Joseph Estrada

“ You must drop your weapons because outside of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the authorized police forces, no group whatsoever has any right to maintain an armed force or military camps within the sovereign territory of this republic.
Secession by itself is a mere ideology, but if backed by armed force, it becomes a rebellion. A secessionist can only argue, but a rebel can kill. The government has no choice but to disarm the rebel--except for duly licensed personal firearms. ”

“ Graft and corruption is the worst form of rottenness in our society. It erodes the moral fabric of our people, robs the poor, increases the costs of doing business, erodes tax collection efforts, and drives away investments. ”

“ All these institutional reforms and radical restructurings, plus additional measures I will mention later, should restore and increase the country's ability to compete for investments in the future.
As we build our infrastructure, so shall we build our information superhighway. In fact, instead of just retracting the history of other faster-growing countries, we have decided to leapfrog from the so-called old economy to the new economy: using information technology, including e-commerce, to fast-track our output, our productivity and our competitiveness. ”

“ There are whole Filipino populations in Mindanao--Muslims, Christians, and Lumad--who do not want their territories and their residencies disturbed. Not even the majority of the Muslim population shares your separatist views nor the violent means you employ to attain them. The overriding passion of the people of Mindanao is for peace.
Our people will simply not stand for the dismemberment of the country. All of the Philippines belongs to all Filipinos. ”

“ What I believe the Philippine economy needs is not just reforms but radical restructuring, from the ground up.
Many are asking why is it that other Asian countries, which went through a worse crisis than we did, actually grew faster on the rebound. One reason is that we recovered from a higher base, they from a lower one. A more fundamental reason is that the very structure of the Philippine economy today was inherited from past decades of import-substitution and protective policies, aggravated by economic mismanagement and corruption. Our industrial base is thin. ”

“ When I talk of another war, I mean the war to correct historical wrongs, which left a sad legacy of poverty and social injustice to Mindanao. This is the war that all of us, including ex-rebels, should fight together.
Fighting the rebellion is one thing. It takes the military to do it. But fighting the root causes of rebellion is another. It will take the whole society to do it.
We can talk about the possibility of amnesty. I ask the MILF leaders to lead your followers in walking with us along the path of peace. ”

“ Unemployment is rising. And investments are nervously staying away from the East Asian region as a whole.
As we take a long, hard look at the future, what we see is the need for long, hard work ahead.
Under threat of a national and regional slowdown, we must keep working at the basics which, because they had been forgotten, led to the Asian crisis in the first place. We must keep up the pace of reforms, particularly by improving governance all around, by adhering to sound macroeconomic policies, and by taking measures to keep the banking and financial system sound, strong, and prudent. ”

“ With the cooperation of the private sector, and by linking up our schools to the world of the Internet and wiring them to the cyber world, the Philippines educational system will take a giant stride in both its coverage and quality. ”

“ We will push through further with reforms that strengthen our institutions. In line with this, I ask Congress to pass the new Central Bank Act, which will empower the government to add to the durability and responsiveness of what already is one of the soundest banking systems in all of Asia.
The Philippines will rapidly evolve into a center for software programming and a base for hosting and providing Internet services. As we now excel in the export of electronic products and semi-conductors, we are also fast becoming a major link in the limitless world of the Internet. ”

“ There simply is no space in our geography, in our demographics, and in our national psyche for forcibly carving another state out of the present Philippine territory. For that reason, the foreign models you invoke, like East Timor, will not work for you. ”

“ The economy will grow by an average of 5 percent during my term. My ever-carping critics say that this target is unambitious and lower than that of our Asian neighbors. I should remind them that this growth rate is much higher than what we achieved in the past. And if I can, for the first time, defeat the boom-bust cycle, my successor will have a good shot at achieving tiger-economy growth rates. ”

“ To contribute effectively to the progress of the countries they live in and to respect their sovereignty and laws.
[Unquote.]
Secession as a dream is also out of tune with history. If there is one lesson that historical evolution has taught us, it is this: That diversity is a cause for celebration, not segregation; that cultural cross-breeding leads to strength while in-breeding leads to weakness; and that cultural identities are enriched by interaction and impoverished by isolation. ”

“ The Philippine National Police will continue to pursue its policy of absolute zero tolerance against illegal drugs. It will also continue to professionalize itself in its no-nonsense fight against crime, even as it intensifies its no-nonsense campaign against excessive waistlines. ”

“ You must drop all your criminal activities because terrorism, bombings, ambushes, and violence have no place in a civilized society. Criminals have no place in a negotiating table. Their place is in jail.
Most of all, you must drop your secessionist goals. We do not ask that you respect and recognize the sovereignty of the republic. We demand that you do.
May I give the MILF some unsolicited advice. Secession in the Philippines is an impossible dream. ”

“ Physically, the sunset industries we inherited from the past must yield to the sunrise industries of the Internet age. Agriculture must go through a total technological conversion and our education must catch up with the twenty-first century. ”

“ I also call on the affluent to pay their taxes correctly. There is only one thing worse than not spending enough on pro-poor programs, and that is running excessive deficits and allowing inflation and macroeconomic instability to rob the poor. ”

“ No government financial institution shall extend any new loans, nor shall any government agency enter into any new contracts, with any private party with any past-due loans from a GFI, a record of foreclosure or special bad debt settlement by any GFI, or any pending and unresolved dispute with the government. ”

“ The recent weaknesses in the foreign exchange rate of the peso cannot therefore be attributed to our macroeconomic fundamentals, but more to what we might call the politicals and the psychologicals. Our fundamentals are by any standards respectable--except to those who refuse to see. ”

“ We will concentrate on providing both socialized and affordable housing for the poor and the wage earners. Housing as a program provides shelter, a basic human need. It is labor-intensive and generates employment. ”

“ No creditors should be shielded by the government's sovereign guarantees from the market risks that they themselves should bear. The risks of their debtors' default should be borne by them, not by the taxpayers. ”

“ The first is to restore and maintain peace in Mindanao--because without peace, there can be no development. The second is to develop Mindanao--because without development, there can be no peace. The third is to continue seeking peace talks with the MILF within the framework of the Constitution--because a peace agreed upon in good faith is preferable to a peace enforced by force of arms. ”

“ And to make doubly sure that future bids will be completely transparent, the government will resort to electronic public bidding, or the so-called reverse auction method, where bids from all suppliers and contractors will be posted on a website, watched by the whole world, and where each bid can be improved upon by other bidders, this brings transparency to a new dimension. ”

“ On the other hand, I invite the MILF followers to walk with us in peace even if your leaders won't. Instead of the lives of hunted fugitives, you can now live the lives of peaceful farmers, fishermen, factory workers, merchants, entrepreneurs, or civil servants, soldiers, or policemen. ”

“ There would have been a larger space for tolerance if they had pushed their cause in the open marketplace for ideas. But instead, they built up an army and used their firepower to force their separatist aims on an unwilling people. ”

“ We will modernize the fighting capabilities of the entire Armed Forces of the Philippines, both in terms of personnel and equipment. Their outstanding performance in Mindanao further highlighted their importance in preserving the territorial integrity of the republic from external and internal threats. ”

“ We continued to lay the groundwork for future growth with continuing advances in the construction and completion of major roads and water supply basins, in the energizing of our barangays, 77.4 percent of which now have power, and in the exploitation of natural gas fields to reduce our dependence on imported oil. ”