Fidel V. Ramos

“ We can lay the ground for self-sustaining growth and more. But we can win the future only if we are united in purpose and in will.
The Filipino State has historically required extraordinarily little of its citizens. As individuals, we Filipinos acknowledge few obligations to the national community. Yet, if we are to develop, citizenship must begin to count more than ties of blood and kinship. Only with civic commitment does development become possible in a democratic society. ”

“ Sacrifices will be asked of every sector of society. But I am not daunted, because crisis has a cleansing fire which makes heroes out of ordinary people and can transform a plodding society into a tiger. ”

“ For without stability, businesses cannot run, workers cannot create wealth, liberty cannot flourish, and even individual life will be brutish and precarious.
Then, we must make politics serve — not the family, the faction, or the party — but the nation. And we must restructure the entire regime of regulation and control that which rewards people who do not produce at the expense of those who do. A system that enables persons with political influence to extract wealth without effort from the economy.
The immediate future will be difficult in some areas. ”

“ Third, our people spoke of their faith that we Filipinos can be greater than the sum of all the problems that confront us; that we can climb higher than any summit we have already scaled.
We cannot but interpret the vote as a summons; for us to unite and face the future together. The people are not looking for scapegoats, but for the basic things to get done — and get done quickly.
Let us begin by telling ourselves the truth. Our nation is in trouble. ”

“ The road to development is by now much traveled. We Filipinos have lacked not the way, but the will. This political will, my presidency shall provide.
In foreign relations, we shall strive to strengthen ties with old friends and trading partners and we shall endeavor to develop new friendships.
My government begins its term in a world transformed. The tide of freedom rising everywhere should help along our efforts to make democracy work here at home. ”

“ As Rizal foresaw, the time has come to tell ourselves that if we wish to be saved, we must redeem ourselves. And in this work of self redemption, we must "expend the whole light of our intellect, and the pulse of our hearts." ”

“ The last Congress has given us the law opening the economy to foreign investments. Our job now is to make that law come to life.
What we do for industry, we will supply in equal measure for agriculture, primarily because almost half of all our workers still live on it. And equally because agriculture is the foundation for our industrial modernization. ”

“ Dismantling protectionist barriers and providing correct incentives and support shall make our industry more efficient and world competitive — and our exports, the spearhead for economic revival and growth. ”

“ Our ideology of Christian democracy, no less than its Muslim counterpart, tells us that power must flow to our neighborhoods, our communities, our groups, our sectors and our institutions — for it is by collective action that we will realize the highest of our hopes and dreams. ”

“ Keeping productivity and effective land use uppermost on our minds, let us set clear targets and do what is practicable.
Let us be firm about the paramount object of our labors. It is to uproot the poverty that grips our land and blights the lives of so many of our people. ”

“ I have asked Mang Pandoy and his family to be my guests in this inaugural ceremony-as proof of my resolve to obtain for families like theirs all over the country the humanities of life. Poverty we must learn to regard as another form of tyranny, and we must wage against it the moral equivalent of war. ”

“ Foremost among our concerns must be to bind the wounds of the election campaign and restore civility to political competition, for our people are weary of the intrigues and petty rivalries that have kept us down. ”

“ We must stop this profligate use and abuse of our natural resources, which are ours only in trust for those who will come after us.
Some of us think that empowerment means solely the access of every citizen to rights and opportunities. ”

“ I call on our mutinous soldiers and radical insurgents to give up their armed struggle. I will work with Congress in fashioning an amnesty policy that will enable errant reformists to re-enter civil society. ”

“ Certainly, there can be no more tolerance of tax evasion, smuggling and organized crime — no matter how highly placed those wh commit it. Nor can we continue to turn a blind eye to the social costs of unbridled profit. ”