An Introduction to the Philippines

Introduction:

Honoured guests, members of the Head Table, members of The Empire and Canadian Clubs; Ladies and gentlemen. It is my honour and privilege to present our guest speaker today.

History demands enormous sacrifices of our leaders, and it is through these sacrifices that greatness is achieved. We remember Roosevelt, Nehru, Churchill and King for their courage, steadfastness, compassion and strength. Today I introduce to you Corazon Aquino, a women who, without a single doubt, has taken her place in history.

She is a woman who has dedicated herself to her people's needs for liberty and justice, yet demands nothing for herself. Instead, she gives to her country her love and her courage. Love for those who suffer among her people, courage for those who seek a brighter future.

Few countries have suffered more in war or peace, than the country she leads. Few countries have felt the tremors of political strife more than hers. Mercifully, few countries have a better leader to give them strength and vision.

To say simply, "We admire you, Your Excellency", is to treat lightly the esteem we have for you as a woman and a leader. Let me salute you with a reminiscence from a speech to this Empire Club some time ago. The speaker said, "The function of democratic leadership, it seems to me, is to respect the past, convince the present and enlarge the future." Our warm good wishes and heartfelt support go with you on your journey to the future.

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the President of the Republic of the Philippines; Her Excellency, Corazon Aquino.

CORAZON AQUINO

I am here to introduce the Philippines to you as an area of investments. As businessmen and bankers, you have your own sources of information on the country. There are a number of Canadian companies here today who do business in the Philippines. Much of what I have to say is known to some of you already. Essentially, what I offer you in this brief talk is the perspective of one who has a hand in making the Philippines what it is today.

Before I take the responsibility for everything, let me briefly describe the country that the late dictator gave back to us when he fled.

It would be a bit of an understatement to say we had nothing, for in fact we had less. We had a negative GNP in 1985. The year before that we had a 50 percent inflation. We had a $26 billion foreign debt, represented by virtually nothing productive, and very little foreign exchange.

That was the economy.

The political scene offered a mixed picture. There was the people power revolution that installed a new government committed to swift democratic restoration. That was myself. But along with me were those who did help in the democratic restoration but wanted to carve up the country as a prize for their patriotism. Right-wing elements in the military wanted to share power with me. Now that was not in the program. I turned them down.

Another destabilizing element was the Left and its military arm, the New People's Army. The Left claimed that since they opposed Marcos, they too deserved credit for the revolution and deserved to share power with me. This was a rather brazen request as the Left had objectively sided with Marcos by calling for a boycott of the election I was trying to win.

I will reserve the economy for last because it is what really counts. First, let me tell what I did with the Right. Dissatisfied with the republican honours, and determined to call the shots in the government, the right-wing military staged several coups against me. The last was an especially bloody affair which was crushed completely. The military right-wing has since been in hiding and on the run, at any rate those who aren't standing trial. As the phrase goes, the army has returned to barracks and comes out only to fight the insurgents.

I offered to negotiate peace with the insurgents. I promised them peace, amnesty, a new life in a free country- in exchange for the surrender of their arms. They rejected the offer. I ordered the army to resume operations against them. By and large, we have prised them from their strongholds and have kept them on the run. We have captured virtually the entire top leadership of the Communist Party. The party is in such disarray that it has turned its wrath upon itself. Purges may have taken a heavier toll on the insurgents that engagements with government troops. It is a measure of their desperation that the insurgents have taken to killing unarmed civilians. While this has done them more harm than it has the government, it is not a development we are pleased with. It is not our intention to look good only by the crimes of the enemy.

We believed, and still hold, that the key to stability and progress in the Philippines is addressing the issue of legitimacy. It is the special character of the Filipino that he will not abide illegality in government. For all the power of the dictatorship, it could not rule effectively because it was widely regarded as an illegitimate and undemocratic government. So we had to address quickly the issue of political legitimacy.

On my accession to power, the only legitimate pillar of state was the Presidency. I alone had an electoral mandate. I had to rule as President and parliament rolled up in one. It was not wise to continue this state of affairs, given the Filipino's unfavourable view of authoritarian government. I moved quickly to reestablish all the other institutions of a free government. A democratic constitution was drafted and ratified by an overwhelming majority of virtually the entire voting population. In quick succession, we held elections for the legislature and for the local governments. In a year and a half, we had a full-fledged democracy.

But in that year and a half in which I governed the country alone, I instituted the structural reforms that now serve as the solid basis for the economic progress you can see in the Philippines today. The core of these reforms was the liberalization of trade, the freeing of market forces, the abolition of monopolies and privileges, and the retraction of the government from the economy.

In one year, we turned the economy around and started to post positive growth rates. In 1988, our GNP was 6.7 percent. Exports grew by 20 percent and reached an all-time high of US $7.1 billion last year. We did this, despite the debt service which annually takes 40 percent of the national budget. We estimate that by the end of 1989, the level of our external debt will reach 72 percent of our GNP. These factors should be taken into account in considering the growth rates we have achieved. They testify to the strength we have built into the economy.

Other countries have seen this strength and the promise of profits that it holds out. Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan are investing heavily.

Canadian investments in the first eight months of 1989 were already about 280 percent of total Canadian investments in the past three years, although still small in absolute amounts.

The Philippines is the gateway to Asia. And it is widely believed that the Pacific will give its name to the next age of progress. We feel that Canada would be an ideal partner for the Philippines in stepping into this new era of Asian-Pacific growth. There are strategic reasons for this; not the least of them being the integrity of Canadian enterprise. We want investors who are mindful indeed of a good profit, and regardful as well of the interests of the country.

You can go to Asia and step into a totally alien environment or go to the Philippines, be at home in an English-speaking nation, with an honest and hard-working people, and still be right in the heart of the most dynamic region of the world. Thank you.

The appreciation of the meeting was expressed by Sonja Sinclair, Communications Consultant, Price Waterhouse and Past President of the Canadian Club of Toronto.

Sonja Sinclair

Your Excellency:

On behalf of all of us it is my pleasure and my privilege to thank you for accepting our invitation to address the people of Canada at this joint meeting of The Canadian Club of Toronto and The Empire Club of Canada.

According to William Shakespeare, some people are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. Shakespeare, of course, was talking about men. He either didn't know or didn't bother telling us that some women qualify for greatness on all three counts. Today we have been honoured to welcome as our guest such a woman.

Thank you for coming and speaking to us. We hope your stay in Canada will be both pleasant and fruitful, and that you will remember us half as fondly as we will remember you.