INTRODUCTION
Maraming salamat Chairman Archit Bartolome, Dean Alfonso of the Asian Institute of Management; Congressman Bernie Vergara of the district of Baguio City; Mayor Domogan of Baguio City; other leaders of Baguio and Benguet and the Cordilleras; the directors of the BCDA; the staff and faculty of the AIM; special guests; the leaders of the private sector of the cordilleras; my co-workers in government, magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat. Naimbag malem yo amin kakabsat ken gagayyem. Maong agew ed sikayon amin kabaleyan.

This, to me, is really a very important occasion. And I say that not only as president but as a student of management. Those of you here in Baguio and Club John Hay cannot really appreciate what it means to be given the opportunity to study even for a short course in the AIM.

Many, many years ago as a junior officer, I aspired to garner a masteral degree in management. I first enrolled in a university, very prestigious, but I will not mention its name here. And it took me twenty years to finish that masteral course in management. I ended up in another university, also very well-known but different from the first one. And so, one of my lifelong frustrations is that I never made it as a graduate of the AIM. But now, all of you who are here, those that reside here, those that come from far and near in our region of Asia and the Pacific who are interested in high-class, world-class management exposure and expertise, now have this opportunity created by the merits, the synergistic partnership of the aim and the bases conversion development authority. And so, I’m sure that the good lord up there of the Igorots ni Apo Kabunian and his spirits as well as our almighty are smiling down upon all of us because of this wonderful opportunity that has been created not only for Baguio residents, for those from the Cordilleras, not only for us Filipinos, but for so many others, friends and partners in development.

Both government and the private sector have pledged to turn our country into an N.I.C. or Newly Industrializing Country by the end of the century even if all of us have agreed that our country has so much catching up to do.
THE MASTER AND THE STUDENT
As you know, I was in Japan just last week to talk to its leaders, both in government and in the business sector. And visitors to Japan cannot help but admire its prosperity and its economic might. Yet barely four decades ago, that country was in ruins. Japan had to literally pull itself up by the bootstraps to get itself going.

In the 1950’s for instance, the Japanese had to come to the Philippines to learn the techniques of product packaging. And during that time, we were ahead of them in packaging technology. Today, we import packaging materials among countless other things from them.

This irony of the student going back to the master and eventually outdoing the master has repeated itself again and again in our dealings with our other Asian neighbors.

There was a time when the Thais would go to Los Baños to study rice cultivation. Now, the Thais are the world’s top exporters of rice from whom once in a while we buy rice because of our shortages.

Graduate students from Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and other Asian countries once came in droves to the Asian Institute of Management to learn the fine art of doing business.

And I believe that most of these aim alumni are now running their country’s tiger economies having been taught well by their Filipino management professors.

Indeed, we have a lot of catching up to do. And if we are to look for a reason why we still have to catch up, maybe because we like to be and remain as crabs instead of as dragons. You ask me, I am a dragon by birth. And by the year 2000, which is the Year of the Dragon, I shall have completed the full cycle of the dragon. Kaya maniwala tayo sa mga dragon.
OPPORTUNITY FOR BASE CONVERSION
This is the reason why we must hasten the conversion and development of the former U.S. facility that used to be called Camp John Hay, now called Club John Hay, so that these prime properties can serve as springboards for our economic take-off.

That is why I am reiterating my support for the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

Having said that, I now direct Chairman Archie Bartolome to go full blast with the conversion and development plans not only just for Club John Hay but also for Subic, Clark and other facilities that I have placed under BCDA responsibility.

Let us not allow petty bickerings to become our own stumbling blocks. If we do not take-off now, it may be too late for us even to dream of catching up with the rest of Asia.
B.C.D.A. AND A.I.M.’S PARTNERSHIP
AIM’s entry into the BCDA program through club john hay is a most fortunate occurrence. By establishing this partnership, we create a synergy that should help our country leap into its former place of in the forefront of Asia. And the involvement of AIM in Camp John Hay should remind us of what we need to do to invigorate our economy and regain our stature. It’s going to be difficult, but if we all work together, and evidently that is what aim and BCDA intend to do, we shall pull through in the end.

Kaya huwag ninyong kalimutan iyong ating simbolo — thumbs up. Ibig sabihin nito, kahit na anumang krisis, kahit na anumang kahirapan, kahit na anumang kalamidad, kaya ng Pilipino iyan, kung tayo’y nagkakaisa, kung tayo’y nagsasama-sama, kung tayo’y nagtutulung-tulungan.

Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat. Congratulations to the aim and to the BCDA.