Maraming salamat, Chairman Magtanggol Gunigundo at sa inyong lahat dito sa pcgg sa inyong pagbati sa akin, in words that are violative of protocol because the introduction of the president is supposed to be only one sentence.

But on this day, let me tell you how delighted I am to be here with you on the 7th anniversary of the PCGG. Mga commissioner ng PCGG, ating mga katulong sa ating pamahalaan, the officials and the employees as well as the friends and supporters of the PCGG, ating mga kabalikat sa ating pamahalaan, magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat.

This morning, I have come to join you on your anniversary not only because your good chairman invited me but also to satisfy my curiosity about what is in the PCGG. The entire country is aware of the fact that your most important mandate — and this dates back to day one of the revolutionary government of President Cory Aquino — is to recover ill-gotten and hidden wealth of the administration that was ruled by a dictatorship.

I did not realize, however, this morning that not only is there hidden wealth in your responsibility, there are also a lot of hidden talents in your officialdom. For instance, Commissioner Juliet Bethoven, I did not realize can dish it out better than a bishop. And, of course, on the part of your Chairman, Magtanggol Gunigundo, he can very well hold his own in any debate, in any privilege hour, in any chamber of congress.

And so today, let me once more greet you on your anniversary and i take advantage of this opportunity to thank you for all the support that you have given the Ramos administration in truly and forthrightly recovering the wealth that rightfully belongs to our people from those that grabbed it when the grabbing was good. But now as you know, those days of plunder and pillage are over and I have supported the efforts and the aspirations of the majority of our people that those assets now be truly put to use for the common good of the majority of our people.

A few days ago, we also celebrated the recovery of our political freedom which was made possible by the EDSA Revolution. And in this bloodless popular uprising, unparalleled in world history, our people spoke with one voice and they said: enough of tyranny, enough of corruption, enough of poverty for the many, enough of the ill-gotten privilege for the few.

We have much to reclaim at EDSA. And through the long dark night of dictatorship, we lost not only our freedom but also our nation’s wealth through systematic plunder. Perhaps, worst of all, many of our people lost their sense of values and common decency.

Much has happened since EDSA and a lot of good has resulted from that. We have revived our faith in the processes of democracy but we still have to revive our faith in ourselves, in our ability to function productively, efficiently and honestly.

Today, we stand on the threshold of enduring peace which I call a just peace. As a result of our efforts towards national unification, the temporary unity we found at EDSA, hopefully, shall soon be a permanent bond of nationhood. In the economic sphere we are working hard to become less poor, to become more productive and prosperous, to become more highly respected in the community of nations. And as we grow, we shall be seeking to distribute the benefits and rewards of progress to our poorest countrymen.

All these we have EDSA and the courage of our people to thank for. But as I emphasized in many venues a few days ago, EDSA is more than just a bright historical moment. It is also a continuing responsibility. We have a responsibility to establish exactly where this nation went wrong. To set those wrongs aright and to make sure that they will never happen again. Our people deserve this information and these actions from us. This is what they risked their lives at EDSA for.

When the presidential commission on good government was established seven years ago, it took upon itself the awesome mission of reviewing and analyzing the past regimes book of accounts. And that book of account is far from closed, those accounts are far from settled. It is, therefore, a testament to the extent and the ingenuity of those who plundered our nation’s wealth. And that it has been more difficult than we expected to recover what belongs rightfully to the people. In other words, they were really very smart. It took a whole culture of acceptance, a long-standing tradition of condoning evil, of trading the public good for private gain that made all of this possible.

At EDSA, we did justice to ourselves and our values and climbed to higher moral grounds. But, now, seven years after EDSA and with the perils of tyranny behind us, the need is as strong as ever to reject the wrong and to uphold the good. This is the only way by which we can square ourselves with the past and repair our damaged culture.

Your mission in the PCGG is not one of vindictiveness but of justice. We did not depose a dictatorship only to replace it with another regime of persecution and intolerance. But it is important as much for the nation’s conscience as for its treasury that all bad debts be settled, all things stolen returned to their rightful owners and all legitimate claims given their due process. This cannot be done alone by those who were rendered weak and powerless by that kleptocracy. And this is why the PCGG exists. It is an arm of popular justice, the people’s advocate in their struggle.

The PCGG under Chairman Gunigundo, I am pleased to observe and report to you, has proven worthy of its mission. Against tremendous odds, the PCGG has been responsible for recovering billions of pesos worth of stolen assets for our Treasury. And it continues to look and to work for more.

Over the years, it has faced stringent criticism and disheartening intrigue as any agency tasked to would be. But it has survived all this, mindful of its fundamental compact with the people. It has had to place the highest value on its own integrity and efficiency. For the PCGG, as its name attests, is engaged in much more than financial intelligence. It exists to set the standard of what good government is and should be about. It must, therefore, pursue its mandate beyond its immediate confines.

I ask each of you to spread this gospel of clean government through a movement that perhaps you yourselves can initiate. This movement should institutionalize public awareness about the vital relationship between honesty and efficiency in government and national development. Through such a movement which we can call the movement for clean government, the people can be involved in the promotion of positive values in our bureaucracy beyond mere rejection of the negative ones.

Just a few days ago, I pointed out in my vision of Philippines’ 2000, as already mentioned by Chairman Gunigundo, that corruption is the third of five major problems we must deal with if we are to claim our place among the tiger economies of Asia. Truly, corruption undermines not just the economy but even more grievously the entire civic structure of people’s faith in government.

I assure you of my personal commitment to weed out the corrupt, the inept and the inefficient in this government at whatever costs it takes. I am confident that my appointment of your present chairman, Magtanggol Gunigundo, and of your commissioners, will substantiate that resolve. Once and for all, we must reject that culture of acceptance that I spoke of earlier, because it can only be a culture of mediocrity, quite apart from the moral damage that it does.

Very recently, in a speech that analyzed the spectacular success of modern Japan, I observed that the Japanese draw strength from a culture of excellence. It is a culture that emphasizes people empowerment and participation, a commitment to national objectives at the bottom and command responsibility at the top. This is something we shall have to learn in our own way. We shall do well, for example, to uphold the value of delicadeza which is really a form of command responsibility and we should eliminate the lagay and the padrino system which only encourage more dishonesty and inefficiency. But unique as some of our social characteristics maybe, the problems we have to deal with are age-old and universal. We wished that man were perfect but he is not. We wish that people would live by the obvious virtues of honesty and performance but they may not. That is not unless we set the example and multiply that example throughout the millions of good people in our government and in our society. This is a great and constant but ennobling responsibility. And i hope that you here in the PCGG will keep sharing it with me.

Again, congratulations, maraming salamat sa inyong lahat, mabuhay ang PCGG.