Ferdinand Marcos

“ The recovery and growth of the national economy, the wellbeing and welfare of our fifty-four million people’, the campaign against communist insurgency and for civility and law in our social life, the revitalization of our armed forces and of the bonds between our soldiery and our people, the strengthening of our democratic institutions and of the apparatus of government-all these tasks are to be hurdled step by step, with patience if necessary but always with the determination to see them through to their fulfillment. ”

“ We know too that in spite of all the hectoring from others about how democracy should develop in our land, we can only trust and listen to our experiences and our needs. Our institutions must be in the image of our needs, otherwise they will not serve us well.
I believe this is what we have at last found, after many pitfalls and starts, after many trials and errors; a democratic ideology that can serve our aspirations as a people. ”

“ For the productivity we seek simply will not be achieved if our factories and plants do not operate. All of us in this country will sink or swim together, and we shall swim above the water only if we will it.
We have always stressed the important role of our most valued resource, the Filipino people, in the successful implementation of our recovery program. The other side of this is government’s obligation and commitment to the improvement of the quality of people’s lives, especially of those in the disadvantaged groups. ”

“ In human history, it has often been the fate of a nation’s soldiery “to be neglected and ignored in times of calm, and to be trustingly looked to in moments of fright.” We must not make the mistake of moving to support our armed forces when the enemy is already at the gates. ”

“ The goals of our recovery program have always converged on the overriding goal of human resource development. Every measure of growth we have in the last analysis comes down to what it means for people.
In pursuing these initiatives for the economy and society, peace and security are imperative to success. ”

“ We expect the inflation rate to decelerate further to around 10 percent by the end of this year and further down to a single digit level by 1988. Money supply expansion will be restricted to around 15 percent to further bring down the inflation rate. Domestic borrowings of the public sector will be regulated and the national government budgetary deficit will be further cut down this year. The stimulus for growth will definitely come from the invigorated rural and agricultural sectors and an intensified export activity in lieu of a slack on government spending and private real investments. ”

“ The tight stabilization program and weak demand for our exports by our major trading partners have impaired our ability to restore economic growth. Nevertheless, the expansion of the agricultural sector by 2.1 percent as of the first quarter prevented a larger fall in .real output. The improved income in agriculture will raise the purchasing power of two-thirds of our population who live in the rural areas and eventually raise the demand for industries and revive industrial activity. ”

“ As economic difficulties have beset us during the last three years, however, those seeking the overthrow of. Government by force found the time opportune to expand and intensify their activities. And today the peace and security situation is of priority concern.
Although stability has been attained with respect to the secessionist movement in the South, other elements now pose grave threats to our communities, the most critical of these being the Communist New People’s Army. ”

“ Third, we shall limit government sector involvement to socially desirable activities and to those wherein the private sector is unable or unwilling to invest in due to unprofitability, high risks, and exorbitant cost involved but which activities are also of high social and economic priority. This would enable the private sector to continue its dynamic role in our economic recovery in the context of a free enterprise economy. ”

“ There are others, and I have come here tonight to report that our democracy has prevailed over a year of crisis and uncertainty, and to seek your support and collaboration in meeting a new turning point in national life. ”

“ I believe there is much that we can do to improve the quality of government itself—its machinery, its manpower and its methods?so that our programs may truly touch the lives of our people and our communities. ”

“ Today, that is now largely recovered and strengthened.
We have protected the gains and the reforms of the past decade in our response to the crisis, even though we have had to implement stringent measures of economy and prudence. No major social program of reform has been abrogated by our belt tightening efforts; rather savings have been generated in other areas so that the reform effort would continue. ”

“ We need have no fear as we engaged in this struggle of ideas, in this test between our rival faiths and ideologies. But it is no longer enough to simply trust to the worn saw that our people will never be won over by communism or socialism, because of ideals and beliefs they were born to. ”

“ For we have not been standing still, resting on past victories, in confronting the present insurgency challenge. As the enemy has changed in tactics and weaponry in recent year, so have we on our part sought to make major adjustments in our counterinsurgency program, not least in terms of reforms within our armed forces. ”

“ We must recognize that the emergence of a dynamic national economy will not be an accident of development, but the product of a national effort animated by a vision of the future.
At least six areas of economic management need to be subjected to further action and reform for the rest of 1985 and 1986.
First, we shall continue to adhere to a disciplined financial and budgetary program to stabilize our balance of payment:, position, maintain an enduring reduction in the inflation rate, and exercise greater control on public spending. ”

“ While the CPP/NPA has managed, since 1969, to increase its strength, improve its firepower, and expand its political influence, it is still far from being an immediate threat to government and overall national stability. But it does pose a serious threat to peace and order in some of our communities, and to life and welfare for several thousands of our people. ”

“ An even closer look at the employment data showed that the number of self-employed increased by 12.8 percent in the first quarter this year over the same period last year. This offsets a decline in the number of wage and salaried workers, which fell by 1.6 percent over the same period last year. This reflects the resiliency of our people when they venture into entrepreneurial activities as a matter of economic adjustment and social protection. ”

“ Fourth, we shall step up the revenue generating capacity of the public sector through an upgrading of the tax and nontax system and through more efficient resource utilization. Let me say at once, we do not propose or contemplate any new taxes except where action is required to repeal and change certain tax measures in the interests of improvement and fairness. ”

“ The tax and gross receipts on foreign exchange transactions and the remaining five percent additional ad valorem import duty shall eventually be phased out in favor of alternative and better tax measures. To ensure more efficient resource utilization, public investments will be regularly programmed. Due to our limited public funds, we have to curb any future spending. Priority shall be given to ongoing projects, those with the highest economic and social rates of return, and those which are financed from foreign sources. ”

“ It is imperative that there be no disruption in the production process which will hamper our government’s efforts to ensure price stability and a favorable financial environment to encourage more investments, the creation of livelihood opportunities and a rise in incomes and wages. ”

“ There has been a tendency, particularly on the part of foreign media and foreign observers, to exaggerate the extent of the Communist threat, so much so that we are now the subject of all kinds of scenarios on when and how the Communists will take over. This kind of “overacting” on the part of those who do not know the situation first hand merely serves to confuse the issues and do not help us any in dealing with the realities of the problem. ”

“ We need likewise to rebuild anew the links between our military and our people, because upon those ties the final solution to communist insurgency can be forced. Let us recognize that while abuses have been committed by our men in uniform, our defense establishment is not passive before its shortcomings, It is striving today to weed out undesirables from its ranks and to’ institute greater professionalism and discipline in the corps. ”

“ In the agricultural sector, pricing, marketing and other forms of administrative controls are being phased out in support of a balanced agro-industrial development. The retail ceiling price of rice will be lifted in October this year, while that of corn has been lifted since October last year. Domestic trading of sugar has been returned to the private sector and the export marketing system for coconut products has been liberalized. I have ordered the preparation of rehabilitation and development plan for the sugar industry even as we provide food and other assistance to displaced workers. ”

“ In the energy sector, our dependence on oil imports has gradually declined due to a continuous substitution of domestic energy resources for imported energy. The share of indigenous energy resources to our total energy consumption has increased to 44 percent for the first four months this year from last year’s 42 percent. Consequently, our oil import bill for the same period this year has gone down by 6 percent. By yearend, we will be 50 percent self-sufficient in energy requirements. ”

“ Tradition is indeed on the side of democracy. But it i3 vain and illusory to imagine that this struggle can be won without renewing ourselves many times by an act of faith. It cannot be won without tapping anew the great resources of democratic ideology and tradition. It cannot be won if we do not carry the struggle also to the citadels of the enemy, and underscore the sour fruit of communist and socialist experience. ”

“ Thus, we know now that for a democratic political system to be truly effective, a sufficient foundation must be laid in terms of the people’s control over their own affairs. It is not enough that citizens vote periodically in elections. ”

“ In sum, we need the energetic cooperation of all in diffusing the climate of confrontation on labor-management issues with voluntary steps on both sides to amicably discuss and settle issues. Let us take every effort to avoid factory shutdowns as our ready recourse to attain social justice. ”

“ Even more gratifying is the mere increase of 1.5 percent in the inflation rate from January to June of this year.
The same downward trend in inflation rates was observed in all areas of the country. Metro Manila’s rate decreased even more significantly by 8.72 percentage points from 30.91 percent in May to only 22.19 percent in June. For areas outside Metro Manila, the inflation rate slid down further by 7.1 percentage points from 35.83 percent last month to 28.73 percent in June. ”

“ The Rent Control Law has also been implemented and rents have been programmed for adjustments on a staggered basis to help some one million house renters all over the land cope with the current economic crunch and to encourage more social and low-cost housing activities.
We shall also step up local and overseas job placements to compensate for the decline in employment opportunities due to the general slowdown in industrial activity. Moreover, we will create more jobs through the Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran (KKK) and the Kilusang Sariling Sikap (KSS) programs. ”

“ The share of the bottom 60 percent of families in the income ladder increased by 1.2 percentage points from 21.7 percent during the fourth quarter of 1981 to 22.9 during the same period in 1983, based on quarterly integrated surveys of households.
Average annual incomes of both rural and urban households have increased over the years. The average rural household income increased fivefold from P2,818 in 1971 to P14,646 in 1982, while average urban household income improved fourfold from P5,867 in 1971 to P23,637 in 1982. ”

“ In health and nutrition, the primary health care approach will continue to ensure the provision of essential health services to the most basic communities. Also, we will further strengthen the herbal medicine program to cut down reliance on imported drugs and introduce acupuncture in various hospitals to reduce the costs of medical care. Likewise, we are committed to further improve and develop the health infrastructure network, particularly hospitals, to meet the needs of the growing population. ”

“ And in our relations with the rest of the world, we have the confidence of other nations and international institutions in our ability to surmount our problems and to meet our obligations and commitments. ”

“ To improve resource mobilization, we will strive for a more efficient tax collection system to achieve a broader tax base. Improvement in the collection and utilization of tax resources shall be the focus of our efforts. ”

“ The reforms shall be built on the principles of liberalization, deregulation and technological modernization. Policy decisions will be aimed at developing a more buoyant and competitive agricultural sector and at improving the incentives to small farmers. ”

“ In particular, government financial institutions will be reformed to avoid unnecessary duplication of functions as well as excessive and unessential competition with the private sector. We shall actively assist mergers and consolidations among banks to encourage them to build up their resources and equity bases. ”

“ Finally, we must press on structural reforms to improve the efficiency of resource allocation, to make our industries internationally competitive and to develop and diversify domestic sources of energy. ”