Ferdinand E.

Marcos, First State of the Nation

Address, January 24, 1966
Address on the State of the Nation

Message to Congress

Of His Excellency Ferdinand E. Marcos

President of the Philippines

[January 24, 1966]
Mr. Senate President, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the Senate and House of
Representatives, Excellencies, Friends, my Countrymen.
Today I come to Congress as a partner in a great enterprise. Congress is the seat of reason, and the
Executive is the seat of the will.
We are indispensable to each other. Reason without the power of will is impotent, and will unaided by
reason degenerates into brute and force. Thus it is that you and I are bound to each other and crisis
strengthens this interdependence. And we are in crisis.
And so I come to you not as a partyman, for it is my fervent hope that I shall always conduct myself as
a President of all the people.
I was met with disbelief when, during my inaugural address on December 30 last, I stated that we were
in a state of crisis. It is my task today to recount the unhappy details of such a crisis. Our government
has been spending more than it has been earning. The daily income of government is P4 million while
its daily expenditures are P6 million. This means a daily deficit of P2 million. As of December 31,
1965, the cash position of the government was minus P228 million.
During the preceding six months from July to December 1965, the total net borrowings amounted to
P300 million. This was utilized to finance the excess of expenditures over income. As of December 31,
1965, the total budgetary loans of the government aggregated P1,018.1 million. This is broken down as
follows:
1. Treasury Notes issued under R.A. No. 245 P 562.3 million

2. Special Demand Notes issued in favor of
IMF under
R. A. No. 245.P184.0 million3.Provisional Advances (Overdraft
line) granted by the Central Bank under R.A. No. 265 .P170.0 million4.Non-
negotiable, non-interest bearing promissory notes issued under R.A. No. 2686 and R.A. No. 2052, to
cover CB advances for the payment of the Philippine subscriptions to the IMF, IBRD and IDA
.P101.8 million TotalP1,018.1 million
Out of the outstanding treasury notes amounting to P562.3 million as already indicated, P213.4 million
will mature during the current fiscal year 1966; P197.9 million in FY 1967; P30 million in FY 1968;
while the balance of P121.0 million will mature in FY 1970. But in addition to these maturing
obligations, the provisional advances of the Central Bank granted to our government of P170.0 million
will also be due on or before the end of September, 1966. You can see, therefore, that our government
is hard put to meet its obligations. And the financing horizon is shrouded in darkness. For the different
government financial institutions are floundering.
The Philippine National Bank is holding loans to the Rice and Corn Administration, the Philippine
National Railways, the NAMARCO, the National Development Corporation and the Agricultural
Credit Administration in the amount of P408 million which it may have to pay itself, if it does not
transfer it to our government. The most probable alternative will be that our government will have to
pay for this. The Philippine National Bank, therefore, now seeks to borrow funds for its own
operations. The GSIS has overdrawn its count with the Philippine National Bank by P35 million. The
Development Bank of the Philippines with a billion capitalization lost more than P5 million in
operations last year, the first time since its organization. The Social Security System is badly indebted.
This is the picture about our fiscal position. And let not forget that we have just survived a ruinous
electoral campaign which threatened to debauch the national treasury.
Election the noble process of manifesting the mandate of the majoritys will has been degraded
into a contest of the rich and the unscrupulous. Apparently, only by a miracle, so the observers say, has
the deserving but penurious candidate won in an election.
It is now time to rise from such a degradation. We must curtail unnecessary expenditures and limit the
period for active campaigning. I, therefore, propose legislation limiting the expenses of any candidate
to four times the annual salary for the position to which he aspires.
The total expenses of the party to which he belongs, all his contributors and all supporting
organizations should not exceed the total of one centavo per registered voter in the country or about a
millions pesos.
It is suggested that perhaps it would be better if no sample ballots were distributed except as incidental
to or as a part of other propaganda leaflets within the limits prescribed, but the names of all candidates
of each party, and independent groups, should be posted in every election booth at election time. The
use of newspapers, television and radio should be limited to a reasonable level. The period of campaign
should be limited to six months for national offices and to three months for local offices.
I, therefore, recommend legislation which would prohibit any campaign activity such as the printing
and distribution of any poster, advertisements for candidates, or activity of any candidate seeking
insertion of such advertisements before such period allowed by law for campaigning.
In relation to electoral reforms, I feel that the power of the Commission on Elections should be
expanded so as to clothe it with more investigative and regulatory authority. Our Supreme Court, the
final arbiter of the law, has clothed the Commission on Elections with power to annul votes that appear
in election returns that are patently fraudulent. I recommend legislation which would grant the
Commission on Elections the additional power to issue injunctions against any candidate, under pain of
cancellation of his name from the list of candidates, for violating the limitation on expenditure and the
period of campaign.
The implementation of the new registration law must continue so as to prevent flying voters and other
malpractices vitiating the popular will.
I recommend the passage, however, of amendments to this new registration law, such amendments to
include the punishment of possession by persons other than the owner of identification cards of voters.
I also recommend the increase in the penalty for violation of the election law committed by public
officials, specially public officers, and the legal methods to stop these violations should be made
summary.
It is now propitious to study the amendments to the Constitution to synchronize elections, provide a
single term of six years for a President. We must remove the infirmities of the fundamental law. And
perhaps, it is now time also to prevent the deadlocks in the Senate, by providing for an increase in its
membership.
Let me now resume the recounting of the woeful state of our nation.
The productivity of our fields has barely inched upwards from substandard levels.
Our industries face the challenge of recovery. Their growth has been stunted. Machines in our factories
have sputtered to a stop, thereby leaving industrial capacity unused and hundreds of workers
unemployed.
Our industries have been the main propellent of our growth. Now they are suffering from being too thin
in capital base, too fat in accounts receivables, too starved for credit and too drained of profits.
At year-end 1965, the country continued to be plagued by serious port costs, and inadequate
communications.
The convenience of water supply facilities is afforded to less than half our population. Electric power
reaches only a segment of the cities and the municipalities. Only five per cent of our rice lands are
irrigated. Indeed the challenge of adequacy on the basic complements of public service and physical
facilities seems insurmountable; and our need for public works seems unlimited.
Our school system continues to experience difficulties in accommodating the annual increment to the
school population; in improving the quality of instruction at all levels; and in efficiently utilizing the
output of our colleges and universities. We are faced with the irony of having to religiously invest a
very high proportion of our limited resources in education and yet experiencing so much waste in high
dropout rates and in the incidence of unemployment among college graduates.
Despite advances in public health during the last decade, tuberculosis, intestinal and communicable
diseases continue to take a heavy toll of life among our people.
There is a very disturbing upsurge in the incidence of criminality in our country. The crime clock
indicates murder and homicide every hour, theft every 30 minutes, robbery every hour, sexual offense,
estafa and falsification every two hours. Speed in the investigation of complaints, prosecution of
criminals and adjudication of cases is far from satisfactory and there is backlog of more than 80,000
cases pending in our courts.
There are other crimes whose pernicious influence rests not so much on their rate of incidence, but
more importantly, on their adverse effects on the national economy. I refer particularly to the problem
of smugglingthat cancerous evil that has wreaked havoc on our economy and weakened the moral
fiber of our people.
These threats to our security are further aggravated by the state of preparedness of our military and
police establishments which is far from adequate.
We face a pervasive threat from a military power that has resorted to open aggression to attain its ends
and has never accepted that general war would be disastrous.
Limited but protracted warfare is very much in evidence in areas immediately adjoining our territory.
The conflicts in South Vietnam and Malaysia present security problems of the gravest concern.
These are some of the problems and realities in our national life. I state them with candor; and in the
light of their graveness, we must solve them with vigor.
As against this background, the temper of the people has changed. It has turned from complacency into
an aggressive demand for greatness. So let me outline the plan of action of this Administration.
One of our first concerns is to strengthen the agricultural sector.
Self-sufficiency in the production of food, especially rice, must be attained in the shortest possible
time. We must also improve and diversify our production of export crops so that we can develop
Philippine agriculture into a reliable earner of foreign exchange.
This Administration is prepared to find the means for the implementation of land reform. If necessary,
we shall consider the sale of government properties not immediately needed to realize the funds for the
proposed Land Bank. The Agricultural Credit Administration must be reoriented to permit a total con-
centration of its resources on land reform cases.
Community development shall be pursued with greater momentum and depth to develop a new sense of
values and to further strengthen our social, economic and political base in an atmosphere of mass
participation and mass involvement.
The attainment of these objectives of course requires the unstinted support of Congress which I now
ask. It is necessary to enact legislation to:
1) Adjust to more realistic and rewarding levels the floor of the government buying price for rice and
com;
2) Provide legislative authority to borrow funds abroad to finance the construction of irrigation
systems;
3) Reorganize governmental agricultural agencies to achieve a reduction in operational costs in order to
attain efficiency and maximum coordination in all levels of governmental planning and
implementation.
Next I come to the problem of industry. It is clear that the government must assist in the rehabilitation
of ailing essential industries and promote the development of basic manufactures to balance our
industrial structure.
Let this message go forth to businessmen: our faith in free enterprise demands that we accept the
consequences of this bold adventure. While we, in government are committed to defend the free
initiatives of business which are not inconsistent with the public interest, we will not shy away from
our responsibility to intervene, to sustain ailing essential industries. On the other hand, we expect infant
industries to grow, sick industries to recover and begin to stand on their own feet. We believe in helping
by temporary assistance, not in pampering through permanent subsidies. We act from a conviction that
in business as in any other activity only those who know how to exercise their freedom deserve to be
free.
We appeal to the businessmen of this nation to harness their best qualities towards our common goals.
With the lifting of the retention scheme and the relative easing of credit policy, we invite our investors
to direct their attention towards ventures that contribute to our productive capabilities.
To achieve these aims, we shall
1) Minimize the outflow of invisibles and remove the source of unfair competition engendered by all
forms of smuggling. This we have started and we shall pursuer with relentless vigor.
2) Continue to ease the credit situation so that existing industrial firms can secure their normal credit
needs from commercial banks.
3) Extend refinancing assistance through government credit institutions on a selective basis to firms
faced with financial difficulties but which show definite potential viability.
4) Stabilize the exchange rate at the present level.
5) Maintain an adequate level of international reserves available for free market purchase.
6) Re-examine tariff policy with a view towards its use as a temporary assistance to domestic industries
which give convincing promise of growth and eventual financial independence.
To complement the efforts of the Executive in this area, I would like to see the enactment of an
investment incentives legislation which shall:
1) Give first consideration to our own citizens so that they can carve out for themselves through their
own initiative and their governments assistance their rightful places in their own country.
2) Specify investment priorities consistent with our objective of developing basic industries.
3) Utilize the significant role of tax legislation in chanelling investments to preferred areas.
4) Define terms under which foreign investors shall venture into the Philippines.
There shall be created an Investment Office which shall furnish all the information that may be
required by prospective investors, foreign or domestic. Such an office should be ready to recommend
openings for investment and to help to extend all facilities in both the public and the private sectors to
the entrepreneurs.
The loss of our traditional American export market by 1974 with the expiration of the Laurel-Langley
Agreement should be counterbalanced by the exploitation of new markets in Europe and among our
Asian neighbors, the diversification of our export products, and a switch in export emphasis from
unprocessed and semi-processed raw material to intermediate manufactures and finished goods. For
this purpose, we are submitting for congressional consideration the following measures:
a) The creation of a National Export Trade Authority which shall have the responsibility of promoting
Philippine export trade. This Export Authority shall coordinate and unify the activities of government
agencies concerned with exports, update and simplify export procedures, impose quality control and
standardization of export products, and generally lend all manner of assistance to Philippine exporters.
b) The promotion of the wood products industry by lifting the percentage tax on all domestic sales of
logs for manufacture or processing into wood products, and by imposing a tax on all foreign sales of
logs. We have the necessary capacity and potential for producing veneer, plywood, wood pulp and
other wood products for export. If there be a necessity for setting up new wood processing factories or
expanding existing ones, a portion of the increment from this tax policy shall be made available as
loans to finance these industries. It is indeed incongruous that by our own extensive log exports we
provide foreign competitors of our wood products with the valuable raw materials which make such
strong competition possible.
In view of the scarcity of public funds, it shall be necessary to seek the aid of private financiers for
some of these projects. Toll roads may be established by private contractors under Republic Act. No.
3751, which I now recommend to be amended to make the terms less onerous on the contractor.
Here are some of the projects conceived within the new four-year development plan which we are
finalizing:
Highways P 1,890 million
Electrification 904 million
Waterworks and Artesian Wells 60 million
River Control and Drainage 345 million
Airports 109 million
Air Navigation 23 million
Irrigation 121 million
Ports and Harbors 98 million
Railroad 294 million
Telecommunications 142 million
These projects amount to an astronomical total of P3,986 million.
These intentions however, when translated into action are only a small contribution towards bridging
the wide gap between present needs and present realities. Our inability to make a bigger contribution
does not derive from any lack of will but from a lack of means. To augment the limited government
resources available for these projects, we have recommended to Congress the amendment of the
Reparations Law in order to allow greater utilization of reparations goods, services and funds for public
works development.
In the event that our financial resources fall below present expectation, I hall not hesitate to call upon
Congress to legislate such measures as may be necessary in order to avoid the alternative of having to
fall back in our public works program.
Third, the government must provide a solid physical base which can adequately support planned and
sustained economic growth.
We seek to provide:
a) A structurally safe and sufficient network of major thoroughfares, with supplementary integrable
developmental road systems, complementary water and air transport facilities and a comprehensive
communications network;
b) Improve and extend irrigation facilities to such coverage as to attain sufficiency in staple crops
through exploitation of regions of great agricultural potential;
c) Power and water supply facilities to serve the increasing requirement of our growing industry and
population;
d) Civil works designed to solve the perennial flood problems of the country;
e) An adequate physical plant for regular governmental social services, in the form of schools, hospitals
and sanitaria, public buildings, mass housings and community development.
To these ends, we intend to build no less than 1,500 kilometers of concrete roads and more of asphalt
and gravel roads. We intend to improve sixteen thousand kilometers of feeder roads and close to thirty
thousand lineal meters of permanent bridges. We intend to develop an additional capacity for 1 million
kilowatts of electric power and provide adequate water services for 3.7 million people in the provinces.
We will irrigate an additional quarter of a million hectares and undertake river control projects in eight
regions and 38 localities.
These objectives seem ambitious and they may take more than four years to accomplish but this does
not indicate any political ambition. They are merely clearly set for our planning.
We are committed to provide an educational system which can tap the potentials and vitality of our
human resources. We shall continue to meet the constitutional mandate of providing free and universal
primary education. Our best efforts shall be directed:
1) To overcome the crisis in classroom accommodations by undertaking a school building program
which would not only meet the annual increase in requirements but would also gradually eliminate the
existing backlog of 50,000 classrooms.
2) To define responsibility over the financing of the different levels of our school system.
3) To encourage the teaching of science and the development of research.
4) To strengthen our vocational and technical school system to afford our youth training in essential
skills for the promotion and expansion of our agriculture and industry.
5) To dissociate the educational system from adverse political influence particularly in the recruitment,
promotion and assignment of personnel.
The fifth plan is, we shall extend maximum protection to the working man and we shall do so through a
vigorous and effective implementation of existing labor laws, and we shall enhance the productivity of
workers through training and placement services. However, I shall periodically present and recommend
to Congress amendments to some of the existing labor laws.
Sixth, we shall strive to raise the efficiency of our public health services to a level which should meet
the minimum requirements of our people.
Seventh, the elevation of the standards of the administration of justice is a primary concern of this
Administration, as it should be for all administrations. It is essential that crime prevention and law
enforcement should be complemented by the speedy and fair adjudication of cases. To this end, the
performance of the judiciary, particularly at the lower courts, shall be improved by instituting reforms
within the judicial machinery and by limiting appointments to judicial positions to men of known
dedication, integrity and knowledge of the law.
At this juncture, it may be well to remind the Members of Congress of the bills that failed to pass
which sought to transfer jurisdiction and responsibility for certain cases from the Supreme Court to the
Court of Appeals and from the Court of First Instance to the lower courts. I shall propose legislation of
this nature as they fall due.
Investment and production are the true answer, the final answer to our economic ills, but this true final
answer requires as condition a measure of social and political stability.
It is imperative that certain measures be undertaken to enhance our national security, therefore, both
externally and internally. These measures should be directed towards revitalizing our regular force,
including local police forces, and accelerating the build-up of our reserve elements. The following are
some of these measures:
a) I propose to effect a more vigorous implementation of the National Defense Act, extending the
period of trainee service to eighteen months and authorizing the utilization of trainees in regular
military duties.
b) I propose to replace outmoded equipment and augment existing equipment by new equipment from
all available sources. Towards this end, the costs to absorb, utilize, and maintain such new made
available. I shall propose this item in the new budget.
c) I propose to reorganize the military institution as a step towards restoring its morale and esprit de
corps.
d) I recommend the enactment of legislation which will institute administrative reforms among all our
police forces to upgrade their effectiveness and efficiency.
e) I now ask for the creation of a Philippine Coast Guard within the administrative framework of the
Philippine Navy. Unabated smuggling through our sea routes, rampant disregard of our laws designed
for the protection of life and property at sea, and the absence of a central agency to administer and
enforce our maritime laws are the compelling reasons for the creation of a Philippine Coast Guard.
Concurrent with these efforts to revitalize our Armed Forces, I also propose to mobilize the manpower,
material and equipment resources of the Armed Forces in order that they may be able to assist in the
execution of our social and economic development programs.
We believe in the principle of free enterprise. We realize that when the public sector goes into debt and
competes with the private sector for credit, the scale is biased against the latter. This results in the
draining of the credit flow to business which in turn impinges upon production and thereby operates
against our basic growth. Our financial policy therefore will be so designed that the public sector may
not unduly tax the existing credit sources in competition with the private sector.
It will also be so designed that consumers do not suffer from the consequences of a rise in prices. Not
only will we exercise the utmost responsibility in monetary and fiscal policy in order to hold the line on
prices, but we are determined to undertake massive production programs in rice, fish, vegetables and
meat. We shall fight hoarding and market manipulation with every force at our disposal. We will
continue to use the persuasive powers of the Presidency to prevent the spiraling of prices in key sectors
and products.
We cannot lay any claim to nobility or greatness unless we can improve our tax collection system. We
must show convincing proofs that we are using in the most judicious and economical manner the funds
we collect in the form of taxes in order to leave no room for the justification of the popular hesitation to
pay taxes which taxpayers claim will just be squandered away. We are recommending that the debt
ceiling on domestic borrowing specified under R.A. No. 1000 and on external borrowing specified
under R.A. No. 16 be raised to higher levels to provide for policy maneuver during the times of
financial stress.
We must achieve not only a balanced budget with respect to current expenditures but if possible
generate a surplus which we can use to finance capital expenditures for economic development.
However, when it will not be possible to generate a surplus in the magnitude that will suffice to cover
our requirements for economic development we shall not be limited to the mere extent of such a
surplus. For we intend to fulfill our responsibilities of providing adequate growth and maximum
employment opportunities for our people.
I therefore seek the cooperation of Congress in the amendment of R. A. No. 1000 and R.A. No. 16.
To guard against the indiscriminate use of the foreign borrowing authority, we propose that all
borrowings will be on a project basis and only after the plans for such projects have been developed by
the agencies concerned, approved by the National Economic Council and the Monetary Board. In view
of the ambiguity in R.A. No. 16 and R. A. No. 1000, it is also desirable that we clarify the respective
ceilings as applying to the amounts outstanding rather than to the amounts incurred under the
respective borrowing authorities.
The challenges we face pose unprecedented and unremitting demands for high quality in ideas and
performance of the public service. High competence in administration, integrity, responsibility,
responsiveness and stability in performance; and most important, the capacity for innovation and
change, are needed to envision and attain our national goals.
In the past, governmental programs requiring innovations have most often been entrusted to newly
created agencies staffed by dynamic new blood as new to the public service as the program itself.
We must accept that the infusion of new blood is desirable and necessary rather than just a concession
to political exigency. Let me state here and now that I respect the civil service system and will do all in
my power to strengthen it. However, the existence of a closed career civil service should not be made
a shield for incompetence and mediocrity.
The challenge of our times demands that we mobilize the best talents available in the private sector as
well as in the public service if we are to realize our aspirations as a people. To this end, I would like to
see the infusion of our career staff with new blood at all levels of the national government and the
interchange of talent between government and private employment and among government agencies in
order to enhance the responsiveness of our public service to the challenges we face.
Our administrative machinery must be regenerated to gear it to the requirements of national growth.
Graft and corruption in our government must be exposed and eliminated.
We resolve to effect reforms in governmental operations. To promote economy, simplicity and
efficiency in the conduct of public affairs of the government, we have already recommended to
Congress, during its recent special session, a bill authorizing the reorganization of the executive
department and entities.
At present there is no single body responsible for the orderly growth and shipping industry. We shall
propose the creation of a Maritime Commission to consolidate the functions dispersed among several
entities, concerning coastwise and overseas navigation.
Beset as we are with tremendous challenges at home, we are also affected by the momentous
happenings abroad.
The foreign policy of our Republic shall continue to be dictated by our national interests and the
interests we share with other peoples of identical aspirations and goals. It must serve the enduring
welfare of our nation by promoting its prosperity, security and liberty. Its primary goals must be the
security of our country from aggression and subversion, and its economic development through our
own vigorous efforts and in close economic cooperation with other countries.
We shall be friends to all nations that either share our values or wish us no evil. We shall maintain close
relations with our allies on a basis of mutual respect, equal dignity and genuine identity of purpose.
Communism remains an ever-present danger to the security of this region. We shall stand ever alert to
this menace and are determined to resist its expansion through our own strength and in cooperation
with other nations.
We shall continue to give loyal support to the United Nations. We have participated in the
establishment of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, the Association of Southeast Asia, and
Maphilindo. It is our hope that these organizations will continue to strengthen our capability to ward off
aggression and subversion, build our economy, and enrich our culture. We are prepared to consider with
our allies and fellow members in what ways these organizations can more effectively serve our regional
interests.
We intend to set arrangements in motion for the normalization of our relations with Malaysia, without,
however, prejudicing our claim to North Borneo and impairing our friendship with other countries.
We extend the hand of friendship and goodwill toward the Indonesian people. We pray that they shall
emerge from their present trials strengthened in foreign intervention and domination.
We shall endeavor to strengthen our present policy of friendship with the Republic of China. We,
therefore, intend to re-examine the procedures for the entry of persons of Chinese origin, and seek an
early and just settlement of the long-pending problem of overstaying Chinese.
Recognizing the importance of our relations with Japan we shall seek to more stable political and
economic arrangement with this country.
The Philippines has a vital stake in the survival of the Republic of Vietnam. We shall continue to assist
this nation to the best of our ability. But at the same time, we shall support any reasonable move for a
negotiated peace in Vietnam. It is my intention to send a fact-finding mission to South Vietnam to
report to the Security Council and the leaders of our country thereafter.
Our relations with the United States shall be maintained on a basis of common ideas and interests, of
mutual respect and consideration. We are convinced that this great nation would want nothing better
than to see our nation prosper in dignity and freedom.
Since trade with the United States is essential to the national economy, we shall maintain this trade on
equitable and mutually advantageous terms. At the same time, we shall seek to expand our trade with
other countries under conditions consistent with our fundamental interests.
These are the problems that we face; these are the plans that I propose to utilize to meet them. This is
the challenge of our responsibilities. Complete dedication, total heroism are demanded as the proper
response. For our body politic is ill, perhaps paralyzed by a great disease, and we must meet this
ailment vigorously.
Some questions have been raised about the stem measures taken like the laying off of casuals. The truth
of the matter is that there were no funds to pay for them. It would have been the easy way out on the
part of the Chief Executive to have allowed their retention in government, but it is the hard role of the
leader to sometimes inflict pain during the process of medication and perhaps of surgery. And this will
be, I know, the heavy burden, the thankless task that the Chief Executive must perform during this
period of recovery. But I accept this heavy burden; I ask you to accept it with me. I accept it for today
my life seems to have run full circle.
During the war and after the war, I participated in the recovery and rehabilitation of our people from a
devastating conflict. And in these Halls of Congress, like you as legislator, I often stood up to plead for
self-abnegation and sacrifice.
Today, I come to you again not as a legislator but as a partner, as I said, in this great enterprise, in this
enterprise for the recovery of our dignity and of our freedom and I come with the same plea. The
democratic faith is premised on the concern of our people for the individuals life, liberty, his security
and his health, but we still have very far to go to do justice to this faith. With the help of the Almighty,
the bounty of our resources and the energy of our people, I am confident that we will meet the demands
of our faith.
We must, for too long have we procrastinated as a people, be never daring to forsake, in the phrase of
Rizal, a humble present for a brilliant future. But our people cannot wait and they ask us to act and I
hear them say, there is no margin for pettiness. There are no reserves for partisan strifes. Our people
look to Congress and to the Executive for effective, dedicated leadership for the attainment of greater
freedom for all. I therefore call upon you and the rest of the nation join with me in a massive and
unrelenting effort to translate these and expectations into action and accomplishment. For our sur-
vival, and beyond it, our progress is in our hands. We cannot look to anybody else. We ca expect no
help from any other sector. We must look to ourselves alone. Our nation can be great only according to
the scale of our own labors, our self-abnegation.
Therefore, I ask you, let us look to ourselves and I pray that God grant guidance to all of us in this
sacred and noble mission.
Source: Official Gazette http://www.gov.ph/