INTRODUCTION
It is a pleasure and honor to join you today in celebrating the 95th anniversary of the Philippine Navy’s foundation.

For close to a century, the navy has served our people well, in war as in peace, and for this it deserves our deepest thanks and highest commendations.

For an archipelago such as ours, whose economic, political, and cultural life is bounded in more than one way by the sea, the importance of an adequate, reliable and dedicated naval service cannot be overemphasized.

Few people realize that we have had a navy for as long as we have had a republic in this country.

The creation of the Philippine Navy came with the June 23, 1898 proclamation of General Emilio Aguinaldo of a revolutionary government.

Among the patriots who supported this government were members of the local elite who gave of themselves and their resources to promote the Philippine Revolution.

Typical of these nationalistic businessmen were Leon Apacible and Manuel Lopez of Batangas province. They donated their ships — the Taaleño, Balayan, Taal, Bulusan, and Purisima Concepcion — to the cause of the revolution.

These five ships, along with others captured from the Spaniards, formed the nucleus of the Philippine Navy of the First Philippine Republic.

Almost a hundred years have passed since then. But I cannot help but draw some parallelisms between the circumstances that surrounded the birth of the Aguinaldo government and those that we, at this time of our nation’s history, also have to contend with.
A NEW CENTURY, A CRUCIAL JUNCTURE
For, like the Filipinos of Aguinaldo’s time, we face a new century of new challenges and higher aspirations. But unlike Aguinaldo, we stand on the threshold of enduring peace and prosperity — a real and historic opportunity to give substance to the freedom that our revolutionary heroes bequeathed to us so preciously.

If we fail now, we not only fail ourselves, but the past and the future as well.

We are at a crucial juncture of our history.

While we have made some significant progress in our economy over the past several years, we remain poor in many ways — not just in terms of material or economic resources, but in our attitudes towards the management of these resources.

We are therefore redoubling our efforts to generate the kind of economic take-off that will place us in the ranks of Asia’s other dragon economies by the turn of the century.

But in the meantime, we shall have to act with the prudence, the fortitude, and the creativity of those whose success will come from nowhere and no one but themselves.

We may not have — we may not even need — a world-class navy; but there is no reason why we cannot have world-class sailors.

And these sailors will find themselves meeting new horizons and performing new tasks.
A NEW ROLE FOR THE MILITARY
The Armed Forces of the Philippines, to whose mission this Navy is contributing, is evolving beyond merely being an army of war to an army of peace, at the forefront of protecting our democratic and humanistic values, and our territorial and environmental integrity.

This shift has been occasioned partly by our national realities, and partly by the dramatic changes that have occurred these past few years in the global and regional spheres.

The bipolar order of the Cold War is gone, replaced by a multiplicity of national and regional interests defined more by economic need than by ideology. Peoples and governments are returning to the very basics of human life — to stability and security, to livelihood and prosperity, to ecological harmony, to social cohesion.

With a few tragic exceptions, war has given way in the world to new and more productive engagements. I have said it before and I say it again: the most important battles of the 21st century will be fought not with tanks or missiles, but with books, bulldozers, test tubes, stock market reports, and computer chips. And in these engagements, each nation — dealing from its own comparative strengths — will be seeking to provide for the socio-economic needs of its people.

This is the overriding imperative of our time. And the armed forces, among other sectors in our society, will be called upon to perform new tasks to gain for our country the best possible advantage.
OUR ECONOMIC OBJECTIVES
We have set for ourselves achievable economic goals. By 1998, per capita income should reach US$1,000 and GNP should be growing by at least 10 percent. We expect the incidence of poverty to drop to about 30 percent.

At the same time, we appreciate the difficulties involved in achieving these targets, given our performance over the last five years and the serious problems we face in energy and infrastructure.

We have been accused of over-optimism in respect of our economic projections, of raising expectations that may not after all be met.

But to these naysayers, I say in turn that we have no practical alternative but to push hard and push forward — to challenge ourselves to the limits of our capabilities — because our people deserve no less.

And this we have begun to do by formulating a medium-term Philippine development plan (“Philippines 2000!!!”) founded on two basic principles: global competitiveness and total human development, or people empowerment.

At the same time, our people must be infused with a positive work ethic that will engage every Filipino in the battle for progress, and emphasize the common good over private gain. This work ethic should also strengthen linkages among our productive sectors, provide more opportunities for worker rewards and recognition, and enhance productivity.

Moreover, there must be a commitment from the economic and the political elite to this common good. This means that, very much like those businessmen of old who donated their ships to Aguinaldo’s navy and for the furtherance of the revolution, today’s elite must also take it upon themselves to share their talents and resources to achieve national objectives and rebuild our communities.

Because they are engaged in agro-industrial activities that impact on the quality of our environment, the economic and the political elite must demonstrate a greater concern for the protection of the environment.

They must actively participate in the campaign against tax evasion and smuggling. They must also help in the elimination of graft and corrupt practices that sustain many evils in our society.

We have made it possible for Filipino businessmen to forge joint ventures and similar economic arrangements with their Asian counterparts.

I am therefore particularly happy to note the theme for this year’s celebration of the navy’s anniversary: “Malinis at Masaganang Karagatan — Pag-asa ng Pilipinas 2000.”
THE STRATEGIC SEAS
For truly, in the attainment of our vision, of our development goals and objectives, there is no doubt that our ability to harness the richness of our seas and their vast potentials will be crucial.

Because our land can only produce so much, we will have to look to the seas for sources of food.

As an archipelago, our territorial waters and seas have always been the highways of trade and commerce. Because geography has destined us to occupy a strategic location in the Asia-Pacific region, we straddle sea lanes and lines of communication that are crucial to the flow of trade, tourism and other forms of economic interaction.

It is essential that we have adequate and available shipping facilities; that we have adequate ships and the infrastructure necessary to support them.

And finally, we must have an armed force that must keep guard over our waters and our borders, one that must maintain communications between the points of safety and the ships which ply our waters.

We know that our territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, all told, is eight times the size of our land. That, our waters contain much fish; and underneath these waters, there is much untapped wealth.

Because we do not have the full capacity to monitor these things, it has taken local and international environmental groups to bring to our awareness the destruction inflicted on our marine environment and resources.

One such report from the International Marine Life of Canada, for example, says that more than fifty foreign fishing vessels, every year, illegally haul away more than 20,000 metric tons of tuna and 600,000 tons of other kinds of fish valued at over p1 billion.

The same source estimates annual losses to marine life as a consequence of the destruction of coral reefs: p1.6 billion in fish production; p752 million losses to municipal fishermen; p100 million to the aquarium industry. Illegal trade in corals shipped to foreign destinations are estimated at more than p37 billion.

In addition, piracy continues to be a threat to the security of our sealines of communication. There have been occasional reports of seajacking.
THE NAVY’S TASKS
The Philippine Navy must, therefore, gear itself to address the more immediate threats of illegal fishing, illegal logging, piracy, smuggling, and the entry of illegal weapons that support insurgent rebels and criminal syndicates.

In addition, the navy must also prepare itself to combat the increasing frequency of oil spills, the illegal dumping of toxic wastes in the oceans, and other forms of marine pollution and damage.

Clearly, the Philippine Navy must have the capacity to perform its mandated tasks, both in the context of national defense and security as well as in the context of protecting our marine environment.

The performance of these dual tasks requires common equipment and capacities. For one, the navy must acquire the sensors to monitor our waters and territorial limits.

The capacity to monitor the integrity of our territory must be coupled with our capacity to enforce our sovereign laws over those who would intrude into our waters.

Given the limitations of the resources that has been made available, the Philippine Navy has performed admirably.

I am happy to note that the Philippine Navy has evolved a strategy tailored to our country’s needs and financial capacities.

This strategy involves the acquisition of a fleet of fast patrol craft; the establishment and development of a network of small bases strategically dispersed over the archipelago; and measures aimed at the further professionalization, efficiency, and higher performance of its various units and commands.

In implementing this strategy, I am pleased to note that the navy has already acquired eight 27-meter fast patrol crafts, with another 12 scheduled to be built in the Philippines.

In addition, as a result of my recent state visit to the Republic of Korea, twelve capable and operational fast patrol craft have been added, at friendship prices, to the Philippine Navy’s order of battle. We thank once more our South Korean allies, under president Kim Young Sam’s leadership, for this gesture of support.

There is much that we must do to upgrade the capabilities of the Philippine Navy and enable it to meet the expectations that have been laid on its shoulders.

For my part, I assure the men and women of the Philippine Navy that I will commit the support of the president to the navy’s modernization program.

The protection of our marine resources, and all the benefits that our waters and seas represent to our people, are too vital to be ignored.
REGAINING THE PEOPLE’S TRUST
For your part, the navy and the armed forces can assist in this process both by ensuring the political stability we need as the foundation for our economic take-off, and by retooling itself to reflect the new realities in national security and national development.

Among others, I expect the AFP — and most especially its officer corps — to be exemplars of idealism, moral courage, and incorruptibility for the rest of our people to admire and emulate.

For no economic program, however well-conceived, can possibly succeed unless those entrusted by the people with their power — and this includes the military — prove morally worthy of that trust.

Our military has to regain the people’s confidence, and to restore the luster to its shield, which suffered badly during those years when the military was widely seen to be an instrument of selfish political and even criminal interests.

At EDSA in February 1986, the historic relationship of the people and the armed forces, initially forged in Aguinaldo’s time, was restored. At EDSA, the military recovered its fundamental values; today, we cannot allow the corrupt, the incompetent, and the wayward elements in our ranks — however few they may be — to negate that signal victory.

And those of us in positions of civil authority must do all we can to ensure that the AFP gets what it needs to do its job.

We hope to build a nation adequate to the capabilities of the future generations of Filipinos, where each one can co-exist peacefully and productively; where justice and equality reign; and where our people live safely, comfortably, and in dignity.

To this end, we must insure professionalism in the armed forces. Our navy men, like all other public servants in uniform, must be examples of true professionalism and respect for civilian authority, and for democratic and human rights.

Respect the people, and serve them well — and they will respect you, and hold you in their affections.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas 2000!!!

Mabuhay ang Philippine Navy!

Mabuhay ang Pilipino!

Salamat sa inyong lahat.