PGMA's Speech during the 4th Luzon Area Conference of the Provincial Board Members League

Grand Ballroom, Century Park Hotel Malate, Manila (29 Nov. 2003)
Thank you.

Maraming salamat, President Strike Revilla. Thank you.

Salamat din Chairman Zulueta; board member Israel; board member Dominic; board member Unico; board member Conching; mga officers mula sa Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao; mga Delegado.

Batiin ko rin si Attorney Romy Macalintal, si Mrs. Manzanillaat kayong lahat, magandang umaga.

Mabuti't nakakapunta pa kayo sa komperensiya sa kabila ng lahat pulitika na ang iniisip. Thank you very much for your dedication to your work of governance.

Already, the political landscape is rife with intrigues, controversies, speculations. The people seem to be abandoned in the midst of loud and excessive politicking. I'm glad you're here not to aggravate the situation but to continue your work. I also will not aggravate the situation.

I'm resolved to make my days more useful by engaging in meaningful events of vital public interest. Perhaps one of the reforms we must pursue in our political culture is the premature hype on partisan issues very early in the day that tends to project us as a severely divided bickering nation.

Alam n'yo talagang maraming hidwaan sa ating bansa. Eh, kung ginagawa natin 'yon lumalala 'yung hidwaan. Dapat asikasuhin natin 'yung maraming mga bagay kung saan tayo nagkakaisa.

Our people are united behind democracy, civility and good governance. And these are the ideals we must carry with them not the preoccupation with heady partisan issues that is a distraction to nation-building. There will be a time for the lines to be drawn and this is more than two months away. Let's just welcome the holiday season in the spirit of reform and unity and try to help the people surmount their difficulties.

I am proud of our gains on the macroeconomic front. Our growth rate is higher than expected, higher than that of 15 of the 21 economies of the Asia- Ppacific, and higher than at any time since the 1997 Asian crisis. Huwag natin pakawalan ito sa lubhang pamumulitika. The budget deficit at the national level has been kept at manageable levels. But let me tell you, at the local government level, not only is there a managed budget deficit, you have actually a budget surplus at the local levels. So congratulations to you local legislators.

The Bangko Sentral has the tools to maintain the stability of the exchange rate, and we are confident in the BSP's capacity to use these tools willfully and competently as in the past. I must warn speculators not to test the government's policy determination. In the meantime, it would help much if people can shake off the election fever and get on with more productive endeavors. Let's all team up behind political and economic stability and make a strong collective pitch for law and order and development.

Halimbawa tayo -- you and your boards, me and my budget -- let's together invest more in education because that is the country's greatest resource -- its people.

My administration has spent on the biggest irrigation program in history. Ngayon kayo namang mga board, sana tulungan n'yo 'yung magsasaka to be able to access hybrid rice seeds so that they can use these irrigated lands and the hybrid rice seeds you can help them with, so they can more than double their harvest.

Alam n'yo kahapon sa meeting sa PCCI, kinuwento ko nga 'yung hybrid rice. At 'yung isang tumulong na dalhin 'yung hybrid rice mula sa China, si Ginoong Henry Lim, kagabi meron siyang kinuwento sa akin. Kahapon lumabas... Sabi ko, not only double he said some farmers have tripled and quadrupled. Okay, anyway, I speak... Pero sabi ko at the very least doubled.

Kagabi nakita ko siya and he was telling me a story. That one time there was a meeting in Malacaņang, inimbita 'yung mga magsasakang gumamit ng hybrid. Iyon na nga doble ang kanilang ang ani nila, halos lahat at maraming triple pa at four times. 'Di ba, board member Calderon, doon din sa ano 'di ba, sa Isabela? Hindi ba ganun ang karanasan ng magsasaka doon? Okay. Anyway, 'di pumunta sila sa Malacaņang 'yung mga magsasaka, 'di nakagamit nang karaniwang gamit. Eto namang negosyante parating naka-amerikana. So, siya naka-amerikana. Noong nakita niya naka-ordinaryo 'yung ibang mga magsasaka, sabi niya, "ay, I'm sorry tatanggalin ko iyung amerikana ko." sabi nung magsasaka sa kanya, "huwag mo nang tanggalin, Mr. Lim, kasi baka sa isang taon kami rin naka-amerikana na." because some of them are earning 70,000, 90,000 pesos. Things that they have never seen before, the more productive ones among them. And these are some of the reforms that we can do and we must do.

We must reform also our social assets -- land, credit, minimum basic needs. In these social assets, the national government has given an unprecedented number of people the right to buy the land they occupy. It has provided an unprecedented number of incomeless, assetless rural women access to microcredit through the Grameen NGOs. It has provided an unprecedented number of the poor access to health insurance. But I want to thank you local governments. Salamat sa mga local governments dahil meron sa inyo nag-counterpart sa gastos sa land titling. Meron sa inyo naggastos sa pagpondo sa microfinance. Meron kayo... Ang dami sa inyo nag-contribute sa premium sa health insurance ng inyong mga mahihirap. Kaya itong unprecedented na sinasabi ko, magkasama tayong gumawa noon. Kaya salamat sa inyo.

Ilang taon na 'yung Local Government Code? 12, 'di ba? Naalala ko noong 12th anniversary ng Local Government Code, iyung presidente ng ULAP, si Dolfo Del Rosario, sinabi niya 'yung 12 unprecedented things I did for the LGUs. Isa doon, I have released to you in full all past LGSEF obligations including those incurred before my time. Sana sa inyong budget deliberations gamitin n'yo ang bahagi nito rin para sa microfinance kasi ang dami-daming mahihirap sa ating mga probinsiya na pag may microfinance makakakinabang sila.

The World Bank has praised our vigilant advances in fighting corruption, acknowledging that we have been effective in our lifestyle checks and procurement reforms. Kayo rin magagawa rin ninyo itong mga ordinansiya sa inyong provincial board. And this will also help very much in tying up our common efforts. We have already... Iyung ID, pwede kayong gumawa ng provincial id sa inyong provincial board. We've already several official ID systems in place such as the voters' ID, the SSS ID, driver's license, not to mention the millions of corporate ID cards and credit cards being used everyday. Our people have accepted all these instruments of political and economic facilitation. And I don't see how a national id system can be portrayed as an oppressive instrument. We are simply trying to consolidate what has been done for decades in a single, verifiable and foolproof instrument to deter criminals and terrorists and deprive them of sanctuary among our law abiding citizens. Let's pursue this program for a safer and more progressive nation. Habang hinihintay natin 'yung kongreso na i-consolidate lahat nito sa isang national ID, meron akong lang mga kilala mga local governments na gumagawa na nang id sa kanilang munisipyo -- Taguig; doon sa Cebu, ano, board member? Kaya 'yon din ang isang pwede n'yong gawin. You can do a provincial resolution to provide for a provincial ID. Let's show these criminals that the law never sleeps and that they cannot escape it.

Wala ring tigil ang ating economic diplomacy na ito naman ay pinanggagalingan ng napakalaking tulong ng mga bansa para sa ating mga kaunlaran. Marami kayong may nakikitang mga ODA. Marami kayong may nakikitang mga investors na bago. In fact, 22 percent ang increase sa investments natin this year. Marami doon ay either nakumbinsi as the final decision or naenganyo as a first attraction sa aking pagbisita sa kanila.

Patuloy akong makikipag-ugnay sa inyo sa pagtaguyod ng pagbabago at pagkakaisa. And on this day, I thank you for being here, thinking of work rather than politics. And I encourage you to continue gearing your actions towards tangible and concrete results and accomplishments.

Muli, mga board members, maraming salamat sa inyong malasakit sa inyong trabaho.

Mabuhay tayong lahat!

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