By Hon. Leni Robredo
Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines
Before I proceed, I would like to thank Commissioner Stella Quimbo for the
generous introduction and incidentally, I don’t know if you know that she is
celebrating her birthday today. Of course, with her this morning, is my good
friend from the House of Representatives, Congressman Miro Quimbo,
Ambassador Franz Jessen of the European Union, Ambassador Kok Li Peng
of Singapore, our Human Rights Chairman Chito Gascon, Mr. Markus
Loening, the Former Human Rights Commissioner of Germany, of course, my
friend, Siggi Herzog, FNF Regional Director, and another good friend, a very
young one, Mr. Wolfgang Heinze, our FNF Country Director, Mr. Nicholas
Sallnow-Smith, Chairman of Lion Rock Institute, of course, Mr. Fred
MacMahon, resident fellow of the Frasier Institute, participants of the EFN
Asia Conference, my fellow workers in government, honored guests,
magandang umaga sa inyong lahat.
Thank you so much for having me today. It is always an honor to be with you,
especially this morning to share my ideas in this conference. Any
conversation on economic freedom is also by its very nature, a discussion on
our rights and the need to uphold them. One can argue, of course, that
economic freedom and human rights must be regarded separately, that
perhaps businesses should not look beyond the purview of profit, and that
human rights issues should be left to the activists, but this is naïve. We cannot
divorce genuine economic freedom from the protection of human rights. In
fact, economic liberty is a human right. We champion economic freedom
because it is natural to the liberties that every person is entitled to. Economic
freedom provides people with choices so that a person or a corporation is not
enslaved to a particular kind of future. He can choose to create meaningful
livelihoods or choose the path of employment. If he has the right skill and
talent, and the right goods to offer, he can choose freely to engage in trade
and labor or go into another kind of business. Businesses have the liberty to
sell and invest their assets, market their products, and drive sustainable profit
or stay small. It is the capability to choose their own path that sparks
innovation and progress.
In the 1980’s, there was an attempt to make people believe that our economy
was doing well and that economic liberties could be enjoyed by every Filipino,
that because Martial Law was instituted, Filipinos were economically better
off. It tried to play a game of smokes and mirrors. Fortunately, the Filipino
people were discerning. We, as a nation, decided we will not be lied to or
suppressed. We value our freedom even more than our lives. The EDSA
Revolution was sparked by the death of one man, but it was fueled by the love
for freedom of every Filipino man, woman, and child. Every non-soldier and
student that offered flowers to soldiers and faced tanks for days in a peaceful
revolution that inspired the world. Ironically, those days now seem simpler.
The lines between right and wrong were clearer then. Everyone knew the
enemy they faced. After decades of progress and growth brought about by
larger spaces for democracy and economic freedom, we are again hearing a
growing call for protectionism and iron-rule around the world. It is a puzzle to
many why there is a clamor for walls to be built rather than bridges to be
crossed. Perhaps this is because in the midst of technological breakthroughs
and global economic growth, so many people were left behind. The gap has
widened between the rich and the poor. In democracies where freedom
should have blossomed, millions remain hostage to poverty. Perhaps in our
diligent attempts to ensure economic freedom, we neglected to protect the
most fundamental rights of the poor and the marginalized.
This is especially obvious in the Philippines. Here is a country with recent
economic growth that has drawn generous praise. Over the last six years, the
country went from Sick Man of Asia to the fastest growing economy in the
region, faster even than China. Last year, Bloomberg named us as the Strong
Man of Southeast Asia, owing to our swift and sustained economic expansion.
The Philippine market too has become even more dynamic. Since 2010, the
country’s global ranking in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index, the
World Economic Forum’s competitiveness report, and Transparency
International’s Corruption Perception Index improved. Between 2010 and
2016, the Philippines climbed a total of 45 notches in the Heritage
Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom that made us as one of the most
improved countries in the index in the last six years.
As you can imagine, gains like these have led to other major successes. The
Philippines finally secured investment grade ratings from major credit
institutions which helped lower our country’s risk profile. Foreign investors
began to take a look at our shores and sure enough our foreign direct
investments grew by 66%, from 1Billion US Dollars in 2010 to a total of
6.2Billion US Dollars in 2014.
True, that is still a lean sum by global standards, but I think these numbers
demonstrate just how much the Philippine market improved in recent history.
Yet hidden behind the towering lights of our skyscrapers is the withering
indignity of Philippine poverty. Yes, poverty levels have declined significantly
in the last six years, but much more needs to be done. If we want to catalyze
much needed change, we must be ready to work together, across all sectors,
across all political persuasions, to uplift the lives of our poor. This isn’t just
true in the Philippines. This is true of all our nations.
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Social responsibility can no longer be the exclusive realm of civil society nor
can governance be the sole responsibility of governments. Corporations and
businesses must stand with us now in confronting the inequality head on. Still
within a democratic system that continues to value human rights, and the
freedom to choose. It is time we do justice to the necessary link between the
economic freedom and the protection of human rights.
This is why my office, the Office of the Vice President has actively engaged
different members of the private sector so we can work with them in reducing
poverty here in the Philippines. I am very happy to say that our partners have
not only been cooperative, many of them took the initiative - offering to help
without even being asked. Along with civil society and various other groups,
we have consultation workshops to develop effective poverty reduction plan.
We wanted an approach that would respond to the unique needs of the
poorest Filipinos, not just for the next few years, but for the long term. The
product of our efforts is our anti-poverty framework called the Angat Buhay
Program, which my office launched last October 10. The framework has five
focus areas: universal health care, nutrition and food self-sufficiency, quality
education, rural development, and women empowerment. But what is unique
about our anti-poverty framework is its design. We crafted it so that its
narrative of the ordinary Filipino family. Our priorities are thus arranged
accordingly: better maternal and infant health care so we can take care of this
new generation from the very start of their lives; comprehensive nutrition
programs for our children so we prevent the irreversible damage caused by
undernourishment; better vocational training for Filipino youth so that they can
hone their talents towards gainful employment.
We also want to strengthen the livelihood of adults in rural areas. We plan to
involve our poorest farmers and fisher folk in rewarding supply chains so they
can build their entrepreneurial spirit, and we want to emancipate women in a
meaningful way so that they can contribute to society the fullness of their
potentials. We are piloting the implementation of this framework across 50
local government units which we handpicked both on the basis of poverty
incidence, and their track record for progressive governance. Meanwhile, our
private sector partners will work with these local governments and our
targeted communities.
In all of these, the Office of the Vice President will stand as the bridge of talent
and resources where we joined the right partners with the right causes. This
kind of synergy will help us break the barrier that stands between our people,
and the change they need. And there is no question, we have to go out there
and make this happen. We owe it to the liberties that we hold so dearly. We
owe to the very humanity of the people we serve. Here and around the globe,
we have seen so much destruction brought about by greed. We have seen
the terrible costs of pursuing profit at the expense of our environment, at the
expense of communities, and at the expense of human lives.
The lessons of history tell us that true progress can only be achieved if our
economies are free enough to liberate our people and we must never lose
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sight of this truth - that we are all accountable for the world we live in. We are
all accountable for every human that does not enjoy these rights. We are all
accountable for each other.
Good morning once again and thank you for having me this morning.
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