Senator Santanina Rasul; your excellencies of the diplomatic corps, your ladies and the members of your staffs; Mrs. Ming Ramos, your First Lady and mine — the only one; the distinguished members of the congress; the cabinet; other fellow-workers in government; other special guests; ladies and gentlemen, magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat. Peace be with you.

I greet all of our Muslim brothers and sisters as well as our countrymen on this special occasion of Eid ul-Fitr, the peace to culminate the fasting month of Ramadan. This is a moment of celebration and gratitude to Allah who giving all the strength and patience to successfully complete this holy month of fasting. And I share your joy in the blessings you received for this genuine sacrifice.

The observance of this holy month, one of the five pillars of Islam transcends mere abstinence from food for the entire lunar month. Because it signifies the denial of self in favor of the sublime and the eternal. It epitomizes one’s love for and the worship of Allah.

The fasting month also enables the faithful to commune and become one in spirit with peoples all over the world. This religious practice, therefore, speaks of the virtues of self- restraint, peace and unity. And these are the virtues precisely that we need for the difficult work toward economic sufficiency and national development.

For our Muslim brethren in the Philippines, it also marks their continuing empowerment as part of Philippine society.

Our success in the struggle to attain status of a newly industrializing country by the year 2000 will depend on how we are able to end our divisiveness under the administration’s program of reaching out and reconciliation and harness our energies and potentials to promote the interests of the great masses of our people. Only in unity can we gain the real strength that will enable us to be competitive with our neighbors, only in unity can we survive and grow as one people, one nation.

The Islamic world gave us many fine examples of what a great civilization and its many cultures can accomplish. Over the course of human history, many tributaries have fed into the civilization which in turn have enriched billions of lives all around the globe with its spiritual and intellectual providence. The exhibit here today affords us a fascinating glimpse into the amazing diversity, sources and products of Islamic culture. We take note of the Pharaonic art exhibit of the Egyptian embassy. The documentation of Islamic art and architecture from Iran, the craftsmanship of artisans from Pakistan and the music and dancing and joy of the Palestinians as well as our own Muslim communities.

We too have been part of that illustrious Islamic history. It is no accident that not too far from where Malacañang Palace stands today, along the banks of the Pasig River, Rajah Sulaiman established his port before the Spaniards came. During his time, manila was already a thriving community of about one hundred thousand Islamic Filipinos.

Our historians report that out of the emergence city of Manila, traders sailed yearly to Brunei and to Malacca in two or three boats. Trade was so fruitful that this early Filipinos established a community of about 500 traders in Malacca.

Five centuries have past but we have retained these linkages. Colonialism may have altered our political and cultural landscape but the fundamental affinities of our Christian and Islamic heritage remains. And we have sought to strengthen and expand those ties not only among ourselves but to the rest of Islamic humanity.

We live today in a world of rapid, dramatic, and sometimes startling change. Old empires have fallen, and new nations and alliances have taken their place. Peoples everywhere are manifesting their desire for peace, freedom and prosperity.

For us Filipinos, these are momentous times as well. Without severing old friendships, we are emerging from our traditional dependence from the west and restoring those ancient communal relationships which colonialism may have fragmented. This has been among the purposes of my recent visits to our ASEAN neighbors.

It is therefore, high time that we retrieved, emphasized and expanded the Filipinos’ communalities with the rest of the Islamic world. We can do this on many fronts most notably the diplomatic and the economic spheres.

As in Rajah Sulaiman’s time, we both have much to share, much to learn, much to gain by fruitful cooperation. And this, perhaps, we can begin and sustain by a deeper appreciation of Islamic culture and of our continuing indebtedness to and responsibilities towards our Islamic heritage as Filipinos.

Our schoolchildren, for example, should know more about our own Muslim brothers and their history and traditions beyond postcard cliches and ill-informed stereotypes which have only inhibited genuine understanding.

At the same time, we should encourage more of our deserving Muslim youth to pursue higher studies that they may assist their communities in meeting the challenges of the coming century.

Your foundation’s scholarship program madame chairperson senator rasul, should go a long long way towards achieving that end. For its part, my administration is committed to supporting the development of our Muslim areas and the interest of their people.

We welcome, therefore, every opportunity to enable more Muslims to participate in national affairs. And we will continue to recognize and to respect Islamic institutions and to strengthen them particularly in the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao.

This celebration also assumes an added sense of relevance as it coincides with the credible, honest, orderly and relatively peaceful election of officials for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao just concluded. The temporary upsurge of tension that marred its initial stages should be viewed as the result of desperate moves of just a radical few. But animosity must stop after the conclusion of this political exercise, personal pains must now give way to the will of the majority so that we can continue to steadily pursue the aspirations of Muslim Filipinos which can come only in an atmosphere of peace and stability.

We are aware of the great potential of the provinces that comprise the ARMM. The promise for further growth of said region was further enhanced with the stronger ties in terms of trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchange that we have recently forged with our Muslim neighbor countries.

The foundation for mutual cooperation and growth are being made even stronger. And side by side with economic initiatives that have been launched, we must continue to build structures of mutual trust and friendship so that peace and order can be maintained.

During this celebration, therefore, let us find the time to lift our spirits to Allah and to the Almighty and pray. Let us ask that the newly elected leaders of the ARMM be given the strength and wisdom so that they will become worthy leaders of our Muslim constituents and lead them to contribute their share in bringing about development and prosperity to all Filipinos in Mindanao and throughout our beloved republic.

In behalf of the rest of our countrymen, I pledge unity to all our Muslim brothers and sisters; the spirit that the holy month of Ramadan signifies brings to the forefront, the many priceless and important values that we share as a people.

As I extend the greeting of peace and brotherhood to all Muslim Filipinos and to all Muslim peoples in the world, I also express my gratitude for your strong and sincere support to my administration.

Let us continue to work in peace and let us remain united in our devotion to the brotherhood of all humanity so that we can fulfill the promise of a better and brighter future for our children and grandchildren.

Maraming salamat po at mabuhay tayong lahat.