On National Security. “The communist guerilla fronts have dropped to 63 from 107 in 2005. This year alone, our troops neutralized 15 of the most-notorious communist insurgents, 58 Abu Sayyaf and Al Khobar operations and three foreign terrorists.”

Peace and Order

“We are committed to peace and restarting the peace process. And in order to do that, we count on our Armed Forces to bring stability to the island, to regain order, to bring the lawless renegade elements to justice. This is the way we can be confident that responsible elements regain control of the MILF so that we can effectively reactivate the peace process again in earnest. The peace process must proceed. And we are assembling the pieces to get the peace process started again in a way that upholds our commitment to peace, to the strong sentiments of the communities, and to the rule of law.”

The PGMA’s Speech at the 73rd Anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) was delivered at the GHQ Grandstand, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, on 22 December 2008.

“The key to resolving peace in Mindanao is for all sides to be committed to peace, progress and prosperity. This includes reaching out to all sides and hearing the voices in the communities. We must all be willing to put ourselves in each other’s shoes and understand various points of views and be willing to give and take to bring permanent peace to the island. And that is the way that we can promote democracy and a strong republic.”

Economy

“Our priority is implementing the pro-poor and economic reform agendas that have given our country the strongest and most resilient economy in decades. This is a time when our nation’s leadership must give all its attention to managing the impact of the global crisis so that it does not become a Philippine crisis. The national leadership’s attention must not be on politics but on the economy with our soldiers taking care of security in the background.”

“Two-thirds of the globe is now in recession, but not the Philippines, which is growing 4.6 percent after growing 7.2 percent last year. The Bank of New York Mellon says, “The Philippines is inherently strong, a potential beneficiary of the financial woes.” JP Morgan says, “The Philippines is in a relatively strong position to weather the global downturn with the economy driven by private consumption and services, which are less vulnerable to external shocks.”

“The fact that we have avoided the crisis that is plaguing the rest of the world is a testament to the tough choices we made several years ago. Economic reform has been at the center of my presidency. It is because we took the politically unpopular decision to raise unprecedented new revenue that we have been able to generate additional resources and invest in physical and human infrastructure: roads, bridges and ports -- many of which were built by our soldiers; expanded access to healthcare, including improved military hospitals; education and social services, including more housing for our soldiers and their families. Upgrading will continue, particularly in training. We will make the Philippine Defense Reform work to stop the insurgency by 2010.”

Full text of speech is available at http://www.op.gov.ph

S peech of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Launching of LPG Conversion Program for Tricycles

Amoranto Stadium, Quezon City

Dec. 20, 2008

Governance

"And during this troubled time, it is the role of government to help insulate the Filipino people from shocks and economic pressures."

“Survey says that 70 percent of Filipinos are hopeful of the future. We -- the executive, legislative, national, and city - will make sure that the government will deliver public service to our people.”

Social Services

"We will continue investing in our health care system, education, and social services.”

Full text of speech is available at http://www.op.gov.ph

 
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