Jobs are a fundamental pillar of both our economy and our society. In this area, the employers of the nation hold the sanguine honor of reinforcing this pillar and raising it to even greater heights. That you gather as one body for the 33rd time demonstrates the vibrancy of our mutual cause and encourages us to join heads and hands further so that we can more thoroughly address the concerns of the future and our long term goals for our people.
Today you have tasked me to speak on the topic of “The Social Conscience of Government.” There are some who would propose that government and conscience should never be uttered in the same breath and this criticism is not always unjustly hurled. Our political history reminds us as much and that legions of nations across the globe have grappled with the same problem for decades with a complete and lasting solution remaining elusive. Indeed, the American journalist and satirist Henry Louis Mencken had no difficulty in saying that every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.
But rather than view this condemnation as final, we should instead see it as a solemn impetus to revisit our mission and see how we can tear down the barriers erected by the past.
Government is often described as an instrument of social change. Certainly, there is much that government and its stewards can do to alter the ordinary way of life of its citizens. This is usually done through the quality of delivery of basic services as well as in the responsiveness of the leadership to the most profound desires of the citizenry. However, government does not seek to provide everything for the people. It will respond to moments of distress and national emergencies in order to provide relief but this is not its seminal role.
Our mission is much greater: to protect and uphold the universal rights of every Filipino. These rights are enshrined in law, and under this context each person’s freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness is justly framed. As government, our duty is to ensure that each man can claim his destiny or build a humane future for himself, with the law and the government acting in the best interest of each and every citizen. This is the social conscience of government and if our conscience is to remain clear, then it must at all times be rooted in this truth.
In this light, we stand on firm legs that enable us to make long and swift strides. Our President was brought to office by a convincing mandate drawn from all sectors of society. To this day, His Excellency and his office are free from the taint of corruption and his commitment to his mandate is as clear as ever. You will recall that on the day he and the rest of this administration took oath, a covenant was made with the Filipino people, a pact founded on the social conscience that government is charged to keep whole.
The fruits of our labors from that time forth are clear. Local and even global support for the Aquino administration’s governance remains high. There will be those who will quickly point out that not everyone agrees with the elected powers. This is true, but there is no law that compels each and every one to share the same views as their governors. These disagreements do not imply a pervading sense of discord but rather a healthy and vibrant democracy, where anyone can express their views proudly and be heard by those they disagree with. Today, our people have access to this and many other opportunities and perhaps we can look at the progress made in mandates entrusted to my care to see proof our gains.
Currently, I serve as the President’s adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Concerns. I am also chairman emeritus of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), chairman of the Presidential Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (PTFAIR); as well as the chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).
These are areas of great importance as they focus on the protection and enhancement of the dignity of human life. Our Global Filipinos form an offshore nation that is larger than the populations of Singapore, Kuwait, Israel and Sweden. Their number grows steadily each year with many more of countrymen flocking to destinations at sea or in foreign lands to build better lives for themselves. They have been an unwavering source of strength for our proud Republic but have also created a population vulnerable to exploitation and at times, abuse.
The housing sector remained stagnant for so long, owing to material constraints beyond our powers. But our people’s need for roofs above their heads, and their dreams for a permanent place to rear their children cannot be quashed by these temporary limitations.
In order to successfully effect change in these sectors, securing technical expertise and employing an inclusive-participative approach to policy-making and implementation are key components of success.
You are intimately familiar with these strategies, in your capacities as employers. In seeking to achieve your respective organizations’ goals, you ensure that the most competent are recruited into your firms and constantly improve your roster through training and educational programs in order to maintain your comparative advantage.
In two years of heading of the sectors of housing, anti-human trafficking and OFW concerns, we have implemented these practices and rather than reinvent the wheel, we have worked hard to make it turn, and turn more quickly.
In the housing sector, for example, we recently launched the National Informal Settlement Upgrading Strategy. This project, a tie-up with Cities Alliance, seeks to upgrade our slum settlements. More than providing decent houses to the poor in urban areas, we seek to restore the dignity of informal settlers, and empower them to take hold of their lives productively and sustainably. This shifts the paradigm as the slum dwellers are no longer targets of welfare programs, but staunch partners in their own development and the growth of both local and national economies.
The beneficiaries are engaged across the whole process, starting from the planning stages up to implementation. As stakeholders or co-owners of the process, they gain not just the necessities of life but the dignity of it.
We have also tuned the housing sector’s activities to the concerns of our Overseas Filipino Workers. From our data, most people seek work abroad in order to provide for the education of family members, and to gain the financial capability to purchase decent housing. We have intensified and continue to intensify our campaign to inform our brethren abroad of the opportunities provided by government in housing and finance. Accompanying this, we have reevaluated our processes so that these become more citizen-centric. Quality of delivery has been improved by our termination of processes that are tedious and unnecessary.
We continue to expand our base of meaningful partnerships with the private sector, concerned agencies of the government, and NGOs so that those desiring to come home need not see their reintegration as a burden. Scholarship programs in degree and non-degree programs aid in helping our OFWs and their dependents gain an education, while entrepreneurship programs and business training give them the skills needed to turn their savings into stable ventures.
Against the threat of human trafficking and illegal recruitment, we remain vigilantly on watch with more good hearts joining the battle. We are proud that advocacy groups such as the Visayan Forum and Ople Center have partnered with us, and have bravely charged where even angels fear to tread. Their networks consult with victims especially in the countryside on a personal basis and help extinguish the ignorance that traffickers prey on. By spreading knowledge of the entitlements of employees abroad, such as free medical check-ups and the “no placement fee” policy, we minimize the number of people –mostly poor- who pawn their lands and even their beasts of burden just to finance expenses that should otherwise be shouldered by legal employers.
Our offloading policy has been restructured in order to make it more comprehensive as well as lessen the application of the discretion that often leads to corruption. This has spared thousands of our countrymen, many of them women and minors, from uncertain fates and destinations. Against the tides of geopolitical developments and calamity, government has responded swiftly in order to secure our nationals. In the wake of the Arab Spring, and the events that surrounded Fukushima, we were able to safeguard our people and we continually refine our contingency plans so that if the unspeakable occurs, our countrymen abroad can be filled with certainty rather than fear.
Moving beyond protection, our vigor in the prosecution of traffickers continues unabated. We have doubled our conviction rate and the 66 sentences handed down far exceed the score cards we held before 2010. We have not rested on our laurels, and with all stakeholders forged in a chain, we shall not give the criminals room to maneuver.
There is more that we are working to achieve to be able to create an environment of freedom, dignity and equitable access. Programs for government workers and indigenous peoples are either in progress or awaiting launch, and we believe these are overdue if all men are to have an equal stake in development and decency.
Many if not all of our programs, create offshoots for employment and enterprise which your firms and organizations may also wish to explore and plunge into. I encourage this conference to take a candid look at all that we have on the table, and to see where we can establish partnerships in order to accelerate the pace of our march.
Our country has been blessed with a government that seeks to clear not just the cobwebs of the past, but the conscience of the very institution that the nation has tasked to steer its course. We are perched on the hopes of our people, and it is my prayer that all of us will be the wind that permits us to take flight. I am supremely confident that the employers of our beloved country, working with government, will grant the ordinary man the courage to spread his wings and soar to the destiny that he was brave enough to dream of.
Again, thank you for the opportunity of speaking with you. I look forward to all that this conference shall propose and pursue.
Magandang umaga po at mabuhay kayong lahat!