Secretary Vicente Carlos, your excellencies the ministers of tourism of the ASEAN countries, my colleagues in the cabinet, your excellencies of the diplomatic corps, the delegates to the 12th ASEAN Tourism Forum, fellow workers in government, other special guests, mga minamahal na kababayan.

On behalf of the Philippine government and the Filipino people, I am delighted to welcome the delegates to the ASEAN Tourism Forum on its third cycle of meetings in our country.

As the most prestigious gathering of industry professionals in this part of the world, ATF embodies the aspirations of our tourism organizations, and dramatizes the increasingly important role of tourism in the economic development of Southeast Asia.

We in the Philippines are hosting the 12th ATF at a propitious time. After having lagged with East Asia’s race for development, Filipinos are getting their acts together, and focusing earnestly on the task of becoming a newly industrializing economy by the year 2000.

Free and peaceful elections and an orderly transfer of political authority have renewed our people’s optimism. Since then, political, economic, and social reforms have been set into motion which would assure self-sustaining growth and enhance individual freedom.

Tourism has always been a vital part of our national economy as it is for those of our neighbors and partners in ASEAN. The reason for this is not purely materialistic — not just a matter of dollars and cents: tourism above all gives expression to our inborn hospitality to foreign visitors and limitless opportunities to afford our neighbors in Asia and other foreign friends a glimpse of the Philippines – its special culture, history, and traditions which are a unique mixed of east and west.

Today, of course, international tourism has become a gigantic, complicated and intensely competitive industry — involving air-land-and sea carriers, hotel chains, food and beverage caterers, travel agencies, media specialists and a host of other service producers. And all of these sub-industries subsist on infrastructure laid down by governments through their national tourism organizations.

But I would like to think that, in our country, travel has not lost its original sense of adventure, its peaceful purpose and its intrinsic value — which is to bring together the diverse communities of people all over the world into an awareness of their common humanity.

For various reasons, we in the Philippines have been getting only a small portion of the inflow of travelers to Southeast Asia. Part of the reason perhaps is the perception that there continues to be a higher level of criminality than normal in certain parts of the Philippines. This is not entirely deserved. In any case, we have addressed this problem decisively, a more effective public safety programs is now in place. Equally significant is the encouraging progress achieved so far in the peace process towards insurgence under the government national unification commission. Another reason could be that we are just beginning to make substantial investments in tourism facility.

1993 is the launch date for a long-term master plan that our policy makers have drawn up to develop tourism sites and infrastructure in our country over the next 20 years. My government is committed to building in 1993 the foundation of this master plan.

We realize, of course, that, in tourism, government does not have the principal role. And so we have also provided incentives that we think are generous enough, to encourage private investors to upgrade and develop tourism facilities, particularly outside metro manila.

Dispersing agro-industrial development to the countryside is a vital part of our socio-economic program. As a basic policy, we are devolving political authority from the national government in Metro Manila — where it had been overly centralized during the past several years — to provinces, cities and municipalities.

Local governments at these three levels are now able to plan and finance — their own local development programs. We expect local tourism — in its recreational, scenic, historical and cultural aspects — to boom as one result of this devolution of authority, and the new initiative that Philippine governors and mayors can now exercise.

So that our country becomes more accessible to the regional network of airports, we are upgrading our main gateway, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila, as well as our secondary gateways in Cebu, Davao, and Laoag.

Cubi Point on Subic Bay is now also open for international flights — and a large tourism complex is being developed there from out of the American naval base that used to be there. Subic should be well-worth a new look from all of you: it has international-class resort facilities already existing for golf, riding, fishing, swimming, diving, nature appreciations and just lazing around — all these in the middle of a lovely bay, white sand beaches and an unspoiled tropical forest. Take my word for it, my dear friends, I have done all of this in Subic.

Beyond all these, you can count on my government’s wholehearted support in whichever field it is necessary.

We are in fact in the middle of reorienting our department of foreign affairs to focus it on economic diplomacy. And its new duties shall include using its international network to promote and market our tourism industry, and to undertake cooperative activities with the diplomatic and tourism missions of our ASEAN neighbors.

You can also count on my administration to provide the capital resources for the plans and programs of our Department of Tourism, so that it can begin to match the efficiency and productivity of other ASEAN tourism ministries and offices.

On this opening of your 12th ASEAN Tourism Forum, let me assure you that the Philippines is headed for better times and that it shall be tourism that shall lead the way.

Once again, welcome to the Philippines and a happy, prosperous, peaceful new year from all Filipinos to all of you. We wish you a pleasant stay and a fruitful forum.

Mabuhay kayong lahat, mabuhay ang ASEAN, mabuhay ang Filipinas.

Maraming salamat po.