Thank you.

Thank you, Secretary Romulo. Congratulations! on your Sikatuna award. I was saying that you truly deserved that award because you really stand equal to the great foreign ministers all over the world and in our region, congratulations!

Secretary Ermita; our top officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs; the recipients of the loyalty and model employees awards; the recipients of our special awards for the special heroic efforts that were undertaken by our key officials during this past year; our guests: Roberto Tarongoy and the members of his family; of course, Angelito Nayan is not a guest, because he's part of us; men and women of the foreign service; ladies and gentlemen.

Let me congratulate all of you for your contributions to Philippine stability and security. And as has been the theme of our celebration today, the country is particularly grateful for your dedication and heroism in the rescue of Angelo Dela Cruz, Angelito Nayan and Roberto Tarongoy. You have shown what it is to be a Foreign Service. Going beyond the call of duty to secure our nationals in distress to the joy of their families and the entire nation. That is truly the epitome of foreign policy in the service of the Filipino. But I thank you not only for these outstanding and celebrated efforts and examples of heroism, but also for your day to day work for your pursuit of our nation's interests and securing them in every global forum.

Our Foreign Service is something to be proud of. Our election to the UN Security Council, our election as chair of the APEC Counter terrorism Task Force, these serve to highlight the multilaterals and international organizations trust in the leadership capabilities of the Philippines and of Filipinos, and of course of our Foreign Service. Through you, we serve in the peacekeeping, in healing the sick in times of disaster, in manning the ramparts of the world order. Other departments may participate in the implementation, but you are always the means to be able to do these things. Soon, we will be having another engagement in the world in keeping the peace. I have authorized 200 soldiers more to be sent to Haiti.

Thank you for mobilizing foreign policy in our promise of peace not only in the whole world but in Mindanao, which because of your diplomacy is enhanced by development and solidarity and has driven wide international support.

We have completed 80 percent of our peace process with the MILF. The most contentious issue, which is ancestral domain, has already been settled and signed. The remaining issue of governance is much, much simpler than the issue of ancestral domain.

Thank you also that with our allies for peace and security, we're opening new fronts in the fight against poverty and terrorism, including our efforts and initiatives in securing bigger debt relief for countries not only the poorest of the poor but middle-income countries like us.

And today, as Secretary Romulo said, we have to contend with a highly politicized and divided environment here especially in Metro Manila, and this is compounded by global economic dislocations mostly engendered by the high price of oil. The task at hand is to unite and speed up economic growth to spur investments, which is one of the main work of economic diplomacy and to keep the confidence of our markets and trading partners.

I am very happy that the markets opened yesterday up, the stock market up, the bond market up, the dollar market up. I think a lot of that is because our Foreign Service keeps up the confidence of the markets in the world in our country.

Through Secretary Ermita, I'm instructing the Cabinet to step up the implementation of the second phase of our economic agenda -- the first phase being our fiscal reforms -- through investments in pro-poor programs and the improved delivery of basic social services like electricity. We are committed to providing every barangay with electricity by 2010.

Water. We are committed to providing every town -- because there's still 400 towns without water -- every town with water and every barangay in Metro Manila, which is as big as a town, with water.

Cheaper medicines. We have added 20 more technical people in the Bureau of Food and Drugs in order to speed up the registration of the half-priced medicines so that they can reach the poor better. And soon we will be advertising -- Secretary Ermita, we should be advertising -- where the poor can access these half-priced medicines in the many Botika ng Bayan, Botika ng Barangay and national government hospitals all over the country.

Wider access to education. I have instructed our CHED head and working with other friends even from other branches of government to find a way to have relief for those students who enrolled under the pre-need insurance -- ah, well, they're not called insurance -- pre-need education plans so that they would be able to take their examinations. So these are hard things we have to do, but we have to do them because so many are affected.

Health programs. Last year, we enrolled almost more than 4 million Filipinos, Filipino families in our health insurance program. That is over 85 percent of our... By doing that, we have been able to enroll about 85 percent of the Filipino population. Even in other countries that's considered as universal health insurance.

This year, for the renewal, it was expected that the local governments would take over. Many local governments have been able to afford it, 2.5 have been enrolled. Many local governments still cannot afford it at this point in time and I have instructed the PCSO and the DBM to find a way to continue in the case of the local governments who cannot afford now to take over the premium of the indigents to continue for yet another year. I intend to win the people's trust through good governance and urgent reforms.

Meanwhile, I trust that you will stay true to your professional commitment and help preserve our respective standing in the global community.

When Bert Romulo was talking about what I said last year, I was already remembering my father's story. My father was working here in Malacañang. And at that time, when President Roxas became president and Quirino became vice president and secretary of Foreign Affairs -- that was, what? 1946? -- as vice president and secretary of Foreign Affairs, Elpidio Quirino had the task of creating the Foreign Service. He had the task of presenting to the world the best of the Filipino mind. And so he conducted a search for the best and the brightest who could show to the world that our new republic was worthy of respect from peers. Among those that he recruited as the best and the brightest was my father. And my father therefore became one of the first Foreign Service officials. And because of that, as he rose up through the Foreign Service, eventually, he ran for Congress. And because he had been a Foreign Service officer without... There was still no foreign service act as profession as could be, he became chairman of the committee on foreign relations because of his career in the foreign service and that's why he authored the first foreign service act. Which is the reason why when I became president, I did my best given the political reality so you do have to have political appointees, but I have done my best to maximize the chances and increase the chances of our professionals being the ambassadors and chiefs of missions all over the world.

I am happy about the role my father played in the development of the Foreign Service. And every year, we remember how it all began with Apolinario Mabini.

Let's all be united and focused on the original vision of our leaders and heroes like Mabini, our first minister of foreign affairs, to steer the course towards a peaceful and progressive future that's worthy of the blood, sweat and tears of every Filipino.

This past year, the Foreign Service showed blood, sweat and tears. Risking personal lives, months, stretches of months, but you came through. The world acclaims you; the Philippines acclaims you. It's a proud moment for the Philippine Foreign Service.

Happy anniversary to all of you!

Mabuhay tayong lahat!  END.
 
 
 
 
 
 

/epa