Excellencies of the diplomatic corps, distinguished officials led by Undersecretary Lauro Baja, and other honored officials, members of this vital Department, Ladies and Gentlemen -

    We come to this august Department in the wake of vital events of the recent past.  Events that brought forth a new president, a new government, and a new governance.

    I come humbled by the lessons taught us anew by those events that public office is a public trust - gobyerno serbisyo, hindi negosyo; that sovereignty resides in the people - because an entrusted leader can fool some of the people some of the time, but he cannot fool all the people all the time; that it is time we renew moral values of our forefathers - of honesty and honor and hard toil, not ill-gotten wealth to gain perceived respectability.

    I come aware of the awesome responsibility to the challenges we face in foreign service - and I salute the dedicated men and women of the career foreign office - men and women who have dedicated years to lend stability to this vital department -  men and women who play a vital role in foreign affairs because governments come and go, but it is the civil servants in the career service that provide stability and continuity.  And this is true both in the presidential and in the parliamentary form of government, as your Excellencies well know. In Great Britain, for example, the labor government under Clement Atlee replaced the conservative government of Winston Churchill at the height of victory during World War II.  And Churchill said "There go my plans, there go my programs, for the post victory for my countrymen in Great Britain…  but the civil servant would pursue public service no matter where the new direction of the new government may bring them.  Of course, the civil service has also blended with the political leaders like Winston Churchill and Clement Atlee.  I remember that when Harry S. Truman became president, he appointed a friend to become ambassador in a South American Republic.  And  the nominee said " Mr. President, why me? I have never been to that country.  I do not speak Spanish.  I am not acquainted with the hemisphere of the region."  And Truman looked at him and said " You don’t speak Spanish.  You don’t come from there. You don’t know the people there.  That is precisely why I am appointing you ambassador to that Republic.  And that ambassador became one of the best ambassadors. And so far you have the blending of political personalities like Emmanuel Pelaez who served with distinction.  He was a political ambassador but he served with distinction.   Blended with the dedication of the men and women of the career foreign service like you.

    In 1986, after Edsa I, I had the privilege to serve as chairman of the Commission on Audit.  We had then toppled a dictatorship and the challenge to the Commission on Audit was awesome.  Many in the career service there in that vital office, were of course suspected of then being allies of the officials of the old government.  We had a new Constitution then - the Freedom Constitution.  And many feared that I would replace as I could many of the career public servants.  But I did not.  All I asked them was to do their job and to cooperate with the new government.  Even as I do now, and act with dedicated men and women of the foreign service corps to help me in this new job, under this new government.  Can I expect a responsive "Yes" from that plea of your new Secretary of Foreign Affairs?

    Permit me now to state some of my priority concerns  in the Department and for the nation.  I would like to pursue vital economic and political ties with more vigor - that means, Excellencies,  that we would like to promote stronger economic and political relationships between our respective countries.  And I would like to assure you that here your Secretary of Foreign Affairs you have a friend who will do what he can to help promote personal, political, economic strengthened ties between our respective countries.

    Secondly, I would like to render greater public service to the public. We would like to minimize, for example, if not eliminate the long pila  -- the long line of Filipinos waiting to get passports because of the long processing.  We have therefore conferred with some officials, and we have already taken some immediate steps.  Hopefully, to eliminate this through faster processing and minimize, if not eliminate, the pila system.

    I would like to promote a mini- marshall plan for Mindanao. Because Mindanao has the potential. Mindanao has the people. Mindanao has the capacity to absorb the needed infrastructures and therefore we would like to generate as many jobs as possible for the people of Mindanao by the establishment of a mini- marshall various projects in Sulu, in Maguindanao, in Lanao premised in the hope and the trust that peace will at last reign in that region of the country. We would like to make Mindanao the food basket of the Philippines. In Sulu, for example, we plan to establish a processing plant of agar-agar and a cold storage, and electrification, as well as the circumferential road that is now being implemented. We would like to generate thru grants, loans, and equities, the needed amounts, not so big, not so small either. But without relying on the budget of the government because we know that the Philippine government is faced with an awesome budgetary deficit that is projected to reach PhP 200B .

    Finally, we will do everything to support the programs of the president in tourism, in agriculture and in all the trade and investments, that the president endeavors to do this Department is pledged to help. In the tourism field, we have a secretary who has many plans and he has already agreed to sit down so that we can promote the vital projects that will attract foreign tourists into the country.

    And so these are my concerns, preliminary concerns which I will try to implement as soon as possible. And in the long and short range, all I can say is that I will do my best as Abraham Lincoln once said, "In the many challenges that I have faced, I will do the very best in the manner that I see best. If I am proven correct and the results are positive, they will be my just rewards. But if I'm proven wrong, then a dozen angels swearing that I should have done otherwise would not make a difference. And so I resolve Ladies and Gentlemen to do my best in the very best manner that I see fit. And I hope to God that I make the right decisions and the right implementation for the sake of the nation and the international community.  Thank you very much!