INTRODUCTION
Greetings of peace and joy to you all as we mark together the 13th anniversary of Prayer Partners Foundation International with this overnight vigil of faith, love and unity.

For me — as for you — this is a night of happy memories and thanksgiving.

I remember that it was on this same platform and open space, in May of 1992, that you gave me the honor and the opportunity to join this phenomenal movement of faith, love and unity of the El Shaddai DWXI-Prayer Partners Foundation International.

Three months later, in August 1992, I came back to this same place to extend my thanks to divine providence and all of you for my election to the presidency of our country. As you will all recall, that was a time of adversity for our people and our country — and many Filipinos were losing hope that the situation would ever get better.

And every year thereafter you extended to me the same honor of addressing you on your anniversary. How commendable and generous the attitude of brother mike and the El Shaddai International — as compared to others — in the pursuit of faith, love and unity!

Today, after five years of working together and through god’s grace, we gather here again at a time of hope and optimism in our country. Peace has returned to our land. Our democracy has never been more stable than it is today. And the economy not only recovered; its benefits are being spread to all regions, provinces, cities and towns throughout our beloved Philippines.

This confers all the more meaning and joy to this overnight celebration of faith, love and unity.
NO MIRACLE WITHOUT HARD WORK
This period of political stability and economic takeoff was made possible because we coupled our prayers with intensive action and hard work. We put our faith and trust in the almighty, and then we put our minds, our hearts and our hands to work.

We followed the biblical injunction that God helps those who help themselves. For there is truly no miracle without hard work.

I believe this is also the secret of the El Shaddai DWXI-Prayer Partners Foundation. You do not only listen to the word of God preached to you, and you do not only pray, but you put into action the word of God.

Ito ang susi ng tagumpay sa lahat ng bagay: pananalig sa Diyos, pananalig sa sarili at sa kapwa, at pagkilos na nagkakaisa.

Ito ang mithiin at pinagsikapan at patuloy na pagsisikapan pa ng inyong pangulo. Salamat sa Panginoon at hindi naman tayo nabigo sa loob ng nakaraang limang taon ng aking panunungkulan bilang Pangulo ng ating bansa.

At sa nalalabi pang sampung buwan, buhat ngayon hanggang Hunyo 30, 1998 ng aking panunungkulan, sisikapin nating mapatatag ang lahat ng ating pinasimulan na magandang adhikain para sa ating bayan.

Patuloy tayong magtulung-tulong sa pagbabagong ito. Patuloy at sama-sama nating isulong ang mga repormang pangkabuhayan, pangkapayapaan at higit sa lahat ang ating moral and spiritual na pagbabago.

The El Shaddai International Movement of faith, love and unity is indeed contributing immeasurably to our national effort for a peaceful and prosperous Philippines. It is doing a lot of good in the moral and spiritual needs of our country. At patuloy ang inyong paglago at pag-unlad, sa patuloy na patnubay sa ating lahat ng Panginoong El Shaddai.
THE WORK OF THE RIGHTEOUS
It is indeed true that faith and prayers can move mountains. It can move the hearts of warring people to come to the negotiating table and talk and agree about peace — as we did with our brothers and sisters of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which resulted in the signing of the peace accord in September 1996.

As the scripture says: “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” how much more powerful will the prayer of a million righteous men can do? The problem is how do we become righteous, when all of us commit mistakes and sin? The answer of course is: by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, let us continue to move forward with faith, love and unity in our hearts. Let us debate on national issues to bring about the true and the best in and for all of us. But let us not allow personal interests and partisan politics to overshadow the overall interests of our country and people.

Let us put an end to our individualistic and divisive attitude brought about by self-interest and mistrust. Rather, let faith, love and unity be strengthened, for this is exactly what we need at this critical time in our national life.

Respect for the rights of every Filipino must be restored completely so that they can exercise their rights freely on the great issues before the nation. This includes the right to choose their religion, the right to choose their place of worship, the right to choose their kind or form of government, and the right to choose their leaders.

Brothers and sisters of El Shaddai, i know the lord’s favor is with you — because you live for faith, love and unity. Our country needs this kind of faith, love and unity, not only to keep the social and economic gains we have achieved during the past five years of my presidency — but to spur the nation further forward as we enter the 21st century.

Your faith, love and unity as a group will certainly help reshape the political, social, religious and economic order of our country and people for our country’s good, and for the glory of God — whom we are serving faithfully together.

It is election time again, and many politicians will be around you, as they are here today. Let your faith, love and unity help reshape the course of the future of our country toward a stable democracy, sustained economic growth and enduring peace and order, by exercising your rights to choose the best and most qualified among them. If one vote can spell a difference, certainly your votes as a group — which run into the millions — will make the big difference.
THE GIFT OF SERVICE
This is what I wish our people to think about during the coming months. And i will hope and pray that your El Shaddai community, whose membership and following is widespread and cohesive, will take an active part in protecting the gains we have achieved thus far and ensuring that we will advance even more as a nation.

I believe that there is a divine purpose to your growth as a movement, and that purpose is not only to revive the moral and spiritual life of our people, but also to bring all the blessings of progress to our people and our country.

The voice of your community can certainly help in clearing up certain issues of national concern. Let us encourage that voice to be heard, not only on religious concerns, but on the social, economic and political life of our people.

During the debate between the church and the government on the population issue, I remember your servant-leader bro. Mike Velarde saying: “We, the people, are the church — and we the people are the government; therefore, we must be heard on this matter.” indeed, the people’s voice was heard on that issue and the thorny family- planning debate was put to rest because the concept of responsible parenthood was accepted by the majority.

It is this kind of participation that must be heard on national issues today.

The early Christians were blessed because of their unwavering faith in the lord, their unwavering love of God and neighbor, and because of their unity as a people. This, i believe, is what the lord is doing again today through you.

The gift of service has been distributed by God to each one of us, so that we can interact with each other as one body, with each part supporting the other. If there is unity among the parts of the body, that body will be healthy and productive.

So, it is also in nation-building. If the people are united, the nation’s health will be robust with everyone lacking nothing. This is why peace and unity are one of the priority concerns of my administration. This is why i consider it unchristian and unpatriotic for anyone to call for non-cooperation and divisiveness.

Where there is peace and unity, there is economic prosperity for everyone to enjoy.

Dito sa El Shaddai, ang inyong kapuna-punang katangian ay ang inyong pagkakaisa, pananalig, at pagmamahalan. Kaya naman kayo patuloy na sinasamahan at pinagpapala ng Panginoon at pinararami araw-araw.

Sana ang pagkakaisang ito ay gamitin ninyo sa ikabubuti ng ating bayan. Kaya’t huwag kayong mag-atubiling makilahok sa paghuhubog ng ating social, political, religious at economic concerns.

Let us not allow the noise of the so-called minority to dominate the silent majority. Because that will defeat the purpose of a true democracy. Use your freedom of speech and assembly, not only for your spiritual needs, but also for our country’s social-political and economic growth and for yours.

Love the Lord our God above everything else, but love your country and countrymen and women as well — through your active participation in our national life.

Divisiveness and factionalism remain a threat to our country. We lack trust and confidence among ourselves. Our crab mentality is still very prevalent. It seems that some of us are still haunted by our past experience: this is why the reforms we need to do are being hampered because of fear that the past dark era might reappear.

It is now time to forget the past, the fearful and divisive past. It is time to move forward with faith, love and unity among us.

As St. Paul said, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline.” let us, therefore, resolve once and for all to banish the many problems that shackle the nation through our unity.

Ang ipinakikita ninyo dito sa El Shaddai na pagkakaisa, pagtutulungan at disiplina ay patunay na kapag isinagawa natin ang salita ng Diyos at buhayin natin ang ating sampalataya, malulutas at mapagtatagumpayan natin ang lahat na malulubhang suliranin ng ating bansa.

Nothing is perfect in this world. As brother mike says: “anything that is alive grows. And anything that grows changes.”

And so, it is also in the case of our democracy, our country and our society. We strive for continuing transformation for the better. In fact, we should not just settle for the better, we must aim for the best.

This is why I can understand why some countrymen and countrywomen of ours seek a review of our Constitution. While I have stated time and again my stand on this issue — that i do not seek a second term for myself — I nonetheless recognize and respect the people’s right to petition for constitutional change. It is your right to petition the authorities directly, and no earthly power can ever take that away from you. It is likewise the right of the representatives of our people who have been elected to congress to decide what is best for our future.

I was informed by your servant-leader, Bro. Mike, that he is planning to consult you on this matter, by conducting some kind of national referendum among El Shaddai members and followers. This is a good way of hearing the real voice of your community on the great issues of the day.

Whatever be the result of this referendum, it will reflect what your members truly feel. It will show your faith, love and unity in action. And it will demonstrate your caring and concern for the larger family that is our nation.

In closing then, let me congratulate you once again on your 13th anniversary and let me wish you a joyful celebration of your tenets of faith, love and unity. May the lord keep on adding daily to your numbers so that your tribe will increase under his guiding light!

Maraming salamat at mabuhay tayong lahat!