Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
At the opening of the People’s Economic Summit

Delivered at the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila, September 8, 1993]

A people’s summit
for development

LET ME WELCOME you all to this people’s summit, the mother of all national summits, which raises to the highest authority in our country—the direct representatives of the people—the agreements arrived at between the executive and the legislature on August 20th.

We have here a genuine cross-section of the national leadership—not just in government and politics, but in our larger civil society. We have representatives of the people’s organizations; trade; business and industry; farmers and workers; professionals and academics; the underprivileged and cultural communities; women, the veterans and the youth. And we also have leaders of the churches and the non-Government organizations.

Recognizing our social crisis

We have come together in recognition of our social crisis and the need to do something about it in a positive and integrated way.

Political conflict and economic stagnation these past 47 years since independence have made our country the exception to growth and rising standards of life in East Asia. Now we have come to realize we cannot continue with the approaches and directions we have been following these past two generations. We have reached the point where a national consensus for development is now imperative.

We have also come to agree this is our last chance to put our house in order. And it is true we can no longer pass the buck to some future generation. It is both our burden—and our opportunity—that this task has come down to this generation of leaders. There is no one here but us.

We are gathered here to agree on an explicit plan of action—to which every social, economic, cultural and political sector of the national community can commit itself. The stage is thus set for us to forge a comprehensive, multisectoral consensus on the strategic direction our beloved Philippines must take, to agree on the guidelines to accelerate our national growth, and to identify and pursue policy reforms we need to put all these into a fast-forward mode.

Drawing up a social compact

We have had before these innumerable workshops, consultations, caucuses and conferences on how to jump-start our economy, but this summit should integrate all our diverse proposals into a general blueprint that will enable us to realize our vision of a better Philippines by the year 2000. The previous forums were all valuable exercises, but they focused on the interests of their groupings. Now we can give all our plans a common thrust, and reconcile each scenario into a course we can all take together.

The executive-legislative dialogue we held earlier demonstrated the extraordinary willingness of the two branches to come together to resolve urgent matters critical to the nation. I am delighted that the judiciary and the private sector are well represented in this larger summit.

Now that we are all gathered here, let us agree to accomplish two things: First, let us forge agreements on structural-reform measures as proposed in the joint legislative-executive statement of the August 20 summit. Second, let us forge agreements on the safety nets that must be put in place to minimize the social cost of policy reforms for our more vulnerable sectors.

In a larger sense, we shall be drawing up a social compact—a Social Pact for Empowered Economic Development (SPEED) that attests to our recognition of our civic obligations to the national community; and our determination, individually and collectively, to do all we can to achieve the national purpose.

My Administration recognizes the right of the basic sectors to be consulted and to take part in decision-making on matters concerning them. I have issued an administrative order creating a multisectoral task force that will ensure regular consultative exchanges on matters discussed and agreed upon in this people’s summit. This will be regularized in periodic meetings with me and with officials in the field.

Specifically this body will monitor and review the agreements reached during this summit and other national consultations; ensure the implementation of the agreements we have arrived at here; provide a mechanism for regular consultation in the formulation of Government policies and programs at different levels; and with the participation of people’s organizations, ensure the compliance of my directives to all departments and Government agencies in the implementation of programs and projects.

Structural reforms

The creation of this multisectoral task force marks the institutionalization of our consultative process—a process that this Government espouses under the basic principle of people empowerment.

We must transform our economy from the slow-growing, inward-looking and import-substituting economy that it has been—to high growth, an outward-looking export orientation and global competitiveness.

We must turn agriculture to more effective land use and higher-value crops; ensure that manufacturing becomes more efficient; and make jobs in the service industries more meaningful than vending on sidewalks and exporting housemaids.

We must dismantle the entire regime of monopolies and cartels injurious to public interest and rationalize the whole system of legal and administrative preferences—quotas, franchises, leases, protective tariffs, tax exemptions, import licenses—that has enabled people having political influence to extract wealth without much effort from the economic system.

We must enlarge our tax base and improve our tax collection efficiency.

We need to invest more in infrastructure and in human resources—in health care, basic education and skills training.

A matter of give-and-take

To do all these, every sector represented here must be prepared to give as well as take. Government itself is prepared to walk the extra mile to show its seriousness in what it has to do. This is why we have maintained the momentum of the peace process toward those who fought the Government in an armed struggle.

We are also prepared to demobilize the Citizens’ Armed Forces’ Geographical Units where local conditions allow us to do so safely. Our effort to dismantle private armies and to stamp out crime and social violence will continue with greater vigor. So will our effort to privatize public corporations.

We need to undertake reforms as a united people. Reforms may hurt some sectors—while helping others.

Those who benefit from structural reform must be willing to share their windfalls. Those who suffer from it must find comfort in the national community’s efforts to ease their pain.

To cushion the short-term adjustment costs of structural reforms, we must spread safety nets for the most marginalized and vulnerable of our social groups.

Let me take this occasion to acknowledge the helpfulness of the legislature, which deserves special praise for the thoroughness of its preparations—and the quality of the reform programs it is bringing to our deliberations here today.

In the end, our ability to lift up the common life—to raise living standards—depends on the effectiveness with which we use our country’s resources of labor and capital.

I see Government’s role in the economy as ensuring that our national pool of labor, resources and capital is deployed with ever-rising levels of productivity. Government’s role is not to protect our industries from competition. It is not to subsidize or coddle overaged “infant” industries.

Government’s proper role is to push and challenge the agricultural, industrial and services sectors to strive, to innovate, to compete.

Government’s aim shall be to create the environment in which Philippine firms can upgrade their competitive advantage.

Government’s goal shall be to encourage competition— because competition at home stimulates our competitiveness in the world market.

Challenge and response

To sum up: We shall need a heroic effort—just to keep up with our vigorous neighbors. For this reason, we must strive at this gathering to do more than just reach the least common denominator of agreement.

Each sector represented here is called on to rise above its special concerns—in the name of the public welfare and the national interest.

We have chosen the right name for this gathering: the people’s summit. For me, this summit evokes Toynbee’s memorable metaphor of how civilizations rise and fall.

The British historian likens human societies to climbers on a cliff. Some societies have ceased to aspire. They are content with the static safety of meager niches on the rockface. Others keep ascending—risking the danger of a fall, for the glory of the peak.

What kind of society shall our country be?

Toynbee concluded that a civilization flourishes—or disappears from the face of the earth—depending on how it responds to the challenge of adversity.

History is made not by impersonal forces over which human beings have no control. History is made by people’s creative responses to the challenge of adversity.

The questions we Filipinos must ask ourselves are: Have we become inured to the inertia of failure? Or are we a people strong enough to dare to be the best of what we can be?

The answers are ours—together—to give.

Let not our posterity say that when the challenge came to our generation, we proved unequal to it.

At historic junctures in the past, our forebears had faced up to the challenge of adversity—and emerged triumphant.

I believe we can do so once again. We can create—for ourselves—the conditions for self-sustaining growth. And we can become competitive—against any tiger or dragon—big or small, old or new.