PGMA's Speech during the Opening Program of the 7th Triennial Conference of the Asia Pacific Operational Research Societies

PGMA's Speech during the Opening Program of the 7th Triennial Conference of the Asia Pacific Operational Research Societies

Grand Ballroom, Dusit Hotel Nikko, Makati City (16 January 2006)

Thank you very much, Secretary Ver Peña, who is our secretary for information and communications technology but he used to be the boss of Elise del Rosario in San Miguel and practitioners of operations research.

Elise and the other leaders of operations research in the Asia Pacific region, ladies and gentlemen:

Welcome to the Philippines!

The Operations Research Society of the Philippines led by its President Elise del Rosario has done a good job in bringing together distinguished O.R. researchers, academicians and practitioners in the country and all over the world. And well she said that it's very infrequent that the head of state will address an O.R. conference. Just like Ver Peña who is an O.R. practitioner, I have, you know, as I said when I was a senator when I spoke before them, I am not a stranger to operations research because when I did my Phd in economics it was obligatory on us to study operations research. So I am familiar with your science and I am very appreciative of your science that's why I am here with you today.

Operations research is the hallmark of a strong and resilient organization going through challenging times. And you are the people who carry the banner of optimization, optimum effectiveness. That's why operations research is often called the science of the better.

And well when I was a senator I was doing laws but now as president I am doing planning and executing planning and all the more I can see in my experience, though I saw it in my textbooks when I was still in school, that in a sense governments share common optimization problems with other organizations like corporations. We all need to optimize resources which means maximizing revenues, minimizing cost to step up efficiency, to maximize public services but also to manage crisis after crisis whether natural or man-made.

But then on the other hand operations research was born during the war to manage military crisis. So operations research should be able to be used for crisis management as well and not just for cold planning in normal conditions.

Certainly our government could make use of your expertise to ensure the success of our development programs. But though in a sense governments are the same as corporations, because we have to optimize, the challenges to government and corporate management can also be miles apart. In government, the variables to consider are much more numerous and more important, less apparent, their magnitudes and their weights more diverse.

Public decisions affect not several employees but the lives of millions of citizens. Sometimes the most efficient solution is not politically feasible.

You know when I was taking up operations research in school -- let's talk about being in San Miguel, Ver and Elise, and there was an apocryphal story about San Miguel in operations research -- and I don't know if it's true and I don't think it's true that they came up with through operations research the ideal menu for their feedstock, for their feeds, an ideal menu in terms of cost and in terms of nutritional value. So they came up with the ideal feed, the ideal recipe, but the chickens didn't eat it. So it's an... I'm sure it's an apocryphal story but it's a story that our teachers would give us so that from the very beginning we know that there are certain limitations to the science and those limitations are even greater when it comes to governance, to governments.

In government, in governance, the correct choice technically is not always the popular one. The chickens might not eat it or do you force feed them? To quote one O.R. practitioner, "government is not only about the ends, but also about the means of pursuing them effectively."

On the other hand, you can only go so far also about the means because there are times when a leader in the public realm must bear with unpopularity and stick to the right choices.

For instance, fiscal reform. Will you ever find a fiscal reform acceptable to people? Nobody likes to pay taxes. The only fiscal reform they will accept is a reform that or openly accept or welcome with open arms would a fiscal reform that reduces payments. But most fiscal reforms require increasing payments.

And so all the more I'm glad to hear of the successful applications of operational research in other countries which helped their development. I've seen in your papers successes in endeavors such as minimizing the cost of production and transportation of agricultural produce in India. We have an imported logistics challenge in the Philippines to bring our products from Mindanao, which is our food basket, to Luzon through several islands in the Visayas to Luzon which is where sixty percent of the consumers are. That's a great thought that how you could help in India is a way where which you could also help in the Philippines.

I've read about your scheduling and routing the railway network service in South Africa. We also have our railway service that we are trying to do for Manila up to Clark-Subic in the north, then Manila up to Bicol in the south and then linking the two railways. And then there are the proposals for railways in the Visayas and in Mindanao, and there's my own transport pet project which is the system of roll-on/roll-off ferry boats and highways from Mindanao through the islands of the Visayas to Luzon.

I'm also very glad to hear that you're able to optimize the school meal programs of Chile. We have a problem of hunger in the Philippines and we would want to be able to work on how to reduce hunger, should it be or what combination should it be of school breakfast or giving rice to the children when they go to school so they can bring it home to their parents. And given the budget available for that how do we distribute this kind of program within the country.

I'm glad to hear that your operations research has been able to predict the grain output in China. And indeed, we do need to make predictions such as that in our planning.

So, therefore, I'm sure that O.R. practitioners can do similar work in our country as well as you've been able to do in some of these other countries which will be part of your best practices sharing in this conference. I look forward to your support in making our government programs work successfully and effectively. And indeed, this is timely that for the first time you're holding this conference in the Philippines. We hold this conference at the advent of a new year that's full of hope and optimism for our country.

I have set an ambitious but I believe in operations research achievable plan for 2006 that rests on three strategic objectives: number one is to build a stronger economy; number two is to build a stronger republic to strengthen the fight against terrorism and destabilization and bring peace to our southern island of Mindanao; and number three is to press for long-overdue political reform through charter change.

The people are tired of political noise and showing mistrust on politicians but they are anticipating fundamental changes. And I am certainly glad to hear -- I heard about that even when I was a senator -- of the pro-bono work that the Operations Research Society of the Philippines through its committee for public service, which you told me about on its existence when I was a senator, what this committee has done for the government. Your help can increase transparency, efficiency and improve service delivery to the public.

When I was a senator, when I spoke before the Operations Research Society, I wondered out loud if operations research could help solve our traffic problem. And that's when you said, "of course, there's been a study in the U.P. about that and the O. R. Society's Public Service Committee would like to very much be able to help if we could." So now that I'm president, I'm not just wondering out loud, I'm inviting you to help us solve our traffic problem to help us in our traffic management.

Alongside with our poverty alleviation, the programs I mentioned earlier: nutrition, school feeding, distribution of rice to the families of the poor or even selling rice at the lowest price possible in the hot spots poor communities of Metro Manila, price minimization of basic commodities and the creation of job opportunities, now that I have a 35 billion-peso pump priming initiative. With your operations research, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Customs can leverage innovative approaches to hike revenues and put to justice tax cheats and smugglers.

Indeed, you are the analysts that can make our road maps and operational plans feasible. And I commend your significant role both in enterprise and nation-building.

And as you have this important conference of the Asia-Pacific region in the Philippines, I bid you more power as you continue to raise the standards of your profession. And I hope that you will continue to do your part and even enhance that part as responsible citizens and nation builders.

Welcome and Mabuhay!

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