Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
On Ulat sa Bayan

Released on January 7, 1993]

In pursuit of change
and growth

Mga minamahal kong kababayan:

Ang taong 1992, kung tayo’y magbabalik-tanaw, ay naging isang makasaysayang yugto sa buhay ng liping Pilipino.

It was a year of significant changes and tough choices for both the country’s leadership and its people.

And yet in the face of the nation’s trials and tragedies, there was renewed hope bequeathed to us by the triumph of our democracy. We have found new strength in our oneness as a people to reverse our past mistakes.

Our vision for a better tomorrow

And now, at year’s end, we sit in judgment over what we have done to ease the plight of the Filipino. What indeed has the Ramos Administration done since it took over the nation’s leadership?

When I first addressed our nation as the 12th President of the Philippines, I stated my vision for this nation—a better life for everyone, a life where basic needs are met and wants conveniently affordable.

I envisioned that the Philippines could become an economic tiger, a nation that would have advanced on the socioeconomic front to catch up with our neighbors by the end of this century.

We have set our targets translated in economic terms. I see our nation gaining an average GNP growth of 6 to 8 percent culminating into a double-digit growth during my six-year term; per-capita income to increase to at least $1,000; and poverty incidence reduced to 30 percent from the current 55 percent.

We want an empowered citizenry, engaged in gainful employment and productive undertakings, propelling the wheels of the country’s economy through their own collective strength toward a common goal of adequacy. We want a nation at peace with itself and with the world.

I see one basic principle on which to formulate our strategy to realize this vision: the economic empowerment of our people—making our ordinary people more capable, more productive, more efficient and therefore more competitive.

The first six months of my Presidency have been devoted to laying down the foundations for the attainment of our vision of sustained development and enduring democracy.

And the first six months have shown that we can succeed in undertaking basic reforms, in providing the programs to alleviate poverty, in building a society where each person can maintain his individuality and still contribute significantly to national welfare under a disciplined and nationalistic democratic system.

The five priority programs

Let me now go to the five priority programs which serve as the nucleus of our efforts to create an environment conducive to growth and provide the conditions for sustainable development and progress.

Our first priority is national stability and unity.

During the first six months of my Administration, we effected an improved condition of political unity. We have listened to and consulted with other national leaders and the people themselves, reaching out to the farthest regions of the country and opening the doors of Malacañang to ordinary Filipinos.

I have also been conducting regular meetings and dialogues with our legislators, provincial governors, mayors and private-sector leaders to thresh out problems in the management of our tasks and to communicate our common vision.

We eliminated most of the legal barriers to our peace process. We repealed the Anti-Subversion Law. We initiated confidence-building and goodwill measures by creating an amnesty program, conducting a reconciliation and livelihood assistance program and releasing political detainees and military rebels. We established the National Unification Commission to define the policies, procedures and framework for the peace process with all rebel and insurgent groups.

A quest within grasp

Today, our quest for a true and lasting peace is within our grasp. Our peace process has started to bear fruit, with the return of numerous rebels to the mainstream of society.

More important, the ram leadership has surfaced to participate in the peace process. A preliminary agreement, signed by the Government and RAM, provides for the cessation of hostilities for the duration of formal talks to start this month. This then signals the advent of a more peaceful and unified community.

To step up our fight against criminality, I instituted the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission under the Vice-President to effect a unified front against organized criminal syndicates and other enemies of peace and order. The campaign has resulted in the neutralization of 14 kidnap-for-ransom groups, the arrest of 125 suspected kidnappers and the busting of 42 drug syndicates.

But peace and order can thrive only with justice. Justice is the first duty of the State. Justice makes the people secure in their persons and properties which make up their life. This is why we continue to strengthen the pillars of our justice system. The Commission on Human Rights was strengthened through the expanded participation of human-rights advocates. The Presidential Fact-Finding Committee on behest loans was created to investigate loan accounts of more than 100 firms amounting to several hundred billions of pesos and just recently we experienced a shining moment in the system when justice was served in the case of the killing of Maureen Hultman and others.

In an atmosphere of stability and unity, the quest for economic recovery becomes more realizable. The results are encouraging. Already, some positive effects on the economy are now being felt, although we have to admit that the full impact of our economic recovery programs will be realized over a period of time.

By the third quarter of 1992 the economy started to recover, posting a modest GNP growth of 1.9 percent, which is a lot better than the successive negative growth rates recorded during the first two quarters of the year. And we have continued to sustain this upward trend. At the close of the fourth quarter of 1992 a higher growth rate is expected to be recorded. And we aim to make it higher in 1993.

Reducing inflation and interest rates

We have kept down our inflation rate, from 9.5 percent during the first quarter to 8.6 percent in October and November, which is much lower than the 19 percent average inflation during 1991. We have reduced our interest rates from about 18.4 percent during the first quarter of 1992 to 15.4 percent for the third quarter so reflected in the 91-day Treasury bills.

And in order to sustain our economic gains, the Government generated the resources for growth.

The flow of foreign credit was ensured, and substantial savings were generated from lower debt service. Last July we signed a debt restructuring package relieving us from paying a debt service of $1.7 billion from 1992 to 1997, providing the Philippines $135 million in new financing, and allowing a debt buy-back worth $1.2 billion.

Under the Government’s policy of liberalizing the economy, foreign-exchange transactions were deregulated, reducing the cost of sourcing foreign-exchange funds.

The country’s bid to improve the climate for industry, trade and investment also paid off. More investors are now putting up businesses in our country.

For the third quarter of 1992, gross investment inflow for the same period more than doubled (increased by 144 percent) over the same period last year.

Bold initiatives

We took bold initiatives to promote and expand trade, enhance industrial activities and encourage the inflow of investments and tourism.

We adopted more deregulation (like the opening of the Car and Utility Vehicle Development Program to new participants); and initiated legislative measures to further liberalize investment laws; e.g. the horizontal condominium and the 99-year lease proposed bills.

We operationalized several strategic industrial areas as focal points for investments. Among these are the Subic Bay Special Economic Zone, CALABARZON, Cagayan de Oro-Iligan Integrated Corridor and the Northern Luzon Growth Quadrangle of Laoag, San Fernando, Dagupan and Baguio; the Cebu City-Mactan Area; and the Davao City-General Santos growth corridor.

We invited and were visited by potential investors abroad to come to the Philippines. Trade missions and investment consortia continue to come. Today we have lucrative trade agreements with China and Vietnam. Several negotiations are going on for similar treaties with 10 other countries.

We continue to streamline investment processing. In particular, we are decentralizing the functions of the Board of Investments to regional offices.

There is also the merger of the Manila and Makati Stock Exchanges to form the unified Philippine Stock Exchange, which aims to generate greater capital formation and increase accessibility to investable funds.

Even the tourism industry has responded positively to our efforts—posting increases in visitor arrivals by 23.6 percent and tourist receipts by 34.3 percent, comparing 1991 and 1992. In addition, Philippine products are now more actively competing in the international market.

At the same time that we promoted investments and international competitiveness, we also saw to it that local prices of commodities remained stable, supplies were maintained, and consumers were protected from price increases. Price Coordinating Councils with more private-sector participation were organized to oversee price stabilization. As a result, the retail prices of basic commodities in Metro Manila declined by an average of 2.7 percent between July 1992 and December 1992 even as we reduced the prices of gasoline as a complementary move.

On the fast track

We are fast-tracking the construction of vital infrastructures to support development efforts. At the end of 1992 we completed 1,600 kilometers of new or improved highways, 217 flood-control systems and more than 3,800 water supply systems in the countryside. In the urban areas, 102 basic infrastructure projects consisting of roads, water supply, flood control and drainage systems as well as basic communications facilities were also completed.

We are still struggling to rebuild the destruction wrought by Mount Pinatubo. Government has poured in millions of pesos’ worth of infrastructure, resettlement and livelihood projects for the rehabilitation of the victims in the affected areas. But because the damage is so massive, there is need for a continuing rehabilitation program in the next several years.

The ability of our economy to recover and sustain its hard-earned growth significantly depends on the availability of electric power and energy. We have therefore set as among the top priorities in our action programs the creation of a stable and adequate supply of power and energy to cover as wide an area and at the lowest price possible.

For 1993, six fast-track and four regular projects are targeted for completion, with a combined capacity of 1,464 megawatts. This is sufficient to cover the short-term power requirements of the country. So far the projects are on schedule, with the majority to be in operation on or before September. These will eliminate the brownouts. Meanwhile, we continue to involve the private sector in power-generation investments and projects.

Increased growth in power

We have also created the Department of Energy, which is expected to enhance coordination and integration and enable a more focused energy policy formulation and program implementation, and moved to strengthen the National Power Corporation through streamlining and an additional capital infusion of P3 billion.

Electrification programs we shall continue to push, to cover wider areas and service more households nationwide.

I have directed an increased growth rate in the power sector from 6 percent-8 percent a year to 10 percent-12 percent a year.

As we pursue our development thrusts, this generation must ensure that the future generation is left with the resources necessary to sustain our present development efforts. In this regard, we have laid the policy framework and intensified our campaign at environmental protection.

We created the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development to establish the guidelines and mechanisms that will expand and concretize the principles embodied in the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21 of the Earth Summit, or the comprehensive program for conservation and management of resources. We are also adopting new policies on forest watershed and environmental protection.

To counter the garbage and pollution problems of Metro Manila, we launched the “Clean and Green” campaign, which is led by an interagency committee, with Local Governments and NGOs participating.

Toward a responsive bureaucracy

All these priority programs we cannot pursue if our bureaucracy remains ineffective in responding to our tasks. In response to this we have laid the groundwork for a more responsive bureaucracy. An efficient bureaucracy that is responsive to the needs of the people and the country is a necessary instrument for our program of development.

I have directed the streamlining of all Government agencies by realigning human and material resources toward achieving our priority programs.

We have also started to fast-track the devolution process as provided in the Local Government Code.

And we have continued to reduce red tape in the bureaucracy. One significant example is the effort taken by the BOI to reduce the processing time in the registration and incentives availment of new businesses.

I must admit that as the year ended, there were still a lot of things that remained undone. Yet we have also achieved many things that we can feel proud of as a nation earnestly striving toward advancement under a people-powered democracy.

We look forward to certain tangible results from all the hard work and team effort we have made. We see a positive turn-around in our economic growth. In real terms, much of its impact on the day-to-day lives of our people may only be felt in the coming years, but we are steadily getting there.

The quest for stability

Realistically, the quest for stability through the attainment of lasting peace and economic recovery will continue to be our main agenda for 1993. This will be a year to sustain and build upon the gains that have already been achieved.

There will be numerous opportunities for growth. There will be more resources and more liberal policy measures that we can come up with to further push development to its higher levels.

But our five-point priority program will remain meaningless unless we find the courage to assume the responsibility for our own individual self-sufficiency and national welfare. Nobody can make things better for us but we ourselves. People empowerment: There lies the future of the Filipino.

Mga kababayan, nasa ating kamay ang ating pag-unlad. Ang ating pagbabalik-tanaw na ginawa ngayon ay isa lamang kasangkapan upang maituwid natin ang ating mga pagkakamali, upang mapunuan ang ating mga pagkukulang, at upang tuluyan nating makamit ang pinakamimithiing kalayaan at pag-unlad ng bansa.

Bigyan nawa tayo ng Panginoon ng tibay ng damdamin at tatag ng paninindigan upang maitaguyod natin ang kinabukasan ng ating mga anak.