Ramon Magsaysay

“ I would also ask Congress to study the feasibility of granting subsidies as a means of encouraging doctors and nurses to establish themselves in those remote areas which now lack essential medical and health services. We must have a healthy manpower as the most essential factor for economic advancement. No nation can go forward when it is crippled by disease.
The Social Welfare Administration has mapped out a definite program of self-help projects designed to put needy individuals back on their feet. ”

“ As much as the finances of the Government will permit, we should also buy large estates for resale to small farmers on liberal terms.
In order to encourage agricultural production and eliminate in absentee-landlordism, I propose that Congress study the advisability of imposing special taxes on lands left uncultivated for an unreasonably long period and without justifiable cause.
Our laws on land registration and the disposition of public lands should be revised. We should make it easier for our people to get land of their own, free from any nagging technical doubts. ”

“ Our small farmers and producers should find it easier to borrow money when they need it to increase production. This means more rural banks and more ample working capital for the Agricultural Credit Cooperative Financing Administration (ACCFA) . Producers’ cooperatives should also be properly organized and financed.
Our ultimate goal is to reshape land tenure system in our country in such a way as to build a strong nation of small, independent, and contended farm owners, free from want, protected from injustice, and eager to contribute their share to the welfare and progress of the nation. ”

“ I am for the adoption of a public works program that will bring the benefits of democracy to the nipa huts of the poor. All too often our small farmers have to carry their products to market on their backs because we have neglected barrio roads. ”

“ The honest, realistic, and really economical way to run this Government is to collect the present taxes efficiently, intensively. We must go after tax evaders without favoritism and drive home the lesson on that they deserve no mercy. To this end, I recommend that Congress make the penalties for tax evasion more severe. ”

“ Most vital to our internal growth and development, however, is our trade relationship with the United States. Our Government has asked for a re-examination of the Bell Trade Act in the earnest belief that the situation in which it was originally considered and drafted has changed, and that a new situation has arisen which calls for a new arrangement. We are confident that the Government and people of the United States will not look upon our proposals with indifference. ”

“ We will encourage free unionism under responsible, enlightened leadership truly dedicated to the welfare of the laboring masses. But I warn those unscrupulous individuals who would use the labor movement to exploit the workers that their activities will not go unpunished. ”

“ The attainment of sufficiency in rice production and distribution is one of our major goals. We shall hasten the construction of more irrigation systems and encourage efforts to increase rice production yields, and at the same time take measures to bring the price of rice clown to the reach of the common man.
The development of cottage industries must be an integral part of our industrial program, not only to produce goods but also to help supplement the low income of our people in the barrios. ”

“ The joint Philippine-American program of self-help, designed to assist our country’s economic development, merits our vigorous support. Together with the representatives of the Foreign Operations Administration, we are now considering ways and means to speed up the assistance program, in our mutual desire to bring its benefits to our people at the earliest possible time. I trust that Congress will provide adequate counterpart funds. We shall also explore other programs of economic cooperation with nations in Asia and with the United Nations. ”

“ The Government should extend greater protection to· tenants who, because of ignorance or illiteracy, are often badly in need of advice with respect to their rights, especially in the liquidation of their harvests with the landlords. I urge Congress to strengthen the legal staff entrusted with the specific task of rendering this kind of assistance. ”

“ As a good neighbor to the countries of Southeast Asia, we shall participate in all regional activities that will promote closer economic and cultural relations among us. We have ties with European countries, and, through our Spanish heritage, with the Spanish-American republics. ”

“ Consequently, new emphasis will be placed on the promotion of foreign trade as one of our primary objectives. Our foreign service will everywhere have the new mission of contributing directly to the economic stability and expanding trade of our people. ”

“ Government corporations have been created purportedly for this purpose, but they failed to achieve their objective because they were manned by incompetent or dishonest officials, because they were diverted from their original functions, or because they were unwisely expanded. ”

“ We should do everything possible to increase the yield per unit area and improve the quality of our export products in order to place us in a better position to compete with other suppliers of the world markets. ”

“ At the same time we will employ the manpower and resources of our .Armed Forces to combat not only dissidence but also the causes which breed dissidence. Troops and trainees of the Armed Forces will be mobilized for the construction of public works and economic development projects, as far as this may be compatible with their primary mission and with economy of operation. ”

“ Public necessity should now be our criterion. Our needs are great but our resources are small. This calls for careful planning, intelligent selection, and consistent and economical implementation of projects. ”

“ Character building alone, without a solid moral foundation, has been found inadequate in developing a sound citizenry. We should improve and strengthen the implementation of the Constitutional provision on optional religious instruction through practical and just measures. ”

“ But our people must realize that individually, as well as nationally, we must help ourselves. The fundamental difficulty is that our farmers and workers do not earn enough money, largely because they have not been trained to work efficiently. ”

“ We must, therefore, move to strengthen our defenses. It is clearly in the national interest that we meet with the representatives of the United States Government to settle pending legal questions so that the bases we have granted to that. country can be immediately developed and fully activated. ”

“ We must extend the present facilities to educate our farmers in modern agricultural methods, such as the use of fertilizers, mechanical equipment seed selection, soil conservation, crop rotation, and other means to improve agricultural yields. ”

“ In many areas our farmers are harassed by destructive plant pests and diseases. We should help them fight the cadang-cadang disease in the coconut regions, control mosaic disease in abaca, and eradicate rat infection. ”