Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
During the Centennial of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence

Delivered at the Aguinaldo Shrine, Kawit, Cavite, June 12, 1998]

Our glorious beginning

THIS IS A glorious period in our history. In celebration, millions of Philippine flags wave proudly in offices, schools, homes, vehicles, roads and bridges, and at the mast of every ship sailing our native seas.

As nationalism takes center stage in our commemoration, so have we focused our attention on how we can proclaim before the world our sovereignty as a nation and as a people.

Our finest tribute

Perhaps this is the finest tribute we can offer on this occasion: to stand out in our part of the world as a people capable of charting our own destiny in accordance with the principles and institutions associated with democracy. Inspired by the sacrifices of our heroes and fortified by their values, we of the present generation are courageously facing the future, confident that we, too, will win our own battles and triumph over whatever challenges destiny may throw at us.

To whoever may ask what exactly it is we celebrate today, we have this to say:

We Filipinos are rejoicing in our coming of age—in the final proof of our ability to understand, to use and to protect the liberty our heroes won for us a century ago.

Today we mark a hundred years of learning what it takes to rise from a diverse mix of language-groups, islands and regions into a self-conscious unity—into what Rizal called “one Filipino nation”—ang sambayanang Pilipino.

Today we are grown into the responsibility—and the glory—of nationhood. We are prepared to account for ourselves in the global community. We have begun to make our own history.

This Centennial celebration is an exhilarating popular event. But it is much more than a spectacle.

We have arrived at where we are as a consequence of our collective will—as the fruit of our common resolve—to transcend our differences and to create and enlarge that common space within which all of us can work and build a modern nation.

The wisdom to secure peace

We need to remind ourselves—that no matter how carefree, how exuberant the Filipino is reputed to be—we have also been a rational, resolute and steady-handed people—driven as much by ideas as by passion—guided as much by the lamp of reason as by the fire of emotion.

Our rebellions arose not simply out of blind anger or impatience, but out of the conviction—as Emilio Aguinaldo believed—that freedom, justice and equality are our birthrights.

And just as we have found the courage to wage war, so have we also found the wisdom to secure peace.

My friends—today we gather under the skies of peace, liberty and hope. We can consider ourselves fortunate to have been spared the worst of the economic and political turmoil that has swept many of our neighbors.

And we have just completed what have been reasonably honest, orderly and peaceful elections.

But again, more than fortune, it was our foresight and resolve that brought us to this moment. As Rizal himself observed in “The Philippines a Century Hence,” “It is not well to trust to accident, for there is sometimes an imperceptible and incomprehensible logic in the workings of history.”

We have arrived at this juncture in our history by the logic of democracy and development—by the natural desire of people to be free and to prosper—in the face of which all forms of tyranny and exploitation must ultimately surrender.

Improving the nation’s character

There is wisdom in the belief that history must be optimistic and that it must admit of positive change, or else it will serve little useful purpose.

Yes, history must serve as a manual of moral instruction for both leaders and people—a guide to the formation of the national character.

My own reading of it comes closer to an acceptance that history is “a race between education and catastrophe.”

This is a definition that bears hope—hope in our ability and capacity to improve as a community, from one generation to another.

This is certainly what I hope I have achieved during my Presidency. By liberalizing the economy, I hope I have infused the nation’s lifeblood with the surge of energy it needs to meet the challenges of the new century

Our Social Reform Agenda was launched to alleviate mass poverty; to ensure that the fruits of development can take place in a democracy, and that the empowerment of the people leads to sustained economic growth and social progress.

All these are reasons enough for us to celebrate. There is a good feeling in the entire country and a pervading sense that things will work out for the best. Let our remembrance of the past, therefore, guide us in confronting the challenges of the future.