Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
During the Eucharistic Celebration for the Closing Ceremonies of the 5th National Eucharistic Congress

[Delivered at the Quirino Grandstand, January 26, 1997]

One God, one people,
one nation

I THANK YOU for this opportunity to address our beloved countrymen and countrywomen in this highly important gathering of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, the Fifth National Eucharistic Congress. This is so because it marks the first big event in the Church’s three-year preparation for the jubilee of the Incarnation of the Son of God in the year 2000. Our theme “Eucharist and Freedom” for this congress speaks of the many ways through which the Church and the State act together to achieve the common goal of sustaining our people’s freedom.

Recovering freedom lost to strongman rule

We all know how dear the enjoyment and exercise of freedom is to the Filipino people. Our people are in fact in the midst of our preparations for the centennial celebration of that historic event when we declared our independence as a people in June 1898.

We fought three waves of foreign colonizers over the centuries to keep our freedom and when this freedom was lost to strongman rule, we rose again to regain it during the peaceful People Power Revolution at EDSA in February 1986.

Indeed, we Filipinos deeply cherish our freedom and we will fight to protect and keep it if anyone tries to take it from us.

In a very real sense, the Ramos Administration has sought to preserve the freedom we have achieved by consolidating the gains of the EDSA Revolution and by exerting determined efforts to liberate our people from poverty, injustice and illiteracy.

While we achieved significant gains toward these objectives, I must continue, as your President, to warn our people against complacency and divisiveness which can lose for us the progress we have already made.

The eucharistic teachings of the Church

I am aware that the freedom to which the Eucharist is linked by this National Eucharistic Congress is not limited to the freedoms that are the object of our people’s endeavors. The Eucharist also focuses on spiritual freedom which is necessary for total human development.

This certainty is based on two teachings of the Church on the Eucharist.

The first is that in the Eucharist, the son of God our Savior is truly present in his own body and blood, as God and as man. Jesus Christ tells us that all that was truly human was his concern, and that He freed people not only from the bondage of sin but also from everything that would diminish them as human beings.

Jesus still wants the multitudes to be fed, sheltered, clothed enough so that no one will be in need. He still wants the handicapped, the disadvantaged and the marginalized to be given their proper place in the sun. And He certainly expects conversion from sin to have a profound effect on the transformation of society itself.

The second important teaching is on the centrality of the Eucharist. If the Eucharist is so central to the life of Christians, then it must serve to promote all their endeavors.

Certainly our country will be a much better and more progressive country if like Christ in the Eucharist, we will live as persons who give over our lives to God in the service of our fellowmen.

Our heroes showed us that the way to liberation is through the way of sacrifice. In this they were mostly like Christ. Jose Rizal and Ninoy Aquino were such heroes now dearly beloved by the Filipino brethren.

The truly liberated and liberating persons are those who are willing to make sacrifices and even to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their fellowmen.

Forging unity

We also know that individual freedom is meaningless without unity. This is why in the more than four years I have served as your President, it has been my consistent priority to achieve unity for our country. Our peace initiatives are critical components of our quest for unity as a nation and as a people.

We have sought common ground with our Muslim brothers and sisters. Last year we reached a peace agreement that ended the bloody decades-long conflict in Mindanao.

Instead of wasting a great deal of additional lives, resources, energy, goodwill and precious time in conflict, we are now developing the potentials for community teamwork, social cohesion and economic growth in the southern Philippines and everywhere else in our country. All these, if pursued together by all of us, will ensure a brighter future in the third millennium.

The Ramos Administration has sought to build peace and unity on the basis of the basic beliefs and values of our people—our trust in God, devotion to family solidarity, respect for each other and faith in the Filipino.

As we all know, this Eucharistic Congress seeks through worship and meditation to forge in the hearts of our people the true essence of freedom. This gives us the inspiration that we need to take part in the process of nation building with greater vigor and deeper commitment.

A few days ago as we watched on television the second Clinton inaugural ceremonies in Washington, we heard again the moving words of one of the immortal and most-loved Christian hymns: “As He died to make us holy, We shall die to make men free.”

Those glorious lines remind us that holiness, freedom and justice are so vital to people’s lives that they represent the universal aspirations of man.

Indeed God saved us so that we in turn may free others—free them from poverty and injustice, from ignorance and insecurity, and from hunger and inequity God wants all of us—regardless of race or creed—to be free so that we may enjoy the benefits of human freedom and the bounty of God’s earth.

From this renewal of the spirit through prayer and service, let us perform better as citizens and as public servants. May the bread of life and the wine of salvation inspire and empower all of us to be more effective partners in nation building.

The centering on Christ in the Eucharist, which this congress seeks to promote, will advance not only the interests of the Church but the efforts of government as well.

Advancing our goals of peace

By the time we celebrate the great jubilee three years hence, our beloved Philippines will hopefully have attained the status of a newly industrializing country.

Our common faith and united effort hereupon will spell greater success not only for the celebration of the landmark jubilee at the turn of the century but also for our shared vision of economic growth, political stability and social progress which we call “Philippines 2000.”

Together let us advance our goals of peace and unity for our people. And with the help of the Almighty, let us pole-vault into the 21st century and the third millennium.