Inauguration speech of President Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada in 1998

Inaugural Address of His Excellency Joseph Ejercito Estrada
President of the Philippines
Quirino Grandstand, Manila | June 30, 1998
(English translation, original Filipino version below)

Good afternoon.

The light is fading, the day is almost over, and yet this late afternoon is the morning of a new day. The day of the Filipino masses. One of their own is finally leading them.

The last time I was here at the Quirino Grandstand, I was with President Cory Aquino, Cardinal Sin, and other religious leaders and fighters for democracy. We were here with many of you to stand up and be counted as friends of the democracy. Ask yourselves then, how could anyone call me a dictatorial type?

The last time I was there, in the old Senate building, we were only Twelve —

Twelve against a superpower;

Twelve against a government under its thumb:

Twelve against public opinion:

But twelve for the sovereignty and honor of our country.

Ask yourselves who has principles.

Maybe I felt strongly about getting all the wrong priorities out of the way so we can focus on the right things at once.

Maybe I felt that we cannot wait for time to heal our wounds and that we should help along the healing process.

Who has been hurt and insulted than I? I have been hurt, and my mother even more deeply at having to listen to all those insults against her son in tri-media. I am but human and I don’t want to forgive. But I must. And I have. I must work with those who hurt me because we have only one country between us. I must work with them and they must live with me, because every Filipino is needed to meet the challenge of national survival in the regional crisis.

If I seemed impatient, it was only for peace. We must put yesterday behind us, so we can work for a brighter tomorrow. I did not mean for us to forget the past. I don’t. But I hope we will not let the past get in the way of a future that calls for cooperation to achieve peace and prosperity.

Finally, I felt that the common people have waited long enough for their turn, for their day to come.

That day is here.

And it comes not a moment too soon on the centennial of the birth of Filipino freedom.

One hundred years after Kawit, 50 years after independence, 12 years after Edsa, and 7 years after the rejection of foreign bases, it is now the turn of the masses to experience liberation.

We stand in the shadow of those who fought to make us free—free from foreign domination, free from domestic tyranny, free from superpower dictation, free from economic backwardness. We acknowledge a debt of gratitude to Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, Manuel Quezon, Ramon Magsaysay, Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos, and the magnificent twelve of the 1991 senate who voted for Filipino sovereignty and honor.

These are the men and women who gave birth to the idea of Filipino freedom; who struggled in war to give it recognition; and worked in peace to make it come true. Cory Aquino brought freedom back after it was taken away and Fidel Ramos showed how power should respect the people’s freedom of choice in elections.

They also began the slow and difficult work of making freedom more meaningful — not just for the rich but also for the poor who are more but have nothing.

It is time. Time to speed up the improvement of the living conditions of the common people. Time for them to have a fairer share of the national wealth they create and a bigger stake in their own country.

Some will say we cannot rush these things. First, focus on the economy again. Of course, we must improve the economy. How else can the people’s lives improve? But why not both together? Why must economic progress always be at the people’s expense?

When it was a question of economic reforms to rebuild business confidence and restore business profits, the reforms were never too fast or too hard, especially for the common people to bear.

Six years after Cory Aquino, the foundations of a strong economy were laid. In the six years of the Ramos administration, the economy was paying big dividends to its biggest stockholders. This time, why not to the common people as well, for a change? Must we always measure progress only by the golf courses of the rich?

I hope this message will not be taken badly by the rich. It has always been their turn, and it is also their turn again. For it is the priority of my administration to create the environment of peace and order in which business does well. But, surely, it is time for the masses to enjoy first priority in the programs of the government.

As far as resources permit, to the best of our ability and the limit of our energy, we will put a roof over their heads, food on their tables and clothes on their backs. We will educate their children and foster their health. We will bring peace and security, jobs and dignity to their lives. We will put more infrastructure at their service, to multiply their productivity and raise their incomes.

But this time things will be different. What wealth will be generated will be more equitably shared. What sacrifices are demanded will be more evenly carried. This much I promise, for every stone of sacrifice you carry, I will carry twice the weight.

This I promise the people. You will not be alone again in making sacrifices, and you will not be the last again to enjoy the rewards when they come.

I ask the rich to take a share of the sacrifices commensurate with their strength. What each of us carries is not our individual burden alone, but the fate of our country that we must all share, and which none of us can escape.

While I ask you to share these sacrifices with me, I will not impose any more on you when it comes to my job as president. The job is mine now and I’ll do it.

There is no excuse for the spread of crime in any society, unless government is an accomplice. There is no criminal organization or criminal activity that can stand up to the government if the government is sincere about stamping it out.

We know that the major crimes in this country are committed by hoodlums in uniform. We know they are protected by hoodlums in barong and acquitted by hood­lums in robes. We know that the most damaging crimes against society are not those of petty thieves in rags, but those of economic saboteurs in expensive clothes: the dishon­est stockholders, the wheeling dealing businessmen, influence-peddlers, price-padders and other crooks in government.

I promise to use all the powers of government to stamp out crime, big and small.

There will be no excuses and no exceptions. I sent friends to jail before; it was not my fault that the courts let them go.

No government is so powerless that it cannot protect its citizens, especially when they are victimized by government agents.

No government is so helpless, it cannot prosecute criminals, especially when the criminals are officials operating in the open.

And the government of a country, where most of the people are hungry, need jobs and lack education, cannot allow its taxes to be stolen or wasted, its assets thrown to friends, the national patrimony conceded to foreigners, and the best opportunities limited only to those who can afford.

There are things that a real government, even in the worst economic conditions, can do. This government will do it.

Government can stamp out crime, as I tried to do as chairman of the PACC, and as I will do as president of the Republic. This time nobody will clip my powers.

Government can provide basic services without the extra cost of pork barrel or kickback; roads for work; infrastructure for productivity; schools for skills; clinics for health; police for safety, and a lean and mean military machine for national defense. This I promise and I will deliver. I will give you at once a government that works, while we wait for the dividends of yet another round of sacrifice that must fall on your shoulders again.

Government cannot afford to feed all the hungry in our country, but it would be a crime if any money for food went to government officials and fixers instead.

Government cannot afford to build all the roads that are needed, but it would be a crime to build fewer roads to line more pockets.

Government cannot afford to bring back the millions of overseas Filipino workers to jobs and dignity back home, but we shall protect their interests abroad and their families back home.

Government cannot afford to give all the youth the complete education promised by the Constitution, but it would be a crime if any money for education was misspent on inferior textbooks and substandard classrooms built by pork barrel.

I appeal to the coming congress to search its conscience for a way to stand behind me, rather than against me, on the pork barrel issue and find a way to convert pork into tuition subsidies in the public and private schools.

These are crimes that I will make it my personal apostolate to punish:

—low crimes in the streets by rich or poor alike;

—high crimes on Ayala or Binondo;

—and graft and corruption throughout the government—executive, legislative and judicial.

This early, members of my family are swamped with offers of funny deals. I will treat all such offers as evidence for future criminal prosecutions for graft and corruption.

I warn these people. Going after criminals will just be a job for me, but if you drag in my family, it will be personal.

What I promise is not big. What I envision is ordinary. My promises are made to be fulfilled in a working day; they are hopes of ordinary Filipinos like myself, in circum­stances less than ideal with the economic recession, but they are long overdue.

I want to bring peace to our lives and harmony to our society. I want to bring order to our streets and justice to our institutions. I want to impart energy to our economy and more equitableness in the distribution of its fruits.

I want every Filipino, rich or poor, to feel that the safest place in the world for him is his own country.

And, lastly, I hope to bring all Filipinos together so as to achieve that power of common purpose that will enable us to escape the crisis of our region and achieve our centennial dream.

Freedom.

Freedom from oppression. Yes; but freedom from want also.

Freedom from fear and freedom of opportunity.

And, of course, freedom for its own sake which is the heart and soul of the Filipino.

It was here, one hundred years ago, that Asia sitting in darkness saw the first light of freedom.

Share my resolve to make that light shine brighter yet by making our freedom more real for the majority of the people.

For the past twelve years, the call has been for people power to defend democracy, advanced economic development and other things. It is time to use that power for the people themselves.

Now, power is with the people; one of their own has made it.

Original Filipino speech

Mga minamahal kong mga kababayan at Masang Pilipino:

Sa atin pong pagtitipon ngayong hapon, dapat nating pasalamatan ng lubos ang dalawang dating pangulo na sina Ginang Cory Aquino at Ginoong Fidel V. Ramos. Si dating pangulong Cory Aquino ang siyang naging simbolo ng pagbabalik ng demokrasya sa ating bansa. At bagama’t marami na ang nagtangka laban sa kaniyang liderato ay naipamana niya sa ating lahat ang isang matatag na demokrasya. Dito rin sa Luneta anim na taon na ang nakararaan ay nagkaroon ng mapayapang pagsasalin ng kapangyarihan ni dating pangulong Fidel V. Ramos na muling pinatatag ang ating pamahalaan at binuhay ang ating pambansang ekonomiya, walang pagod niyang pinagtibay ang kapayapaan na siya naman ang naging balangkas ng mga reporma sa ating ekonomiya.

Sa araw pong ito ipinamalas natin sa buong mundo ang katatagan ng kauna–unahang demokrasya sa Silangang Asya. Salamat sa nagdaang maayos at malinis na halalan. Hinihiling ko po kayong lahat na magsitayo at bigyan natin ng masigabong palakpakan ang atin pong dating pangulong Ramos at dating pangulong Cory Aquino. Maraming salamat po.

Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat.

Papalubog na po ang araw at malapit ng kumagat ang dilim. Gayunpaman, ngayong gabi’t-hapon ay nagsisimula na ang isang bagong araw, ang araw ng lahing Pilipino, ang araw ng masang Pilipino.

Sa wakas, namumuno na sa ating masa ang isang gaya nila, isang kaibigan at kapatid – na alam kung ano ang ibig sabihin na maging maka-masa.

Noong huling tumindig ako dito sa Quirino Grandstand, kasama ko sina dating pangulong Cory Aquino at Cardinal Sin, at napakaraming nanindigan para sa demokrasya. Kapiling ko rin kayo, at tayong lahat ay napabilang sa mga tunay na kaibigan ng demokrasya. Kaya papaano masasabi na ako raw ay diktador?

Noong huli akong tumindig doon sa lumang gusali ng Senado, labindalawa kami.

Nguni’t –

Labindalawa na lumalaban sa isang superpower;

Labindalawa na lumaban sa pamahalaang patuloy na hawak sa leeg ng banyagang kapangyarihan;

Labindalawa na lumaban sa umiiral na public opinion noon;

Subali’t labindalawa na nanindigan para sa kalayaan at dangal ng ating bansa.

Sa kabila noon mayroon pa ring nangahas na pagdudahan ang ating prinsipyo!

Nais kong tapusin sa lalong madaling panahon ang ilang isyu na matagal nang gumagambala sa ating bayan.

Bakit po? Upang sana’y iwan na natin ang lahat ng bagay na dapat nating ilibing sa limot ng kasaysayan.

Sa akin pong pagmamadali, marahil hindi ko naisip na kailangan pang lumipas ang mahahabang panahon upang maghilom ang sugat ng ilan, at sugat ng bayan.

Ang tanong ko ngayon: mayroon pa bang sinaktan at nilait nang higit pa sa akin? Mayroon pa bang labis na binastos at ininsulto sa peryodiko o sa radyo, sa telebisyon ng higit pa sa akin. Huwag na lang ako: kahit na ang aking mahal na ina ay lubhang nasaktan dahil sa mga insultong ipinukol sa kanyang anak.

Ako ay tao lamang, at hindi po madaling masabing – forgive and forget, kalimutan na lang. Nguni’t kailangan kong tapusin ang yugtong ito, at sa akin ay tapos na, nasa likod na natin, at hindi na dapat pag-usapan pa.

‘Pagkat dapat lamang na ako ay makisama sa lahat na ating mamamayan, kasama man o katunggali, kaibigan o kalaban.

Bakit? Sapagka’t iisa lamang ang ating bayan, iisa lamang ang ating landas, at kung hindi tayo magsasama-sama sa isang tunay na bukluran, kanino pa kaya, at kailan pa, kundi ngayon?

Ngayon na — sapagkat ang hinaharap ng ating bansang Pilipino ay lubhang mabigat, lubhang malalim. Ang regional currency crisis ay paghamon hindi lamang sa ating mag bangko o mga negosyante, kundi sa bawa’t pangkaraniwang mamamayan.

Kaya sasabihin ko sa inyo ngayon, at sa buong mundo: Hindi tayo nag-alinlangan, at hindi tayo nakakalimot.

If I have seemed impatient, it was because you and I wanted peace and only peace. We must put yesterday behind us, so that we can work for a better tomorrow.

I do not say: let us forget the past. No, I don’t. But I ask you that we should not let the past get in the way of a future that requires cooperation to achieve peace and prosperity for the least of us.

Matagal nang naghihintay ang lahat para sa isang bagong umaga. Heto na, ngayon na, ang panahon ng masang Pilipino.

Panahon na upang mapabilis ang pag-angat sa kabuhayan ng masang Pilipino.

Panahon na upang magkaroon ng lalong malaking bahagi, sa yaman ng ating bansa, ang masang Pilipino.

Panahon na upang sabihin: isang daang taon pagkatapos ng Kawit, Cavite, limampung taon pagkatapos na kilalanin ang ating kasarinlan sa panahon ni Presidente Roxas, pitong taon pagkatapos tayong tumalikod sa foreign bases, eto na, narito na, araw na natin ngayon.

Alam nating hindi ito madaling gawin. Malubha ang lagay ng ekonomiya. Dapat lamang pagtuunan ng masusing pansin ang pagsasa-ayos sa pambansang kabuhayan.

May mga nagsasabi: hindi raw maaring madaliin ang mga gawaing ito. Unahin daw muna ang ekonomiya at isunod lamang ang pangangailangan ng mahirap. Wala akong reklamo diyan, pero ang aking tanong: mayroon pa bang ibang paraan upang mai-angat ang kabuhayan ng mga mamamayan? Hindi ba puwedeng sabay-sabay? Bakit ang masa ang laging huli at laging nalalamangan, kapag ang pinag-uusapan ay ang kaunlaran ng ekonomiya?

Noong tinatalakay ang mga reporma na ikabubuti ng mga negosyante, halos wala tayong narinig na nagreklamo sa kanila, na masyadong mabilis at malupit ang pagbabago. Gayunpaman, hindi ba pawang katotohanan lamang na ang pangkaraniwang mamamayan ang pumasan sa malupit na epekto ng liberalization at globalization?

Gustuhin natin o dili, ang hamon ng kompetisyon ay kailangan nating tugunan. Ituring natin itong pagkakataon, nguni’t kailangang palakasin ang pambansang ekonomiya at palawakin ang pakinabang ng nakakarami.

Sa anim na taon ng pamamahala ni Pangulong Cory Aquino, naitatag ang pundasyon upang lumakas muli ang ating ekonomiya. Sa pangangasiwa ni pangulong Ramos, nagsimulang magluwal ng debidendo ang ekonomiya para sa malalaking negosyante.

Ngayon naman, dapat lang na ang maliliit ang siyang makinabang sa ating pagsisikap. Sana, sila rin. Sana, sila naman ay maka-bahagi.

Progress must not be measured by the number of golf courses of the rich.

Huwag naman sana nilang masamain ng ilan sa ating mga mamamayan ang mensaheng ito. Mula’t sapul, sila ang nakikinabang — at hanggang sa ngayon ay nakikinabang pa rin, sapagkat gagawin natin ang lahat upang maibalik ang katahimikan sa ating bayan, ang katahimikan na kailangan upang umunlad ang ating kalakalan.

Kaya sa ating maliliit at mahihirap, narito ang pangako ni Erap: kayo ang unang makikibahagi sa biyaya mula sa ekonomiya, at mula sa pamahalaan.

Sa abot ng aking makakaya, bibigyan natin ang masa ng disenteng tahanan, sapat na pagkain, at pag-asa sa hinaharap. Pag-aaralin natin ang kanilang mga anak, at aalagaan natin ang kanilang kalusugan. Sa kanilang mga pamilya, ihahandog natin ang katahimikan, hanapbuhay at dangal sa araw-araw.

Sa kasawiang palad, dumating ang panahon ng masang Pilipino habang ang ekonomiya ng buong Asya ay bumagsak. Wala tayong magagawa. Kailangan nating maghigpit ng sinturon, at ipaglaban muna ang sapat at maagang gantimpala sa ating pagsisikap.

Sa aking mga kababayan, ito ang aking masasabi: sa inyong pagsasakripisyo, ako ang mau-una, at ako ang inyong kasama. At sa paglasap sa mga gantimpala ng ating pagsisikap, hindi kayo mahuhuli.

While I ask you to share these sacrifices with me, I will not impose any more on you when it comes to meeting my duties and responsibilities as your President. It is my job now, and I will do it.

Walang dahilan upang lumaganap ang krimen sa ating lipunan; mangyayari lang ito kung ang gobyerno mismo ay kumukupkop sa mga kriminal.

Walang organisasyon o gawaing kriminal na kayang lumaban sa pamahalaan, kung ang pamahalaan ay tapat sa pagnanasang durugin ang mga kriminalidad.

We know that the major crimes in this country are commited by hoodlums in uniforms. We know they are protected by hoodlums in robes. We know that the most damaging crimes against society are not those of petty thieves in rags, but those of economic saboteurs in business suits: the dishonest stockbrockers, the wheeling- dealing businessman, influence-peddlers, price-padders and other crooks in government.

Ipinangangako ko ngayon: gagamitin natin ang buong kapangyarihan ng pamahalaan upang labanan ang krimen – maliit man o malaki. Walang makakalusot. Itatangi. I will use all the powers of government to stamp out crime, big and small.

There will be no excuses, and there will be no exceptions. I have sent friends to jail before, I can send them again.

No government is so powerless that it cannot protect its citizens, especially when they are victimized by government agents.

No government is so helpless that it cannot prosecute criminals, especially when the officials are criminals operating in the open.

Hindi makatarungan na sa isang bansang karamihan ay nagugutom at walang hanapbuhay, ang kaban ng bayan ay winawaldas at ninanakaw. At ang likas na yaman ay pinaghahati-hatian ng malalakas sa gobyerno.

So let me tell you today. There are things that a government, even in the worst economic conditions, can do.

This government will do those things.

Kaya nating sugpuin ang lumalaganap na krimen. Ginawa ko at magagawa ko noong ako ay namuno ng Presidential Anti – Crime Commission. Gagawin ko ngayon ang lahat, ngayon na Pangulo na ako. At walang sinumang makakapigil sa akin.

What I did in PACC, I will now do, and more, as President of the Philippines. And when I succeed this time, nobody, nobody, nobody can clip my powers.

Kaya pa rin ng pamahalaan ang magbigay ng mahahalagang serbisyo: mga lansangan, mga paaralan, mga health centers, sapat na bilang ng mga pulis at sandatahang lakas na sadyang katahimikan ang likha at alaga.

Magagawa ng gobyerno ang lahat ng ito, huwag lamang haluan ng nakawan at pork barrel.

Hindi mapapakain ng pamunuan ang lahat ng mga nagugutom sa ating bansa sa kasalukuyan. Pero uusigin natin ang sinumang kukupit sa pondo na nakalaan sa pagbili ng pagkain.

Hindi kaya ng gobyerno na pagbigyan ang lahat ng mga lugar na nangangailangan ng kalsadang konkreto at aspaltado. Pero hindi natin palalampasin ang sinumang magnanakaw ng perang nakalaan sa paglikha ng mga tulay at kalsada.

Hindi kaya agad ng pamahalaan na pabalikin ang milyun-milyong Overseas Contract Workers, at bigyan sila ng hanapbuhay sa ating bayan. Dama natin ang kalungkutan at sakit ng paghihiwalay sa kanilang mahal sa buhay. Subalit makakaasa sila na hindi natin pababayaan ang kanilang mga pamilya at mga anak. At lalong hindi natin kaliligtaan ang mga kapakanan nila sa ibang bansa.

Hindi kayang bigyan ng sapat na edukasyon ang lahat ng mga kabataang Pilipino sa ngayon, tulad nang itinadhana sa Saligang Batas. Pero hindi natin palalampasin ang sinumang nagwawaldas sa pondong nakalaan sa mga libro at paaralan.

I appeal to the coming Congress to search its conscience for a way to stand behind me, rather than against me, on the pork barrel issue. I appeal to every legislator: let us find a way to convert pork into tuition subsidies in both public and private schools. Let us use it to the better lives of our people, rather than to improve our chances of re – election.

There are crimes that I will make my personal apostolate to punish:

-low crimes in the streets, by rich and poor alike;

-high crimes in Ayala Avenue and Binondo;

-graft and corruption throughout the government, whether in the executive, the legislative, or the judiciary.

Ngayon pa lamang, ang mga kamag-anak ko ay nilalapitan na ng kung sinu-sino. Kung anu-anong deal at kickback ang ipinapangako.

Binabalaan ko sila. Walang kaibigan, walang kumpare, walang kamag-anak o anak na maaaring magsamantala sa ngayon. At ngayon pa lamang sinasabi ko sa inyo, nag-aaksaya lamang kayo ng panahon. Huwag ninyo akong subukan.

Marahil hindi naman napakabigat ang mga pangako ko sa inyo. Simple lamang ang aking minimithi at simple rin ang hinahangad ng masang Pilipino. Subali’t pagkatagal-tagal nang hindi natutupad.

Nais kong maihatid ang kapayapaan sa ating buhay, at katiwasayan sa ating lipunan. Nais kong isa-ayos ang gulo sa ating mga lansangan, at itatag ang katarungan sa ating mga institusyon. Nais kong bigyan ng bagong lakas ang ating ekonomiya, at patas na pagsasabahagi ng mga bunga nito.

Nais kong isipin ng bawa’t Pilipino, mahirap man o mayaman, na ang pinakaligtas na lugar sa buong mundo, ay ang kanyang lupang tinubuan.

I want every Filipino, rich or poor alike, to feel that the safest place in the world for him is his own country.

At sa dakong huli, umaasa akong magkakaisa tayong lahat upang matamo natin ang kapangyarihan na nagbuhat sa ating makatwirang hangarin. Sa ganitong pagkakaisa, maiiwasan natin ang krisis sa ating rehiyon, at makakamit natin ang pangarap sa ating sentenyal.

Kalayaan.

Kalayaan sa isang mapang-aping kahirapan.

Isang bayang ligtas sa takot, at ang lahat ay pantay-pantay sa pagkakataon.

Nasa diwa at puso ng bawa’t Pilipino ang kalayaan. Sa bansang ito, isang daang taon na nag nakakaraan, nasulyapan sa Asya ang unang liwanag ng kalayaan.

Samahan ninyo si Erap, upang bigyan natin ng kakaibang ningning ang kalayaang buhat sa masang Pilipino.

Nitong huling labindalawang taon, malimit tayong manawagan sa kapangyarihan sa sambayanan, sa People Power, alang-alang sa demokrasya, at sa kaunlaran, at sa iba’t-ibang bagay.

Sa tulong ng Poong Maykapal, at sa pamamagitan ng ating pagkakaisa, gamitin natin ang kapangyarihan ng sambayanan upang tiyakin ang tagumpay ng masang Pilipino.

Tandaan po natin, mga minamahal kong kababayan, wala pong tutulong sa Pilipino kung hindi ang kapwa Pilipino.

Maraming, maraming salamat po.

(Source: Gov.ph)

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