects of the millennium bug.

There will always be detractors and side comments. We are looking at that as something that would challenge us even further. But that would not deter us from proceeding with our efforts and activities.

We're working toward alleviating or averting any untoward or chaotic situation come Jan. 1, 2000.

I am urging our colleagues in the IT industry to join us in this movement for the country and for our people. I don't think we'll go anywhere if we go through the same ballgame. At any rate, we will also be affected if anything happens, so I hope this will be a matter of national concern and of everybody's survival.

QUESTION: So you are saying that the Philippines can beat the deadline?