Bahay Ni Juan

ASEAN ON A STRONGER FOOTING OPENING ADDRESS OF SPEAKER MANNY VILLAR

CENTENNIAL HALL, MANILA HOTEL

20 SEPTEMBER 1999, 11:15 A.M

Your excellencies: speaker H. Harmoko, speaker Samane Vigaket, speaker Tun Mohamed Zahir Bin Haji Ismail, speaker Tan Soo Khoon, speaker Wanmohamadnoor Matha, speaker Nong Duc Manh, Hon. Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Anak Haji Kemaludin, president Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranariddh, chief justice U Aung Toe of theu union of Myanmar, distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is my great honor and privilege to serve as president of the 20^{th annual assembly of the Asean inter-parliamentary organization (AIPO).}

Asia is in the spotlight of world news once again. The undercurrent of economic and business news is that Asia is recovering fast and is poised to compete anew on an even footing with the industrialized countries of the west.

Asian Crisis And Response

The Asian financial crisis has hit us all in various ways. Countries have responded by taking the bitter pills of the IMF world bank of drastic restructuring or by defying the capital markets by imposing currency controls. Whatever response we took, the situation today has stabilized. But it is still a situation today has stabilized. But it is still a  fragile situation that could reverse any moment, any moment that Adam Smith’s "Invisible hand" of the market could pull the rug under the present gains of our economies.

The crisis taught us a clear lesson: that the conventional models and paradigms of development do not hold water anymore in the age of the global village. That big capital coming in can also mean big capital going out, leaving us and our people in financial straits.

But the story of our recovery is also the story, of our hard work, sacrifice and determination. Nobody can put down the dynamism and energy of the emerging economies of the east.

Four Areas Of Concern

As policymakers and lawmakers in our lands, it is incumbent upon us to recognize the following:

PARADIGM SHIFT

First, a paradigm shift of global repercussions is affecting and shaping us not only in the region but in the distribution of resources around the world. The Asian financial crisis is merely a symptom of deeper structural problems already anticipated by economists like Mit’s Paul Krugman.

Today, us federal reserve and  treasury authorities admit to formulating policies only in an Ad Hoc capacities as world capital markets continue to shift in the blink of an eye. While instantaneous communication, in fact, has contributed to market instabilities as pre-programmed buying and selling orders sweep off markets like falling dominoes.

On the other hand, the us Dow Jones average is at an all-time high, sucking investment capital from around the world. Asia’s recovery, in fact, is primary internally driven and is a testament to our region’s inherent dynamism.

As policy makers, what safeguards will we place so as not to Jeopardize our growth and, at the same time, do not constitute barriers to free trade and investment? What trade-off shall we accept if we wish to pursue our respective comparative advantages in human and natural resources? What model of development shall we now pursue in the light of the inadequacies of conventional paradigms?

There are issue that need immediate resolution because if we choose to address only issues that crop up day by day, we might be winning battles but, in fact, losing the war.

The Information Revolution

Second, the reality, speed and scale of the information revolution is already changing the rules of the game. In the Philippines, as an off shoot of this development, we have begun to realize that even provisions of our basic law are inadequate to resolve economic issues relating to the convergence of industries in information and telecommunications.

As key sectors of this emerging global market place are seized by the economies of the north, shall we allow ourselves once again to be service providers and assemblymen of the new information infrastructure? Especially now that we are already catching up in various industries, it would be tragic indeed if we are again left out in the wave of the future.

As policy makers, it is our responsibility to adapt fast to the changing times and recognize once and for all that the conventional terms of references in economic and business issues are not relevant anymore. In the Philippines, one of those issues up for debate is the extent of copyright protection of software technologies and what level of "compression" is allowed by local technicians.

As policymakers again, are we setting the right investment environment for the development of knowledge workers? or are we allowing our best brains to have no choice but migrate to Silicon Valley?

The Environment Cause

Third, in our rush to development and industrialization we often neglect the environmental costs, resulting in so much damage and injury later in our lives. In the Philippines, we have learned our lessons well as we passed our clean air act this year, setting air pollution standards in a comprehensive way after more than 10 years of debates and wranglings of various interested groups.

The environmental cause is our long-term investment in economic sustainability. Without the basic ecological balance, we won’t just drive out investment but will also laying our country to waste. And if we do that, what is the point of development?

The Entrepreneurial Cause

Fourth, as our recovery from the crisis attests, we must recognize and nurture the entrepreneurial energies of our people. This may not be a problem for some of us who have a strong entrepreneurial culture societies. But in a country such as the Philippines, where we have undergone there-and-a-half centuries of colonization, It is very hard to break the barriers of prejudice against self-starters and self-made men.

But we now realize that the virtues and discipline of the overseas Chinese can be learning and employed to build and develop a nation. The values of frugality, hard work and determination can be internalized and applied, There is simply no secret or shortcut to success.

As we gather here and exchange frank views on trade and development, we are also celebrating our two decades of partnership and friendship, We have weathered much in our quest for development. Asean has come a long way indeed in forging strong ties among its members and have laid such a strong foundation of understanding and cooperation among its nations that we enjoy peace and prosperity perhaps unparalleled in any other period in our region’s history.

The task now is clearly to push farther ahead so that this regional grouping becomes not just the grouping of the fastest growing markets in the world but the strongest economies as well. To place Asian on more solid footing, especially after the crippling effects of the Asian financial crisis, This is the challenge before us in the next three days of deliberations of this assembly.

Thank you for the honor of this presidency, May we all have a fruitful session ahead of us!

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