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PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO’S 2009 PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE DAY MESSAGE FOR FILIPINOS ABROAD |
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Malacanang, Manilla
June 10, 2009 |
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Maligayang pagdiriwang ng 111th Anniversary ng ating bansa !
I understand that this year’s Independence Day Theme is : “Kagitingan, Kagalingan at Kasipagan Tungo sa Tunay na Kalayaan.”
Where before our heroes fought to gain political freedom, today, we must use our sense of community and solidarity to gain freedom from economic deprivation.
Today, we are faced with a global economic crisis.
In the Philippines we were fortunate to have taken tough measures several years ago which have helped stave off the worst of the global economic crisis. We raised revenues, cut down on smugglers, increased collection and took the new revenue and invested heavily in long overdue physical and human infrastructure.
Even with that, we had to invest new money and delay balancing our budget by a year or two in order to pump more money into the economy and to provide relief for the poor who are hardest hit.
Next, we developed a track of expanding our domestic demand. This decreased our reliance on exports. Our exports to GDP ratio now is 28.5 percent against 49.0 percent in year 2000.
As a result of our dramatic reforms, our GNP grew 8.0 percent in 2007.
In 2008, when two-thirds of the world went into recession, we sustained GNP growth of 6.1 percent. In the 1st quarter of 2009, our GNP still grew by 4.4 percent. Our unemployment only increased from 7.4 percent in 2008 to 7.8 percent.
Ganumpaman, the pain and disruption of the current global contagion hurts. And the poorest among us are those who hurt the most. But we can take heart in the fact that there are tentative signs of recovery in the biggest international market—the U.S. There are early signs of improvement in consumer spending and consumer confidence with greater stability in the financial sector and an up-tick manufacturing.
Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, a widely followed economist due to his New York Times column,and others are see recession bottoming out this year. Hopefully this represents the beginning of a rebound in the U.S. and in the global economy.
Your services and constant remembrance of your motherland and the Philippines form an important part of our country’s social and economic growth.
Sa lahat ng Pilipinas sa lahat ng dako ng mundo, Mabuhay!
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GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO
President of the Philippines
June 2009
Manila
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