Speech of the President Before National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NAFFAA) To be read by Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye |
Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii (30 September 2006) |
| Aloha! Maayong gabii sa inyo tanan. Naimbag nga rabi-i kanyayo amin. Mayap abengi kekongan. Masantos ya tabi ed sikayon amin. Dios na marahay na banggi sa indo gabos. And in my own native dialect: Maganding gabi po sa inyong lahat. I am delighted to be here to share with you the festivities of the occasion and to give the felicitations of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Her message reads: On behalf of the Philippine government and the Filipino people, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the Filipino Centennial Celebration Commission or FCCC for your outstanding accomplishments especially in the monumental task of preparing for the year-long celebration which commemorates the arrival of the first fifteen Sakadas, or Filipino migrant workers in Honolulu Harbor aboard the SS Doric on December 20, 1906. The Philippines has a close affinity with Hawaii because of the large community of Filipino-Americans who reside in this beautiful state. Filipinos helped to develop Hawaii into what it is today. The first Sakadas left their wives and families at home, endured hardships and even ethnic discrimination and it was not till years later that they were reunited with their loved ones. I have seen their ability to succeed in their various fields of endeavor. Hawaii elected the first Filipino governor in the United States. We are now represented in the legislature, the judiciary as well as the medical, legal, teaching and business fields. They give vitality to the fulfillment of our vision for community empowerment and greater participation in Hawaiian affairs. The centennial celebration , which started on December 10, 2005 and ends on December 6, 2006, shows how the Filipinos can rise from humble beginnings and what they can achieve when they work as one. You will recall that a few weeks ago, at the end of a five nation visit that took me to Finland, Belgium, United Kingdom, Cuba and the United States, I visited the FilCom Center in Waipahu to unveil a bronze life-size statue depicting a Sakada cutting sugar cane. At that time, I spoke to descendants of the first Filipino immigrants, I extolled their sacrifice and the fortitude, as well as the strides Filipinos have made in Hawaii but I also said that I hope for a day when leaving the Philippines would be career choice and not a matter of necessity. My economic plans are designed to do just that, to allow the Philippines to break out of this cycle. That is why I remain so stubbornly focused on the economy, and why I want my super regions plan to work. We need to spread the wealth and keep the people working at home. We are creating appealing employment opportunities by focusing on the development of priority sectors, such as business process outsourcing or BPO. The number of people employed in BPO has grown from 2,000 from my first year in office to over 200,000 in the past 5 years. Our goal is to grow the higher value-added services segment of the industry, including accounting, legal, human resources and administrative services. As an economist, I firmly believed then, and I believe until now, in the power of the marketplace and open markets to improve the Philippine economy and to help lift the nation out of poverty. Aggressive trade policy, locally and internationally, has been an important benchmark of my overall economic plan, which is now bearing fruit: the peso is up, the market is up, exports and imports are up, foreign direct investment are up, investors are reinvesting and inflation is steady. I knew that in addition to sending strong signals on trade, I needed to get our own economic house in order. I inherited huge deficits, a bloated budget, dysfunctional bureaucracy and the worst revenue collection in a decade. I know that I needed to make fundamental reforms that would help drive our credit ratings up to improve our cost of borrowing and invite investments. I have done that through new taxes, improved collections and a crackdown on corruption. Trade is not a panacea: it also poses problems for developing nations that need to weather the onslaught of competition. But in the main, I aspire for the Philippines to not only abide by all trade deals, but also to initiate new opportunities where none existed. But much remains to be done. We are constantly striving to make our economy more competitive for both domestic and foreign investors. Shortly, there will be a National Competitive Summit that will bring together private sector participants, government officials and other key players, such as the legal community to look at how we can create a roadmap to make us more competitive. In ceremonies held at the Punchbowl Memorial later in the day of my Hawaiian visit, I presented to Filipino-American veterans a stone marker carved out of a slab taken from Corregidor's Malinta tunnel, to celebrate the heroism of Filipino and American soldiers of World War II. Our Filipino soldiers fought together in the greatest war in history. That's why we are free today and have a strong, modern, confident relationship with the United States. Filipino-Americans provide the bond that seals that relationship and I am confident that the friendship will endure. Enriched by your collective experiences, expertise and vision, the FCCC has proven itself more than capable of the undertaking the goals it has set itself to achieve. As such, I commend the FCCC for your inspiring leadership in laying the groundwork for the Centennial celebration of the First Filipino arrivals in the State of Hawaii. The FCCC's success and distinguished accomplishments bring honor and distinction to the Filipino people. I am proud of your success and achievements not just in Hawaii but also in all other states of America where over 3 million are residing and working. May they serve as fitting examples of the new generation of Filipinos in the United States. Mahalo and Mabuhay! |