Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
At the National Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty

Delivered at Rizal Park, Manila, October 17, 1993]

A new front in the
war on poverty

THE TESTIMONIES we have just heard and the memorandum-signing we have witnessed sum up the aspirations and struggles of the poor to liberate themselves from the vicious circle of poverty and to improve the quality of their lives.

We are well aware of the ill effects that grinding and widespread poverty can bring to a country and its people.

It can engulf communities and social sectors and may be transmitted from generation to generation. It shortens lifespans, dissipates the human spirit, erodes family and community values, and ultimately destroys the social and economic fabric of a nation.

A majority of the poor

The glaring fact remains that, in our country today, we still have a minority that has too much and a majority that has too little.

A very few privileged Filipinos have too much in material possessions, in power and in opportunities, while most of our countrymen have too little or almost none of these.

What is the role of government then? It is to direct all its resources toward correcting this grave social and economic inequity.

But we cannot—and must not—achieve this by taking away the possession of wealth or by pulling down the rich to the level of the poor.

We can and must act toward giving the poor equal access to the minimum basic needs of every Filipino family, such as food, water and shelter.

In addition, we need to provide them with adequate job opportunities and with the justice that will dignify them as citizens and as human beings.

We can and must continue to remind our economic and political elite that unless the imbalances are tilted toward preferential options for the poor, we shall face much graver problems in the future.

When I took my oath of office before our people, I committed myself and my Administration to the empowerment of Filipinos, and to their liberation from poverty and injustice.

Government must intervene

Because the poorest of our people have neither the economic nor the political power to improve their stations, Government must intervene, and act as a liberating force in their behalf.

Government must reach out to all the marginalized and vulnerable sectors in our country—the poorest of the poor, women and children in difficult circumstances, persons with disabilities, the elderly, the cultural communities, disaster victims—so that they will have access to health care, livelihood and employment opportunities.

More important, they must be given the opportunity to be heard and listened to.

Those of us who are more privileged must reassure the poor and the weak that they matter in the national life and in the national future.

The memorandum of agreement signed by the governors of the most depressed provinces with commission chairman Jaime Cura marks a new phase in this war.

Local executives shall now assume full responsibility for the implementation of programs to ensure the delivery of basic services, with the National Government providing the back-up and technical assistance when so warranted.

That these governors have signed this agreement in our presence means that they made a covenant with their constituencies and their President. We will bind them to this pledge.

It is important to remember and to understand that we are addressing a massive problem resulting from centuries of exploitation, mismanagement and neglect. And the only way we can gain time on poverty is to redouble our efforts today.

This we have begun to do. Government has been helped by the private sector, by ngos and by people’s organizations, and I thank them for their invaluable contributions.

I have instructed the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the primary welfare arm mandated to serve the poorest of the poor, together with other agencies created to address poverty, such as the Presidential Commission to Fight Poverty and the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, to employ a coordinated, cohesive and comprehensive approach.

The role of the poor

All the other departments, whatever their distinctive concerns and programs may be, must manifest a strong bias for the poor in their thinking and their activities.

The bottom line is that whatever it is you do, keep our poor in mind, and find a way to help them.

We will continue to count on the support of the private sector: NGOs, people’s organizations, U.N. agencies and the more developed donor countries.

You, my friends from the rural and urban depressed communities, have a key role to play in your development.

As we dignify the poor of our country and of the world, let us reaffirm our commitment to fight poverty in all its forms, and wherever it exists.

While October 17 has been declared the national day for overcoming extreme poverty, we must do our part to overcome poverty in our country every day for as long as there is one child or one family who is deprived of the basic necessities of life.

And I will do all I can as your President to see that the pledge we have made today is one that we will help, and a pledge we can be proud to have made.