Ferdinand Marcos

“ It is easy to fight a revolution. It is even easy to win it, but it is hard to run a government. It is harder. It requires more courage to run a government with a determined and resolute objective, to maintain the dignity and independence of individuals and of a nation than to fight a war, to fight in Bataan, in Corregidor, in the battle­fields, in the mountains. ”

“ If we concede it our duty to attain unity of purpose and of will to succeed, then we must now rid our ranks of these unreformed men. Let all kinship and friendship in the democratic revolution now receive guidance from the philosophy and purpose of our revolution. Those who continue against the moral substance of our reforms must now answer to our people. And thus, I have chosen this forum for you, who represent the people more than any other body. Let them answer to you then, to you the people’s assemblies, the barangays. ”

“ We grew, in the interval, from our innocent belief in the system to the recognition that no form of economic development could take root in our country, unless premised on the broader scale of social transformation. We tried to adopt to the system and launched one development program after another, and the sum of all of these was a legacy of instability, of cares and escalating problems. ”

“ Where before we were a nation divided into disparate and mutually irrecon­cilable groups, today we seem to have divided into three factions, each one distinct from the other.
The first, which is in the majority, consists of those who feel whole­heartedly involved in the effort to make our New Society a lasting and viable reality. They are those who have placed all their hopes, their dreams, their lives, their property, their honor in the New Society. ”

“ Disunity was the theme that kept repeating itself, throughout our history, and it shall continue to be repeated in our history as a nation unless today, you and I, now fully resolve that we shall root out the causes of factionalism and disunity in our country and unite as a people to establish a true and effective Republic. ”

“ We sought to teach them the meaning of one nation, claiming the labors of all her children for a common feeling, a common dream, a common destiny. But at the same time, we sought from everybody not only dedication but sacrifice. ”

“ I refer to the new decree on drug addiction.
Drug addiction is no longer just a threat. It has become a morbid and per­plexing reality. There are at least 60,000 drug addicts throughout the Philip­pines today. In a sense drugs pose a greater danger than crime itself. Addiction works insidiously to destroy private lives and ultimately the life of the nation. The youth, many of them in the schools are particularly vulnerable to it. I have received a file of reports on drug addiction and I am alarmed. Anti-narcotics squads have a fulltime job tracking down the monster to its many lairs. ”

“ I have seen the same face, worn-out by betrayed promise and hope, begging for the attention that has been promised the small man for whom the democratic revolution was launched. I have seen the impatience and sometimes the frustration of fanners and workers who look to much more than what they are getting or what they used to get from the very men and women and the institutions which are supposed to serve them. ”

“ Rest assured therefore, that as I exhort you to do all these, so, too, will your President, so, too, will your political leadership in the country. You and I are bound to this common resolution, that our country will never wane and there will be only one guide and that is the welfare of the Filipino people and the national interest.
I, therefore, close with this statement. There is no fear of any economic crisis. There is no fear of any recession, provided we are dedicated. There is no fear of any external foe, of any rebel, of any secessionist, provided we are united. ”

“ The barangay not only is the vehicle for expressing the views of the people, it is also the instrument for greater production. Whether we face recession or worse and graver threats arising out of the world situation, food production is still the principal program of government. Whatever may happen, provided we have enough food, the Philippines will not only survive, we will progress- The principal vehicle for production must be the barangays and the Samahang Nayon. ”

“ Hungry for independence and self-rule in whatever form it may have been bequeathed to us, whether negotiated or exacted by heroism in combat, we did not aspire further. We looked only at the face of colonialism and did not bother to inquire about the fundamental issues of social life that would inevitably come with independence.
For we were in the period when we believed that political emancipation was the answer to all the problems of nationhood. Now, we are aware that political emancipation is merely the beginning of nationhood. ”

“ There seems no doubt that between the welding of a nation, the binding together of all the elements constituting the nation, and fighting a superior outside power that opposed that nationhood, the revolution was bound to falter. ”

“ I ask you to join in all these efforts because security is related to the efforts against drug addiction and the organization of cooperatives, Samahang Nayon and Kilusang Bayan.
What has the cooperative and the Kilusang Bayan or the Samahang Nayon got to do with security? Security doesn’t merely mean military security. Today military security is interchangeable with economic stability, if there is scarcity in food, if prices go up and get out of control beyond the means of the common man, then you will have military insecurity as well as economic instability. ”

“ Did you know that 62.5 percent of our people are below the age of 25? We are a young country. There is no reason therefore why the great majority of our people cannot be devoted to productive enterprise. And yet, only a part of the entire population is engaged in production. This is one of the basic deficiencies of our country and our economy today. The barangay and the corresponding Samahang Nayon are the answers. Of course, we must adopt a youth development program. And today, I am also going to create a new department in government, the Department of Youth and Sports Development. ”

“ Provided, we don’t fall into the old error of our race, into factionalism, into personal ambition and personal interest raised above the national interest; provided, we do not again repeat the failure and the errors of the past; provided, we act as a nation, as a Filipino people, no danger, no threat, can weaken the Republic of the Philippines. ”

“ Our youth development program, therefore, should instill in our young citizens the values of respect and discipline. And we must engage their minds in work that will produce benefits for themselves.
And that is why we have this balanced economic policy. We support industry, but more than this, we must support agriculture. As you know, in industry, we have been advised that most countries are moving timidly in setting up new enterprises and expanding the economy. ”

“ We have moved on agrarian reform, and I need not go into this I will make a more detailed presentation of agrarian reforms when we inaugurate the proclamation of land reform sometime in the later part of this month.
But now, I would like to move into what I consider one of the most important pillars of agricultural development, which is the Cooperatives Development Program. Our agrarian reform program, to be faithful to our hopes, and to liberate our farmers from bondage rather than imprison them in failed expectations, must now move swiftly in rural areas. ”

“ It took many years for the government to perceive the defeat of the system, and it was under­standable, because there sat in the high and powerful places of government the members of the oligarchy who alone profited from conditions prevailing in the country. Neither the determination of the United States to make democracy succeed in our country, nor the peaceful electoral transfer of power from one national leader to another, availed. ”

“ The barangay leaders are authorized to arrest those who are engaged in selling drugs as well as using drugs. You are under mandate to report to the police and to the NBI all those who are engaged in drug addiction because there is no one who is in a better position to know what is happening in the neighbor­hood than the barangay leader. I therefore ask you to join wholeheartedly and sincerely in this effort against drug addiction in our country today. ”

“ I hereby announce today, that we will not in any way reduce our efforts at infrastructure development, but we will change the priority. Infrastructure will be devoted principally to production. We must look toward a bold pursuit of our national development program as the permanent solution of our problems. ”

“ But there are faithless men, whose arrogance and indifference to our goals are still a source of anguish on the part of many in our country. It is a faithlessness that goes against the very roots of our reforms and will surely return us to anarchy, the corruption and the special privilege we have dislodged from our society. ”

“ We all realize therefore that since the foundation of our society is a civil order which allows every man to move about peacefully to attain his lawful objectives with­out prejudicing his fellowmen, inasmuch as this is the foundation not only of our society but of our reforms and programs of development we must guard it vigilantly and in this effort your organization is essential. ”

“ So, we must expand agriculture and industry. Our yearly capital require­ments are anywhere from 400 to 500 million dollars. We have four sources of capital: foreign exchange earnings, external sources in the form of foreign loans and foreign investments, domestic investment, and national savings. These components of the capital structure of the economy all registered decisive increases during the last two years. Because of the international pressures on our economy, there is need to restudy all of these. Adjustments must be made in capital development. ”

“ Under the roof of the Samahang Nayon, the farmer is able to locale himself permanently in a system that provides organized credit assistance that assures him of seeds, fertilizers and other inputs, as well as marketing assistance that assures him of better prices for his produce. Through the Samahang Nayon, the individual capabilities of the small fanners and workers are pooled together so that they can provide for the future of their families through cheap insurance, banking and other schemes that may be capitalized from a share of the fruits of their tabors. ”

“ Third, the unprecedented volume of foreign investments that has entered the economy will be further stimulated by new incentives. Policies on sharing, repatriation of capital and tax exemptions shall be supplemented with vigorous measures on an industry-to-industry basis. We shall expand the areas in which foreign investments can take part to include more export-oriented projects. Portfolio investors will be encouraged through the transformation of more companies into truly public corporations that will ensure easy cash conversion of investments. ”

“ We can no longer tolerate the middleman getting more money than the one who works to produce the product, the farmer. It is therefore necessary that we now accelerate the implementation of the program and we create the machinery through which the farmer, let’s say, who sells his cabbage will get not 44 but perhaps 60 centavos while the consumer will pay not P1.21 but P0.80. ”

“ We are a country by the will of God and yet we are separated by a small stream of water from the mainland of China, from Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand to the west, Indonesia to the south. It is said that our nation is only 76 years old. ”

“ There was only one choice that remained and that was martial law, unfortunate term that it is, martial law connoting oppression, injustice, dictator­ship and the rule of one man without the authorization of the people. ”