Philippines, 2008

The developing

world is at a tipping point. In the Philippines, we feel

the pain of high prices of food, fuel and rice. Our

people pursue the universal dream of a better life for

themselves and their children: better education, better

health care, higher wages, a dignified retirement. We

are proving the value of a new paradigm for

self-reliance through the use of, first, a targeted

strategy with a set of precise prescriptions to ease our

price challenges; secondly, food self-sufficiency and

more energy independence; and thirdly, long-term

reforms. This is a positive example that we wish to

share with the rest of the world.

Our gains over the past seven years were hard-

earned. We made tough and sometimes painful

decisions to reset our economy: tax increases, banking

reforms, a crackdown on smugglers and tough fiscal

discipline, to name a few. Thankfully, these reforms

have given us some running room to weather the first

wave of global price shocks that reverberated across

the world earlier this year.

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It has not been easy, but Filipinos are tough and

resilient. We have pulled together. We have been able

to draw on additional revenues to provide targeted

investments in food and fuel to keep our poor afloat

until a better day. But we are also realistic and know

that we cannot do it alone. We need a strong United

Nations as never before. We need rigorous

international cooperation as never before.

Economic uncertainty has moved like a tsunami

around the globe, wiping away gains, erasing progress,

not just here on Manhattan island, but also in the many

islands of the Philippines. Just when we thought the

worst had passed, the light at the end of the tunnel

became an oncoming train hurtling forward with new

shocks to the global financial system. The setbacks

from these global shocks of the past year — and of the

past weeks — are real and profound. It will take time

and perseverance to put the pieces back together.

To address these global challenges, we must go

on building bridges among allies around the globe in

order to bring the rice to where it is needed to feed the

people, to make investments to create jobs, and to keep

the peace and maintain stability in the world.

It is therefore timely that the Secretary-General,

Ban Ki-moon, has organized this year’s agenda around

the impact of the global economy on the poor. He

deserves our highest praise for his quick and decisive

action on the global food crisis. His Comprehensive

Framework for Action, involving the United Nations,

donor countries, civil society and the private sector,

seeks to achieve food security through the right

combination of policies, technologies and investments.

This is a model of the United Nations in action.

Since the volatile global economic situation

became apparent many months ago, in the Philippines

we have increased and stabilized the supply of rice and

delivered targeted subsidies to the poor. We have

reached out to neighbours such as Viet Nam and others

in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and

elsewhere to ensure a stable supply and affordable

prices. We have clamped down on price gouging and

invested additional billions in planting and agricultural

modernization.

We have increased our energy independence by

17 per cent through greater use of geothermal energy,

biofuels and other renewable sources, and we expect to

attain 60 per cent energy independence in two years.

Biofuels have been cited as being a positive factor for

clean energy. At the same time, they have also been

cited as a negative factor that contributes to high food

prices. We are pursuing a policy of using non-food

biofuel sources planted on land unusable for food

production purposes. We see this approach as a way for

countries to seek a sustainable balance between food

and energy needs.

For food self-sufficiency, our food baskets are

North Luzon in our largest island and the southern

island of Mindanao. Mindanao has fields of the highest

productivity, yet also the majority of our poorest

provinces. It is a sad irony that our food basket has

some of the highest incidences of hunger in our nation.

The prime reason is the endless Mindanao

conflict. Our archipelago of 7,000 islands has had its

share of religious strife, ethnic tension and violence.

For years, we have worked to achieve peace in

Mindanao. Much progress was made until violent

elements within the Moro Islamic Liberation Front

(MILF) decided to take the law into their own hands.

We will restart the dialogue when the area is secure,

when our people are safe and when responsible

elements in the MILF regain control.

There is no alternative to peace. I stand before the

Assembly today to declare loud and clear that we are

committed to the process of peace in Mindanao. We

gratefully acknowledge here today the central role of

so many friends and allies, including the United

Nations; Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Libya,

Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and others in the Organization

of the Islamic Conference; Australia, New Zealand, the

United States and other bilateral partners supplying

official development assistance; and the European

Union and Sweden. All have played a big role in

advancing peace and development in Mindanao.

We will refocus the peace talks from an approach

that is centred on dialogue with rebels to one of

authentic dialogue with the communities. The context

of our engagement with all armed groups will

subscribe to the United Nations-recognized principle of

disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. We

maintain high hopes in interfaith dialogue as a means

of building bridges rather than barriers between

communities of different cultures and ethnicity. In

furtherance of this effort, the Philippines will host the

first-ever Special Ministerial Meeting of the

Non-Aligned Movement on Interfaith Dialogue and

Cooperation for Peace and Development in May next

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year. We will also cooperate with the Alliance of

Civilizations.

We are also pleased that the Secretary-General

will join us in Manila during the second Global Forum

on Migration and Development. Our overseas Filipino

workers are true global pioneers. There is no ship

abroad that does not have a Filipino crew or a nation

that does not have highly skilled Filipino workers. The

movement of people from one country to another will

surely increase as globalization continues to erase

borders. This fact should be recognized as having

implications for the growth and development of both

sending and receiving countries.

In many troubled places of our world, the United

Nations is the last great hope for peace and security.

For this reason, the Philippines contributes one of the

largest police contingents to United Nations

peacekeeping operations.

Mr. President, your leadership is more vital than

ever. The Philippines will fully support you as you lead

our General Assembly for the coming year.

In conclusion, there are hundreds of millions of

good people across this globe who are struggling as

never before. We must hear their cry for help. It is

within the collective power of the leaders at this United

Nations General Assembly to fulfil the universal dream

of better education, better health, food on the table and

a dignified life.