Elpidio Quirino

“ I have elevated the lady Commissioner of Social Welfare to Cabinet rank, giving to that position the importance commensurate with the new tasks assigned to it of carrying out the policy of the government on social amelioration. I have advanced in both the judicial and the executive departments, men of high standard of efficiency, thus giving encouragement to those in the lower ranks who have shown merit and loyalty to the service. I have opened opportunities for younger men to prepare themselves for high responsibilities in the public service. ”

“ We have laid the foundations of a stable, efficient, honored and dignified government. And we have brought it nearer to our people. We have been taking every opportunity to talk directly to them in their cities and towns, to observe their manner of living, to hear them discuss their needs, express their criticisms, their hopes, their aspirations. ”

“ There is need for coordination of the policies and operation of our government corporations to increase their usefulness to the national economy. It may be necessary to’ re-examine their structure and organiza­tion, their policies and their objectives, the scope and nature of their activities, and to gear all these to new goals set by a coherent development program. I recommend serious consideration of the advisability of creating a national central body or department that can more effectively direct, supervise and control the operations of government corporations. ”

“ 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. ”

“ To achieve the second objective, we must give priority to the development of economic projects which can be brought up to the producing point within a relatively short time and will enable us to reduce the amount of dollars spent on imports. Now is our opportunity to initiate the adjustment of our economy to maintain a stable, high level of em­ployment without unduly exposing our program to the’ dangers of unpredictable violent fluctuations of demand for basic export crops in the foreign markets. ”

“ We should adopt, for the security and stability of the Philippines, stricter safeguards against the entry or infiltration of subversive elements. Our home policy for peace and order must be strong. There must be national discipline. The government must be re­spected, its laws obeyed. We cannot expect outsiders to respect our government if we do not respect it ourselves. ”

“ No government in the world can merely legislate any people or any nation into business superiority and prosperity. But both our government and our people can cooperate to attain this natural and legitimate aim ”

“ I urge you to approve adequate legislation providing for more health and housing facilities to banish our urban slums, to eliminate those fire hazards that are a daily menace to life and health, especially among the poorer sections of our towns and cities. We need more practical measures to implement our objective of giving our citizenry the maximum benefits to be derived from the development of our agricultural and industrial potentialities. ”

“ With special pride I call your attention to the fact that today the Philippines has the friendship and respect of all nations. Our international relations have become stronger. Although the United States continues to be the only country that maintains an embassy here, eight other countries now have legations, and twenty-four nations in all have set up eight consulates general, fourteen consulates and four consular agencies. ”

“ I am determined to pursue a line of action that will insure to our people honest and efficient service and will provide full enjoyment of the liberty and equal opportunity that we have dearly fought for and won, in peace and in war, at home and abroad. ”

“ We must not only produce more, but must educate our people to consume more home products. National protectionism in this regard is a legitimate ambition of every self-respecting independent nation.
The achievement of the first objective of increased production for export requires improvement of the cost conditions of our existing export industries, the develop­ment of new export products, the creation and cultiva­tion of new markets for our export trade. ”

“ Wages increased two per cent, while the cost of living, based on the price index of essential commodities, dropped 39 per cent, a most gratifying development. Verily, the rising level of earning and the decreasing cost of living are converging upon a point of economic stability favorable to the great masses of our people. ”

“ The main problem of the country today is still to find ways and means of increasing production not only of palay and corn which constitute the basic cereal foods of the Filipino people, but also of other food crops, as well as meat, milk and other livestock prod­ucts, fish and other foodstuffs. More as a temporary solution of the worst rice crisis since liberation, I created the Rice Emergency Board which controls the procure­ment and distribution of locally-produced rice now and for the next two years. ”

“ The greatest service of the Bank to the growth and prosperity of the national economy will lie in its use of its prerogatives under the law to create that financial en­vironment in which the growth of sound productive enterprises and the creation of a diversified pattern of production will be greatly encouraged. ”

“ We want to follow up the program of social amelioration with greater intensity and give the masses a Straight Deal. This is my all-absorbing and consuming passion. We have to insure a standard of living in the farms, in the factories, in the homes that will be more in keeping and commensurate with our progress and advancement.
VETERANS AND GUERILLAS
The pensions to war widows, orphans and disabled veterans must continue with adequate funds therefore. The nation owes an eternal debt of gratitude to them. Their sacrifices shall not be in vain. ”

“ We must forestall wasteful periodic demands for revision of wages and the consequent uneconomic stoppages in our machinery of production. We need regulative rather than prohibitive measures against strikes. Both labor and capital must cooperate to achieve this end.
The salaries of employees in the lower brackets must also be improved. Private enterprises are offering better opportunities, and the Government is beginning to lose its most experienced personnel in the competition. ”

“ With the operation of the Central Bank, we expect to maintain our domestic monetary stability, the inter­national value of the peso, the free convertibility of ­the peso into United States dollars and other freely con­vertible currencies, and the promotion of a rising level of production, employment and real income. ”

“ The pre­war sugar industry must be restored and markets for excess production over domestic demand and the United States import quota limitations must be found. I created the Sugar Rehabilitation and Readjustment Commission to advise the government on the proper measures to be adopted to revitalize and stabilize the sugar industry. In due time I will submit measures to realize these objectives.
It is necessary that we cast our eyes and exhaust our resourcefulness to secure the fuller utilization of our other natural resources and possibilities. ”

“ In the construction of roads I recommend that we provide sufficient funds to facilitate the building of cement or asphalt roads not only for reasons of economy but also for the health of our people. Our dusty roads are the causes of so many ailments afflicting them, especially tuberculosis.
In view of the lack of physicians in many of our com­munities, I recommend the immediate study and ap­proval of legislation providing for pre-paid medical service to our population which cannot afford medical assistance, especially those in remote rural communities. ”

“ The bi-partisan policy in foreign affairs which we adopted at the beginning of our international life as a Republic has resulted in effective representation abroad and virtually unanimous support at home. ”

“ If it be found that supplies limited by the order will not adequately meet legitimate and justifiable demand the satisfaction of which will serve the national interest, increased quotas will be author­ized. But the fundamental objective of conserving the foreign exchange resources so that they may be available for economic development and of giving impetus to domestic production will loom large in the consideration of questions involving the relaxation of these controls. Our means and our remedies will be productive rather than speculative or merely restrictive. ”

“ Our special relationship with the United States has been productive of goodwill invaluable to our growth as a young nation. We have shared in the rejoicing of the people of the United States in the re-election of President Truman and in the return of a Congress sym­pathetic to his liberal program. ”

“ Those goals will have been reached when our financial position will have so improved as to enable us to provide adequately for all public services.
We should have more effective legislation to en­courage honest tax-paying and curtail tax evasion. The national revenues can be increased not only by raising the taxes not restrictive to new industrial en­terprises but also by properly preventing tax evasion.
NATIONAL SECURITY
We are doing all in our power to train and organize our manpower resources for the national defense. But trained and courageous soldiers are not all that make an army. ”

“ We must provide at the earliest practicable time facilities for efficient utilization of these resources. We need a more diversified occupational pattern, a reduction in the volume and duration of unemployment, an increase in the worker’s share in a bigger national output. We must insure those social welfare benefits so necessary to the attainment of full stature of a self-respecting citizen-education, recreation, security against illness and the infirmities of old age. ”

“ In the face of a persistent world shortage of rice” production, the Philippines cannot and should not be content to remain a rice importing nation. We are adopting measures to increase domestic production as rapidly as possible and help, incidentally, to conserve our foreign exchange resources. ”

“ We can face the future confident in our capacity to bring abundance, security and peace to our people, through the tested constitutional processes of freedom and democracy which constitute our enduring allegiance and loyalty. ”

“ The minimum wage for our laborers must be standardized and stabilized. I have urged the Labor-Management Advisory Board, in which capital and labor are equally represented, to submit a schedule it of wages applicable in the different industries and localities. ”

“ We must provide these men with the nec­essary equipment and supplies within the financial capacity of the government.
We need to expand our military training. What we have been able to provide thus far is not adequate to produce a citizen army that can be mobilized on short notice and strong enough for national defense. It would be more productive of better results and more economical to encourage military training throughout our schools, colleges and universities rather than maintain a big standing army. ”

“ I am in hopes that during the sessions just starting, we shall continue to work together with understanding and devotion, to the end that we may go ahead with the task of nation-building without unnecessary interruptions and distractions. This is an election year. We have barely ten months before most of us will have to account for our acts to the people. We have to present a work well done. ”

“ The Council will be clothed with authority to approve and schedule projects, to allocate on a fair basis the funds or credit which the Central Bank may from time to time mobilize to the loan portfolios of government lending agencies, to keep them within the approved pattern of allocation of available capital and the limitations established by law. We will draw upon our full credit capacity, backed by the guaranty of the Na­tional Government, to secure funds for this program. ”

“ Our economic structure should be built from below, making the foun­dation firm and accessible to the general population so that everyone can contribute to and share in the benefits of our material progress.
We must increase on the one hand our receipts from exports of improving quality, and decrease on the other the amounts of our import bills. The display and sale ­of Philippine-made goods must be given emphasis to balance the entrenched position of imported articles. ”

“ This program will be carried out in all parts of the country where large tracts of public land may be available for rice production until this unwholesome dependence upon outside supplies shall have been solved. It will insure abundance and conserve the 60 million pesos we remit abroad annually for our rice importation.
We must turn our concentrated attention to the development of Mindanao. Something must be done without loss of time to convert that vast region into a real empire of wealth. I recommend a general program of road construction to encourage production and communication. ”

“ We should give more facilities for the exploration and exploitation of our oil deposits. This is a promising industry. The world demand for oil is unlimited. I have sent abroad a special mission to study not only oil legislation but also methods and procedure of exploitation. I hope that our representatives will be helpful in the revision of our legislation on the subject. ”