Elpidio Quirino

“ Nothing is permanent in human institutions except the struggle to maintain and improve them. I ask that you bear in mind this unending struggle along the road on which our people are marching towards their destiny. That destiny, under the guidance of Him who gave His people will and reason, may be shaped by us. But into the labor of shaping it must go not only the goodwill and the calm reason, but the unity of all the people, without which many may £all behind, many may be destroyed, and none may reach the shining goal. ”

“ With the entire East threatened by the onrushing tide of Communism, the Philippines, the most strategic cross­roads linking the West and the East, remains the one safe, attractive home for free men in our part of the world, a haven for the masses of humanity fleeing from that flood. ”

“ They always speak to blood baths and revolution. They are determined to overthrow the government and turning their back on the noble sacrifices of our heroes and martyrs, are bent on delivering us to a new power which will ultimately enslave us and our children.
We must stand united to fight them and those who fight for them, if we are to survive as a nation and deliver our precious heritage to the succeeding generations. ”

“ I have faith in their readiness to submit themselves to the rigorous discipline of civic duty and national unity. I therefore call upon all elements in the nation to join hands and to close ranks despite the political barriers that may separate them from one another. I trust that, forswearing the bitterness which political passion may have recently engendered, every citizen will accept his share in the common task of building the Republic as a necessary condition of our national survival. ”

“ Our social amelioration program has shed its beneficent blessings on the people inhabiting even the remotest confines of the archipelago; it has given a relief to small independent farmers within and beyond the once called troubled areas. It has so spread the gospel of peace and so inspired the people with faith in their Government, that it is well nigh impossible for the subversive elements to indoctrinate them now with their pernicious theories and ideas. ”

“ PRODUCTION AND SOCIAL AMELIORATION
The most important and urgent aim of this administration at this stage is increased production and social amelioration. We cannot indefinitely ride on the foam of foreign charity and friendship. We must produce our own immediate necessities and raise, by the sweat of our brow, the lot of the men who toil on the farms and in the factories. We shall, where necessary, effect changes in the national economy to achieve this end. Our responsibility is no less urgent to those displaced and rendered homeless by public calamities. ”

“ This is not a matter solely of administration from above; it is a joint enterprise in which all of us work and help — administrators and citizens, managers and workers, traders and toilers, producers, and consumers. It is a constant endeavor calculated to achieve the end of every government — to secure the well being and happiness of all the people.
We respect the inviolability of the human person. In our resistance to any totalitarian aggression from within and from without, the dignity of the human person is the crucial issue ”

“ I refer especially to those measures designed to bolster our security from within and ward off danger from without. Of course, it will be next to impossible to provide for a com­plete program of national defense with our limited resources alone. We need a goodly measure of outside assistance from friends and allies, particularly the United States; and, to deserve that, we must show beyond cavil that we have the spirit and the will to help ourselves.
Our preparations for defense are not for our own sur­vival alone. ”

“ Thus, whatever we have at this hour, everything that we enjoy, did not come about full-grown overnight, is not solely the work of today. It is the result of a continuing process, as each, in his time, contributes his genius and vision as well as his sweat and sinew to leave to those who follow a country better than he found it, winning for it with each passing year a growing measure of admiration and respect. ”

“ We have these past years since liberation seemingly enjoyed a life of plenty and even a luxury, not so much as a result of our productive energies as because of the temporary flow of money into our economy. Presently there is the large gap that has developed between the value of the products that we sell abroad and the cost of the products that we buy and bring into our country. We must realize that this state of affairs cannot continue without causing such disequilibrium in our economy as would eventually engulf us in the tremendous difficulties which other countries have experienced. ”

“ The Republic of the Philippines was born in the shadow of a world war. Nurtured in democracy and reared in the midst of human anguish, it withstood the crushing impact of a major catastrophe from which every nation is still recovering to this day. Despite its infancy, it has played a respected role in the attainment of universal peace and security as the only guarantee of its continued existence. ”

“ We need continually to so build and discipline ourselves that we may attain and deserve the privilege of its ministry. Our opportunity to this end is to muster and organize all our resources, preserve our credit and prestige abroad and guard against their dissipation at home.
I call on every man and child of this nation to share in the privilege of the great tasks before us. I appeal for the utmost courage, wisdom, vision and dedication in taking up the challenge of our common objectives. ”

“ I am gratified to observe the determination of the Congress to follow up our commitments for the implementation of our understanding with the United States leading to financial assistance under the ECA. But I must state that our tax program is not predicated merely on our desire to do our part in furtherance of said commitments. We have to provide for our most critical and urgent necessities. In fact, if we have to adequately meet our imperative needs, we must have an income more than the goal of P565 million envisaged in that understanding. But I know the capacity of our people. ”

“ With pardonable pride I can say that they can stand comparison with the record of progress of our nation in any period of our history.
In the face of apparently insurmountable difficulties, in an atmosphere of keen partisanship, aggravated by the confusion, insurgency, and fears fomented by a new world ideology ruthlessly seeking to destroy the very foundations of democratic institutions the world over, we have shown strength of character as a people. ”

“ I place myself and my administration at the service of all the people without distinction as to creed, class, or station, and pledge my whole effort to the production of their fundamental rights, the improvement of their livelihood, and the defense of their free institutions. ”

“ And we have received assurances from the Amer­ican Government that the United States will help us defend our national integrity and independence.
But we cannot depend entirely on foreign assistance to maintain our integrity. National honor and dignity re­quire that we do not accept the role of a mere ward in the defense of our own liberty and freedom. Thus, we are making the utmost sacrifice to meet our internal and external obligations to enable us to contribute our just share to world security. ”

“ We have strengthened further their confidence in our sincerity and integrity. We have demonstrated our willingness to invite and face public scrutiny. We have eliminated whatever evils have been uncovered. We have proved the primacy of public interest over party, group or personal claims. More than as the supreme head of the Liberal Party, in accordance with whose rules I am “the authorized spokesman of its decisions and policies,” as President of the Republic I declare this to be the unequivocal policy and determination of the Administration. ”

“ Whatever our political creeds, we must close ranks and lead our people to a new horizon, leaving behind us the doldrums of inaction, mutual suspicion, intrigues, and re­crimination. Let us rise to the challenge of this critical hour and create for our country a new atmosphere, an atmosphere of faith, of courage, of cheerfulness, of determina­tion, and thus inspire our people to greater efforts in our struggle for continued existence. ”