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 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. ”

“ We have been able to secure to our people a pledge of unqualified assistance in maintaining our country’s security and its integrity, by the one great power which is in a position to offer and fulfill such guarantees—the United States of America. Our relations with America remain what they have always been: relations of intimate and understanding alliance. ”

“ The record of dismissals, prosecutions, and convictions the past five years must warn every public servant that public service is the highest form of stewardship requiring utmost integrity and strictest discipline. I have wanted, while holding the Presidency, to inspire every man in the public service with pride in the organization to which he belongs, and every citizen with equal pride in his government. ”

“ 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. ”

“ When we consider that many other nations of the world are reeling under impact of the world crisis, our coun­try’s position of over-all security is a matter of some gra­tification. But security-economic, internal and external and the resultant political stability which we have achieved, are a continuing responsibility. No nation can long exist if content merely to maintain a state of security for the current generation, and oblivious of the challenge of its generations to come. ”

“ For, in our very midst there are influences not only undermining our stability as a nation but actually destroying the very principles upon which our nation has been founded—our freedom, our democratic institutions, and the way of life we have discovered to be the real source of our happiness. ”

“ In such a world it is with pride, yet with the humility which is our duty to Divine Providence that we look on our own nation, and find in it the hope that is born of faith and nurtured in achievement. ”

“ 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. ”

“ We can continue balancing our budget, prevent the recurrence of any school or rice crisis, and increase the public revenues and the national income in great measure. We can produce more consumption and export goods and manufacture the products which we have heretofore been importing. We can steadily improve our standards of living; assure greater prosperity, satisfaction, and happiness to the masses of our people, individually and collectively. We can attain greater honors by more heroic action in foreign battlefields. ”

“ We must at times re­member that our financial resources are limited and that the greatest care is needed to insure their use in the most efficient manner possible. Having committed ourselves to a policy of economic development as the only solution to the problem of poverty and under-production, we must mobilize all our resources and exercise the greatest care in their investment. While the assistance of our friend and ally, the United States, would materially accelerate this process, only our own resources can support it on a permanent basis. ”

“ Differences are sal­utary when born out of individual freedom—of thought and action, and restrained by unity of purpose—love and soli­darity of our fellow countrymen. Provided we always keep in mind, as we did in the last sessions of the Congress, that all we, each of us, are trying to do, is to contribute our utmost in promoting the safety and well-being of our people, democracy will flourish as a vital dominating force in our national life. ”

“ It is gratifying to report in honest retrospect that our Government has buckled down manfully to speed the restoration and improvement of our internal and external security, our finances, our essential public services, and our badly damaged economy. Owing to the marked improvement in the state of law and order our people have been able to concentrate their attention on the development of their farms, industrial activities, and other productive ventures. ”

“ Education is another fundamental of national progress from the standpoint of society and of production efficiency. No legislative body of the Philippines, since the days of the First Assembly, has ever been remiss in generosity for this function of public service. It is our established obsession that no child in the Philippines should be bereft of instruction. ”

“ Our Government has dedicated itself to the cultivation and fostering of amicable relations with the other peoples of the world, to active participation in the efforts of the United Nations to promote human welfare and maintain world security and peace. ”

“ It is vital that we review our trade agreement with the United States, in order that it may be placed on a more equitable basis, in keeping with present-day circumstances in both countries. A readjustment is essential to our achievement of a more stable and balanced economy.
While it is true that we have attained a measure of finan­cial stability in the domestic as well as in the international field, it is still necessary for us to continue exercising dis­cretion and vigilance in the expenditures not only of public but also of private resources. ”

“ The facts of history require us to consider under the present world set-up that, while there are still leading nations, no longer are there big and small nations apart from one another. We are divided into groups, practi­cally into two major groups—one believing in a world order under the theory of enslavement by a dominating power, the other under the theory of co-existence based upon the collective authority of free democratic govern­ments. ”

“ Therefore, we have sought the armed dissident elements in the open field, broken up their potential for organized disorder, and given them opportunity to return to peace and production. It has been a painful, costly, and tedious process, taxing our conscience in the sacrifice, in many cases, of life and property, in order to secure tranquility in our land and preserve our liberties and democratic institutions. ”

“ On the basis of these figures, the total trade for the whole year is expected to reach well over P1.5 billion, which will be less than the 1951 total of P1,790,516,663.
There is need for readjusting our foreign trade. We must redirect our productive potential towards agricultural development for self-sufficiency in the prime needs of our people, and towards industrial development base on the utilization of local raw materials. But unless our own countrymen ready and willing to invest in processing, are given adequate protection, they cannot survive in competition with foreign manufacturers. ”

“ The age in which we live and the international associa­tion with which we chose to be identified make us conscious in every phase of our lives that we have a country to de­fend, to develop for our people’s welfare, and to strengthen as a bastion for internal peace and for the peace of the world. ”

“ The world in which we live is a troubled, uncertain world. At no period in history have the masses of the world been better informed; yet at no period has there been greater groping, more searching, for a way to peace and to well­being. ”

“ A co­ordinated set of remedial measures in the monetary, fiscal, and production fields, together with improvements in administrative organization, and in the peace and order condition, dispelled almost overnight the despondency and irrational apprehension that seemed to have caught hold of business and or productive segments of the agricultural population. General confidence increased and with it came a new resolve on the part of our people to make this land a haven of peace and prosperity for the coming generations. ”

“ It is time to readjust our trade and tariff policies to suit present conditions and to make them more effective instruments of our economic development.
I propose the creation of a Tariff Commission to study the present tariff rates carefully and in detail. This we should do while we present our side to the United States in our desire to readjust our trade relations with her. The Problem is not easy. It will take some time before we can expect concrete recommendations for the required changes. ”

“ It is only our own resources that can serve as the prime mover of our development process.
Within our limits we must sustain our determined effort to push through without delay every project designed to achieve a more balanced economy for our country.
ECA aid is beginning to flow. When it does come in substantial amounts, we should be able to speed up our work. We should take steps to bring about a review of the Trade Agreement with the United States, to suit changing exigencies consistent with a diversified and balanced economy. ”

“ There are external factors affecting our economic, social, and political stability over which we have little or no control at all. Let us not add to the problems that they will pose by allowing internal factors, over which we have control, to get out of hand. Vigilance against threats to our internal and external security must be continued. Inflation must not be permitted resurgence. ”

“ My own children cannot grow and flourish to the nation’s honor, if his chil­dren are denied the opportunity to grow and flourish.
This, gentlemen of the Congress, is what I understand by national unity. Not the expedient unity of the polls, but that unity which brings to us the recognition of common problems, common tasks, common honor, and the need for common struggle. It is unity to face and foil the dangers which continually arise to harass us as a people. ”

“ We are fortunate that while the great nations of the world are engulfed in an inflationary wave under the impact of huge military programs, we here in the Philippines have controlled it and have prevented its running away with our earthly possessions. ”

“ As a corollary of our aggressive program of increased production, we should adopt a more systematic and ex­panded transportation policy. Nothing can be considered produced until placed where needed for utilization. Progressive society is dependent upon transportation. It is time that, to derive maximum use of our meager resources, we established planned and coordinated programming of public expenditures intended for the provision of transport­ation facilities. ”

“ Instead of passively crossing our arms in helplessness and frustration, let us ad citizens of a country with such a heritage of fortitude and courage, arise as one to fight together to give our people a life’ of substance, of strength, of contentment. ”

“ The operation of the minimum wage and tax laws implemented last year brought about a wider and more equitable distribution of the money income in the economy as a whole. Together with the reduction in price levels, these measures could be expected to bring about a permanent improvement in the welfare of our people.
Our international economic relations and prestige have also improved as a result of the change for the better in our domestic situation. The regard in which the Philip­pine peso is held in international markets today is so much higher than a year ago. ”