Fidel V. Ramos

“ This is what we must resolve to make our beloved Philippines these next 10-15 years. We must complete the reforms that will make our economy. Our society a more efficient creator of wealth; our social structure a more equitable distributor of benefits; and our political system the guardian of our democracy. ”

“ We must now move aggressively to bring our people up to speed with the global economy. To create high-wage jobs in the future, human-capital investments are the key. And in this spirit, I commend to this Congress -- as a Priority Administration Bill -- the Magna Carta for Students endorsed by our Social Reform Council.
We must improve government's capacity and efficiency across the board -- in its every aspect from top to bottom. The bureaucracy, the civil service we must further professionalize and Local Government Units we must begin to use as strategic partners in development. ”

“ We have reduced the population growth rate marginally -- from 2.35% in 1990 to 2.32% in 1995. But this still means our population will double -- over the next 31 years -- from today's near 70 million to 138 million. This press of sheer numbers will have a tremendous impact on poverty and on the degradation of our environment -- unless we do something, and unless we start now. And that Population Management Bill is now here in the Tenth Congress. The plain truth is that we can no longer make do with economic leapfrogging -- because other countries are leapfrogging, too. ”

“ Now that we can afford to think beyond our people's immediate needs, we as national leaders must learn to look beyond the politician's perspective. We must learn to plan and prepare -- not just for the next election, but for the next generation. We must learn to look to what the world -- the region -- and the Philippines -- would be like -- not just over the next Presidential term but over the next 10-15 years. ”

“ But the challenge of development still lies ahead of us. And this coming century will be far different from the one about to end. The future world will be shaped by at least two revolutionary changes. One is the adoption -- on a global scale -- of market-oriented strategies of industrialization. And the other is the phenomenal spread of Information Technology. Our reforms these past five years have moved our country into the mainstream of global commerce -- into the middle of the profound changes taking place in the world. ”

“ We must build in this country the constellation of skills -- the education, research and development, the work ethic, and the entire infrastructure of knowledge -- that will enable us to develop technological leadership. ”

“ Ladies and Gentlemen of the Tenth Congress: Now to sum up and conclude. On this my last State of the Nation report, my message to this distinguished legislature is as urgent as it is simple: we cannot afford to think only in terms of the next election; our people will no longer allow an attitude of "business-as-usual" in government. We must use these next 10-15 years -- during which we may expect regional stability to continue -- to prepare our people and our economy for the intensely competitive world of the 21st century. ”

“ The pole-vaulting strategy I have articulated is the Ramos Administration's legacy to future administrations. The tasks it sets for both government and civil society may take not just years but decades to realize in their fullness. Carrying out the pole-vaulting strategy is inherently the shared responsibility of all levels of government and of all sectors of society. ”

“ Likewise, Ladies and Gentlemen, this Congress must now pass the Cordillera Organic Act, which will enable -- sige alsipat kayo, kakabsat ken gagayyem -- the indigenous peoples of Northern Luzon to develop more speedily, while preserving their native culture and their environment. To make certain that development springs freely from the rice-roots, we also must speed up the devolution of authority to provinces, cities and municipalities. We must remove the web of laws and regulations -- administered at the national level -- that restrains regions from developing each in its own way. ”

“ In my much-criticized foreign trips -- apart from their other benefits to our foreign relations -- by themselves have generated an estimated US$21 billion worth of investments from 36 countries according to our board of investments. Foreign tourist arrivals grew by 16% yearly over the last five years -- the highest growth in the Asia-Pacific region, while domestic tourism grew from 2.7 million in 1991 to close to 10 million in 1995. The prestigious International Retirement Global Index based in Geneva named the Philippines in 1996 as the number one retirement destination in the world. ”

“ And top executives in ten Asian countries -- responding to a recent survey by the Far Eastern Economic Review, said they expect the Philippines to be the third best-performing East Asian Economy in East Asia in 1997 -- after China and Malaysia. Yet the ultimate judge of how well a pair of shoes is made is not the shoemaker's opinion, but the customer whose feet will hurt -- if the shoe pinches. and the ultimate measure of how well government works is in ordinary people's own judgment of how its workings have affected their daily lives. ”

“ The entire political system we must make more responsive to the challenges -- and the opportunities -- that the new century will bring. We must reexamine the Constitution as thoroughly as the Japanese, the South Koreans, the Thais, among others, are reexamining theirs -- to improve qualitatively the state's capacity to promote the interests of the national community, even as we recognize the people's right -- enshrined in the same Constitution -- to seek its improvement. And of the political reforms we must undertake, the most important include promoting a strong and responsible party system. ”

“ In industry, we must press on with the reforms that have already brought about profound changes in our industrial capabilities. We must nurture especially Small and Medium Enterprises, our SMEs -- which generate the most jobs at the smallest capital-cost. Already SMEs make up 90 percent of our enterprises and employ 40 percent of our workers in manufacturing. We are starting with the private sector a common program for creating one million new Filipino entrepreneurs by the year 2000. ”

“ And in the not-too-distant future, China will once again become a great power -- and it is unrealistic for anyone to think that outsiders can prevent this from taking place. How china exercises its potential political, economic, and military clout must concern all countries of the Asia Pacific -- and none more so than we who are closest among its neighbors especially the Philippines. With our partners in ASEAN, we agree that our best approach to China is to draw her into the network of economic and diplomatic collaboration with us -- for our mutual benefit. ”

“ And we will employ the full force of government against the criminals, the outlaws, especially their masterminds, the drug lords, and the financiers who persist in challenging the rule of law and undermining the moral fabric of our society. We will hit them hard, again and again. Social protection we must assure particularly for women and children, who are the most vulnerable sectors of our population. ”

“ What is lacking is a concerted and determined push to bring our agriculture into modernization. To spur the development of agriculture and industry, this Congress must now pass bills pending since 1995 such as the Agricultural Productivity and Irrigation Enhancement Act of 1995 which became the Propose Act of 1996, it is now 1997 which that provide more funds for irrigation, also agrarian reform and more electric power from renewable indigenous resources -- hydro, geothermal, riptide, wind, solar, and ocean ”

“ It is important that government now rationalize incentives to business to keep inefficient enterprises from proliferating. To promote efficiency and productivity in the financial sector, this Congress must now pass the remaining component measures of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program -- both to simplify taxation and to increase revenue generation. ”

“ I commend to this Congress the proposal to establish a National Program for Gifted Filipino Children in Science and Technology; and the enactment of a law establishing a Nationwide system of High Schools specializing in the Sciences and in Engineering. And we must make more intensive investments in basic education., for basic education can unlock the intelligence hidden in every young mind. ”

“ But this period of stability underwritten by America's economic and military strength would not last forever. The future simply holds too many uncertainties. China's intentions in the South China Sea; How a new Russia will evolve from the ideological ruins of the Soviet Union; how peace can be organized once and for all on the Korean peninsula; and how Japan will respond to the challenge of helping ensure peace and stability in our region -- all these remain unclear. China's rapidly expanding economy will unavoidably press politically and militarily on East Asia. ”

“ We must also nurture a stable capital market -- one that will encourage long-term investment confidence; mobilize efficiently domestic savings and foreign investments for our social and physical infrastructure; and work in conformity with international standards. Development of this capital market will require the passage of the Securities Regulation and Enforcement Act, and the Revised Investment Company Act -- both of which are already with this Congress. ”

“ We will never achieve a generalized increase in living standards without transforming our farming communities. But we must complete other reforms -- like the liberalization of retail trade and the Anti-trust/Anti-monopoly Act -- because this will make the market system work more effectively. And we must continue to lay the infrastructure of facilities, services and equipment that will allow national society to function more efficiently. Today, we are building infrastructure at a pace the country has not seen in 20 years. ”

“ And we must tap the talent pool that still lies dormant in our 69 million people, the majority of whom are under 40 years of age. We must break the remaining concentration of economic and political power in a few -- so that we can unleash the creativity, the resourcefulness and the entrepreneurship in the many. ”

“ The administration of justice we must make impartial, swift, thorough, unsparing. Law enforcement agencies we should reform, reorganize, and modernize -- to raise their level of competence and their standard of dedication to their duties. ”

“ This is at least double the world's average GDP growth over the same period. We were at 5.5% by last we report. Our economy must at least match this growth rate. If our country is to become a significant player in the Asia-Pacific, then we must now prepare the place we want to have in this future world. We must find our competitive niche -- and nurture it. What are our basic strengths and distinct disadvantages? They lie in our democratic and open society; our archipelagic setting; our strategic location astride the Great Oceans of Commerce and South China Sea ”

“ This agenda of the United Nations on Sustainable Development requires specific executive actions to help nurture and preserve Mother Earth. We have taken cognizance of the fact that as we take an aggressive development agenda, we must match it with an updated, much stronger environmental management capability. That Congress has until now not passed any Environmental Act does not speak well of the Philippine state's commitment to the global ideal of sustainable development. ”

“ Science and Technology scholarships granted by Congress have also widened our Scientific and Engineering manpower base. We have also established a network of institutes of molecular biology and biotechnology -- to study biotech's applications in agriculture, industry, medicine and the environment. And under our pole-vaulting strategy, we aim to turn the Philippines into an Asian hub for Software Development and Training. We have several bills relating to Science and Technology pending in this Congress. ”

“ The Magna Carta for Small Enterprises has increased the loanable funds set aside by the banking sector for SMEs from some ₱6 billion in 1992 to over ₱110 billion over these past five years. In agriculture, we have the natural resources and we have the manpower -- not only to feed our own people, but to export to the world. ”

“ We must make our schools not only communities of learners -- where our children learn to read, write, and compute. We must make them schools of the future -- which nurture young Filipinos to become responsible citizens and enlightened leaders of our country. ”

“ And we must strengthen the institutions of direct democracy installed in the 1987 Constitution -- because accountability is the very essence of representative government. We must now pursue the electoral reforms still remaining -- particularly in regard to computerization and absentee voting -- this are still undone which we shall need them for next year's crucial elections. Every successful election helps to consolidate democracy in our country. ”

“ In social reform, we have addressed the concerns of the basic sectors and improved the quality of life in the 20 poorest provinces, and in the poorest municipalities, the fifth and the sixth class municipalities in all of our 78 provinces. ”