Joseph Estrada

“ I will give you at once a government that works, while we wait for the dividends of yet another round of sacrifice that must fall on your shoulders again.
Government cannot afford to feed all the hungry in our country, but it would be a crime if any money for food went to government officials and fixers instead. ”

“ Why must economic progress always be at the people's expense?
When it was a question of economic reforms to rebuild business confidence and restore business profits, the reforms were never too fast or too hard, especially for the common people to bear.
Six years after Cory Aquino, the foundations of a strong economy were laid. In the six years of the Ramos administration, the economy was paying big dividends to its biggest stockholders. This time, why not to the common people as well, for a change? Must we always measure progress only by the golf courses of the rich? ”

“ We know that the most damaging crimes against society are not those of petty thieves in rags, but those of economic saboteurs in expensive clothes: the dishonest stockholders, the wheeling-dealing businessmen, influence-peddlers, price-padders, and other crooks in government. ”

“ While I ask you to share these sacrifices with me, I will not impose any more on you when it comes to my job as president. The job is mine now and I'll do it.
There is no excuse for the spread of crime in any society, unless government is an accomplice. There is no criminal organization or criminal activity that can stand up to the government if the government is sincere about stamping it out. ”

“ You will not be alone again in making sacrifices, and you will not be the last again to enjoy the rewards when they come.
I ask the rich to take a share of the sacrifices commensurate with their strength. What each of us carries is not our individual burden alone, but the fate of our country that we must all share, and which none of us can escape. ”

“ What I envision is ordinary. My promises are made to be fulfilled in a working day; they are hopes of ordinary Filipinos like myself, in circumstances less than ideal with the economic recession, but they ate long overdue. ”

“ Government can provide basic services without the extra cost of pork barrel or kickback; roads for work; infrastructure for productivity; schools for skills; clinics for health; police for safety, and a lean and mean military machine for national defense. ”

“ Time for them to have a fairer share of the national wealth they create and a bigger stake in their own country. Some will say we cannot rush these things. First, focus on the economy again. Of course, we must improve the economy. How else can the people's lives improve? ”

“ I hope this message will not be taken badly by the rich. It has always been their turn, and it is also their turn again. For it is the priority of my administration to create the environment of peace and order in which business does well. ”