Remarks
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
At the Commencement Exercises of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1997

[Delivered at Fort del Pilar, Baguio City, March 16, 1997]

Battling for a bridge
to the future

ALMOST EXACTLY a month ago today, on a bridge in Cavite Province, we commemorated the centennial of one of the bloodiest and most decisive battles of the Revolution.

That field of honor was Zapote Bridge. The battle fought on and around that bridge stands out as an epic of our martial tradition. So profusely did our soldiers shed their blood that one eyewitness saw the waters of Zapote River turning red.

For a few heady months—from September 1896 to February 1897—Zapote Bridge was our people’s bridge to liberty. People from Manila, Laguna and Morong would cross that bridge to breathe the air of freedom that Cavite had won.

Breathing the air of freedom

Among those who crossed Zapote Bridge from the east into Cavite was a young engineer named Edilberto Evangelista. He was a contemporary and a close friend of Dr. Jose Rizal, who advised him to study engineering—the better to serve the nationalist cause. And so Evangelista enrolled at the University of Ghent in Belgium.

When the Revolution broke out, Aguinaldo appointed Evangelista a general of the Katipunan Army. He became the “trench-builder” of the revolutionary forces. The fortifications he laid out were the envy of the Spanish side. Reinforced by Evangelista’s engineering genius, Aguinaldo won the earlier battle of Binakayan between Kawit and what is now Cavite City

General Evangelista was one of those who died at Zapote Bridge—from a sniper’s bullet—one of the many heroes of that hard-fought battle.

If I begin today by invoking the heroic example of Edilberto Evangelista, after whom the headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in Cagayan de Qro is named, it is not only because I, too, was once a young engineer student-turned-soldier impelled by a desire to serve his country. It is not even because I foresee—for any one of you—engagement in much combat like that which the Katipuneros—and even your predecessors in this academy—had to undergo.

Battling for the bridge to the future

Today we are on the threshold of a new world with its new concepts of State power. Increasingly, international relations are being moved by the power of ideas and economic prosperity rather than by the force of arms. Today we enjoy the peace and freedom our heroes bought for us with their blood.

But we have many new—and no less strategic—missions to fulfill, and yours has just begun. Today we are called on to do battle for another bridge—the bridge to the Filipino future. We Filipinos still must struggle to win the lasting peace, prosperity and justice we seek for ourselves and for future Filipinos.

I speak here of our new program of modernization—of renewing our vision of “Philippines 2000,” and of projecting it into the 21st century and the years beyond. This has become our crucial task—if we are to become the nation we want—and deserve—to be.

Four years ago, I declared: “During my watch as President, I want to see our per capita income rise to at least US$1,000; our economy to grow by at least 6-8 percent; and our incidence of poverty decline to at least 30 percent from the present 40 percent.”

Those initial goals have now been largely won. For instance, income per head actually exceeded US$1350 last year. Also in 1996 our gross national product (GNP) grew by 6.8 percent. This should rise even further beyond 7 percent by the end of this year, and higher in 1998. Poverty incidence is down to 35 percent. Malnutrition has been halved, infant mortality reduced and life expectancy has been increased.

These indicate the basic correctness of our economic and social policies—and the steadfastness with which we have carried out our program of reforms.

Moving onward to modernization

Now that shared vision of Philippines 2000 must move forward. To discover the best in ourselves, we must aim even higher; we must go faster, be stronger, and make the most of our resources and opportunities.

These, I believe, are what our new goals should be: Over the next ten years, 1998 to 2007, the new Filipino leaders must complete laying the foundations for the modernization of the economy and the global competitiveness of our country.

How shall we achieve our new goals?

By the same hard work, the same resolve, the same spirit of unity—and the same patience, patience and more patience—that has enabled us to succeed so well these past five years.

We borrow our new watchwords from the Olympic Games—citius, altius, fortius—”faster, higher, stronger.” By these means, we shall pole-vault into the 21st century. And only by leaping faster, higher, stronger than everyone else can we catch up—keep pace—with our vigorous neighbors in the Asia-Pacific, the world’s fastest-growing region—our region.

Our pole-vaulting strategy should carry us over the obstacles that stand in the way of full modernization.

Those obstacles include continuing hindrances to a free and efficient market system. If these past five years have taught us anything about economics, it is that nothing works better than a free market—but this also means that we must strive to keep the market free and accessible to all.

We have enormous resources and the talent needed to create wealth. We can be an economically prosperous and socially provident nation—if we can break the feudal concentration of economic and political power in a few, and unleash creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship in the many.

That is why for the PMA, 1997 is a landmark year. For we graduate the first women cadets into officership in the AFP—seven outstanding Filipinas out of a class of 123.

We also need to convert our often fractious and personalistic politics into something more positive and more mature. We must make politics a binding agent and a framework for democratic consensus—rather than a privilege to wrangle endlessly and fruitlessly

And we need also to deal with our remaining security concerns—to negotiate a lasting peace with all our dissident groups; to enhance our regional arrangements; to fight crime, violence, corruption and abuse relentlessly and successfully.

We have done much to put the old house of the nation in order. Now we must begin building a new home for the next generations of our growing national family.

Our pole-vaulting strategy

Our pole-vaulting strategy will comprise several elements.

First, we must determine and develop what we do best. Only by finding our competitive niche in the world economy can we find our place in the global village. This means, among others, optimizing our permanent geographic and ecological advantages, and developing our strengths in human resources and in services, such as information technology and knowledge-based and health enterprises. For all these, Filipino women have shown that they are just as good as the men.

Second, we must continue our efforts at freeing the market—to enable us to engage competitively in the global economy, and to develop our people’s skills more equitably.

Third, to attain global excellence in these niches, we must emphasize and encourage innovation—by promoting a culture of creativity, productivity and excellence in both public and private sectors.

Fourth, we must develop advocates and constituencies to champion this vision—people who can influence others into taking a more intensive—a positive—outlook on the Filipino future.

Ambitious goals we will achieve

And finally, we must set new and specific targets to aspire to.

In terms of GNP, we foresee growth in the range of 9 to 10 percent by 2002—with exports and investments expanding by 20 percent annually until then. Per capita income by 2002 should be at about US$2,150. Unemployment should be no more than 3 percent to 4 percent; and the number of families below the poverty line no more than 20 percent.

These again are ambitious goals, and many will say that we are asking too much of ourselves—that we are dreaming well beyond our capacity to achieve.

These will be the higher challenges facing the new crop of leaders after me. To the doomsayers, I will say—and also to you today—what Rizal foresaw more than a century ago:

“The advancement and ethical progress of the Philippines are inevitable, are decreed by fate. . . .

“The country will revive the marine and mercantile life. . . and once more free. . . will recover its pristine virtues. . . and will again become addicted to peace—cheerful, happy, hospitable and daring.”

This, young soldiers, cadets and soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, is what I now ask you to achieve and to defend.