Diosdado Macapagal

“ Indeed, the critical need of our Nation at this juncture of our history when we are on the crossroad or threshold of vigorous economic growth is national solidarity and unity. Now more confident than ever in handling the country’s varied and complex problems because of our experience in the actual conduct of the Presidency, we shall endeavor to achieve to the utmost possible a maximum of national solidarity and cooperative endeavor with a minimum of partisan differences as the most effective way of serving the needs of our people. ”

“ Two years ago, we had summed up the government accomplishments of a year by saying that what matters is that we know that we are moving; that the status quo, in response to what have been instituted, is changing and is transforming the relationships within the national society into a condition vibrant to progress and development. ”

“ If we are to heed the sentiment of our people and become faithful to their welfare, we must endeavor, whatever our parties may be, to work constructively and harmoniously together not to promote our personal interests, political or otherwise, but to advance the progress of our country and the prosperity, well-being and happiness of the greatest number of our people. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It was for this reason that the most basic and fundamental change which was instituted by the Administration was to release the innate power of our people for progress by liberating the economy from controls and thus enabling our citizens to assume the major responsibility for national development.
The controlling idea of the Nation’s program of free enterprise that we launched was nationalism, and the goal of that nationalism was economic prosperity and enlarged freedom for the masses of the Filipino people. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The grinding poverty of many nations and the terrifying progress of weapons development have given this world two crucial issues—the alleviation of misery of developing countries and the maintenance of peace.
In both issues, we believe that the United Nations and its agencies can and does play a paramount role. Because of this we have been and will persist in supporting and encouraging the activities of the United Nations and its agencies. ”

“ We feel that this sense of expectation has infused a new vigor to the Filipino people urging them to new heights of aspiration, giving them an assured basis for the steady vision of the good life and thus liberating the Nation from the lethargy that had held it as a consequence of the past colonial experience. A new condition of existence always proposes a new outlook and urges, in turn, greater strivings towards the ideals of increased social participation and responsibility. ”

“ Love for peace—this is exemplified in the doctrine sanctified in our Constitution which renounces war as an instrument of national policy. We have served the cause of peace in our land by capturing Jesus Lava, the top head and brain of the communists who seek to overthrow our peace and freedom. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In recalling the crusade of the Administration to promote the welfare of the common man, we must necessarily make reference to the enactment of the Land Reform Code for we consider this event as the milestone of our endeavors. The welfare of the common man has been and continues to be our central concern.
Despite the elimination of the Land Tax provision in the code, which could have provided adequate revenues with which to speedily implement Land Reform, we are happy to announce that the Government has been able with the meager finances available to gradually carry out its objectives. ”

“ Radical changes had to be introduced into the economic structure of the country. Drastic reforms in administration had to be undertaken, and tremendous efforts had to be exerted to provide the social services demanded by an expanding population in the face of inadequate resources.
The national objectives we defined had to confront, in their implementation, the reality of a situation the terms of which were not merely issues of the national condition but of the surrounding actuality of ourselves as a sovereign nation. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Armed Forces has assumed a major role in the effort to curb smuggling. Over P51 million worth of smuggled goods have been apprehended and confiscated.
Smuggling, in its varied forms, constitutes a grave economic and moral threat to the nation. The solution of this problem requires the cooperation of all the people by not creating the demand for smuggled goods and in assisting in the apprehension of smugglers. ”

“ We believe so firmly in freedom that given a choice between licentious freedom and restricted freedom, we have by deeds preferred license to restriction because of our conviction that in an aspiring democracy in Afro-Asia, licentious freedom is better than restricted freedom because freedom has the inherent virtue of restraining its excesses but restriction bears the danger of curtailment which may lead to tyranny and despotism. ”

“ In a country of scarce resources such as ours, it is imperative that public finances should be scrupulously administered so as to avoid situations where serious inbalances occur as a result of great disparity between income and expenditure. ”

“ In view of this constitutional scheme of collective responsibility, we submitted to Congress at the beginning of our term a blueprint for national development known as the Five-Year Integrated Socio-Economic Development Program. By this program, we addressed ourselves specifically to the three-fold objective of accelerating the development of our economy, improving the living conditions of our people, and providing a strong basis of dynamic growth. ”

“ Our people are now matured enough to realize what is good for them and their children, which includes a reasonable measure of continued self-denial and sacrifice when necessary to promote the success of the Nation’s fight against poverty. ”

“ At the root of the difficulties being faced by any developing economy is the problem of self-sufficiency in food, the ultimate necessity for life. The magnitude of this problem may be properly gauged when one considers that with our population increasing by 3.2 per cent annually, we have to feed 20,000 more mouths every week, or one million every year. ”

“ For 1964 alone, a total P2.1 billion was spent for the purpose of operating the Government, providing facilities for peace and order and stimulating economic and social development. We must add that the expenditures of the National Government have been increasing over the years, and they will continue to increase as the population increases and the economy develops. In contrast, our income, even as it increases during the years, has not been of such magnitude as to cope with actual and programmed expenditure. ”

“ The non-approval of these measures has resulted in denying to our country and people the funds necessary not only for the various infrastructure projects such as highways, airports, harbors, irrigation and power system, but also the essential elemental services of health, education, food and shelter. With the accelerated demands of the people for governmental services, coupled with our rapidly expanding population, it is obvious that more funds should be made available to meet the expectations of our people. ”

“ We believe that the Agricultural Reform Code has enhanced the faith of the Filipino masses in the Government, and by affirming the rights of the people in the face of an institution and social relationship established by the purposes of colonial regimes, the Agricultural Reform Code has provided the incentive for lawful assertions of individual rights, thus making it possible for the national society to conduct its various activities under the auspices of peace, freedom and security. ”

“ We have confined ourselves to statements of facts manifest in the progress of the Socio-Economic program for national development.
It may be recalled that when the Socio-Economic Program was presented to the Nation three years ago our overall target was an increase in gross domestic product at a compound rate of 5.5 per cent, as the unavoidable hesitancy that accompanied the transition to a decontrolled economy left its mark. ”

“ Primarily, we encourage domestic rice production by implementing a price support program through the RCA. This agency can claim the singular achievement of having raised the price of palay from as low as P8.00 per cavan to as high as P17.00 per cavan.
Nevertheless, the floor price for the rice support program of P12.50 is now inadequate and should be increased.
The palay growers being assured an adequate profit and incentive by the Government’s price support policy, it is our duty to assure the consumers rice and corn at all times at prices within their reach. ”

“ Under our constitutional system, the Executive and the Legislative share the common responsibility for administering the affairs of the Nation as well as providing the guidance, service and leadership required by our democratic way of life. ”

“ The role of government corporations in the realm of economic development lies essentially in undertaking ventures in new and untried fields where the risks involved may inhibit private enterprise.
In this sense, therefore, government corporations play a pivotal role in the attainment of our development objectives, particularly in the areas of production and industrial development and social amelioration. ”

“ Also important to the success of the Nation’s socio-economic program is the need for administrative reforms that would bring about more effective coordination among government offices and agencies commonly seeking the same objectives. Such administrative reforms could include decentralization of public powers to stimulate more participation in government by elective officials at the levels most proximate to the people. ”

“ Largely, this has been the moral implication of the Socio-Economic Program of the country to fight poverty through increased production. But in the greater political sense, it has also promoted an intense and responsible nationalism—a nationalism premised on the acceptance that while the Government must do all it can t enhance the general welfare, the state of the national society is a compendium of complex responsibilities in which everyone is to participate and exercise his right. ”

“ The national progresses which we have endeavored to present are the cumulative results of the program we outlined in this platform three years ago. As we enter a new year, we have a justified feeling that even as there are tasks to be continued, a perceptible degree of change and reform has already been achieve within the national society. ”

“ In turn, it devolves upon Congress to tap new sources of revenue. When appropriation measures are passed by Congress, the Executive considers them not decisively from the availability of revenues but from the essentiality and importance of the service provided. It is the duty of the Government to provide and to find ways and means of financing such services which promote the public welfare. ”

“ Whatever disagreements we have, on the interpretation of motives and the necessary means for the attainment of the public good, such disagreement nevertheless must not conceal the facts of achievement nor endeavor to obliterate the tangible work that has already been achieve. ”

“ The Social Welfare Administration has performed excellently during the past three years in spite of fund limitations that affect all government offices and in spite of the ever growing demands for its services. ”