PGMA's Arrival Statement after a 5-day visit to the U.S.A. and Europe |
NAIA Terminal I, Pasay City (30 Sept 2003) |
| Deputy Speaker Gonzales, Deputy
Speaker Espinosa, Secretary Romulo and the other Cabinet members, General Abaya and the
other generals, fellow workers in government, mga minamahal kong kababayan. First, I would like to thank Vice President Guingona for taking care of the government while I was gone. And I would like to report to you, the nation that I had a very productive trip, together with my delegation, we brought the cause of peace, security and development to important venues and events. I would like to thank my delegation, especially the legislative members - senators Nene Pimentel and Manny Villar, and congressmen Nograles, Nachura, Mitra, Bacani and Villar for contributing to the success of our visit to the United Nations to the Vatican and to the Unesco. I look forward to our continuing close partnership with the legislature in mapping out and undertaking Philippine foreign policy. I will go to a Cabinet meeting straight from here where we shall thresh out the domestic measures necessary to exploit the opportunities we have gained. These opportunities are: first, rapidly consolidating international support for the peace and development process in Mindanao. Also, the firm global consensus against terrorism and transnational crime; the growing confidence in our political stability and our economy; and a surge in dynamism within the global community of Filipinos as a result of more jobs, more remittances and greater political empowerment. My meeting with the Holy Father in Rome renews and strengthen my resolve to wage the peace and to help the poor of the Philippines uplift them and empower them. Things are falling into place. Peace in Mindanao is within our grasp. Buoyed not only by the Pope's blessing but by a confluence of positive circumstances and events: - We have the full support of the U.N. Secretary General; - Malaysia will continue to spearhead the facilitation of the peace talks; - The OIC countries are keenly awaiting developments with growing commitments of aid and investments; - The U.S. Institute for Peace will work with Washington to put in concrete support for conflict-resolution. We are paving the way for the establishment of a multi-donor trust fund that will cut in once a new Mindanao peace accord is forged. The fund is organized by the World Bank and the USAID with commitments from the Islamic Development Bank, the OPEC, the governments of Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia. We will push the envelope on this effort as we unleash massive public resources and official development assistance for infrastructure, socioeconomic programs and autonomous capacity-building in Mindanao. Our quest of domestic security will also be enforced by our imminent seat in the U.N. Security Council. There I intend to push the principles of collective security, multilateral approach and the rule of law. We are ready to join U.N. law enforcement and humanitarian teams in Liberia. Our involvement in global peacekeeping is just as important as our participation in the global coalition against terrorism. The restoration of strong democratic institution is indispensable to our bid to marginalize and defeat terror everywhere. Overseas remittances in the first half of the year have already overtaken the record of last year. We are having a boom in the deployment of caregivers, teachers and medical personnel. They're sending more resources homeward as we are extending to them broader political rights and welfare programs. Filipinos are the best citizens of the world and the best citizens of the Philippines. We're a global enterprise and proud of it. But being global doesn't simply mean business. I addressed the Unesco conference in Paris together with the president of Italy and thanked the organization for its indispensable contributions to Philippine culture and heritage. Unesco supports the restoration of the Banaue Rice Terraces - our Ifugao rice terraces rather - the preservation of Tubbataha reef and the documentation of the 1986 Edsa People Power revolution in the world's register of memory. The political season seems to be in full tilt, unfortunately, and I hope it's not getting too much in the way of thinking straight about our priorities. I call on all quarters to transform the partisan flavor of current debates into something more constructive. We need everybody's contribution to the shaping of good policy, whether as a proponent or fiscalizer. Let's bring the level of discourse to policies and platforms so that our people can derive the best benefits from politics and governance. I will continue to weave the right tapestry of foreign and domestic policies that will best serve our nation and people. Thank You. |