Diosdado Macapagal

“ As the people did not mind our political parties in placing in our hands their welfare and future, so are we called upon not to mind our parties in serving their well-being. Adhering firmly to this attitude, with minds anxious over our people’s difficulties and hearts full of sympathy for their just long­ings for a better life, I have faith that Almighty God will show us the way that we can take together towards the fulfillment of our Nation’s dream for a life of dignity, prosperity and freedom. ”

“ Within our limited powers, but acutely responsive to the hopes and aspirations of our people, we proceeded with the implementation of the socio-economic program. But ultimate success cannot be achieved by Presidential action alone; complementary legislative action is indispensable. Such indeed is the mandate of our Constitution. We submit it to be the inescapable duty of Congress to participate in a dynamic program of nation-building and public service through the enactment of legislation which would insure our continuing progress and the people’s welfare. ”

“ Never will I be able to give all that I desire, but with a courage born of the lessons learned in sorrow during the past two years, I must and I shall devote my waking hours, life itself, to the welfare of our people. No difficulty or obstacle, however stubborn or forbidding, shall alter my course or change my will.
We must provide a better life for our people. We must give less comfort to ourselves. We must provide more hope to our nation. We must seek less gratification ourselves. ”

“ In facing our awesome responsibility when we took over the Administration, it was obvious to us that after eliminating the stench of moral decay in the Govern­ment and in our society, the main task was to rescue the economy from the suffocation that choked it to paralyzation, loosen and remove the manacles that impeded its movement, infuse it with vigor and guide it forward. All our multifarious problems spring from the lack of financial sustenance arising from an anemic and unproductive economy. ”

“ The attainment of self-sufficiency in the staple food of our people, namely, rice and corn; The creation of conditions that will provide more income to our people—income for those who have none and more income for those whose earnings are inadequate for their elemental needs; The establishment of practices that will strengthen the moral fiber of our nation and reintroduce those values that would invigorate our democracy; and The launching of a bold but well-formulated socio-economic program that shall place the country on the road to prosperity for all our people. ”

“ Within the context of the national society, we have to make a choice, a choice of which the odds should indeed be foreknown; for if ours be to make a decision between economic progress and the achievement of the good life for our people on one hand and economic stagnancy and the perpetuation of our traditional social ills in the status quo on the other, then the preference needs no further debate: our politics must affirm the interests and welfare of the Nation. ”

“ While our economic problems are integrated in character, we must be concerned with the plight of the common man as an imperative of justice. We must help bridge the wide gap between the poor man and the man of wealth, not by pulling down the rich to his level as communism desires, but by raising the poor up toward the more abundant life. This is democracy's supreme endeavor. ”

“ Let us, once again, manifest a solid nationalism and present our position as a Nation before the world with the full powers that come from having a national purpose and integrity.
We are a young and developing democracy in a region in which the free way of life to which we aspire as the means to our welfare is not indigenous. As such, we continue to grow as a Nation. ”

“ We have all allowed ourselves to become confused and to lose sight of our true objectives. We have been blinded by power politics and its self-serving aims. We have been led into making utterances and performing deeds which have neither serve the present needs of our people nor nourished their hopes for a better life. How amazing and unbelievable it seems that some of those who are called upon to help the people have succumbed to the temptations of personal ambition and the lust for power! ”

“ We reject the imputation that we seek the control of Congress. Having been in Congress ourself, we do not think any one can control Congress by making it do what it cannot be intelligently persuaded to do voluntarily. What we seek is the constitutional cooperation of Congress—that is to say, the cooperation that the Congress and the President owe to each other in the interest of the people in accordance with the party system of government which we have adopted in our Republic. ”

“ I express the hope that this congressional performance was not a mere involuntary recognition of an undeniable political fact, but a willful recognition of the need of setting aside political partisanship in this time of national crisis in the interest of bipartisan collaboration in the common task of providing, in the least time possible, a life of decency and prosperity for our people.
Above all, this mission requires the support of our people. No program can succeed without popular sustenance. ”

“ While we uphold that the principal responsibility for development should belong to Filipino citizens, who must be the principal determinants as well as chief beneficiaries of Philippine economic progress, we at the same time caution against the type of radical nationalism and nationalization measures that deter the coming of foreign assistance in our economic development. We must be sincere in at­tracting foreign capital to invest in productive enterprises in our country in joint ventures with Filipino businessmen and must show this sincerity not in words but in deeds. ”

“ We confess only to one offense, if it be an offense, which is that we love our country and people dearly. Since we have only this opportunity of a life­time to help our people attain a better life, we are grimly resolved to sacrifice friendships and everything and even our own self, our own comfort, security and happiness, for the dedicated pursuit of bringing about the prosperity and hap­piness of our people in the quickest possible time. ”

“ We appeal, therefore, to the patriotism of all our leaders and people to act in concert and cooperation, to continue the tasks that have already been done in the interest of all and to join the Government in the implementation of those projects and programs necessary to national growth and development. Political parties, if they are to be representative of the general will and interests, should not allow themselves to be divided on intentions that seek the betterment of human life in the national society. ”

“ By our success or failure in leading the Nation from the abyss of want to the plateau of abundance, not only ourselves but also our way of life will be judged. If we falter, we shall fail democracy as well as our people and thus bolster communism’s boast that it is a superior political system. ”

“ Our honest desire is to create out of this land the kind of country our people deserve—a country able to satisfy the needs and serve the welfare of all its inhabitants, and to guarantee the protection and the security of this generation and of all generations to come. We have all been guilty of some neglect—some of us to a greater degree than others. ”

“ Simultaneously, democracy displayed its splendor by showing that under its aegis a poor man who sprang from the humblest origin and who has not attained a state of riches can rise to the presidency of the Republic. I, whom the sovereign will in a democracy has chosen as the means for the exhibition of the reality of its virtue of offering equal opportunity to the rich and the poor alike, am now called upon to prove that such a gift of opportunity to our humble citizenry shall not be in vain. ”

“ In the event, God forbid, that Malaya succumbs to the potent communist threat on the Asian mainland, with North Borneo under Malaya, there would be created a situation in which a communist territory would be immediately at the southern frontier of the Philippines, which would pose a grave and intolerable threat to our country. Against such a threat, we know that our people will fight to the death, for they will rather die fighting for freedom than live in slavery. ”

“ The Nation has already been set into an impetus towards desired goals. We have established the basis and condition for consistent action and now, more than ever, the Filipino people—the masses that had risked their lives for a conviction and so that a nation might be established—now more than ever, they anticipate that their leaders should not betray their trust, but that, instead, should work in cooperation to further what has been done and to pursue the logic of the performance that has been accomplished in the past three years. ”

“ Since we share the same hopes of achievement for our glorious land and our heroic people, can we not now all join together to give them those things which they so justly deserve? Can we not now forsake our own narrow self-interest and devote our whole strength to the realization of greater progress and happiness throughout the land? ”

“ We must face the problem of economic growth with preferential emphasis. Proper economic development will raise the income of our people and the revenues of the government. It will thus produce the additional funds and facilities necessary for effectively discharging the other functions of government and for meeting the needs of our population. We must ever bear in mind the funda­mental fact that it is through the adequate advance of the national economy that a higher standard of living can be attained by our people. ”

“ It is an endeavor that calls for the utmost use of sound judgment, energy and, above all, patriotism, which is demanded of all of us. It addresses itself to the leaders of the three great branches of our government. It requires, on the part of all, a transfiguration of attitude from political partisanship to statesmanship. In the deliberations of to Congress on the proclamation of the president and the vice president, the leaders and members of Congress demonstrated their capacity to rise above partisan politics and proved themselves equal to the challenge of patriotism. ”

“ It is the responsibility of the Government to formulate and execute policies that would establish the proper climate, as well as to provide a framework of legal and administrative precepts that would attract the private sector into channeling its resources into those enterprises that are most desirable from the national viewpoint.
The promotion of high-priority private industries under a system of free enterprise is the most challenging task that faces the Government. It is a task that demands imagination, sensitivity to the businessman’s problems and goals, and de­dication. ”

“ I ap­peal to you for mutual understanding so that with a mighty will we shall labor and sacrifice together to give our people the good life they desire and deserve, but which has been denied them for so long. Let us cast aside petty personal jealousies and partisan politics from our lives; let us work only for the common good. ”

“ It is ironical to talk of magnificent plans for progress and prosperity if we cannot even provide the rice and corn that our common people cannot go without in their daily lives. Before attempting anything else, let us work together to insure that our people have and be able to afford the rice and corn that they need in their daily living. ”

“ We can with sincerity say that the decisions of the Administration have been solely guided by considerations of public welfare. We have not hesitated to cross party lines in the appointment of individuals to vital offices when it was deemed that the general public should profit from the merits of these individuals. In conformity with the traditional features of a democratic society, we have necessarily to stand on the platform of a definite political party but we have also pledged the commitment of this party not to a group or an institution but to the well-being of the whole Filipino Nation. ”

“ While ministering to all the traditional public services, it is in the accomplishment of these five missions that we must place stress and primary attention, for their solution will facilitate the effective aministration of all the essential public services the government is duty bound to maintain.
It is incorrect to say that we are out to solve all the problems of the nation. No president can do that. Nation-building is an exacting and endless endeavor. No president can build the whole edifice of a nation. ”

“ The test will be whether one will refrain or will courageously support those measures needed for the success of our economic program and for the good of the economy and the country but which may not be instantly popular with segments of the people. For those who are faithful to the country and those who are sterling leaders of the people and statesmen, there can be no choice except to support what is needed for the attainment of our goal of rapid economic growth and social progress despite momentary dis­approval from the public. ”

“ The Government’s determination to pursue a consistent program of increased food production has been undaunted by these setbacks caused by nature, but the intensification of our efforts to expand the program to all areas is constrained by the Achilles heel of our developmental endeavor—lack of revenues. More funds than are currently available would be required to achieve the ultimate goal of self-sufficiency and thus enable us to depend on our own resources.
Our per capita consumption of meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products stands among the lowest in the world. ”

“ This Congress and the Administration have taken steps to abolish the share tenancy system and have given hope to the small farmer to produce for himself on an independent basis. The agricultural land reform code is an impressive and enduring monument to the farsightedness of our lawmakers. It may be difficult to enforce effectively, but enforce it we must if the future of our economic system is to be assured. ”

“ The government’s role is to create a favorable environment that will provide the inducements necessary, in terms of suitable policies and measures needed, to foster economic growth and stability. It must be in a position to devise new and effective methods, democratic in character and spirit, to induce the private sector—properly called the dynamic sector—to risk idle capital for development purposes.
The exchange rate adjustment and the stabilization pro­gram are expected of themselves to create a fundamental climate favorable to investments in the required lines of activity. ”