Speech of Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye before the Rotary Club of Pasig City |
Valle Verde Country Club (08 March 2007) |
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am very honored to be with you today. The Rotary Club of Pasig City distinguishes itself with concrete achievements as an institutional partner and supporter of Gawad Kalinga, and I have been instructed by your President to remind those who pledged their contributions, to please write your checks now. Ang sabi nga ni Pangulong Raffy Garcia, your credit is good, but GK needs cash. Kidding aside, I would like to thank you all for having me speak before this forum. I come here before you with a simple message, which is, that despite what others on the other side of the political fence keep telling you, we are in a good place. The unassailable truth is that the Philippines is in a state of unprecedented fiscal progress, and that this is all because of our single-minded focus on growing the economy. Our Peso is strong. The business process outsourcing industry is growing. Dollar remittances from our OFWs have surpassed the $10 Billion mark. Crime has gone down. Our people feel more secure especially with the enactment of the Anti-Terror Law. Democracy is alive with the electoral campaign now in full swing. This bullish trend backs the President’s strategy of 8 blessings for 08 to be delivered to every household and community throughout the country. What does “8 by 8” mean? This means achieving the eight blessings of a strong economy by 2008 as tangible fruits of the administration’s commitment to bring the benefits of our fiscal momentum directly to our people. These eight blessings are: job creation, better cost of living; a strong peso; more investments; pro-poor education; pro-poor healthcare, housing, food. We may also add to the “8 by 8”, a green Philippines and more victories in the fight against terror. Another component of this plan is increasing the growth targets for the next three years ending 2009 under Plan “7, 8, 9”. “8 by 8” and Plan “7, 8, 9” guarantee that no matter what goes on in the political arena, your children’s futures are secure because the economy is strong. This is not one, but one among several plans that this administration offers the people. We started with a fiscal roadmap in 2004, which arrested our budgetary deficit and rescued our economy from negative credit ratings. We proceeded from there to a solid plan of action to make our country a retirement haven, a tourism paradise, and an IT hub. Investments in the ICT sector are on the rise. Infrastructure development has become a strategic area for public spending to cut logistical costs for traders and create employment opportunities in the countryside. The Ortigas Center that you recall five to ten years ago is much, much different from the Ortigas Center of today. 24-hour fastfood chains have sprouted as the call centers organize themselves in your city. And the expansion continues, all the way to Libis and beyond the boundaries of Pasig. Today, we are a nation interconnected across a digital divide, through sealanes and river basins with the Ro-Ro and your city’s new ferry system, and on land through modern highways and diversion roads, bridges and railway systems. The Philippines is in a good place and soon enough, the sacrifices of our people in paying higher taxes under the RVAT program shall be rewarded with a better and brighter future. Your vote in May will determine whether we shall continue on this path or be led astray again by those fixated with the battles of the past. It is hard work and good governance that will transform this country from mediocrity to modernity, from poverty to progress, from a good place to the best place in Asia, if not the world. Let us cut through the political noise and let our national aspirations dictate the tempo of our lives. Earlier, I joked about turning pledges into checks. If you look back, under the President’s leadership, most of the pledges have actually been converted into concrete programs, a budget surplus, a stronger peso, more jobs and a better investment climate. Now is not the time to wallow in misery and pessimism. Now is the time to move forward and keep moving on, always to a better place than before. Thank you and Mabuhay. |