Ferdinand Marcos

“ I, therefore, appeal to both industry and labor to desist from acts that can only exacerbate the economic suffering of the majority of our people through reckless and thoughtless acts that affect our economic stability. I have no doubt that management and labor within their own groupings have their own politics, their own con­flicts, and their own leadership and personality distur­bances and, therefore, they try to outdo each other in demands and claims on government and on adversaries. ”

“ There may be no sudden turnaround, though many of us pray for global economic recovery. Once more, the year before us impels decision and fortitude to ride out possible further difficulty and stress.
In such an anxious time as this for our country, it has always been the supreme policy of the national leadership to meet with realism and resolution the challenges to the nation.
Always we have looked at the reserves of stability and strength in our national life to prevail over crisis and chart our course towards the future. ”

“ And we in this Assembly are merely the instruments of our people’s deepest wish to gather them together, to enable them to achieve the best that is in them, and to do all these for love of country and of the Republic, to make our nation strong, prosperous, and free. ”

“ For theirs are the myriad labors that are the nuts and bolts of nation building. And they constitute the authen­tic voice of our nation today—a voice to which we must pay heed in guiding the course of national life.
So much of democratic leadership finally and truly consists in understanding those people’s needs and hopes, in giving due dignity and honor to their labors. No matter how much we may compete for political authority, we must recognize the labors of the ordinary common man. ”

“ Nothing presents a more formidable challenge to our bid, and for that matter, the bid of any country in the world today that does not produce its own oil for economic development, than the meeting of the growing demands of our industry, commerce, transport and households in the matter of energy. Upon this depends economic stability and growth, and for that matter, survival. ”

“ Those among us who can only view the adversities of today with sickly anxiety and defeatism only mark their isolation from the work which we have been engaged in. For is it not a fact that through all these years of trial and effort, these Cassandras of doom, small men of little faith, could only cavil while we worked, hard and desperately, prophesying our failure while we reaped success, and could only lust for power while impotent to win the allegiance and the support of our countrymen? ”

“ Finally, there is a fifth pillar for growth—our Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran—which is our principal program to develop the small- and medium­-scale industries, to uplift the small people of our country, to stimulate livelihood generation not necessarily only in the urban areas but especially in the areas that have long been abandoned, and to recover from the trash can of our history and our past those that were forgotten and convert them into productive units of our society. ”

“ But as important as industrial peace in promoting the cause of national development is the of peace, order and security, which perhaps, above every­thing else, is the first condition for economic enterprise and development of any kind.
Times of economic stress and anxiety are often the precursor of decline in the civility of social life and the rise of criminality in society. And just as often, they are the occasions on which insurgency and rebellion feed and gather momentum. ”

“ All of us here today are profoundly conscious of the hard realities of the present.
We have come through a year of adversity in economic affairs, marked in the global sphere by pro­longed recession and crisis and which in turn have wrought their impact upon not only our nation but all other nations. ”

“ It is quite true that there are factors that adversely af­fect our economy over which we have no control, but there may be and there should be areas on which decisive planning and the application of political will may bring about favorable returns, especially in the stimulation of economic activity, in the reduction of budgetary deficits, in the management of the balance of payments, in the improvement of the employment situation and overall welfare, and in the promotion of our access to markets throughout the world. ”

“ It will be seen from this review that in important and decisive ways, we have moderated the impact of global recession on the national economy, and that the fun­damental strength of the economy had been proven solid and sound. By almost every indicator of economic health, performance and capability, I say, we have a sound economy.
The fundamentals are there for continued resiliency in the midst of economic adversity, and for accelerated development in the event of a more hospitable global economic environment. ”

“ For us, as a developing country, therefore, the main task of social and economic policy will be to defend jobs and incomes against any further ravages and to prepare our economy for the expected global rebound so that we can take full advantage of any rising demand for our pro­ducts in the world market place. ”

“ We know that as a people we are not the indolent and deprived dependent subjects that colonizers once saw in us, or the credulous horde of citizens that politicians once sought to manipulate, but an authentic society of indivi­duals capable of the highest achievements and worthy of the highest rewards.
We have discovered that our decade of experience in development has provided us deep reserves of strength to draw on. ”

“ We have of course already exploited much of our volcanic steam sources of energy. We will continue to do so. We will need the support of the Batasang Pambansa in the effort to accelerate the energy program.
The second pillar for development is agriculture.
Of all sectors in our economy, only agriculture has shown a steady growth rate of 4.9 percent in real terms over the last ten years. And the principal growth area has been food production.
But we face serious deficiencies in several key areas, principally dairy products and animal feeds, including yellow corn and soya bean. ”

“ Effective response to this twin-threat of criminali­ty and insurgency lies on the twin program of economic development and counter insurgency. Foremost in our law enforcement efforts and in anti-insurgency campaign must still be the efficiency of the grievance machinery and justice for all including the smallest of the small, and at the same time, economic development that will touch the life of our common people. ”

“ Let us see our conditions and our problems with our own eyes; for only in our self­knowledge can we begin to surmount the uncertainties of the times.
What do we know about ourselves and our nation to­day? This is the question we should ask ourselves. ”

“ In the process of saving foreign exchange to the tune of $400 million, we will at the same time be transferring technology and will be learning the most sophisticated art of industry, thus, laying the basis for a balanced agro-­industrial economy. ”

“ This pandering to the smallest whim and caprice of the foreign observer says so much of why some countries can indeed be dominated by others, and why they often do not have the wherewithal to rise and help themselves. ”

“ Our concern for the welfare of the workers within the constraints of a less developed country is reflected in our labor policies that are considered highly advanced for a member of the developing world. Since the first oil crisis, we have raised legal minimum wages through ten presidential decrees and one presidential wage increase of P8 in the base year of 1972, and incomes have been protected against inflation. ”

“ Actually, most of the role of leadership is feelings out the thoughts, the unexpressed feelings and desires of our people, and finally articulating them whether in legislation or orders and in plans and projects. ”

“ This is criticism of the most contemptible kind, for which nothing is sacred, not even the worthy and the proud achievements of generations of our people in­cluding those who offered love, honor, and life. ”

“ We will overcome these temporary adversities, how­ever, only when we act together, only when labor and management realize the need for cooperation and solidarity as the sole means by which both productive partners can survive these very hard times. ”

“ Let us listen to the voice of our local communities to­day, each of which is aware now of what is within its capacities to build and create, as all of them see life changing in their country, and they see a dawning, a bright new day. ”

“ The prudent and necessary course is for us to con­tinue to pursue without letup our energy development program, by accelerating the development of indigenous and renewable sources of energy, by encouraging invest­ments in energy exploration and development, and by maximizing the productive utilization of energy supplies. ”

“ I refer to the development of logged-­over areas which we estimate to be about one million hec­tares and which shall be identified by the Ministry of Natural Resources. These areas shall be taken over either for industrial tree farming or for other KKK projects.
Then, we have the acceleration of KKK processing centers, meaning the processing of products of the KKK so that they may be marketable not only here but abroad.
The public market program means the improvement of present marketing facilities. We have public markets but they are not utilized to the full. ”

“ We will finance our development effort while conti­nuing to exercise fiscal restraint and responsibility. Government will set the precedent in initiating cost-­saving measures designed to realize a reduction of the cash budgetary deficit.
During the past three years when private investments were weak, the government bore the brunt of sustaining growth. What does this mean? This means that the govern­ment had to spend on areas where the private sector did not spend. ”

“ But they can also presage the erosion of will in national life, because all too often they breed a sense of helpless­ness and inertia and also because they are often the occasions for the enemies of government to sow national confusion and to debase the coin of national unity and purpose. ”

“ In order to survive in the highly competitive world market, we must specialize in and focus on products which we can produce quickly and more efficiently. We must also produce new lines of products that are less sub­ject to protectionist threats and other forms of market obstacles. ”

“ The original obligation program will be trimmed down to P53.2 billion or 18.2 percent lower than what you and I approved in our session.
Although the world’s economic prospects are forecast to improve during the year, the possibility of immediate relief should not be expected. Like the good soldier who goes to battle, we must prepare for the worst although we pray for the best. ”

“ And I would like to emphasize this, because we have heard criticisms from some sectors to the effect that we cannot afford these major industrial projects, since we are cutting down on budgetary ex­penses. We are not spending budgetary funds for these major industrial projects. Their production will pay for themselves. Neither are we paying the interest or amor­tization for the loans on these projects from budgetary source ”