INTRODUCTION
This is the fifth time that I have come here as guest of honor and speaker at the Customs anniversary. This is a record of sorts because no other president has come here for five consecutive anniversaries.

In your past invitations to me, you enticed me with new toys, new gadgetry and modern technology, which have since been put to effective use in your drive to become a world-class customs service.

Beyond technology, however, I have been most interested in seeing how you have made good on your promises to create a thoroughly reformed and even more effective bureau.

The Customs Service is one of our government’s most vital agencies, one of its most important sources of revenue. Without the resources that you raise, we simply cannot function, much less hope to achieve the status of a progressive, provident, and globally competitive economy.

Let me dwell just briefly on our broader concerns in the fiscal sector — the larger context within which you operate.
FISCAL POLICY AND A BUDGET SURPLUS
Sound fiscal policy and practice gave us a budget surplus last year, and this was an achievement for which I warmly congratulated the department of finance.

In the past, when our government incurred chronic deficits, the public sector was forced to compete for scarce funds with the private sector who are the more efficient users of capital. This drove up interest rates — and, consequently, inflation rates. New investments were discouraged and the entire economy slumped.
Poor fiscal performance and deficits had been due, to a large extent, to the inclination of decision-makers to appease the short-sighted demands of constituencies seeking dole-outs from a patronage-driven government. This practice impaired our ability to set sustainable foundations for our economy.

Unable to secure the foundation for sustainable growth by means of fiscal prudence and monetary stability, our economy became inflation-ridden and prone to cycles of boom and bust.

Our business environment became unpredictable and therefore inhospitable to investments. We became the “sick man of Asia.”

Today, much of this has changed. The Philippine economy is robust and dynamic, well prepared to meet the challenges of globalization. It is poised to seize every opportunity offered by increasing economic dynamism.

Over the last four years, our growth has been driven by large investment inflows and a rapidly expanding export sector. And last year’s growth of 6.8 percent in our GNP identified us as one of Asia’s strongest performing economies.
REFORMING THE ECONOMY
And you, my friends of the private sector and fellow workers in government, helped make this possible. The turn-around of the economy from the consistent laggard in a progressive region to one of the most promising emerging markets in the world is the product of the economic reform package we all promoted together.

That reform package tore down the walls of protectionism that had forced our industries to look inward rather than participate in the mainstream of global trade. Reforms also removed antiquated policies that fostered cartels and monopolies which, in turn, discouraged innovation and kept away potential investments.

By maintaining fiscal prudence and assuring monetary stability, we have raised investor confidence in our economy. By broadening the privatization program, we have opened new windows for investment and improved on our ability to close the infrastructure gap by allowing partnerships with the private sector.

By staying the course on reforms, we have reassured those who have been willing to invest in our success by their highly concessional loans and official development assistance.

Our pursuit of our reform programs has not been easy. Change is always difficult, and unfamiliar and creative policies will always meet with fear and skepticism. There will always be resistance from those inclined to maintain the old, unproductive ways of doing things. Just read the front-page stories in today’s morning papers.
WE CANNOT GIVE IN
But we simply cannot allow these doubts to stand in the way of our pole-vaulting into the next century. Far too much is at stake — much more, to be sure, than the narrow interests of those who stand to lose from positive change.

As we have seen in the complex politics that slowed down the reform of our revenue system, there will always be powerful groups in the political arena who — either because they have vested interests to protect or are simply too unconcerned to work for the general welfare of the greater majority.

I hope that the Ramos presidency will be remembered for having had the political will, the clarity of vision, and the courage to do what was right for our people so that they can win the future.
A MODEL FOR THE WORLD
And this is why I place the highest importance on reforming and re-energizing our customs service, so that it can serve as a signal to the world of how far we have come and a model for Filipino bureaucrats as to how much more we can achieve with the right leadership and the right people.

You will recall that last year, following your 94th anniversary, I included a visit to the Bureau of Customs in the itinerary of Prime Minister Julius Chan of Papua New Guinea. Before that, the bureau had not had a major foreign visitor, much less the prime minister of another sovereign state.

It turned out to be a good decision because the prime minister and his delegation were much impressed, as were the many other foreign delegations that visited you afterwards. You have become a destination of sorts for foreign administrations looking for customs success stories and from whom much can be learned. You have done us proud.

On the other hand, this is also why I feel deeply dismayed and greatly angered whenever I hear reports of continuing graft and corruption in the bureau. A number of these turned out to be true, the reforms you have undertaken notwithstanding.

These instances, however few, bring shame on us all, and must be dealt with immediately and severely.

It is unfortunate that in the campaign for the hearts and minds of the people, such sad stories in the bureaucracy are the ones given prominence, dwelt upon, distorted and exaggerated.
SHARING THE GOOD NEWS; FINAL MESSAGE
The business community and its leaders are all part of this customs transformation. You can be proud of the role you have played in the process.

And that process will continue. In my Ulat sa Bayan, I called upon the citizenry to not just leapfrog, but to pole-vault into the 21st century.

What does this mean to customs? Very much, indeed!

Customs can help by becoming a more effective instrument for investment and business development. Customs occupies a highly strategic position as business’s gateway into the country.

You are, for example, in the best position to generate useful and timely information on developments in commerce and trade as well as in investments. Such data, properly collected, processed and disseminated, can help support major policies and decisions in business.

You have become an essential member of the country’s economic team by helping shape policies in the negotiation of major international trade agreements and playing a major part in their implementation and observance.

By doing this, our customs service can do much more than play the role that people too often mistake it for — that of a capricious and corrupt border guard — and become, instead, our pioneer and showcase to the 21st century and to the world.

Again, my congratulations and best wishes to all of you.

Mabuhay ang Bureau of Customs!

Maraming salamat at mabuhay ang Pilipinas!