Ramon Magsaysay

“ Our Government’s deep concern for the common man is the logical first step toward imbuing the Filipino way of life with the true substance of democracy. Our people must be assisted to the richer rewards of effort but, at the same time, shown that those rewards are won through hard work and integrity. ”

“ The year’s end witnessed an important turning point in our national economy. The era of free trade with the United States came to a close, and new graduated tariff duties were imposed on American imports. With this and other basic changes in our trade relations with the United States we can now lay the basis for a stable economy. It is now up to us to build that economy with determination and dedication.
The national production, estimated at eight billion eight hundred million pesos, increased by nearly four percent over that of last year. ”

“ In our striving for fulfillment as a people, we believe in working from the ground up—in the factories, in the sitios, in the barrios, in the towns of our rural areas—in the conviction that genuine democracy moves upward and not downward. ”

“ The establishment of barrio councils pursuant to Republic Act No. 1408 is another stride toward the strengthening of democracy at the grassroots. It is a good beginning but needs additional means of implementation to give it substance and practical effect. With these new organs of self-expression and self-government, our barrio people will display more initiative in improving their respective communities.
But unless Godliness and morality suffuse the outlook of our people, no objective achieved will be truly satisfying and enduring. ”

“ Our tenth guidepost is the need for raising efficiency in public administration.
The implementation of sound and well-planned projects often bogs down owing to inefficiency in public administration. We must, therefore, continue to buttress our administrative units, especially those directly concerned with economic development.
We have completed the wage and position classification survey and a project on the improvement of budgeting, accounting, and auditing procedures in the Government. We should now apply the results of these studies to effect economy and efficiency. ”

“ The expansion of credit facilities coupled with the proper allocation of foreign exchange is an effective stimulus to agricultural and industrial production. There should now be developed an integrated system of economic priorities to govern the extension of credit and the allocation of dollars. I have, therefore, directed the National Economic Council to develop such a system in concert with the Central Bank, giving preference to projects and enterprises which will make greater use of our available resources and which have high-income and employment potential. ”

“ I suggest that the Congress consider measures to make the local governments financially self-sufficient and more effective in community development. If deemed necessary, an organization should be created to undertake studies on this matter.
Our fourth guidepost is the fuller utilization of our natural resources in economic development.
Our main hope of providing more employment to our people lies in the fuller utilization of our abundant natural resources. ”

“ Nevertheless, I take note of this serious problem to underscore its urgency and to emphasize upon all our people, particularly those in business and in the Government, the need for devoting all our energies, all our intelligence, all our zeal to the task of providing and creating opportunities for our people to make a decent living. ”

“ The healthy growth of trade unions continues, while the workers’ increasing awareness of their rights and responsibilities is being matched by an expanding labor service on the part of the Government. ”

“ While we have concentrated on rural development as our first and most important task, we have also endeavored to help the common man along other lines.
Under the Administration, labor has gained in stature with its greater participation in public affairs. ”

“ The credit needs of our small farmers are being met from others sources. Last year the Philippine National Bank, the RFC, and the rural banks extended loans to more farmer borrowers. It is, however, necessary to continue expanding credit for rural development. The improvement of health in the rural areas is another tangible achievement. ”

“ However, mainly because of speculation in anticipation of new tariffs on American imports as well as the new tariff schedules and the expecting tightening of exchange controls, prices began to rise toward the end of the year and the trend still continues. The hoarding of imported stocks has become evident. It is equally evident that the rise in the prices of many articles of commerce, including basic necessities, not affected or only slightly affected by the new tariffs, is artificial and unjustified. ”

“ The People’s Homesite and Housing Corporation is expanding low-rental housing for urban workers and the Home Financing Commission is ready to undertake aided self-help housing in the small communities, as well as private housing under a system of insured mortgages. ”

“ The decreasing emphasis on the natural and physical sciences runs counter to the rapidly developing era of electronics and atomics. If we are to participate fully in the blessings of science, we must recast our educational system tot rain more engineers and scientists. ”

“ We should provide inducements for private philanthropy for the benefit of scientific research. One way of doing this is to adopt a far-sighted tax policy in donations and grants for scientific research and investigation. ”

“ Our accomplishments in the rural areas constitute, I believe, the most concrete achievement of this Administration. We have gone a long way in giving our rural inhabitants the material means to prosperity and improvement. ”

“ Realizing this I have created a Presidential Performance Commission and entrusted it with the duty of keeping close watch on performance and result in the executive agencies and instrumentalities of the Government. Energetic, intelligent, and dedicated service at every level is indispensable to the success of Government. ”

“ Mainly to benefit rural children, who can afford no more than a few years of schooling, a revolutionary experiment is being introduced. Instead of English, the local dialects are now being used in the first two years of the elementary in many school divisions. ”

“ But land alone is not enough. We are also building barrio roads and irrigation systems and placing agricultural experts at the service of our farmers and settlers. In this way they learn scientific agriculture, obtain indispensable water to expand the productivity of the land, and gain easy access to markets for their produce. ”

“ It would also be desirable to establish an Institute of Economic Development and Research in the University of the Philippines to provide not only our students but also those neighboring Asian countries with the advanced training essential to accelerated development. ”

“ The public and private banking institutions are gradually developing a balanced pattern of commercial, industrial, and agricultural loans. A good start has been made in giving special credit support to long-range development projects. ”

“ I must state, however, that this increase in national production hardly evinces a balanced growth pattern. There is imperative need for the coordination and more vigorous implementation of the Government’s policies and the intensification of our efforts to stimulate production. ”

“ The fast spreading ACCFA movement has continued to free more and more of our small farmers from exploitation. ACCFA loans, which last year amounted to thirty-eight million four hundred thousand pesos,have enabled FACOMA members to buy and own their carabaos as well as farm equipment and supplies. Through the extension of FACOMA marketing facilities, small farmers are receiving more money for their products. The increase in the total income of farmers-members last year alone is estimated at more than eighty million pesos. ”

“ Acknowledging their invaluable services to our people, we have provided for the adjustment of the salaries of the thousands of teachers who are themselves part of the low income group we seek to help, as well as active participants in the work of that group’s uplift. ”

“ As we diversify our efforts to stimulate community development, the establishment of a coordinating and implementing machinery becomes more urgent. I recommend that the Congress consider the creation of such an instrumentality to undertake this task. ”

“ All these are intended to expand the utilization of our abundant natural resources. It is our hope that these resources surveys and investigations will make private enterprises fully aware of our potentialities and induce them to participate in our country’s development.
During the first ten months of the year 1955, rising local production, coupled with controls over non-essential imports, brought prices and the cost of living to record low levels since 1952. ”

“ Mobile health units, now numbering over one thousand, performed more than ten million work units in a three-month period of operation alone during 1955, providing medical services varying from simple consultations to child delivery and reaching places where no medical service had ever been available before. ”

“ The proposal to have an undersecretary for vocational education merits careful study. We should give full support to the improvement of instruction and facilities in public agricultural, trade, and technical schools. ”