Philippines

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. 15 08-51570 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 08-51570 16 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.